Star Trek Online

[Wargus]

Shame about not having Gorn ships to fly, but maybe they'll add them in an expansion pack or something. I'm ok with being a Klingon in Gorn costume, and some of the Klingon ships are pretty cool.

Yeah, seems like it would be relatively easy to add. As the Gorn ships are in the game, and presumably whatever special weapons they have are also in the game. Every time I take on Gorn they seem to spew out this green gas. I'm not sure what it is, but I definitely avoid it.

They would need to do some extra artwork, if they wanted to do it right -- the State of the Game blog post mentions that they've Klingon-ized the Klingon interface, but that it's not in the Beta yet.

Personally I think it would be fun to play as a Romulan. Although I guess Klingon's now have cloaking technology too. No Plasma weapons though AFAIK.

I want the Gorn ships from Star Fleet Battles though - they were much more distinctive than theses.

[Defiant]

It's fun to be in a battle, and then take down a battleship only to die when it explodes to near to you.

I think the fighting is too quick and frenzied for me to enjoy it to the level of SFC, where you could slow it down (sadly something you cant do here). I generally concentrate on firing everything as much as possible and being a little tactical with my skills (like the tachyon beam, recharge shields, full torpedos). I saw a fire all weapons skill somewhere but have no idea where or how to get the skill. It would be nice if you could target multiple ships (or at least, target one ship and weapons outside the arc would automatically target the nearest enemy ship).

I think I would prefer the game from within the ship, like I was hoping Bridge commander would be (and maybe SH5 will be like?). Have one person control navigation, have one control weapons. A commander to look at the big picture and coordinating efforts. Maybe some people to make a boarding party. A doctor to heal people (on the ship or boarding party?) Maybe an engineer to fix things. Giving each player a role thats important and that they have to work together with (ala L4D2). Still, everyones going to want their own ship. And that would slow down combat a lot, esp if you have boarding parties (but would that be a bad thing?)

I'm on the fence about getting this. I've never really played an MMORPG. But I played the SFC series to death (I completed 3 for the third time this summer, and thats not counting tons of non-campaign playing), so I imagine I will play this a lot (though not much until the summer) even if I'm not a big RPGer. Especially since it's on the easy side (a few missions were challenging, but no hitting into a wall, bugs aside). I am contemplating getting the life pack although it seems expensive for someone who's never played more than $40 or possibly $50 on a game. How much content will I get out of a typical MMORPG relative to a solo game? How much content will be added? If you cancel your subscription and then come back, will your character still be there? Or do I have to start from scratch? In case it does fail, whats the typical lifespan of a failed mmorpg? A year? Two years? I read that there will only be two player slots (and two more for the lifetime offer). Two seems kind of small if they have 3 different classes and say 3 or 4 major races (I think I read that Romulans would be added). Can you erase a character in your slot and start anew, or are you stuck with what you've chosen?

[ydejin]

It's fun to be in a battle, and then take down a battleship only to die when it explodes to near to you.

I was so amused the first time I did this that I didn't mind having to refight the battle.

I think the fighting is too quick and frenzied for me to enjoy it to the level of SFC, where you could slow it down (sadly something you cant do here).

I'd prefer it a bit slower too. But I think we will get better. Although as we level up, there will be a lot more to worry about -- more weapons and a lot more bridge officer powers.

I saw a fire all weapons skill somewhere but have no idea where or how to get the skill.

You should start with it. You can find all your powers by hitting the "P" key while in Space mode. Actually I think there's a similar powers list in Ground mode, although I've never tried it.

I think I would prefer the game from within the ship, like I was hoping Bridge commander would be (and maybe SH5 will be like?). Have one person control navigation, have one control weapons. A commander to look at the big picture and coordinating efforts. Maybe some people to make a boarding party. A doctor to heal people (on the ship or boarding party?) Maybe an engineer to fix things. Giving each player a role thats important and that they have to work together with (ala L4D2). Still, everyones going to want their own ship. And that would slow down combat a lot, esp if you have boarding parties (but would that be a bad thing?)

I've always wondered if there really is enough information displayed on the Enterprise Bridge to fight a real battle. Seems to me, that a real Starship would have some sort of 3D tank display (not unlike what we see in STO). A 3D display showing the ship at center has got to be a lot more informative that watching through the viewing screen and maybe seeing a radar view of dots around you.

