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Captain's Log: Starship interiors and hints of the future
Oh, hi there, readers! You'll have to excuse me; I was just enjoying a little quiet time in my quarters. My starship quarters. Inside my starship. Because I have those now. Yes, among many other features, Season 2: Ancient Enemies introduced starship interiors to Star Trek Online. Continuing from last week's discussion of diplomacy, one of Season 2's other big additions, I thought we'd spend this edition of Captain's Log examining ship interiors. Plus, we'll take a special side trip into the future to consider what else STO fans can look forward to -- in the future!
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.
Captain's Log: More beginner's guide to Star Trek Online
Hello again, space cadets! Welcome back to Captain's Log, where I pretend each week to know a photon torpedo from a warp core. They both blow up sometimes, so what's the difference, right? Last week we discussed starting out in Star Trek Online, from creating a character to beginning the tutorial. Let's jump right back into it this week. I'll run you through the rest of the Federation tutorial, adding a few helpful hints as we go. By the end, you'll be ready to set sail in your very own ship ... even if it does look awfully similar to everyone else's ship.
Captain's Log: Beginner's guide to Star Trek Online
Avast, me hearties! Shiver me timber beams, and raise the mainsail matrix! The weather in the Beta Ursae Sector Block has been so nice lately that the crew of the U.S.S. Bob Wiley has a little spring fever. We've been hanging out in the holodeck re-enacting a trio of historical recordings about Caribbean pirates, and the parlance has rubbed off on me a bit. Welcome to another edition of Captain's Log, ye olde Massively column on the vagaries of Star Trek Online. With the Bajoran lilacs in bloom, patrolling seems like such a drag. And with the solar winds wafting so lightly through the Rolor Nebula, spreading diplomacy throughout the sector blasting Cardassians into oblivion has lost some of its luster. Spring is a time of new beginnings. (Your humble captain assumes that the rest of the galaxy experiences spring at the same time as the Eastern Seaboard of Planet Earth's United States.) So let's take a look at the beginner's experience in Star Trek Online.
Captain's Log: The advisory council and fan service in Star Trek Online
Hard to port! Disruptors on full! Fire the tachyon beam! Oh, hello again. Welcome back to Captain's Log, Massively's weekly -- y'know what, hang on. These Cardassians are being a real pain in the toukas. Yes, Ensign, some torpedoes would be fabulous right about now. And you wonder why I haven't promoted you. Sorry about that. This is Captain's Log, where I administer your weekly dose of Star Trek Online news, analysis and meaningless conjecture every Thursday. At least until the Massively overlords relegate me to the spice mines of Kessel. Oh, wait... After discussing Season One and the joy of Fleet Actions, I have two items on this week's agenda. First, I thought I'd introduce myself! It's silly to read the Captain's Log without knowing who the captain is, right? After that I'll discuss STO's hot topic du jour, the Advisory Council, and whether fan service will kill or save Cryptic's spacefaring MMO.
Captain's Log: Fleet actions, the Crystalline Entity and you
Ahoy, ensigns and admirals! Welcome back to Captain's Log, our weekly dose of Star Trek Online news, tips and unfounded personal opinions straight from the final frontier. After Friday's look at the ups and downs of Season One, today's Captain's Log assumes its regular Thursday stardate. At least until his masters at Massively make good on their threat to reassign your humble captain to Q-tip quality control. On Ferenginar. This week, let's take a look at Fleet Actions. Some are a rewarding change of pace from the often solitary grind of patrol and exploration. And some -- well, okay, just one -- is the bane of Starfleet's existence. We'll get to that in a minute.
Captain's Log: Pros and cons of Season One
Hailing frequencies open. Testing. Is this thing on? Yes, Lieutenant, I'm pushing the-- ah! Greetings and salutations, fellow Starfleet officers! And a hearty nuqneH to all you Klingons out there. Welcome back to Captain's Log, the weekly Star Trek Online column here at Massively. After a few weeks of tuning down in Engineering, Captain's Log is back, shinier than ever, with a new captain at the helm. Now let's set sail before the admirals at Massively reassign me to replicator cleanup duty. You've never seen a mess until you've seen someone order haggis and Ferengi snail juice. Federation and Klingon captains all over the galaxy have reason to rejoice. Thursday saw the release of Season One: Common Ground, one of the first really huge content patches for Star Trek Online. The patch introduces a bevy of features, including new fleet actions, a new task-force mission and more stuff for Klingons to do.
