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Star Trek Online Progress Reports: Latest Information Recap
MMORPG.com Star Trek Online Correspondent Troy Hammers writes this look at what's been going on recently in the world of Cryptic's crack at making an MMO from the popular IP.
By Troy Hammers on September 14, 2009
"Guess who's coming to dinner" - Pavel Chekov
That is of course the folks at Cryptic and all the STO followers, the big dogs have definitely eaten the last few weeks. There has been tons of new information on Star Trek Online with lots of gameplay footage and hands on impressions from the demo at PAX. With so many updates with PAX, PC Gamer Magazine and the Official Star Trek convention in Vegas, it's hard to soak it all in. PC Gamer shined a light on the game with multiple different covers, the first since the Game Informer article last fall.
First, I would like to cover some of the PC Gamer article in case you missed it, or need a rehash of the relevant information. If you read my last article "Capturing the Essence", I stressed that if the game did not feel like Trek, or capture the characters and vital storytelling, I felt there would be problems. The first thing at caught my attention on the PC Gamer article written by Dan Stapleton and Even Lahti:
"Let's be frank: most Star Trek games didn't even come close to offering the full Star Trek experience."
That pretty much hits the nail on the head. STO will be the closest any Trek game has come in bringing the experience to the players. The article continues to talk about a mission where they engage the Klingons in battle, using Tractor Beams and Photon Torpedoes to neutralize some Birds of Prey in an episodic mission. You can use the normal WASD controls for ship movement, and your ship yields normal shields and hull strength. Regarding shields the article reads, "Shields are represented by a broken blue ring around a ship. The weaker the shield, the thinner the barrier and the more damage seeps past it to the hull".
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Your Captain will be able to specialize in a certain career, consisting of Tactical, Engineering, and Science. There has been tons of emphasis on ground combat, the article continues to talk about ground combat being very run and gun based on your bridge crew members beaming down to the planet with you. The combat also brings different things to the table such as force fields, medical equipment and turrets for defense.
PAX in Seattle offers tons of new relevant information about ground combat and missions. For pictures of the STO booth, please check out the wonderful folks at Hailing Frequency, they have posted some pictures and additional info here.
The Cryptic Team also went to Gamescom in Germany to support the European gamers and show off STO, with tons of new information and video. Some fantastic videos of gameplay and such have been posted on YouTube again by the wonderful folks at HF, and Part 1 can be found here.
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Next, which is my favorite, is the beta. Everyone loves the beta, maybe except for McCoy. The Official press release is as follows:
New York, NY (September 4, 2009) – Atari and Cryptic Studios announced today that players can now sign up for a chance to participate in the closed beta test for Star Trek Online. This highly anticipated massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is set in the celebrated Star Trek universe and is the first MMO to offer both space and ground game play.
Players and fans can apply for beta test access by visiting www.startrekonline.com. A select number of closed beta keys will be given away through the website. Players who take part in the beta are able to experience the game early, but also report bugs and provide feedback to producers during development.
“Closed beta registration is an important step in bringing Star Trek Online to the public,” said Craig Zinkievich, Executive Producer on Star Trek Online. “We are looking toward the launch of our first-of-a-kind MMORPG with anticipation and excitement and we expect Star Trek Online to explode onto the scene, giving fans and gamers a Star Trek experience like no other.”
Star Trek Online will be the first MMORPG to feature space and ground combat at launch. Missions will take players into the depths of space, across exotic planets, and even inside starships! As the Captain of your very own ship, it’s up to you to lead your crew on missions that span a number of locations. You call the shots, no matter where you are.
Impressive! Who would have thought we would be this close to closed beta? The tentative release date is set for early next year which would definitely make sense for a closed beta in the near future. Cryptic seems to be on track for release, with a playable demo at PAX to show the progress they have made. As for my opinion, the game is truly looking promising, it is very difficult to touch all areas in Star Trek, and the developer Cryptic looks like they are trying to cover all areas as much as they can. The graphics and sound look pristine from the videos I have watched, which I think everyone is very excited about.
"STO will be the closest any Trek game has come in bringing the experience to the players."
