Ask Cryptic!

[J.L.Picard]

When exactly is the game set?
How far has the technology developed e.g. is there a new battleship or is the sovereign still the main battleship and if so did it reviece the upgrades recommended by picard in order to be on par with the Scimita?
How big will the Galaxy Initially be?
Are the UFP and Klingons the only playable races if they are do you plan on introducing Romulans and maybe even Cardassians in future expansions?
Will their be Quests that give answers or develop further storyline questions?
Will the Borg return?
How does the Rank system work, does everyone start of as captain with their own ship?
What sort of system will be used to allow us to eventually have our own Sovereign?
Will certain ship type's be restricted in numbers the same way they are in the ST universe e.g. The sovereign class I believe there was only 4 confirmed in service(i could be wrong i just remember it from Bridge commander)?
Will your rank/level effect the ship you can purchase/earn through promotion?
Will their be PvP?
Will you have a progessive territory similar to the SFC3 online campaign?
How many races playable as the UFP?
Will known ships like the Enterprise(presuming J.L.P. has retired) be up for command?
On average for a first time player what sort of time will it take to reach the "maximum" level and is it possible to reach this level with a ship of Akira,Norway class?
Will servers be setup according to Continent or will it be one big Server?
Is the gameplay on the PC version going to be effected by the plans for a console release?
Will Console AND PC both share the same servers? or will each gaming community be separated If So will it be possible to use a 360 account on a PC and vice versa?
Is the Possibility of expansions going to be effected by the console version (on pc you can just install and a console you need more Discs)?
Will the PC version be graphically limited to console standards?
Is there a job/skill system?
How far up the chain of command can you go in Starfleet and How far in the Klingon Empire can you rise to?
Will you be including each ships special weapons from previous games or will you be taking a more realistic approach to things??
What is the release date, It's been 4 years now:D:D I understand its not been in your hands for that time but can we expect it this year or early next year???:(:(

these are the main things i can think of at the moment.

[7of9]

Do you already have an idea about the server setup:

- Is it going to be something like EVE, all servers linked to make 1 big galaxy?

- Or like WoW or Lotro, servers located in different part of the world, but an European player can't play on an US server and vice-versa?

- Or like SWG, many servers to choose, all separated, but no geographical restriction?


And a second question. Is it going to be a level based character (i.e. up to level 50), or something different based on rank or skill?

[Golconda]

I would like to add:

Will the console and PC servers be separate?


Will the game hold more depth for PC players who want that because consoles are limited in some respects for an MMO (with many outstanding MMOs taking up massive space even on PC hard drives)?

Will Cryptic considering removing the console element if there isn't a place for it?

[The_Borg]

We are the Borg.

We find your ideas for this simulation intriguingly distinctive.

Will you please provide the coordinates of your collective?

[Brenelael]

After reading through the 26 pages already posted in this thread I can see that all the questions that I might pose have already been asked a multitude of times so my only question is as follows. Do you plan on answering any of these questions soon? I mean before this thread tops 100 pages of replies?

Bren

[Ransom]

My biggest concern and question is regarding the amount of pure exploration and discovery. Coming from a game industry design bg the thought of capturing that essence of wonder and "new" galaxy finds is intense to say the least. I see ST as equal parts interpersonal relationships (Kirk/Spock Picard/crew...etc...), problem solving (dispute reconciliation, war, famine, borders...etc...) and exploration and discovery (new worlds, new life, science and the diversity of life on a universe scale...WOW).
The other two items are great fertile fields for MMO's but exploration that is ongoing and ever changing seems an apple that grows very, very high up the tree.

How will Cryptic address this exploration and discovery issue and balance it with other game play paths?

In addition I question how fun some people will find a science officer class and how it might integrate with a security officer?

I know I would play a science officer and a security officer but many classic MMO mavens might find instrument tweaking a bit boring. I am very interested in play balance in regards to character classes and how Cryptic will deal with it.

I wish you all well on this endeavor.

[Signal]

How long, in real time, is warp travel over vast distances in space going to take?
Weeks? Days? Hours? Minutes? Seconds?

[Warp_Speed]

During production of this game, are you working with any of the writers of Star Trek Universe? Working with any past directors of movies, or any of the actors? Basically, are you taking any direction from noteable persons on the Star Trek Universe, to make sure the game stays true to what we all have come to know?

[J.L.Picard]

We are the Borg.

We find your ideas for this simulation intriguingly distinctive.

Will you please provide the coordinates of your collective?

LMFAO haha The_Borg is hilarious lol

[lumpking69]

Will the game be more like a simulation or cryptic studios injects its own style of game play ?

[Powerhelm]

Ok,

I love the web page design and the fact that a pretty web page was up from the start. That was my biggest problem with PE's approach to the game. Good Show Cryptic!

I would love to see the formation of a name database. For years on STO.net the community compiled names that even got screened for suitability and it extended well beyond 10,000 names...might wanna try utilizing that.

I'd also love to know just how much was kept from PE's work. Regardless of mismanagement they put alot of heart into the game and the producers were EXTREMELY community active frequently posting in forums on STO.net and startrek.com. I can see designs for things like starbases and terraformers were kept. What about their **starter ship design** (http://gaming.trekcore.com/startrekonline/conceptart/STO_SHIP_Sacagawea.jpg)?

Will alot of these art assests remain the same? Looks like that's a yes so far but what about some of the species designs?

Also we've always known Cryptic was full of comic nerds but I don't recall many or any mentions of Star Trek fandom within their ranks. Show us your trek-cred so we don't worry! :)

Just some curiousness-ess there.

How long, in real time, is warp travel over vast distances in space going to take?
Weeks? Days? Hours? Minutes? Seconds?

I can answer this one. They'll be using a series of Transwarp conduits to go over super long ranges and regular warp or impulse the rest of the time. At least according to PE's plans and since they bought up all that stuff I'm just guessing they'll stick with it.

[miqrogroove]

Until it gets answered, the one and only question on my mind is: Where do I sign up for the Beta? :D

[bitgolem]

My biggest question is how Cryptic is deviating in design strategy from what Perpetual already announced? Is it a complete rewrite?

[Trekkie]

Star Trek is not exclusively about conflicts and combat - however, it seems as if the majority of massively multiplayer online games are. What is being done to enrich the game beyond combat, and will non-combat professions be available?