I'll bet if you had one player (or even a team of players) using a "realistic" view of the Enterprise Bridge and an opposing player using a STO-like view, the STO player would kick the "realistic" players ass. The Enterprise Bridge is designed to look cool and to do so within 1960's TV show budget limited technology. Not necessarily because that's what a real bridge in the year 2400 would look like.

Just a thought.

I'm on the fence about getting this. I've never really played an MMORPG. But I played the SFC series to death (I completed 3 for the third time this summer, and thats not counting tons of non-campaign playing), so I imagine I will play this a lot (though not much until the summer) even if I'm not a big RPGer. Especially since it's on the easy side (a few missions were challenging, but no hitting into a wall, bugs aside).

From what I've seen the missions get harder (of course it could just be I'm not very good). But I have found things fairly challenging at level 12.

How much content will I get out of a typical MMORPG relative to a solo game? How much content will be added? If you cancel your subscription and then come back, will your character still be there? Or do I have to start from scratch? ... Can you erase a character in your slot and start anew, or are you stuck with what you've chosen?

LotRO was my first MMORPG. I was pleasantly surprised by it. I concluded that one benefit of an MMORPG is that they tend to be much, much bigger than a non-MMORPG. For example compare the size of BG2 vs. ME. An MMORPG is much more Baldur's Gate 2 size than Mass Effect size. And if it's successful it will continue adding content. Disclaimer, I came into LotRO two years after release, so there was a lot of content there that may not have been there at start plus my experience doesn't necessarily translate to STO since the companies are different. But there did seem to be a lot more content -- which makes sense given how much you're paying.

If you cancel, the character will still be there, and they will be very glad to have you reactivate and start paying money again.

You can also erase your character. You will also undoubtedly be able to buy more slots. A pack of 4 slots for Cryptic's Champions Online game costs $15.

Anyway, as I have always avoided MMORPGs, but I was very pleasantly surprised by LotRO. Given how much I've enjoyed the STO beta, I'm definitely in for playing STO. According to the "\played" command I've already put in 45 hours.

[Defiant]

It's fun to be in a battle, and then take down a battleship only to die when it explodes to near to you.

I was so amused the first time I did this that I didn't mind having to refight the battle.

I didn't have to refight that battle since it considered that battleship as it's own squad and incremented the squads destroyed counter as a result (I think, if you respawn and go back into battle very quickly, the damage might still be there, too).

I think the fighting is too quick and frenzied for me to enjoy it to the level of SFC, where you could slow it down (sadly something you cant do here).

I'd prefer it a bit slower too. But I think we will get better. Although as we level up, there will be a lot more to worry about -- more weapons and a lot more bridge officer powers.

Yah, but this is certainly much more action oriented in terms of pace than SFC ever was (except, possibly, on the highest speeds). I guess I would rather have a Wrath of Khan style gameplay than a DS9 battle of hundreds gameplay. Thats fun too (and certainly brilliant to watch), but less tactical.

I saw a fire all weapons skill somewhere but have no idea where or how to get the skill.

You should start with it. You can find all your powers by hitting the "P" key while in Space mode. Actually I think there's a similar powers list in Ground mode, although I've never tried it.

I didnt see it listed when I hit the little button that lists my powers to allow me to choose what powers to put in my little toolbar from 1-9, but I didn't try p. I'll try it when I can

I've always wondered if there really is enough information displayed on the Enterprise Bridge to fight a real battle. Seems to me, that a real Starship would have some sort of 3D tank display (not unlike what we see in STO). A 3D display showing the ship at center has got to be a lot more informative that watching through the viewing screen and maybe seeing a radar view of dots around you.

Maybe thats what spock sees in his 3D viewfinder (though most of the battles were in 2D) and on various consoles?

BTW, it would be nice if you could have the camera lock onto you and your target, the way SFC did. It's annoying to have to move the camera to follow it.

I'll bet if you had one player (or even a team of players) using a "realistic" view of the Enterprise Bridge and an opposing player using a STO-like view, the STO player would kick the "realistic" players ass.

I'm not sure. I suppose so, cause the interface is designed for one person, whereas multiple people would have to coordinate communication, although that's an unfair comparison. The more important thing would be fun? I know part of the reason I like L4D is the way cooperation (on both sides) is an important component. And so far the cooperation in STO is more incidental than anything. In many ways, this could have been a single player game.

SPeaking of which, is text the normal way to communicate with people in MMORPGs? Seems like voice would make much more sense (at least locally).

From what I've seen the missions get harder (of course it could just be I'm not very good). But I have found things fairly challenging at level 12.

It seems to be mixed (both on ground and space missions), but so far it feels like it scales well with the skills. Well, except that there isnt enough info to tell why to pick one skill over another (Eg, what certain powers do, and that the discriptions are confusing and in some cases inaccurate; according to the text it seems like many powers take (5 seconds) longer to recharge for the same ability at higher levels. I think it's supposed to be shorter.

LotRO was my first MMORPG. I was pleasantly surprised by it. I concluded that one benefit of an MMORPG is that they tend to be much, much bigger than a non-MMORPG. For example compare the size of BG2 vs. ME. An MMORPG is much more Baldur's Gate 2 size than Mass Effect size. And if it's successful it will continue adding content. Disclaimer, I came into LotRO two years after release, so there was a lot of content there that may not have been there at start plus my experience doesn't necessarily translate to STO since the companies are different. But there did seem to be a lot more content -- which makes sense given how much you're paying.

Well, I never finished BG2 or ME. I usually get bored with the fighting in RPGs, although I guess if I like the space combat that wont be an issue.

If you cancel, the character will still be there, and they will be very glad to have you reactivate and start paying money again.

Cool.

Oh, speaking of which, has anyone found Commander Balt? I keep looking for him in the shipyard/starbase to complete the improve the skills of your character (or whatever) quest, but I can never find him.

On the other hand, I found Sulu even though many people couldn't. From Jag's link:

Looking for Sulu? ... Look out! He’s right behind you!

[ydejin]

I saw a fire all weapons skill somewhere but have no idea where or how to get the skill.

My mistake, it wasn't on the Powers list. It's got it's own button as part of the Weapons panel, and you can assign a Hotkey from the Key Bindings in the Menu list.

BTW, it would be nice if you could have the camera lock onto you and your target, the way SFC did. It's annoying to have to move the camera to follow it.

There is a "Follow Target" option on the Controls tab of the Options window. I haven't tried it.

SPeaking of which, is text the normal way to communicate with people in MMORPGs? Seems like voice would make much more sense (at least locally).

You know, I was pretty surprised that there wasn't built in speech. LotRO has built in speech, DoW2 has built in speech. I would have thought releasing a MMORPG in 2010 would have for sure included built in speech.

[GreenGoo]

You know, I was pretty surprised that there wasn't built in speech. LotRO has built in speech, DoW2 has built in speech. I would have thought releasing a MMORPG in 2010 would have for sure included built in speech.

Er, this is a MMO. Chances are good that you won't want to hear people you meet. In fact, most of them will be the kind that you wouldn't make eye contact with if you were passing them on the street.

Of course the best way to handle this is passworded channels so you can speak just to the people you want, as well as a blacklist for specific fucktards so you will never have to hear them mouth breathing ever again.

As with everything, they are learning over time how to do this right. So things are getting better on this front (built-in voice). The old school way would be to use a team speak or ventrilo server. And thanks to fishpants, we have one of each here at OO.

[ydejin]

You know, I was pretty surprised that there wasn't built in speech. LotRO has built in speech, DoW2 has built in speech. I would have thought releasing a MMORPG in 2010 would have for sure included built in speech.

Er, this is a MMO. Chances are good that you won't want to hear people you meet. In fact, most of them will be the kind that you wouldn't make eye contact with if you were passing them on the street.

Oh, I agree we don't want to listen to everyone. In LotRO you only listen to people in your party. I guess with STO open partying though that could be a problem. Actually I have Open Party turned off, but yeah, I guess I'd be annoyed having to hear everyone I ran into. It just seems like if you've got a regular fleet you're working with and want to coordinate on a Raid on a Borg Cube for example, you'll need to run Ventrilo or something.

