Star Trek Online Open Beta Starts Today 309
Today Cryptic Studios will begin the open beta of Star Trek Online, opening their test servers to invitees and anyone who has pre-ordered the game. The beta will run through the 26th, and the game will officially launch on February 2nd; head-start players will be allowed in on January 29th. The game is set in the old universe (not the rebooted one from last year's movie), and takes place roughly 30 years after the events in Star Trek: Nemesis. There are two playable factions to start — the Federation and the Klingon Empire — and more may become available later on. There will be conflict between the two factions, but supposedly all PvP will be "optional and consensual." Players will be able to choose from a variety of ships, and they'll see cameos from familiar characters. Eurogamer has a hands-on preview of the game, and fans of the Trek universe will be pleased to hear that "Cryptic is clearly thinking about Star Trek first and MMO convention second." A number of gameplay trailers are available for viewing, and the official forums have a nice collection of facts.
No thanks. (Score:5, Insightful)
- 18 month development time
- lackluster character animation
- PVP-only Klingon "faction"
- typical tank/dps/healer holy trinity (even in ships for pete's sake)
- subscription fee AND microtransation store
This is a half-ass, generic MMO wrapped in the designs and sounds of a franchise we're prone to get nostalgic about. It's a cheap ploy, and I won't support Cryptic and their shitty games.
Yes, I'm bitter at the terrible mess that was Champions Online. But they have not shown any change as a developer.
Re:I thought they said this was in the new univers (Score:1, Insightful)
Im sure there is a slashdot article somewhere about faulty memory....
Re:No thanks. (Score:4, Insightful)
I watched a guy at work playing the closed beta. One of his newb missions was to fight the Borg.
It looked just like a fantasy MMO game where newbs showed up to fight rats, except the rats were Borg. There may have been some crates, too. And lasers.
I would rather have been blasting Denebian slime devils than the FREAKIN' BORG, who should be too tough for newbs. So their talk about respecting the story is not entirely accurate.
Already a disappointment (Score:1, Insightful)
Cryptic live up to their name, I searched their site in vain for this [wikipedia.org]:
Cryptic has announced that they will release a Windows version of STO, and a possible console version also. During the August 10 Las Vegas conference, Cryptic announced that there would be neither Linux nor Mac versions for the original launch, though they did not rule out the possibility of later port releases.
They were just trying not to infuriate the Fek'lhr [memory-alpha.org] worshiping Linux fans, but the truth is that they will never release a Linux or Mac version of STO. After watching the trailers and finding out that there would be no Linux or Mac versions, Captain Picard decided to share his feelings about STO [youtube.com].
"open" != "free" (Score:5, Insightful)
An "open" beta means that you have the means by which to join the beta without them selecting you. It doesn't mean that it's necessarily free. It is as opposed to a "closed" beta which means that you can only join by their specific invitation, and that it is entirely likely that no matter how badly you want to join or how much money you have to spend (well, barring buying the entire company), you won't be able to get in.
If you have learned anything from the open source movement, it should be that "open" != "free." You can be charged for open source software, just as not all software that is free (as in beer) is open source.
Re:Already a disappointment (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm trying to figure out why people are continually surprised when non-Windows MMO clients are not available. You want to have a high percentage chance of being able to play a non-console, non-browser based game, get a Windows machine. End of story.
Re:Why old Star Trek? (Score:3, Insightful)
It's been in development for 5 years, the new Star Trek has only existed for about 2 and didn't really exist until earlier this year. It's a matter of timing in the development cycle.
And it's Next Generation so there is no analog for the new universe, yet, of course.
Because... (Score:3, Insightful)
That is where all the continuity is. Along with the most of the Trek universe. And where all the fan-base's nostalgia is.
The "New Trek" will probably fare like Spiderman just did.
Couple of movies, then a change of management, then another reboot.
And that cycle will go on until it finally dawns on the "runners of the franchise" that Star Trek is a TV series franchise, not a movie franchise.
Until we get another 7-season series, all this in between is just a break. A commercial one.
Re:Already a disappointment (Score:1, Insightful)
I'm trying to figure out why people are continually surprised when non-Windows MMO clients are not available. You want to have a high percentage chance of being able to play a non-console, non-browser based game, get a Windows machine. End of story.
Spoken like a true Microsoft rep. If you expect and demand nothing, that's exactly what you will get. At least 30 million people expect and demand more and refuse to just "get a Windows machine" to be able to play a particular game or use a particular application, which is why more and more applications and games are being released for non-Windows operating systems.
Re:I'm on it (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Awesome. (Score:2, Insightful)
So it's a game for pussies? Thanks, I'll stick with Eve Online. Let me know when they grow some balls and make it reasonably realistic. If you want safety, park your ass in a station and go play WoW.
A Star Trek MMO deserves more than this.
QQ More?
I'd say that any community deserves someone who is able to articulate their point without resorting to juvenile name calling and cries of 'if you don't like it leave'.
In this case, your method of play is one that the makers of this game have chosen not to support, and not without good reason. The PvP gameplay in a game can result in a black hole of developer time in which vast amounts of effort are spent tweaking and redefining roles and balance.