[deveren]

Like others, I would like to know how much (if any) of Perpetual's design has been kept and what are the new design areas and ideas that Cryptic is bringing to the Star Trek Online?

Cam we expect to see a FAQ on the game posted on main site listing out game features, etc etc soon?

Also, can it be shared who (if anyone) from perpetual was brought on-board by Cryptic to continue working on STO? Kinda like how I've seen other shops introduce their dev teams, etc to the player populace via the main site/forums -- for example look at Stargate Worlds where each dev has a blog entry on the main site .. very nice feature and gives us (the players) more insight to the folks working on the game. At least, for me, I find that interesting.

So glad that this game looks to be alive now ... I was very concerned that STO was dead after the failure of perpetual......

[Moonlightsword]

Now that the star trek mmo has been announced as a mulitplatform game i would like to know if this game
is going to developed useing the ps3 as the lead? because as all us ps3 owners welll know that 360 port over has alot of problems.
And i would also like to know if the devs for this game will start posting news of ingame development on the playstation blog?:):

[RedShirt]

visible ship damage, how will it be?

Will it be non existent? saves resources, no extra client/server bandwidth required.
Limited decals? Armada, SFC series, perhaps small amount required.
Realistic destruction? Bridge Commander, I think Klingon Academy had something similar too.

[Alien51]

I’d like to say that I am deeply afraid that this MMO will further ruin the franchise for me. What I am afraid of is that this will become another fighting game and that would ruin the Star Trek experience for me.

Did you notice that in the show members of the Federation went out of their way to avoid fighting? I don’t want to be in a situation as in other MMOs where I look for an enemy and go fight it (pretty much unprovoked even though I can role-play a reason for it).

That is not the Star Trek experience for me. I don’t want a universe with increased hostilities. I want to explore, solve puzzles/problems, use diplomacy to bring peace to a conflict, deliver emergency medical aid in the nick of time, capture and bring a shuttle thief to justice, protect a valuable and powerful artifact from getting into the wrong hands without risking a galactic war by fighting.

These things are Star Trek to me. Hope for the future is Star Trek for me. So here is my question. Will you think outside the box and make the majority of Star Trek MMO game play non combat?

[phantomstar]

Will this game be mostly instanced? If not will there be zones or chunks (meaning will it seem like its seemless)?

[Ransom]

I have a few more questions.
1 Diplomacy. How will negotiations/speechcraft be brought into the game?
Whether it was Kirk, Picard or any of the captains they had to use their way with words to get out of, convince and change situations and people.

2 Reputation. Kirk had a definate reputation that was multi faceted. How in the world will rep be instituted?

3 Chance. How will the engineer/science officer/captain chance be intergrated into gameplay?
There was always no way out until someone came up with something! Usually wild and unorthodox. This seems like a very challenging theme to put into feats/rolls/abilities.

4 Cheating. As per the above question will there be cheating chances?
Corbomite maneuver...nuff said.

5 Gambling and carousing. Will there be chances to get into trouble?
I mean enought trouble to lose rank. I mean enough trouble to have some people hunt you down.

[Bretty]

I am intrigued to see what you do with this IP. As an avid RPG gamer and I should say part time Star Trek viewer I look forward to see where you, Cryptic, are taking this game.

All my questions have been covered so I will only reiterate my bugging query; when is beta? :)

[jarands]

How much control will I have over my starship? Will I be able to manually adjust the shields during battle or reroute power to weapons and away from life support? And will the ships crews be all AI controlled or will players be able to sign onto other players ships and serve under them?


This is a big question I have, as well. Some friends and I were looking forward to working in a cooperative environment to be the crew of a single ship. Based on Perpetual's approach, this was going to be possible. Is this still something we can look forward to? Or is this going to turn into Earth & Beyond?

[USS_Parallax]

I ask you not to screw it up. lol

Star Wars MMO was screwed up.

Stargate MMO is going to be screwed up. HALO ARMOR!

This is my last chance for a good STAR something MMO!
:eek:

[Ka]

Courtesy of the community at Hailing Frequency:

14. How much of PE's original concept will be reflected in your version of STO?




This is my #1 question as well. However, I'd specifically like to hear Cryptic's take on both the design and the art style. It's of personal interest to me :P

[JackoWords]

I would like to know if we will be able to play Cardassians- whether within the Starfleet or as their own faction.

[misterglass]

How long did it take you to decide how to make STO? Like how to make it fun and appealilng for all players.

What size of a universe do you plan to have? Hundreds of systems in ST lore, but that's mostly in 1 quadrant.

Will other races be playable eventually? Romulan? Breen? Or even to play as Vulcan or Andorian for Starfleet?

[Gatoros]

I ask you not to screw it up. lol

Star Wars MMO was screwed up.

Stargate MMO is going to be screwed up. HALO ARMOR!

This is my last chance for a good STAR something MMO!
:eek:


SWG definitely had it's problems, but the class/leveling structure, the PvP format, and the player cities made it the most enjoyable mmo I played to date. Then the jedi ruined it completely.

[Djin]

Can I get a pet Wookie?

Oh wait... this is Star Trek... j/k

Pets would be nice... Tribbles anyone?

[Desy]

Can we get an RSS feed for the front page news?

[Envaris]

Questions:

1) What is/are the central theme(s) of the game (aside from co-existing with other fans in a Star Trek Universe)? What will make us come back month after month year after year (aside from "woohoo it's Star Trek")? (possible themes: exploration, combat, economic driven, story driven)

2) How often can we expect large scale in-game events? (such as: Borg Invasion(s), Romulan-Vulcan Unification, War among the races, Outbreak of plagues)

3) Is your graphics engine/module upgradable? (EVE online released the free Trinity expansion which re-vamped ship models, stargates, stations, and more).

4) Will in-game earned rank give you access to different types of information/resources? (example: only high ranking admirals will know in advance of an attack from say the Borg)

5) The Star Trek Universe is based fundamentally on "We are better people in the future and work towards peace". Nearly all (successful) MMOs currently have conflict at the heart of the game. How will you balance the (very high) ideals of Star Trek with most people's need to "pew pew" the first person they see :P?

[Envaris]

How do we get ships? If we are captains and a part of Star Fleet, should we not be assigned ships? And given transfers to other ships as we show ourselves capable/able of handling them? For example people with medical backgrounds go on to take command of a Medical ships. After all there should only be so many Galaxy or Sovereign class ships out there.

