Star Trek Online

Studio

Cryptic Studios

Publisher

Perfect World Entertainment

Erstveröffent-
lichung

February 2, 2010 February 5, 2010

platform

Windows , PlayStation 4 , Xbox One

Game mode

Gamepad , keyboard , mouse

system advantages
preconditions

Dual core CPU 1.8 GHz
2048 MB RAM
256 MB RAM graphics card
DirectX 10
21 GB hard disk space
Broadband internet connection

medium

1 DVD; Download

language

German , English , French

Age rating

USK

PEGI

Star Trek Online , often simply STO abbreviated, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game ( Engl. MMORPG) transmitted from Cryptic Studios was developed. The game is based on the Star Trek series created by Gene Roddenberry , was released on February 2, 2010 and is the first MMORPG in the Star Trek universe. As of January 2012, there was a switch from pay-to-play (buying in order to be able to play) to the free-to-play model. As of March 2014, the game was made available to MacOS users. Due to technical difficulties, support for Mac OS was discontinued in February 2016. In September 2016, the game was made available to users of the Playstation 4 and Xbox One .

action

The plot of the main part of the game takes place in the 25th century from the stardate 86088.58 in an alternative timeline in the years 2409 and 2410, i.e. 30 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis . The player can choose between six starting scenarios: cadet of Starfleet (2409 or alternatively at the time of the original series or from Star Trek Discovery), officer in the Klingon Empire, resident of a Romulan colony planet or Jem Hadar soldier. After an introductory tutorial in which Starfleet cadets from other times travel back in time in 2409, and Romulans and Jem Hadar have to choose a side between the Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire, several storylines are open that deal with antagonists from the various series such as the Borg, Tholians or Breen and explore the different quadrants of the galaxy. Most of the missions are the same for all parties, as they have come together to form the Galactic Alliance due to external threats. There is no effect of the player's decisions on later missions.

development

Star Trek Online was originally developed by Perpetual Entertainment from 2004 to 2008. When the company went bankrupt in January 2008, the license for the game and the already-made concept art were resold to Cryptic Studios. However, the original source code, as well as the game engine , remained with Perpetual Entertainment.

On July 28, 2008, the development of the game was officially confirmed by Cryptic Studios. In addition to a release as a Windows version, the possible release for game consoles was also mentioned. During the conference in Las Vegas in August 2008, Cryptic announced that there would be neither a Linux nor a Mac version for publication. Later porting is possible, however.

The publication date stated for North America was February 2, 2010 and February 5, 2010 for Europe. For pre-orderers, however, the servers should be available on January 29, 2010.

Conference in Las Vegas

A conference was held on August 10, 2008 at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. There Leonard Nimoy - one of the leading actors in the first Star Trek series and other Star Trek films - and the directors of Cryptic Studios released the first trailer. In addition to various Federation and Klingon ships, the Borg could also be seen. A Klingon boarding crew on a Starfleet Bridge was also shown. An exact publication date has not yet been revealed at this conference; however, this date was restricted to the next three years.

Beta tests

The closed beta test began on October 22, 2009. Cryptic Studios guaranteed access to the beta for those who had already purchased a 6-month subscription or a lifetime subscription for Champions Online.

On November 19, 2009, Cryptic announced that the closed beta test would be ended and the open beta test would take place from January 12th to January 26th, 2010.

The so-called head-start program began at 7:00 p.m. on January 29th. Pre-orderers of the game could start playing a few days before the official release.

The official start and its problems

Star Trek Online officially began on February 2, 2010. The versions available in Europe were the “Standard Edition”, “Silver Edition”, “Gold Edition” as well as the “Collectors Edition” and the “Digital Deluxe Version”. The difference between the versions was the included package content and extras in the game. Starting the game was fraught with problems; This led to delivery problems for the most expensive edition, the Collectors Edition.

Furthermore, there was criticism due to server problems, which led to players having problems logging in. Another problem was that the contents of the package did not turn out as promised: There were only three instead of five “trial serial numbers” in the packages.

Problems with the German version

The incomplete German translation was criticized right from the start. Only a small part of the screen texts are correctly translated, they often switch between English and German within individual dialogues with non-player characters (NPCs). First contact missions and series missions without the translation are also difficult for players without knowledge of English, as some missions fail if you select a wrong answer. According to the official announcement, a malfunctioning tool is the reason why the translators at Cryptic cannot do their work properly. Another point of criticism is the fact that the rewards of the one-time playable content are sometimes removed before it is translated. This gives German players the choice of either completing the content in English or foregoing the reward if the player decides to wait for the translation. These problems have now been minimized (as of July 2015), but are still present in some cases.

Since release

The server capacities have been increased so that there are almost no more lags. The test server "Tribble" was put into operation and the first major content patch " Season 1: Common Ground " was published on March 25, 2010. As a game developer, Cryptic tries a policy of openness, which means that they announce changes directly when they enter the planning phase and not only, as is usually the case, when the planning has been completed. There is also a calendar on the main page, the content of which should be constantly updated.

