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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!
DARPA unveils plans for undersea payloads that surface on command
DARPA already intends to set a drone ship out to sea, and now it's revealed plans for undersea payloads that lie dormant for years and launch themselves to the surface when remotely commanded. Dubbed Upward Falling Payloads, the containers will carry non-lethal cargo such as small UAVs or networking hardware, and take advantage of the "cheap stealth" their position underwater grants them. Since the vision is to have a fleet of UFPs spread throughout ocean floors, it'll help the Navy "get close to the areas we need to affect, or become widely distributed without delay," according to DARPA Program Manager Andy Coon. DARPA is aiming to tap engineering talent from telecom companies to the oil exploration industry in order to solve challenges such as communications used to wake up payload nodes and launching them to the surface. There's no word on when UFPs will begin lurking sea floors, but DARPA is already looking for proposals to help build them. [Image credit: Alwbutler, Flickr]
Dan Stahl talks Star Trek Online's Season 4 and beyond
Since taking over last year, Dan Stahl has made a point of being very accessible to players when it comes to the future of Star Trek Online and the team's overall plans. The United Federation of Planets, a fan forum celebrating the variety of games set within the universe, has conducted an interview with Stahl in the most recent issue of its magazine. As always, there's a large number of different projects behind the scenes as the team turns its focus toward Season 4 and beyond. The overarching plan for the game's second year seems to be to improve and reinforce the game's elements to date, with Stahl mentioning that he hopes to put the Romulan faction into the game before the year is out. There are plans for another increase in level cap, possibly including Admiral-rank uniform variants as seen on the shows. And with Season 4 on its way, the team is hard at work trying to step up the storyline elements about the mysterious agenda of the Iconians, as well as the war between the KDF and Starfleet. The full interview begins on page 10 and should prove interesting to any Star Trek Online fan.