Otherwise everyone will be in an "awesome" ship.

[Commander_Daedelus]

I would like to know if we will be able to play Cardassians- whether within the Starfleet or as their own faction.

I also would love to know this as being a cardassian is a major point to if i play this or not :)

[KevsWeb]

How interactive are you planning on making ST:O? Is it going to be as simple as clicking my mouse button, then the game doing the work for me, or will it be me doing a ''dumbed'' down version of what a security officer has to do, like you would see in the TV Series.. ?

A Trek game with pure interaction would be awsome! :D

[RayDX]

Hello guys at Cryptic... I have a couple of questions of technical nature, if you are in the mood to answer them, I'd be delighted =)

1. What is the underlying graphics API that has been deployed for the development of the game? If DirectX only, do you have any intentions of supporting OpenGL and thus platforms like Mac/Linux?

2. Many players have already adopted Windows Vista and DirectX10-capable graphics cards, is there a chance that the development has included some of the features that come from it? Like the geometry shader, the redesigned pipeline? I've worked with it almost a year now in consistency with DirectX 9, I must admit, although of the initial skepticism, I am amazed.

3. What tools are you using or you have developed for the game? Did you create a wrapper in perhaps a .NET language around the 3D engine or fully native code?

4. What are the initial capabilities of the framework/3D engine that you are developing for the game?

Thank you for your time!

[Refugee]

What platform will Startrek Online development be more focused on? I have noticed with recent purchases that are on multiple platforms that the development seems focused on the xbox360 rather than the PC. I say this because patches seem to come out for the 360 long before they are ready for the PC.

[hensch]

Is it possible to actually travel through a planets atmosphere? Can we expect landing procedures or just beaming down to planets?

[iPond317]

1. Will there be a native Mac OS X version? Many companies are now using the Cider Portability Engine to quickly port over Windows games to Mac OS X. With Blizzard's World of Warcraft on both platforms, it would only make sense for Cryptic to offer Star Trek Online on both platforms, also. Plus, the subscriber base would increase.

Cider for Mac
http://www.transgaming.com/products/cider/


2. Will we see the interiors of popular class ships (ie Galaxy, Intrepid, Defiant, Sovereign, Akira, etc.)?

[RayDX]

Is it possible to actually travel through a planets atmosphere? Can we expect landing procedures or just beaming down to planets?

From my experience, the answer is no. Planets by nature are vast and generating every corner of every world would take an immense amount of time. The only way would be data streaming right in, loading object data dynamically + procedural generation algorithms and I need to mention that I have never seen such a complex system which is possible of creating a world that doesn't look random in shape. The reason why the loading object data dynamically is necessary lies in the fact that planets, because of their vastness, cannot be drawn on the screen with full details, which in term requires a LoD (Level of Detail) system which should optimize the scene... Even if they mastered procedural generation of every natural part on a with human assistance, it would leave the problem of planets being the actual geometry, geometrical spheres which when entered in their gravitational field, should pull objects to the ground. This would require sophisticated physics modules to be implemented. One last problem with this type of approach is the scene organization of the game space. In space, planets are basically & traditionally a couple of layers of spheres (alpha, atmospheric lighting, cloud maps ( which would require to be volumetric in the sense of realism, textures ) ) but in case of a manual landing, the application can't rely on that and needs to procedurally generate planet details while sustaining constant and satisfying FPS and should switch from this simple overview to a more complex implementation of octrees and other trees to control the scene effectively. I hope someone can make sense out of my gibberish, however, the bottom line is... No, it's not possible. Although some more important worlds could have a similar implementation but they'll probably require a loading which would drop off the player in a new instance of game space.

[IndieRockDuo]

I have two questions...

#1. Will Star Trek Online be available for Mac OSX?

and

#2. Will there be anything special for us hardcore fans of the original Star Trek series, or will everything be streamlined and technical like the newer generation stuff?

[Jare]

How open ended are the away missions going to be?

What different classes of ships will we be able to use?

Will we be able to fill roles other than that of captain of our ships?

Can a group of people work together as a bridge crew to fly a starship?

[majicebe]

There are many questions that you have about Star Trek Online and we can answer them.

Post those questions here and we will select some of them to be answered in an upcoming Dev Blog. If your question doesn't get selected this time don't think it wasn't a good one. We will be starting a new Ask Cryptic thread every so often and you should feel free to submit it again.

Please only post questions in this thread. If you want to express an opinion or discuss the questions being asked, please use a different thread.

Ask away! And thank you for your interest in Star Trek Online!

Aside from the standard questions (which races are there playable/unplayable, classes, leveling, player/ship combat, number of worlds, traveling, which quadrants, currency, guilds/fleets, etc.), I've got a couple others.

How will they handle the Borg. I mean, I assume they're still around (despite Voyager's ending'ish) and I don't suspect they're playable, but will they be like a weekly menace that everyone will have to work together to kick out, and is there any chance of actually losing ground to them? I suspect that'd be near impossible to pull off, but curious nonetheless.

How about world (galactic) events? This ties into the Borg invasion idea somewhat, but are there recurring or one-time events in plans?

Is each user a character in the game, or a ship, or some sort of combination?

What year is this taking place exactly? I know most of the series was in the late 24th century, and on your site it mentions 25th century, but is this taking place during any of the show events, a year later, 20 years later, the near/distant future? Also, will time-travel be incorporated at all seeing as how there's several jumps to the past/future in all the series. (as a side-note, I always thought they could've expanded a huge amount on Captain Braxton's timeship episodes. I liked the crew even -- would've been a good series follow-up to Voyager imo).

Also, I doubt we'll see this come out this year, but what's the ETA look like? I know I'm not the only one thinking this, but please take your time to make it well :)

Anyways, I'm so glad this got picked up. Been jonesin' for some Trek lately ;)

[Neshy]

1.will you be able to serve on another person's ship?
2.will classic ship designs(ex. akira galaxy intrepid defiant etc) be included?

[Artanisx]

1. Can guilds have their own starship?
2. Will I be able to play with my friends in "our" starship, doing missions on it just like the tv shows?
3. Regarding space, STO will be similar to Star Trek Bridge Commander (i.e. inside-ship gameplay)?
4. There will be Deep Space Nine? Can we visit it and talk with popular characters like Benjamin Sisko, Odo, Quark and all the others?
5. Can we have our personal room (aboard some ship/space station) with some housing-like customization of it?
6. Is it possible to live in Star Trek with STO? Meaning, can we have our federation-officers life (if we chose the federation) doing tasks like if we were there? :D

Thanks!

