Top 1 gaming blog

Federation guide to choosing your first starship

May 28, 2010 Articles Recommend|267views

I thought we’d cover one of my favorite aspects of STO: starships! More specifically, I’ll offer some tips and information to help you choose your first ship when you reach that magic Lieutenant 11. Remember, you pretty much have to live with your decision for 10 levels, so let’s make sure you choose wisely.

The Quest for Lieutenant 11

Okay, so technically this will be your second ship. You receive your first ship during the Federation tutorial, and you can customize it just after completing that tutorial. But you’re still just one snowflake in a blizzard of Miranda-class starships, so that doesn’t count. Lieutenant 11 (or simply level 11, for ease of reference) marks your first real opportunity to branch out and choose your starship.

So the first step, obviously, is to hit level 11. This confuses some new players who think they should shoot for level 10, since players advance in rank every 10 levels. But you must reach that 11th level, which converts to the first level of the new rank after completing a promotion quest.

At any rate, Captain’s Log has covered the beginner tutorial thoroughly and has offered some helpful hints for progressing through the lieutenant levels. So check those out and you should hit level 11 in no time. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.

All set? Super good. Now, just as you did after completing the tutorial, head to Earth Spacedock when you reach level 11. Admiral Quinn will make you jump through a hoop or two before promoting you to Lieutenant Commander 1. That promotion comes complete with one free ship requisition, so run, don’t walk, to the Shipyard next door (counterclockwise from the Admiral’s office).

Starship Requisitions

You’ve been to the Shipyard before, as a wee lieutenant fresh out of the tutorial. But this time, instead of hanging around on the first floor with all the newbs, head up the ramp to the second-floor turbolift. The lift takes you to — you guessed it — Ship Requisitions, which is where you buy starships and starship equipment. Lt. Laurel, perpetually standing behind the desk on the southwest edge of the room, sells the ships and provides handy information about the three ship categories: Escorts, Science Vessels and Cruisers.

• Escorts: Packed with firepower but fairly fragile, escorts are the closest the Federation has to glass cannons. Think the U.S.S. Defiant from Deep Space Nine.

• Science Vessels: These ships focus on buffing allies and debuffing enemies. The U.S.S. Voyager is one variation of science vessels.

• Cruisers: The big daddies of the Federation. Cruisers include the U.S.S. Enterprise in all its forms.

Ready to choose yet? I didn’t think so. Knowing the basic idea behind each ship type is all well and good, and maybe you’ve got your heart set on which one you want already. But short of shelling out big space bucks to requisition a second starship, you have to live with your decision for 10 levels before you get to grab another free ship. While any ship type can hack it just fine in STO solo or group play — particularly at such early levels — choosing poorly can suck. Believe me, I know.

So let’s look more closely at each Tier 1 starship available at level 11. On the next page, I’ll provide useful information on each ship and, of course, I’ll throw in my two cents whenever possible.

Tier 1 Escort

Ship Classes: Rapier, Saber, Ushaan

Bridge Officer Stations:

• 2 Tactical
• 1 Engineering
• 1 Science

Consoles:

• 2 Tactical
• 1 Engineering
• 1 Science

Weapon Slots:

• 3 Forward
• 1 Aft

Stats

• Hull: 11,250
• Crew: 50
• Impulse Speed: 20
• Turn Rate: 16

Pros: The escort is the fastest and most maneuverable ship available. It also has sole access to heavy cannons, which pack a good punch. Its extra tactical console and officer augment that firepower even further.

Cons: With the weakest hull and shields, the escort is fragile. The maneuverability helps you keep shields alive, but that hull cannot take a beating. Also, Tier 1 escorts don’t at all resemble the distinctive saucer-and-nacelles look of most Federation ships, which can be a downer from an aesthetic standpoint.

Analysis: I chose the Tier 1 escort as my starship at level 11. I’ve had a soft spot for the Defiant since its introduction, so naturally I wanted to try my hand at the fast, fiery escort. The actual Defiant class isn’t available until Tier 3, but it’s still a great ship type to play.

The three forward weapon slots favor my preferred style of PvE combat, which is to remain mostly stationary and pick off opponents from range. But the shields drop awfully fast that way, so movement is pretty essential after a point.

Tier 1 Science Vessel

Ship Classes: Aurora, Nova, Quasar

Bridge Officer Stations:

• 1 Tactical
• 1 Engineering
• 2 Science

Consoles:

• 1 Tactical
• 1 Engineering
• 2 Science

Weapon Slots:

• 2 Forward
• 2 Aft

Stats

• Hull: 13,500
• Crew: 100
• Impulse Speed: 15
• Turn Rate: 11

Pros: Reliance on buffs and debuffs sometimes lends itself to gameplay more active than just zapping enemies with phasers and torpedoes. The emphasis on science officers and consoles strengthens hull- and shield-healing abilities, which is nice when you’re getting your sea legs.

Cons: Weaker than an escort for pure firepower and more fragile than a cruiser.

Analysis: I didn’t try out a science vessel until Tier 2, but I totally dug it. I hesitated mainly because I couldn’t see where the science vessel fit. At such an early level, I didn’t see much need for the finesse of debuffing and healing, especially at the expense of firepower.

But science vessels are just as capable solo as escorts or cruisers, and popping various buffs and debuffs can add a little more engagement to space combat — especially now that we can set all weapons to auto-fire. And while they’re slightly slower than escorts, science vessels still handle nicely.

Tier 1 Cruiser

Ship Classes: Constitution, Excalibur, Vesper

Bridge Officer Stations:

• 1 Tactical
• 2 Engineering
• 1 Science

Consoles:

• 1 Tactical
• 2 Engineering
• 1 Science

Weapon Slots:

• 2 Forward
• 2 Aft

Stats

• Hull: 16,250
• Crew: 400
• Impulse Speed: 15
• Turn Rate: 8

Pros: These things are tanks — they take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’. The extra engineering console gives you room to pump its turn rate a bit with a couple RCS Accelerators. They also get the classic Enterprise look.

Cons: These things are tanks — they are slow, slow, slow. With a turn rate half that of the escort, all the engineering consoles in the world can’t make these babies turn on a $100 bill, let alone on a dime.

Analysis: I’m conflicted about cruisers. I didn’t try one until Tier 3, and I do not care for it at all. For someone who prefers the zippy movement of escorts and science vessels, the cruiser’s maneuverability is torturous.

But with various iconic Enterprise incarnations available to the cruiser line, I want to like them. I really do. And don’t get me wrong, plenty of people love their cruisers. So if you like the idea of being a powerful but sluggish warhorse, have at it!

One Last Thing

While I hope my input has been helpful, remember that the point of all this is to have fun. If you’re set on flying around in an Enterprise lookalike as soon as possible, then get that cruiser! If flying circles around your enemies sounds like your thing, even if it means you might get blown up more often, then snag an escort!

Each ship type is perfectly capable of soloing 10 levels until your next free ship, so your choice in the long run boils down to personal preference. And whichever starship you choose, make sure you customize the heck out of it! With each free ship comes a free ship customization on the first floor of the Shipyard, so get cracking. Enjoy boldly going in a ship no one has seen before.

Tags: Star Trek Online, starship

Guide to the Klingon tutorial

May 7, 2010 Articles Recommend|184views

Captain to engineering! We’ve been hit! How bad is it? Our graphics card is shot to oblivion, you say? Of all the dratted luck! Divert auxiliary power to onboard graphics processors. Oh, no, you’re right, that’s awful. Wow. Yeah, no, it’s like an old-school Lucasarts game up in here.

Oh, hey there, everyone.

Sadly, a Terran Federation attack knocked out our graphics card, and the U.S.S. Bob Wiley has seen better days. So while we limp to our nearest starbase for repairs — Lieutenant Newegg assures me we’ll have a new card replicated within three business days — I’ll hand this week’s column over to our Klingon ambassador, Captain Trout. As we’ve already covered the Federation tutorial, he’ll explain the basics of the Klingon beginner’s experience.

Greetings, human dogs. I am Kilgore Trout, captain of the I.K.S. Vonnegutesque. You weak-minded fools might have learned how to enlist with the Federation, but now it’s time you did something useful with your miserable lives. Prepare to join the Klingon Empire!

Character Creation

According to the script that idiot Federation captain left me, one must advance a Federation officer to level 5 to unlock the ability to create a Klingon character, whatever that means. Sounds like Earthling gibberish to me.

At any rate, once you’re able and willing to join the Empire, hit the New Klingon Character button on the character select screen. This is assuming, of course, that you haven’t used up your three available character slots. If you have, then you can rot for all I care, feeble-minded swine.

Now choose your career path. You’ve covered this before with Captain Gil, but Klingons have access to the same three paths as Federation trainees. To recap:

• Engineering Officers are known for fabrication abilities. They can make turrets that spew grenades, emit energy shields or heal allies.
• Science Officers get most of the healing abilities, as well as some nifty ways to stun, control and otherwise harass enemies.
• Tactical Officers specialize in tanking and in dealing damage.

Remember, any officer you choose can pilot any type of ship. So an Engineer, for instance, can captain a Bird of Prey or Raptor just as well as a Tactical Officer. The main difference from one career path to another is the selection of usable Kits. Kits are the equippable items that determine abilities in ground combat.

For the sake of this guide, I select a Tactical Officer — the better to serve cold helpings of revenge. Now you may select one of the Empire’s five prefab races — Klingon, Gorn, Lethean, Nausicaan and Orion — or create your own custom species.

Massively’s guide to character traits recommends Klingons for tanking, Nausicaans for DPS, and Orions for support and healing. But Cryptic Studios made the customization process so enjoyable, I prefer to craft an entirely new breed of killing machine. Take your time and have fun, because boot camp in the Klingon Empire is no picnic, you miserable sons of targs!

I select the Alien option and choose my character traits. The guide to traits proves useful once again. Being able to tank and DPS sounds good, so I go with the recommended Balanced Tanking/Damage traits: Elusive, Efficient Captain, Aggressive and Soldier. After a few minutes of messing with brow ridges and enormous shoulder pads, Batroc of the I.K.S. Leaper is born.

Welcome to Qo’nos

The Klingon tutorial, such as it is, begins in the Great Hall of Qo’nos, the Klingon homeworld. Always playing second fiddle to the Federation in STO, the Klingon Empire apparently doesn’t rate a Leonard Nimoy-voiced intro video.

But enough whining! Chancellor J’mpok has work for us to do. He sends all new trainees to find B’Elotja, the sparring master. He tells you she’s on the lower level, but the Great Hall is a little maze-like to newcomers, so hit M to open your map. B’Elotja is southwest of your starting location, conveniently circled on your map.

You’ll find B’Elotja at the edge of a fighting ring. This is the Hall of Warriors, and the sparring master tasks you with Assembling a Bridge Crew. Unlike the weak-hearted Federation, which simply offers you Bridge Officers, the Klingon Empire demands that you earn yours through combat. Choose to enter the ring, and you will face off against three challengers of your choosing.

Training for Battle

Before B’Elotja allows you to fight, however, you must train your skills. Hit K or the Skill Up button in the upper lefthand corner of your screen. That brings up the skills window, which you’ll recognize from your time with the Federation. Notice you have 3,100 skills points available to spend — the same number of points you earn by completing the Federation tutorial. Because you’ve already completed that tutorial, Cryptic figures you know what you’re doing by now.

The Klingon skill tree pretty much offers the same options as the Federation tree, just in a different order. Scroll to the bottom to find Starship Command and Starship Attack Vectors, which is where I like to put my first 1,800 points. Max out those two to reach Lieutenant, and then look around for places to allocate your remaining 1,300 points.

Located at the top of the tree, Starship Energy Weapons Training and Starship Projectile Weapons Training are both solid choices. Those provide a passive boost to their respective weapon types while improving certain Bridge Officer weapon abilities. I choose to max out Projectile Weapons and to dump my remaining 400 points into Energy Weapons. The choice is yours, but boosting starship weapons is never really a bad idea.

Now that you’re all trained up, B’Elotja will allow you to do battle. Speak to one of the NPCs surrounding the ring and challenge him to a fight. Before you battle, notice that you already have two weapons and a Kit equipped, and your kit’s abilities are already located in the 4 and 6 slots on your hotkey bar.

After you defeat one opponent, return to B’Elotja. She tells you to prove your worth by defeating three more challengers. Possible opponents include Klingon Swordmasters, Gorn Ra’wiq and more. The opponents you choose have no bearing on the Bridge Officers you receive, so go nuts.

Win three battles and speak with the sparring master again to complete your mission, which grants you three Bridge Officers. Now accept the quest Leading the Way, which sends you on a tour of the building.

A Three-Minute Tour

Opening your map again, you’ll notice circles pinpointing the three officers you seek.

• Commander Rodek is in the southeastern corner of the map. To find him, make sure to you take the eastern corridor on the ground floor of the large room in which you began the tutorial. (A series of ramps leads to a corridor on the upper level, where you’d find Chancellor J’mpok if you wanted to. But there’s no reason for a feckless rookie like you to waste his time.) Rodek’s room contains numerous kit, equipment and clothing vendors.
• C’zann is in the bar, located within the northernmost circle on your map. She tells you how important bloodwine is, or something.
• Lieutenant K’nala is in the shipyard area at the western end of the map. This is where you’ll go to upgrade and customize your starship. Speak with her last, for the sake of convenience. (You’ll have another quest here in a minute.)

Once you speak with those three, B’Elotja messages you that you’ve completed your mission. Accept the reward (the usual mix of skill points and currency), and you’re done! Seriously, you’ve completed what passes for the Klingon beginner’s experience.

Beyond Qo’nos

After you speak with B’Elotja, Lt. Commander Mara will hail you with a pair of missions. Speaking with her about Empire Defense unlocks Welcoming the Federation, which well send you off to destroy Federation ships. Accept that and Explore the T’Ong Nebula, your first exploration mission.

While you’re at it, hail the Klingon Defense Force (by clicking the Klingon symbol on the bottom left of your minimap area) to receive another Bridge Officer, three PvP quests, and one quest to visit Bekk D’Vidd on Qo’nos.

If you spoke with K’nala last, you’re already in the shipyard, so head to the north end of the room to find D’Vidd. Approaching him automatically completes his quest, The Look of a Warrior, and grants you one free starship customization. Speak with him to customize your Bird of Prey. I understand the options are less robust than they are for Federation ships, but Klingons have better things to worry about than decorating, you miserable maggots!

Now assign your new skill points — with 726 available, I can max out Energy Weapons Training with 226 points to spare — and beam up to your ship. You should now be more than prepared to make your Empire proud. Failing that, you can at least die an honorable death!

Tags: Beginner's Guide, klingon tutorial, Star Trek Online

Three months of Star Trek Online

Apr 30, 2010 Articles Recommend|211views

Welcome, one and all. I’m afraid I must renege once again on my promise to tackle the Klingon beginner experience. But I forgot that Cryptic Studios’ latest MMO will be 3 months old this Sunday!

That’s right! STO launched a whopping three months ago, on Feb. 2, 2010. Why, it feels like just yesterday that my newly created Bajoran Science Officer took his first laggy footsteps on Earth Starbase in search of Commander Sulu. As we are wont to do with our favorite games here at Massively, let’s look back at STO’s first few months and take stock of its past, present and future.
Launching in 3 … 2 … 1

STO’s launch window was a little messy. I say window, because while the game officially went live Feb. 2, many of us enjoyed the few days of early limited release provided by pre-ordering the game. Or we tried to, anyway. The headstart and the first few days post-launch were a whirlwind of server outages, bugs and login queues. I recall the client being a jittery mess, with lots of flashing and stuttering whenever I logged in or switched zones. And I crashed to desktop a little too often for my taste. After City of Heroes, City of Villains and Champions Online, you might have thought Cryptic would have MMO launches down to a science.

Even so, STO wasn’t unplayably bugged at launch, and fun was had by all. We resisted the Borg and uncovered the Undine. But it didn’t take long for players to notice something was missing.

Whither Art Thou, Content?

Fair warning: The availability of content will be a common theme throughout this week’s Captain’s Log. Moreso than usual, anyway.

Many players’ biggest gripe with STO at launch was a lack of content. Most missions boiled down to shooting enemies in yet another asteroid field or on yet another embattled colony. Exploration and diplomacy were rare and meaningless. End-game options were nonexistent. Crafting was confusing and unsatisfactory.

And worst of all, Klingons got the short end of the stick in a major way. The game’s second faction was relegated to PvP only. I vaguely recall gushing about that feature in January to a friend, only to realize in February that I’d been had.

Race to the Unfinished Line

It was pretty clear that Klingons only had access to PvP not by design, but because Cryptic hadn’t taken the time to implement non-Federation PvE content. Combine that with the thin content in other areas of the game, the two-week open beta, and the game’s breathtakingly short two-year development cycle and what do you get? The solid impression that Cryptic rushed STO to release and that fans had their hands on a very unfinished game. STO executive producer Craig Zinkievich tried to combat that impression with his first post-launch State of the Game letter, saying that STO was meant for a “core community that gets it.” But promising a host of features that most MMO players already expect, including respecs and auto-attack options, did little to sweeten some players’ sour first impressions. And things like the stickied forum thread asking for players’ suggestions for game improvements probably didn’t help.

