Cryptic has already revealed a major change...

[Apolladan]

In the "about" section note this:

You Are the Captain: Command your own starship as a Federation Captain or a Klingon Warrior. Outfit it with the systems that you need to make your mark in the galaxy. Customize your ship as you see fit. Recruit, train and mold your crew into an elite force for exploration and combat.

Originally it was going to be only Federation, with Klingons acting as Federation officers. I think this is a great move in terms of both gameplay and realism/sticking to canon.

[Danspawn85]

I agree, i think that the Klingon Empire will be around for a long time

[Cyjack]

This is great news...and frankly, the only way I was going to play the game.

[curtst]

In the "about" section note this:

You Are the Captain: Command your own starship as a Federation Captain or a Klingon Warrior. Outfit it with the systems that you need to make your mark in the galaxy. Customize your ship as you see fit. Recruit, train and mold your crew into an elite force for exploration and combat.

Originally it was going to be only Federation, with Klingons acting as Federation officers. I think this is a great move in terms of both gameplay and realism/sticking to canon.

Recruit and train your crew? Wonder if they mean live people or NPC. Don't see how it will work with real people with disconnects, time differences and just people not following orders so I have to go with NPC crew.

[Ruthlessgravity]

Yeah same here, but everyone captaining their own ships? I hope by that it means you start off small.

[guido505]

Yeah, this was a very good move in my opinion. Great thing is they can bring in factions like the Romulan Star Empire or the Borg in expansions. The possibilities are pretty much endless with the IP.

[curtst]

Yeah same here, but everyone captaining their own ships? I hope by that it means you start off small.

I am sure it does. Would be crazy to let people just start commanding whatever they wanted. So thousand of sovereigns everywhere lol.

[Chief_Eng_J.W._Gross]

I think I am most interested in the recruiting and molding aspects...tee hee hee

[Gen00b]

I'm very interested to see if this will mean a shift in or complete change of the timeline / storyline that was developed for Perpetual's STO.

[Buzz_McCool]

I'm guessing you'll start out in some dinky science vessel or some old "should have been moth balled two centuries ago" starship

[dklkiller]

Also don't forget about the fact that its being made for the console aswell...... Not sure I like the idea of haveing an mmo's dev team split between PC and Console in the same game.....

[Cyjack]

The more I think about it, the more awesome this seems, and the more excited about and interested in the game I become. In like 5 minutes time, this game has gone from an "will keep an eye on" to "must check out".

Good move Cryptic...I think this is one of a very few viable approaches to a Star Trek MMO that would work.

[curtst]

Also don't forget about the fact that its being made for the console aswell...... Not sure I like the idea of haveing an mmo's dev team split between PC and Console in the same game.....

Where did you hear about this? I never seen anything about it.

[dklkiller]

Its right on the front page of the cryptic studios website. Atleast I saw it once.....getting a link now.

[LancetheNG]

I believe this will be one amazing game. Cryptic's work is always top notch. This raises more questions aha. For instance in other games you create a character and you pick which type of class or character you want your character to be. Will STO allow an Ex-Borg to work in Klingon Empire? Will we see Mixed Races? I personally want to make a Half Human, Half Vulcan, who was assimilated by the Borg but only for a year. Human Cursorily Extreme Knowledge, and being Borg, how awesome is that?

But back to the main topic, I think that this is just the start of the Races. I believe they picked the Klingon Empire because it is the most popular imo. Later on (hopefully) they will add on other races, such as the Borg, Cardassian, and Romulans.

[John]

Yeah, this was a very good move in my opinion. Great thing is they can bring in factions like the Romulan Star Empire or the Borg in expansions. The possibilities are pretty much endless with the IP.

yes i hope in whatever xpack they come out with i can play as a bad guy maybe as a borg drone :P

[dklkiller]

Right here.

http://crypticstudios.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=208&Itemid=34

Look down at the bottom where it says platform.

[Sybok]

When they say, "You are the captain" does that mean they are abandoning that whole professional tree of command, science, etc. where you would have to sacrifice science points to be a captain?

[Quince]

Interesting Point Sybok. However, I think it means that maybe everyone will get a chance as Captain, perhaps not straight away though.