[Suricata]

I tryed to read though the pages of this thread, but once I hit page 5 and realised there were another 25 I no longer could be bothered I'm afraid, so if I post any questions that others have already asked I apologise, here is my list of questions.

1 - How large is the team currently working on STO?
2 - How many of the team came over from Perpetual?
3 - How much of the work created by Perpetual has been salvaged by Cryptic?
4 - How many races are planned at release for STO?
5 - Wil the races be assigned to a side as such (ie, horde vs alliance in WoW)?
6 - How large will the galaxy be, is it still based on Perpetuals 27 sectors, with each one containing 10-11 points of interest?
7 - Will the Borg still ocupy the 2 outer sectors in the beta quadrant?
8 - How large will the sectors 'z' axis be, will the game still be very planar in its oriantation, with only relativly minor 'z' axis movement?
9 - Will races still have the 'exagerated' look perpetual planned for easy recognition or will they look be going to a more series canon look? will extensive customisation be available? (noticed no chars in the released screnshots)
10 - Will each race stil start on its own planet, or will they be only attending the academy on Earth at Fort Baker?
11 - How many servers are planned, will there be multiple server types like PvP, RP, PvE or will these playstyles be incorporated on 1 type of server with ingame mechanics seperating the playstyles?
12 - Will rank still be independant of lvl or has the system for ship aquisiton been altered?
13 - PE's version of STO included 150 ships (75 been playable), is this still the case?
14 - Everyones favorite - How much of player ships interiors will be modeled, will only higher lvl ships recieve interiors?
15 - Is combat still going to be stat based or will ther be 'twitch' style combat added?
16 - How will space movement be tackled, ie, similar to Eve Online or closer to Earth and Beyond?
17 - The video from PE showed various ship types (science, tactical, engineering) is this still the case?
18 - Is the games UI still flash based or has it been overhauled?
19 - Will there be guild starships?'
20 - Is the game still based 20 years after Nemisis?
21 - Just how far along is the game? What are the plans for beta?

[Stu1701]

First, I'd just like to apologize if I ask something that's already been asked, but I really don't want to read through 30 pages of other questions.

1. Will we be able to name our own ships? If so, will we just type in our name of choice or will there be a list of names to select?
2. Same question for character names.
3. I know this game is to take place in the 25th century, so I assume there will be new ships (at least I hope so), but will we be able to play as the older ships too? If so, how far back will the ships go? Will there be ships from every era or just some of the later TNG era ships?
4. Will we be able to customize the look of our individual characters? More than just what race they are, but hair color, bone structure, things like that.
5. What about weapons for character? Will we be just limited to hand phasers, phaser rifles, and bat'leths (we can play as the Klingon Empire, we need bat'leths) or will we be able to acquire some more unique alien weapons?
6. I heard we'll be able to customize ships, will we be able to customize/upgrade character weapons like hand phasers, rifles, etc., to make them more powerful or to have other effects that would provide a great advantage?

[relisys]

sorry if this as been asked but 30 pages is too long,

will you devs be coming on these forums and taking into account our views for what could be good for the agme and responding to stuff?


like stargate worlds devs there, come online to the forum every day and said why it was good and why it wasnt good for the game

[Roka]

I think giving an answer on how PVE and PVP will work quickly may stop a riot. hehehe


*apllies cloak and hides*

[bitgolem]

Are hailing frequencies open? Lieutenant, are they recieving us?

[Eric_PDX]

It was mentioned that this game will be PC and Console based.

Will there be a Wii version of this game?

If so, I don't even care how much it costs, I'll buy / subscribe.

[Captain-Picard]

#1 Will Star Trek Online be compatible for a Windows Vista?

#2 Will Star Trek Online be compatible for a PS3?

#3 On the Star Trek Online Client will you be able to adjust the display options on it so it will faster on slower computers?

[Galacticgamer09]

Hi Cryptic, first off just want to say love CoH and can't wait for Champions and play style on my 360...

I am curious to know will there be a ingame (not referring to xbox live achievements) badge system similiar to CoHs? I know that has been a major fun thing to do in that game and I would love to see that in STO, thanks and I wish you all success in this venture.

[BlackWolf]

Mmm one big one (got no idea if it is asked): What can we expect from Cryptic and is Cryptic taking this serious because of the quick announcement for 2 Augst.....

[Roka]

I noticed that there isnt much dev responce on the forums compared to CO forums. Are you lacking people or just nothing to say?

[trevordavidc]

When will there be closed Beta Signups, or is the development of the game anywahere near that point yet?

[logicbomb]

I am coming to Gencon 08 just to get an early Alpha tester account, don't let me down.

[Lt.Cholfe]

Will there be a speech recognition interface? For example if I say "Computer reroute all available power to the shields" Will it work?:D

[Djin]

I noticed that there isnt much dev responce on the forums compared to CO forums. Are you lacking people or just nothing to say?

I was wondering this myself... perhaps they are busy making the game?

[Armsman]

1) Will 'Guild' structures be allowed (I guess they might be called 'Fleets') - and I'm talking things like player Guilds that exist in other MMOs

2) How will players 'group' (as they do in other MMOs); will a 'group' make up a crew of one 'Starship'; or will 'groups' effectively be multiple player Starship captains (in their own ships)? Honestly, that would be a new landing party makeup in 'Star Trek' where we have 6 Starship captains beamiing down to a planet to adventure and explore.

3) What will leveling be like; and what will hapen as you level?

4) The news page mentions that everyone can captain their own ship. As you level, can you also 'advance in rank' and maybe get a Starbase or more assest under your control?

[Elfender]

I noticed that there isnt much dev responce on the forums compared to CO forums. Are you lacking people or just nothing to say?

the plan as I understand it is that they will answer these questions as they can in thier Developer Blogs, good luck to them in that too...sifting through all these questions (or 90 posts asking the same 10 questions) will take time and patience, so we should also have patience and trust that answers will be forthcoming in the near, or hopefully not too distant future.

[TheMasterpiece]

I would like to know if we will be able to play Cardassians- whether within the Starfleet or as their own faction.




Why in the world would cardassians be in starfleet

[Ridgelon]

Will we have to join starfleet? Or will there be other factions of humans we will be able to work for? It would be great if we could join up with the Maquee or make our own faction.

[Alex_T1991]

I think I can answer your first question. I've been reeling over some episodes of DS9 and it would seem that they have a sort of credit system. If that isn't what you're after then good old Latinum, being used so many times in Star Trek, it's bound to be in the game.
There's an article here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_Online#Economy)

However I'd like to post a few questions.
What happens when you're killed? it would be unrealistic to respawn. but be respawnd on a starbase or your homeworld.
And:
Will there be projectile weapons? like the TR-116 or the 25th century equivailent of a FN P90. in the event of dampening fields.

I would like to shoot a Gorn to pieces with a SA-80:cool:

[TRehes]

Willw e be able to pick half-breed races, lick human/vulcan, or human/klingon. Will we be able to make rarer ones, like vulcan/klingon?

[Nechronox]

Apologies, as these questions may have been asked already. I'll be brief.

1. The whole 'be a member of the UFP or a Klingon warrior' is a bit odd. The UFP is made up of many species, including Klingons. If this is a roundabout way of saying you can be human or a klingon, that's pretty silly.

2. Will there be non-combat missions, and will they match the number of combat 'quests'? Exploration is key to the Star Trek experience. Medical and science ships, for instance.

3. Will Cryptic provide some resources for roleplayers? A dedicated server with stricter naming rules/in-character chat requirements/etc?

[CaptJono]

I appologize if this has already been asked, I got to page 10 of 22, and decided to call it quits. :rolleyes:

How many different vessels are you planning per race?
If there are different types (ie frigates, destroyers, cruisers, etc) what is the means in which you may get better starships?

Lastly, while we're talking about starships, what does God need witih a starship?

[willriker09]

What is with all the Romulan hate going on in the images on this STO website? Isn't the end of Nemesis where the Romulans finally want to talk supposed to suggest that they aren't one of the Federation's biggest problems at the time that this game should be taking place? The picture on the forum pages, although really cool looking, shows a bunch of federation ships clashing with romulan warbirds. Just a nit-picky question, but I'd appreciate it if you could satisfy my curiosity.

[Yavin_Prime]

I think my biggest question is will there be PSI = Player Ship Interiors?

Secondly as mentioned in the first reply... will STO be launching with the new Movie? I know that if it does it wont give a large ammount of dev time but on the upside it'd be the biggest form of advertising (preview before the movie haha).

[Lacimus]

What are your plans for game deadlines? Will you make the mistake of setting a date and then release an unfinished game on release day. Or are you willing to put the time to release a clean game free of major bugs and system leaks.

STO as well as many other MMOG's have great potential... but when held up to par with WoW they fall shortly after release due to lack of content or a game that is not finished.

Are you advertising the game to other MMOG enthusiasts or are you aiming more toward the Trek's?

Is the game going to have a smooth interface or do I need to pick up the book and study it before I attempt to play the game?

Will the game be able to be played on Low end machines or is it going to make the mistake AoC did with forcing the gamer to have a machine that is the latest and greatest?

[Capt._D]

I have one question.

How long has Cryptic actually been working on the game?

[TheEmissary]

Just need a date so I can mark it on my calendar as my day to retire from work and give all my time to playing.

[Yavin_Prime]

Ok in all honesty I do want to change my answer. What I realy wana know (and this is for RP purposes and the fact that it'd realy help with Fleets/Guilds) is what races and which factions?

Secondly can you have a guild that allows members from both the Klingon Empire and the Federation? Or will this devide the community?

[Marshal]

I’m pleased that this game is going to be made! I’m a huge fan of the Star Trek movies and TV shows! My question is how much will the subscription be and will the game come out before the new movie?

Thanks!

[Wonko]

I just want to know what the playable races will be. Humans and Klingons seem a certainty, and I'd hope Vulcans could be included in that group.

[Nooblet]

Will we be able to only visit storyline connected planets or will we be able to go to many random ones as well?

[jfolds1]

wondering if you will be able to pirate any in the game, like drop someone's shields and beam their cargo out..

or for larger battles, salvage parts from debris fields after destorying a ship

[Malsonic]

The big question on my mind and I'm sure many Trekkie's out there is, "Have you been able to secure any of the original cast from any of the Star Trek series for voice acting in STO; or are there any talks with any of the cast members to come do some voice acting for STO?"

[Lord_Xomic]

The big question for me is; can we have more information about the gameplay?

[jayphailey]

I see many questions here. WHere do I find the Answers?

Jay ~Meow!~

[Vonstadt]

I see many questions here. WHere do I find the Answers?

Jay ~Meow!~

A very good question right there. Im sure they are very busy, but a hint or two would be nice :P

[Ransom]

Level advancement?
Skill advancment?

I would definatly vote strongly for a skill based system. There has never for me been a more real feeling and vastly deep form of toon template creation. The cimply fact that one person can make a class made up of different skills than other people is most impressive. It really gives a person a feeling of self and the more self interjected into a game the more connection of player to toon hence the better the play experience "can" be and the more time someone spends on it. The two games I spent the most time in and in fact the most effort in were Daggerfall and SWG. Daggerfall offered a complex toon creation, though most of it was in quests for certain people in certain areas which gained rep blah blah, and some skill based advancement. In SWG I calculated, recalculated and tweaked my toon quite a bit. This allowed for me to be a little different than the other BHs, Jedis, CHs whatever. I took some healing, others laughed BUT I could heal and fight longer than they could as a rifleman. Skills allow for a thick gaming experience in my opinion.

[Elfender]

I see many questions here. WHere do I find the Answers?

Jay ~Meow!~

A very good question right there. Im sure they are very busy, but a hint or two would be nice :P

I have noticed recently that reading is in fact a lost art form, so i took the liberty of quoting from the very very very 1st post on this thread and high-lighting the part where it answers your query.

There are many questions that you have about Star Trek Online and we can answer them.

Post those questions here and we will select some of them to be answered in an upcoming Dev Blog. If your question doesn't get selected this time don't think it wasn't a good one. We will be starting a new Ask Cryptic thread every so often and you should feel free to submit it again.

Please only post questions in this thread. If you want to express an opinion or discuss the questions being asked, please use a different thread.

Ask away! And thank you for your interest in Star Trek Online!

[Kyrion]

Will it be possible to play a non-human Federation captain? Vulcan, Andorian, etc.? Even if this is purely cosmetic?

