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The Daily Grind: Do you like in-game gambling?
Putting aside the thorny issue of lockboxes, let's turn our attention today on the subject of in-game gambling. I've noticed that more and more games are including some form of gambling, usually as minigames. From Fallen Earth's electronic blackjack to Star Trek Online's Dabo wheel, there seems to be no shortage of ways for players to waste double their currency. In-game gambling actually has a long association with computer and video game RPGs. I've never seen it as a legitimate money-maker so much as a pleasant distraction from combat and a tool for immersion. Plus, if the developers actually managed to create a good poker minigame out of it all, then it's like getting two games for the price of one! It might be hard to developers these days to keep microtransactions out of in-game gambling systems, but fortunately that's not a universal problem as of yet. Whether or not real money comes into the equation, do you enjoy gambling in your MMOs? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Star Trek Online answers a fleet's worth of questions
The one-year anniversary for Star Trek Online is just around the corner, and the game has quite a number of irons in the fire to go along with that milestone. Player-generated content and weekly episodes are two of the game's big features on deck for the near future, and the latest installment of Ask Cryptic certainly addresses those, but that's only the tip of the iceberg. With nearly three dozen disparate questions answered, this month's offering covers everything from Vulcan ships to an open PvP environment. Among the more interesting answers is the fact that the development team is looking into ways to model rather unique ship traits such as the multi-vector attack mode of the Prometheus class. The team is also hoping to give players the ability to fly shuttles and yachts, along with reasons to do so. The next minigame after dabo is still on the table, but at the moment the team is focused on more meaty content. Take a look at the full rundown for all of the Star Trek Online questions for this month -- there's plenty of information to be found within the lengthy answers.
Captain's Log: Pros and cons of Season 2
Hail and well met, fellow travelers! Welcome to another edition of Captain's Log, your weekly helping of Star Trek Online infopiniontainment. The past few weeks have been a little crazy around here, between the C-Store kerfuffle and the game's six-month anniversary. Oh, and did I mention Season 2 went live? Yep, the corking chaps at Cryptic Studios released STO's latest super-patch on July 27, introducing a bevy of new content. Now that most players have had a chance to sink their teeth into Season 2: Ancient Enemies, I thought we'd discuss some of the major new features, as we did when Season 1 hit the scene four months ago.
Make love not war: STO's Craig Zinkievich shows off the Federation Diplomatic Corps
As everyone knows in the television business, the second season of a show is usually tons better than the first (unless it's Heroes, for some reason). Considering how well Star Trek Online's Season One update was received across the community, the STO team has a lot of work to do to meet and exceed that standard with the upcoming Season Two. Cryptic plans to roll out one of these bigger updates every three months, which puts Season Two smack in the middle of July. ZAM caught executive producer Craig Zinkievich on the way to his ready room for a chat about Season Two. The big discussion revolves around the launch of the Federation Diplomatic Corps, an effort to provide an additional emphasis on exploration, diplomacy and anthropology that STO's combat-centric gameplay has so far been lacking. Apparently, players will have to rise through the diplomatic ranks almost like a separate leveling system as they engage in first contacts and the like. We'll just have to wait and see if they introduce a "lengthy patronizing Picard-style speech" as one of the skills. Zinkievich also pontificated on ship interiors and the new Dabo minigame, both of which are much-requested features to help Star Trek Online feel more, well, Trekky. You can get your captain on by reading the full interview over at ZAM.
Star Trek Online warps to the next frontier in the latest State of the Game
Like dogged engineers in Jefferies tubes, Cryptic's crew have been working feverishly to tune up Star Trek Online to optimal performance. They haven't been quiet about communicating their accomplishments and intentions, either. As part of their ongoing efforts to keep players in the loop regarding STO improvements, a new State of the Game announcement was released yesterday to look at the past, present and future of the title. After listing their accomplishments so far, Executive Producer Craig Zinkievich runs down a bullet point list of imminent additions to the game. Season 2 is almost here, and with it new minigames (such as Dabo), the Federation Diplomatic Corps (non-combat missions), weekly episodes, a level cap increase to Vice Admiral 1 and ship interiors. Many other features that are "coming soon" include the Accolade feature and the Squad system -- the latter giving players of different levels the ability to temporarily adjust levels to facilitate grouping. Perhaps the most intriguing part of this already-packed State of the Game is a look at the not-so-distant future of STO, as Zinkievich teases a new faction (although no decisions have been made) and "user-generated content" of an unspecified nature. Read the full report and let Starfleet know how they're doing!
Ship interiors planned in the near future for Star Trek Online
It's been an interesting process to watch the growth of Star Trek Online over the past few months, with Cryptic clearly making a concerted effort to pack a great deal more content into the game as fast as possible. They've stated prior that they would like to go no more than three months between major content updates, with smaller updates happening on a monthly basis. In the most recent Engineering Report on the official site, we get more details about what's being planned and worked on for the near future -- and the many players eagerly awaiting ship interiors don't have to wait that much longer. The report outlines the rough plan for the next three months, for the Season 1.2 patch, the followup 1.3 patch, and the Season 2 update planned in July. 1.2 is aiming at adding a "sidekick" system a la City of Heroes, new playable races, and social improvements. 1.3, targeted for June, is adding Dabo, the option to trade bridge officers, and weekly episodes. And as could be expected, Season 2 is packed to the gills with new features -- including Klingon episodes, "neutral" episodes for all factions, and ship interiors. Take a look at the full report for more looks at what's on the table and being tested for Star Trek Online.
Dabo, Klingon missions, and diplomacy heading for Star Trek Online
There are a lot of things to expect out of Star Trek Online, including things that weren't in the game at launch which made some people rather unhappy. The game has passed its three-month mark, however, and seems to be doing fairly well for itself with updates coming at a steady clip. Executive Producer Craig Zinkievich recently sat down for an interview in which he discussed some of the upcoming content for the game, including the ever-popular pastime of any Deep Space 9 occupant: Dabo, the nebulously-defined gambling game that involved large sums of money and attractive Bajoran attendants. Beyond that, the staff is working on Memory Alpha and tweaking the difficulty of the special task forces, which they felt were just about right for the high end and a bit too difficult for the average player. They've also got the beginnings of plans for Season 2, including a raise to the skill point cap, Klingon Episodes, and a Federation diplomatic corps. The next update is tenatively scheduled for July. For more details on what the future is currently slated to hold for Star Trek Online, take a look at the full interview.
