[Photo credit: the amazing artwork we used for the backdrop for today’s column is from a company called “The Light Works”.  There are some of the most talented artists I have ever seen. There work is amazing. If you haven’t gone out to see their web site it is a must.]

“Here, have a cookie. I promise when you finish eating it you’ll be feeling right as rain.” Gloria Foster as “The Oracle” in The Matrix

If there ever were a place that can be described as a “hive of scum and villainy” the official forums for any given game will often embody the phrase.  There are, of course, exceptions. Still, it is little wonder to me that Mark Jacobs, former head of what used to be called “Mythic Entertainment” (I am not sure what they are calling themselves these days) initially refused to have official forums for Warhammer Online. We have had a number of community managers on the show lately, most recently from Quest Online Studios and in an upcoming show the community managers from Funcom.  As a result we have been fortunate to talk with each of them about the work they do for their companies.  The overwhelming impression I get is that such a job must truly be a “labor of love” – especially where Cryptic Studios is concerned.   Reading through the official forums for Star Trek Online (STO) during closed and open beta I got the feeling that the community manager must feel like someone dipped them in blood and dropped them in a shark tank.

The comments range from helpful to hostile, and as expected, there are more trolls then there are under bridges in fairy tales.  Most interesting are the comments made by those individuals who regale us all with how horrible Star Trek Online is, and then continue to play it.  I can only suppose they do so as a form of self discipline – sort of like self flagellation.  Mind you, I play STO because I enjoy the game and have been waiting for it to see the light of day for quite some time.

I was pondering this thought as I was making the rounds of the No Prisoners, No Mercy news feeds when I came upon something written by Keen from Keen and Graevs entitled “Astral Ships: As Amazing and Unique as You Can Imagine!” As I read through the article, a sentence or two struck a chord – you can read the entire article here:

It’s different than something like STO or even Darkfall where you can sail ships.  The depth that this type of gameplay can add to exploration is immense.  While Allods has done an extraordinary job, I can’t help but imagine the power this could have in future games.

Who would have thought that Allods Online, a free to play game, could accomplish what so many have wanted for years? 

Let me say at the outset that I have played Allods, enjoyed it, and agree with everything that Keen has to say on the subject of Astral Ships…with one small exception.  I can’t say that the experience that Keen describes is what I have “wanted for years.” Tobold once described Alganon as “not making a very good WoW”, to which I responded with “it also doesn’t make a very good Air Craft Carrier Nimitz.”  Both the forums and the “Blogosphere” are filled with seemingly carefully considered assessments of Star Trek Online and the game that Cryptic has not created, rather than consider their artistry (and make no mistake it is art that has been created) on its own merits.

It is a common mindset of course.  We each have our own experiences and it is that environmental conditioning that makes us part of who we are.  We each have our own definition of what we consider a “good game.”  There is an expression in Buddhism that says “there are many paths up the mountain but they all lead to the summit.”  The paths that lead to what we each look for in a game may intersect in places and they may not.   There are places in the creative process where both CCP and Cryptic Studios intersect.  But there are also places where they are widely divergent and I am grateful for both.

More than anything else, Star Trek Online brings to its participants the Star Trek experience. Cryptic does that very well.  Perhaps that is why I enjoy the game so much…I play it for what it does do, rather than focus on what it doesn’t do. There will, of course, continue to be those individuals who try to persuade others to see the work done by Cryptic Studios on Star Trek Online in a negative light.  To those individuals I will give the same advice that the Oracle gave to Neo in The Matrix – in fact it is the same advice that someone gave one of the forum trolls in STO:

“Have a cookie. I promise when you finish eating it you’ll be feeling right as rain.”

See you online.

Julie Whitefeather

(posted for Julie Whitefeather by The Webmaster)

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