Star Trek Online launches massive Season One patch
Cryptic has announced via press release that the major Season One content patch is launching for Star Trek Online today. This patch brings all kinds of new free content to the game, causing much of the community to count the days until it finally landed in the game proper. The list of updates is impressively long and several of them address player griefs with areas like Klingon ship customization and mission variety. This is also the first patch bringing some PvE missions for Klingon players, which was a sticking point with many at launch. But Season One also brings captain respecs as well for players unhappy with their skill load-out -- an essential feature that's been sorely missed by many. Find the whole lowdown on this laundry list of new content after the break.%Gallery-86596%
Newest responses to Ask Cryptic for Star Trek Online talks Klingons
There's a certain mystique that Klingons hold for Star Trek fans, having shown up for many different stories in every show and even several movies. That's not even counting the fact that they have an entire language to back them up. So it's probably not a huge surprise that the most recent Ask Cryptic has been dedicated to questions about the Klingon Empire in Star Trek Online. Players have enjoyed the concept, but there have been more than a few expressions of disappointment at the lack of non-PvP options for the faction and the customization available (or not available) to the participants. The short version is that many of the things being asked for by Klingon players are coming -- more customization, more ship types, and more options to advance oneself without blasting honorless Federation ships out of the sky. There's even a promise of opportunities for the two factions to interact outside of combat, although the question of capturing landmarks via PvP is met with a negative. One of the responses also hints that there may be yet more factions in the game. All of the questions may be found here, which promise an interesting future for Klingons and Federation players alike in Star Trek Online.
Anti-Aliased: A Cryptic opinion
So, wow, what a set the last week and a half has been. There seems to be a very strong theme going on in my inbox recently, and that's, without a doubt, Cryptic Studios. I've read unflattering comments about my integrity as a journalist, the usual statements of how this site is Cryptic's lapdog due to all of the Star Trek Online and Champions Online coverage, and, even more oddly, people want to know my opinion of Cryptic's recent actions -- specifically Star Trek Online and Vibora Bay. Well, I was never one to shirk from the truth. I've been wanting to give my personal opinion on these events since Vibora Bay hit, so I might as well dedicate this column to my evaluation of Cryptic Studios. But, before we get to Cryptic, I have a few ground rules that I want to go over with you guys. Some facts that I'd like to set straight for, oh, I dunno, the fifth time.
Pay to become a Ferengi or Federation Klingon in Star Trek Online
Are you somewhat satisfied with your Star Trek Online avatar, but wish he or she possessed more unsightly forehead ridges? Perhaps you desire a pair of ears shaped and sized like funnel cakes? Do you wish it looked like your brain was attempting to escape out of the top of your head? Good news -- the Federation Ferengi race can now be downloaded in-game for 80 Cryptic Points, which translates to a shiny half-dollar in real-world funds. Federation players also have the option to download what we can only assume to be a reformed species of Klingon for 240 Cryptic points, or $1.50. We're still unsure as to why anyone would play Star Trek Online and not make their own race, since we wouldn't find the game so compelling without the adventures of Barbicane, the only surviving Bonerian in the galaxy.
Star Trek Online offers two new races in online store
Many Star Trek Online players were surprised to find a couple of new additions to the C-store after launch in the form of two new playable races. For 240 Cryptic Points, you can purchase the Klingon race, and for only 80 Cryptic Points you can purchase the Ferengi race. Each race comes with a few race-specific traits -- Warrior and Honorable for the Klingon, Immunity and Acute Senses for the Ferengi -- and the ability to choose two more. Purchasing the race unlocks it for every character slot on the account. Most pre-order packages included Cryptic Points, so the races will essentially be free for many players, but fan reaction was mixed regarding the addition anyway. Many players felt it to be a bit of an underhanded move, with the phrase "nickel-and-diming us" being batted about frequently. Meanwhile, a similar number of players pointed out the free points that came with pre-order as well as the increasing frequency of microtransactions in MMOs these days, and moved on. No matter which side of the argument you fall on, if you are interested in learning more about these two new races, you can take a look here.
New info and screens for upcoming Star Trek Online content
Earlier we got a small taste of what's to come in Star Trek Online through the State of the Game feature, but already Cryptic is treating the community to a brand new "What's Next" page that lays bare their free update plans for the next two months. While all the major points themselves are old hat, it's the details of those major points that are in fact, new. We've got a breakdown of the coming updates after the break, plus new screens in our gallery.