As with everything, they are learning over time how to do this right. So things are getting better on this front (built-in voice). The old school way would be to use a team speak or ventrilo server. And thanks to fishpants, we have one of each here at OO.

Oh wow, I didn't not know that. That's awesome.

[GreenGoo]

This thread should provide you with the info you need. If not, just ask and someone will track it down for you.

[ydejin]

This thread should provide you with the info you need. If not, just ask and someone will track it down for you.

Thanks GreenGoo!

[Jag]

If anyone is interested in checking out the Fleet System. We are going to try to get one going tonight. You need to have at least 5 people grouped up (not doing missions) to do it.

See this post on GT.

[Defiant]

Onl;y looked briefly today, but it looks like they added a ton of stuff, open up areas, added a Nimoy voice over, etc. I managed to fly around DS9 and walk a little inside it, which was cool (though I only looked briefly). Doesn't look like there's a wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant that I could see, though. At some point I need to go fight Cardassians and Romulans.

[craterus]

If anyone is interested in checking out the Fleet System. We are going to try to get one going tonight. You need to have at least 5 people grouped up (not doing missions) to do it.

See this post on GT.

*Settings: From that screen, you can change the various fleet member titles (there are several preset ones from Recruit up to Leader, they're all customizable). You also have various checkboxes you use to dole out "privileges" (i.e., what they're allowed to customize in the Fleet menus) to each member rank. You highlight the member title you want to change privileges for and then fiddle with the checkboxes.

THAT is something that has been needed for guilds for a loooong time.

[Defiant]

BTW, it would be nice if you could have the camera lock onto you and your target, the way SFC did. It's annoying to have to move the camera to follow it.

There is a "Follow Target" option on the Controls tab of the Options window. I haven't tried it.

It doesn't seem to work (at least, not the way I would expect it to, but it may be completely different). It turns out I was already set to this. Maybe I'll send in a bug.

[rshetts2]

the game has grown on me, especially large space battles but theres one problem for me. Combat seems to be very button mashing, is there an auto fire option for your main weapons so you can concentrate on keying torps and powers at the right time? I hope so because contantly firing your phasers requires way too much mashing.

[Blackhawk]

LotRO was my first MMORPG. I was pleasantly surprised by it. I concluded that one benefit of an MMORPG is that they tend to be much, much bigger than a non-MMORPG. For example compare the size of BG2 vs. ME. An MMORPG is much more Baldur's Gate 2 size than Mass Effect size. And if it's successful it will continue adding content.

A better comparison to MMOs would be Morrowind/Oblivion, with new plugins being added with each patch, plus a popular multiplayer game. It isn't just the amount of content in the game (how much actual 'content' is in TFC? CoD4?), it is the freedom to go off on some completely oddball tangent because it sounded like fun. It is the fact that it is open ended, so you don't really reach an 'end' in which there is nothing left to do. MMOs are the type of game people usually quit because they're burned out, not because they run out of content.

[ydejin]

the game has grown on me, especially large space battles but theres one problem for me. Combat seems to be very button mashing, is there an auto fire option for your main weapons so you can concentrate on keying torps and powers at the right time? I hope so because contantly firing your phasers requires way too much mashing.

You can auto-fire with two (and only two) of your weapons. Right click on a weapon and it becomes auto-fire. You will still have to initiate fire (i.e., until you fire at a target manually for the first time, the auto-fire weapons will not fire, even if the target is in range).

[Zurai]

*Settings: From that screen, you can change the various fleet member titles (there are several preset ones from Recruit up to Leader, they're all customizable). You also have various checkboxes you use to dole out "privileges" (i.e., what they're allowed to customize in the Fleet menus) to each member rank. You highlight the member title you want to change privileges for and then fiddle with the checkboxes.

THAT is something that has been needed for guilds for a loooong time.

That's nothing new. Warhammer Online had a customizable permissions system for guilds and alliances of guilds, and IIRC you could set the permissions based on either guild rank or individually. I don't know if the guild rank names were customizable, but the permissions were rather extensive. WoW also has fully customizable guild ranks and has per-rank permissions, although their permissions aren't as flexible (mostly involving the guild bank IIRC).

[rshetts2]

thanks for the auto fire tip, ydejin. That will certainly help.

