STO on MMORPG.com (August 22, 2008)

[Kestrel]

MMORPG.com's Keith Cross caught up with Jack Emmert, chief creative officer of Cryptic Studios, at GenCon 2008 to talk about Star Trek Online, customization, combat, consoles and more!

Check out the video interview here! (http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/352/view/videos/play/1267)

[Highcommander]

awesome interview,watching it again now.

[KirksOtherSon]

Thanks for the link, Kestrel!

Also, love the sig. Didn't know anyone in this century quoted Tarbolde. ;) Give me Canopan poetry over Klingon opera any day. Less bleeding from the ears and nose, at the very least!

KOS

[JMD10222]

Nice interview:D Answered more than a few questions I had.;)

[Kestrel]

Thanks for the link, Kestrel!

Also, love the sig. Didn't know anyone in this century quoted Tarbolde. ;) Give me Canopan poetry over Klingon opera any day. Less bleeding from the ears and nose, at the very least!

KOS

Whee! Someone finally noticed the Trek reference in my sig! :)

[Allardyn]

Thanks.

I guess my only comment is poor Jack he is all decked out in Champions Online gears (Shirt/Lanear) nad everyone seems like they wanna talk Trek.

Not to worry Jack, I will be trying both =D So it is all worth it.

[Ereiid]

I'm very interested in that it seems that Jack was talking more concrete design choices than I remember from the Vegas presentation.

It particularly struck me during his discussion of PvP options they plan on making available to players. Whereas Vegas struck me as being rather general, delimited and vague; I'm getting the impression that Jack's more willing to be open about design choices with this interview.

But then, I recall Jack making statements only to have to recant them in CoX -- the pre-Inventions SSOCS comes to mind quite readily. It's not really a fault. The players want to hear the promise of upcoming content. But I do think he and the team have learned things about the difference between promise and making promises.

[AaronH]

Gah, figures this one has to come while I am on the job. Won't be home for three days, and can't get the darned website to load up on my mobile.

[mezlabor]

Nice interview hearing jack speak abotu the game gives me some confidence that they really do want to make this a great trek game and not an mmo with the st ip.

"we want to bring star trek to life, I dont want to just create an mmo that just happens to have a star trek skin on it thats somehing that I really want to avoid"

Nice to hear him say that

[Commander_Daedelus]

thanks guys nice vid

[SiskoBell]

Thanks for posting the vid. Jack answered a few questions, though now I have others ;) I was especially pleased to here him say Cryptic isn't trying to make STO Champions with a Star Trek skin on it.

[Flatfingers]

Please thank Jack for doing that interview.

In particular:

"We want to bring Star Trek to life. I dont want to just create an MMO that just happens to have a Star Trek skin on it -- that's something that I really want to avoid."

This quote needs to be pasted at the top of every page of every official Cryptic web site concerning Star Trek Online. It would eliminate a massive amount of hand-wringing (possibly even including some that I've done).

--Flatfingers

[Dext]

Did you all see the Fat dude playing with him self in the back ground

[Flatfingers]

Did you all see the Fat dude playing with him self in the back ground

Sigh. Talk about distracting.

Note to anybody doing a video interview: Don't hesitate to politely ask someone to step out of the shot. The person you're interviewing will almost certainly appreciate it.

--Flatfingers

[Yavin_Prime]

Very nice... now if we could just get some storyline info... you know whats "Alpha/Beta Quadrent Today!, you live here, and we deliver the breaking news."

Honestly thats what I want to most right now is... why are the Feds/Klingons fighting, whats going on, where are the romulans... what happened to the Cardassian Union? I don't wana come off sounding ungreatful but many of these interviews ask the same questions over and over again... so if possible (I know as a game company its nice to keep the game kinda quiet due to many factors) I'd love to hear something new. :D

[Valenthalas]

Awesome!! 3D space!! Iif it was 2D space it would have taken a lot away from the game I think.. now players will at least feel like they're flying through space, and not just a black 2D ocean.

Nice.

