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Captain's Log: Star Trek Online's Dyson Sphere ground battle zone
Finally! We finally have some news to report involving Star Trek Online's upcoming new content! Some of the new Season Eight material is up on the Tribble test server, and the new Featured Episode will be released on October 31st! We still aren't exactly sure when Season Eight will be released, but it's now easier to see what's in store for us, including a new set of space missions and new ground missions that feature territory control. I've had a chance to jump onto Star Trek Online's Tribble server to try a few things out and to see these "dinosaurs with frikkin' lasers on their heads" for myself. So let's get to it.
One Shots: Dusting crops with the boys
We're going to begin today's column with a very important announcement. It's so important that I'm breaking all the rules putting very important announcement in bold like that, but hopefully you're paying attention by now. We had a glitch with our email that pretty much blocked all submissions for One Shots since September 22nd, and so I never received them. I'm so sorry this has happened, but if you sent in a picture since then, I'd urge you to do it again. Thanks! Meanwhile, Captain Matt paid a few thousand credits to go on a once-in-a-lifetime trip with Han and Chewie in Star Wars Galaxies. "Here's me going into lightspeed with the closest of friends!" As Matt's living it up playing space chess with a Wookiee and getting his arms torn off, we've got many very important submissions to check out after the jump!
Latest Star Trek Online dev blog talks dinosaurs, Voth technology
Like Star Trek? Like the Voth species that made its way into Trek lore during Voyager's third season? Then you'll love Cryptic's latest Star Trek Online dev diary penned by systems designer Jeff "AdjudicatorHawk" Hamilton. He's got a lot to say with regard to STO's Voth ground combat experience including tidbits about Voth mechanical exosuits, bio-engineered dankanasaurs, and rank-and-file soldiers, medics, and so on. "When looking at the Voth as a species, our starting point was only one episode," Hamilton explains, "so we had to look at what stood out about them and extrapolate from there. Their actions demonstrated that they were highly defensive, both culturally and militarily."
Captain's Log: New-user tips on Star Trek Online's duty officer system
Let me first wish all of our readers in Canada a very happy Thanksgiving Day! This week I will continue my informal series for new Star Trek Online players with a brief primer on the game's duty officer system. More commonly referred to as DOffs, Star Trek Online's duty officers provide a player with an additional means to obtain XP, dilithium, and other rewards without his having to shoot a single thing. Many people have likened the DOff system to that of a trading card game, and to an extent they are right. The duty officers have also become a commodity that can be used in other ways outside of the assignment system itself. So join me past the jump as I delve into the very basics of the STO duty officer system.
Captain's Log: More Star Trek Online new user tips - bridge officers
Before I dive into the next installment of my new player tips, I'd like to let everyone know that the Star Trek Online site has issued a few new dev blogs hinting at some of the cool news about the upcoming Season Eight: The Sphere. There are some great new blogs featuring the concept art of the new Dyson Sphere space adventure zone, too. But back to the original topic. Last week's column that provided a basic outline to the Star Trek Online user interface proved to be surprisingly popular and generated far more emails from readers than I had anticipated. Many of the readers have asked that I continue on with the new user tips and I think it's a great idea. So if you've always wondered about the very basics of STO Bridge Officers, join me past the jump to learn more!
Cryptic on creating STO's Season 8 Dyson Sphere
Cryptic has posted a new Star Trek Online dev blog focused on the game's upcoming Season 8 content drop. The patch is subtitled The Sphere and "will for the first time ever in STO feature exploration in a Dyson Sphere." Creating the sphere was quite the daunting task, Cryptic says, largely because of the sheer scale involved. "The theorized Dyson Sphere has a radius of 1 AU, which is the distance from the sun to the earth, and the surface area of that sphere would be 550 million times that of the earth," the dev blog explains. Click through to the links below for more info about STO and Season 8!
Star Trek Online challenges fleets to build better mines
Star Trek Online has a new special project for fleets, but instead of taking place on starbases or embassies, this will be exclusive to dilithium mines. Starting Thursday, October 3rd, player fleets can (ahem) engage in constructing a better mine. The goal is to improve the efficiency of the mine, and players can construct enhancements to the outside of mines to boost their productivity -- not to mention add a few visual flairs. This is the final special project for fleet dilithium mines, and fleets will need to at least start on it by October 17th in order to have a shot at completion.
Captain's Log: More Star Trek Online help for the new player
The news is out! Lobi are now accessible account-wide! They're no longer bound to a single character! While I would love to be able to write an entire column about how happy the change has made me, I won't make our readers endure it, but it sure was a fun way to start off this week's Captain's Log. The good news for some is that this week's column will be dedicated to the brand new players of Star Trek Online. This decision was triggered by an email I received from a reader who wanted to know how he could change his character's outfit without having to go to the tailor all the time. He was a very new player and was embarrassed to ask anyone else, and trusted I wouldn't make him feel a fool. It was then I realized that there are lots of little things in Star Trek Online that aren't obvious to new players. While many of those things are second nature to me now, I recall with bitter clarity what it was like to be so new that asking a stranger for help was akin to playing Russian roulette. So join me past the break as I touch on what all those tiny little icons on the HUD mean.