No, Its a ST DIKU version of Earth and beyond. This isn't star trek. Amazingly, you can take nine hits from a Klingon with a Bat'leth, even as a red shirt. This will be the game that brings standard MMO's to the trek fans, who won't like it. I also foresee parking issues at popular space stations, as everyone is a captain. It also seems to take 4 ships to beam down 4 players to a mission. Awesome.
The game has gone from suck, to blow.
Why they think the third time of using this format will do any better then the first two....
I am by no means a Trek nerd - I have watched the major movies, TNG and a bit of Voyager and of course the original series - but even with this new material presented here I am still left with the impression that the developers just don't get what Star Trek is about... Looks like straight-forward arcade action to me, whereas a complex 'metagame' is what would make a Star Trek game truly "star-trekky".
An awful lot of MMOs seem to treat the IP as little more than a lure to snag buyers who don't know any better.
Not surprising, as feature films have been doing a lot of that lately - Underdog, Get Smart, GI Joe, Dragonball, etc.
I am on record here as saying that Trek is probably not a good IP for an MMO. I can't really imagine a more group-reliant setting than flying around the galaxy many light years from any other posible teammates.
The game (to catch the spirit of Trek) would require almost exclusively group content. I could see players assigned to a 'ship' and having only that small pool of characters to group with (having NPCs to replace offline players). That would be a very interesting and unusual system to have in an MMO. I would be interested in trying something like that, but I don't think it would be all that popular.
Cryptic's STO looks like it might be a decent space battle game, but it won't be Trek, by any means.
Reading is FUN-demental
it was stated that each player is a captain and they have a comand crew they beam down with. So its you + npc companions...
Humm now where havei heard that concepts before...
Oh right...
Guild Wars
I agree with the article, if not just to oppose all the hate & glad to see the info out :)
I don't like any of cryptic's current titles, but as a Star Trek fan...what they've provived with the MMO seems interesting to see at the least. It has reuse from other MMOs, it won't be anywhere what the fans want completely, it will have RMT, and there will be infinite amounts of hate...
But regardless, it's at least something to be unique as a 'sum of its parts' and maybe something to hold those who are currently "MMOless" till later next year,or (being extemely optimistic) maybe longer. I look forward to the beta to see its current condition and see if its polish is as smooth as the facade seems at this moment in time...and of course its always fun finding some qwerky bugs here & there :)
I am going to sit back and take the wait and see approach, I can't bash it because I have never played it, I hope that either STO or the Old Republic is worth playing, I am really burned out on the whole sword and shield mmo's I need some SciFi.. :) I like some of the concepts I read about, I have been playing mmo's for over 10 years, I have seen the hype around games, and none of them have lived up to the hype, so I don't get hyped over anything, I am not a dev so I don't try to be, I play the game for the fun factor, if I enjoy the game thats all I care about... crossing fingers for a fun Star Trek based game, thats all I am looking for....:)
Amen.
Frankly, STO sounds pretty good to me thus far.
It sounds like not only a fairly good IP-to-MMO conversion (imo) but also just a fun game structure regardless of whether it is Star Trek or some other, wholly original sci-fi universe. The fact that it is such a familiar IP to many means some people will never be satisfied with it, as happened with LotRO.
But I'm inclined to be very lenient regarding "IP-correctness" provided the game is fun to play.
"Star Trek Online will be the first MMORPG to feature space and ground combat at launch."
-Not correct.
StarQuest featured space, ground, AND inside ship/station character combat at launch.
Say what they want about a real trek experience, I'll believe it when I feel it. Can't wait to try it for myself, I hope their not overhyping that fact because Star Trek is to awesome to be ruined in another bad game.
I'm a big Star Trek fan and I will not be playing this game. Poor, poor design decisions.
Yeah same deal here. could be a great game but just in the hands of the wrong company
Yeah same deal here. could be a great game but just in the hands of the wrong company
I have a feeling that almost any real fan of Star Trek (and not the new movie, which was good but wasnt Star Trek) will not like the direction of this game. As it looks right now i wont be playing this game and thats a huge dissapointment because i wanted it to have a Star Trek feel not a Star Wars one. I hope that someone designs a MMO that could do Star Trek justice but i highly doubt that it will happen.
Cryptic isn't selling this game. Which isn't surprising because it doesn't look like they have much to work with. I like how he said they weren't interested in a game where you had to run down to the transporter room or mess with a wrench in engineering; translation = half assed.