[RockyM]

Wooooot !! Cheers excellent Interview !!
Keep em coming :)
So excited :)

[Zyrious]

First thing: I loved it. Tell Emerett i feel he did an excellent job with this interview.

His discussion on ground combat and how he was considering things like Mass Effect for insperation for the combat on the ground and his emphasis on how he did *not* want this to just be a typical MMO/RPG with a star trek skin was very encouraging.

Further, his talking about how even though they are considering consoles, they are not dumbing down anything for it is as well very encouraging (imo). I very much like this interview and two thumbs up to Jack.

[JadeEngima]

Loved the interview, and I still think he looks really cute :o

*swoons when Statesman smiles*

[KirksOtherSon]

Loved the interview, and I still think he looks really cute :o

*swoons when Statesman smiles*

Golly. Is it pon farr season on Vulcan already?

KOS

[Trekkie]

This was an interesting and very informative video! Thank you for posting it!

[iPond317]

Freakin' sa-weet!

[mintor426]

ghood video

[kip]

yay we will be able to choose our ship name

[Cuddles]

Thanks Jack.

So who was the wierdo in the background zipping and unzipping his fly?

[Tigh]

Thanks Jack.

So who was the wierdo in the background zipping and unzipping his fly?

Yeah and as others have already pointed out-more than just a little distracting :mad:

[lordnelson]

answered a few of my questiosn good stuff :)

[MajorD]

Great stuff. I loved hearing that the Klingons and Federation will have internal PvP, but most of all that the Klingon PvP might be real fights, and the Federation PvP would be training. Someone here and I came up with those ideas, so either they're reading this stuff or they're way ahead. I think it's the latter, which is a relief.

[doam]

Good interview, I liked all of everything in it. Except the dumb fat kilt guy that couldn't keep his hands off himself. Sheesh. At least wear a mumu. They're a little more stylish.


A word of warning to jack, though. You keep playing with that hair and it's going to fall out! Trust me on this one. :p

[Save78]

This is perhaps wishful thinking, but why is it when I hear Jack talk about how fast the game is coming along because they already have an engine, that the game could be done soooooo much sooner than we think....possibly late 2009?

- Save78

[Foxstab]

Jack is like a cute teddy bear.
Is it just me or are creative people (designers) at their prime when they draw upon the holy might of hippyness and grow long hair?

Remember what happened to Romero when he cut his?

[UfoScientist]

Lets flood this thread by everyone giving a holler for cryptic and also say where you are from!

greetings from Finland!

[Ruthlessgravity]

alot of info, very nice.

[Sacrilegious]

Yep, yep. Nothing real new here - but good to see we are getting some "news" once in a while.

Damn - games too far away to get too excited yet...

[Davies82]

A very good interview indeed, answered a few more questions.
Thanks for posting this Kestrel.

Also in the interview when they talk about design time he said "normally MMO takes 2 years because of creating pipeline infastructure and enginge. with ST:O we have an engine already built, all we have to do is tweak it for star trek purpose and add content, like champions online next April ready to go, Boom, Star trek online add content and boom you're done"

I know it's not exactly not word for word but from what i could remember.

It does give me some hope that ST:O will be out much sooner than excpected, and also the possibilty
for ti coming onto XBOX 360, which i know quite a few people on here are not to keen on.
Great interview and thanks again.
Hope more information, images will keep on coming over the months.
Cheers.

[Sir_Cedric]

Nice interview, escept for the guy in the back ground playing with himself. ACK!

I am finally at rest on the Wargames part of PvP, it only makes since to have that as an option within your own faction.

Plus I have big hopes this game will go live by late next year, after what I heard in the interview. At least no later than early 2010.

[Jack_RM_]

Good interview.
Just kep them comming.

[boz75]

Cool interview - thanks for that.

From what I've heard so far, the game is meeting my expectations for sure. Ok it's still early days, it's hard not to take such an interest in a mmo of Star Trek though lol.

[Duckdee]

Nice vid.

