Posts Tagged ‘Star Trek Online’

“I beamed back onto my ship and hailed Star Fleet to report my progress.   In times gone by there would have been such a thing as “being kicked upstairs”. After all, those who wear the Admirals insignia rarely fly anything but a desk.  But these are not those times; these are desperate times.  When Benjamin Sisko first flew the U.S.S. Defiant through the Bajor Wormhole he had no idea what the future held – and what a furor it would unleash…” Rear Admiral 1 of 9, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01

As soon as my character hit rear admiral 3, Leonard Nimoy’s voice rang though the computer’s speakers with a very familiar “congratulations admiral”.   I was “hailed” by Star Fleet and Admiral Quinn gave me a mission summoning to the Gamma Quadrant – now I know what that transwarp conduit located just outside the Sol System is for. 

Welcome to the Gamma Quadrant

Exiting the other end of the transwarp conduit to the Gama sector found me in the midst of a Federation Fleet, with a Klingon Fleet camped on their doorstep.  Another liberated Borg, much like myself, welcomed me to the front lines.  Those who stay in the Gama Quadrant will not find themselves on a leisurely stroll through the corridors of Earth Space Station or the promenade of Deep Space 9. Any needs the new rear admiral or her crew (you have to be rear admiral 3 to get the quest that gives you access to the Gama Quadrant)  are served by individual ships who serve particular needs, found by winding your way through a central corridor that runs through the massive fleet of ships.

One of the early story line quests gave me the mission of rescuing colonists whose world had been beset by the Borg and Species 8472 (known as the “Undine” to you non-assimilated types out there). In the process of rescuing the colonists and simultaneously battling both Borg and Undine, a desperate colonist ran up to my bridge crew and I.  “Help us,” she cried out, “We’re being invaded and it’s like being caught in the middle of a battle between two giants.”  The first image that came to mind was a scene from the movie Time Bandits where Napoleon, portrayed by Ian Holm, is seated between two of his generals and exclaims, “With you on one side and him on the other it’s like being at the bottom of a bloody well” – and that aptly portrays the theme of the Gama Quadrant. 

Players find themselves in the midst of a titanic battle while trying to protect the interests of the Federation.   The player will find daily exploratory missions to an adjoining expanse, the reward for which are medals which garner very rare items once enough are accumulated, at the rate of five per day.  There are story missions and an abundance of patrol missions.   This quadrant is also the site of the new “raidisode” (read five person raid/instance for all you World of Warcraft players out there).   When it says “five players required” believe you me it means it.  No matter how good you are, no matter how well equipped your ship, the solo player will find the Borg that make up the antagonists in “The Infected”  will simply laugh at the even the toughest shield strengths and blast away the individual player in seconds.  This is one time where there is no substitute for a team.  This is not to say there is no room for the solo player.  The lone ship and her crew will find it possible to complete the missions by themselves. The Borg and Undine in this case are far from being easy, even in the case of a well shielded, heavily armed ship.

One of the many pleasures in Star Trek Online (STO) are the continuation of story lines that were started in the many Star Trek series.  STO being set beyond the latest time line covered by any of the Star trek shows or movies, it is a common occurrence to meet the relatives  of, or those influenced by characters that the fans are familiar with – and the Gama Qaudrant in Star Trek Online is no exception.  One of the earlier storyline missions has the player rescue a ship, only to meet the “son of Q” (the Q played by John Delancie) that was born during the Star Trek Voyager years.  Having once rescued the ship this new Q has you complete the rescue “with feeling this time.”  Having completed the same rescue mission a second time the New Q is still not satisfied and has you do it “again as if your life depended on it.”   It is then that the player is given a chance to go back and participate in a famous battle from Star Trek lore.

If Star Trek Online is your game, and you are ready for a challenge (aside from letting the Klingons drive you into the ground like a tent stake in pvp) you will find it in the Gama Quadrant.

See you online,

Julie Whitefeather

(posted for Julie Whitefeather by the Webmaster)

Update:

Let me add a little update here.  We have managed to obtain an interview with a member of the team that brings us all my favorite mmo.  I am always afraid to put the cart before the horse, so I will let you all know tommorow.  Much can happen between now and the scheduled recording time.

Also, in catching up with some of my favorite blog sites we found a very nice endorsement over at Kill Ten Rats (see below) Thanks Ravious for the kind endorsement!

- Julie

“No Prisoners, No Mercy – How could anybody not like a podcast about MMOs run by two nuns?!  Not only that, they are great journalists snagging tons of interviews from across the board for game companies.  Sister Julie Whitefeather and Sister Frances  have a good format with some interesting discussion.  A lot of time and love is put in to this podcast.  Butter doesn’t melt in the mouths of these two ladies.” – Ravious, Kill Ten Rats

This morning a review (see following reprint) by one “Dirk Lammers” was sent to me for comment.  As I read through the brief review the following two sentences caught my eye at the end:

Perhaps “Star Trek Online” faces its biggest challenge with its price tag. You’ve got to buy the game, and then you’ll have to shell out as much as $15 per month in subscription fees to keep playing. – Dirk Lammers, “ Star Trek Online falls short in several areas”

During recording of the No Prisoners, No Mercy show (being edited now) with community managers from Funcom one of the subjects that came up was reviews, and of course the epitome of bad reviews – where the author who penned the article played the beta for 10 minutes and wrote a two word review “It sucks.”  Aside from pointing out how proud his English professor would have been of such a lofty, and well thought out review I was brought to another conclusion. More than once I have penned a private message to the author of a review whose works I otherwise respected and found myself saying “Come on, you know better.”  Then it occurred to me that perhaps they didn’t.