[Ktar]

Wow.. thatnks for pointing this out.. I completely overlooked that change.

[Dustnite]

I think it means an NPC crew. Which I'm liking alot.

[Sybok]

I hope they don't change that, because I thought it would be cool to be a really top notch science officer and work for different ships and captains.

[curtst]

I think it means an NPC crew. Which I'm liking alot.

Same here buddy.

I feel like a little kid on x-mas day!

[Thomas45]

I sense an Expansion pack coming to add in other Races and systems...


Lol the game is not released yet and i am already seeing Expansion packs in the sky.

[Arylith]

Nah, a shuttle.

[dklkiller]

I shall be sad to see the real person crews leave. Maybe it will be that you train the NPC's for the real peoples abscence.

[Chief_Eng_J.W._Gross]

Surface, Shipboard and Deep Space Adventures: Command your vessel in thrilling space battles, or beam down to planets with your away team for face-to-face confrontations. Missions will take you and your friends into space, planetside and even inside starships!

HOLY CRAP! Shipside interior battles!

Star Trek: Counterstrike

W00T

[Jaz]

I think the whole pharagraph is ambigious, it doesn't quite make it clear if there will be the Klingon Empire, or just the option to play some kind of Klingon ship, or be a Klingon in a Federation ship.

[UltraSWG]

So we all log in as Captains? No working your way through the ranks like originally planned? They will need to elaborate on how our roles in this universe will be diverse enough.

[Arylith]

That's definitely going to be something I look forward to.

[Creoleman]

I'm just getting home from work and I'm now wide awake after working for 8+ hours. Now that we have STO back online, development-wise, I can't wait for more good things from Cryptic regarding this.

I'm loving the screens they've got us so far, and all of the news they have up right now is intriguing, and I can't wait to hear more.

Bring it on, Cryptic, bring...it...on, baby!

[Twsly76]

I bet as you lvl up you will get more NPC officer's to choose from and put on your ship, the more officers you have the more powerful or effiencent your ship will be.

[Arylith]

I'm out guys and gals, it's been a sweet night but duty and work call.

[Commander_Daedelus]

Please let me play a Cardassian :)

[spaventacorvi]

I think it means an NPC crew. Which I'm liking alot.
I hope there will be some situation where to create an "human" crew as well.
Play with other people that control various aspect of the ship should be really cool. :cool:

[IanD967]

i really hope we are not forced to become a captain, granted if i have to i will to play the game but i wouldent be happy with it.

i was happy wanting to become a member of the crew and not the actual captain of my ship

[Cyjack]

I demand the ability to trick out my Bird of Prey with green flame decals.

[Gizmo]

I think its an interesting change to have both Starfleet and Klingon paths to follow. I think they'll have to elaborate on how everyone starts out as a captain but I'm liking what I hear so far.

[Apolladan]

The "molding crew" comment depends on whether or not the starships act as hubs or player mounts. If they are hubs, then I'm assuming each ship will be piloted by a "guild" with live crew. Think about it this way:

One person in the medical bay = the typical "healer" role

main engineering = "engineer profession"

bridge crew involving people at the con, tactical, and someone in the captain's seat

I'm not sure how it would work, but it would make for a much greater experience as opposed to everyone having their own ship and using some WoW clone toolbar at the bottom to execute attacks.

[STOZone]

I demand the ability to trick out my Bird of Prey with green flame decals.

QFT. All of your decals will belong to us.

[doam]

Man, so excited. Finally done examining everything... :p It almost sounds like Starship Creator + EF + Legacy. Freaking awesome. I don't really care if the science officer/tactical/etc goes away. Science/medical/blahblahblah can still become Captains. Wanna be a medical officer? Maybe you'll be able to lead a medical ship. Like Beverly Crusher did. Or eventually did. Or maybe eventually didn't because we saw she did and it blew everything out of whack? I dunno. Maybe you can, maybe you can't... but I don't care cause all I wanted was my own ship, my own npc crew, and the ability to customize my ship AND my crew AND my characters avatar. I <3 cryptic. Even if you did screw up CoX. :p You're making it up with CO and STO.


So, uh, endgame...?

[Raath]

Will there be PvP in this game?