Great stuff. I loved hearing that the Klingons and Federation will have internal PvP,
Jack said "maybe". Whilst I think it's unlikey there won't be any internal PvP, (if not at launch, then within the first year) I don't want see people get angry because they didn't get something they mistakenly thought they would.

[JPJappic]

I wonder if the existing Federation species will be selectable within a list (so that you don't have to make them from scratch), and the create a species will be seperate.

[Tsibao]

I liked the interview,

even if this is offtopic, he mentioned in Las Vegas that every day they would release star trek history so that we can catch up with the timeline until the release, has anyone found out were this shall be??

[JPJappic]

I liked the interview,

even if this is offtopic, he mentioned in Las Vegas that every day they would release star trek history so that we can catch up with the timeline until the release, has anyone found out were this shall be??

I think in one of the threads they said they were working on it and we should start seeing it soon.

[lumpking69]

MMORPG.com's Keith Cross caught up with Jack Emmert, chief creative officer of Cryptic Studios, at GenCon 2008 to talk about Star Trek Online, customization, combat, consoles and more!

Check out the video interview here! (http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/352/view/videos/play/1267)

Thanks for the post, cant wait to read up....

[Phineas6]

Hey that was some great information...but what I gotta ask is what was with the guy in the kilt ?

[Sarevok]

Uhm...
Only humaniods
In the Vegas interview with Hailing Frequency he said you could make Tholians...

[walltar]

Good video. Keep up the good work :cool:

[tazdax]

Good stuff. Nice to hear they will attempt not to make this a dumbed down mmo. Beam me up!

[Captain-Picard]

The interview answered all my questions as usual. Why was that guy standing in the background the whole time in that man dress?

[Captain-Picard]

Uhm...

In the Vegas interview with Hailing Frequency he said you could make Tholians...


One problem Tholians can't speak English so how will they command a Federation starship?

[clearymonkey]

Great interview!!

Since players will be able to customize themselves in "humanoid" form, I wonder if I can modify one to look like a Monkey?! There pretty close to humanoid! :)

[Raiden1803]

very insightful stuff. i like how at the end Emmert stated that Cryptic wants to do something more than just a straight forward MMO and bring star trek to life, not just another MMO with the Star Trek skin on it. i'm very impressed by that...i lets just hope they stay true too it. thanks for posting it =]

[Gara000]

Thanks for the video. Good info.

[KashikoiBaka]

I got bored so here you guys go.


Q: What can you tell us about player made races?

A: Yup, you can create your own race. We're giving tools so that people, your skin your eyebrows your antennae your hair, everything, we're doing everything we did with Champions, but we are adding to it to make sure that we can allow players to really bring to life any sorta race they can imagine. Maybe its something mentioned in ST but never shown, maybe its something they've added in their own fan fiction, whatever it is.


Q: Humanoids only or can I have tentacles?

A: Uh,I think yeah just humanoid is where we'll start, we'll eventually go to other places, but uh I think, uh pretty much we're going to be aiming at just humanoids for launch. Luckily thats mostly ST, very few non humanoid races. I wonder why?


Q: Can you customize your ship?

A: So uh, in terms of customizing, you can customize your ship exteriors, the geometry, you can add colors, decals, uh even come up with the name of your ship, the serial number, but also the interiors, we will allow players to do some level customization, now admittedly we are going to have this within some limits. Federation ships for instances have a certain kit, in other words, a certain look, a certain feel, but within those limits we'll have the ability for players to tweak them. It'd be great if we could alow people to customize the decks and their layouts and where the rooms are, but im not sure whether that will be in the release or not.


Q: Which Factions are in at launch?

A: Starfleet and Klingon. So two factions, full PVE content and those two factions will compete indirectly for resources and directly in PvP.


Q: Will PvP be Starfleet vs. Klingon only?

A: Yeah Starfleet vs. Klingons. Uh, maybe we'll do some sort of wargames where you can fight agaisnt people within your faction, that's certainly within the Canon. Uh, I can think of a Next Gen episode, in fact where Picard and Riker face off. That's something we might do.