One Shots: A lack of depth perception
I don't know about you, but when I pick my mounts, I like to pick something that can manage depth perception. Reader Paul may be keen on this mount, but all I can think of is that his character's probably being led into a lot of bottomless pits, cacti, and stone walls. But who needs practicality when you've got awesome looks? Paul has nothing but the best to say about this Final Fantasy XIV creature: "It is simply because its the best mount I have ever come across in my entire career of mmo's. Also going by the census data that was released at the Tokyo Game Show, Roegadyn are somewhat of a rare race in the game, so I thought I would fly the flag for them too." We've got many more eyes for you in this week's One Shots after the jump. Enough, perhaps, to lend one to unfortunate souls like Paul who are perpetually in danger every time they take their ride out to the 7-11.
Jack Emmert to speak on free-to-play vs. pay-to-win
Can free-to-play MMOs be developed without dipping into the pay-to-win well? Cryptic CEO Jack Emmert is firmly on the "yes" side of that argument and will be stating his case at GDC Next in November. Emmert will be delivering a talk during a session titled How to Avoid Pay-to-Win with F2P. The session description is as follows: "With an F2P business, developers must carefully weigh business needs against game balance. Typically, players immediately question whether a game is actually pay-to-win and not truly free-to-play. This session tracks how Cryptic Studios has tackled this very difficult question in each of their current MMOs, and provides a method to address both concerns." Cryptic is helming a number of free-to-play games, with its current F2P roster consisting of Champions Online, Neverwinter, and Star Trek Online.
Captain's Log: It's speculation time in Star Trek Online
It's that time again, folks: that time when the Star Trek Online playerbase begins to get edgy as we wait for new stuff. It's that "quiet time," although it's never truly quiet at Star Trek Online -- not in the forums, not in the game, and most definitely not at Cryptic Studios. However, we're also at that crucial point in the cycle of content releases when the dearth of real information is all too obvious. So what's a player to do until the next Featured Episode is released? Well, dwell on the teasers, of course! So join me past the jump and we can speculate together on what we will and won't be seeing in the upcoming FE and Season Eight.
EVE Evolved: Will Star Citizen or Elite harm EVE?
Publishers haven't been willing to put a lot of money behind a sci-fi sandbox for some time, but upcoming games Star Citizen and Elite: Dangerous seem set to revive the genre thanks to the power of crowdfunding. Star Citizen in particular has collected a world record $19.6 million in pledges so far from almost 258,000 individuals, eliminating the need for publishers and heavy investment entirely. Though both games are designed to be a primarily singleplayer or small-scale multiplayer adventures, their respective developers have already promised shared online universes and sandbox gameplay that could give EVE Online a run for its money. The past decade has shown EVE to be one of the most resilient MMOs on the planet. It's survived several major scandals, barely noticed the release of giant World of Warcraft, and has somehow maintained its subscription-based business model in a market rapidly being overtaken by free-to-play titles. Even at its lowest point, the game managed to survive the 2011 monoclegate scandal and the subsequent fallout that saw CCP Games lose 20% of its staff worldwide. EVE's subscriptions and concurrent user numbers have historically been unaffected by the release of new MMOs or sci-fi titles, so why should Star Citizen be any different? In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at how EVE Online has lived with very little direct competition until now and ask whether Star Citizen and Elite could be among the first games to directly draw players from EVE.
Monitor your profits with Star Trek Online's newest mine project
Dilithium mining is serious business in Star Trek Online. It's what makes a good portion of the game's economy run, after all. So how can you make sure that you're getting the most out of your mine? Well, you probably could put together a spreadsheet... or you could take part in the game's next special fleet project for the fleet dilithium mines, available from September 19th until October 3rd. Fleets that successfully complete this project will have a variety of monitors, consoles, and displays added throughout the mining station, thus giving the environment the air of a futuristic space facility that has bothered to invest in a few wall displays. As with previous special projects, this one will be available only for a limited time, so your fleet will want to jump on this quickly if it seems right for you -- although those displays don't actually offer any real tracking benefits, so you still might want that spreadsheet.
Captain's Log: An interview with Star Trek Online's artists
This week I will be (yes I know, finally) finishing up with my series of interviews with the developers of Star Trek Online. I traveled to Cryptic Studios last July and had the opportunity to meet with several of the people responsible for the game, especially the new expansion, The Legacy of Romulus. In this column I'll be outlining my conversation with three Star Trek Online artists: Environment Artist Nick (Tumerboy) Duguid, User Interface Artist Thomas (TheCrypticCat) Marrone, and Ship Artist Ian (JamJamz) Richards. So join us past the jump to see what it took to bring the look of Legacy of Romulus to life.