Are away team missions filled with the NPC crewmembers if you're solo-ing?

Will there be holodeck missions?

Will it be possible to enter another player's ship?

Will there be "unexplored" areas of the galaxy to travel to, allowing free exploration rather than mission-based travel?

[Calvert]

Will we see some Star Trek Online content on the games convention this year?

[Kloz]

Will there be Raid type of gameplay? We all pile into a big ship.. each having our own jobs and Blast the aft out of some poor other race?

Also will there be Orion Pirates?

lol

<S>
s32nd ELDER Kloz

[bitgolem]

Will there be Raid type of gameplay?
s32nd ELDER Kloz

Battle of Bajor!

[Djin]

Battle of Bajor!

Lol... I remember that.

Borg battles perhaps?

[spokechecker5000]

When and how can we get involved with the Beta testing for this game?

[brewha]

Will we be able to be borg?:confused:

Also will we have access to 8472?:confused:

[Djin]

When and how can we get involved with the Beta testing for this game?

Not a single care... just straight to the BETA! :)

I think when that time comes everyone will see on the main page.

[bitgolem]

Will we be able to be borg?:

4000 people log on, go through character creation to create a Borg drone, then start spamming support
"Why can't I control my character? It's like he's taking commands from someone else "
"Why is all this noise coming through my speakers that sound like a million people talking all at once?"
"The text in my chat window is scrolling by faster than I can read it... Looks like 39999 people chatting all at once..."
Support replys that that is the way the Borg Drone player race is designed to work. A single dev has contol of all your characters and she's issueing command. The sound you hear and the chat you see is the Collective communicating. Resistance is futile

[Wargasm]

Will you have a booth at PAX?

[NX001]

When will this Dev Blog come out? You guys are going to have a whole heck of a lot of questions to weed through.

[TruthSeer]

This is more of a general Cryptic product question but since this and Champions both look great I was wondering if there will be some sort of payment plan for multiple Cryptic games for less then what it would cost to play all of them? Something like what SOE has for there games, but this would be for good games.

[spokechecker5000]

Not a single care... just straight to the BETA! :)

I think when that time comes everyone will see on the main page.

I think I have to agree STRAIGHT TO THE BETA!

[Djin]

I think I have to agree STRAIGHT TO THE BETA!

I was talking about you. Your second post was about joining the beta...

And you have a total for 4 post... :rolleyes:

[Lord_Xomic]

Can we please have voice actors from all over the world?

The one thing that ruined Enterprise the most for me was the fact that everyone spoke in American accents; that's totally not what Star Trek was about.

[Captain_Intrepid]

For bridge stations, would our characters click on the appropriate station/chair to access it?

Would we be able to work with holographic UIs for stations, or would they be touchable 2D programmable pannels?

Does Star Fleet continue the no armed personnel (excepting security, of course) onboard ship outside of combat situations? Or would everyone be allowed to carry at least a small, concealable firearm?

Are the Klingons and Federation still allies, or have they gone their own ways (again)?

Could a Klingon be able to join Star Fleet or a member of the UFP join the with the Klingons?

Are the Romulans against Star Fleet, or did they undergo a civil war, forming a new faction of the Romulan Star Empire?

[Lacimus]

Is Cryptic up to the challenge and complexity of appeasing all of the Star Trek fans / Other MMOG players?

[hinaito]

I guess the one main question I have about Star Trek Online is how much will this game be like what P2 wanted to make... is it still in the end of the 24th century? Is it still gonna mostly be based in the Beta or Gamma Quadrant... whichever one they had planned. Will you be able to play more than just the Klingons and the Federation?

[hinaito]

Can we please have voice actors from all over the world?

The one thing that ruined Enterprise the most for me was the fact that everyone spoke in American accents; that's totally not what Star Trek was about.

ENT had a british guy... TOS had a scottish guy... TNG didn't have any... DS9 i dont know, i didnt watch it... VOY didn't have any...

[Elfender]

Can we please have voice actors from all over the world?

The one thing that ruined Enterprise the most for me was the fact that everyone spoke in American accents; that's totally not what Star Trek was about.

ENT had a british guy... TOS had a scottish guy... TNG didn't have any... DS9 i dont know, i didnt watch it... VOY didn't have any...

Dont forget the russian from TOS . . . cmon man how could you forget Chekov!!??!! ^_^

[RobetDeWalt]

Hi Razor

I am new to the forum, but old in Star Trek. My questions:

1) Is there a forecast date for start up?
2) Is there a place to sign up as an alpha or beta tester?
3) How come it took so long?

Ready to go in Portland.

[Lord_Xomic]

ENT had a british guy... TOS had a scottish guy... TNG didn't have any... DS9 i dont know, i didnt watch it... VOY didn't have any...

Well.

Roddenberry's original vision was to show the various people of the world united and as equals etc etc.

In TOS, we had an African American, a Scotish guy, women, an alien, an Asian, etc.

TNG had Picard, (a French guy with a english accent o.o), a blind man, a klingon, a android, etc.

While I agree it's been dropping off in recent years, I think Cryptic should try to return us to the original ideals of Roddenberry; people from all over the world, of all races, of all nationalities, of all genders, of all ablities, etc.

It shouldn't be too hard to get a few different voice actors.

[Ryan5153]

Will players either be able to be borg and/or be assimilated? Can they be removed from the hive?

[John]

ok this is my only question here goees

Will we be able to design our own ships IE what they look like and have some sort of paint jobs on them or at least call them USS so and so.

[ronshelton28]

i posted in wrong place before has anything been said about beta testing and and how to sign up for it?

[ClickBouyow]

i posted in wrong place before has anything been said about beta testing and and how to sign up for it?

No, there has not.

[bitgolem]

Has a dev posted to this thread since it was started?

[legionaire]

I'm myself an aspiring game developer and is currently studying to become one. But after seeing many many games being just hyped by the marketign departements etc etc i'm havign QUITE a hesitation to actually belive there will ever be any new good mmo's ever made (unless it's mine that is )

So my questions are the following.


Will star trek be just another overly hyped game as almost every other mmo after ultima online?

Will it try to cater to every player like most other mmo's are trying to do just to get as much players as possible from wow? (i hope not)

Will there be an ADVANCED crafting system like in old swg? or will it be just another trying to cater to every player type type of crafting like wow, aoc etc? ie a MEH crafting system that is dull and boring.

hmm had more questions but i'm in a heated discussion with a friend about mmo's and i forgot the other questions :P

[The_Padre]

Has a dev posted to this thread since it was started?

