One of my favorite quotes about beta versions of games was by Mark Jacobs, who described betas by definition as being “not ready for prime time – players.”  What makes me madder than a box full of wet hens are those bloggers who insist on dragging a game that hasn’t even launched yet through the mud.  Descriptions and discussions are one thing.  Bemoaning how you “had such hopes for the game” before it is on the shelf, or going so far as to say “it sucks” when a walk through the river of the blogger’s experience with the game would scarcely get one’s ankles wet is quite another.  And saying that a particular developer should simply tell their publisher that the “game is ready when it’s ready”? That’s just downright naïve. 

Yet time and again I see so many people hop on this particular band wagon that I am surprised the axel holds the wait.

To put it bluntly, it isn’t fair to those who are considering playing the game and it just a downright nasty way to treat the people who are busy nearly 24/7 trying to finish a game. In fact I noted that one of the recent patches to Star Trek Online went live at midnight their time…these people are busy.

If you want to read a couple of discussions on the Star Trek Online beta that are fair you should take a look at those over at the Common Sense Gamer available here  and here .

And so, without any further ado, it is time to take the nickel tour of the Star Trek Online Federation Starting area.

SPOILER ALERT:  THIS ARTICLE GIVES A FEW DETAILS ABOUT THE OPENING SEQUENCES OF STAR TREK ONLINE.

If there is one thing that Cryptic Studios is good at, and possibly more so than anyone else, that is character creation. Time after time I have meandered through character creation screens, struggling to find some way to differentiate my character from the myriad other characters created by those who will share the same virtual universe only to be thwarted at every turn.  Even in one of my favorite games, despite my best efforts, the characters turned out to be virtual twins. But when it comes to going hog wild with the virtual genes that create your avatar, just like the old bond song, “no one does it better.” The character creator is a “meta game” in itself. And good news for those of us who longed to play Klingons right off the bat… it is possible (sort of).  Mind you, you will have to go out to the button that allows you to create an “unknown species” to do so. There you will find all the tools you need to create your very own Federation Klingon Officer, right down to the same ridges that one of the Duras Sisters had (I know, I once modeled them in latex).  The only limitation seems to be the avatar be humanoid, but even within those bounds I have seen some wild looking creations. The only disappointment is (at least so far) there is no way to play a Ferengi  (although you will, of course, encounter them), most notably in the person of a black marketer in the Earth Star Base.

Oh My Captain, My Captain

The introduction to STO will find you in the midst of an attack by the Borg. There have been some proponents of starting areas that tell a story, involving the player immediately in some event, as well as some detractors. Personally I think this is a great way to immerse the player into the action while teaching them “the ropes” all at the same time. And one thing is for sure, it is a lot more interesting than some dwarf programmed five years ago handing you a rusty hatchet telling you to “go kill 10 mangy wolves.”  Your captain, above, will ask you to hail the U.S.S. Khitomer.  If the name  Khitomer sounds familiar, put the word “Camp” in front of it and you have a place where the ending scenes from “Star Trek the Undiscovered Country” took place. When you beam over to the Khitomer  you will soon find yourselves on board the ship in the midst of being boarded by the Borg. Here is where most of the training for away missions takes place.

And now you know the answer...

And so the question  that, if not exactly “preying” on many minds, I am sure has at least crossed them: How exactly does a young ensign end up commanding a Star ship.  When you are finished on the Khitomer and  beam back up to your ship your bridge officer (the first one is free , you have to earn the rest) will tell you that the Borg targeted the captain and all of the senior staff on your ship, making you acting captain.  Times being what they are, of course, the Federation is happy to have anyone sit in the “center chair” that is good at command – which you will soon prove to their satisfaction).

Prove yourself a worthy captain!

After you help save the U.S.S. Khitomer, and taking command of your new ship, you will be asked to head out into local space to save the survivors of the battle with the borg that has been taking place all around you all this time. When you drop off the survivors you will be hailed by another ship that offers to repair yours. I have heard someplayers complaining about being told the ship you are looking for is “just the other side of the astroid.”   However it didn’t seem to difficult to navigate around the same astroid I was parked next to at the time.

After getting the feel for the ship it’s off to do a few missions. Among your many choices you might want to head out to Sector Space and from their Star Base 24 to do the missions there if you are interested in playing a klingon later on.  There are a couple of good missions there and alot of good loot to be had.  If you don’t have enough people on your team to make up a party of five when you beam down to Station 24 don’t worry, the game will fill out your team with your bridge officers and security officers.

See you online

Julie Whitefeather