Growing Pains

Fortunately, change was pretty quickly in the air. When Cryptic promised prompt content additions, they weren’t just blowing smoke up our warp nacelles. STO’s first Special Task Force mission, The Infected, hit live servers in early March. The raidisode advanced the overall storyline of the “new” Borg plaguing Starfleet and introduced some actual end-game play. Two more STFs have come down the pike since then, and a third, Undine Terradome, should go live in the very near future.

The first really big chunk of new content arrived in late March. Season One: Common Ground, which we’ve discussed before, provided a slew of much-needed improvements, such as bug fixes and the ability to respec skill points. It also included uniform options, PvP interface upgrades and two new Fleet Actions. The patch even allowed Klingon characters access to some PvE content! And just today, Cryptic released the Season 1.1 Update, which introduces another bevy of much-needed features, including auto-fire for all starship weapons, the ability to change difficulty settings, and a death penalty.

The State of the Game

Today, STO is sailing along well enough, despite some early missteps. Those included the unpopular addition of Ferengi and Klingon as playable Federation races to the C-Store on launch day, and the disastrous Atari.com deal that discounted STO by $10 and offered 90 days of free play time. Although Cryptic said STO had 1 million registered accounts mere days after launch, the company seems pleased with the game’s more than 100,000 subscribers.

So with the game settled in after three months, I thought I’d offer a few of my impressions of the game.

Likes

Space combat is a joy. Sure, replaying the same basic mission again and again with a slightly different backdrop can get old, but I almost don’t care. Because space combat is so much fun — and gorgeous, too! It’s as if Cryptic brought to life all the space battles my brother and I used to imagine as little kids.

Designing your own alien is a kick. STO retains the absurdly deep customization options for which Cryptic is so well known. Sure, you can stick with a prefab Federation or Klingon race, but it sure is fun to invent your own aquatic purple space insect. Of course, in true Star Trek fashion, you’re limited to humanoids that resemble humans in every way but facial features, but still.

The game’s episodic nature is also a big plus. Cryptic managed to imbue STO — well, the Federation side of it, anyway — with a real sense of storyline. It begins in the tutorial and continues in the end-game STF missions. I don’t pretend to have followed every nuance, but the story has kept me interested in the episodic missions long after I otherwise would have stopped completing them…

Dislikes

Because they all require my least favorite thing in all of STO: ground combat. I’ve mentioned this before, but I think the phasers-and-fists action in STO is just the worst. It’s tedious. It’s repetitive. It’s aggravating. I often set my away team of four Bridge Officers to attack a group of enemies, then pick up a comic book or alt-tab out to my RSS reader for a few minutes. It takes a while for those dopes to kill everyone, but better them than me.

STO also still lacks some of the basic features MMO players have come to expect. Crafting, for example, consists of spending combinations of raw materials at a series of vendors at the Memory Alpha research station. Only by buying enough items from one tier of vendors can you unlock the next tier. The system is so poorly explained and unrewarding that I only participate in order to clear my inventory of excess mats. And Klingons, meanwhile, still have access to extremely limited PvE content and starship customization options. They’re barely even second-class citizens at this point.

But really, don’t let my griping turn you off to STO. I gripe about everything. Example: I enjoyed a perfectly fine dinner of pork lo mein last night, but still I griped that the pork wasn’t the shape I wanted. (I like when it’s cubed, not cut into strips!) So check out some of Massively’s previous STO coverage and peak into the game’s bright future.

The Future of STO

I’m sure I seem awfully pessimistic, but I think we can look forward to plenty of fun times with STO. Cryptic have big plans and bigger ambitions for this game. Season One proved they’re not all talk, and another STF and changes to the Memory Alpha crafting system are on their way. But it’s a steep hill to climb here. Anti-Cryptic hate seems powerful even when they haven’t earned it. And many STO players feel the company has earned plenty for any number of reasons: the microtransactions, the game’s quick release, the short-changing of Klingons.

But STO has already made healthy progress in its first three months of life. I for one can’t wait to see what Cryptic have in store for us next!

Tags: Atari, cryptic studios, Federation, Star Trek Online, zinkievich

More beginner’s guide to Star Trek Online

Apr 23, 2010 Articles Recommend|302views

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.

Skill Points

Our first beginner’s guide took us through the end of the first leg of the tutorial. You’ve cleared the Borg off the U.S.S. Khitomer and have selected your first Bridge Officer. This is also the first time you receive Skill Points, Cryptic’s alternative to Experience in STO. At the top left of your screen, just below the Ensign 1 (that’s your rank and level) and above your nameplate, you’ll now see the shiny Skill Up button. Click on that to open up the Skill Tree.

This is where you improve and strengthen your character’s abilities. Take your time browsing through the column all the way on the left, because those are the skills available to you for now. They cover space and ground abilities, and at this level, each one costs 100 skill points. You’ve got 300 points right now. I suggest working to max out Starship Command first, because that improves your ability to handle a starship on a few levels. Whichever skill you choose, hit the tiny upward arrow three times, and then hit accept in the flyout menu to the right. Now you’re ready for the next mission.

Your Second Mission

When you beam up to your ship, your newly selected Bridge Officer informs you that the Borg attacked while you were away helping the U.S.S. Khitomer. Everyone who mattered has been slain, which leaves you, improbably enough, as the highest ranking officer. Congratulations, you’ve earned your own starship by default!

The wreckage of a fight against the Borg floats all around you, so it’s time to help out your fellow starships again. Your officer will explain starship movement, so pay attention. Some handy tips:

• Steer your ship by holding down both mouse buttons at once.
• The R key toggles your throttle between full and stop.
• The F key allows you to interact with other ships more conveniently than using the mouse. (This works on the ground as well.)
• Full Impulse is much faster than simply going full speed without it. But turning is harder, and Full Impulse sucks power from your other systems. So don’t use it if you’re about to enter combat.

Once you complete the first three steps of the mission, you’ll be sent to destroy some damaged Borg probes. This is basically target practice, and your Bridge Officer will explain some of the finer points of space combat.Before engaging the probes, check out the weapons panel in your interface. The default setting shows your Phaser Arrays hotkeyed to 1 and 3, and a Photon Torpedo hotkeyed to 2. Right-click on the two Phaser icons, which should turn their outline green. This means that those weapons will automatically fire during combat whenever they’re available. This way, you only have to worry about manually firing your torpedo.

Destroy four Damaged Probes in this area, and then warp ahead to destroy four more probes. The latter probes will fight back, but they’re easy. Just pay attention to Zachary Quinto’s tips and you’ll be fine. Warp down to the Vega Colony to continue.

Your Third Mission

The remainder of the tutorial walks you through some more complicated ground and space combat. On Vega, you and your Bridge Officer must zap some Borg drones and disable some of their technology. Make sure you skill up some more when you first beam down. And read up on Kits, which are equipment that grant you special ground abilities. Kits are available based on your career path, and you may choose one from four possibilities at the beginning of the mission. Obviously, many more Kits will become available as you progress through the game.

After you’ve saved four civilians and shut down a Borg device, you return to your ship and warp into combat with more Borg. Help your allies destroy a Borg cube and a Borg sphere, and then warp to Earth Starbase to complete your training as a member of Starfleet.

Second Star to the Right…

Congratulations! You’re almost ready to take the helm of your starship and go save the galaxy from Klingons, Romulans and Crystalline Entities. You just need to visit Admiral Quinn’s office for a hearty pat on the back.

So approach the starbase and beam down, then head for the glowing turbolift straight ahead. You’ll find the Admiral in his office. Speak with him to learn more about your starship. You’ve inherited the Miranda Class vessel in which you started the game (unless you have a pre-order bonus providing an Enterprise lookalike). Complete the Welcome to Earth Spacedock quest to complete the tutorial and receive your first ship console. We’ll discuss ship consoles in more depth in another Captain’s Log. For now, I suggest the tactical console. Equipping it to your ship will make your weapons slightly more powerful.

Accept Quinn’s three other quests — New Orders, Skills Trainer and Stranded in Space — and then talk to Commander Akira Sulu, conveniently located in Quinn’s office. For whatever reason, many new players have had trouble finding Sulu. It was such a problem in beta and at launch that Cryptic added random dialogue to the NPCs outside the admiral’s office to explain Sulu’s whereabouts.