[Kazekawa]

Why even bother complaining about having a live crew with disconnects? That's part of what makes a game exciting. I do not want random npc people serving under me and would much rather have my friends serving on my bridge.

World of Warcraft used to require 40 people for multiple hours for a variety of raid bosses and there was always the chance the healer or tank would d/c but we all managed it somehow. I would really love to command a crew or even serve under a decent commander on a player ran ship. This will limit the number of "big" ships being flown around.

Besides, CS could program it to where if your friend DID disconnect in the middle of a dog fight that an npc could relieve that station of duty and accept orders. I see no problem with an npc crew serving with real players. This lets smaller ships able to be crewed when nobody wants to join that persons ship. Naturally player controlled ships will function better, but I really think this could work for STO.

[doam]

Why even bother complaining about having a live crew with disconnects? That's part of what makes a game exciting. I do not want random npc people serving under me and would much rather have my friends serving on my bridge.

World of Warcraft used to require 40 people for multiple hours for a variety of raid bosses and there was always the chance the healer or tank would d/c but we all managed it somehow. I would really love to command a crew or even serve under a decent commander on a player ran ship. This will limit the number of "big" ships being flown around.

Besides, CS could program it to where if your friend DID disconnect in the middle of a dog fight that an npc could relieve that station of duty and accept orders. I see no problem with an npc crew serving with real players. This lets smaller ships able to be crewed when nobody wants to join that persons ship. Naturally player controlled ships will function better, but I really think this could work for STO.

WoW *USED* to require 40 people.


But it sucked. So they stopped. Now it's 25. And it's still not good enough. With WOTLK it'll be 10. That MIGHT be *TOLERABLE* to the majority.


Tolerable? No thanks. Not my aim. Give me NPC crews, and when I want to team up I can make a fleet. When I join a guild I can join an "Armada." And when I go raid BT (Borg Territory, of course! What were you thinking?!!?!) me and my Armada can head off and melt their faces (and ships!!) with phasers. Oh yeah! Freaking awesome.

[Maverick128]

I am sure it does. Would be crazy to let people just start commanding whatever they wanted. So thousand of sovereigns everywhere lol.

I'd take a Defiant class. "Tough little ship." "Little?!?"

[LunaticFringer]

I'm still betting they'll have certain limitations. It'd be a pretty big job to actually manage to divvy out Galaxy-Class sized ships to command to players.

That said I do hope we are able to command some largish vessels and hopefully name them.

[Thomas45]

The smaller ships you would control yourself but i think you can get Bridge Staff for the more bigger ships.

[njdss4]

I'm hoping this game will have a little bit of everything. You have levels, ranks, and those determine what kind of ship you can get. Think of it this way: You gain levels and increase your stats, but you have to increase your "reputation" to increase your rank. Then, you need both levels and rank to a certain point to get a certain ship. It rewards you in a way that makes sense in a Starfleet environment, without giving you too much power from the get-go.

[jfolds1]

It would be cool if deep deep space planets... were unamed... and the first ship to discover the planet gets to name it

;)

[Ontas]

It would be cool if deep deep space planets... were unamed... and the first ship to discover the planet gets to name it

And thus was planet "wtf afk rofl : - )" born into a very confused galaxy.

[Maverick128]

And thus was planet "wtf afk rofl : - )" born into a very confused galaxy.

LOL. That is priceless. I just spit out the water I was drinking. Thanks for the laugh.

[Steelabjur]

And thus was planet "wtf afk rofl : - )" born into a very confused galaxy.

That could be countered with a prevision to the game's EULA that all names are required to have to make sense in the game world (and have that go for characters and ships as well!) make up a stupid name and risk losing your character/ship/planet name/etc. Nothing is going to ruin this game faster than a bunch of Captain "ZOMGEpicFighter" running around the universe. :p

I like the idea of Rank that another poster brought up. At the lower ranks you could be "Captaining" a Runabout taking people between Earth and Mars. Gain rank and you move up to a Courier Class ship (such as a Peregrine class) that sees you delivering important messages and supplies (when using a larger ship is impractical) and sees your first long distance travels. Even more rank sees you take command of a Freighter Class and you begin to move larger/more important cargo, passagers, and now you have your first ship that comes with a standard light armament that can actually pose a risk to larger vessels and your first real crew. Scout and Science vessel are next, letting you customize your experience a bit, then you move on to the even larger styles.
Of course, the main storyline could see you given temporary command of a larger ship than your typically able to use for a specific mission (especially near the beginning, to let the new players get a feel of what it's like to command that much power, perhaps the the Kobayashi Maru scenario/Klingon equivalent).