Q: And Klingons?

A: Yeah, War games would be part of their lifestyle I'd imagine, so there might be some sort of dueling within faction but the primary focus of pvp will between Starfleet and the Klingons.


Q: Can you tell us a bit about how Cryptic acquired the rights to make the Star Trek MMO?

A: Well Perpetual faced some hard choices and they were in a position where they knew they couldn't complete the game and they came to us when it was their decision not to move forward or find funding in other ways and we purchased the license from them and the rest is history. We had pretty friendly cordial relationship with them and so that led to us always being in communication, so when the opportunity came up we took it. I mean ST is such a great IP that it makes perfect sense for an MMO.


Q: How much of an influence will Perpetual's vision for STO influence Cryptic's game?

A: I'll be honest, I really didn't read any of their documents. I talked with their team briefly, for about an hour but that was months and months and months ago. Everything we've done, if there happen to be resemblances, great, cause Perpetual guys were really cool, they were really into it, they uh, I'm sure great minds will think alike, but we didn't consciously lift anything.


Q: Cryptic acquired the rights less than a year ago. How is it that production has moved along so quickly?

A: Well see there is a big difference between cryptic and other MMO companies,that we're starting with an engine. So the minute we got the license we can start working on in game assets. We're not spending a year or two years building an engine or porting, licensing and engine and then trying to port it to do what we want it to do. And I think that's usually the reason that an MMO company takes so long to make something. It's not necessarily the game or the content, you have to do that plus the infrastructure, the pipeline, the tools, to enable people to do that stuff. We already have it with Champions Right? We're shipping next spring, boom. All right ST,Whoom! We just use the engine make some tweaks to make it appropriate for ST, done.


Q: Does the inclusion of starships pose additional challenges?

A: Well yeah, but we already have flight, its not like we weren't already used to players working in 3D. Now that isn't to say that there aren't things that we need to do for ships, but at least we had a good starting point.


Q: Can you tell us about the combat system?

A: I think that ship combat is going to be very tactical, its going to be more like, well kinda tall ship combat and not really dogfightering. But I think the ground combat, at least as we have it now, is much more fast paced then a typical mmo. Its not a console like action like champions, but you've phasers, you have energy weapons, disruptors, shields and so I think that right now the pace we are looking for is far more rapid.


Q: Will you be developing STO for the XBox?

A: There's nothing preventing it, except for business.


Q: Is that a factor in the Game's design?

A: Yeah, we're always thinking about going to console because we have the technology to do it and very very few companies have that and so it would be silly for us not to consider it, but I don't really consider it a limitation because we didn't have to dumb down Champions even a little bit for the console.


Q: Will combat look more like combat in a traditional MMO or will it look more like an action RPG?

A: There are a lot of really good games that did some things that uh, Mass Effect, Tabula Rasa, HellGate, that have introduced some kinda cool mechanics that maybe we're going to look at for inspiration to make some not quite so straight forward because we want to bring ST to life, I don't want to just create an MMO that happens to have a ST skin on it and thats something that I really want to avoid.

[BorgQueen]

Interresting info.

He talks abaut players naming there ships, that makes me think, what are lemitations of names to ships? can my starship be called the USS Borg Collective or will that be an unvallid name like USS **** you.

Note even if Borg Collective will not be unvallid i´m ofcause going for somthing alot more starfleet and I realy hope that making a ship name that insults other players will not be posible. I don´t whant to meet a starfleet ship whith the name USS fat ****

post edit because of misspealling

[KashikoiBaka]

Interresting info.

He talks abaut players naming there ships, that makes me think, what are lemitations of names to ships? can my starship be called the USS Borg Collective or will that be an unvallid name like USS **** you.

Note even if Borg Collective will not be unvallid i´m ofcause going for somthing alot more starfleet and I realy hope that making a ship name that insults other players will not be posible. I don´t whant to meet a starfleet ship whith the name USS fat ****

post edit because of misspealling

I'll be expecting asci breasts and genitals...