With the test server Tribble and since the test of season 5 also with the newly created test server Redshirt, players can directly participate in the development of the game. And in the so-called " Engineering Reports ", Cryptic informs the players about the planned changes.

In August 2011, the Chinese publisher Perfect World bought Cryptic Studios from the previous publisher Atari and switched to a free-to-play concept.

Since May 22, 2013, the player can access the Legacy of Romulus expansion and thus play the Romulans for the first time.

On November 1, 2013, during a live stream from Cryptic Studios, it was announced that on November 12, 2013 both the expansion 'Season 8 - The Sphere' and a beta version of the game client for Mac systems would be released.

On April 2, 2015, many missions were published in a revised version. In some cases, several individual missions have been combined into a single one, some individual missions have been removed. The aim was to better adapt the older stories of these missions to the ongoing overall story that runs like a red thread through the game. To bring players closer to this revised content, the "Delta Recruitment" event was released from April 2nd to May 21st, 2015. In this one could play through the entire game and its renewed story from scratch with a newly created character and develop additional, special properties and items.

On October 27, 2015, Cryptic Studios released the 11th season "New Dawn", which, in addition to some new episodes, will also include the conclusion of the main storyline, which was told during the first five years since the game was released. In addition, a new main storyline will be introduced into the following seasons, which will also be designed for several years as well as some new game mechanics such as the "Admiralty System". This makes it possible to send already acquired spaceships on special missions and to obtain materials, credits and the like from them.

On February 4, 2016, Perfect World Entertainment announced that it would discontinue support for the Mac client from February 5, 2016 due to numerous problems and associated quality losses in the game. Users of the Mac client are recommended to switch to Windows or to use a corresponding Windows runtime environment such as Wine , since from "Spring 2016" access to the game via the Mac client will no longer be possible.

Annual events, which always come across in a more humorous way, include the "Lohlunat Festival" on the entertainment planet Risa in the early summer months and the "winter wonderland" created by Being Q in the early winter months. In these, spaceships and special items can also be earned through various minigames and tasks.

In addition, every year in February, Crytic Studios organizes special events for the game's birthday, which are usually linked to the release of new game content and opportunities to win pieces of equipment or spaceships.

Playable factions

At the beginning you choose the faction, species and gender of the player character. You can choose between the United Federation of Planets / Starfleet and the Klingon Empire, which are at war with each other at the beginning of the game. As a 3rd faction it is also possible to join the Romulan Republic, a break-away state that emerged from the ruins of the Romulan star empire and to devote itself to the construction of New Romulus, with either the Federation or the that of the Klingons to be chosen as allies. Since June 2018 it has also been possible to join the Dominion as the 4th faction, whereby one side must be selected as an allied in the process. Depending on which faction you belong to, the sequence of the individual missions varies a bit, some have been replaced or the order has been changed.

Season releases at a glance

Season 1: Togetherness (March 25, 2010)
Season 2: Old Enemies (July 27, 2010)
Season 3: Genesis (December 9, 2010)
Season 4: Crossfire (July 7, 2011)
Season 5: To Arms (December 1, 2011)
Season 6: State of Emergency (July 12, 2012)
Season 7: New Romulus (November 13, 2012)
Expansion: Legacy of Romulus (May 12, 2013)
Season 8: 'The Sphere' (November 12, 2013)
Season 8.5: 'A Step Between the Stars' (January 30, 2014)
Season 9: 'A New Agreement' (April 22, 2014)
Season 9.5 Research and Development (July 17, 2014)
Expansion: 'Delta Rising' (October 14, 2014)
Season 10: 'The Iconian War' (April 21, 2015)
Season 10.5: 'Broken Circle' (July 16, 2015)
Season 11: 'New Beginning' (October 27, 2015)
Expansion: 'Agents of Yesterday' (July 6, 2016)
Season 12: 'Reckoning' (January 26, 2017)
Season 13: 'Escalation' (April 25, 2017)
Season 14: 'Emergence' (October 3, 2017)
Expansion: "Victory is life" (June 5, 2018)
Season 15: Age of Discovery (October 9, 2018)
Season 16: Mirror of Discovery (January 23, 2019)
Season 17: Rise of Discovery (May 14, 2019)
Season 18: Awakening (September 10, 2019)

For PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the new seasons will be released a few weeks later than on the PC version of the game.

Star Trek characters

The original voice of Leonard Nimoy , also known as Spock , can be heard in the intro and in the various sector descriptions of the alpha and beta quadrants . With season 8.5, Spock also got a character in the game.

Michael Dorn , known as Lieutenant Worf from the Star Trek series Spaceship Enterprise - The Next Century , will be involved in the release of season 8 “The Sphere” on December 9, 2013 and will take on the role of Ambassador Worf.

With the release of season 8.5 on January 30, 2014, the mission "One step between the stars" was introduced. For this, Tim Russ stepped into the action as "Admiral" Tuvok, known as Commander Tuvok from the series Star Trek: Spaceship Voyager .

