Preview: Star Trek Online

[BlueInkAlchemist]

This covers a lot of the same point I've seen in my open beta experiences, both good and bad.

Nicely done, Greg. I hope I don't seem too derivative when I post about those experiences!

 

[Stu1701]

I was in the closed beta for a while before open beta, and I've been having a lot of fun with Star Trek Online. They've made a lot of progress since closed beta. Space combat is just awesome, its definitely one of the best parts of the game. Ground combat isn't quite as much fun as space, but its still pretty cool. You'll be spending more time in space anyway during the game. I can't wait for the game to be released.

 

[Deofuta]

There's still the ten rats thing in there, it's just that they're cyborgs now.

I get your point, the intro is still easy and the Borg Drones are not terribly difficult to kill. But I think the difference between STO and other games is that you are introduced to the game with a tutorial that has some drama in it. The Borg are attacking, and you have to save the ship. The Borg are a familiar enemy and their forced collectivism can feel very terrifying.

Contrast this with meeting Farmer Joe, who happens to have a rat problem in his basement, and would you mind helping him, perhaps he can scrounge up some coin for you. There is no drama there.

You can argue whether or not it was successful (your points about the calm bridge and working turbolifts are valid) but at least STO tries to engage the player from the beginning of the game with a compelling story.

Not only this, but the mission architecture is really made in a great way. Its in a form of episodic game play. And some of them contain truly amazing storytelling. The current missions I have worked on take about 45 to an hour to do, and they feel like an episode!

So far its Love it, Love it, Love it. I cant wait to have a conferance with my fleet-mates in my ready room

 

[MasterSplinter]

It´s like I-War meets Mass Effect.
*sight*
I wish another I-War came out.

 

[wooty]

Hmmm, nice vid, interest in this game is steadily rising

 

[Zepren]

AHHHHHHHHHHH seeing this is good makes life hard for me. I want it but i know i get addicted to MMORPGs dead easy. i've been clean for 2 years. I CANT GO BACK :S

 

[Erkenbrand]

What is the experience gain from ship and ground combat like?

I worry, because in Champions Online, the xp obtained from dispatching enemies in combat-heavy quests is so minimal that they're best avoided, rather than engaged. (Their idea was that quests would be more important than "grinding," but it leads to not feeling rewarded for doing well in combat.)

 

[DTWolfwood]

i am so torn! i want to try it but i dont want to buy it first to try it!

And they have a lifetime subscription offer for pre-orders only and im always for that!

But what i hear ppl are saying its fun but not fun enough for all the bugs in game.

me want a beta key without having to buy game first! >.<

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Do we get to have Hazard teams later in the game? Are we stuck with hand phasers or do we get the nicer compression rifles? Is the Shatner lag present on ATI systems?

Looks to be a very nice game, will likely get it, hope the lag is one thing to be fixed very quickly.

 

[Archaon6044]

what is ship control like? does it rely on keys to direct you around, or is like EVE, wher you state "orbat at distance" or "keep at distance", or stay still or whatever?

 

[Slycne]

Are we stuck with hand phasers or do we get the nicer compression rifles?

From what I saw in the footage you can equip a variety of hand weapons - from dual wielding hand phasers, phaser rifles, bat'leth and there is at least 1 slug thrower as one of the pre-order bonuses is the TR-116 rifle from the Deep Space Nine Episode.

TR-116
A player equips this phaser rifle into one of his two ground weapon slots. The TR-116 is a rare projectile weapon is used in dampening fields and other challenging environments, it is also modified with a micro-transporter which beams the fired projectiles to targets at close range so that a user can fire without a direct line of sight.

 

[Danik93]

I don't like it at all. the space combat is super slow (I would want to send out smaller fighting ships or something) the ground fight is pointing a remote at eachother and shoot some light (the sniper rifle i got later on was a bit cool tho) but still I don't like Star Trek and i don't like this game. the ground fights are ok but the space combat is so boring you go from moderate speed to super slow, why?!

