tholian
Latest
Captain's Log: Star Trek Online's reputation systems for the new player
One thing new MMO players will learn is that games that have levels inevitably also have a level cap, meaning that when a character reaches the highest level, there's not often much left to do other than to wait for a new expansion. This conundrum has left many developers trying to find ways to keep players in the game while they worked on new, larger content pushes. Many accomplish the task by creating repeatable quests or missions. Some games, Star Trek Online included, have integrated what are known as reputation systems into their games. Reputation systems are meant to keep players participating in repeatable content, allowing them to apply the currency received from that play to obtain select items and unique rewards.
Star Trek Online shows off the new Tholian Lock Box
Fair warning for those of you who hate the Star Trek Online lock boxes: There's no good news for you in this post. Those of you who do like the system (or at least aren't actively unfond of it) will be glad to know that the release of Season 6 is bringing along a new box, complete with new rewards. That includes four new ships (the Tholian Orb Weaver and three mirror universe versions of existing ships) along with new cross-faction consoles and new duty officers. Players can also be rewarded with new purple-quality Phased Tetryon weapons or Fleet Credits to accelerate progress on fleet starbase projects. The lock box also contains a wider variety of crystals, ensuring that even if you don't get the drop you want, you can at least get something of worth. While the rewards won't please any fans of the game who dislike the existing box system, there's at least a variety of nice prizes within the box.
Captain's Log: Star Trek Online launches Season Six
Season Six has finally made its way to the Star Trek Online live servers! It was pushed to the Holodeck server last Thursday after a day-long maintenance period and a couple of patches that followed into the wee-hours of the morning on Friday. By Friday afternoon, the majority of issues seemed to be resolved, and players, especially those who belonged to fleets, crowded into the game to begin construction on their new starbases. Others jumped in to play against the new Tholian enemy in a hostile environment. Most now seem very happy with the new content and are eager to work with their fellow starship captains to create and defend their fleets' bases. Join me after the jump as I go over more of the new stuff!
Captain's Log: Tholians come to STO and Cryptic's cryptic answers
Well, it's about time. Ask most Trekkies who their favorite franchise bad guys are and most will respond with answers like the Romulans, the Borg, or maybe even Q or the Klingons. Rarely will someone respond with the Tholians, but I will. They have been my favorite Star Trek nemeses since I read the official Star Trek novels set in the Original Series era called Vanguard. Written by veteran Star Trek novelists David Mack, Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore, and Marco Palmieri, the seven-book series revolves around a secret lab set on a starbase built in the far-flung reaches of space just as Kirk and gang begin their heralded five-year mission. The Tholians play important roles in the books, and I've been salivating at the thought of having them in Star Trek Online ever since I heard they were being worked on. And now they're here! Join me after the jump to learn more about what you can expect from an encounter with these very toasty arachnids.
Captain's Log: STO's loaded for bear
In continued preparation for the coming release of Season Six, this week Star Trek Online players saw the reemergence of the State of Game letters from STO Executive Producer Daniel Stahl as well as the launch of the new tier five ship, the Armitage class. We still await the official release date for Season Six; it hasn't been released to the Tribble test server, but Stahl's letter gives additional insight into what players can expect from the new season and gives a few hints at what can be anticipated in Season Seven, due out later this year. So join me as I go over both the letter and the specs for the new ship!
Captain's Log: Incoming messages from the devs... again
Captain's Log, Stardate 65131.6... Hello, computer (and players)! I seem to mention this all the time, but I believe it to be true: The developers working on Star Trek Online are more transparent with their work than the devs of most other games. Whether or not this transparency has been always been a good thing is debatable, though. Still, no matter what one's thoughts on this are, I think we can all agree we like to be "in the know" when it comes to new things in development. This past weekend, a select group of STO players was able to attend another Dine with the Devs event, hosted by yours truly, where transparency was taken to the next level. As I let you all know last week, the second-ever Dine with the STO Devs event coincided with some STO devs' visit to the Star Trek Las Vegas convention. Over 50 players gathered at a local Vegas restaurant to eat, drink and bombard Cryptic's developers with their most burning questions. Because 99.99% of the game's players were unable to attend, I captured the entire event on audio and would like to present you with a basic transcript of the evening's events. So make some food, grab a drink, and get ready to fire up the Holodeck for another edition of Captain's Log. Ensign, warp 10! Auxiliary power to the Holodeck matrices and brace for impact...
STO's Dan Stahl fields 30 questions about the Enterprise, Tholians and more
As Star Trek Online grows ever-closer to its one-year anniversary in February 2011, fans of Cryptic's space saga have burning questions about the future of the game. In swoops Executive Producer Dan Stahl to keep the flames under control with a whopping 30 answers in the latest STO Q&A session. As usual, there is no overriding theme to these questions, which range from whether we'll be seeing the 2009 Star Trek movie's Enterprise in the game (only if Paramount gives permission), whether Cryptic is working on more voice-overs for missions (yes), and when we'll be seeing the Tholians (probably not until after Season 4 releases). Stahl emphasizes that the STO team's prime directive is, simply, "More Like Trek," and the devs are working hard to infuse more of a Star Trek feel into every aspect of the game. Meanwhile, the Foundry -- the player-created mission system -- briefly went into beta on the Tribble test server yesterday, but was quickly taken down due to issues with the infrastructure. Stahl has great hopes for it, however: "In all -- the Foundry will open up the ability for the community to create some great (and let's be honest -- not so great) missions that you'll be able to play just like any other mission in the game."
Cryptic answers the 29 most pressing STO questions
Star Trek Online's monthly Ask Cryptic features are always something for fans to look forward to reading, but this month even more so as executive producer Dan Stahl goes well beyond the normal handful of queries to accumulate 29 questions and answers to some of the hottest topics among the community. Included in this Q&A session is a sneak peek at the work-in-progress Tholian race (above left), the revelation that Season 4 will primarily focus on retooling repeatable end game content, fleet starbases, passive bridge officer abilities, Season 3 item sets, Memory Alpha improvements, sector space expansion and much, much more. Stahl even explains why he picks the questions he does to answer -- basically, he likes to get into topics that aren't repeatedly touched upon in interviews. Those hoping for a full-fledged STO expansion shouldn't start holding their breath, however: "It is unclear if we will ever produce a paid expansion as the market is leaning away from expansions and more towards smaller microtransactions. However, if we ever did release a paid expansion, it would be a significant update and add some new functionality to the game that would be deemed worth the price of the release."