So far I haven't heard anything in or about this game that excites me. I watched the video that was linked and seeing the ship stuck in outside view just made me loose more interest. I was really looking forward to playing this, but I refuse to waste anymore money on half assed attempts to make a quick buck of the IP's name.
At least Bioware is selling their game. Even as I tried to do a wait and see type approach to Swtor, I got caught up in what they were selling.
Problems with a Star Trek MMO : 1) There is no money within the Federation. Hello matter replicators! 2) Most Federation Star ships are the products of the expert labor of millions of people backed by the technical knowledge of entire planets. They are "given out" to a very narrow set of people who have undergone intense selection and training AND are part of a military-style chain of command. No one goes off to "do his own thing" with a Federation warship. 3) Star ships seem to require a crew of 50+ highly trained people. 4) Ranged weapons are capable of killing people on the surface of planets when fired from orbit above a planet. 5) Transport technology is capable of relocating people from any one location to any other location within a few seconds.
Yeah, sounds like a great setting for an MMO where I get to go off on my own and blast stuff and loot the corpses. Right. <sarcasm />
While possibly delivering a satisfying video game experience, I don't see how what's being offered so far could possibly deliver a satisfying Star Trek MMORPG experience.
Im sorry but if they want to appeal to Star Trek fans (which is secondary to selling as many subs as possible) they should have spent 5 years developing a "sandbox" World Simulator MMORPG. There would be combat (ground and Space) but of equal importance is science, exploration and diplomacy based on the culture you choose. Ships command structure semi controled by NPC orders from Starfleet but governed with player interaction. Ships could be handled in clusters of players with teams solving problems. Its not always one hero, one solution. Kirk knew he was only as good as his ship and crew in a spot. He needed a comptent Scotty to beam him out, a top rated McCoy to shoot him Tri-oxyen and Spock to meld with that alien chick to make sure she was getting his meaning. These same characters are now just souless NPC AI's on board a ship with only one player in this MMO.
I know, I know ... "But science and diplomacy are no fun and all I want to do is shoot Klingons." Then you just don't get what Star Trek is about. All you will get is another MMOG combat system with a faux Star Trek skin.
"I will not play a MMO that makes my gameplay dependent on others." Then you don't want to share your love of MMO's or Star Trek with others? If you are playing to build great experiance for yourself then show off to others who solo, why? No body will care to look at your badge list or your bio. More than likely they have done the same things as you.
Star Trek is about challenges but it looks like Cryptic didn't see it that way in development. Thats been the history of most Star Trek electronic games.
The list is really too long on how it delievers a Trek experience, more so than any Trek game to date, based of what were seeing. I understand some of the concerns, but I think some of you will really miss out if you already pan it.
Hey- I thought Get Smart was a really fun movie!
I agree with everything else though... Seeing wayyyy too many external shots of the ships lately.
Strap the captain's chair to the hull, folks!
What a bunch of sour pusses! Other than they aren't going to let us group on the same ship and play a crew member of a starship (couldn't be more boring in my opinion), they seem to be on track with what makes a game fun! All you doom and gloom bunch only think of Star Trek with a limited Federation point of view, you miss the whole boat of the Klingon intrique! If you read the reviews you would know there is going to be plenty of exploration that will be almost limitless as they seem to have a planet generator. What possible fun could there be travelling through space as a communicator/helmsman/redshirt/whatever, 99% of the time you would have absolutely nothing to do while travelling through lonely space or in the missions for that matter? Well I suppose you could split screen your computer and whine on MMorpg.com all the while your playing a totally boring game lol! I'll play the Klingon side and conquer you weaklings, should be an easy task as you Federation types have a singluarly limited view of what this game should be or is about!
I for one am very much looking forward.
Thanks for the recap.
I am owner of Hailing Frequency, so I just wanna say thanks to Troy for posting up our content!
Errr - You folks here that are poo-pooing Star Trek Online, saying that -"this is not the game that Star Trek folks want" - I just wanna take a moment to say, that as a guy who is in touch with the day to day workings of Star Trek Gaming - you are wrong.
I have 2400 members of my forum who are all dedicated Star Trek Gamers and are all looking forward to Star Trek Online. We have over 40,000 listeners to our Star Trek Gaming Podcast every month, 95% of which are hard core trek fans and 87% of which are looking forward to STO (according to recent surveys).
