Star Trek Online Free-to-Play Access Begins

[The Wooster]

Star Trek Online Free-to-Play Access Begins

Star Trek Online has gone where nearly every MMO that doesn't end in "craft" has gone before; free-to-play.

Players with a current or past subscription to Star Trek Online have had access to the new, subscription-free version of the MMO since January 5th. Those players who've never picked up a phaser or diverted power to shields before have to wait until the 17th.

Just because the game is now free, doesn't mean you have to unsubscribe. Subscribed players will become "gold-tier" players and will have access to more features than their filthy, F2P-peon, "silver" counterparts. This handy chart [http://startrekonline.com/f2p_features] breaks down the differences between the two tiers. Gold players will receive a monthly stipend of 400 promotional points, have free access to respect tokens, receive 2 additional bridge officer slots per rank and enjoy ad-free voice chat, amongst other things. Players who paid for a lifetime subscription will be automatically entered into the gold tier.

While going F2P is seen as a sign of failure by some of the MMO crowd, it seems to me that it's now a natural part of the MMO cycle. The 15 dollars-a-month price tag is becoming increasingly untenable, and several MMO's, including the upcoming Guild Wars 2, are shipping without any subscription costs at all.

Not being a fan of the series, I can't think of a suitable Star Trek reference to close this article. I'm sure you'll supply your own.

Source: Star Trek Online Blog [http://startrekonline.com/f2p_blog]


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[Lunar Templar]

how odd I'd hear about this here and not the friend i have that plays it

Not being a fan of the series, I can't think of a suitable Star Trek reference to close this article. I'm sure you'll supply your own.

make it so #1

that counts right?

 

[Broken Blade]

Not being a fan of the series, I can't think of a suitable Star Trek reference to close this article. I'm sure you'll supply your own.

"It is logical, captain."

 

[Dirty Apple]

I forgot this game was even around. The idea of participating in large space battles with capital ships sounds neat to me, but somehow I doubt it could live up to my expectations.

As to an ending line, seeing as how it's going F2P how about,"To boldly go where no one wants to be."

 

[rockman0]

I actually enjoy this game. I hope free-to-play helps keep it around longer. It really is a good game for Star Trek fans and even those who aren't really fans.

Besides having limited access to the Foundry and a cap on daily Dilithium gain, you really can't tell the difference between Gold and Silver gameplay. My experience is exactly the same playing for free as it was when I was paying a monthly fee.

 

[Starke]

I actually enjoy this game. I hope free-to-play helps keep it around longer. It really is a good game for Star Trek fans and even those who aren't really fans.

Besides having limited access to the Foundry and a cap on daily Dilithium gain, you really can't tell the difference between Gold and Silver gameplay. My experience is exactly the same playing for free as it was when I was paying a monthly fee.

Well, the Dilithium cap is applied to gold players as well, so that isn't different. And foundry content is available, just not the foundry tools themselves... so... eh.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Solid choice for the news picture.

Not being a fan of the series, I can't think of a suitable Star Trek reference to close this article. I'm sure you'll supply your own.

Even a non-fan should know "Make it so, (number 1)" or "Engage".

 

[Fasckira]

I really wanted to enjoy it but I found it so dull. Every mission I took basically involved flying to a set point in space and checking for enemies. Occasionally I'd beam down to a planet and be told to kill 3 guys as it was a special mission, only to see about 20 other players killing their respective 3 guys in the same location.

TBH Im not sure what I was expecting... I guess something either more individual orientated (like show me sitting on the ship, and having to work based off reports off the crew) or more action based outside the ship (similar to the older Star Trek space combat games).

Ill probably give it another chance now its free though, I may have judged it too quickly before.

 

[Prince Regent]

Not being a fan of the series, I can't think of a suitable Star Trek reference to close this article. I'm sure you'll supply your own.

"To boldly go where many have gone before."

Anyway I'll give this a try. Might be fun.

 

[Cowabungaa]

At first I was like "Oh great!"

And then I read that you can buy ships. Another F2P game that's going to sell power. Such a shame.

 

[Starke]

Occasionally I'd beam down to a planet and be told to kill 3 guys as it was a special mission, only to see about 20 other players killing their respective 3 guys in the same location.

Er... what?

Really not trying to defend the game, but you've peaked my curiosity here. You'd usually only run into other players either in the ground section of the tutorial, during the patrol missions (which pissed me off to no end, and people actually defended on the forums, until I found that you could disable this auto grouping in the social options, which they'd neglected to tell anyone about.) or during ground fleet actions (a kind of half low intensity raid/zerg clusterfuck). So, aside from the tutorial, I'm not sure where you could have run into this.