[T-child]

aye was a good interview.
however, since im evil i did enjoy seeing his reaction when he got the question about how cryptic got the licence after pep. :D

[BorgQueen]

yes that whud be standart like other mmo games, and they proberly not are going to make un proberly names invallid for starfleet ships. However I realy hope I´ll never see a ship called USS Borg Collective or USS BorgQueen. To me that feals wrong for starfleet ships to get names like that. Then I like names like USS haven way better

[lordfargo]

Sounds like a promising game indeed, I would like to highlight that he mentioned about PvP being 'Tactical'.
I would like to see the same system eve online uses for ship to ship combat. It would, in my eyes, make intense battles and not so much of a arcade version i.e Freelancer. This what I believe will make or break Star Trek Online because it has to appeal to the masses and not just die hard StarTrek fans.

Just a thought

:)

[neokn]

I'm actually really curious about the ship combat. I wonder what exactly he means by tactical

[JadeEngima]

I'm actually really curious about the ship combat. I wonder what exactly he means by tactical

I would imagine that it's not a system where simply turning the ship and continuing to fire would work to any great degree. With a number of systems and subsystems to not only manage, but target as well, multi-tasking would be required.

There may also be a measure of risk to reputation if, as a starfleet captain, you were to completely destroy a vessel after removing it's offensive capability. Hmm...

[3pmusic]

He kind of contradicts himself

"we want to bring star trek to life, I dont want to just create an mmo that just happens to have a star trek skin on it thats somehing that I really want to avoid"

however previously he said...

"we already have an engine, we just slap star trek on it and boom there ya go" or something (not a direct quote).

So To me it sounds like they are tweaking Champions engine to work with star trek, however it will not be as "Technical" as the perpetual game was looking to me.

I just dont want this to be another ST game that fails :( And I am trying to stay positive...

[whistlelock]

You know, the guy in the back- I think he was messing around with a ***** pack that was actually slung under his belly. I kept replaying it to see if he was really moving his junk about, and it looked like he was unsnapping and digging around in a pocket.

[Tulvol]

Im really looking forward to the game. Its good to know that they are really committed to giving fans a good Star Trek game. Interview was great, look forward to the many to come.

In the webcast at Las Vegas he states that they are reviewing the shows, movies, and even the books, that is what really shows they want to do a good game, instead of just adding to the franchise.

Im really interested in the Alien creation for the game. I wonder if they will release a creation program so that you can start creating your race prior to game launch. Just my thoughts.


"Logic is the process through which all emotional distribution is warranted"
Cmdr. Tuvlol, Executive Officer
USS OMEGA

[Djin]

He kind of contradicts himself

"we want to bring star trek to life, I dont want to just create an mmo that just happens to have a star trek skin on it thats somehing that I really want to avoid"

however previously he said...

"we already have an engine, we just slap star trek on it and boom there ya go" or something (not a direct quote).

So To me it sounds like they are tweaking Champions engine to work with star trek, however it will not be as "Technical" as the perpetual game was looking to me.

I just dont want this to be another ST game that fails :( And I am trying to stay positive...

People analyze things way too much in PC games. This is what is killing the games... people are getting so picky that the devs are scared to do anything different without getting slaughtered.

[mjck7]

I have to agree, I don't really think he's contradicting himself. Starting off with an engine ready to go has huge advantages. Yes he stated that you could plug ST in and there ya go, but "tweaking" is a pretty light word when it comes down to it. They will have lots of work to do to modify the engine so it fits the games' mechanics.

About the guy in the background, one of the members here got it right that he's wearing a kilt (sorry, I forgot the members name). What he's digging in is a 'sporran'. Since kilts don't have pockets, that's how you carry your "junk". And yes, it's like a man purse. This guy is wearnig a Utilikilt, a non-formal kilt with no clan affiliation. (sorry, just had to clear that up) :)

[Barrett]

Very cool, can't wait. I've been waiting for a few years for this to come out. VERY excited!!! :D

[Ensign.Ricky]

I loved the video and I love how Jack makes himself available for these interviews. He's pretty clear cut on what he expects and doesn't expect from the game and keeps it very realistic. Get the basic core stuff done and out then they can add add-ons later. I hope they take their time with game content and additional features. Thats the icing of the cake. The end of the interview was key though, how in the end he doesn't want it to be a mmo with a star trek skin. That shows a lot to their thinking.

