Star Trek Online Re-Announced, Cryptic Developing

[Ten19]

Via all over the web and http://www.startrekonline.com

Los Gatos, Calif. – Cryptic Studios™, a leading developer and publisher of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), announced today that it has secured the global rights to develop and publish Star Trek® Online, a massively multiplayer online game based on the legendary Star Trek franchise, from CBS Consumer Products.

Cryptic will unveil the first Star Trek Online gameplay footage as well as details about this highly anticipated MMO at the annual Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas on Sunday, August 10, 2008. Trek fans from around the globe can also view the event live via webcast at http://www.startrekonline.com/.

Interested participants can register today for the Star Trek Online webcast and to sign up for the STO community by visiting http://www.startrekonline.com/.

The first batch of screenshots are available on the site. They certainly have my attention, I'll be looking forward to the footage on the 10th to further whet my appetite.

[Demo_Boy]

GL Cryptic

P.S. Initial screencaps not tremendously inspiring.

[Eric_T_Cheng]

I'm going to avoid rolling a Red Shirt class...

[DingBat]

I wonder if "Reversing the polarity" will be a skill?

[Eric_T_Cheng]

I hate to imagine grinding the skill "Level 5 Diagnostic."

[Exodus]

I wonder if I'll get to kick wesley crusher's ass.
p.s.
I wonder if I'll be able to have a hot holo-adventure with any girl I want. Barkley style. ;P
That's right.. seven of nine, dax, and everyone from risa... yeeeeeha :D ell-oh-ell

[Banacek]

If done right, a Star Trek MMO would be the first MMO I would ever play, and I would easily make it an obsession. I have little faith that I will get that MMO, but here's hoping.

[Borthcollective]

Please let the dead IP rest.

[captainstrombosis]

I wish I could find the gif of Geordi Ninja rolling under the blast door, so I could post it as "combat gameplay". :(

[Valkyrist]

After the catastrophy that was Star Wars Galaxies, I hold very little hope for this.

[Kem0sabe]

Not very optimistic about this, after all the bad press that the previous attempt generated, im not too sure this is an "easy" IP to translate into a successful mmorpg.

[Wilkz07]

/scottycry

result - character drops to their knees and cries "i'm giving her all she's got captain!"

[Klade]

Not at all surprised to learn that the last developer of this game gave up the ghost. Everything they released about that game was ass.

Quite a bit surprised that it was Cryptic that decided to pick this one up. I really hope they update their space graphics though since EVE-Online with its original 5 year old game engine has better graphics for planets and asteroids.

Should be interesting to see how this works out.

Edit: the game is coming out for "consoles" which for MMO's generally means simplified gameplay. Also from reading the little blurb on their site it seems the gameplay will be much more centered around captaining your own ship rather then working your way up the ranks like the previous Star Trek MMO.

[Ten19]

Yeah, one of the things the previous iteration of ST:O that excited me was the idea of having a bunch of players all working on one ship. Sort of like a flying guild. This just seems to be "everyone's a captain" and that's less interesting to me :/

[dbh1973]

I might give this one a chance. Thank God they've steered away from the "casual" MMO crap the previous dev was spouting.

[bub64882]

So they are developing two MMO's at the same time? Hmmm...can you say spread too thin?

[Wolvie]

DO WANT!

Holy crap that looks good. If this turns out to be any good I might get addicted to this like a crack addict. YAY!

[J Arcane]

I eagerly await the swarms of angry players leaving in drones when Jack starts systematically nerfing every MOS until you're lucky you can so much as order an Earl Grey tea from the replicator without winding up in sickbay.

[Demo_Boy]

"Computer, this Earl Grey tea is not hot."
"Due to Enhancement Diversification, the maximum temprature you may select is tepid. Would you like to try adding some Accuracy Drain instead?"
"No I want hot tea. I had it yesterday."
"Can't help you there, would you like to add a low chance of Knockback to your tea?"
*fumes*
"How about a bit less "Endurance Drain"? You'll be able to drink an extra cup of tea before you need to rest."
...

[J Arcane]

Yeah, one of the things the previous iteration of ST:O that excited me was the idea of having a bunch of players all working on one ship. Sort of like a flying guild. This just seems to be "everyone's a captain" and that's less interesting to me :/
I also very much agree with this comment. The idea of being able to get a group of people together and roleplaying the crew of a ship was a very neat idea to me, one with great promise, and most importantly, would've been something actually fucking different, instead of just copypasta EQ in space.

[Felonous]

If done right, could be a good MMO.

Chance of being done right... less than 10%.

[endrom]

*Schoolgirl* GEEEEE!!!

[MosBen]

Maybe the redshirt class is just the plucky comic relief.

[the soUL TRAder]

Yeah, one of the things the previous iteration of ST:O that excited me was the idea of having a bunch of players all working on one ship. Sort of like a flying guild. This just seems to be "everyone's a captain" and that's less interesting to me :/

I agree also.

There is no need to do a ST:MMOG if the command structure for ships isn't included.

[bean19]

"Computer, this Earl Grey tea is not hot."
"Due to Enhancement Diversification, the maximum temprature you may select is tepid. Would you like to try adding some Accuracy Drain instead?"
"No I want hot tea. I had it yesterday."
"Can't help you there, would you like to add a low chance of Knockback to your tea?"
*fumes*
"How about a bit less "Endurance Drain"? You'll be able to drink an extra cup of tea before you need to rest."
...