So those handful of you who are not looking forward to STO because its not EXACTLY the game you want? Either go play something else, or make your own game - but dont presume to say that you know what "Star Trek Fans" as a whole group want, because you are in the minority and you are wrong.
Anyway - Thanks once again to Troy for posting up our stuff, if you folks want more STO PAX Goodie - check out this 8 minute GAMEPLAY video we took and this 20 minute interview we did with Craig Zinkevich when we had lunch with him :D
www.youtube.com/watch
www.youtube.com/watch
Wow I forgot about Hailing Frequency, used to frequent there a lot for Armada 1 and 2. Was part of ACH (clanhunters) back in the day.
Thanks for the links! I agree ST:O will appeal to many a fan.
The list is really too long on how it delievers a Trek experience, more so than any Trek game to date, based of what were seeing. I understand some of the concerns, but I think some of you will really miss out if you already pan it.
For all that the Star Trek universe entails, I don't see much more other than using lore names and graphics. And though I don't think I'm panning it, since I'm not saying the game will be bad, just that imo it doesn't seem to live up to the Star Trek IP based on what I know, I'll give any MMO a shot with a free trial. So I won't be missing out, if they pull it off. But in the context of an MMORPG, from what I've seen offered, I see a simplistic space combat sim + single player rpg with multiplayer.
Like I said, could be fun video game, but doesn't come close to what I expect from an MMORPG based on Star Trek.
I agree with MMO_Doubter, the IP feels pasted on top of the game they wanted to make just for the lure.
Ahh, the plaintive cry of the fanboi: You can't discuss our game! Go Away!
Look, discussing the good and bad of the game, ESPECIALLY during its dev cycle is precisely what these forums are about. Besides as admitted "dedicated Star Trek gamers" that are "all looking forward to" STO, not only can your opinion be discounted because its silly to think a game you know so little about is going to be so good, and that everyone who doesn't agree is wrong, but also being so admittedly biased, you prove MMO_Doubter's idea that the IP is being used as a lure.
How come I have the feeling that, and this is just my assumption, by the way the posts are going, none of you know what a "genuine Star Trek Experience" is?
I am not saying Cryptics take is a good one, I just see it spewed over and over again. What do you expect the universe, or more importantly, the gameplay, to be like? I enjoyed the series, and I like the last movie a lot (which "isn't" Star Trek) to a lot of people. Well what the hell is Star Trek? Because if I just pin it to the older series, or even some of the books, there is no way in hell I want to play any adaptation of that.
They were great stories, that in my opinion, suck as any sort of playable media. The combat was always boring as hell in the movies/series, because that wasn't what it was about.
Every time I listen to Trekky fans argue, they all have severely different opinions on what canon/series they enjoyed the best and why. How is anyone going to please them with a game adaptation from who-knows-where inspiration.
I think it'll be a neat game. Screw what I know about Star Trek, or don't know, which is a lot more, if the fun factor is there, I couldn't give a rat's ass how true to "Star Trek" it is. It's Cryptic's Star Trek. It'll never be any one elses.
Sheesh.
Sheesh. I mean, sheesh. Suddenly, I feel like I've slipped into an episode of "Tales of a Parrellel Universe" back when it was still a series of movies... and a wise woman was shouting "this has all happened before and will happen again!!!"
Look, heard this before SWG launched. Heard this before CoH launched. Vanguard. CO. EQ2, too. Requim. SGW. Fark, only MMO I haven't heard this type of line was WoW... and I hated the fact I couldn't poke npcs and get the "stop poking meeeeee!' squeel from Orcs. Well, that and a horde member with purple armor. *shudder*
Even with the plethora of information that has come out, there is no way (zero) to really know how the game will shake down. I've seen games completely mutate after/during beta... and massive changes just between a beta 3 and beta 4 closed series. Wait until peeps have actually PLAYED a game, before passing judgements on how it plays. Otherwise, well... you are just firing blind to the good or ill.
No.
We have some information, provided by the devs themselves. When (IF) the information changes, I will re-evaluate.
No, I'm not. How much did Cryptic pay you? You're a gaming site, not a Trek site. Your few thousand fans are a small minority of ST fandom. You are the minority.
No.