Time and again, as members of the game development industry pass through our doors, the voice they tell us that they hear, the opinions that matter, are those who are actively involved in the community that make up their target market.  As one senior producer opined of professional reviewers, “They may spend one or two levels with our game before they write the review.” 

More the rule, rather than the exception, are those authors whose lack of acquaintance with both the game and mmo market in general shows in their review – and the review by Dirk Lammers is no exception.  The claim Cryptic Studios will face a “challenge” because their prospective customers will have to both buy the game and pay a monthly subscription fee so blatantly screams of a complete lack of knowledge of the MMO gaming market that is like a slap in the face with a dead mackerel – it instantly negates the credibility of the remainder of the review and anything else the author has written on the subject.

Note to Mr. Lammers and anyone else reading these words or considering penning a game review: before faulting a game developer with something you might want to at least find out whether or not it is the industry standard. In other words “look before you leap”.

Mr. Lammer’s insistence that “But the frenzied pace hits the brakes when combat moves to the ground” tells of an author who was not only determined to find fault with the game ahead of time, but tells those who really are acquainted with the work of Cryptic Studios that the author hasn’t kept current with the product being reviewed.  I can only assume that there was a significant lead time between the writing and the publication of the review.

Does the review trouble Cryptic Studios? Well you would have to ask someone like Craig Zinkievich, executive producer for Star Trek Online, that question to find out the “straight skinny”.  Based on the professional developers we have spoken with, chances are they could care less – and doubtless neither will their target market.

See you online,

Julie Whitefeather

(posted for Julie Whitefeather by the webmaster)

 Star Trek Online’ falls short in several areas

That’s a tall order for the game as it stands now, but online games can improve over time.

 By DIRK LAMMERS, Associated Press Writer Dirk Lammers, Associated Press Writer – Tue Feb 23, 7:45 am ET

Two-and-a-half out of four stars.

The “Star Trek” franchise embarks on a bold journey into the massively multiplayer online realm in a game that excels in space combat but falls short in other areas.

“Star Trek Online” (Atari/Cryptic Studios, $50 with $15-per-month subscription fee, for the PC) thrives when multiple ships crisscross through space while exchanging phaser fire and photon torpedoes. The battles look spectacular, and piloting a starship around a planet while dodging enemy fire is both challenging and enjoyable.

But the frenzied pace hits the brakes when combat moves to the ground.

Away missions were a key part of both the original TV series and “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” but you’ll find yourself calling for Scotty to beam you up shortly after landing on your feet.

The first away mission, which acts as a tutorial, has your character beaming over to a damaged Star Fleet vessel to make some repairs and kill a few Borg. It does little to draw you in.

But when your character is given command of a Miranda-class Federation starship (think USS Reliant from “Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan”), things start to look up.

You’re sent out to explore the galaxies with various orders such as beaming a ship’s survivors to your own vessel or destroying various targets.

Maneuvering through 3-D space at impulse power takes some talent, and angling your ship to protect the forward, aft, port and starboard shields while multiple enemies are firing at will is no easy task.

The epic battles stray far from the character-driven original series and the diplomacy-happy “Next Generation,” but they’re a heck of a lot of fun. That said, even they grow repetitive as the adventure continues.

Despite some of these weaknesses, though, “Star Trek Online” offers plenty to please die-hard fans.

The game begins with a robust character creation and customization feature letting players choose to live as a human, Vulcan, Cardassian, liberated Borg or more. You can even create your own alien species.

And inside the closet you’ll find myriad uniform styles spanning the various movies and series installments. You’ll even get to name your character and ship, which really makes you feel like it’s your captain’s chair.

Both the new Spock, Zachary Quinto from the 2009 film, and Leonard Nimoy, who originated the role, generously lend their voices, and the game does a fabulous job sprinkling in subtle and some not-so-subtle episode references throughout.

The game avoids any “Star Trek” timeline issues by setting it far into the future, which returns the Klingons to enemy status. You just can’t beat a good villain.

Perhaps “Star Trek Online” faces its biggest challenge with its price tag. You’ve got to buy the game, and then you’ll have to shell out as much as $15 per month in subscription fees to keep playing.

Having worked my way up to Commander, and nearly captain (sounds like a child who is 5 “AND A HALF” doesn’t it?) I finally made use of all the Star Trek Online (STO) crafting materials that I have been saving…

And it was not long thereafter that I shot them all out the airlock.

Now rather than simply writing an article denigrating crafting in what is one of my favorite games, I will offer a few observations and a solution or two.  But first let’s start with our earlier article which really did denigrate Player versus Player (pvp) in Star Trek Online.

