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Stahl vacates STO lead role for 'exciting new project' at Cryptic
Star Trek Online executive producer Daniel Stahl is now former Star Trek Online executive producer Daniel Stahl, according to a post from new executive producer Stephen D'Angelo. He writes that Stahl "decided to step down from the captain's chair to pursue an exciting new project at Cryptic Studios." D'Angelo also thanks Stahl for his service, which included leading "STO for three of the four years since the game launched." D'Angelo previously served as STO's executive producer for six months when Stahl left Cryptic for Zynga before returning and reclaiming his original post.
Captain's Log: Interview with STO's Daniel Stahl, wrap-up
Late in May I had the opportunity to head over to Cryptic Studios to meet and interview several members of the Star Trek Online development team. This week I will be finishing up my synopsis of my conversation with Star Trek Online' Executive Producer Daniel Stahl. We were able to touch on his hopes for the game's user-generated content tool, The Foundry, and he also shared a lot of his thoughts on the potential market growth for STO as well as Cryptic's new subsidiary Cryptic North. Join us after the cut as we discuss what all of this might mean for the future of the studio and for Star Trek Online.
Star Trek Online state of the game update talks Season 8, reputation, and more
Star Trek Online executive producer Dan Stahl has posted a new state-of-the-game letter. Much of the post is a recap of the Legacy of Romulus expansion success and a thank you to STO supporters. Stahl does talk a bit about the Season 8 update which will release "later this year." It will focus on endgame missions for all factions as well as the game's first Space Adventure Zone. Also in the works is a new reputation system that represents a "major shift" from the current mechanic that Cryptic hopes will make it "more approachable than some of the previous systems." There's also a bit of info about Season 8's Feature Episode, as well as a mention of "a major investment in Gateway" to upgrade STO's web and mobile functionality. You can read the full letter via the links below. [Thanks matixzun!]
Captain's Log: Star Trek Online's Daniel Stahl at E3
Last week the unstoppable Jasmine Hruschak was one member of Massively's crack team who braved the traffic of Los Angeles to take in the sights, sounds, hawking, yelling, and craziness that was the Electronic Entertainment Expo. While she was there, she interviewed Star Trek Online's Executive Producer, Daniel Stahl, and put forth a few questions from the Massively team. Stahl was able to drop a few hints about the future of Star Trek Online in his responses, so join me past the jump as I deliver the highlights from their conversation!
Captain's Log: A new Star Trek Online potpourri
One thing is certain: Many players have returned to Star Trek Online since the Legacy of Romulus expansion was released. Many new players have also given Star Trek Online their first try and are suitably impressed with the game's improvement. Bug patches are forthcoming, and server crashes have been reduced over the past couple of weeks. Many players who have started new Romulan Republic characters and have reached level cap (50) are now turning their attention to the endgame material. Still others have decided to start their very first Klingon character. But what about stuff that isn't about Legacy of Romulus? It just so happens there are lots of "little" items to cover, so join me while I go over some of the news and tidbits that have popped up recently.
Stahl fields Star Trek questions, addresses downtime in latest Ask Cryptic
Star Trek Online executive producer Daniel Stahl is back to answer your questions in the latest edition of Ask Cryptic. In addition to fielding a few community queries, Stahl provides an update on what appears to have been a hectic week following the launch of the game's Legacy of Romulus expansion. While Stahl admits that there have been some rough spots when it comes to emergency downtime and queues, he says that the hubbub is ultimately a sign of STO's growth and subsequent higher profile. We did buy new hardware. We did upgrade the network. We did plan for all the new people, but sometimes bad things just happen for no good reason. We've had to replace some new hardware, rewire some networks, upgrade some firewalls, and pretty much anything else that you could think of from an infrastructure standpoint. We're sorry and we're working around the clock to whack the moles as they pop up. But in general, we've had more people in and playing the game than any previous update in STO. We're seeing record numbers of captains creating new Romulan characters. It's pretty awesome.
