Star Trek Online update plans outlined

By Oli Welsh Published 29 January, 2010

Live servers open today.

With the Star Trek Online servers opening for pre-ordering players today, and the game's official launch next week, Cryptic has detailed its plans for the space MMO in its first two months.

The launch-day patch is relatively small - a major update was made a week ago, just before the end of open beta - but Cryptic is already planning the first major content update for the game.

"We're already working on it and it’ll be out before you know it," producer Craig Zinkievich said in his recent state of the game post. More player-versus-player options, exploration missions for the Klingon factions, more ground-based "fleet actions" (Star Trek Online's equivalent of large-scale public quests), extended ship customisation and extra playable species are promised.

Beyond that update, Cryptic will be looking to flesh out high-level content with major missions involving the Borg, one of these also featuring Q and a spot of time travel. It's also planning Raid Episodes - tough five-man missions aimed at max-level players, and accessible to both Federation and Klingon characters. Raid Episodes will be released "every few weeks", beginning a week after launch.

Further plans include additions to the Klingon side of the game - fleet actions, a new ship, more PvE content - and Federation-versus-Federation PvP.

Cryptic stirred up some controversy among players by introducing a cap to the number of skill points late in open beta, meaning top-level players could no longer max out all of their skills in the endgame. Although this simply brings it in line with standard MMO design, requiring some specialisation from players, the change has disappointed many.

Star Trek Online is released on 5th February for PC. For those who've pre-ordered the game, early access begins at 6pm GMT tonight. If you're looking for someone to play with, you might want to consider the fledgling Eurogamer Star Alliance: find out more in the Star Trek Online forum thread and Star Trek Online group folder.

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About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (27) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • TruSmiles #1 2 years ago

    Can't wait, all set captain! :D

    Eurogamer alliance sounds good, ooh.

  • Ikari2001 #2 2 years ago

    i'll wait and see, i'm currently giving eve a go so that will keep me occupied :p

  • Rirekon #3 2 years ago

    Good to hear they're planning more Klingon content, they urgently need it

  • UKLL #4 2 years ago

    I'm a huge sci-fi and Trek fan but the beta did nothing for me. The ship combat is nothing short of sublime but the ground combat is so basic, dull and clunky it felt like a chore to play.

    I was really looking forward to this so I'm massively disappointed.
    Edited by 3 at 29/01/10 @ 12:30

  • Evolution #5 2 years ago

    Can't say the beta made me want to play this, felt pretty disappointing overall. Just seemed messy.

  • DFawkes #6 2 years ago

    \o/

    Thanks very much for the plug for the ESA, all EG readers are welcome, no matter how chilled or hardcore you are.

    Looking forward to the endgame content I never got to see in beta, should have some great encounters later on.

  • chudders #7 2 years ago

    Eurogamer Star Alliance - it's life, but not as we know it.

    (No insult intended btw).

  • Evolution #8 2 years ago

    I was thinking Fawkes meant the European Space Agency before it clicked :)

  • mcmonkeyplc #9 2 years ago

    \o/ we're mentioned on the main site!

    ESA! ESA! ESA! :)

  • 4thVariety #10 2 years ago

    The Demo left me unimpressed. Though it had the look of Trek and made a lot of Trek noises, it did not feel like a Star Trek experience. More like another auto-attacking, spread sheet tinkering thing that is not that much of a game really.

    There also has to be a better way to start a game than to dump the player in the middle of a Borg attack and promote him to captain of a starship within the first five minutes of the game. That is not very creative and makes the world look rather bad. How about starting with some multi-verse paradox dumping all those different established cpatains and their ships (i.e. players) in one universe and have them start at a slower pace with more of a plot that is worthy of Trek. If using a physics engine means debris will be catapulted 20 yards across room if you as much as touch it, then it might be better if physics were removed from the game again.

  • Dyason #11 2 years ago

    I cancelled my pre-order after trying the beta. It just wasn't enjoyable as a game at all. Yes they've put some nice work into the Star Trek universe but this doesn't make a good game. They could have done so much more with this, it's a shame really.

  • Spekingur #12 2 years ago

    @4thVariety: There have been no demos. MMOs don't get demos. You were playing a beta. Did the new Star Trek movie feel Trek to you? Within the first 20 minutes or so of that movie Kirks father is promoted to captain... similar thing happens in STO.

