The first ever MMO I played at my first E3 was Star Trek Online. It was when it was making the shift to console, and the first prototype of the Xbox version was playable. While I will always hold that meeting close to my heart as Cryptic was the first company to give me a one-on-one as a lowly freelancer, I never much played Star Trek Online after that.
However, that has changed recently as I've gotten into it on my Xbox Series X lately as a great palette cleanser from some of the meatier MMOs and RPGs I've been playing. It's one of those MMO blindspots for me, partly because I'm not the biggest Star Trek fan out there. Sure, I've watched series with my dad growing up - Star Trek: The Next Generation was a staple in my home for as far back as I can remember. Some of my earliest memories are watching TNG with my dad before he was shipped off to Korea.
But it never quite grabbed me like other series did, like Stargate or Babylon 5.
However, in recent years, the resurgence of Star Trek media has changed that some. From Discovery to Picard, and even Strange New Worlds, I've found myself wanting to go back and explore the series more, and by extension, the MMO that shares its setting. So logging in last night to check out the Ship of the Line Museum in-game really spurs that desire onward.
Not Just Galactic Window Dressing
Star Trek Online's isn't just an MMO tie-in, doomed to be window dressing for the larger Trek universe. Instead, it feels like an integrated part of the stories that are being told in the fandom. This is helped by the fact that a few of STO's original ships have been featured in the shows, most notably in seasons of Picard.
The Ship of the Line Museum highlights this connection beautifully, showcasing ten ships from the history of the series, including a ship or two from the MMO. The Stargazer, which was featured in Picard, was created by Star Trek Online's designers, and takes up prime real estate at the head of the tour, while the MMO's incarnation of this era's Enterprise rounds out the exhibit.
Adorning the orbiting museum around Starfleet are multiple variations of the Enterprise, from the eponymous show's incarnation to the Original Series design that started it all. There's also the USS Discovery, the USS Voyager, Pike's Enterprise from Strange New Worlds, and more.
It's a fantastic homage to the series that started it all and has inspired so many over the last fifty years, from scientists, writers, inventors and game developers. It's also a reminder that Star Trek Online has a place in the greater Star Trek Universe, one that might get lost in the weeds sometimes from casual onlookers.
I appreciate too that the museum is showcased in the most Star Trek way possible: a fly-by. This isn't some exhibit with pictures and model replicas hanging from the ceiling of some dusty old museum. Rather, these are the full, fat ships that players can fly around and interact with, giving some more details on the crew, the ship design and history, as well as it's place in the larger Star Trek canon.
It was a nice detour from my mission to explore new worlds and galaxies (I'm just starting out with the USS Vingilot, myself), and it actually inspired me to throw on old episodes of The Next Generation while I played. The exhibit runs until the 24th of August - it's definitely worth checking out.