Captain's Log Supplemental: An Exclusive Q&A with STO's Daniel Stahl
After months of waiting, we can finally say that Star Trek Online's Legacy of Romulus expansion is upon us! After yesterday's launch, it's now possible to play as a member of the new Romulan Republic faction. It's now possible to begin a Klingon faction character from level 1! There's a new adventure zone and a completely overhauled user interface. We recently had the opportunity to ask Star Trek Online's Executive Producer, Daniel Stahl, some questions regarding the update. We were also given a lot of screenshots of the new material, and all are included in the new gallery below. There was a lot to cover, so let's get to it!%Gallery-189140%
Star Trek Online's Stahl talks Romulan faction alignment and more
Star Trek Online producer Dan Stahl sounds off on a variety of expansion-themed topics in the latest Cryptic dev blog featuring a series of questions by Massively's own Terilynn Shull. He devotes a particularly lengthy wall o' text to player concerns about the new Romulan faction being forcibly aligned with either the KDF or the Federation. "Just like the other two factions, Romulans have exclusive species, costumes, and starships that cannot be used by the other factions," Stahl explains. "While these citizens will start out in old ships they've managed to come by, they'll eventually gain access to new Republic ship designs and, when they've achieved proper rank in the Fleet, famous Romulan Warbirds such as the D'Deridex." Stahl also clarifies how STO can go about unlocking the new Reman species once the Legacy of Romulus expansion launches. "All accounts will have the ability to unlock the Reman species, which is an exclusive species to the Romulan Republic, in one of two ways: they can either purchase the species unlock, or they can earn it by achieving maximum tier in the Romulan Reputation with a captain of any faction."
Captain's Log: A Star Trek Online player uses math
On the heels of last week's revelation that Star Trek Online will be releasing its first ever expansion, Legacy of Romulus, many people were apparently waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop so they could rage when their expectations weren't met. That happened within seconds after the release of a special Ask Cryptic blog written by Executive Producer Daniel Stahl last Friday. Massively received a tip or two informing us that there was a Thread of Rage on the Star Trek Online forums, one that arose after the Ask Cryptic revealed that characters in the upcoming Romulan faction will be forced to choose to ally with either the Federation or the Klingon Defense Force and share in their fleet capabilities instead of developing fleets of their own. With the help of my accountant husband, I took on the challenge of dissecting this alleged Thread of Rage to determine how many people really did express feelings of rage, anger, or even disappointment with the news. You might be interested in the results of our analysis. If you are, take the jump!
Star Trek Online's Romulan expansion prompts special Ask Cryptic
Do you have a burning question about Star Trek Online: Legacy of Romulus? Get in line behind pretty much every single STO player, pal. But while your specific query may not reach the ears of top admirals, Executive Producer Daniel Stahl created a special edition of Ask Cryptic devoted to answering the most common questions out there. So what's included with the Romulan faction? Stahl says that there are three races (one free, one unlockable or purchasable, and one for subscribers only), adding, "The Romulan Republic was created from the ground up as a complete new faction. They have their own backstory, their own exclusive missions and episode series, exclusive costumes, faction-exclusive social hub, unique playable species, a full ship progression line from level 1 to 50, unique HUD UI, and more." While Romulans will be an independent faction, Stahl explained that these captains will choose to ally with either the Federation or Klingons for the purposes of storylines, PvP, and starbases.
Star Trek Online celebrates two million 'captains'
On the verge of its third anniversary, Star Trek Online has good reason to celebrate. In a state of the game post, Executive Producer Dan Stahl says that the title is growing by leaps and bounds: "You may have noticed that more than two million captains are continuing their voyages in Star Trek Online. With sustained increases in daily participation, the game is richer and more alive than ever before." Stahl looked back over the accomplishments and milestones of 2012, including Star Trek Online's transition to a free-to-play format. For the game's third anniversary, the team is releasing a featured episode on Thursday that will have a special reward for those who play it between January 31st and February 14th. The reward will be an Ambassador Class (the Enterprise-C model) for Federation players and the Kamarag Class for Klingon fans. Stay tuned for an on-air interview with Dan Stahl about STO in tomorrow's episode of Massively Speaking!
Star Trek Online transmits plans for next two seasons, mid-year event
Executive Producer Dan Stahl is hardly shy in tackling the myriad Ask Cryptic questions, and today's Star Trek Online queries proved to be no different for him. While there was a hodge-podge of questions from players, it seemed as though the focus for many was on the future of the game and Season 8 in specific. Stahl said that Season 8 is due in the first half of the year, possibly in May, although there will be some content arriving this month for the three-year anniversary of the game. He promises that Klingons will "get some love" in Season 8 and hints at the vast wealth of additions coming with the update: "[It] will focus on adding new missions and storyline to the game in the form of a new adventure zone, new episodes, and another big feature, which is yet to be revealed." Following Season 8, Cryptic will then roll out a mid-year event and Season 9. The mid-year event was compared to the game's current winter event, with the possibility of taking place on Risa. Stahl is quite pumped for the year in general: "Season 8 and Season 9 are both going to be BIG releases. I'm very much looking forward to them because they represent the first big releases we will have been able to do with the increase to our live team staff."
December's Ask Cryptic covers Season 8 and the third anniversary of Star Trek Online
In the latest Ask Cryptic for December, Executive Producer Dan Stahl answers a mountain of questions about Star Trek Online's upcoming third anniversary, Season 8, and more. Is a customizable UI in the works? Will the Adorian ship come later than January? Is the Voyager bundle coming in Season 8? What's the one thing Stahl would add to the game if it were up to him (wait, it's not?)? These questions and many more are all answered in this month's Q&A. If you'd like to see your own question be considered for a future Ask Cryptic, keep an eye on the forum board "Federation News Network" for the monthly thread.
