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STO Producer's letter hints at anniversary celebration and story to come in 2015
Star Trek Online's first producer's letter of the new year hailed 2014 as a fantastic year and suggested that 2015 may be even better. After recounting many of the additions to the game over the past 12 months and summing up the story arc thus far, Stephen D'Angelo stated that the past year was just setting the stage for what's to come! The continuation of this arc includes some challenges that even the grand alliance may not be able to handle. The next step in the story, along with the first of the new captain and bridge officer specializations, will release with the anniversary update in that's just over three weeks away. Just what kind of events and celebrations can players expect for this fifth anniversary? D'Angelo didn't share, but he did say that the details on that -- as well as the future content -- will be forthcoming piece by piece in dev blogs starting in the next few days.
Star Trek Online restores players flagged for exploits
Star Trek Online recently launched a new expansion with a level cap bump, and unfortunately some people decided to quickly exploit the mechanics to race up to the renewed level cap via exploits. Unfortunate, but not totally surprising. Cryptic Studios, needless to say, rolled back the gains made by those players. Unfortunately, as can happen, a few innocent players were caught in the crossfire, but what can you do about that? Well, in this case you can re-examine players who were erroneously rolled back and restore their points. Producer Stephen D'Angelo made a post on the official forums stating that instead of trying to make another adjustment, all players will have the points that were removed restored to them. So it's back to how things were before, and if you lost out on points through no real fault of your own, you have them back. Or even if it was through direct fault of your own. [Thanks to Some_Guy for the tip!]
Star Trek Online tackles power-leveling exploit
Star Trek Online Executive Producer Stephen D'Angelo has given players a rare explanation about a power-leveling exploit that some players had been using and the difficulty the team had in dealing with it. The exploit took place on certain maps and allowed players to advance 17 times faster than normal. D'Angelo said that only around 250 players were engaging in these actions and that "intensive data analysis" was used by the team to determine who was abusing the exploit on purpose and who had accidentally triggered it. "I'm certain that at least some of the players feel they were acting in the right," D'Angelo wrote, "that errors the dev team makes should be fair game. There are likely some others who feel that I drew the line in the wrong place, either too high or too low. It is challenging to walk the line between protecting the playe base that wants the game to be fair, and allowing players to be efficient and 'game the game.'"
Star Trek Online Season 9.5 revamps crafting big-time
Star Trek Online Executive Producer Stephen D'Angelo has just one word for you concerning July's Season 9.5: crafting. OK, he's got more words than that, but you probably can guess where he's going with it. D'Angelo posted a short dev diary today stating that the team will be focusing on a crafting overhaul for the next big update: "In this release, the STO dev team has completely reworked every element of crafting in the game... Our goal is to have a crafting system that our players enjoy and are excited to use." D'Angelo said that players will have new ways to earn crafting mats, multiple schools of crafting, and a fresh UI to explore. Duty officers will also be utilized in the revised crafting system.
Collision alert: Star Trek Online's Season 9 coming in late April
Player captains have mere weeks to prepare themselves before Star Trek Online's Season 9 arrives in late April with one of the biggest challenges to the galaxy to date. Cryptic Exective Producer Stephen D'Angelo posted an overview of Season 9 today on the official site. He said that players will have plenty to anticipate, including a new Undine feature episode, a space battlezone, updated episodes, a re-envisioning of kits, and a reworking of Earth Spacedock. "I challenged the STO team to come up with a new vision of ESD that would be so Star Trek that Trek lovers couldn't help but drool over it when arriving there," D'Angelo said. "The team did not disappoint!"
