...stable, that is. I'm referring to Shores of Hazeron, an ambitious MMO (well, an MO at the very least; it's not very massive at the moment) developed by Software Engineering, Inc. In it, you can choose to play as either the leader of a user-designed space empire (or democracy, theocracy, or criminal gang to name a few) or you can join up as a member of an existing empire. Gameplay is either first or third person perspective, most of it spent at the helm of a star ship that you designed and built yourself. Its reasonably simple ship designer means you can command your very own Enterprise, Galactica or Agamemnon.
 
Your playground? Nothing less than an entire galaxy. The developers claim there are over 200,000 stars in the Hazeron galaxy, but I'm not going to count them all to verify it. You are tasked with expanding your empire through both peaceful colonisation and bloody conquest. A lot of the time, though, you are building. Before your first star ship rolls off the production line, you're going to need resources, and plenty of them. Luckily, there's plenty of ore and oil just lying about, but most importantly, there are countless workers lining up to join your growing empire, which may be the best aspect of the game: once a mine or a factory is built, that's probably the last time you'll have to micromanage that facility. The workers just line up to work, leaving you free to explore the galaxy, and maybe find one of those elusive ringworlds.
 
Yep, a ringworld, just waiting to be filled with your loyal subjects. Exploration is the biggest draw with this game. Carrying on the great tradition of games like Elite, the galaxy is open and waiting to be discovered. Jumping in to a system with a supergiant star is a breathtaking experience. The unknown is also unsettling. Aside from the name of the system you are going to jump into being displayed alongside the wormhole, you really have no idea whether the system you enter will be inhabited or not. A hostile reception from an aggressive AI captain may just put a premature end to your journey.
 
Sadly, the game is technically flawed and prone to frequent crashing. Rubber-banding due to lag is also chronic issue, making the game truly unplayable at times. Also, the lack of players means the galaxy is mostly empty, and in areas where there are players, griefers occasionally pop up to spoil the fun for new and vulnerable empires. Thankfully, these are not insurmountable problems, and a liberal amount of polish by the developers with hopefully remedy the situation.
 
All in all, this is a game to watch and wait for, because while it's not ready for primetime just yet, when it is, it'll be a black hole into which every armchair Kirk should plunge into at full impulse.