[RogueEnterprise]

Just caught wind of this interview. Good stuff! I like the ship interior and exterior customizability especially.

[Ruthless]

I just wish space combat was done from inside the bridge.

[Mr-X]

Well he did sound a bit contratictory in that he said he didnt wana just be a skin but i think they are not dumb enuf to do that. I will agree with some of you that there have been less good startrek gams out there then bad but i think this one will be cool. i am some what afriad however of having to scroll through countess menue screens or being bossed around by guildies with giant ships. that would realy suck.

[whistlelock]

He kind of contradicts himself

"we want to bring star trek to life, I dont want to just create an mmo that just happens to have a star trek skin on it thats somehing that I really want to avoid"

however previously he said...

"we already have an engine, we just slap star trek on it and boom there ya go" or something (not a direct quote).

So To me it sounds like they are tweaking Champions engine to work with star trek, however it will not be as "Technical" as the perpetual game was looking to me.

I just dont want this to be another ST game that fails :( And I am trying to stay positive...

I think he's responding to two different questions here- in the "slap star trek on it" was in response to how quickly they got game play footage out. And, that's was pretty accurate- they have an engine and to get some quick gameplay footage out all you have to do is slap some skins on it and off you go.

But, he wasn't talking about content. Which is what the first statement you have from him was referring to. That will take more time than creating some skins.

[Ignak]

This interview can also be found from youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcAn3nhf97Y

[Sacrilegious]

Thanking Idolo for the transcript of the interview back on page 6. Good job matey!;)

[BlackWolf]

The interview was great :)

[StealthTrooper]

You know the game is going to be great in two reasons:

1. Quote form movie "We aren't going to make a MMO with star trek skin on it"

2. Spock likes it.

[BlackWolf]

You know the game is going to be great in two reasons:

1. Quote form movie "We aren't going to make a MMO with star trek skin on it"

2. Spock likes it.

Plus when your parents are sleeping you can grab their credit card and play ;)

[awhite75]

My hats off to Jack and the team. When I see him in these videos and especially on this interview, he comes across as being very matter of fact. It doesn't seem like he is BSing on the game. He gives very straight answers and takes time to think over the question before answering. I bet Jack is probably one of those cool bosses that is easy to work for.

Anyways, thanks to Cryptic for giving us STO and putting up with the rants we post on this forum. :rolleyes:

[StealthTrooper]

Plus when your parents are sleeping you can grab their credit card and play ;)

How did you know;)

[MoppyCGDaniels]

I do have comfort in J. Emmert he knows what he's talking about.

[Zoransis]

I just wish space combat was done from inside the bridge.
He did say space combat was not going to be like dogfighting, so it won't be like flying an airplane by yourself while trying to shoot down an enemy over hostile skies (space). I can only picture therefore a more tactical approach where there's some display of relative position where you can turn, approach, maneuver, shield, divert power, fire phasers or torpedoes, vent plasma, etc., to progress your combat. You won't need a joystick peripheral to win battles in outer space, which is appropriate to the battle conditions most bridge Captains experience.

Ground combat did sound a lot more action oriented however, so instead of being like most MMOs that come to mind (at least that come to MY mind), it might be more like Age of Conan (which I only know about second hand), perhaps also like Champions (which I know nothing about, really).

[lobsternooberg]

i dont feel as nervous now .... i feel good ......... :)

seriously though have you ever seen a trekkie get violent...... not pretty

[mcfemtp]

Ya that was a great interview, very informative. The more i see/hear/read about what you guys have going on over there the mor excited i get for the games release!!:D