Captain's Log Supplemental: STO's Stephen D'Angelo speaks
Last week we reported on the announcement that Star Trek Online has a new Executive Producer. Daniel Stahl, who held the position for the past several years, has moved on to another "secret" project at Cryptic Studios. The game's new (and returning) EP, Stephen D'Angelo, has taken the chair once again and has already posted his first blog outlining a few of his desires for the future of Star Trek Online. We had the opportunity to interview D'Angelo and ask him a few more questions about the game and what direction he sees the ship heading. Massively: Congratulations on your new position as Executive Producer of Star Trek Online! Of course, this isn't your first time in the command chair. What's the first challenge you were faced with when you finally took the seat, and how is it different from the challenges you faced the last time you were at the helm? Stephen D'Angelo: Any time there is a change in leadership, there's a period of learning how the team operates. This time it was a pretty smooth transition, with no significant challenges. I've got a great working relationship with the team, and because there was nothing eminently shipping, I was able to ramp up at a reasonable pace. The last time was much more challenging. I was given the team without warning, and it was only weeks before converting the game to free-to-play. That was a pretty mad scramble.
Captain's Log: Star Trek Online's Season 8.5 changes
Last week I wrote about a few of the revamped Federation-Klingon war missions in Star Trek Online's upcoming Season 8.5. This week a few more notable changes and teasers were released, including the news that Star Trek Online has a new Executive Producer and a Star Trek actor's voice will be featured in during the upcoming anniversary event! Pardon me sir, but haven't we met before? The game's new (and returning) EP, Stephen D'Angelo, posted a blog last week announcing his return to the command chair, along with the news that former EP, Daniel Stahl, has been reassigned to another top-secret project. Many of us had already heard about the existence of another game in development at Cryptic, so it's not so much of a surprise to hear of personnel shifts in this regard.
Star Trek Online's Season 8.5 coming January 30th
Newly promoted Executive Producer Stephen D'Angelo penned a dev blog today giving players a heads up regarding Season 8.5 and the fourth anniversary of Star Trek Online. D'Angelo said that 8.5 will be arriving on January 30th, which should kick off the game's anniversary event as well. When this happens, players will have an opportunity to earn one or more new "hybrid" starships that use Dyson technology, explore a brand-new featured episode with a Star Trek actor, and enjoy 12 revamped Federation episodes. Other changes coming include the elimination of the hourly event calendar, the ability to swap between starships and builds on the fly, more slots for ships, and an "easy equip" feature to outfit ships painlessly.
Stahl vacates STO lead role for 'exciting new project' at Cryptic
Star Trek Online executive producer Daniel Stahl is now former Star Trek Online executive producer Daniel Stahl, according to a post from new executive producer Stephen D'Angelo. He writes that Stahl "decided to step down from the captain's chair to pursue an exciting new project at Cryptic Studios." D'Angelo also thanks Stahl for his service, which included leading "STO for three of the four years since the game launched." D'Angelo previously served as STO's executive producer for six months when Stahl left Cryptic for Zynga before returning and reclaiming his original post.
Dan Stahl takes back the captain's chair in Star Trek Online
Remember in Star Trek: The Motion Picture how Kirk returns to the Enterprise and shoehorns his way back into the Captain's chair, leaving the previous job-holder to be absorbed by an interstellar entity that was really a relic of NASA's space program? What a hoot that was, and it's in no way relevant to today's story of former Star Trek Online Executive Producer Dan Stahl resuming his duties from Stephen D'Angelo after vacating the position in 2011. Stahl left Cryptic in September 2011 for a job at Zynga, at which point D'Angelo assumed the producing role. Interestingly enough, Stahl quickly returned to Cryptic last December but was assigned to heading up the Foundry team. The saga has come full-circle as Stahl returns to executive producing and D'Angelo resumes his command as Cryptic's CTO. Stahl posted a short re-introduction letter to mark his comeback: "After several eventful away team missions and a desk position training cadets in San Francisco, I'm grateful for the opportunity to be back at the helm of this very important title."
