I enjoyed playing Star Trek Online and think giving a Free-To-Play option is a good move.  Along with many fans, Eric and I played Star trek Online when it first came out.  It's huge fun for fans of Star Trek and those who like getting into the story of the game.  They did a great job with ongoing story and an evolving galaxy.

As an MMO player my hardest choice is picking which MMO to pay a monthly subscription for to play.  I find with more offering free play options I can go back and forth between them and then paying for the one that I am mainly playing at that point in time.  After all there are those times when one wants to swing a sword and cast spells and other times when the mood strikes and piloting a Prometheus class ship into combat against a Klingon bird of prey sounds like a blast.  This option also allows those unsure about getting into the game a way to try it out and make an informed choice, aka get hooked.

Cryptic will not restrict the play for the free-to-play options which is smart.  In other words both options will get to level up to maximum level, explore the whole galaxy, join fleets (aka guilds), enter into pvp which is a lot of fun in STO, and have access to all of the classes. 

The main difference between the free-to-play option and the subscribers is the conviences and perks that does not have main game play impact.  For instance subscribers will get more storage slots for items and credits, create fleets, have more character slots and additional bridge officer slots, and vet rewards.

I hope this move will allow Star Trek Online to continue and to bring back some of those players who had to make the hard choice and left.

Good news about the development of Star Trek Online and hope for game play.

Episodes within Star Trek: Online are meant to let the player feel as if they’re playing an episode of Star Trek itself. The writers and developers of the game went though over seven hundred Star Trek television episodes before sitting down and writing their own for the game.

First, I like that they are calling missions episodes.  That is very inspiring.  Secondly, requiring the writers and developers to watch and be familiar with the shows is a big plus too but did they get the spirit of the show?

Included in the episodes are themes, dialog and dramatic moments, all designed to “look, feel and play like Star Trek."

I really like that they are going to set up the game play more like an episode of Star Trek.  What they have to say about the use of drama and including 3 "seasons" each containing 14 episodes of play at the start is inspiring.  I still have some questions though.

• Will each episode include in some moral, ethical question or social exploration of the human condition that was at the heart of all Star Trek?


• Will the missions assignment have some means of randomness or include in random missions so that the game does not come across as playing through a linear storyline?

(via TrekToday)

The Star Trek Online Official Site posted 3 gorgeous new screenshots.  This is the one MMO, I cannot wait to play, and with every new image, my desire grows.

These new screens prove 2 things about this game:

1. They have figured out how to make space look compelling.


2. They are breaking new ground for planet-side graphics in an MMO.

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Kestral has posted the history from 2379-2380 on the Star Trek Online Official Site.  The post tells the story from the end of Star Trek Nemesis to game start focusing on the other races, particularly the Cardassians and the events in the Federation itself. 

I wish it was written more as a story and less as a timelkine, but it is still interesting.