They won't post in the thread itself but in a new blog answering certain questions, for example: Champions Dev Blog (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_07-28-08)

[Tribble]

Will there be a pet system intergrated into the game? If so, will tribbles be a pet option?:D

[bitgolem]

They won't post in the thread itself but in a new blog answering certain questions, for example: Champions Dev Blog (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_07-28-08)

So do we know where this blog is?

[Bladerunner1701]

Will there be guild run starships? :confused: Please say yes

[ngille]

Will guilds be able (end game I would imagine) to create their own starbases? Something like guild halls in swg or guild cities in aoc or headquarters in Coh

[Firon222]

Will the Starknight or Athena Class Starships be included?

[Sakonna]

I just want to Know if Romulans will be a Playable race either in this game or in possible expansions. I know it said Federation or Klingon, but I was wondering if Romulan could still be possible ?



Also, I was wondering if you are federation, does that mean you have to be Human, can you be Vulcan aswell ?

[Koroth]

Cryptic may have an understandable bias towards the stylized art found in comic books, but it may clash with the expectations of many Star Trek fans. How will you satisfy an audience used to seeing their entertainment in film over the last 40 years?

- Koroth

[Xextreem]

I think the are a bit overrun many ppl got many question perhaps its not the best time to ask somthing :p

[capt.em]

Do we have to have real people to pilot our ship or can we use computer players????

[ddgrfn11]

At least for the moment i dont have too many questions as i mainly have a wait and see attitude...but one question i do have is: Will be be attending the academy for instruction and if so....will it just be a quick in and out procedure or will we actually feel like we have been to Starfleet Academy? In the shows that it was mentioned...the academy was a major and unforgettable part of their lives. Obviously we cant be there for 4 years.....but i think it needs to be there at least for a while in the beginning...maybe even return trips during your career for special training or something of that nature.

[ddgrfn11]

I think the are a bit overrun many ppl got many question perhaps its not the best time to ask somthing :p

That is why this thread is here....they created this thread....they want us to ask....so ask away.

[Tomkan]

That is why this thread is here....they created this thread....they want us to ask....so ask away.

And when can we expect the answers for all those questions? :)

[Djin]

And when can we expect the answers for all those questions? :)

Tomorrow at 2:00pm eastern time.

[Captain_Hawk]

My main question has to fall under available ship types. I want to know which ships we'll be able to command right after we've made our characters. Are we stuck with something like a runabout or will we get at least something the size of like a Defiant-Class or Akira-Class?

[Deyvid]

I have many of the same questions as others do. If I repeat a previous question, then either I didn't see it earlier or I am reinforcing the importance of the question.

In no particular order....

Will there be ship interiors for player-ships? Even if it's no interior for shuttles / small craft, we want ship interiors for hub-ships, starbases, and capital-size player ships. We want to walk the halls of the Enterprise (or a similar ship), access computer panels on the walls, visit the bridge and main engineering, etc. We want to interact with friends and other players on starships and starbases, not just on a planet's surface.

Will we be able to choose a department such as Command, Engineering, Security, Science, Medical?

Will we be able to board another player's ship to play together, or will it be one-player-per-ship? When 3 players form a group, will that be 3 characters on a single ship, or will it be 3 ships that are linked to share the risk / reward?

Perpetual claimed their STO would have a balance between solo play, and group play (players could effectively play the game solo, although some/most content would require a group) -- is this being maintained? I enjoy grouping for content, but sometimes enjoy playing solo and still being productive and successfully complete quests.


Will the game's chat window offer a Serif font that differentiates between a capital I and a lower case L enabling Klingon players to use tlhIngan Hol and be clearly understood (at least by other Klingon-speakers)?


Will STO be supportive of Role-Play activities, similar to Lord of the Rings Online? Sometimes I like to voraciously chew up content (complete quests, accomplish deeds, crafting), but sometimes I (and many other players) like to just experience and explore the beautiful, vast lands of Middle-earth, go exploring, and "play in the game", not just "play the game". Will STO support this type of play with sight-seeing opportunities, in-character leisure activities for role-play (visit Ten-Forward to socialize, play Vulcan chess, play the Vulcan harp like Spock or the trombone like Riker, get drunk on Bloodwine, play Dabo) etc. The holodeck would offer lots of interesting possibilities for stuff like mini-games, musical entertainment)

Will the game require a monthly subscription fee? (I think most players would prefer Pay2Play rather than Free2Play-with-fee-to-unlock-content) Will there be a possibility for a "Lifetime Subscription" plan similar to Lord of the Rings Online's one-time $299 fee for Lifetime Subscription (one large fee that buys lifetime-access without any further monthly fees)?

Will there be animated emotes? Such as typing /salute to make your character perform a salute animation? Will there be sound/voice associated with emote commands?

Will there be an open-beta phase? I would love to beta-test STO, not just to see content but also to test performance of STO on my PC.

Will STO be playable on a 56k dial-up connection (like WOW, LOTRO, etc.) or will it require broadband (DSL, cable)?

Will Klingon characters get to wield a batleth sword and Daqtagh dagger?

Will there be a collector's edition sold at launch, with special in-game items and/or swag in the package?

Will we still start with a shuttle / runabout, then upgrade our ship to larger ships (larger size, stronger, faster, more crew, etc.) as we level up or progress in rank, or will we start with the ship that we'll use for the majority of the game?

When it says "Recruit, train and mold your crew into an elite force for exploration and combat." in the About Star Trek Online page, does that refer to recruiting NPCs or other Players?

Will we be able to have more than one character, or will we be limited to only one character?

[ChiefBrex]

What I would like to know is how much from Perpetual's work will be kept, and how much of it will be re-done from scratch?

Will the ship interiors remain color-coded?

How will canon Trek play a role in the development of this game?

Have any Cryptic developers working on this game, bothered to watch any Star Trek episodes? In particular the three episodes (TNG: "All Good Things..."; DS9: "The Visitor"; VOY: "Endgame") that actually take place in/around the era of STO?

Will the player system remain to three departments, like Perpetual wanted? Or will the game go back to the original 5 departments (Engineering, Command/Flight Control, Operations, Tactical/Security, and Medical/Science)?