Star Trek Online official dev blog: Tracy Jasperson
Today we bring you a developer blog from Tracy Jasperson, an animator for Star Trek Online. We're a bit jealous of Tracy's job, because the chance to animate some of the very cool -- and often iconic -- moves and moments in the Star Trek universe sounds like a deliciously rare kind of fun. Still, now we can all live the experience vicariously, through this developer blog! If only holodecks were real... Be sure to come back Friday for the final installment of our entire week of developer blogs for Star Trek Online. Enjoy!
Star Trek Online character customization in pictures
Cryptic Studios, the developer behind Star Trek Online, is well known for their character customization options. I know that I spent more time making characters in City of Heroes than beating up bad guys. Cryptic has brought that same design aesthetic to STO. For those of you not currently in open Beta, I've captured a gallery of shots below spotlighting all the available races in open beta (Federation and Klingon factions.) I've also shown the cosmetic customization screens for both factions and the color palettes available. However the true fun lies not in tweaking the familiar Vulcan, Bajoran or Klingon races, but in the build-you-own-alien race tool. For both factions you can randomly create an alien species based on a humanoid model. Blotchy skin, tentacles, protrusions, ridges, antennae and more await those players looking for a unique presence in the game. I've taken screenshots of some crazy creations randomly generated, too. You can also customize your alien if you have something specific in mind. Not seeing the alien life form you're looking for? Borg will be available as a Federation faction playable race to those who pay for the Lifetime subscription option. Ferengi and Risian will be added as playable races right after launch and future expansions promise more familiar faction race sets including Romulan. Star Trek Online launches on February 2, 2010. %Gallery-83416% Enter the Star Trek universe with Cryptic Studios' Star Trek Online. From hands on reviews of the early levels and space combat, through noob question and developer interviews, we've got everything you need to know about the game trekkies are dying for.
New Star Trek Online trailer gets its Kling-on
There are no words spoken in the Star Trek Online trailer you see above -- not that any words are really required. You can easily get the gist from the moving pictures, which give a brief look at the Klingon Empire's homeworld, its floating armadas, and somewhere in the vicinity of 17,000 laser discharges. Forget the fact the game isn't even out yet -- we feel confident calling it the "Most Lasered Game of 2010." If that sounds like something you want to be a part of, it's not too late to find an entry key for the open beta! %Gallery-28626%
STO website adds faction page, hints at future factions
Open beta is here and launch isn't far behind, which is of course why we're starting to see stuff like the recently revealed faction page for Star Trek Online. While you can't look (or click) on them now, it's quite telling that Cardassian and Romulan faction symbols are there for the looking. Cryptic has been pretty open with the fact that they plan to add new factions in the future, but the upfront listing of them causes us to wonder what the schedule is for the launch of faction number three. We really love the approach to this faction page, too. Why? Selecting a faction gives you the perspective of said faction, but from each side. That is to say, you get a Klingon's point of view of their own Empire, as well as the Federation. It's a nice touch of Trek that shows the men and women at Cryptic are keen to stick to the spirit of the series, even when outside of their own game.
A quick Star Trek Online PvP interview with Jack Emmert
We recently had the opportunity to ask Cryptic's Jack Emmert a few questions regarding Star Trek Online and its PvP elements. With the looming open beta (tomorrow!) and similarly imminent February 2nd launch, we consider ourselves lucky to get some fairly definitive answers on topics like the game's Cryptic Store and the Klingon faction's future -- including if deeper customization is in the wings or not. It's a quick read, but with less than 24 hours until open beta kick starts, that's probably a good thing. We wouldn't want to take away from anyone's Star Trek movie marathon, which is obviously what everyone is doing the day before, right? Khan!
Hands-on with Star Trek Online's early levels
There's been a lot of Star Trek Online coverage lately here at Massively, which is only normal given the looming early February release date. This particular feature is a look at the game over the course of around seven or eight "levels" of play. Sadly, that means I haven't acquired my first non-starter ship, although that goal will soon be reached even if it costs me more sleep. Still, you should check out the brand new beta gallery, because I was still able to catch plenty of cool stuff -- plus a classic Enterprise. Now, onto the preview!%Gallery-81223%
Massively goes where no blog's gone before with Star Trek Online
Our brief time with Star Trek Online at PAX 2009 offered us a glimpse of the Starfleet's glossy spacecrafts and some player vs. environment gameplay. Recently, our MMO-loving sister site Massively got a chance to see how the other half lives. That is to say, the wrinkle-headed half, and the competitive half. That is to say, Klingons (the eeeeevil faction) and player vs. player combat. Check out Massively's write-up to get more gooey, insider baseball-filled details about the Klingons' impressive arsenal, and to find out how PvP skirmishes unfold.