Captain's Log: Epic adventure, revenge, and an interview with Adam Ihle
This week, after what seemed like an interminable period of waiting, Star Trek Online's acting Executive Producer Stephen D'Angelo posted a dev blog that outlines most of the details for STO's second anniversary events. Beginning Thursday, February 2nd, STO will see the return of the infamous Q and his mischievous ways. Players are invited to sign in every day between February 2nd and 6th to participate in a challenge handed down by Q. After doing the entity's bidding, players will be rewarded with a different daily prize, although what those four prizes are has not been revealed. However, the news that really has the playerbase buzzing is the announcement that the new and very highly anticipated Federation and Klingon flagships will also be up for grabs -- for free. I will be outlining D'Angelo's follow up posts that give us more details into both ships. Also, in light of the announcements, I took the opportunity to catch up with Adam Ihle, whose winning starship design became the inspiration for the final look of the Odyssey class; we'll hear his reaction to the ship's debut in the game.
Captain's Log: Cryptic's Lead Designer responds to questions
The weekend before Star Trek Online launched its free-to-play format, Cryptic Studios' Lead Designer, Al Rivera, responded to a lengthy list of player concerns, rants and questions via the STO community podcast PodcastUGC. PodcastUGC usually focuses its broadcasts on issues revolving around the game's user generated content tool, The Foundry, but as of late the co-hosts of the show (including me!) have been desperate for specific Foundry issues to discuss due to the lack of changes since last year. In the previous week's episode, I let my opinions fly along with my frustrations about what I felt was a severe lack of story-based content. I asked aloud, "What the hell have they been doing the past year?" To our surprise, we were contacted by Al Rivera, who set aside his day off to talk with us about just that.
Captain's Log: Will two cloud bursts cure a drought?
After the most tumultuous year in Star Trek Online's history, we stand on the cusp of the game's second anniversary and full-blown evolution to free-to-play. Early F2P entrance for former subscribers was opened last Thursday. And now, unfortunately, loyal subscribers have been informed that the anticipated flood of new story-based content might more accurately be described as a trickle. In his most recent Dev Diary #11, STO's acting Executive Producer Stephen D'Angelo outlined his future hopes for the game in 2012. As players are wont to do, we read between the lines and noticed not what was contained in the blog but rather what was blatantly missing: a detailed outline of future playable content.
Star Trek Online looks to anniversary updates, free-to-play updates, and beyond
Star Trek Online's second anniversary is just a month away, but the game's transition to a free-to-play model is even closer than that. In the game's latest developer diary, executive producer Stephen D'Angelo talks about updates leading into the business model shift, the anniversary, and the eventual rollout of the game's next season. A couple of new bug fixes and feature improvements will be rolled out to the live game before January 17th, at which point the game will shift over to the free-to-play mode. In February, the game will be celebrating its anniversary with a new KDF flagship, the debut of the Odyssey-class Federation ship, and soon thereafter a series of Dominion featured episodes. Players can look forward to season 6 sometime in June, with the development team aiming at something new in the game roughly every other week once the game is free-to-play. It's a tall order, but Star Trek Online fans at least have those frequent updates to hope for if not necessarily expect.
Captain's Log: Dilithium, attack ships, and lightsabers, oh my!
So much has happened with Star Trek Online since Massively's last column on the game! The Captain's Log's previous author, Brandon Felczer, accepted a position with Perfect World Entertainment (Cryptic Studios' parent company) and is now a community manager for Star Trek Online. We wish him the best in his future endeavors. And that makes me, Terilynn Shull, your new STO columnist! Since then, Cryptic's newest patch, A Call to Arms, was released to subscribers. The patch was really the preliminary push of the anticipated free-to-play model that Cryptic announced will occur on January 17th, 2012. To the dismay of many players, the patch did not contain any new mission content, and we've been told not to expect any new story-driven content until at least February of next year. However, A Call to Arms did include the nervously awaited single-currency economy, the highly anticipated duty officer system, and a revamped set of strategic task force (STF) missions, and it was soon followed by the controversial holiday event and "homage" to Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Stephen D'Angelo promises 'one more surprise' for Star Trek Online in December
Star Trek Online's Stephen D'Angelo is one of the game's biggest cheerleaders, and it shows in his latest developer diary. "December has been an amazing month," he begins, citing the release of Season 5, new starships, and the Duty Officer system. He highlights the game's first holiday, Q's Winter Wonderland, and the minigames and activities in which the players can participate to get the most out of this whimsical event. Of course, it's not all fun and games when serious prizes, like a holographic bridge officer or a Jem'Hadar Attack Ship, are on the line. D'Angelo also says that a Duty Officer mini-event is on the docket for the month, as will "one more fun surprise." He concludes his letter by sharing the news that the team is now focusing on February's Dominion Episodes and ground skills/UI improvements.
