Star Trek Online: Hands-On Preview

Dana

MMORPG.com traveled down to Los Gatos to talk to the team and play Star Trek Online. We got a lot of time to just run/fly around and check out the ins and outs of the game. We then spoke to Executive Producer Craig Zinkievich about it. This is the first of two articles and is a broader preview. On Wednesday, we'll bring you a specific article that really delves into great detail on ship interiors and bridge crews.

“The vision is that as you play through the content you feel like you’re in the movies, the TV shows,” explained Zinkievich.

They broke the missions up into mini-arcs that obviously owe a lot to a TV episode. They always begin in space with the player sent off on some kind of mission. Upon arrival, there is some kind of space-based challenge – in my hands-on time that meant combat – and then the story draws the player down onto land or some other kind of away mission.

Read it all here.

jotull

I have to wonder if Cryptic would re-extend that offer to come visit had they known about mmorpg.coms willingness to leave leaked beta footage on their forums for days on end, or the yellow journalism blog pieces that basically called them con artist.

 

Darkjinxter

Ship combat sounds like a bit o' fun maybe. The lack of detail in the article on the mechanics of shipboard and away team combat makes for boring reading.

Still I'm wondering if the game will include 'classic' Star Trek scenarios, as that Next Generation stuff gets up my nose.

Nikopol

Actually that's a very informative preview with quite an insight into some game mechanics which - as far as I know - were not revealed before.

 

Margrave

Ship combat = awesome

ground combat = not so much

...

valkerus

I guess i'm a "glass is half empty" kinda guy, but why do i get the feeling that this is going to be space, static ship and multiple missions that amount to like 8 randomly generated maps with different henchmen strewn about like COH?  Time will tell i guess.

Nirwyl

The more I hear about this game, the more worried I am that I will not like it, which I think is bad PR on Cryptic's part. I should be getting more excited as launch gets closer, not less.

Suraknar

Very informative in my opinion.

I have a very clear picture of how the game would flow and play out of this now. Of course it helps having played games such as Sea Dogs, and Sea Dogs II or Pirates of the Burning Sea, as the Principle of High Seas Travel to Ship to Ship to Ground is the same in a different setting.

I also love the fact Combat will be Tactical and positional in nature!

This article made me excited

erictlewis

Maybe there is hope for this game after all.   Finally some good info to go on.

Rhaeldric

Originally posted by Nirwyl


The more I hear about this game, the more worried I am that I will not like it, which I think is bad PR on Cryptic's part. I should be getting more excited as launch gets closer, not less.

 

On the contrary, you should always approach any new game with the expectation that you won't enjoy it.  That way you'll either be pleasantly surprised, or at least not disappointed. 

 

I can't count the number of games I've seen games declared to have "failed" because expectations were too high up front.  If instead the game is judged based on what it is, rather than what we want it to be, it's more likely to be successful.

 

That's not to say high expectations are a bad thing, just that we often kneecap our own enjoyment by demanding specific features or events inside a game instead of understanding that what we really want is for much more general desires to be met (i.e. someone who expects a fully voice-acted mission system vs someone who wants an engaging and involving PVE experience-one places a specific demand on the game, the other is a much more general demand on the design philosophy behind the game, which still gives the devs freedom to meet that demand in any number of creative ways.)

 

At the end of the day, you won't know whether or not you'll like the game until you play it yourself.  But just make sure it's you that's playing it, not your preconceptions.

Blurr

Originally posted by Margrave


Ship combat = awesome
ground combat = not so much
...

 

Though to be fair, Cryptic did clearly acknowledge that ground combat is not where they want it, and they're going to be working on it quite a bit.

Weezer_Geek

Good or bad, I plan on at least trying it. Whether I make it past the open beta however, is yet to be seen...

Nebless

Originally posted by Darkjinxter


Still I'm wondering if the game will include 'classic' Star Trek scenarios, as that Next Generation stuff gets up my nose.

