EARTHDATE 2008.07.28 Engage! Posted by Jack Emmert
Star Trek® has been a part of my entire life. Few other of my geeky obsessions can make that claim.
I started watching the original Star Trek when it reached syndication and cult status. I can remember even more vividly where I was for the premiere of every subsequent Star Trek series. For Star Trek: The Next Generation, I watched "Encounter at Farpoint" lying on the floor of my childhood apartment. When Star Trek: Deep Space Nine rolled around, I was a graduate student at the University of Chicago. I watched the first episode in the basement of my dorm with a dozen other students. A few years later, I was at Ohio State and saw Voyager travel to the Delta Quadrant while sitting on a friend's couch in Columbus, Ohio. And I was thrilled to see the beginnings of Starfleet in Star Trek: Enterprise. At the time, I was just starting out as a game designer, with little to no idea that I'd be jumping into that very universe within several years.
When the opportunity came for Cryptic to obtain the license for Star Trek, we were absolutely thrilled. I realized how many people at Cryptic loved the IP when the possibility of us getting the rights leaked out to the rest of the company. I had more Trekkies in my office asking to work on the project than I ever imagined.
Cryptic would now be given the task of bringing to life this entire universe that has been so brilliantly conceived and executed over years of TV, movies, books and comics. There are few other fictional backgrounds that fit the MMORPG medium so well. After all, Star Trek was never about a single character, ship or even planet; Star Trek was always about an entire universe. And MMORPGs are uniquely suited to create such a thing and allow players to explore every inch.
Admittedly, Star Trek has its challenges. We want to make a game that best captures the real essence of Star Trek. We see Star Trek as much about exploration as combat. As much about the variety of alien civilizations as it is about the core Vulcans, Klingons, Humans, etc. It's going to be an exciting ride over the coming months as we begin to unveil STO. I can't wait.
Posted by Pensive's Wetness (Member # 1203) on :
So basically, this is going to the second coming of Second Life, right?
Posted by Johnny (Member # 878) on :
I'm quite excited by the project, just to see what they'll come up with. I've been pleasantly surprised by the designs that were released by the original developers and presumably a lot of the same people will be on board.
Can't say whether I'll actually play it, though.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
Let's just hope they manage things a bit better than Perpetual did.
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
As a longtime City of Heroes/Villains fan, it pleases me to see Jack "Statesman" Emmert working on this.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
So, this isn't going to be a free MMORPG. I hope it's just a one time payment, like buying the software, instead of a monthly membership fee, otherwise, I probably won't play it. It seems like it will be a good game though.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
They have a couple screenshots and the graphics look like top notch stuff.
Posted by Ahkileez (Member # 734) on :
I'm a big fan of CoX and Cryptic (at least before the split with NCSoft) did truly excellent work. They didn't do anything until they could do it right.
I hope they keep the concept work from Perpetual, but I hope they bring their established commitment to perfectionism to bear here with STO.
Posted by shikaru808 (Member # 2080) on :
Best news ever. My inner geek-dom is screaming with joy.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
I think the very nature of a MMORPG requires a monthly fee if only to keep up with expanding server costs. Its either that or have ads everywhere. Take your pick.
Posted by Ahkileez (Member # 734) on :
Yeah. The possibility of a one-time MMORPG is remote. There are very few of those.
This will no doubt be the traditional model.
But given their history with CoX, you can expect regular and timely updates to STO and very good work to boot.
Posted by shikaru808 (Member # 2080) on :
It seems they're going on a different approach to the game however. I was wondering if they'll allow crew with individual positions in a ST:BC style but I guess they're gonna go with an "everyone's a captain"
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
At this point, we know extremely little about the mechanics of the game. It may very well be that everyone will be a captain, or that everyone can be a captain. We won't know until Cryptic releases more info.
Posted by Pensive's Wetness (Member # 1203) on :
quote:Originally posted by Krenim: At this point, we know extremely little about the mechanics of the game. It may very well be that everyone will be a captain, or that everyone can be a captain. We won't know until Cryptic releases more info.
Like Pirates of the Carribean? "Captain your own ship for free! No one else will be online/onboard but you get your own boat!"
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
And to think I was actually gonna play that Pirates of the Caribbean game.