Complete the New Orders quest with Sulu and learn about sector space and patrol missions. Then accept Patrol the Vulcan Sector. Now there are two more stops to make on Earth Starbase. Leave the admiral’s office and head counterclockwise around the station. This will take you first to the Shipyard, where you can find Malcolm Sissel to advance Stranded in Space.

You can also customize your ship here (the first time is free with each new ship), so make sure you do. Because you can’t choose other ships until you reach Lieutenant Commander in 10 levels, you’ll be just one in a sea of Miranda Class vessels. So be creative with what you’ve got.

Continue counterclockwise until you reach Personnel, then speak to Commander Balt to complete the Skills Trainer quest. He’s got loads of handy info on advancement both for your character and for your Bridge Officers, so read up. Also, go ahead and spend the rest of your available skill points if you haven’t already. Once you spend the full 1,500 that you should have by now (again, I suggest maxing out Starship Command, then maybe go for Starship Attack Vectors), your rank changes from Ensign to Lieutenant. A Lieutenant you shall remain until you reach level 11.

That’s it! You can explore Earth Starbase to find a few more features, including the Bank and the Exchange. But at this point, a beginner doesn’t need to worry about those. Now beam up to your ship by hitting the Beam to Ship option on the right side of your screen or the icon to the left of your minimap that looks like a man standing in front of a two-way arrow.

Tags: beginner, Beginner's Guide, guide, Star Trek Online, STO

Beginner’s guide to Star Trek Online

Apr 16, 2010 Articles Recommend|273views

A Few Reasons to Try STO

The first step in any beginner’s guide should be reasons to actually begin! So here are three reasons to step into your starship.

• Space combat - It’s divine! Truly, I’ve rarely had so much fun in an MMO as I have lobbing torpedoes at a pack of enemy frigates. It’s so much fun, in fact, that I get too excited and usually end up right next to the enemy ship when it explodes. Which hurts.
• Casual friendly - As with many MMOs, this one gets less true as the game progresses. But STO starts out very friendly to casual play. The main storyline missions can be handled pretty quickly toward the beginning, though after 20 levels or so they start to require 90 minutes or more. Patrol and Exploration missions, which can take as little as 5 minutes and as much as maybe a half hour, remain my favorite hit of quick gameplay. Toss in PvP queuing, and STO definitely has the casual covered. That’s not to say that STO should only appeal to the casual set, but the relative scarcity of end-game content can turn off the power-leveling crowd.
• The times, they are a-changin’ - Cryptic Studios is patching in content at a pretty steady clip. Say what you will about the state of the game at release (I’ll likely agree with you), but the developers are definitely hard at work. The game already boasts a healthy dose of new features — which I’ll discuss in more depth in about two weeks.

Character Creation

Massively has already introduced readers to the character creation process and to player traits, so I won’t bore you with too much rehashing here. But briefly, a new player first logging into STO must start with a Federation character. Players can unlock the ability to create Klingon characters after gaining a few levels on the Federation side.

• Federation - They’re the “good guys” in all the Star Trek movies, TV shows, books, games, coloring books and lunch boxes. They fly ships with (mostly) saucer-shaped tops, like the U.S.S. Enterprise. The Federation is, by default, the main faction in STO.
• Klingon - They’re the “bad guys.” They fly green ships that look vaguely like angry metal birds and can turn invisible. At this point, the Klingon faction is stuck squarely with the short end of the content stick. Most of their gameplay consists of PvP, though Cryptic is heckbent on expanding the faction’s PvE options. Right now, they also don’t get a lot of ship customization, but that’s for another Captain’s Log.

Cryptic also promises more factions to come, though whether they’ll be available immediately or unlockable remains to be seen.

After joining the Federation, the player has to choose one of three career paths. Don’t sweat this too much, because any type of officer can fly any type of ship in STO. When I got started, I assumed that making a Science Officer meant I might be stuck with Science Vessels. That’s not the case. For our purposes, the main difference among career paths is the type of ground combat abilities you’ll receive. While everyone gets various buffs and debuffs, each career has some unique properties.

• Engineering Officer - These are the Scottys and the Chief O’Briens of the world. They’re the guys in the yellow shirts shouting about not having the power. (Or was that Ace Ventura?) In STO, Engineers are known for fabrication abilities. They can make turrets that spew grenades, emit energy shields or heal allies.
• Science Officer - These are your Bones McCoys and (sigh) Julian Bashirs. They’re the folks in blue shirts who are doctors, not physicists (or escalators, or moon-shuttle conductors.) In STO, Science Officers get most of the healing abilities, as well as some nifty ways to stun, control and otherwise harass enemies.
• Tactical Officer - On one hand, these are the Worfs and the Commander Rikers, the best of the best. On the other hand, they’re the red shirts. The walking cannon fodder. The away team members who always die. In STO, Tactical Officers boast a much longer lifespan. They specialize in tanking and in dealing damage.

So, it’s time to make a character. You can choose whichever you want, but today I’ll make an Alien Engineering Officer. Using our traits guide, I’ll make him a Damage Dealer. So I’ll give him the Accurate, Efficient Captain, Lucky and Soldier traits.

Now take your time customizing your character. Cryptic is known for its games’ insanely deep character customization tools, and STO is no different. You can choose from a number of pre-made Federation-aligned races, such as Bajorans or, if you shell out cash in the C-Store, Klingons. Or you can design your own humanoid alien. So have at, and I’ll meet you on page two for the next part of our journey.

The Beginner Tutorial

After the Nimoy-licious opening cinematic, which sets the scene and heavily references the 2009 film, your new Federation character begins his tour of duty in the mess hall of his starship. Naturally, the ship is under red alert. The Borg are attacking! The tutorial, with helpful hints voiced by Zachary Quinto, is fairly straightforward. Run around, use doors, speak with the captain, interact with objects. Routine stuff.

I won’t ruin all the fun, but the tutorial first sends you to clear the Borg out of a fellow Starfleet vessel. First you’ll use your tricorder to scan an injured crewman. Next, you’ll be sent down the hall to forcibly evict some of the Borg attackers from the ship. As you go, you’ll notice Starfleet officers and Borg duking it out in the corridors and hangar bays.

One of the nice things about STO is that, unlike many MMOs, you don’t always have to retrace your steps to turn in quests. Instead, as you complete each leg of the tutorial, quest NPCs will hail you with thanks and further instructions.

After getting rid of a pair of Borg intruders, you’re ordered to take the turbolift to your right to the next deck. Here you’ll find the Borg assimilating the ship, and it’s up to you to blast six of the green, glowy constructs they’re building along the walls. Try to find a construct with a Borg in front of it. The explosion will knock the Borg for a loop, which is satisfying in its own right.

With six constructs destroyed, head down the main hallway to another turbolift. As you head to Main Engineering, you’ll run into more Borg drones. Don’t sweat it. Just use your strong attack (it’s automatically hot keyed to the number 2 on your keyboard) whenever it’s available and the weaker, number 1 attack the rest of the time. Now head to engineering and shoot Borg for 30 seconds or so to progress to your next mission.

Head south down the corridor and choose a Bridge Officer. Bridge Officers are important crew members that join you on ground missions and add offensive and defensive abilities to space combat. Each officer will explain his or her primary function before you can choose one. Your choice here is important, but not life-altering. You receive a new Bridge Officer free with pretty much every new level, and you can requisition others throughout the game at certain vendors.

The choice is yours, but I take the Tactical Officer. A popup window allows you to change the officer’s name and appearance for free, so play with that if you want or hit OK to skip it.

Tags: Beginner's Guide, Star Trek Online, Tutorial

No Plans For Consoles, STO over 100K subscribers

Mar 25, 2010 Articles Recommend|358views

Over the past couple years, it looked as though Cryptic had console ports in its plans, from bringing on board console engine programmers to public plans of expanding their subscriber base into the console market. However, when the date for the supposed console release kept getting pushed back, players grew worried, and now it seems that the concern was justified. This might have been compounded by the fact that recently Champions Online experienced a major transition as executive producer Bill Roper stepped down and Shannon “Poz” Posniewski took over.

The folks over at The Big Freaking Podcast grabbed a bit of face time with Jack Emmert, Cryptic’s Chief Operating Officer, to expand on this news as well as the future for Champions and Star Trek Online. Read on for the highlights of this interview!
“I never envisioned selling it,” Jack said of Cryptic’s first MMORPG. “I thought we’d be working on City of Heroes for a decade or more.”