  • Shikasama #13 2 years ago

    So..Cryptic releasing half a game again I see.

    If you have to add things like more basic missions for a faction you. Have. Fucked. Up.

  • mcmonkeyplc #14 2 years ago

    Ah I see the nay sayers exist here too.

    It wasn't a demo it was a beta, of course they are going to add missions to the game as it goes on, it's a chuffing MMO for gods sake these things are in constant development.

  • tiredoldandy #15 2 years ago

    The beta was absolute guff.

  • 4thVariety #16 2 years ago

    @Spekingur
    I did not like that aspect of the new Star Trek movie as well. Random promotions being thrown around for the sake of being a "from the beginning story". This was definitely the part I liked the least.

    If Cryptic decided to give anybody a peek into their game with no strings attached, no confidentiality agreement and no written contract, then I take the liberty to call it a demo. Because a demo is something the customer is expected to base his buying decision on. The term Beta is only abused to fool the player into thinking he was something special and make him invent excuses for why stuff does not work.

    I have played a game and was then asked to buy it, but it did not click. I will not make up excuses and imagine every issue I had to be magically resolved by tomorrow. I will not buy the game after playing the demo.

  • Evolution #17 2 years ago

    @Spekingur
    Not to be a complete nerd, but in the MMO you start as an Ensign and become "Captain" - Kirk Sr. in the movie is already an officer I believe?

    @mcmonkeyplc
    MMOs of course evolve over time, but I don't believe that is a license to make bad software. Forgive me but I expected a bit more from a Star Trek MMO.

  • Spekingur #18 2 years ago

    @Evolution: Yes, this is true. But then again, in STO you are Lieutenant for 10 levels. It doesn't make that much sense but as I see it, the Star Trek universe in STO is in a full out war and ranks don't hold as much weight during war as during peace times. Or something.

    Heck, it's a game, an MMO. If the rank of your character when you get command of your ship is bothering you when playing then that would just fall under nitpicking. The same arguement could be used with levels, as in why should the character gain levels, as people don't gain levels in Star Trek.

  • Shikasama #19 2 years ago

    mcmonkey - For sure stuff gets added over time in an MMO. But not basic missions a week after release to patch content gaps. That's unfinished. 'Constant development' is fast becoming a byword for 'recouping investment with half finished products'.

    Then again, anyone who buys a Crytari game deserves what they get. It should be no suprise by now. Look at what they have just announced with CO.

    Open public betas ARE demos. They are treat by demos by the company because they are treat like demos by the consumer. Like the guy above me said 'beta' in that sense is a con. Hell I bet as soon as the open beta was finished it was sent off for certification.

  • Flub #20 2 years ago

    Live servers? Would these be the live servers for yet another MMO launch Cryptic have messed up?

  • makeamazing #21 2 years ago

    From what I've heard from one friend, he was logged in for two minutes, and then it crashed, and then when he tried to get back in got a message telling him that it would be another 5 hours.... oh dear, even with the early access and beta's they still cant get these things right :|

  • Silvervein #22 2 years ago

    I did play the game during last three day of open beta, and had a peak into early access, thanks to the code sent to me by a friend.

    Contrary to most people on this thread, relating bad experience with the game, I have little to complain about. Game worked with no lag for me (and that on my 4 years old rig that was middle class when I put it together), although I did run it on medium to low settings.

    About the content, there are still mmo conventions present there. Hotbar with skills, levels, finding gear. However, they did something interesting with space combat that, I think, is quite fun and does feel like star trek. Ground combat is nothing special, and for one, I do regreat that they didn't include cover system and increased damage both dealt by npc's to the player and by player to npc's. I can understand their choice though. Judging by comments of many people on general trek channel, they come straight from wow and expect another loot lottery driven grind with standard gameplay imported from everquest 1.

    One thing that did captivate me in the star trek, is the fact that it's not all about combat. In fact, combat, both space and ground wise, is about 60 to 70% of what you do. The rest is what I like, and those are missions that vary from exploration of new systems, investigating strange events in space and on planets, as well as (one mission I did so far) solving a criminal mystery. I positively adore this kind of missions, since they give padding to whole trek experience, and prevent it from being a shooter in space with trek paint on it.

    Of course, it's just a recount of my experiences in game, so you might not agree with what I said, what with different people having different tastes.