[Cmdr_Havens]

Recruit and train your crew? Wonder if they mean live people or NPC. Don't see how it will work with real people with disconnects, time differences and just people not following orders so I have to go with NPC crew.

I hope they mean real people.

[IanD967]

That could be countered with a prevision to the game's EULA that all names are required to have to make sense in the game world (and have that go for characters and ships as well!) make up a stupid name and risk losing your character/ship/planet name/etc. Nothing is going to ruin this game faster than a bunch of Captain "ZOMGEpicFighter" running around the universe. :p


awww buzzkill ftl :( (:p)

[Sheriffnl]

I sure hope they mean 'real' people!

Maybe both! .. that would be awesome!

[Ontas]

So, if all the theorizing proves true (and at this point we're all taking shots in the dark), and players will captain their own ships with the only interaction between players being, essentially, between captains on their ships, this raises an interesting question.

How do away teams work?

If you don't have a player crew, does that mean that you're alone when you beam down to planets? Are you joined by other player captains in some weird "senior officer field day?" Or do you have a team of NPC crewmen who follow you around and obey simple commands?

Obviously, away missions will be important, considering the work being put into planetary environments that's evident from the new screen shots. And if everyone is a captain, we can likely assume that our captains will usually not be following Starfleet Code Section 12, Paragraph 4 (http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Starfleet_regulations#Starfleet_Away_Team_Guidelin es), which "prohibits the captain from joining away missions" (but then, none of the captains on the show ever do). But if we are all captains, doesn't that ultimately mean that most of our planet side adventures will be alone? How would you be able to form a group or party for this kind of mission?

What are your thoughts on the best way to handle this (again, assuming that this "major change" means there will be no player-controlled crews)?

[T-child]

i guess thats to give the pvpers something to do.

i smell a war between the federation and the klingon empire

[Captain_Intrepid]

I'd rather players have the option of being crew members or captains.

No need to limit it one way or another. Besides, being a crew member's a great way to watch the captain and see if you want to become one, see what they do is good/wrong/whatever, and decide if it's for you or not.

I would not want it to be a matter of every crew member having to be a player character, though. Larger ships would require to be something along the lines of a player city, which from my experience in SWG can be very bad as populations tend to fluctuate.

I liked Perpetual's earlier proposal of having NPCs fill out posts that couldn't be filled by players/fill posts left empty due to disconnects/logging out. If a person wanted to have a ship all to themselves, i.e. a solo player, then they could have a ship entirely filled out with NPCs. If a person wanted to serve as a crew member of another player, then please allow that too.

In all the incarnations of Star Trek, there was always a sense of community onboard starships and space stations. Which would be missing if the only ones who can crew starships are just NPCs.

On different levels, it would be easier to just make it a tatical simulation, which has been done, practically to death. No need to have players trying to figure out how to work at the different stations onboard starships, or whether or not Lt. So-and-So's going to log on.

But to have an actual MMORPG's a grander challenge to work towards.

More options means a broader range of players a game can attract.

[Blackmambas]

I would like to have this listed Features in the Game.

- Playerhousing on a Ship everyone has a one Room were he can invite Friends and just relax^^.
- Walking trough the entire Ship .
- Bars, Conference Rooms , Transporter room , The Brigde , Command Office and so on.
- They are unlimited Quest Ideas like repair the core or some alien race invades the ship and everyone
(guildmates) have to search were and what it is and how to destroy it or save it .

- Playerleveling start as a normal Crewmember on a NPC controlled Ship with other Players do Quests
and getting your Ranks for Example someone wants to be more a Scientists or a Captain of a Ship or just
a Medic they have to choose different missions.
- with whatever lvl and enough Guildmates you can get a Ship with NPCs for the daily routine work like Barkeeper , Security and so on the Guildmates have a leading role on the Ship like the Captain , Doc , Security Chief and so on.
This Game is a MMO this means based on many players playing a game online together if just everyone
has his own npc team you could play a single player game its the same.
- Big Outposts were Guildships can restock and meet other Guilds to go together on a mission .
I also would like to have a person drive the ship not a npc .