[craterus]

*Settings: From that screen, you can change the various fleet member titles (there are several preset ones from Recruit up to Leader, they're all customizable). You also have various checkboxes you use to dole out "privileges" (i.e., what they're allowed to customize in the Fleet menus) to each member rank. You highlight the member title you want to change privileges for and then fiddle with the checkboxes.

THAT is something that has been needed for guilds for a loooong time.

That's nothing new. Warhammer Online ...

thats awesome... when did that come out? last year? sounds new to me.

in any case, I hope all future MMO's have a similar feature (and hope past MMO's would be able to patch something similar)

[Zurai]

thats awesome... when did that come out? last year? sounds new to me.

Nope. September, 2008. And WoW has had customizable titles and permissions for longer. I'm pretty sure LotRO had something similar as well. So does EVE. Hell, even Lineage 2 had a small degree of it (which is saying something considering how UN-customizable L2 is). Shadowbane had very customizable guilds and permissions, and it came out in March of 2003. It's nothing new.

[craterus]

thats awesome... when did that come out? last year? sounds new to me.

Nope. September, 2008. And WoW has had customizable titles and permissions for longer. I'm pretty sure LotRO had something similar as well. So does EVE. Hell, even Lineage 2 had a small degree of it (which is saying something considering how UN-customizable L2 is). Shadowbane had very customizable guilds and permissions, and it came out in March of 2003. It's nothing new.

thank god you are here...

[Defiant]

BTW, it would be nice if you could have the camera lock onto you and your target, the way SFC did. It's annoying to have to move the camera to follow it.

There is a "Follow Target" option on the Controls tab of the Options window. I haven't tried it.

It doesn't seem to work (at least, not the way I would expect it to, but it may be completely different). It turns out I was already set to this. Maybe I'll send in a bug.

Actually, testing it a bit, it works, though no where near as well as in SFC, and even then, it's far to easy to accidentally hit the right mouse button to move the camera cause you use the right mouse button for other things (and, of course, you're busy pounding the keyboard/mouse a lot)

[ericb]

So, anyone have a Del Taco code laying around? I finally broke down and did the pre-order/12 month sub. I know there are a lot of problems and it's Cryptic but I had fun in the beta and that's really what matters most

[Defiant]

I went with the lifetime subscription. Hopefully i'll earn that back in playtime, and they'll use that money to improve the game.

I only played the very beginning (just beaming to the awfully-voice-acted-by-the-movie-spock EMH). Look like they added a nice intro to the game with an excellently-voiced-acted-by-the-original-spock.

[pengo]

Which spock is it, Leonard Nimoy or Sylar?

[Defiant]

Which spock is it, Leonard Nimoy or Sylar?

Both. Nimoy does the really good narration bits, and Sylar does the really awful EMH bit in the tutorial. I wasn't a fan of the sylar spock, so I might be biased, but it was still miles better than the voice acting here.

[ydejin]

Which spock is it, Leonard Nimoy or Sylar?

Both. Nimoy does the really good narration bits, and Sylar does the really awful EMH bit in the tutorial. I wasn't a fan of the sylar spock, so I might be biased, but it was still miles better than the voice acting here.

I liked Sylar Spock in the new movie and I thought his voice acting in STO was amongst the worst I've ever heard in a commercial product.

[Wargus]

I know the OO interest isn't very high on this game, anybody who is playing, gaming trend has a Fleet going if you are interested. I'd check in their forums and post so Blackjack can get you added to the chat channel (will let you talk to us if nobody is on to get you into the Fleet).

[Scoop20906]

I played the open beta and really didn't enjoy it much. Was alot of lag and the intro was pretty dry for me.

How has things been since the launch? Are people who are playing it enjoying it?

[ydejin]

I played the open beta and really didn't enjoy it much. Was alot of lag and the intro was pretty dry for me.

How has things been since the launch? Are people who are playing it enjoying it?

Head Start this past weekend was a bit rough, with a lot of server downtime. However, it's been extremely solid since Tuesday's Official Release. As far as I know the server has not gone down once since Official Release and I have not noticed any slowdowns. Although there have been some issues with preorder bonus items and I think some people had trouble setting up billing on accounts. We'll have to see how they hold up this weekend, but so far I think they've had a very smooth release.