We have some information, provided by the devs themselves. When (IF) the information changes, I will re-evaluate.
I know these devs. Other than Jack, they are fairly open minded. Honestly, I'd rather see and experience the game, before I go about bashing it; who knows?
I hated the concept of Vanguard in a lot of ways... but the Diplomacy snagged me. Throughly snagged me; Aruspex/LinearCore/DoomCookie's mini-game defined an MMO for me (I still log in and moderate over on vgtact.com, in fact). If SOE had kept that trinity together and working on the sphere, I doubt I'd have ever left the game. (not to say Jansan's not doing an awesome job; he is. He just needs more support/devs).
All I am saying is this: even with what we know now, the stage is still open. Betas and games change with development... STO, well, just LOOK at the history with this one. It's been rebooted so many times, I half expect to see a windows logo somewhere on one of the bridge monitors (with a Cryptic logo smacking it around with a club).
Time answers many questions; I just suggest we see what occurs in time. I'm never opposed to any MMO, until I try it, myself.
Would Shatner (money aside) endorse this game over WOW?
Would Rod Roddenberry agree "OK" this as Star Trek?
There is no "money aside" for Shatner. He's no Trek fan.
It's Gene Roddenberry, and maybe (if he needed the bucks.)
1. Shatner: please. Would Nimoy endorse the game (or Koenig).
2. Does it have short skirts? There's your answer in that.
I don't consider myself a Treky or Trekkie or w/e.... I am a fan of the series. And my concern is less with the Star Trek feel, because Cryptic I am sure will nail that on the head. And more concerned with the balance and game play mechanics of STO. I betaed CO and was on the forums shouting that they needed to make the game harder. I could lvl to 30 (the cap is 40) easily without dieing. There was no challenge to it... now it seems that they figured that out on launch day and reblanced it, but the fact that they didn't listen to (not just me) a lot fo their testers that were saying the exact same thing really concerns me. The game needs to have a challenge or it becomes tedious. Simple to play, difficult to master. I think in the end STO will be a well built game, no not everyone will like it, and that is to be expected.
There is no "money aside" for Shatner. He's no Trek fan.
It's Gene Roddenberry, and maybe (if he needed the bucks.)
"Gene" is gone. Died sadly in 1991. Rod is his son who has kept the philosophys his father exponded alive. This is "thier" site:
http://www.roddenberry.com/
There is no "money aside" for Shatner. He's no Trek fan.
It's Gene Roddenberry, and maybe (if he needed the bucks.)
Gene's dead, so is his wife. His son is the only one left. Eugene Wesley "Rod" Roddenberry Jr.
Was happy to do it Zach.
I am not in any way saying that you cannot discuss Star Trek Online. What I am saying is that certain people need to accept that the game is going to be a certain way and that in turn, those people are not going to like Star Trek Online. You also need to accept that you folks are a minority and that therefore, Star Trek Online might not be the game for you.
THAT SAID - If you have played other Star Trek Games, such as Bridge Commander, Klingon Academy, Armada 1 and 2, Starfleet Command, etc - then having played Star Trek Online and having independantly interviewed Cryptic five times about Star Trek Online- I can say with 100% certainty that Star Trek Online is going to be a much better Star Trek Gaming EXPERIENCE than any of those other Trek games, which have been good, but have left holes of dissatisfaction in the hardcore Trek Fans.
You might think I am biased, running a site that deals specifically with Star Trek Gaming, however this is not the case. I have been very quick to "slam" poor trek gaming experiences in the past, Star Trek Legacy for one, so if you think for a moment that I am a "fanboi" who is going to accept anything that comes my way, then you are wrong sir.
In conclusion.....
[quote]not only can your opinion be discounted because its silly to think a game you know so little about is going to be so good[/quote]
I know a heck of a lot more about it than you!
I run a STAR TREK GAMING website - which i believe makes us both a "Star Trek" website and a "Gaming" website.
My website is visited by over 100,000 people per month (unique) and my podcast gets tens of thousands of downloads. I and the people I represent, are not a minority.
I am sure they like the IDEA of STO, but I do not think hey will enjoy EnB with a trek skin. This is the third go at this format, the other two were stillborn due to interest, and push back from Startrek fans.
Actually I listen to your show and I like it. I also don't agree with some of the elements of the game, especially the outside view of ships.
