Star Trek Online

Overview

Star Trek Online is Cryptic Studios' long awaited MMORPG set in the Star Trek universe. Players can play as a member of the United Federation of Planets or the Klingon Empire. The two factions are close to open war after the collapse of the Khitomer Accords. The player can build his or her character from a range of familiar races such as Humans, Vulcans, Andorians, Ferengi, Bajorans, Klingons, Orions, Gorns or Naussicans. Alternatively, the player can create their character from the ground up using the game's extensive species creator, customizing everything from eyebrow shape to finger length.

The player travels through space with their own customizable starship, which can be replaced as the player advances in rank with an array of more powerful ships, which branch off into different specialties depending on the player's chosen field of specialization: Engineering, Tactics, or Science. The ships can be upgraded and customized in several ways; both aesthetic and functional.

A console version was supposedly planned, but it was later canceled. The game's producer Craig Zinkievich stated in an interview that the port was readily doable in terms of technology and that they had it up and running on certain consoles, but stated vague business-related reasons for canceling the port.

Gameplay

Combat in STO can be experienced in two different ways: Ground combat and space combat.

• Ground Combat
  When fighting on the ground, the game plays as a traditional 3rd person MMORPG. The player has access to a range of different abilities to aid his task. When not in a party of other players, the player is accompanied by their Away Team, a group of AI-controlled "Bridge Officers", who serve as something of a combination between party members and customizable combat pets.
• Space Combat
  The space combat is arguably the most unique aspect of Star Trek Online. The player is able to steer his/her ship in any direction he wishes. The player manages the ship's thrust power and shields. This part of the game might seem a bit gimmicky at first, but it can easily become overwhelming when in combat with multiple enemies.

Missions, both on the ground and in space, reflect the traditional MMO archetypes like search & destroy, escort missions, and item collection that define the genre.

Content Updates

Major updates to the game are referred to as Seasons and normally consist of a various changes and new content.

Season 1 - Common Ground

Season 2 - Ancient Enemies

Season 3 - Genesis

Season 3 introduced player-generated content (PGC) with The Foundry, a Cryptic toolset that allows players to construct and script missions almost seamlessly within the game world. Cryptic is one of the few MMO developers offering this kind of PGC and it has been represented as one of STO's greatest strengths in player retention and mission variety. The foundry cannot create any new assets, but authors are able to assemble the component parts into unique variations beyond what is seen in many Cryptic-designed maps.

Season 4 - Crossfire

The main addition to Season 4 was a revamped "shooter" ground combat mode, effectively giving the player a choice of standard RPG toolbar controls, or a third-person reticule that can be controlled by the mouse. Far from requiring twitch gameplay, the system uses the reticule to determine the player's target and chance to hit based on the proximity of the crosshair to the character model. There is no limb-specific targeting.

Other improvements included a revamped Klingon home world map "First City" on Qo'nos, Vivox voice chat, and numerous changes to systems and UI.

2011 Holiday Event

The special Holiday Event prior to the Free-to-Play launch introduced a new "Q's Winter Wonderland" area with ice skating, snowball fights, and racing to earn holiday-themed currency to trade for special social items. This also ushered in the era of lockboxes to STO, which offer a mixture of rare and common rewards, the highest of which being a rare starship not otherwise available by any means except on the Energy Credit Exchange (auction house).

The ship available during the event was a Jem'Hadar tactical escort. The primary motivation for including this ship in the lockboxes is that CBS has ultimate control over the canon of Star Trek, and they do not wish the canon to be diminished by having an excess of Starfleet captains flying alien ships. By forcing rarity, Cryptic is able to introduce distinctive ships into the game within the boundaries set by CBS. By using the lockbox model recommended by Perfect World Entertainment, the extra sales generated by purchasing keys for C-store points has proven lucrative.

Season 5 - Call to Arms

Timed with the launch of Free-to-Play (F2P), Season 5 also introduced the Duty Officer system, expanded Borg content, an adjustment (higher) to the starting level of the KDF faction, a UI overhaul of how missions are accessed and replayed, a trivia metagame, and the introduction of Dilithium as a non-tradable currency which replaced the previous Marks of Valor and Exploration system.

The F2P launch included a Features Matrix listing what benefits lifetime and "gold" level subscribers would retain over free "silver" accounts. In general the features favored the dedication lifetime subscribers have for creating foundry content and rerolling additional characters. While a "silver conversion" tool was discussed, in the end this was simplified so that lapsed subscriptions retained all existing gold-tier "perks" which had been unlocked, like expanded inventory and bank slots. This system made the gold-tier benefits appear diminished, as they could all be obtained within a single month's subscription. The F2P revenue model

Season 6

Season 6 of Star Trek Online will feature a number of updates centered around Fleets (Guilds) and with a focus on end-game content. It is currently planned for release in mid-June of 2012.

