Star Trekkin’, across the blogoverse..
I’m a Trekkie… sorta. I grew up on reruns of The Original Series, loved the later seasons of The Next Generation, tolerated Deep Space 9 until it got really good, laughed at Voyager (though “Timeless” is one of my favorite episodes across all ‘Treks) and had an allergic reaction to Enterprise. I disavow knowledge of the J. J. Abrams production.
When Cryptic announced Star Trek Online, I was tentatively curious. I figured after the ENT era, the IP was pretty much gutted anyway, so I didn’t expect anything like the classic (surprisingly good) adventure game Star Trek 25th Anniversary. (Hey, GOG.com, when do we get that one?) When it was noted that there would be tanks, healers and DPS roles in ‘Trek combat, I shook my head and shrugged. When it was announced that it would require a subscription, I gave up.
…When Steam had a sale and offered the game with 30 days of play for $3.something, I buckled and bought it. Longasc has been enthusiastic about the game for a while, and I guess it rubbed off. (Articles from Tipa and Blue Kae have been good reminders, too. I’m sure there are others I’ve read, so please forgive me for not remembering who wrote them at the moment.)
And, y’know… it’s a game that I would buy happily as an offline game. It’s a game that I’ll play if/when it goes F2P. I still hate subscriptions, but the game itself, well… I like it. More than I thought I would, actually.
Interestingly, it plays a bit like Dungeons and Dragons Online in my mind, in that a lot of the content is mission-based, effectively little encapsulated instanced stories, stitched together with an overarching shared space. (Conveniently monetizable via selling content in mission packs, not unlike DDO or Wizard 101, while we’re at it…) It doesn’t play like a MMO in the sense that anyone can bother you wherever you are (instanced raiding and dungeoneering aside). It’s more like a giant shared interstellar space lobby with nuggets of story to play alone or with friends. The thing is, that works perfectly for the ‘Trek IP, what with the theme of missions and “episodes”. The quasi-military nature of Starfleet in a time of interstellar war makes mission-based play work really well. (It makes me wish the Stargate MMO hadn’t folded; that’s another game that would have been perfect for mission-based play.)
Of course it’s silly in the way all MMOs are silly, in that the bad guys respawn for the next player, wars never end, combat is way too prevalent, and the economy is wonky. Animations are weird, the Uncanny Valley causes a few stumbles, the Admiral stands on his chair, and I’m still not sure how we got Spock’s context-relevant voiceovers if he’s stuck in Abrams’verse. Character development is a bit unclear as to what really matters down the line (yeah, there are wikis, but the in-game descriptions aren’t terribly helpful) and respeccing costs real money. The item shop layered on top of a sub is a dumb cash grab. The fact that I had to officially register for a subscription (PayPal or credit card) just to gain access to the thirty days that come with the box still annoys me, especially with all the hacking going on lately. The Klingon war declaration is a bit… forced, but hey, I guess playing as Klingons was more appealing than playing as Romulans if players didn’t want to be good little Federationistas. It’s still just a little rough around the edges in a lot of little ways, but then, what MMO isn’t?
It’s not a perfect game, but I still like it. I have fun playing it, and in the end, that’s the important part.
The sounds are great, the ambiance feels Trekkish, the visuals are sufficiently Okudaish, and the little nods to history and canon are like a bunch of easter eggs for an attentive nerd, er, fan. (I even got an ENT reference… for shame.) Space combat is great fun and ground combat is pretty good. The incidental Scienceish objectives (go scan that anomaly!) are a nice nod to the exploration mandate of Starfleet… though I wish there were more of that. (Yes, I’m playing a Science officer… which is ostensibly a Healer, but whatever, I’m going to be the best Spock Dax I can be.) Conveniences like remote contact with quest, er, mission-givers makes sense, as Starfleet really can’t function if everyone had to come home to Earth to turn in personal reports.
I’m sure that true blue diehard fans have quibbles with the game, and I’m sure many MMO devotees don’t like its departures from the DIKU mold. In the end, though, taken for what it is, a big ol’ Star Trek multiplayer game, it’s been my experience that there’s plenty of fun there to make it worth playing.
…at least for the 30 days.
I’m glad that it did not turn out to be that much “Trinity” based. People still think in the way of said Trinity, unfortunately. Cryptic’s marketing team and designers explained STO in the same way, too.
It just is not that accurate when people get into the game. As it is a rather easy game they don’t have to bother thinking about their ship and bridge officer abilities, but when they do they will notice the Trinity in this game is thankfully rather mild compared to the standard DIKU. And different between space and ground.
You heard it here, the “tank” aka cruiser is a better healer than you, science vessel player, that might be shocking you. Try some CC and “tricks”. It might also be shocking to hear that Tactical Officers can do interesting things in things you suppose to be “tank” ships, cruisers. And that Science Officers make great DPS “Escort” pilots.
The game has a lot of flaws. But it’s also no classic MMO. That’s part of the charm.
I did not notice you were playing. I still owe you a Tribble.
Yeah, it’s kinda weird, but refreshing. There are tints of the trinity, but I didn’t see any overt references to it actually in-game. I picked the Science career because, well… I’m a science kinda guy. I’m chasing the buff/debuff path rather than the healing path, and it’s nice that I have that option. It seems like about anything can work, though, between the gear, ships and Bridge Officers. I love that. I’m glad that it didn’t hew too closely to the trinity, but that it left players room to build that way if they want to.
In general, I prefer space combat, but I love that ground combat is more like Guild Wars in that I control a team, not just a single character.
Actually one of my qualifications for playing a mmorpg is whether I would play it solo, as well.
There you go, I’m not always trying to bring in dissident thinking!
Though I suppose with WOW if it were solo, I would have the XP rate increased by x10 or some such.
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Indeed, space combat is where it’s at. You’ll find (most people do) that the ground combat is lacking and feels a bit drawn out at times, but if you stick around until July you’ll be able to experience the revamp, which also adds a 3rd person/FPS/hybrid mode. As far as I know, it’s being tested on Tribble.
Also, make sure you check the feature episodes (Seasons 1,2 and 3 for a total of 15 episodes) as well as the remastered missions you have access to, before your month is up (unless you plan on subbing of course). They’re scalable to your level and the storylines are pretty damn good.
Callan, if WoW offline seems like it should be sped up, why do we tolerate it slow online? I don’t disagree, but it’s a curious conflict, I think. I’d still like to buy WoW offline, though and solo it. It’s not the best game in the world, but I’d play it as much as I played Morrowind. There’s enough there to have fun with it.
Chris, many thanks for that. I had wondered if those feature episodes scaled, but didn’t try them out. I’ll try them as soon as I get the time. I want to see how they handle scaling content… from what I’ve seen so far in random other missions that scale, it’s pretty well done. That’s another plus for the game in my book.
[...] the Star Trek Online that I’ve been playing lately plays a lot like World of Warcraft in some crucial ways. Holding both left and right mouse [...]