The characters Harry Kim alias Garrett Wang , Seven of Nine alias Jeri Ryan , the medical-holographic emergency program (MHN) played by Robert Picardo and the Talaxian Neelix played by the actor Ethan Phillips were also integrated . They found their way into the world of Star Trek Online with the introduction of the second expansion 'Delta Rising' on October 14, 2014.

At the start of season 10 on April 21, 2015, the actors Robert Duncan McNeill in his role as Tom Paris and actress Lisa LoCicero as his daughter Miral Paris from the Star Trek: Spaceship Voyager episode "Endgame" could be won. Also in this season, Aron Eisenberg embodies his alter ego Nog, known from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .

Even Kim Rhodes as Jhet'leya, Denise Crosby as Tasha Yar and Empress Sela and Chase Masterson as Leeta hologram are in the game with its original character and voice available. Since October 2015, Masterson has also taken on a larger role in the game and in some missions speaks her character Leeta, known from Deep Space Nine, from the perspective of an alternative reality, Admiral Leeta from the mirror universe .

One exception is Zachary Quinto , who has played the role of Spock in the movies since Star Trek (2009) . He lent his voice to the medical holographic emergency program in the tutorial.

At the start of the 11th season in October 2015, the actress Kipleigh Brown , known as Jane Taylor from the episode "The Forgotten" of the Star Trek: Enterprise series , also slips into a new role. She embodies the Lukarian administrator Kuumaarke in Star Trek Online.

For the new expansion "Victory is life" for the 25th anniversary of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series, many actors from the original series were again cast for speaking roles. a. Jeffrey Combs as Weyon / Brunt, René Auberjonois as Odo, Alexander Siddig as Dr. Julian Bashir, Armin Shimerman as Quark, Max Grodénchik as Rom and Nana Visitor as Kai Kira Nerys can be heard or seen again in their old roles and interact with the players.

Memorial plaques

Since the death of actor Leonard Nimoy in March 2015, memorial plaques have been placed at certain meeting points in the game, some of which have short texts to remind of deceased actors, producers and other contributors from the Star Trek production. Gene Roddenberry, Majel Barrett and the composer Jerry Goldsmith will be performed.

In addition, since 2013 there has been a special memorial stone on the map of the Starfleet Academy dedicated to Cryptic employee Mark Valentine, who died of cancer in September 2013.

Distribution under Atari

The game was sold commercially by Namco Bandai on behalf of Atari. Three variants were offered in traditional retail: A Collector's Edition, a Gold Edition and a Silver Edition. All three did not differ from each other in the basic game, there were just different extras in the versions. There was also the option of direct download right from the start.

As with other MMOs, Star Trek Online also had a monthly fee. In addition to subscriptions for 1, 3 and 6 months, there was also a 12-month subscription and a lifetime subscription during the pre-sale phase, which covers the costs of the game over its entire term. 60-day prepaid cards were also sold in retail outlets.

Free-to-play version

The free-to-play version of Star Trek Online offered an alternative subscription variant. For a fixed monthly price, the so-called gold members received, for example, a larger inventory, more character slots and additional bonuses. There was also the option to purchase a Life Time Membership . However, the subscription was abolished in 2018, the corresponding bonuses can only be received via Life Time Membership . The game is financed exclusively through microtransactions.

facts and figures

For the 5th anniversary in early 2015, a new infographic was published that lists the most important facts and figures.

According to this graphic (as of January 2015) around 3.8 million captains (characters) are in use and 2.5 million accounts are registered.

421 playable ships
14.3 million bridge officers (officers who support their own character in ground missions as NPCs)
107 million duty officers on duty (officers who complete mini-missions and obtain raw materials for the player)
25,040 active fleets (alliances or guilds in STO)
88,480 player-created "Foundry Missions"
6 million tribbles in player inventories

Awards

Awarded "Best Free MMORPG 2012" by MMORPG Center

novel

Under the title The Needs of the Many appeared at Pocket Books one of Michael A. Martin wrote the novel version of the play action. It has not yet appeared in German.

Web links

www.arcgames.com

Individual evidence

↑ Test report: Star Trek is also fascinating as an online role-playing game. In: Online edition of the Berliner Morgenpost . Axel Springer AG , March 15, 2010, accessed on March 16, 2010 .

↑ yetweallfalldown: MAC Closure Notice. February 2016, accessed May 7, 2017 .

↑ Star Trek Online lands on PlayStation®4! | Star Trek Online . ( arcgames.com [accessed May 6, 2017]).

↑ startrekonline.com: Forum entry about the conference in Las Vegas

↑ startrekonline.com: Gameplay Trailer .

↑ startrekonline.com: Closed Beta Announcement

↑ Startrekonline.com: Season 1

↑ Startrekonline.com: State of the Game March 12, 2010

↑ startrekonline.com: Free-to-Play announcement page

↑ Star Trek Online: Legacy of Romulus published ( memento of the original from January 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ arcgames.com: Delta Recruiting announcement page