 

[spike4072]

The lag part must be a something with some peoples computers. I have been playing from closed beta and not had any problems with lag other than the one or two times they really messed up the server with a update. Open beta runs very smoothly for me

 

[samsonguy920]

The only thing I might have a beef about, is the part where everything is instanced. The way you put it, Greg, is you can't just casually meet another player short of maybe on starbase. But I guess I am spoiled to WoW, and meeting people all the time except when I go into instanced dungeons. But maybe it works better for this, and when the game comes out I hope the people are more chatty. MMO's are for being social, IMO.
I do like the starship interface and view. It reminds me of Starfleet Command, only now in three dimensions. That is a selling point to me.
And Starfleet Command is the best Star Trek game thus far, IMO. At least until we can really crack our knuckles on STO.

 

[Greg Tito]

what is ship control like? does it rely on keys to direct you around, or is like EVE, wher you state "orbat at distance" or "keep at distance", or stay still or whatever?

It's not like Eve at all. You control pitch and yaw with WASD and can change your throttle with E and Q. There is full impulse, which gives you a sprint but it quickly drains power from weapons and shields. There's no locking on or orbiting of targets.

 

[Greg Tito]

The lag part must be a something with some peoples computers. I have been playing from closed beta and not had any problems with lag other than the one or two times they really messed up the server with a update. Open beta runs very smoothly for me

Yeah, I'm not sure what the problem is. I think it's a combination of graphics and lag, but there is definitely something wrong with the ground sections.

During ground battles, even turning my graphics down all the way there was still noticeable lag. On the other hand, the space battles are all so fluid with 60+ fps even with the graphics turned up to 11.

 

[Gather]

Unless it's been patched into the beta (I haven't been playing; gonna save my time for release now) there isn't a way to respec so far...

 

[Keswick Gallagher]

Doesn't look bad I'll give it that and I love star Trek but I actually think i'll give this a Miss because if I want space combat I'll play Freelancer if I want ground combat i'll play one of the 100's of first person shooters that do it better

 

[Archaon6044]

what is ship control like? does it rely on keys to direct you around, or is like EVE, wher you state "orbat at distance" or "keep at distance", or stay still or whatever?

It's not like Eve at all. You control pitch and yaw with WASD and can change your throttle with E and Q. There is full impulse, which gives you a sprint but it quickly drains power from weapons and shields. There's no locking on or orbiting of targets.

good. that was one of my biggest complaints about Eve; the fact that you could never manually fly your ship, you pointed in a directed and said go, or told it to jump to an object

 

[Freyar]

I really didn't like Star Trek Online during my time with the beta. During the ship-to-ship combat, I found myself frustrated with the pace that was put into it. Phaser cycles were too quick, the lack of usable 3D space was present, and the animations for changing heading was just wrong. You are absolutely locked to the horizontal plane of the area, limiting various maneuvers you can make in a 3D environment and possibly even making them take longer than they should. Shouldn't physics result in the ability of being able to change facing while still having the same direction of travel? This is space.. sheesh.

I love Star Trek, but it could be that I also love physics and space simulators too. The ships themselves are vastly uninteresting, upgrades to the ship show no real benefit, or not enough to matter, and training outside of Bridge Officer abilities do next to nothing to augment your ship's capabilities.

Another frustration is that when I play Star Trek games, I want to be the Captain. I don't want to be my ship (like Eve Online, though for EvE Online, that's fine). I want to be able to issue orders, improve the crew, deal with technical situations on board. (Intruders, technical shield manipulation, phaser intensity versus duration, etc.) Problem is, the game is simplified to the point where Science Fiction outside of the fast-paced combat is non-existent.

Ground combat, while scenario-wise is boring, it is put together very well. The lag mentioned in the video is not something I've noticed, even in Earth SpaceDock. Couple that with the mechanics and it feels like Tabula Rasa. It's very well done, if just lacking in story/reasoning.

I would like to be able to get into Star Trek Online, but the technology behind Klingon, Romulan, and Federation ships are so simplified that there's no real need to pay attention. Set up phasers, put target in arc, fire.. that's it. Sometime focus on reinforcing a single facing shield, but that's it.

EDIT: Another thing.. the whole "you're captain's dead, you're in charge now" is a bit old. It was used in POTBS, it worked there.. but in the Federation it doesn't seem to make too much sense, and feels like a copout.