At first I was like "Oh great!"

And then I read that you can buy ships. Another F2P game that's going to sell power. Such a shame.

Yeah, it's a real gut punch to those of us that were actually there watching this happen. Basically we got no new content for nearly a year, with a promise that it was "just around the corner" they add in a whole slew of P2W ships, revamp the economy with an eye towards turning every currency (except EC and GPL) into a real money currency by proxy, massively bump up the prices of the alternate currency items in game, add that currency to the already grindtastic crafting system... ugh...

EDIT: It's also worth pointing out the alternate currency system is tied to the real money currency at such an absurd rate it's insulting. You can easily end up grinding for a month to pick up an Aegis Set (arguably the only reason to go into crafting in the game at all, and that's only to grind up the dilithium, not the crafting materials for it (which takes much less time)), or spend about six bucks to get it. I know some players reported being able to max out the conversion rate (about $2 a day), but that's on 8hr/day game sessions (I think), but my experience was that much dilithium was realistically a month... :\

The P2W ships though, really are. There were always a few heavy hitting alternatives available to players who hit the level cap, but the C-Store versions were optional account wide unlocks, where as any player who did hit cap would be given one (for that character). Now, every C-Store ship has some unique console, and most of those become hideous game breakers (from a torpedo that targets cloaked ships, to a device that basically lets you enter and exit combat at will).

On top of this, they drew a lot of ire during the holidays with a grab bag. The top reward was a ship that had DPS roughly on par with the escorts (the DPS focused ship classes), higher maneuverability than the escorts, and hull points very close to what you see on cruisers (the heavy ship of the line tank ship class). Some players idiots dropped upwards of $300 bucks on the grab bags trying to nab these things without success.

On top of this they took out the endgame content (The STFs), and replaced them with these little 15 minute team PvE things that you have to grind for some of the endgame gear.

And still no new content, since last March or so.

...and several MMO's, including the upcoming Guild Wars 2, are shipping without any subscription costs at all.

It's probably worth pointing out the original Guild Wars shipped without a subscription cost as well, so that's not exactly a response to the current market, so much as the way that game's business model has been structured since 2004/2005.

 

[Shavon513]

Since swtor isn't doing it for me, this is great news....

 

[viranimus]

I remember buying the game on release (because I made a promise to myself in 2002 when word of this title began rumbling about. Even though I knew the company who would eventually release its track history in MMO development, I bought it anyway to keep my promise.

I did not even bother playing the entire "free month" for purchase. Surely the patches / seasons have increased the woefully lacking content, but the problem is that the game was fundamentally flawed from the beginning. For a title released in 2010 this was supposed to be a next generation level MMO. It wasnt, because all it was at best a previous era (WoW, CoH/V, etc) level MMO with somewhat moderized graphics. Yes space combat was enjoyable, but the predominant ground campaigns and how repetitive and formulaic the missions quickly became was a sign of half hearted development. (Since then, more proof of an even more hands off developmental approach in the creation of the foundry)

It was a tired format, now following a defeatist track history in what amounted to a sad, and boring game, and something the trek fans deserved better than.

Seriously think about this for a second. How is it that the Trek MMO became a game that was focused on tedious and repetitive action, while the Star Wars MMO became built around constant narrative plots filled with massively multiplying options for interstellar diplomacy? Complete role reversal if I have ever seen one.

 

[tsb247]

I rather enjoy STO. I've been playing it since the beta, and though it has plenty of quirks, the game has evolved a great deal since the initial release.

HOWEVER...

It is my hope that the game still continues to evolve with the new F2P system. There is still a long way to go to get this game on par with the other MMOs out there and turn it into the game it was supposed to be.

 

[Something Amyss]

Not being a fan of the series, I can't think of a suitable Star Trek reference to close this article. I'm sure you'll supply your own.

Dammit, Grey, I'm a Doctor, not a comedian!

 

[immortalfrieza]

My experience is exactly the same playing for free as it was when I was paying a monthly fee.

Which is how it should be. No MMO, ever, should have a monthly fee, intital price should be more than enough. P2P MMOs are like paying for a bicycle in full and then still having to pay more money every month just to use it, and if you quit paying they take it away from you, it's one of the worst legally allowed scams ever.

 

[wooty]

Hmmmm, interest is picking up again, I did play it for a while when it first came out......in its messy state. But I have heard good things about how its developed since then.

I may look into this at some point, but XIII-2 comes first on the list for this month.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

I still won't play it. 1. There are MANY MMO's that are free and better. 2. I have a mac, so I can't really play it anyway.

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Spoiler: This count?