This last weekend I decided to indulge in a bit more abuse…I mean pvp.  As the Feds were lined up, waiting for all five players to log in to the arena, one player said, “I can’t wait to leave the pvp in this tier behind me.”  Now I could have pointed out that simply attaining the rank of captain doesn’t mean the pvp would be any better.  The simplest solution to the unbalanced pvp would be a pvp only buff for the Federation side only.  The main problem being that any time the Federation players engage in pvp they are easy targets for the Klingon players, and the largest culprits, despite what the “my e-peen is bigger than yours” crowd wants desperately to believe, are weak shields compared to Klingon DPS.  The buff would simply be a buff that could be given by a science ship to increase the shield strength (pvp only) that would be active only while in the arena.  This buff would be similar to the flasks (a type of potion for you non-wow players) in World of Warcraft that persist through death of the character.  This would also have the effect of making the player who chooses to fly a Science ship more valuable instead of eliciting the response “O.K. who brought a science ship to a cruiser fight?” So far the experienced of the staff is limited to the first three tiers and the virtual thumb on the scale is still firmly placed on the Klingon side. I heard rumors in the wind (read forums) that the pendulum swings back toward the Feds briefly in Tier 4 and that “corrects” itself in Tier 5.  This being the case (if it is) the buff would only work for the ships that are used in Tiers 1 through 3 – However, the answer still seems to be in balancing the shields and the ability to penetrate them to make the fight not only fair, but last a bit longer.

To craft, or not to craft, that is the question…

There are many players, myself included, who enjoy crafting in games.  Many players, including some of our regular guests on the No Prisoners, No Mercy show, who will quit a game if it doesn’t have good pvp.   It is important to note, at this point, that “good” crafting doesn’t necessarily mean “complicated” crafting.  The crafting system in Vanguard, for me at least, was complex and so much of a pain in the posterior that I couldn’t sit down for a month after I finally quit playing (which was about the same time that Brad McQuaid did a number on the Sigil employees.).

Crafting in STO is just about lifted directly from Champions Online.  Briefly it works like that: Go out and scan for anomalies as you travel through space.   You will then obtain an inventory full of icons that represent data, artifacts and whatnot.  This isn’t where the system fails.

Where the Star Trek Online system fails, and that is not to say it doesn’t function – it does, it’s simply worthless, is the next step.  All the crafting system amounts to is taking an item you already have in hand (say a medium hypo spray) and turn it, along with your collected data, in to a vendor and receive back an item of the next higher grade.  In other words, all you are really doing is going through a length process to obtain items that are easily obtain through other means – such as on the “auction house” or as pvp rewards.

Imitation is not always bad.

Despite the usual hue and cry of “It’s a wow clone” (and in the case of many writers it seems to be the case of they simply can’t think of anything better to write) this is one time where imitation is not only the sincerest form of flattery but a darn good idea.

If Cryptic is going to “take a note” from crafting in another game, it shouldn’t be from their own game – Champions Online.  If you are going to borrow, borrow from someone who has been doing crafting and industry correctly for a LONG time…

Eve Online

When it comes to crafting the folks at CCP do it right. Quite simply there is little that can equal their crafting system.  To begin with, crafting shouldn’t not be something added in as if to say “Oh yes, and maybe we should have crafting” (sort of the way Turbine initially did pvp in Lord of the Rings Online). Crafting should be desirable. There are many people, myself included, who would make it a major occupation.  Viewing crafting this way is beneficial for the developers and the publishers because, while there are many people who will quit a game with bad crafting, there are also many players who will stay in a game just because  it has good crafting, even when other parts of the game irritate the crap out of them (like Eve Online).

More depth

Crafting needs to have depth. It can’t simply be a matter of turn something in to a vendor for a better goody. The crafter should be able to go out and get the raw materials and create something of value in the game. Too often this turns out to be potions/hypo sprays and the like that are simply a few scraps thrown at the table of crafters.   There is an opportunity here that Cryptic can seize.  If they are going to introduce new ships into Star Trek Online there two ways it can, and should, be done.  First, make those ships craftable, and ONLY craftable. They should not be for sale anywhere in the game other than on the auction house created by crafters. Those ships, and their components, should be the top of the line, the best of the best. It should be what players want and long for.  This is also the point at which those ships, incredibly difficult to make in the first place, could be sale for a MODEST sum in the cash shop.  Not for a small fortune as Gpotato is doing, as they busily price themselves out of the market.

And that’s the way it is, on February 22, 2010

The No Prisoners, No Mercy Team

SIDE NOTE:

As a side note, here is one of the many, many spam messages our filter catches:

Hey great blog, I discovered your website when doing some study on some methods to develop my site. I was just wondering which spam software program you employ for comments because I get lots on my blogs.

The answer, of course, is the same spam filter that caught this automatic spam message.  Then there is the recent spam from a website that promised eternal youth in pill form that offered the following:

Thanks for sharing! it is good to encourage people to comment, not just reading. The only reason I writing blog rather than diary is because of the feedback.

At lest its better than the standard “Great blog, I have been looking for a site like this, I couldn’t agree more”…

Most people have heard the expression “that stinks out loud”.  If you haven’t, now you have – my mother and grandmother used to use it all the time. It’s what I call a “grandma-ism.”   Forewarned is forearmed so the old adage goes. So  here is the warning. If you are a big fan of Star Trek Online (STO) and don’t want to read anything bad about the game read no further.

You have been warned

Now I will continue for those of you who aren’t on the floor.

Say what?

