Camenecium » STO

On the Klingon Front

iohannes — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 07:31:36 +0000

My latest Klingon captain is moving up in the ranks: Qohn is now a Lieutenant Commander aboard the K’Tanko class battlecruiser IKS Toranga. He got there almost exclusively with solo content, mostly fighting in the Kahless Expanse.

That’s been slow going compared to my previous Klingon characters; they leveled mostly by FvK PVP a few months ago. Back then, a new match started every few minutes in prime time. In two full nights of playing, Qohn only faced other captains twice, both KvK, and had a dozen attempted matches end in “not in queue” or “not enough captains accepted” messages. It’s hard to say if the queues are empty because they’re bugged or because there aren’t enough new subscribers or old ones rolling new characters. We’ll know when Cryptic fixes the queues–hopefully very soon.

The bright spot tonight was “Bringing Down the House”, the first Klingon PVE content I’ve played. Chasing down a Romulan assassin across several worlds allowed for a good mix of ground and space combat. The story’s interesting if a little linear (most MMO content I’ve played so far is) and surpasses anything at equivalent levels on the Federation side. More, please.

But first, Cryptic, please fix the queues. Although I avoid PvMP like the Black Breath in LOTRO, I couldn’t get enough KvF after launch, and it’s going to be a long climb to Commander and (gasp) my beloved K’t'inga without it. And I promise to tear myself away from disintegrating Star Fleet captains long enough to enjoy any new Klingon PVE at or near level this time.

Revisiting Star Trek Online

iohannes — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 02:42:30 +0000

I started playing Star Trek Online again last week after months away from the game. Has Cryptic addressed enough of STO’s shortcomings with Season 2 for a second look? Yes and no.

STO wasn’t a horrible game at launch, but it suffered from a rush to release after a bumpy development cycle. Being Star Trek, expectations were probably unreasonable from the start; the previous developer hadn’t helped matters by promising the sun, the moon, and another 100 million stars.

The game still suffers from bugs (some from launch) and a wonky interface 6 months after going live. Mini-games and a new diplomatic mission track don’t address some of the most egregious shortcomings at launch, but there is a sense that STO’s moving in the right direction. It’s hard to say if this is a course change because of STO’s new executive producer or if Cryptic is just getting its bearings after the chaos of launch. Regardless, STO is still a few parsecs away from being satisfying as a game instead of a Star Trek environment.

With LOTRO fighting for my attention (even better now that I’ve unlocked skirmishes), STO feels like a labor of love. I’ve worked my way back up to Lt. Commander, and it’s felt like real work at that. PVP was a big part of what made STO fun: It brought people together and paid out where missions skimped. Now, the lower-tier PVP queues are deserted–a lack of new subscribers perhaps–and the join mechanism failed the few times a match actually came up.

Although PVP gives Star Fleet some nice extras, it’s a Klingon’s bread and butter. Is there enough Klingon PVE content at the lower tiers to level without PVP? I’m eager to get a new Klingon rolled, but it may be quite some time before I plant my Klingon butt where it belongs, in the Captain’s chair of a K’t'inga class battlecruiser. Sigh.

I’m not as excited about becoming a Star Fleet Commander; the science ships are the ugliest in the fleet, the four-nacelle cruisers look as natural as two-headed snakes, and the otherwise-gorgeous Akira class escort is my least favorite type of ship to fly. STO’s August calendar of upcoming events brings hope with the addition of the Excelsior class as a tier 3 cruiser. Otherwise, I dread looking at the aft of any of today’s tier 3 vessels. I won’t be able to claw my way out of Commander fast enough.

That’s my problem in a nutshell: I keep seeing the STO I want to play in the next release. Season 2 is arguably better–probably more for end gamers than those starting up or starting over–but it’s only a step towards a fully-realized STO. I want to experience a consistent game throughout my character’s lifetime. This kind of incremental improvement will have me rebooting every six months and resenting it. Maybe this is just a point of friction between me the solo computer RPG gamer and the constantly-evolving-to-stay-marketable world of MMOs. Sigh, again.

Star Trek Online open beta closes

iohannes — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:13:23 +0000

The U.S.S. Endeavor glides starward moments before Cryptic shuts down Star Trek Online‘s open beta. Head Start opens Friday, and the game enters general release on 2 February 2010.

U.S.S. Endeavor

Rank has its privileges in Star Trek Online

iohannes — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 03:40:20 +0000

Star Trek Online

Fleets are the guilds of Star Trek Online. The guys over on mmojunkies.tv mentioned in STO Radio podcast 1.4 that fleets would have seven customizable ranks. They’ve even put up their choices and logo for Nova Fleet already.

Googling around, it looks like fleets are popping up all over the place. I don’t know if this is normal for other MMOs that haven’t launched yet, but it doesn’t surprise me. Star Wars: The Old Republic might have a larger, more passionate (i.e., fanboy) base than Star Trek, but there is an inherent structure and deep lore to the Trek universe–beyond just its military ranking–that makes such organizing easier and more contextually relevant.

If I were designing a fleet, I’d go in a different direction than STO Radio and base it on modern naval organization. The game isn’t released, and I’m not in the closed beta (yet … cough, cough) so none of this factors in how privileges relate to ranks, but here goes:

Fleet Commander	The highest authority in the fleet has ultimate control over the fleet, its resources, and its composition. (i.e., guild leader)
Task Force Commander	Task force commanders control shared fleet resources and rank. (i.e., guild officer, promotions, and banking)
Task Group Commander	Task group commander is the lowest strategic rank in the fleet and has the authority to recruit new captains into the fleet. (i.e., guild officer, recruiter)
Squadron Commander	A squadron is a small group of complementary vessels. The squadron commander has experience with all vessel classes and can coordinate a diverse group of vessels to achieve complex objectives. (i.e., guild veteran, raid leader)
Flotilla Commander	A flotilla is a small group of similar vessels (i.e., cruisers, escorts, or science vessels). The flotilla commander is an expert with one vessel and may be responsible for training captains in the optimal use of their individual vessels. (i.e., guild veteran)
Captain	The fleet captain is a full, permanent member of the fleet. (i.e., guild member)
Acting Captain	While the acting captain is the true commander of his own vessel, his position in the fleet is probationary or temporary. (i.e., guild recruit)

Like the modern navy, I don’t envision static arrangements of ships into flotillas, squadrons, etc. Fleet rank may imply authority when grouping with individual rank breaking ties. Of course I would expect consensus to overrule simple rank based on player skills and the challenges at hand.

I just get more excited every moment I think about this game coming out. My usual goal of moderating expectation is completely out the airlock! Please, Cryptic, do not disappoint!

Love Bird

iohannes — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:43:18 +0000

We have visual confirmation that Star Trek Online will include Klingon starships with the signature D7 hull configuration. These images come from the second of two videos on GameSpot that summarize the 30 years between the end of Star Trek: Nemesis and the beginning of Star Trek Online:

The D7 battlecruiser from The Original Series and its improved descendent, the K’t'inga class, are my favorite ship designs in all of Star Trek. I can’t imagine a Star Trek game without them, and I wish STO would get some good Klingon starship porn out there. As much as I love the Discovery and Excalibur so far, I need to see some attractive Klingon ships.

Come on, Cryptic: Give me some sugar Gagh, baby!

Here are the Future Past videos by way of GameStop: