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I'm not paying CBS to watch 'Star Trek' online
Yesterday I got the best birthday present a lifelong Trekkie could hope for: Star Trek is coming back to television -- kinda, sorta. It's been over a decade since Star Trek ended TV production and, while fans have had two successful films to enjoy (or despise), corporate infighting between CBS and Viacom has kept the franchise from its rightful home on the small screen. However, it looks like the two companies have hugged it out with the news that a new Star Trek series will return to "television" in early 2017. And while this would normally be cause for celebration among Trekkies, the announcement doesn't come without a few caveats in terms of who's making it and how it's being distributed: The show will be produced by the team in charge of the recent films, and it will only be available via CBS' subscription streaming service, CBS All Access. It's a bit of a no-win situation (a Kobayashi Maru scenario, if you will) for die-hard fans who wanted to see Star Trek back on television. Star Trek may be back, but it comes at a cost: both figurative and literal.
Captain's Log: Socializing and the quiet of space in STO
The Star Trek universe caters to a whole lot of different interests. You've got your basic sci-fi fan, who enjoys the shows and movies but doesn't get super into them. You've also got your movie buffs, who perk up for showings of Wrath of Khan or Nemesis (ha!). Futurists marvel at the prophetic nature of old-school Trek tech, and casual fans used to flip on the boob tube to scope out Seven of Nine's ram scoops. And of course, Star Trek has its die-hard fans, the Trekkers. (What's wrong with calling them "Trekkies," again?) I noticed a handful at New York Comic Con, traipsing about in their uniforms, snapping group pictures, scanning the Anime Festival next door for signs of intelligent life. And that got me to thinking about socializing in Star Trek Online. Why is it often so lonely in space?
Star Trek Online executive producer Craig Zinkievich discusses ship customization
The concepts behind Star Trek need no introduction to its legion of fans well-versed in the various films and TV incarnations of this particular sci-fi IP. Given how zealous science fiction fans can be about continuations, offshoots, or reboots of their favorite properties, we've been curious about how well Star Trek Online will match up with player expectations, especially given the disappointment some Trekkie gamers have had with older Star Trek titles of the non-MMO variety. That said, we're always looking to find out more about what Star Trek Online will offer MMO gamers, whether they're Trekkies or not. Cryptic Studios has been releasing bits of the game's lore which we hope will give us an accurate picture of where the game sits in the Star Trek timeline. We've also came across a Star Trek Online interview that might interest you. Gareth Von Kallenbach from Skewed and Reviewed recently interviewed Star Trek Online's executive producer Craig Zinkievich, who discusses some of the customization options that will be available to players in STO.
Ask Cryptic explains how Star Trek Online will handle canon
The latest Ask Cryptic focusing on Star Trek Online addresses a number of questions sci-fi fans have about where the IP is heading in the MMO space. Not surprisingly, many of the questions asked of Cryptic deal with how well they'll adhere to Star Trek canon. The Cryptic Studios devs were asked about how they would handle the iconic story and characters of Star Trek, namely with voiceovers and cut scenes. The devs state that Star Trek Online avoids issues of tampering with Trekkie canon by setting the game in 2409, a good 30 years after Star Trek: Nemesis and Star Trek: Voyager. So while some of the locales familiar to Star Trek fans will be present in the game, players shouldn't expect to bump into any (or many) familiar faces.
Star Trek Online official site offers free history lesson
Cryptic Studios promised that it would explain what happens in the Star Trek universe between the film Star Trek: Nemesis (the last canon entry in the franchise) and the time period of Star Trek Online. Fulfilling that promise, it posted on the official STO website the first of a series of articles of fiction describing events from Nemesis onward.The article covers 2379 and 2380. Hardcore Trekkies or Trekkers will be satisfied to find that canon is respected, right down to details such as the number of Cardassian casualties in the Dominion War, as revealed in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. We're not sure what we think of the idea that pretty much every character, no matter how minor (such as Keiko O'Brien) moved on to an historically significant role. It's probably meant to please the fans but it seems like a bit of a stretch.The Star Trek franchise is already known for that sort of stretching though; that's one of the reasons we love it so much, right?
STO August 10th webcast information revealed
So you can't make it to the Sunday, August 10th Las Vegas Star Trek convention to see Leonard Nimoy reveal Star Trek Online to a huge crowd of Trekkies? (Or Trekkers, we don't really know) We understand that you probably feel left out, especially considering that Cryptic is going to be showing live gameplay footage at the convention. Well worry not, for Cryptic has released the webcast information that allows all interested parties to watch as well. Commence rejoicing drive!You can follow this usefully highlighted link at 1:30pm PDT this Sunday, August 10th to watch all the commotion. Who knows? You could possibly get so excited over seeing Star Trek Online actually being played that you knock over your soda/water/coffee (depending on your timezone) but still don't care, because of how excited you are! Even if beverage knock-age doesn't occur, we're pretty certain most of you will be excited regardless.