What I mean is this is the point at which most of the forum trolls extol the virtues of “fine whine” (and I don’t mean daddy I want to go to Disney Land).  Ask the typical person who plays on the Klingon side (think horde for all you World of Warcraft players out there) about Federation players who pvp and you will begin to hear how we are all stupid, foolish, unexperienced, and every other denigrating adjective in the book.  The fact of the matter is that I have two graduate degrees and a 126 IQ and I am far from being stupid.  I am also not inexperienced at pvp, having been engaging in pvp in mmos since there were mmos in which to participate in pvp (some time I will tell you of the player who killed me in pvp and upon finding out I was a nun yelled “oh no I killed a nun I’m going to hell”)

At this point I should clarify for those who might not be regular listeners of the No Prisoners No Mercy show that everyone on staff here are fans of Star Trek, Star Trek Online, and Cryptic Studios. We also like the game…alot. In fact I purchased a lifetime subscription and still don’t consider it a waste of money.   In fact because  I care about STO and Cryptic Studios is why I point this all out….

When it comes to “in space” pvp Cryptic Studios not only dropped the ball, it went down into the gutter and dropped into the sewer.

Lets start by taking a look at a typical score for the evening. Note this is Tier 3.  First you will see all the damage done for the blue team on the left.  While the zeros in this case are, no doubt, from players who check “hide” when their turn comes up, this is usually not the only case. There are many times when you will see two or three players doing damage and zeros by the rest of the names.  This is the result of players who have come to embody the famous words “abandon all  hope ye who enter.”  They know, as do most of those interested in pvp on the Federation side, that pvp is no longer a place you go to enjoy yourself.  It is a place where you go for fast leveling and fast medals to get the best gear for your ship.  True there are a few valiant souls who are still stupid enough to put up a fight (my character is one of those with actual damage).

But why the utter hopelessness you might ask yourself?

Lets look at the ebra…I mean epeen…I mean damage chart again.  How nice for us, by the way, that Cryptic has furnished those interested in PvP with the bane of our existence – the damage meter.  Look at the damage done by those still trying on the Federation side (on the left). Now compare that to the damage being done on the Klingon side on the right.  A rough comparison of the ability of Klingons to do enough damage to get through Federation shields would be like someone cutting through a paper bag with a flame thrower.

Even those on the Federation side who care about pvp and care deeply have begun to give up any hope that this aspect of the game will be balanced any time sooner then the turn of the next century.  The executive producer, Craig Zinkievich, told us all he wanted pvp in Star Trek Online to be about tactics and not about a dog fight. 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but since everyone probably knows it anyway, the fight in pvp (at least in space) in Star Trek Online is, for the most part, already decided before the game has begun. But there is another factor at work there other than merely bad pvp for the Federation side – after all, on the Federation side we still have the pve, and belive me, the pve in Star Trek Online is nothing short of Fantastic.

I pity the Klingons

Even though the Klingons can grind my Federation character in to the dirt I pity them.  Why? Because pvp is all they have. Oh sure, you can go out to the “Kahless Expanse” and complete the one pve quest (one, count it, one).  If the pvp in Star Trek Online remains as unbalanced as it is, the Klingon side, and pvp can easily become deserted.   Don’t think so? Ask anyone who has ever played in the PvP arenas in Everquest 2.  Sure they were a novelty at first.  Now the pvp arena’s in EQ2 are completely deserted.

In short, as it sits right now, pvp in space in Star Trek Online is worthless.

And more is the pity is that this is where one of the Strengths of the game should have been. The saddest cut of all, is that it doesn’t need to be this way.  The game mechanics are all there for this to be some of the best space combat pvp on the internet. Eve Online? Yes, I still subscribe. Yes I have done pvp in Eve Online. But just like a frequent guest and I discussed off microphone, when it comes to one on one pvp in Eve Online the outcome  is already decided before the first shot is fired, and as Mr. Zinkievich pointed out, no one wants to lose their ship after taking 80 hours to earn it.

Mind you we aren’t naive enough to say something stupid like “Gee the game needed more work before it was published.”   First, that is asking Cryptic to repeat the most expensive month of development to begin with.  That, and more than likely that request would have gone over with their publisher, Atari, as well as a request, “Pardon me Mr. Publisher? Would you mind if I shoved a porcupine up your ass? I can only hope that there will be time to fix pvp before it becomes a ghost town. Think that can’t happen? Ask Mythic.

See you online,

Julie Whitefeather

As the chief engineer reports during the maiden voyage of the “Stargazer-E” (depicted above), the 10^th Rule of Acquisition states “greed is eternal.” 

The Stargazer-E is a heavy cruiser, and like all ships in Star Trek Online (STO) upon reaching the next full rank, the first one is free. Well…free only in the sense that you have earned enough merit by completing missions, both pvp and pve, to earn rank.  “Rank” in this case is Ensign, Lieutenant, Lieutenant-Commander, Commander, Captain, and Rear-Admiral with 10 grades in between each major rank.  As always, of course, there are those detractors, who will continue to insist that STO is a bad game based on a single, if not well thought out, justification “because they said so” – and believe you me their justification certainly is not well thought out.  As my character stood there at the promotion ceremony (depicted below) several thoughts ran though my mind…

The first, of course, is that you can tell when people are engrossed in the game when they bother with an optional promotion ceremony (there was a line to do this). The second thought was about the merit that is part and parcel, and least in some part, to obtaining bridge officers and their training.  If you want to requisition personal equipment for ground combat, as well as Star Ship equipment, you must earn medals such as medals of achievement, and medals of bravery. You can, of course, purchase lower level equipment from vendors or for sale by other players through the exchange. The quality of the game mechanic that uses Star Fleet merit (all you WoW players can think of it like honor…sort of) and medals is that they can’t be sold or traded. And that is where the 10^th Rule of Acquisition comes in to play.