What will the level of interactivity between other players be?

How will hubs work? Will they be starships or starbases?

Why are the Federation and the Klingons being the only playable Empires? Will the Federation have member alien races available? Or will players only be able to play as humans? Can Klingons join Starfleet like Worf and Be'lanna Torres?

How many canon starship designs from the 24th century will be available? How many new ship designs will be introduced?

[Admiral.of.Starfleet]

On a technical note: Will STO utilize 64 bit processors, hyperthreading, and multi-core processors?:D

[Djin]

On a technical note: Will STO utilize 64 bit processors, hyperthreading, and multi-core processors?:D

I doubt that... Age of Conan can't even do that...

[Stronin]

Few questions, mostly guild related:
Does the leader of a guild have to just work his behind off till he can earn a command level (and therefore respectible) vessel?, or will we contact Cryptic and they give him one after confirming Guild status? What actually occurs?

I feel like all of us, inculding the top tier staff, are just going to be sitting in shuttle craft for a month/whatever time, till we can earn the vessels we've been "assigned."

I figure thats how it works though correct? And how do our crews figure into that?

[The_Padre]

So do we know where this blog is?

They'll post the new blogs on the main site and have an announcement and thread to talk about it here on the forums.

[jhem99]

On a technical note: Will STO utilize 64 bit processors, hyperthreading, and multi-core processors?:D

Nah, you'll need an Cray MKII to play this game.:p

[Dustnite]

Will STO be able to utilize my Tandy monitor?

[spokechecker5000]

It has come to my attention that You will be able to get your own ship and modify it as you see fit fro travelling around the galaxy. What types of ships will we be allowed to create and what classes of starships will we be able to command?

[ddgrfn11]

And when can we expect the answers for all those questions? :)

Eventually...is all i can offer up.

[treky215]

Will there be ship interiors? If only for capital sized.

Will those interiors be instanced or ever-existing, so people can beam to-and-from?

Will missions be instanced?

[Deyvid]

Regardless of the content and gameplay concepts of Perpetual's STO, will Cryptic be using any of the work done for PE's STO by Michael Okuda and Andrew Probert?

Both of these men were very influential in the creation and production of the Star Trek television shows and would be a great asset (and just very cool to have their names attached) to the first-ever Star Trek MMO.

[ddgrfn11]

Will there be ship interiors? If only for capital sized.

Will those interiors be instanced or ever-existing, so people can beam to-and-from?

Will missions be instanced?

Please God...NO instancing!!!!

[Djin]

Please God...NO instancing!!!!

BUT IT'S GOING TO BE ON CONSOLES TOO! *Gasp*

So expect it. And lots of it due to the ****** hardware on consoles...

[Duras]

Are we being premature in asking other members to be crew...!

I understand that the lack of information creates speculation, but to me, this is cruel.

I'm clearly having problems waiting arn't I...

[treky215]

BUT IT'S GOING TO BE ON CONSOLES TOO! *Gasp*

So expect it. And lots of it due to the ****** hardware on consoles...

This is the bane when doing cross-platform games. Instancing ew.

[thedude343]

ok this is a question that no one has seemed to ask yet and im sure its been in the back of all of are minds, but when your walking around in the interior of a ship while its being attacked, will u hear the attack and will the ship be damaged looking on the inside such as lights flickering or laying on the floor and computer conduits blown out?:confused:

thanks for takeing the time to read my question =)....CRYPTIC ROCKS!!!!:cool:

[NightingaleT]

I'm wondering how the ingame advancement system will work...

That is, in regards to ranking, skills, etc. Will it be something similar to the EVE ONLINE skill training system?
To me a passive system would seem best, as not to disadvantage people who can't play as much.
Thankyou.

[ChaosDragun]

Does Cryptic have the permission and if so will they use the Digital Multi Matter sys. that Lucasarts has developed for SW:FU in STO in any way shape or form? If it will be used how and to what extent?

[thedude343]

i just thought of something else, in the game will their be like force feilds? such as to block off from getting to the bridge incase your ship got boarded and you are being over run and you dont want them to take over the bridge

[axcel.go]

Exactly what consoles will this game be availible for???

[axcel.go]

I wonder if this game will have systems of travel big enough to exlpore, but small enough not to crash the server.

[Stu1701]

Perpetual had already announced pieces of the storyline for Star Trek Online (which can be seen here (http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Star_Trek_Online)). It's mostly just small bits that give a basic setting, but my question is how closely will Cryptic be following this? All that's been said so far is that it'll still be set 20 years after Nemesis as far as I know. Will this already set storyline be expanded on, will there only be a few similarities, or is Cryptic writing something totally different?

[ddgrfn11]

Star Trek is famous for it's ship-to-ship combat, but it also famous for non-violent problem-solving. Will quests and missions reflect this?

I like this question a lot.....i'm hoping for a way to incorporate diplomatic solutions as well.:)

[Djin]

I would love to see this as well. Some good problem solving missions and not "Kill 20 Tribbles, return for 'x' amount of credits" type missions.

Or "Fly here, drop off this part to blah blah blah, return for credits" missions.

[SAMEET]

will there be individual player ships that have functional interiors? for example the bridge, ready room, corridors, quarters, holodeck, transporter room, etc?

[RedShirt]

When will the first dev log appear, will it be a monthly, weekly or random amount of time between blogs?

[tlaris]

I would be very excited to see diplomatic options available instead of always firing the phasers, especially if there will be a pvp aspect. If they are allowing the Klingons, it would be interesting to see if the Klingons will remain allies or if they will become the treat and thus bring about some potentailly awesome pvp.

Still, I would like to see some diplomacy as well...or perhaps it could be something that is earned like XP and then you can use a percentage of it to peacefully sway an npc enemy captain not to engage in combat with you.

Dr. T'Laris
Starfleet Medical

[busbydaniel]

My questions is will the universe be static, for example if I log off World of Warcraft and then login a week later everything is pretty much still the same. Nothing has really changed. Will the world be dynamic? Ever changing? Political climate changes such as wars and peace occurring depending on events, perhaps player determined. Random events too would be good.

This is very important to me, I want the world to be changing and I want it 50/50. 50% random and 50% player input.

Just my thoughts.

[jsutich]

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to let you all know that after 400 replies we are going to close this thread and go through all of the questions that were posted. We will post the answers for our first round of Ask Cryptic soon.

Thank you for all of your interest!