Jack began the interview by tracing the history of how and why Cryptic made the transition from NCSoft to Atari, going from City of Heroes to Champions and Star Trek Online. The move was partially prompted by the desire to retain employees who would have been laid off otherwise. After landing at Atari, Cryptic built both recent MMOs from the ground up in two years as a necessity of time and funding.

When it comes to experienced studio leads, Jack puts himself in an elite category, with four MMO launches under his belt — City of Heroes, City of Villains, Champions Online, and Star Trek Online. — an impressive number for this genre. He saw a major shift in the industry after World of Warcraft’s launch, as every subsequent game’s “success” was compared to that title and fell short. He cited Auto Assault, Tabula Rasa, Age of Conan and Warhammer Online as examples of decent games that struggled after a buildup of huge hype and eventual player disillusionment. Reviewers, he said, changed the way they evaluated MMOs in this post-WoW world, for better or worse.

Jack reviewed some of Champions’ strengths — such as great character customization and lush art — while also pointing at a few of its weak spots, like unbalanced powers and obscure tooltips. “I’m just as perplexed as you are as to the description of some of these things!” he confessed. He is incredibly excited about Champions’ Revelation update, which is apocalyptic in theme and epic in scope, and boasts 20-30 hours of new content for high level players.

Although they were disappointed by some of the reviews, Cryptic is proud of Star Trek Online’s launch, which has “well over 100K subscribers” at this point. In dealing with such a huge IP, they had to “pick their battles” as to what would be included with STO. This led the team to focus on space and ground combat as the core of the game, as a necessity to its success. He knows that some fans were upset as to the lack of features like diplomacy, which he says is on its way.

While the Cryptic team was working on a console MMO for Marvel Universe Online, this is no longer the case for their current lineup. He is clear on this point: “It is not happening. The console is not a current focus.”

As for Bill Roper, Jack says he’s moved to a “floating design role” to assist both titles, and is the “good cop” in the studio to Emmert’s self-professed “bad cop.”

What are some of Jack Emmert’s dream licenses that he’d love to work with? “Godzilla and Dungeons & Dragons,” he confessed.

The man has taste.

Tags: Age of Conan, Champions Online, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Star Trek Online, Warhammer Online, world of warcraft

The Cardassians generally aren’t listed in the same breath

Jan 24, 2010 Articles Recommend|351views

In the Star Trek universe, the Cardassians generally aren’t listed in the same breath as the Klingons or the Romulans as adversaries. That is, unless you’ve seen Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Then you likely won’t stop going on about the rigid and hidebound social structure and the backstabbing government plots, or even just about Elim Garak. The Cardassian faction was hinted at some time ago in Star Trek Online, but while the official page hasn’t yet filled out the page, we do have a fair amount of information on the faction. And while it may or may not satisfy everyone looking forward to the faction, there’s plenty for fans of the game to get excited about.

At this point, the once-grand empire has been reduced to a difficult existence trying to rebuild the government and society after the events of the Dominion War, recounted on the game’s official timeline. The socially-minded Detapa Council, however, is facing opposition from the True Way, an organization seeking a return to Cardassia Prime’s more militaristic society. There are also rumors that the Obsidian Order might be still running around, something that almost any fan of the series would have expected. Star Trek Online looks to have plans for the Cardassians, and while it probably won’t involve a tailor on the bridge crew, we can only hope.

Click past the break for a short official video giving a peek of the Cardassians in action, as well as the in-universe dossiers by Starfleet and the Klingon Empire.

From Commander Bradden, Starfleet Intelligence:
The Cardassians are a warlike and xenophobic people. Once they ruled a far reaching star empire with an iron fist, dominating the various native populations they conquered. They were a fierce military force. However, they are now a people barely surviving. Their ill-fated alliance with Dominion forces during the Dominion War resulted in near total destruction to the Cardassian homeworld and decimated their population. The Detapa Council, a civilian, democratic organization, came into power following the Dominion War, and has attempted to rebuild both the agriculture of the planet and the economy. Unfortunately, the council has faced considerable opposition from a group known as the True Way.

The True Way aims to return to the military order. While the Detapa Council leads Cardassia, and, indeed, the Cardassian Union, the True Way has a large and impassioned following. Quite regrettably, Cardassians have a history of turning to a strictly regimented military in times of trouble. Their homeworld has never been plentiful, resulting in a period of famine in their early history. To resolve the lack of natural resources on Cardassia Prime, the military decided to expand outward and appropriate the resources of other planets and peoples. They treated subjugated peoples as slave labor, regularly committing atrocities against the native populations. For that matter, the military government spied upon and, by many accounts, tortured their own citizens using an intelligence organization known as the Obsidian Order*.

Most unfortunately, this has limited the amount of aid that the Federation has been able to offer the Cardassians. The Federation has, naturally, made an attempt to assist in reconstruction efforts. The Andak Project, lead by Federation botanist Keiko O’Brien, is one of the few such attempts the Cardassians have allowed. The Andak project has provided agricultural assistance in rehabilitating Cardassia Prime’s depleted food resources. However, there is far more work to do to rebuild the planet.

It is worth noting that while the Cardassians have engendered animosity in numerous other species, the conflict between Bajorans and Cardassians is particularly bitter due to the brutal Cardassian Occupation of Bajor from 2328 to 2369.

*It is worth noting that the Obsidian Order seemed to be an equivalent institution to the Romulan Tal Shiar. However, the Obsidian Order was supposedly destroyed by the military government in 2371. My sources indicate that one of the current leaders of the Detapa Council is actually a former Obsidian Order operative.

From Commander Korak, Klingon Intelligence:
The Cardassians are worthy opponents in battle. They are fierce warriors and fight with honor. We fought, and defeated, them in the Dominion War. The Dominion suckered them, the poor bastards. They had no chance once they allied with those honorless targs.

Now, the Cardassians are trying to rebuild their empire on a lifeless ball of rock. It would be a miracle if they succeeded, after the Dominion bombarded their planet at the end of the war. They rebelled against the Dominion at the end, which helped us. Distract the enemy, leave them open to attack! Yes, the Cardassians were useful. Misguided at times, but useful.

We shall see if they regain their military might, though I doubt it. I doubt it greatly. Their leading council now is far more concerned with agriculture and kowtowing to the Federation. Pah! Although rumor does say that Gul Madred is leading a potential military force known as the True Way. These next few years should be interesting for the Cardassians, if they don’t die out first.

Tags: Cardassians, faction, Star Trek Online, Star Trek universe

Star Trek Online Currency

Jan 22, 2010 Articles Recommend|430views

There are three types of currency in Star Trek Online:

• Energy Credits
• Starfleet Merits
• Explorer Badges

Energy Credits

Energy credits are the primary currency in STO. You earn energy credits by completing missions and selling the items that you get via drops from mobs (both ground and space). The various vendors around space stations like Stardock and K7 will sell you moderately good gear in exchange for your energy credits.

The best way to sell items to earn energy credits is to go to a space station and sell them to a vendor instead of selling them to your replicator. If you sell them to your personal replicator (which you can access via your inventory when not at a space station) you end up taking about a 20% hit versus selling it directly to a space station vendor.

The other big thing you can use energy credits for is buying ships. Each ship costs 20,000 energy credits and can be purchased at any space station. However, it’s important to remember that you automatically get one free ship each time you advance in rank (from lieutenant to lieutenant commander, for instance). Chance are you won’t have to buy any ships until later in end-game when you want a different ship with different abilities.

Save your energy credits for that, and you’ll be so rich you’ll make even the Ferengi jealous.

Energy credits are tradeable with other players.

Starfleet Merits

Starfleet merits are earned through completing missions. You don’t get them for killing mobs, you can’t trade them with other players. You have to earn them through your own hard work. Starfleet merits are harder to come by than energy credits. For instance, by the time I leveled up to a lieutenant commander, I had about 25,000 energy credits and about 1,800 Starfleet merits.

You can use Starfleet merits to buy bridge officers (which make your ship and away team crews more powerful) as well as train them with new ground and space combat skills. The primary way you’ll spend your Starfleet merits is by purchasing these bridge officer upgrades. Expect to do this a lot, especially as you progress and your character develops into a more specialized role.

The other thing Starfleet merits are used for is to rename your ship and character, but that isn’t something you’re likely going to do more than once or twice — if that.

Explorer Badges

We don’t know a whole lot about these yet, but we do know that they’ll be exchanged for some of the best gear available in the game (right now). The latest open beta patch began allowing us to collect them from completing exploration missions. There are four tiers of badges right now, presumably each different tier will equate to a different tier of ship/rank (ie: Captain, Admiral).