 

I always liked it when TNG directly ripped off one of the old Classic episodes / plots.  Other than that I agree with you, too many times I remember sitting there just thinking 'don't TALK, just SHOOT 'EM!!!!'

b003

WASD? I thought it would be more like bridge commander. Ennh guess I'll see it when I see it.

rodingo

I'm glad that flying won't be "click target then orbit at set range".  Some actual interactive space flight is what the sci-fi genre needs.

grimfall

Sounds like an excellent single player game.  It would be cool if someone were to take this IP and make an MMO.

JacobFlowers

I've got to say, this preview is far superior than the load of crap previews we've gotten from several other sites that all iterate on the SAME THINGS. So I've got to hand it to MMORPG.com for doing a more thorough job.

At the same time however, I am not excited about Bridge Officers and such. We have heard Cryptic drone on and on about this for almost half a year now, and its one feature that I'm starting to disdain only because they have nothing else to talk about.

What about the CRAFTING system? People want to know how this would be done since the IP doesn't exactly lend itself to a traditional "MMO crafting system" but still players want something clever and deep, not simply commodity exchange (which is what they've described it to be thus far).

And what about the economy, another thing the IP struggles with. Will energy be able to purchase USEFUL items, or will it all be junk stuff like what they have going on in Champions Online? Will it be a player driven economy like EVE's, or some generic auction house set up?

STO has LOADS of potential, but a whole lot of us are hoping that Cryptic doesn't muff up this monumental opportunity to develop this IP into an MMO (hats off to them, I recognize the difficulty and respect them for taking on the task).

gatheris

so the whole star trek exploration thing is out the window?

 

MMO_Doubter

Originally posted by gatheris


so the whole star trek exploration thing is out the window?
 

Aside from the names and images, the whole 'Trek' thing is out the window.

kobietruman

 

yes, missions and combat seems to be it from what i can garner

no free exploration at all

but that would be a bit much for this developer wouldn't it?

 

Burntvet

Originally posted by MMO_Doubter

Originally posted by gatheris


so the whole star trek exploration thing is out the window?
 

Aside from the names and images, the whole 'Trek' thing is out the window.

 

Yup, and that has a lot of people very disappointed.

Cryptic is taking a deep and rich IP with more lore than you could ever want, and stripping it down to a combat sim.

It is impossible to make a game based on an IP as long running and well developed as Star Trek is and not have some expectations to live up to.

And it looks like Cryptic isn't....

 

 

 

Nirwyl

The whole exploration thing is probably just going to be a random mission generator, which isn't really exploration at all. Go to a certain place in a game, get a new space system to "explore." Don't like it? Exit and then get a whole new system to "explore".

nekollx

Originally posted by Nirwyl


The whole exploration thing is probably just going to be a random mission generator, which isn't really exploration at all. Go to a certain place in a game, get a new space system to "explore." Don't like it? Exit and then get a whole new system to "explore".

At least their trying something, Tell me how they should have done that? Go on, you have a better idea, share. Rember if it's static it will be on Wiki in 48 hours.

Grakel

 One of the first honest write ups I've seen that didn't blow sugar in your face or make you want to hit the writer from their first sentence. Good job, looking forward to Wednesday.

Archeminos

I'd be willing to bet that some sort of exploration thing is in the works...perhaps something similar to the way EVE Online does it?

And have you noticed the people slamming the game/calling it failed/ruining the IP seem to be the same 10-15 people in every post about STO? 

After playing at PAX, I am willing to give Cryptic the benefit of the doubt. Space combat alone with just a basic ship and 3 mini-BoP's was a blast. If a little fight like that is that much fun to me, can't wait until the later ones.

I am also starting to get the feeling that the lack of info coming out about this is intentional....almost like they are trying to balance hype building while still keeping bits back to surprise us.

 

And thank you for the great preview and some real info

Xondar123

Originally posted by jotull


I have to wonder if Cryptic would re-extend that offer to come visit had they known about mmorpg.coms willingness to leave leaked beta footage on their forums for days on end, or the yellow journalism blog pieces that basically called them con artist.
 

 

Oh please, give me a break.