Funny stuff. The Enhancement nerfs were the biggest nerfs ever seen in an online game and did result in a huge loss of revenue. Despite hordes of new users from the release of City of Villains and returning old users, they still didn't see much of a playerbase increase due to how many people the enhancement nerfs drove away.

That was a huge fiasco that I can't honestly see them repeating.

[bean19]

Yeah, one of the things the previous iteration of ST:O that excited me was the idea of having a bunch of players all working on one ship. Sort of like a flying guild. This just seems to be "everyone's a captain" and that's less interesting to me :/

This wasn't how the previous iteration was designed. Everyone was captain on it too. If you are talking about how people can join you on your ship and make it more powerful, then I believe that has been a part of both designs.

[J Arcane]

Funny stuff. The Enhancement nerfs were the biggest nerfs ever seen in an online game and did result in a huge loss of revenue. Despite hordes of new users from the release of City of Villains and returning old users, they still didn't see much of a playerbase increase due to how many people the enhancement nerfs drove away.

That was a huge fiasco that I can't honestly see them repeating.
I find it hard to believe that NCSoft would've gone to the trouble to take over the game in their current financial straights, if Cryptic had been willing to own up to and learn from their mistakes. In fact, what I saw was a developer who refused to believe there was even a problem, or at least, had totally gotten backwards what the "problem" was.

This wasn't how the previous iteration was designed. Everyone was captain on it too. If you are talking about how people can join you on your ship and make it more powerful, then I believe that has been a part of both designs.

Technically, there've been three iterations. The original form, the slapped together more WoW-like form after the Perpetual shit hit the fan, and now this new form.

It was the earliest of the three in which a more "player as crew" dynamic was talked about, as opposed to a "every player is captain" approach.

[bean19]

I find it hard to believe that NCSoft would've gone to the trouble to take over the game in their current financial straights, if Cryptic had been willing to own up to and learn from their mistakes. In fact, what I saw was a developer who refused to believe there was even a problem, or at least, had totally gotten backwards what the "problem" was.
NCSoft is in "financial straights"? I know that Auto Assault was a flop, but CoX, while not a billion/year hit like WoW, has enjoyed moderate and steady success while Lineage and Lineage II are supposed to be a very big deal in the East with more people playing those two titles in internet cafes than all other cafe titles combined (including WoW).

I think they bought CoX because Cryptic was willing to sell it in order to get capitol necessary to work on Marvel Universe Online (which became Champions Online). Cryptic then bought Star Trek Online when Perpetual went under. . . I know they were doing some weird shell corporation type things to avoid a debt from Sony Platform Publishing, but the details of their failing are unknown to me (which is sad too. . . Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising wasn't a perfect game, but it was coming together and could have been really good if they had survived a year to finish developing it).

[MosBen]

Yeah, I'll also chime in with hopes of there some day being a robust Star Trek MMO. It'd be great because you'd honestly get the chance to do different things as you worked your way up the ladder. In the beginning, say levels 1-10, you're a Star Fleet cadet. You learn vital skills, get exposed to some fairly safe combat "simulations" and start your way down your carreer path. Upon graduation you are assigned to either a starbase or ship (or who knows what else they could think up that'd be cool). Your initial commanding officer would be an NPC. You'd complete missions and work your way up the chain of command or you could request a transfer to a player commanded ship. Either way, it'd be cool to see missions from different ranks. If you're an engineer most of your early missions are going to be experienced from engineering, which would make it all the cooler when you get promoted to bridge crew and finally get to look out that view screen and see what's actually happening. Then, of course, you get your own ship. Who knows, maybe there could be some kind of strategic game to be played for very high level characters.

This would just be so much cooler than fighting lower level boars, then going into an amazing looking new zone...and fighting higher level boars.

[bean19]

I'm wondering how they'll get people to play as Star Fleet officers. . . I guess they'll just make it impossible to do things that a Star Fleet officer shouldn't do.

[Xerxes]

What's this based on, the first series.... Cause that's what it looks like. Do not want.
Z1eFdUSnaQM

[Vandabo]

Well, on the website there is a huge picture of a Sovereign class Enterprise, so I'm guessing it is current with the TNG movies. Probably similar to the Bridge Commander era.

[J Arcane]

NCSoft is in "financial straights"? I know that Auto Assault was a flop, but CoX, while not a billion/year hit like WoW, has enjoyed moderate and steady success while Lineage and Lineage II are supposed to be a very big deal in the East with more people playing those two titles in internet cafes than all other cafe titles combined (including WoW).

We don't hear much about it in the US, but NCSoft spent a stupid amount of money on Lord British and Tabula Rasa, simply because the CEO was a big fan of Ultima Online. There was a huge flap over it, because they kept draining more and more money month after month into TR with no game to speak of, while budgets of other projects and products elsewhere in the company got the shaft. A lot of people left the company over it.

[bean19]

Well, on the website there is a huge picture of a Sovereign class Enterprise, so I'm guessing it is current with the TNG movies. Probably similar to the Bridge Commander era.
It was previously designed for after the last shows/movies (post-Voyager basically). This gives them the most tech to play with and upgrade to.