There’s a lot of potential for these badges (especially higher level ones) to be used like WoW’s badge system — fill in the gear gaps that players may encounter in order to ease end-game gearing curves. If Cryptic is going to use them in this way, it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out in the end-game once STO has been active for a bit.

Tags: Energy Credits, Explorer Badges, Star Trek Online, Starfleet Merits

Some tips for Star Trek Online newbies

Jan 13, 2010 Articles Recommend|271views

There’s certainly a lot of lesser known MMO concepts to learn in Star Trek Online, and there’s also some familiar aspects as well. With open beta ongoing and launch looming, this guide is here to help brand new players ease into the swing of things. We’ll cover the odd class system, progression and several other tips and suggestions for those of you just beginning your venture into a galaxy full of Gorn raiders, Orion slavers and uh, Tribbles.

“Class” is a slightly loose term

In character creation, you’ll have to make a choice. Do you want to be really good at ground combat or space combat? Maybe you want to be a little good at both, and that’s an option. However, many of the traits you can select from are geared towards emphasizing one way or another. Warp core theorist, for instance, will help with your ship’s energy levels — a useful thing to have when you’re trying to reroute all power to shields or weapons.

Another thing you’ll need to carefully consider is your captain’s chosen profession. While you can pilot any ship regardless of your captain’s specialty, your chosen profession will decide where you’re at your best.

For space, Engineers specialize in Cruisers, which are meaty mammoths equipped with large crews and sizable weaponry. Escorts are smaller, faster and much more heavily armed ships that dish out far more raw firepower than they can take. Lastly — but of course nearly as important — are the Science ships, which support allies and weaken enemies. Science vessels also come equipped with cutting edge sensors, making them extra useful when dealing with, say, sneaky enemies like the Klingons and their cloak tech.

As for ground combat, your role is more set in stone. The big thing here is your “kit” which comes with a special ability you can use during combat. Engineers can equip a kit that lets them teleport small phaser turrets or shield regeneration stations. Tacical kits allow you to toss photon grenades or temporarily boost your ranged capability.

There’s no XP!

Technically, there aren’t any “levels” either. Although, there are ranks beginning from Ensign (a rank you only possess during the turtorial) and moving through Lieutenant, Lieutenant Commander, Commander, Captain and finally Admiral. Each official rank has ten “sub-ranks” a player needs to level through before they attain the next rank — that makes for 50 levels.

Getting back to the experience matter. Well, there really isn’t any, as the requirement for leveling up is attaining a set amount of skill points instead. You earn skill points primarily via PvE and PvP missions and kills. There’s a randomly generated exploration mission system as well, known as the Genesis system. Oh, and there’s diplomacy missions sprinkled throughout PvE as well. Remembering to spend these skill points is key, as your skills improve both your ground and space combat performance for you and your bridge officers. Just keep an eye out for the “Skill up!” button that appears on your progress bar when enough skill points are available for you to spend on new skills or skill ranks.

Dynamic duo plus

Yes, this is an MMO, which is exactly why this is a tip. You don’t have to play with a large group of people, just one other person — trust me, it makes things easier. Not only will things move along faster, but you’ll have a whole lot more fun shooting lasers in space with a good friend.

Use your replicator!

If you look closely at your inventory window, you’ll find that there’s a button labeled “Replicator” that does something quite awesome. What does it do? Why, it allows you to sell your junk loot anywhere you like! Well, so long as you’re in a starship. If you’re on an away mission, obviously you can’t use the replicator systems present on the big space ship.

Managing your shields

Space combat can get pretty hectic and figuring out the best way to handle your shields is often going to determine the success of particularly challenging fights. There are two basic methods for handling the redistribution of power to your shields. Most people simply click on each individual segment of the shields user interface, which will pull power equally from each of the other three shields. That’s well and fine in a simple fight, but when you’re being bombarded from various angles — which is usually the case — you’ll want a better method.

For those times when two or more sides of your shield are taking various levels of beatings, remember that clicking the center of your shield UI (the globe, essentially) will redistribute power equally among the entirety of a ship’s shield.

Finding your way around

Navigating space can be a daunting task but thankfully Cryptic’s supplied a system list feature. If you press the “M” key, a window with three tabs will open up. One tab holds a top-down map for the sector of space you’re in, another has the galaxy map (IE the world map) and finally you’ll find a third tab containing an alphabetical list of every destination within your current sector.

Every mission comes with a destination, and assuming you’re in the right sector of space (check your galaxy map for that) your system list is going to be a big help. Just find the location, double click it on the list and your ship will auto-navigate to that location. You can also use the visual top-down map to do this as well, but finding your destination via the list is much easier. Of course, you may prefer to go for immersion and avoid the list, although the reality of being a starship captain is that you’ve got an underling to handle the boring stuff.

I recommend some coffee or tea while you wait for the warp engines to take you where you need to go. Some Earl Grey perhaps?

Tweaking your setup

This is pretty simple, but it’s worth mentioning just in case some people disregard it. Both your action bar and your power management window can be adjusted to your preference. I suggest messing with the power window at the very least, as you may find that one of the other variants is more useful to you. The button you’ll want to look for resembles three pages stacked upon one another. The three options give you varying levels of UI complexity, depending on how crazy you like your MMOs to get.

Another thing you can tweak is the way your ship looks. Cryptic is known for their customization madness, and things are no different here — at least for Federation players. Once you’ve completed the tutorial, you’ll find that the Earth Starbase has an NPC who — upon being spoken to — will allow the customization of your ship. It’s pretty deep and will likely cost you a little bit, although in beta it’s been a free service. Still, hopefully by launch the first “refit” will be free.

Tags: cryptic studios, newbies, Star Trek Online, tribble, Tribbles

Ships Named for Star Trek Online

Jan 11, 2010 Articles Recommend|269views

Cryptic held a contest to develop names for three ship classifications in its upcoming Star Trek Online MMO, and the winners have been announced. The winners get the game and a special in-game title for their characters.

Here are the ships, identified as Tier 5 vessels:

EMISSARY CLASS
Emissary Class Star Cruisers are the most advanced Cruisers in Starfleet. Generally the largest, most resilient ships in Starfleet, they have massive warp cores, which generate surplus power for subsystems. And they have large crew complements, which improves repair rate and other crew abilities.

LENGTH: 724m | DRAFT: 90m | BEAM: 255m

DERVISH CLASS
Dervish Class Escorts are small, which means they don’t have room for extensive engineering or science facilities. But, their weaponry, speed and maneuverability make them hard to hit threats in any engagement. The Dervish is arguably the toughest Escort in Starfleet.

LENGTH: 390m | DRAFT: 70m | BEAM: 306m

DESTINY CLASS
Science Vessels have the most advanced technology in Starfleet. Destiny Class vessels are larger than most Science Vessels. They can accommodate a larger crew and advanced engineering facilities to support the ship when on extended missions.

LENGTH: 554m | DRAFT: 98m | BEAM: 211m

Winners (not identified in the announcement) get the game’s Digital Deluxe Edition and the in-game title “Utopia Planetia Staff.” So if you bump into someone with that, you know they helped name the ships. Obviously, some names were submitted by more than one person, so there are more than three winners.

Ship Name Winners

Tags: Star Trek Online, winners

Is Better PC Games of 2010?

Dec 20, 2009 Articles Recommend|1,316views

PC gaming - will it finally die in 2010? No. C’mon, stop already with that. Sure, 2009 had its ups and downs, PC gaming is very much alive and maybe looking healthier than ever in 2010.

Blizzard will, we hope, stick to its early 2010 release date for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, the first entry in the planned real-time strategy trilogy. And the publisher developer is threatening to release two titles next year, including the third World of Warcraft expansion, Cataclysm.

But 2010 cannot survive on Blizzard alone. Blizzard and Valve? Maybe, but beyond more Left 4 Dead 2 and Team Fortress 2 content, we’re not sure what to expect. Episode III? Let’s not set ourselves up for disappointment.

Thankfully, there are many strong contenders due in the following year, including highly anticipated MMOs like Star Wars: The Old Republic, DC Universe Online, Star Trek Online and APB, to name but a few. So let’s take a look at what’s will be pushing PCs to their limits in 2010, starting right now.

Tags: Blizzard, DC Universe Online, Star Trek Online, Star Wars The Old Republic, world of warcraft

Star Trek Online offers advanced retail programs

Dec 7, 2009 Articles Recommend|519views

If you’re still thinking of preordering Star Trek Online, waiting a bit to consider may turn out to be a very good decision. Cryptic is offering some nice bonuses for pre-ordering, but you’ll find different items depending on where you place your pre-order. Everyone who pre-orders will receive guaranteed open beta access, and access to the Early Start program, which allows you to begin playing on January 29th, 2010 — several days before the February 2nd launch.