If I wanted to be my ship, i would go play Eve Online. I'm sorry, thats just not Trek to me. If it is for other people, well more power to you.
Now if I feel that way I'm sure some of your other dedicated listeners do as well.
We've all seen how games are defended hard before release and those whom defended it are normally first to jump ship. No one wants the game to fail.
Someone asked what would you like to see. I'd like to see Equal parts, a well made linear game mixed with a sandbox game. I want to live in the Star Trek universe, versus playing a Star Trek game.
If that makes since to people.
In terms of the number of Trek fans there are, yeah, you are.
When the head dev said everyone wants to be the captain, what was your reaction? Mine was that he doesn't know shit about Star Trek fans.
My initial reaction was that I didnt like being "told" what I wanted to be and that given the choice, I would likely have ALTs in different positions, engineering, tactical etc, HOWEVER, once I thought about it, I started to realise that for the most part, people do want to be captain and that even though I might not be able to follow my desires of having multiple characters in multiple professions, that being a CAPTAIN is definetly something I wanted to be and that I would therefore, give it its fair chance.
So did I like it? Not completely.
One thing I want to stress to folks here, is that when Perpetual Entertainment went bust at the end of 2007/begining of 2008 - CBS/Paramount went in to various game development companies and said - "we still want a Star Trek MMO, but we need it by the following date".
The 2010 release date for Star Trek Online is not something that has been set by Cryptic, its something that has been set by CBS / Paramount as a condition for making the game. Because of that, Cryptic were faced with a choice - either put everything in that they could possibly want at launch, but do a less than a half assed job (too much to do, to little time = mistakes and low quality right?)......or put in only SOME of what is wanted at launch but make that content of the highest possible quality and expand on it later.
Would I want to have been in that position, to decide what to put in now and what to put in later? No way - because no matter what you do at launch, not everyone is going to be happy.
However, down the line, we ARE going to get Playable Ship Interiors, we are going to get more factions and we are going to get more professions and who knows what else, but for now, Cryptic have been working to a very difficult release date imposed by CBS/Paramount and they are doing thier best.
Until I have had more than a 15 minute oppurtunity to play the game, I dont know for sure if its going to be good or not, but I do know that the 15 minutes I have played was freakin awesome and the screenshots, images and videos that I have seen, look pretty damn amazing. I also know that STO was the BUZZ of PAX and that everyone was talking about how great it was.
So we will all see I guess.
This is cryptic we are talking about here. They never had any intention to do anything but standard DIKU MMO game-play...In space.
They could have all the time in the world, it would still be DIKU MMO...In space.
Third time is the charm though, right?
As far as PAX, thts a gaming convention right, not a Star trek one? Of course they received it well, its a DIKU MMO...In space.
Loot 10 tribbles. Phaser +5 to Trills.
You are doing a fine job of providing PR for the game. Cryptic could have written that.
Most Trek fans would rather be McCoy, or Spock, or Uhura, or Data, or <insert Trek crewmember here> than Kirk, Picard, or Janeway.
You are doing a fine job of providing PR for the game. Cryptic could have written that.
Most Trek fans would rather be McCoy, or Spock, or Uhura, or Data, or <insert Trek crewmember here> than Kirk, Picard, or Janeway.
OK zach21uk,
Can you address whether they will consider adding in future expansions other Star Trek roles such as dedicated Doctors, Engineers or Scientists? In the make or break launch era of MMO's will the fans enjoy such delays? I have had some bad experiances with Star Trek games not meeting expectations. I look forward to your opinion proving STO to be the exception, if true.
I am quite aware of Paramounts demands on past endevors and can see what you discribe. Thank you for that.
I don't think it matters who is at fault. A half ass job is a half ass job. True that they ''might'' dangle the carrot and promise playable ships later but MMO players are hard to get back once you lose them. If you don't get it right at launch then why bother? Players of late are a lot less forgiving.
This is not to say Trek won't be a good game. But will it be Trek?
I for one don't want to start off as captain. If I were to become one I would like to actually earn it through missions or what have you. I want to be ''on'' the Enterprise, not ''BE'' the enterprise. Its elements like that that are going to send most people running if they bother with it at all.
I will do the game a favor and stay away until things are done right if it last that long.