Perfect World Entertainment expands into the mobile market
You know Perfect World Entertainment as the publisher of such MMORPGs as Neverwinter, Star Trek Online, and Champions Online. All client-based games on the PC, these free-to-play titles fetter players to their gaming rigs. Today, the company announces it's breaking free from those PC bonds and expanding into mobile gaming as both developer and publisher for new titles. The new games will focus on the core genres of action RPG, strategy, TCG, MMORPG, and MOBA games. While looking forward to partnering with more talented development studios around the world, PWE already has a portfolio of mobile games lined up: the trading card game Elemental Kingdoms from China-based iFree Studio; the RPG adventure game The Null Society from San Francisco-based Agent Disco; the turn-based multiplayer game BombBuds from Seattle-based Fugazo; and the MOBA Arena of Heroes from Austin-based Sneaky Games. For a deeper look at this new direction for the publisher, be on the lookout for our exclusive interview with PWE this Friday in MMObility. [Source: Perfect World Entertainment press release]
Captain's Log Supplemental: Remembering Star Trek Online video artist Mark Valentine
Massively tonight extends its deepest sympathy to the family, friends, and coworkers of Cryptic Studios developer Mark Valentine. Mark, also fondly referred to by his handle "h2orat," was a noted artist who was best known for his exceptionally crafted videos for Star Trek Online, especially the trailer that was used to announce the game's transition to the free-to-play format. Before working on Star Trek Online, Mark also worked on the Champions Online team. Prior to his tenure with Cryptic, Mark also worked on Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 for Atari Europe S.A.S.U. as well as Star Trek: Away Team, Battlezone II: Combat Commander, Heavy Gear, Heavy Gear II, Battlezone, and Interstate '76 for Activision. He was a respected STO player and Foundry author whose most recent mission, The Rising Phoenix – Part One, was chosen by his fellow players and the game's community managers to be highlighted as a featured mission.
Captain's Log: Around round of Star Trek Online potpourri
Over the course of the last few weeks, Captain's Log has chronicled a series of interviews with various members of the Star Trek Online development team. Today, I think it's time to take a break and bring everyone up to date and outline some of the interesting things that happened in Star Trek Online in the past month. STO Lead Designer Al Rivera issued a special dev blog outlining the new changes to security for fleets, and Executive Producer Daniel Stahl also posted about the integration of material from Star Trek: Voyager into the game, so join me past the break as I cover what has happened in STO since we got back from Las Vegas!
Captain's Log: Interview with Star Trek Online's Christine Thompson, part two
Loyal Massively readers will know that just after the launch of Star Trek Online's first expansion, the Legacy of Romulus, I visited Cryptic Studios and met with several members of the Star Trek Online development team. This week I'm picking up where I left off in my conversation with Star Trek Online's lead writer, Christine "CrypticKestrel" Thompson. Join me past the jump to see what more she had to say about the challenges of writing within accepted canon as well as creating a more personal tale for STO players.
One Shots: Shields up!
Reader Mary is in a tight spot. It all rests on her shoulders now, and if she dies, she will be responsible for letting down her entire team. The fate of this day -- nay, of the future, rests upon her quick thinking and reflexes. "I'm shielding!" she cries triumphantly. "I juuuust managed to get my shield up in time to deflect a dying Spookat's final attack. Meanwhile, Astro is distracted by the emerging Black Kat in the upper left corner, seeing as it was the first time we found one during Spiral Knight's now infamous Black Kat event." Give me a break, give me a break, break me off a piece of that Black Kat bar! Folks, it doesn't get any less punny from here, so hold your nose and jump into the rest of this week's player screenshots.
Chaos Theory: Get the look with The Secret World's clothing guide
Dressed to kill. In The Secret World, that's not just an idiom; everyone in this cornucopia of conspiracies is literally dressed -- or in some cases, practically undressed -- to kill. Each player, regardless of secret society affiliation, is romping around the world snuffing the life out of stuff (although admittedly, "life" may not be the best term for the undead). What's more, players get to sport their own unique looks as they engage in said romps, dispensing death. And that's precisely the topic that I am zeroing in on this week: the wonderful world of the wardrobe. No matter which way you slice, dice, torch, or explode it, The Secret World has one of the best systems for player creativity and flexibility in clothing. In this system, clothing is not armor; it is completely cosmetic. Clothing has no stats attached in any way, freeing players to wear whatever they want with only a few restrictions (gender being one). Players also have unlimited access to their personal wardrobes, allowing them to change outfits whenever desired. This guide will give you the basics of where to find the various clothing pieces throughout the game so you can create "The Look" that's perfect for you. And then we'll finish off by telling you how you can get your own design into the game!