The other pre-order items will change depending on where you place your preorder:

• GameStop customers receive the ability to command the USS Enterprise.
• Best Buy is offering their customers a fun in-game pet: Federation Captains will receive a Tribble, and Klingon Commanders will receive a Targ.
• Amazon is offering an exclusive “Liberated Borg” Bridge Officer.
• Wal-Mart offers a Bonus Skill Points package.
• Target customers will receive a unique ground weapon – a TR-116.
• Direct2Drive customers receive an exclusive Multi-Spatial Personal Shield, which constantly regenerates itself and the health of its wearer.
• STEAM is offering customers Chromodynamic Armor, which improves the damage and critical hits of energy weapons.

The choices are all tempting, but it all looks great, so good luck trying to narrow it down to just one!

Tags: Cryptic, pre-order, programs, retail, Star Trek Online

Star Trek Online-Episode Missions,Quest Chains

Nov 4, 2009 Articles Recommend|256views

Episodes are the mission chains in Star Trek Online that feel even more like you’re playing an episode of the show than normal. We looked at more than 700 Star Trek TV episodes and dissected them to determine how those writers told stories in Roddenberry’s universe, then set about crafting our own for you to enjoy.

We actually have content writers on staff who approach the mission chains as though they were standalone TV episodes. Rather than thinking strictly in game terms, they design the chains from an entertainment prospective. This means Episodes have themes, interesting dialog and dramatic moments designed specifically to look, feel and play like Star Trek.

They’re central to your progression, as well. While they’re not the only handcrafted content in the game, the stories you unfold in each Episode reveal more of Star Trek Online’s story. As you move through the game, you’ll learn more about what’s happening to the Romulan Empire, deal with the renewed war between the Federation and Klingons, and encounter some very interesting Borg.

As the story develops, the stakes increase. While Episodes later in the game don’t take longer in terms of time or the number of in-game objectives, plot itself accelerates to a dramatic pitch. The threats you’ll face are as great as any you’ve seen in the Star Trek movies. That’s not to say early missions are anything to scoff at, however; the early Episodes are designed to be intriguing and dangerous, too.

The Episodes are based on conflict, much like the main storylines in the Star Trek franchise. Conflict drives drama - will your negotiations with the captain of a Klingon Bird of Prey break down and come to blows? How far do you need to go to apprehend a spy on another vessel? 2409 is a time of war, which means even the most resolute captains will need to make tough choices and come to blows to ensure the survival of their faction.

We do, however, want to make the battles you fight believable. You can make diplomatic overtures toward characters in Episodes, but on the front lines it’s very rare to avoid confrontation when dramatic forces have guided you into hostile territory with combat-ready antagonists nearby. While there are missions in Star Trek Online that don’t feature combat at all, Episodes will by and large demand your abilities as a tactician be put into play.

The characters in Episodes periodically return throughout the meta-plot, just like any good ally or adversary in Star Trek. By the time you reach endgame content, many of the different plots will have folded into each other.

While the three seasons available at launch will have common themes, and many Episodes are related to one another, there are only a few Episodes with prerequisites to meet before you can play through them. Think of those Episodes as two-parters, whereas the majority can exist within their own right. They’re complete stories that inform but don’t lead directly to the others.

Episodes generally last between 45 and 90 minutes and are designed with transition in mind. In many classic Star Trek episodes, the characters were never on one set very long. In the game, you’ll find yourself moving between different maps, both on the ground and in space, to blend literal movement with plot development.

The five-act stories are designed so you can pick them up and put them down. If you reach a point where you need to log out, you can leave the story where it is and resume within the same act, so you aren’t forced to retread old ground.

Post-launch, we already have plans in place to continue Star Trek Online’s story with even more Episodes. We just can’t explain everything by the time we launch, so as you play through the game, chances are there will be even more great content waiting for you by the time you receive your Admiral commission.

Tags: Star Trek Online

Star Trek Online: Latest Information Recap

Sep 14, 2009 Articles Recommend|363views

That is of course the folks at Cryptic and all the STO followers, the big dogs have definitely eaten the last few weeks. There has been tons of new information on Star Trek Online with lots of gameplay footage and hands on impressions from the demo at PAX. With so many updates with PAX, PC Gamer Magazine and the Official Star Trek convention in Vegas, it’s hard to soak it all in. PC Gamer shined a light on the game with multiple different covers, the first since the Game Informer article last fall.

First, I would like to cover some of the PC Gamer article in case you missed it, or need a rehash of the relevant information. If you read my last article “Capturing the Essence”, I stressed that if the game did not feel like Trek, or capture the characters and vital storytelling, I felt there would be problems. The first thing at caught my attention on the PC Gamer article written by Dan Stapleton and Even Lahti:

“Let’s be frank: most Star Trek games didn’t even come close to offering the full Star Trek experience.”

That pretty much hits the nail on the head. STO will be the closest any Trek game has come in bringing the experience to the players. The article continues to talk about a mission where they engage the Klingons in battle, using Tractor Beams and Photon Torpedoes to neutralize some Birds of Prey in an episodic mission. You can use the normal WASD controls for ship movement, and your ship yields normal shields and hull strength. Regarding shields the article reads, “Shields are represented by a broken blue ring around a ship. The weaker the shield, the thinner the barrier and the more damage seeps past it to the hull”.

Your Captain will be able to specialize in a certain career, consisting of Tactical, Engineering, and Science. There has been tons of emphasis on ground combat, the article continues to talk about ground combat being very run and gun based on your bridge crew members beaming down to the planet with you. The combat also brings different things to the table such as force fields, medical equipment and turrets for defense.

PAX in Seattle offers tons of new relevant information about ground combat and missions. For pictures of the STO booth, please check out the wonderful folks at Hailing Frequency, they have posted some pictures and additional info here.

The Cryptic Team also went to Gamescom in Germany to support the European gamers and show off STO, with tons of new information and video. Some fantastic videos of gameplay and such have been posted on YouTube again by the wonderful folks at HF, and Part 1 can be found here.

Next, which is my favorite, is the beta. Everyone loves the beta, maybe except for McCoy. The Official press release is as follows:

New York, NY (September 4, 2009) – Atari and Cryptic Studios announced today that players can now sign up for a chance to participate in the closed beta test for Star Trek Online. This highly anticipated massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is set in the celebrated Star Trek universe and is the first MMO to offer both space and ground game play.

Players and fans can apply for beta test access by visiting www.startrekonline.com. A select number of closed beta keys will be given away through the website. Players who take part in the beta are able to experience the game early, but also report bugs and provide feedback to producers during development.

“Closed beta registration is an important step in bringing Star Trek Online to the public,” said Craig Zinkievich, Executive Producer on Star Trek Online. “We are looking toward the launch of our first-of-a-kind MMORPG with anticipation and excitement and we expect Star Trek Online to explode onto the scene, giving fans and gamers a Star Trek experience like no other.”

Star Trek Online will be the first MMORPG to feature space and ground combat at launch. Missions will take players into the depths of space, across exotic planets, and even inside starships! As the Captain of your very own ship, it’s up to you to lead your crew on missions that span a number of locations. You call the shots, no matter where you are.

Impressive! Who would have thought we would be this close to closed beta? The tentative release date is set for early next year which would definitely make sense for a closed beta in the near future. Cryptic seems to be on track for release, with a playable demo at PAX to show the progress they have made. As for my opinion, the game is truly looking promising, it is very difficult to touch all areas in Star Trek, and the developer Cryptic looks like they are trying to cover all areas as much as they can. The graphics and sound look pristine from the videos I have watched, which I think everyone is very excited about.

Tags: Star Trek Online

Star Trek Online:Bridge Crews

Jul 3, 2009 Articles Recommend|330views

In Star Trek Online, every player is the Captain of his own ship, but like the characters in the TV series, there are career choices. Captain Jean Luc Picard was a diplomat and archeologist, and players similarly will develop skills. Apart from the character development, players will recruit their Bridge Crews throughout the game. These are actually Bridge Officers; the Communications Officers, Science Officers and the like, your Spocks, Chekovs and Scottys, a distinct difference from your Ship Crew, which are your hundreds of nameless crew that help run and repair the ship. The gameplay mechanic for your Bridge Officers is somewhat akin to minions and pets. They are the “phat lewts” of the game and will be earned, leveled and can be traded, although some will be bound to you.

Craig Zinkievich, Executive Producer of Star Trek Online at Cryptic Studios was on hand at a Developer’s Chat on IRC earlier this week to answer questions and tell us more about this important game play feature.