Greed is Eternal…

Never underestimate the incredible drawing power of greed.  Richard Garriott once described World of Warcraft as being “a system of inventory management.”  This may be (and it certainly is) but the simple fact of the matter is that greed works. 

The 287^th Rule of Acquisition…

The 287^th Rule of Acquisition, which I shall unabashedly call Julie’s Rule, is An MMO is not just a game – it is a service and a business.  And as a business, the goal of the publisher of every mmo is to make a Dollar, Yen, Kroner, Won, Euro or any of the other myriad currencies.  As such it is obviously their goal to keep players interested in playing the game, even when they run out of levels.  The biggest hindrance to this of course is the players who rush to the level cap and say “so now what do I do?”

It is not enough I succeed…

If the gamer who participates in an mmo is to be kept interested there are several possibilities, the hardest of which is simply providing more to do.  That “more” can take several forms, such as actual game content, meaningless achievements (hey, at least you get a pop up window right), and the easiest way espoused by the 288^th Rule of Acquisition (which I call Pardo’s rule)…

It is not enough to succeed, you must been seen to succeed.

After all, what good is it to have obtained the “uber sword of uberness” if it looks just like any other run of the mill sword. The uber sword of uberness must look resplendent; it must shine like the sun, it must hum with power and inspire all who gaze upon it with envy (or at least awe).  Let’s face it, what people really mean when a game developer sells a cosmetic perk is that they don’t want anyone else to get it the same perk the easy way.  Players want to be able to engage in the age old (well maybe not age old as the tradition doesn’t go back much further then Ultima Online and maybe Meridian 59) tradition of bank sitting. Bank sitting is, of course, where players gather, a place where they go to be seen.  Everyone wears what grandmother used to call their “Sunday go to meeting best.”  This, after all, is why people earn the uber armor of uberness…not just be able to get even better armor but to show other players they have earned it.

The Uber Starship of Uberness

Recently the executive producer of Star Trek Online, Craig Zinkievich, announced the intent of Cryptic Studios (developer of STO) to expand the ship interiors available to players. This, of course, presents a tremendous opportunity for Cryptic Studios and where to take end game.

Anyone who has ever played Everquest 2 (EQ2) knows that one of the major pastimes is being able to purchase ever larger player housing.  But the outside of that player housing all looks the same. When I purchased a home on number 1 Antonya Bayle Lane I entered my house through the same door as everyone else.  The interior of that house was the same as everyone else who owned that same house.  What was different was how the house was decorated. The decoration system in EQ2 was second to none. You could put furniture anywhere.  It wasn’t like Lord of the Rings Online where you can only put certain bits and bobs of décor in a certain (and very limited) number of pre-set positions. Some of the furniture could be made of course, but much of the best pieces had to be earned. If STO where to take a page from this particular book and allow the uber (insert name of cosmetic ship or personal item here) to be earned but only with merit or medals so much the better. The drive then, or course, is for currency that can’t be sold by the ever infamous “gold sellers.”

However it works out it is certain that those who denigrate STO simply because they have a burr under their proverbial tail will continue to do so. The rest of us will continue to enjoy the game including the raid content, the borg content, and the ship interiors when their time comes. Until then…

See you online,

Julie Whitefeather

(posted by The Webmaster for Julie Whitefeather)

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
    But, she with a chuckle replied
That “maybe it couldn’t,” but she would be one
    Who wouldn’t say so till she’d tried.
So she buckled right in with the trace of a grin
    On her face. If she worried she hid it.
She tried that thing that couldn’t be done…

…and she couldn’t do it.

The version of the old Edger Albert Guest poem is from an old Dick Van Dyke show – and in this case came immediately to mind as I faced what is possible the biggest, baddest boss in all of the virtual universes anywhere.  If there was a trick to defeating this thing Jim Kirk sure didn’t share it with anyone.  This boss appears in Star Trek Online somewhere around mid tier 2 as part of fleet action.

It is the Crystalline Entity. 

The Crystalline Entity is a boss the size of a moon.  The first time I faced down this monster 20 of us in cruiser class star ships, armed with Quantum Torpedoes, and heavy phaser cannons couldn’t take it down.  The lowest we ever got it down was 28 percent and that is after working on it for a solid hour and 10 minutes.  Of all the boss in all the instances in all the universes, this one is the biggest, the baddest.  My friends…this is one bad mama jama.

Welcome about the U.S.S. Grand Nagus Zek, Captain Moogie commanding.