Star Trek Online dev blog talks new content, Dominion featured episode
Cryptic executive producer Stephen D'Angelo has posted another Star Trek Online Path to F2P dev diary. For the 23rd installment (yes, 23!), D'Angelo outlines a near future roadmap for the game as the business model transition continues. D'Angelo says that STO will boast a Featured Episode Replay event for the remainder of November on the live server. The first week of December should see a new game build migrating to the live shard from the Tribble test server. This update will feature "new content, new systems, and many gameplay improvements," and D'Angelo characterizes it as a "significant" release. How significant? It includes new Borg content (the Invasion of Defera), the new duty officer system, and several new events and dailies. There's more to read at the official STO website (including an upcoming Featured Episode series focused on the Dominion!), so check it out by following the link below.
Star Trek Online dev blog talks test server rewards
Star Trek Online's latest dev blog is live, and executive producer Stephen D'Angelo spends a bit of time talking about tribbles. Rest easy, they're not taking over the Cryptic offices, and D'Angelo spends this week's Path to F2P installment outlining the benefits of participating on the game's Tribble test server. The dev team has increased the character transfer limit, and players may now copy up to three of their avatars from the main server. D'Angelo outlines the various rewards available for players willing to roll up their sleeves and get down and dirty with the bug squashing. The goodies range from tribble pets (naturally) to XP boosts and Dilithium chunks. Exclusive titles, starship slots, and duty officers are also available, so head over to the test shard and do your part!
Captain's Log: Every day I'm tribbleing
Captain's Log, Stardate 65322.9... Hello, computer (and players)! For the past several weeks, Star Trek Online players have been checking out the latest F2P beta builds on the Tribble test server. While there have been a few patches on other days, more for stability fixes and minor tweaking, Thursdays seem to be the designated day for us to receive the largest pushes of new content. The latest round of updates has brought further economy changes, new events and ships, and even more heated debates. Since we seem to be a ways out from the seeing the updates ported to the Holodeck live server, there is still plenty of time to check it all out and provide your feedback to the devs. I would like to dedicate this entry to those who are helping test the changes. This week's Captain's Log serves as a checklist of sorts on what new content you can test and where you can provide feedback about it. As you read through, I suggest that you read a particular section, jump into game to check out the particular change, formulate an opinion, and head to the linked forum where you can leave your feedback. No matter what you think, it's important to let the devs know -- they will make changes based upon a collective opinion. Ensign, warp 10! It's time to create our own party rock anthem...
Captain's Log: More on the economy
Captain's Log, Stardate 65303.9... Hello, computer (and players)! As I discussed last week, heated discussions surround Star Trek Online's change to a F2P hybrid model and planned game mechanics updates. While new updates are being pushed to the Tribble server for testing and feedback, many aspects are in a state of flux as such feedback is collected, evaluated, and implemented. The biggest area affected is the economy. While everyone has his own thoughts on the matter, Cryptic is leaving no feedback forum post unread -- the players will help shape these changes. Last week, we saw the push of another patch that seems to have made some giant strides toward solving some of the biggest concerns, including significant reductions in prices for most items and the return of free ship tokens for most ranks. Stephen D'Angelo, acting Executive Producer and Emergency Executive Producer Hologram (EEPH), explained: "Based on how rapidly we're getting data and revising the game, we're still probably two more weeks away from having the economy in a state that is close to good enough." Since he said a lot more in his recent dev blog post, I thought I should take some time to expound on it. Ensign, warp 10! Let's take a look at what else the EEPH had to say and break it down...
