Klingon: Ferengi! Another Synthale! This one is only half full!
Nog: Nice try Klingon…Greed is Eternal – the 10th Rule of Acquisition.
Klingon: This glass of synthale you gave me was only half full!
Nog: You drank the other half. Why should I trust you.
Klingon: Because of the 47th rule of acquisition.
Nog: Never trust anyone wearing a suit better than your own.
(Nog considers the Klingon a moment then pours him a new synthale)
Nog: So how on earth did a Klingon come to know about the Rules of Acquistion?
Klingon: Because I’m only half Klingon and my Ferengi supply officer is forever quoting the things.
Nog: You have a Ferengi supply officer? Don’t you know our reputation? Aren’t you afraid he’ll make off with your entire stock?
Klingon: Actually he’s so stingy with everything we have had to stop for supplies half as often as we used to…
Today is the moment that Star Trek fans have been waiting years for. I remember how excited I was to hear Star Trek Online (STO) was being developed and how disappointed when Perpetual Entertainment stopped working on it – and how elated I was when it was announced that Cryptic Studios and Atari had saved the day. There are, of course, many faces at Cryptic Studios, and an industry friend of ours tells us that most of them are working on today’s launch. Still, Craig Zinkievich (executive producer for STO) sort of embodies the team for us…and my standing offer to kiss his posterior on main street for saving the day still stands.
Now at this point you may be wondering what the conversation between the Klingon and the Ferengi has to do with “the price of tea”, as grandmother used to say, or more appropriately the price of Synthale at Quarks.
There are some great changes planned (or so the State of the Game announcement tells us). Being a Klingon fan from way back (but only back as far as when Klingons, like Ruffles, had ridges) I am looking forward to a bit of pve fun somewhere besides the Kahless Expansion. As nice as it is to have something that the players asked for, it is even better to know that the Cryptic is paying attention to the community. After all, not every developer does that. The big danger with success, of course, is that it tends to go to the heads of those who have attained it. Perhaps that is why we here at No Prisoners, No Mercy are so fond of independent development Studios – they are usually just nice people who want to please the player, and the only attitude seems to be realizing that they are selling a service and not just a product.
So…dream finally achieved, for both player and developer. The Cryptic Star Ship stands poised to launch (by the time you read this) in just over an hour. The last time I have been this excited was just before I went on stage in front of an audience of 5,000 people.
But wait…I never mentioned why I brought up the Klingon and the Ferengi did I?
Well I am so happy to have Star Trek Online I feel guilty for even bringing up a couple of disappointments. It was announced during beta that the Klingon dreadlocks are to be a “Klingon Only” option, and that means those of us who want to play “half klingons” can’t sport them at all (as my Federation “half Klingon” did during beta (see picture above).
But what of the Ferengi?
The Ferengi brings to mind something I hope to see in the future. Not just a playable Ferengi (and I am sure that if they ever are playable the whole “you can’t play a female Ferengi” nonsense may come up). More than that, however, I am hoping for a developed crafting system, and in lieu of that the ability to make a virtual living as a Ferengi trader, playing the highways and byways of space, living by the Rules of Acquisition. In the end, however, as the day wears on and the time I can launch my own Star Ship approaches… or more appropriately when I can clear all moorings for the first time…I leave you with but one word…
Engage.
See you online,
Julie Whitefeather