“Bridge Crews give your character some of the cooler powers in space. You start off by yourself,” said Craig, “but you’ll get your first Bridge Officer very early on, within the first hour or two [of play].”

Players will have full control of their Bridge Crew, being able to customize them with names, appearance, species and uniform of each member. You will also equip them, level them and choose their skills.

Starfleet/KDF will grant players Bridge Officers, but players will also be able to recruit them from planets after they have completed missions there. “There will be rare Bridge Officers,” said Craig, “some that you’ll only get access to when you do high-end content, some you’ll get through luck and exploration.”

Officers can be cross-trained once you obtain one with a skill you wish for another to have, Craig imparted. “If you get a wicked cool new Tactical Bridge Officer who’s got a power or skill you want, you can choose to either recruit them to your crew, or train up one of your existing crew with the new skill.”

This means that players can have, if they wish, skills for races that traditionally are unique to other races. A full crew of Klingon or Ferengi is possible. It might take some dedication and time on a player’s part, but it is possible. Bridge Officers will have a number of skills that will open up as they rank (level) up, but Captains may only command Bridge Officers that are one rank lower than they are. So although crew members are transferrable, Captains aren’t “twinkable” with high ranking Bridge Officers. Crew promotions are managed by you, the Captain, at the cost of Starfleet Reputation - a system of skill points gained while playing the game.

On the ship, the Captain is responsible for most of the buffs and the Bridge Officers provide the powers, but on a planet it is reversed, with the Bridge Officers you bring on your away team providing the buffs. Craig explained, “The Bridge Officers have special skills on the ground.” It is still up to the player however to equip and direct the away team.

Bridge Officers are not just dumb pets either. “One of the main ways that information gets to you as captain will be through your Bridge Officers,” Craig continued, “The majority of episode text is “spoken” to you by your crew, they are always scanning, contacting other ships or otherwise helping to move the story along.”

Players will recruit a pool of Bridge Officers and train them to perform different roles. There are only a limited number of slots for Bridge Officers, depending on the size of the ship and you will want to change the make-up of your Bridge Crew depending on the role of the ship.

“The different ship configurations have different number of stations on the bridge. Each station (slot for your Bridge Officers) has a type - either Tactical, Science or Engineering,” said Craig, “Given the configuration of ship - you’ll be able to activate different permutations of Bridge Officers. For example - the Defiant will have more Tactical stations than an Olympic configuration.”

Over time, players may wish to train different Bridge Crews for effectiveness in space and planet side. While on the ground, players will be able to direct the team individually or as a group. Players grouping for planet exploration will choose which officers to bring with them as away teams consist of five characters whether players or Bridge Crew.

“We really want to give you guys the freedom to build up a staff of officers that allow you to customize your gameplay,” said Craig. “Maybe today you’re outfitting your Sovereign class ship with a lot of Tactical guys - but tomorrow, you’ll play more of a support role. Depending on what Bridge Officers are on the bridge - your role and gameplay experience will change.”

As Craig informed us, Bridge Officers will not be lost through death in battle. “Your Bridge Officers are a very important part of your “character” - you’ll invest a huge amount of time developing these guys - we don’t want to be killing them on you. Three months of work gone in a minute - yeah, not fun for most.” They will be saved in the nick of time. Beamed into sick bay or something like that. Not that they won’t be removed from the scenario, just no perma-death.

No sacrificial red-shirts either it seems. All in all, the Bridge Crew system seems to be pretty flexible. Ferengi Science Officer anyone?

Tags: Star Trek Online

Everyone’s a captain in multiplayer Star Trek Online

Jun 22, 2009 Articles Recommend|290views

In the 25th-century timeline of the upcoming MMOG Star Trek Online, every player is a starship captain, either Federation or Klingon. The game, now in its fifth year of development, begins in 2409 (no, that’s not the release date).

Players cannot choose to form a group on one starship, with each fulfilling a different role; you have to be the captain. To MMORPG gamers who enjoy group play this may be a weakness. In PvP starship encounters, your customized ship and trained crew will be pitted against those of other captains. As you level up you get bigger, more powerful ships. As captain, you can customize the physical appearance of your bridge officers, but their stats are predetermined; as you level, you can choose how to spend their points, however. Planetside face-to-face confrontations can feature away teams of grouped players who fight NPCs. Open PvP encounters will be confined to contested, remote sectors of space between captains, with consensual PvP and competitive PvE in the Neutral Zone. Ship and crew customization seem to be the major selling point as of now, especially a feature that allows players to create their own unique character races, sets of traits that will then be available for other players to use. Players can also choose between Human, Vulcan, Andorian, Klingon and a few other character races. Game visuals will include Starfleet Academy, Vulcan, Bajor, Qo’noS and, of course, deep space.

Author: Gail Shivel

VIEW full article here

Tags: Star Trek Online

Star Trek Online:Developer Blog-The Anatomy of an STO Play Test-Craig

Jun 8, 2009 Articles Recommend|255views

Each week, the entire Star Trek Online team gets together for an internal play test. It’s an incredibly important part of the development cycle, and I think our fans should know more about how we use our experience to shape the game and make it better. We play together every Tuesday for about an hour. Obviously, certain teams play the game quite a bit more than that, but Tuesdays are a special day where everyone on the team – Art, SW, Deign, Audio, Concept Art, Production, QA, OCR – is required to play our game. We get to really focus on key elements we’re adding to the game, and to sit down and have real discussions about what we’re working on.

We assemble a build of the game late Monday, and on Tuesday afternoon we drop what we’re doing and get into a conference room to go over what we’re testing that week. We go over what the major changes and additions over the last week have been to the game, what content we’re going to play and what is the particular focus during the play session.

We spend about an hour playing, and then everybody gets back into the same room. We spend another 15 or 30 minutes gathering as much feedback from the team as possible. What did we like? What didn’t we like? Most importantly - did we have fun? It’s important to talk about the good stuff in addition to the bad, so we can stress the “likes” in future tests.

Running the play tests achieves a number of things:

1. Improves game stability. It’s so easy when you have a team of 30-plus people adding features and content to a game simultaneously, the stability of a product can drop off a cliff. You come back a couple weeks later and nothing is playable. None of the bugs are really huge, but the more you have, the more they add up to a huge problem. The frequency with which you force people to take a look at a game really helps with its stability. It lets people say, “Oh yeah, I’m making a game. When I put this feature in, I need to make sure it works. QA’s not going to give me a bug, everyone on the team is going to see this crappy bug I put in without testing it.”
2. Increases focus. It’s really important to see your progress on a constant basis. Anybody can sit in a room and design systems to their heart’s content, design the most complicated game possible. But really, until you get what you design in the game, until you play it and other people see it, you really don’t know what works and what doesn’t. For example, in space combat, there’s a huge list of features that we really want in space combat, and some of the features we imagined were the most important have turned out to be secondary and even tertiary systems. It’s getting stuff out there that keeps you from getting off the rails. It’s right in your face.
3. Gets the team in sync. If the project is going well, if we’re making good progress, if we’ve got a lot of good content coming down the pipe, the team feels it and morale is up. If we have crappy play tests and they’re unstable and they break and the content isn’t quite that good, the team might get depressed about it. But they realize, “OK, this is the final product, so I’m going to step up and take a little ownership and I’m gonna make this thing better.”

This Week’s Focus

These play tests are often the first time a lot of people are getting feedback on whatever they worked on that week. That’s really exciting; you can see people step up and ask questions of the people who had comments about their quest or system. It’s really personal; they’re getting direct feedback.

We focused on a lot of different issues this week. It was a number of little things; we didn’t focus on the content as much as a bunch of tiny changes we’ve made over the past week.

We made some pretty substantial changes to the weapons on the ground, and we added a few new ones. We changed some of the special items on the ground; these are the powers that you end up having that are your career powers, your specialization powers. So if you’re a Tactical officer, you have Aimed Shot and stealth powers. If you’re an Engineer, you have shield buffing powers and some other things like that.

And then there was a brand new ship configuration that some people tried this week.

The gameplay continues to get better and better, and the content that goes in goes in right the first time a lot more often than it doesn’t. As we add new ship configurations and new bridge officers for you to play with, the depth of space and ground combat just continues to astound everybody. We come up with new strategies daily.

Having these weekly play tests have allowed us to have a much more stable game, help us iterate on the features, and really generate a much more fun game on weekly basis. Everyone here at Cryptic Studios loves making games. We all really wanna be in the games industry, and on a weekly basis, these tests get people into the product they’re making.

Tags: Star Trek Online