[Steelabjur]

So, if all the theorizing proves true (and at this point we're all taking shots in the dark), and players will captain their own ships with the only interaction between players being, essentially, between captains on their ships, this raises an interesting question.

How do away teams work?

If you don't have a player crew, does that mean that you're alone when you beam down to planets? Are you joined by other player captains in some weird "senior officer field day?" Or do you have a team of NPC crewmen who follow you around and obey simple commands?

Obviously, away missions will be important, considering the work being put into planetary environments that's evident from the new screen shots. And if everyone is a captain, we can likely assume that our captains will usually not be following Starfleet Code Section 12, Paragraph 4 (http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Starfleet_regulations#Starfleet_Away_Team_Guidelin es), which "prohibits the captain from joining away missions" (but then, none of the captains on the show ever do). But if we are all captains, doesn't that ultimately mean that most of our planet side adventures will be alone? How would you be able to form a group or party for this kind of mission?

What are your thoughts on the best way to handle this (again, assuming that this "major change" means there will be no player-controlled crews)?

In the case of Away Missions, I'm guessing that the Captains would probably select a standard size team (of say four) to beam down and take physical control over either his choice of character or the highest ranking officer of the team. This way he will be able to mold his Away Team to fit the mission requirements without needing to make space on the team for non-essential crew members. In the case of multiple ships working on the same Away Mission (for example, me and my wife both taking the same mission to check out the ruins on Anteries III), the captains involved could work together in selecting their teams so that they compliment each other (so I could send down an all scientist team while my wife provides a security detail to protect them while they work).

If they do go with the all NPC crew route, I hope they at least give them a variety of random personality/background traits. One of the biggest things that made the TV shows so engrossing was the interaction between crew members (See: Spock and McCoy or Riker and Troi or Nog and Jake or Paris and Kim, etc.) and it would not quite seem right if your Number One is just a set of numbers and stats with no personality.

[guido505]

I'd rather players have the option of being crew members or captains.

No need to limit it one way or another. Besides, being a crew member's a great way to watch the captain and see if you want to become one, see what they do is good/wrong/whatever, and decide if it's for you or not.

I would not want it to be a matter of every crew member having to be a player character, though. Larger ships would require to be something along the lines of a player city, which from my experience in SWG can be very bad as populations tend to fluctuate.

I liked Perpetual's earlier proposal of having NPCs fill out posts that couldn't be filled by players/fill posts left empty due to disconnects/logging out. If a person wanted to have a ship all to themselves, i.e. a solo player, then they could have a ship entirely filled out with NPCs. If a person wanted to serve as a crew member of another player, then please allow that too.

In all the incarnations of Star Trek, there was always a sense of community onboard starships and space stations. Which would be missing if the only ones who can crew starships are just NPCs.

On different levels, it would be easier to just make it a tatical simulation, which has been done, practically to death. No need to have players trying to figure out how to work at the different stations onboard starships, or whether or not Lt. So-and-So's going to log on.

But to have an actual MMORPG's a grander challenge to work towards.

More options means a broader range of players a game can attract.


I couldn't agree more Captain_Intrepid. I've never really been the "Group/Raid Leader" type in other MMOs and I don't know that I'd want to have Captaining a Starship forced on my by the sheer mechanics of the game. I'd like to be able to have the choice of working Security, Medical, Science, Engineering, any number of professions we see on board a Federation Starship. Of course on the Klingon side everyone will be first and foremost a Warrior, with the other skills being secondary. There is just so much potential with this game. It's going to be interesting to see how things pan out.

[Gnurl]

So it'll be more akin to Eve Online than a standard dirtside romp? I'm more than fine with that.

I hope it also involves lots of missions to planet surfaces, unlike Eve. But a fully fleshed-out ship-based side to the world is very desirable, not tacked on like Star Wars Galaxies.

[KO_Gilligan]

I demand the ability to trick out my Bird of Prey with green flame decals.

That could almost lean towards Romulan.

Although I'm all for it - I'm doing mine in the Dora the Explorer motif