Included in Season 6 are Fleet Starbases, though it is unclear how robust this system will be. With what is being referred to as Starbase Construction missions as part of the update, it is implied that there will be some sort of progression system, if not also some level of customization.

Also part of the update are 20-player Fleet Events, which are initiated at your Fleet's Starbase, several 5 player Events, the beginnings of a complete overhaul of the PVP system, and new assets for the Foundry.

A wave-based survival mode, essentially Horde Mode, is also planned but it's unclear if this will make it as part of the Season 6 updates.

Development

Star Trek Online had a rocky development period. Originally the property of Perpetual Entertainment, STO was intended to take place twenty years after the movie Star Trek: Nemesis. Having secured the rights to all of the Star Trek properties, Perpetual was free to do as they wished with Star Trek Online. However, having already placed their other development effort, Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising, on hold, Perpetual officially suspended development of Star Trek Online on January 14, 2008. Since then, Perpetual Entertainment as a whole has closed its doors.

On July 28, 2008 Cryptic Studios officially announced that it had obtained the rights to develop Star Trek Online and had already started development, starting over with their own assets rather than continuing work on the existing Perpetual material. Cryptic took a different approach at the game's mechanics, and chose a different art style than the Perpetual version of the game. The game was officially unveiled on August 10, 2008 with a trailer showcasing both ship and on-foot combat.

On February 2, 2010, Star Trek Online was officially launched to mixed reviews. Since its release, Cryptic Studios has released an event calender detailing upcoming in game events and releases. These events are called Special Task Force missions and are aimed at high-ranked, end-game players.

Since the beta of the game, Executive Producer Craig Zinkievich has released several "State of the Games" that have been fairly open in addressing the STO community's concerns and the advancements of the game. Cryptic also runs regular installments of "Ask Cryptic," a feature designed to give players direct access to Cryptic and answers to their questions.

In September 2011, the month after Perfect World Entertainment had completed its acquisition of Cryptic from Atari, it was announced that Star Trek Online would make the switch to a free-to-play model. Free-to-play began for all users on January 17, 2012.

Playable Races

The United Federation of Planets

The Klingon Empire

Ships

FED CRUISERS
CRUISERS Constitution Excalibur Vesper
HEAVY CRUISER Stargazer Constellation Stargazer Dakota
EXPLORATION CRUISER Galaxy (the ship class of the Enterprise-D) Celestial Envoy
BATTLE CRUISER Sovereign Sovereign (the ship class of the Enterprise-E) Noble Majestic
BATTLE CRUISER VARIANT Avenger Vanguard Emissary

FED ESCORTS
ESCORT Saber Rapier Ushaan
HEAVY ESCORT Akira Zephyr Oslo
TACTICAL ESCORT Defiant (the self-named ship class of the starship Defiant) Vigilant Gallant
FLEET ESCORT Cerberus Prometheus Phoenix Cerberus
FLEET ESCORT VARIANT Dervish Hermes Gryphon Dervish

FED SCIENCE
SCIENCE VESSEL Nova Aurora Quasar
RESEARCH VESSEL Olympic Hope Horizon
LONG RANGE VESSEL Intrepid (the ship class of the Voyager) Cochrane Discovery
DEEP SPACE VESSEL Luna Sol Polaris
DEEP SPACE VARIANT Destiny Oracle Trident Destiny

ESRB Rating Summary

Set in the year 2409, this game (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) allows players to assume the role of either a Federation Starship captain or a warrior for the Klingon Empire. Players can select a spaceship, navigate around asteroids and debris, and defend against enemy raids—this space combat represents approximately 50% of the game. The more intense combat takes place on the ground (roughly 35% of gameplay), as players use phaser guns to attack enemies in frenetic firefights: the sound of laser gunfire is prominent; characters stagger back when hit, then lie face down when defeated (though some characters get right back up and others disappear after a short period). The game's "Character Creation" section allows players to customize the appearance of their character; players are able to adjust the bust size of certain female characters to exaggerated proportions. Dialogue/text may also contain mildly suggestive phrases such as "I'll be your guide to . . . pleasures of the body" and "the pleasure goddess of Rixx."

System Requirements

• OS: Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32 or 64-bit)
• CPU: Intel E8400 Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2 5600
• Memory: 2GB RAM
• Video: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 / ATI Radeon HD 3850
• Sound: DirectX 9.0c Compatible Soundcard
• DirectX: Version 9.0c or Higher
• HDD: 8GB Free Disk Space
• Network: Internet Broadband Connection Required
• Disc: 6X DVD-ROM