As the brave crew of the Grand Nagus Zek realize, in the process of “boldly going where no one has gone before” there are other feet that may have trod the same sectors of space before us.  With that in mind, we have re-invented the famous phrase to insist that we “are going where no Ferengi has gone before”.   The way we see it is this, it may be that others have fought these same battles before us but it is the first time WE have experienced it for ourselves – it’s like experiencing a rerun of a holonovel.  It may be that others have experienced the same holonovel, it may be a rerun, but it’s first for us and we just love new experiences.

Kirk did it first…

We were sent to investigate the rumors that Klingons were creating a dooms day device.  Even if they did manage to create some sort of a planet killer, as a Ferengi, I just fail to understand it. After all where is the profit in that?   First there is the loss of all those resources when you blow up a planet. And what about all that money it takes to build a planet killing weapon in the first place? Klingons will never understand…the Ferengi way would be to simply buy the planet.

Oh well…order are orders I guess.  Upon investigating the system, we encountered heavy resistance from cloaked birds of prey and stationary phaser cannons. Here at last was a challenge we couldn’t buy our way out of – stationary phaser cannons.  We may have an old workhorse of a ship, but its sturdy and up to the task. Before long we managed to beam down to the planet and make short work of the Klingons and their Hargh’Peng “super” Torpedoes.

A few Klingons escaped, taking some of their big torpedoes with them.  Upon beam up our ever amazed, often irritating communications officer pointed out the obvious…the famed Dooms Day Machine was just ahead off our port bow.

Now it had occurred to us that the high and mighty Star Fleet had sent the Ferengi crew of the U.S.S. Grand Nagus Zek into a situation that must be certain death because they thought we were expendable.  It wasn’t as if they gave us a “Ship of the line” was it? No.  They gave us a constitution class star ship they dragged out of mothballs.  Well if it was good enough for James T. Kirk it’s good enough for us. Damn the quantum torpedoes – full impulse speed ahead!

It seems that James T. Kirk didn’t do a good enough job killing the Dooms Day Machine…perhaps he never really killed it in the first place? Maybe he made the whole thing up, hoping no one would ever catch on! Well never send a washed up admiral to do the job of a Ferengi.  Having saved the universe once again, one overwhelming thought occurred to us – we have GOT to get a Ferengi communications officer.

TC: One of the criticisms for how it doesn’t feel like Star Trek is that combat is so constant. You have a few non-combat missions, but most of the missions are basically centered around your combat model. To some fans of Star Trek, this might be a problem. Star Trek is traditionally about a different style of conflict resolution and yet an MMO tends to be about defeating things, killing them, blowing them up. Is this something you guys were aware was going to be a potential problem? Do you just see it as a necessary evil for an MMO?

CZ: I don’t want it say it’s a necessary evil for an MMO, and it’s definitely something we were aware of along the way. When you make a game like this, you can attempt to satisfy everybody’s desire. Some people just want to be the guy in the engineering room, some people just want to do diplomacy. There are all sorts of roles and all sorts of gameplay the Star Trek universe provides, and we could have taken a shot at providing something for everybody at launch. What we would have ended up with is a really broad experience, but probably not that focused and probably not that fun in the grand scheme of things, or in any of those roles. So we focused on the idea that you’re the captain of this ship and it’s during war time and this is what happens.

That being said, we did start putting down the seeds of non-combat. We did start putting down the seeds of diplomacy and exploration. And the great thing about MMOs is that you start off with these seeds and this focused experience, but what you get to do as game developers is keep adding to it, keep building all the things you dreamed of along the way. I don’t want to call it a necessary evil, but that’s the focus we chose. And it is kind of obvious. It’s like, okay, look, we need some more of that exploration, we need some more of that non-combat, we need that diplomatic feel to the game. Those are things we definitely plan on adding as time goes on.

Read the entire interview here.

There is a new interview out with the executive producer of Star Trek Online, Craig Zinkievich. I found the interview not simply entertaining, but thought provoking because of Mr. Zinkievich’s answers.  It’s simply a shame that the “unsilent minority” (as is so prevalent on the official forums) simply refuses to give credit where credit is due.  This interview tells of some the challenges faced by the Star Trek Online team, and some of the risks they took in the way the game was created – risks which seem to be paying off.

One of the quotes I found incredibly interesting discussed the challenge of designing a game where the conflict is resolved in ways that do not involve combat.  After all, that is usually how game design resolves conflict – at the end of a gun, or the tip of a sword. It is that non-combat resolution that I found so enthralling in one of my favorite Star Trek series – Star Trek Voyager.

Non-Combat resolution and Star Trek…

One episode is called “Death wish” where a member of the Q Continum is simply bored to tears with eternity.  It put me immediately in mind of the character in a Douglas Adams book – Wowbagger, the infinitely prolonged. Wowbagger is a character that accidentally becomes immortal as the result of an accident involving a particle accelerator, a pair of rubber bands and a liquid lunch.  The problem is Wowbagger simply doesn’t know how to cope with being immortal – and that is the problem discussed in “Death Wish”.

Not knowing what to do with himself (or perhaps having done it all) a Q simply wishes to die. Beyond the quandary debated in the show of the right or wrong aspect of assisted suicide, are the interrelationships of the people, and the resolution of the matter.  In the story Captain Janeway and Mr. Tuvok are taken to a representation of the Q-Continuum. There we see members of the Q Continuum who have literally not spoken to each other in millennium as they too have “done it all” and said everything to one another there is to be said. The conflict represented is literally a struggle with life and death, and one that we all face today.  In what seems to be so prevalent in the Voyager series, the conflict is resolve through debate and interpersonal relationships instead of at the point of a phaser. Along the way the “Q” that we have come to know as one the princple nemis of Star Trek the Next Generation, learns something about himself that even he denied.