Captain's Log: Star Trek Online tweaks Season Seven
It's been just over two weeks since Season Seven went live in Star Trek Online, and a lot of tweaks to the new reputation systems have already been implemented. Because of what seems to be low turn-out on the Tribble test servers, the team placed its focus on major performance bug squashing and decided to wait to make changes to the system mechanics until after it could get more solid data from the players on the live (Holodeck) server. Once that information was received, the changes were fast and furious. Star Trek Online's Executive Producer, Daniel Stahl, released two blog posts over the course of the last week, outlining not only the alterations to the Season Seven material but also answers players questions in the November Ask Cryptic. Join me as I go over a few of the changes!
Ask Massively: Reviewing and re-reviewing MMOs
Back in September, Star Trek Online Producer Daniel Stahl gave an interview that proposed to tell game journalists how to do their jobs. That's only fair; we're always telling developers how to do their jobs, right? Stahl told [a]listdaily, "The whole game rating business doesn't necessarily do a great justice to MMOs. MMOs are designed to grow over time and get better with every major release. It might be better if sites like Metacritic could find a way to rate MMOs by releases instead of just the initial day one . . . There are plenty of MMOs that have made huge strides since day one and some that have even gotten worse. Until then, we will continue to offer the game for free and ask for people to try it out and decide for themselves." Quipped Massively reader Matthew12, "If only there were MMO gaming blogs and websites that keep up to date with the MMOs and their updates... oh wait; there are."
Captain's Log: The state of Star Trek Online
This week saw the release of a new State of the Game blog from Star Trek Online Executive Producer Daniel Stahl. Much of what he said gave players hope for the future of Star Trek Online, including remarks that the game is "thriving at a time when many MMOs have kicked or are about to kick the bucket." The blog also featured some additional comments about the future of the game and how the company planning for 2013 and beyond. Join me as I discuss his blog post and the poll results that were generated over the past couple of weeks. I'll also take a look at the future of the game, the expanding STO team, The Foundry, and the Klingon Empire.
Star Trek Online producer: Current game ratings don't do MMOs justice
Are launch-day reviews of MMOs accurate over time? Dan Stahl, producer of Star Trek Online, doesn't think so. In a recent interview, Stahl stated that the current method of reviewing MMOs only at initial launch is not truly reflective of a genre that, by design, continually evolves. Stahl would like to see something that takes a title's major releases into account, stating, "There are plenty of MMOs that have made huge strides since days one and some that have even gotten worse." Until more progressive reviews come along that give players an up-to-date view of games, Stahl's recommendation to players is to try a game out and decide for themselves.
Star Trek Online producer says game is 'kicking butt'
Star Trek Online Producer Daniel Stahl isn't beating around the bush about the state of the game. According to him, STO has both purpose and a leg-up on much of the industry. "When you consider what it takes to run an MMO in today's highly competitive marketplace," Stahl writes, "STO has been kicking some butt. Despite what some may think, we have a deliberate path and long-term goals that we've been tracking quite well against. STO has not only survived, but is thriving at a time when many MMOs have kicked or are about to kick the bucket." Stahl goes on to rally the troops by citing how much the team has accomplished this year and what its focus is on for November's Season 7 update and beyond. The team's biggest priorities are in enriching the foundry, overhauling PvP, buffing up Klingon content, and a possible Romulan faction. He also mentioned that Cryptic has hired "great talent" from 38 Studios and Paragon Studios to join the team.
Captain's Log: Star Trek Online's Daniel Stahl's Q&A at Raptr
The past week was met with such interesting Star Trek Online news that I'm postponing my advice series: STO launched a formal affiliation with gaming social media site Raptr, and Cryptic Studios' Executive Producer Daniel Stahl spent a majority of the day answering questions posed to him in the site's community threads. Stahl revealed quite a few tasty tidbits of information and even though the thread can be accessed by non-members members (the link is below in the comments section), I am taking the liberty of reporting on some of his responses. Join me after the break to read what's in store for the future of STO.
Captain's Log: Star Trek Online in Las Vegas
This weekend, Massively, along with Trek Radio, hosted the formal Star Trek Online Discussion with the Devs panel at the official Star Trek convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. And if I judge by the personal feedback received and the unanticipated (yet much appreciated) turn-out from players who attended the panel, all seems to have been very well received. Join me past the jump to learn more about what the STO developers said in response to questions posed by Massively and those in attendance at the convention and on the game's forums.