I've been very surprised and impressed by how much they managed to get done since the start of Open Beta. Rubberbanding has been almost zero since the end of Open Beta. The "starting ground mission as ship" and the reverse "giant people in space" bug when transitioning has been non-existent since the end of Open Beta. While I would still like area transitions to be faster, they are much, much better than at the start of Open Beta. I've only noticed one or two mission scripting problems, whereas they were all over the place during Beta. They added a Tricorder Scan / Starship Scan feature which helped my enjoyment of missions a lot. Basically whenever you need to go searching for random items -- alien artifacts, carnivorous plants, wrecks amongst the asteroids -- you hit the scanner and it points you in the direction you need to go.

Personally I love it. The space combat is amongst the most interesting combat I've seen in an RPG. A good mix of fast pacing with a lot of complexity with a very tactical feel. The Bridge Officer system is great. I can see how some people would find the whole thing repetitive, and how some Trek fans may be disappointed that this is largely a game about warfare. They've also made the game too easy from Lt 1 up to about Lt 8. The other complaint I can think of is that the whole thing is not particularly well documented. We'll also have to see how the end game turns out (I'm currently Lt Commander 4 and got up to Lt Commander 8 during Beta). So far, overall I am very, very happy with how this game turned out. This is the most fun I've had with a game in quite a while.

[pengo]

Can you only play as federation ? Or can you play as Romulan, Klingon, Cardassian etc?

[ydejin]

Can you only play as federation ? Or can you play as Romulan, Klingon, Cardassian etc?

Currently Federation is the only fully playable race. You can play Klingon which is unlocked when your first Federation character reaches level 6. But Klingons have much more limited content and are primarily a PvP race. For PvP they can fight against either Federation or amongst themselves. There are a number of different PvP modes (i.e., capture territory or simply destroy the enemy) although from what I can tell the PvP community is already clamoring for more maps. There is both PvP ground and PvP space combat. I believe Klingons have only three or so available PvE missions (repeatable, but no doubt very boring after just a short while). No playable Romulans or Cardassians.

If the game is popular, I'd imagine Romulans and Cardassians will get added in at some point. They already have the ships in the game, after all. From what I can tell, the developers are putting some priority on getting more Klingon PvE into the game. However, I doubt they'll ever have as much PvE as the Federation does.

[pengo]

As Klingon do u get the cloak? Also what era is this set? TOS? TNG? DS9? VOYAGER?

If TOS do the Klingons just have a light tan and a moustache?

[YellowKing]

As Klingon do u get the cloak? Also what era is this set? TOS? TNG? DS9? VOYAGER?

I see to recall reading it's set ten years after the events in ST:Nemesis.

[ydejin]

As Klingon do u get the cloak?

Klingons definitely get to cloak.

[Defiant]

I've had no problem with lag either now or during the beta. I havent been playing as much now (partly because I'm busier, partly because it's less exciting to go through the missions I went through during beta again) though.

[WYBaugh]

Paging tgb...paging tgb...

Saw your post over on Wargamer....what's your verdict?

[Sepiche]

Had lots of problems logging in and zoning Friday and Saturday, but starting Saturday afternoon things were getting better and today they seem much more stable. I've really enjoyed the game when I can play it though, especially the space combat. I bit the bullet and went for a lifetime subscription, just so I don't have to constantly worry about subbing and re-subbing as things progress, and I'm pretty confident I'll be able to get more than my monies worth over the life of the game.

If enough people are interested I'd be open to setting up an OO fleet just for some casual mission completing, but for the moment I'll probably throw in with the Qt3 guys.

[Defiant]

I played a little bit on friday and had the server quit on me twice. Good to hear things are better.

If enough people are interested I'd be open to setting up an OO fleet just for some casual mission completing, but for the moment I'll probably throw in with the Qt3 guys.

Can we only join one fleet? Or one fleet per character?

[ydejin]

I played a little bit on friday and had the server quit on me twice. Good to hear things are better.

If enough people are interested I'd be open to setting up an OO fleet just for some casual mission completing, but for the moment I'll probably throw in with the Qt3 guys.

Can we only join one fleet? Or one fleet per character?

It's one fleet per character. Friends however are across characters.