In a show called “Unity” Chakotay discovers a planet that is inhabited entirely by “liberated borg”.  Coming as they do from entirely different backgrounds, they try and co-exist and find they cannot – there old grievances and inbred hatreds get in the way. In the end they re-establish a link and become one mind as the only way to co-exist.

In an episode called “Alter Ego” Ensign Harry Kim falls in love with what he thinks is a hologram.  He comes to Tuvok for training in purging emotion.   In attempting to assist him, Tuvok himself finds himself interested in the object of Harry Kims affections; a hologram that seems to understand Tuvok better than himself. Tuvok meets the hologram for the first time at a luau on the holodeck.  Tuvok, in attendance against his wishes refuses to wear the lei that is presented to him – and it is the “hologram” that points out the Vulcan sience officer is emotionally distancing himself from the rest of his crew at the party by being the only person at the party not wearing a lei.  When it is discovered that the hologram is really someone outside the ship controlling the holodeck, the resolution is, once again, through inter-relationships of the characters.

It is the non-combat solution to problems that makes Star Trek Voyager so revolutionary.  The entire No Prisoners, No Mercy team hopes to seem the seeds that are already apparent in the development of Star Trek Online grown.  It’s a big challenge but one I am sure that Cryptic is up to addressing.

The No Prisoners, No Mercy Team.

From the Eve Online forums:

A community is of course not one single entity, and consists of many different people. Reading all the media hype about Hulkaggeddon gives me a lot of laughs as well, but there is a very sinister side to it as well, that unfortunately brings out much darker aspects in some people. I wonder when enough is enough – is public threats about sexual abusing nuns enough? (Even though I know those are not meant serious, they can easily be taken serious by outsiders)

What scares me the most about Hulkageddon and similar events, is the unchallenged mass movement it often creates. Not in terms of spaceships, but in terms of the armies of seemingly ghoulish followers that chant the holy sacrament of “Nom nom nom, carebear tears”. While an army like that does not have any real physical impact, its so damn close to real life examples that it scares the **** out of me. And this is where comparisons to fascist movements are relevant.

-       Ben Harrigan, Eve Online forums

The subject of today’s article, some of the non-combat ways conflict is resolved in Star Trek Online, reminded me of the quote I found a while ago on the Eve Online forums.  What amazes me not merely about the attitude espoused by many of the participants in the event, but that they in turn, seemed not merely surprised at the outrage that followed but revel in it.  After all it is easy when you are safely in your room to say “nom, nom, nom carebear tears.”  However, as Sister Julie has often pointed out “Karma is Karma”. 

How easy it is to imagine that the sisters should not be entitled to outrage at the treatment of other players by griefers, not merely in Eve Online, but in any game.  Even more amazing are those players who then go through life with the attitude espoused by the chant until they encounter the situation in real life.  Tables have a way of turning.

The Webmaster

First confession…

My name is Molly.  Inside my dog house I have 5, 284 slippers – none of them matching. I am a slipper thief.  I just happen to like slippers and hey, the people I own already have alot of slippers. In fact they also have 5,284 slippers, and incredibly none of them are matching either.

Back when I was studying television directing they always told us that two things really sells a commercial – baby animals and children.  Now not everyone likes children but nearly everyone likes four legged babies.  And so we start out today’s article with the confession of a slipper thief.

Second confession…

Broken Toys calls the move by EA pictured above as “Exploit that IP my lord…discreetly” (read it here)  If I may be so presumptious as to defend EA for the Briefest of moments by assuming their role..

We confess – we are just trying to make a living here.

As much as I love Broken Toys and everything that Scott Jennings writes, and as humorous as the observation is I found myself saying, “Come on Scott,  the people at EA are just trying to make a living you know?”  Now I might sound suspiciously like a Ferengi when I say “What’s wrong with a little profit?”  However, too often people forget that before anything else a video game be it console or mmo, is about making a profit.   J. Paul Getty once said “Money is only dirty when it is someone else’s”.  It used to be that if you had told the average game designer or gamer that Free to Play would be not just accepted but welcome, that you would be looked at suspiciously in the least and more probably taken behind the barn and shot.  Now Free to play seems to be the wave of the future, at least for the immediate future.   The first mmo I ever played was Ultima Online back when you could say “What is World of Warcraft” and have people reply “I don’t know” without laughing afterwards.   I think the concept of  a strategy game set in Britannia could be a lot of fun…and if it keeps some game designers and publishers in business I am all for it.  After all, the more games that are out there to choose from the better off gamers are.

Third Confession…

First Bill Roper is a nice guy and anyone who doesn’t like that I say so can kiss my posterior.  Cryptic, in the form of Chronomancer issues a State of the Game on February 9, 2010 (you can read it here) Champions Online, ask Cryptic. Cryptic says, “O.K. we confess. We’re not perfect we made a mistake. We are listening to the community. You asked for the next Champions Online expansion free and we are giving it to you.” The “Community” (those not actually playing the game and who have likely never played it because “it’s Cryptic”)  basically say “We don’t care you are still a jerk.” (those still playing the game) say “Thank you for listening.”  The simple fact of the matter is that when Cryptic had problems with their “kitchen sink patch” they explained it.  Players wanted the Revelations expansion fee, and Cryptic said here it is…free.  Like it or not Cryptic is listening to the gaming community.