  • FortysixterUK #23 2 years ago

    I bought this when it went up on STEAM, the STO-digital deluxe edition for £49.99, with a few little treats in game like emotes, armour, weapons etc, etc.

    Two days later the price dropped from £49.99 to £39.99. I was not happy, especially as I had just gambled and bought the lifetime sub offer, which despite a dollar to pound conversion rate should have been £147.00 for in fact £153.99. I bit the bullet and purchased it. A week ago, Cryptic took the money out of my bank. £180.94 !!!!! Turns out they had not told you that the prices DID NOT inlcude VAT.

    I cancelled the lifetime sub ( and have since been fully refunded). I obtained a refund on STEAM for the Pre release for £49.99.

    As soon as all monies were back in my by now, seriously depleted bank account, I just went back and bought the £39.99 version of the STO digital deluxe edition.

    40 quid is about all its worth currently, whilst its quite enjoyable, I can't see myself renewing the sub each month ( £8.99 PLUS vat = £10.34 incidentally ).

    But space combat is very good, and all they need to to is stabilise the servers, lessen the lag, and make the "on the ground" mission animations less jerky......oh hang on...that's quite a lot to do isn't it?

    The game is not finished, and won't be for some months. There is almost NO Klingon single player stuff, I assume that will change.

    Bottom line , if you like Trek then chances are you will like this, and remember the federation are now at war, so all the "Five year mission to seek out new life " and " a ship of exploration" tag lines no longer apply. It's war. The federation and its allies are at war against the Klingon empire, Borg, Dominion and every other badguy Trek ever had fun with.

    This is a WAR game, simple as that. I think "Star Trek online, the fly through space and do nothing but look at stuff" game may have been a tad dull.

  • Silvervein #24 2 years ago

    @FortysixerUK

    I can relate to you financial problem with ordering the game. Sadly, it's not as easy it it was for me with previous cryptic game, where all I needed to do is to get free trial client, and then update it to full version by simply setting an account with them.
    Long story short, I bought cheapest version off of the EU site. I just hope my order will clear, having account in the states while being in europe at the moment is not convenient for online transactions.

    However, my perspective on what's in star trek, content wise somewhat differs from yours. The impresison you give that it's all about fighting is not really accurate, based on my experiences there. If it was all about fighting, I don't think that trek would last that long. EVE does space pvp in massive galaxy better. But that's not, fortunately, the case.
    So yes, exploration tags do apply. In fact, those are the missions I enjoyed most in my time playing trek. But as I said, experiences of different people are bound to be different.

    PS.
    About the lag in trek...I'm not sure why is that, but a lot of people complain about it. However, I didn't experience any (and that playing from poland, on my rig so ancient it's almost a steampunk contraption). Perhaps I got lucky? I do agree that ground combat could use some work, there's no denying that. As for klingons, I believe that the game update that's going to appear within weeks will add pve klingon content.
    Edited by 1 at 30/01/10 @ 21:28

  • makeamazing #25 2 years ago

    I folded as well and purchased the game, i didnt want to, knowing full well there would be problems.

    Friday and Saturday there were two outages of about 3 hours each, but other than that its been up and running and had quite a few hours play on it (shame on me when i have so much work to do...lol). So its been pretty stable for me.

    Ive really enjoyed it so far, there are some very visible bugs, didnt have too much lag (there was some at times), and space combat is an absolute blast. It probably shouldnt have been ready to be released in this state, and it will get some grief for it (which MMO hasnt had launch issues) , but its so far enjoyable. I just wonder how quick it might get boring, doing the samey type missions all the time.

    One thing is for certain, if one game can pull off lots of players playing together, this is the game, its a joy when you join a space battle with other players and take on the enemy. :)

  • makeamazing #26 2 years ago

    Having said that, just tried to log back in and the server is down again :) = lots of ranting on the ST forums, I'm guessing there are lots of people who havent played an MMO before in the first few weeks of its release (yes i know its not officially released till tuesday, but you know what i mean :)

    Maybe time to watch Black Hawk Down on Blu-ray instead.

  • makeamazing #27 2 years ago

    Just checked (advised by a friend), that they have implement queues now, that you have to wait to play :|

    Also the queue system doesnt seem to be working that well,

    This doesnt bode well for Tuesdays launch.