Keeping it mostly PvE results in a hell of a lot less pressure to appease a community who calls for 'Nerfs and Buffs'. There will still be all sorts of cries for that, but in a PvE realm, it is a LOT easier to manage.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with a PvP style game, in fact, I've always played on full PvP MMOs. But to attack it in that manner simply on this press release is childish.
I already canceled (Score:2, Insightful)
gg
Re:Awesome. (Score:4, Insightful)
Actually, I've never griefed anyone, but I've been baited into fights a number of times. Most griefing is suicide ganking when you're in empire. But what Eve has taught me is that while games can be amusing or entertaining, they'll never be thrilling and exciting without a real risk of loss.
And if Klingons have to ask permission to fight, it's a game for pussies. A Star Trek game deserves better. It deserves rich, deep content, beautiful graphics, and absolutely cut-throat space. Otherwise you're left with something that's ultimately empty and meaningless. And while I have no problem with pointless, controlled gameplay on something like WoW where you can run around and do the 5 things you're allowed to do all you like, it pains me to see it done to Star Trek.
Yes, I get that when you crunch the dollars and cents, making WoW in space and slapping the Star Trek name on it seems profitable, but it doesn't mean I have to like it.
Actually (Score:5, Insightful)
Picard: I want suggestions.
Worf: Lets kill everyone and everything!
Picard: Capital idea, make it so.
The eurogamer preview makes it clear, this MMO is for people that thought Enterprise was a great series, finally space boobies and big battles instead of all the soul searching and boring talking...
If you want your Star Trek to be "The city on the edge of forever" (If I have to explain, I must kill you) or "The measure of a man", then just forget it. There are no moral questions in this game. No Sci-fi to question the nature of humankind.
Even adventure trek like "Starship mine" (Picard does "Die hard") which would translate well to a "Deus Ex/Thief/System shock" style gameplay is beyond this game.
"Yesterday's Enterprise" or even "The inner light", story telling you can forget as well.
So what is left? Simplistic combat and being overrun by thousands of Wesley's. This has about as much to do with Star Trek as "Star Trek: Elite Force". And at least that was based on an element of Voyager (google "worsed voyager episode" common answer? Every single one of them.)
If you think the best of Trek was when Janeway tried to do Ripley (badly) then this might be the game for you.
For non trek fans, you will like this if you liked Champions Online in which case I am suprised you managed to read this far without shortcircuiting your keyboard with your drool.
For trekkies, it is an amusing romp and a bit of fun to hear and see all those sounds again, but it is like having sex with a hooker, the sex ain't worth the eternal regret and feelings of self-loathing.
If you do give it a try, make sure you have the best of trek on a playlist ready to sooth your ravaged mind. Just so that you won't think Trek is "blow everything up". I recommend "The measure of a man", not a blaster fired, no ships blowing up, just Star Trek as it was meant to be.
Re:I would agree but (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Already a disappointment (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:That makes sense (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Awesome. (Score:3, Insightful)
Many PvP games come and go because the developers and managers treat the PvP part of the game like PvE; as if it's something to manipulated to suit their vision of what it should be. "Someone isn't using tool A to do task B? Break everything else they're doing with it until they use it to do task B! They stopped using tool A? Oh well. Oh, they're using vehicle B to do what? No, no, no, they're supposed to use vehicle at site B to solve that problem! Make it so they can't use vehicle B outside site B!"
This continues until people get tired of watching every strategy they develop and every new idea they have crushed by the will of devs living atop Mount Olympus.
What actually needs to happen is that when people are going a new route with tools, equipment, spells, etc, unless it completely unbalances gameplay to the point of absurdity, the devs and managers must change their idea of what those things should be doing and bring development forward based on the innovations of the playerbase. In other words, reward creative thinking and encourage players to outsmart you. That makes it their game that you develop instead of your world that they have the privilege of entering. The latter is a whole lot less inviting or fun.
This is a huge part of Eve Online's continued success. While they'll make big changes once in a while (titans, nano ships, etc), most of the changes are either tiny tweaks to existing stuff or new developments. The primary focus is moving forward rather than playing re-balance nerf bat whac-a-mole. Different ships and different equipment have different strengths and weaknesses. Rather than trying to simplify everything down to where nearly perfect balance is possible, they simply continue to expand things such that while your version of the ship might be better today, new equipment, skills, tactics, etc could easily make my version of the ship more powerful tomorrow.
And I think that's a much smarter way to move things ahead. Rather than dumbing it down so your developers can push numbers into an Excel spreadsheet, keep adding complexity and challenging players to find new variations and combinations that re-balance things. That keeps players interested, thinking, and invested. Keep simplifying things for the benefit of your devs and all you get is a game that isn't worth playing.
PvP that's worth playing is and should be hard as Hell to develop. Simply provide the players the tools to balance things on their own and stop trying to manufacture some utopian Atlantis of perfect PvP balance. It's not worth the effort because central planning works as well in a game as it did in the Soviet Union.