Fourth Confession…

When Tobold is right, he’s right.  Here is an excerpt from his recent article entitled “Working in Eve for $2 per hour” (you can read the whole article here).

“I would say that EVE has two major gameplay parts, one being a PvP game, and the other being an economic game. With me not being interested in the PvP part, I’m looking mostly at the economic part. And I would say that legal RMT makes the economic part look a lot less attractive. At the start of the game, when your character is still very weak and has no capital to work with, you will earn a lot less than $2 equivalent per hour. Thus the temptation will be great to jump-start yourself with the 300 million ISK or so you get in exchange for one PLEX. Thus if you think of your power in EVE depending on your skill points and your virtual wealth, you end up having bought both for real money. Skills don’t go up from gameplay, but go up with the length of your subscription, thus there is a direct skill points to dollars correlation too.” – Tobold

As much as it may irk Tobold, I couldn’t agree more – he has that part of the game “sussed”.   Hard Core Casual (whom the No Prisoners No Mercy team has admittedly run afoul of on a  previous occasion) had this to say:“The major problem about Tobold writing about EVE is the same one I get accused of when writing about WoW; not playing the game.”  He called this, as you will see “How awfully Keen of you Tobold” and followed that up with, “It’s the Keen kind of entertaining if you know what I mean.”

Oh yes we know exactly what you mean when you say “keen” entertaining as in “Keen” from “Keen and Graevs gaming blog.”

The sort of entertaining that’s interesting, witty, well thought out and all around entertaining.  If I may be so bold, the major problem that Hard Core Casual has about Tobold writing about Eve is the same thing he has about anyone writing about anything…they aren’t him.  In the mean time, dear readers, feel free to jump into the Tobold vs. Hardcore Casual fray – if nothing else it is always entertaining. And to quote someone we once read, when ever we read Hardcore Casual we just have to shake our collective No Prisoners, No Mercy team heads.

See you online,

Julie Whitefeather

 

Call them bad guys, call them the antagonist, or call them the villain – they are what keeps a story from being as about as “exciting as Bucharest on a Monday night” (one no prize to the first person who can tell us where that quote comes from and where the term “no prize” comes from as well).

The Star Trek Universe has had every sort of antagonist from the bumbling Cyrano Jones ranging all the way up to the three depicted above: Khann, Shinzon, and the Borg Queen – and Star Trek Online (STO) has them as well.  In considering Jonathan Morris’  comments to our earlier article Re-Crossing the Troll Bridge I too am beginning to wonder if some of Cryptic’s detractors are playing the same Star Trek Online as we all are.

To wit (I sort of like that expression, kind of like the detractors are on trial) we are amazed by the crap we hear about there not being any story line in STO, the mistaken impression that all missions are alike, that they are all randomly generated, that there is nothing to do beyond the level of Lieutenant Commander and that ilk (there’s an expression that Mr. Scott might have used).  Have you ever even heard of Ambassador B’Vat? Have you traveled in time? Have you saved Spock’s life (as voiced by Leonard Nimoy himself)  and in turn had him save yours? If the answer to any of these questions is no then you haven’t run out of missions  And you also haven’t completed the mission arch “City on the Edge of Never” – and if you haven’t, my only guess is that Admiral Quinn doesn’t trust you with the mission because you have been bitching about STO so much.

[Webmasters Note: Warning, Warning Will Robinson, spoilers from the City on the Edge of Never story arch ahead]

I’m Captain Moogie. On my home world I was downtrodden by a race of misanthropic, misogynistic, small lobed backward gits that tried to keep me out of business, and out of clothes. The 48^thRule of Acquisition says “The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife” – and my smile is always very big. There is an old earth adage that says “speak softly and carry heavy dual phaser cannons” or something like that.

Bvat, the Kuvah’Magh, saving the Enterprise, saving Spock, finding out where Klingons got ridges and how they lost them… what a long strange ride it’s been. And I have the feeling it’s only getting started.

It all started with a mission to a place called The Treasure Trading Station, to rescue a Klingon informant.  Every time I think about it I still laugh…a Klingon who needed rescuing by five Ferengi. That’s where I first heard about B’Vat or “ambassador” B’Vat.  This guy’s a pip alright.  I still have the recording of what the informant had to say about this guy:

“He’s smart and he’s a planner. Wheels within wheels. He has half a dozen things going on, and I barely know the half of it. Ancient weapons, time travel, outlawed science…if there’s a way to get what he wants, B’vat will do it.  Things normal people wouldn’t even consider, B’vat already thought of it and figured out how to make it work.”

Me? I figured that rescuing Miss Prissy Pants would be the last time I ever heard of this B’Vat guy. Hah! Not even close. I ended up chasing him across time itself.  On the other hand I will take any chance I get to let loose of a little fire power.

Now if you’ll pardon me I have some gagh I would like to try while it is still alive. We can continue this story later.

(posted by The Webmaster for Julie Whitefeather)