[Kraetos]

So apparently Star Trek: Online has been rescued from developer hell and is nearing completion under the supervision of Cryptic Entertainment.

I've been thinking about this game a lot. There's a lot of potential, but even more ways to screw it up. One thing that sticks out in my mind is, how are individual ships going to work?

I see two possible ways for this to unfold:

1) Each player gets his own ship. Simple, straightforward. But not very Star Trek, because that precludes players from being anything but the Captain.

2) Players form crews, which then operate ships. This is a lot more Trek and allows players to be the Chief Engineer, the Chief Medical Officer, the Tactical Officer... really whatever niche the players wants to fill in the Trek universe. Problem is, how do you deal with players not being online at the same time? What if a crew wants to go out, but their captain is offline - are they just stuck at the Starbase?

I think the second option would be a lot better, but it presents some interesting social hurdles. I think the best way to make it work is a combination of the two. First: the first or second officer would be allowed to take command of a ship in the captains absence. Other officers roles could be filled by available junior officers. This would make having the "senior staff" of a ship ideal, but in their absence, the junior officers would not be stranded, as long as one of the three COs was available.

However... in the absence of one of the three COs or enough officers to run the ship, each player would get an individual ship. It would be a smaller ship, Saber, Nova or Defiant class, perhaps, depending on their rank.

I think this makes for a nice social dynamic. Big quests, "instances," are meant to be tackled by a large, crewed ships, even multiple ships for raids. But it doesn't leave you hanging if your Captain is off doing something in the real world.

Who else is excited for Star Trek: Online?

[Capella]

I'm intrigued and I'll probably pick it up to check it out. Star Trek has always been one of my deepest loves, so I can't not check it out. The character classes and options are what both excites and worries me about this game, and I think you've summed up many of the problems that could occur.

I'm hoping there might also be minigames and challenges that you can do without your captain/lead COs around. For example, I'm the CMO and no one else is on. Maybe the game pretends that the ship is just going from place X to place Y, but gives you something to do in the meantime; maybe there's a disease on ship and you have to do a quest and complete objectives to beat it. After you beat it, depending on how you did, different things happen to you. Maybe your character writes a paper on it and gets nominated for a prize, for example, thus IC leveling up or gaining prestige. With mini-quests and challenges that can be done individually without requiring the whole ship, I think it could work out.

[Swox]

It's not nearing completion; it's probably not coming out for another 3 years or so. I was pumped about it until the lead developer guy said "less than 4 years". Then everyone booed and he said "OK, less than 3 years". Not that convincing. Apparently that's pretty soon in the world of MMO's, but it's not soon in my mind. I can't stay excited about something for that long.

Christ, I'm going to be working on my PhD by then...

[curiousuburb]

Planned: Windows version, XBox360 version, PS3 version. Meh.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Kraetos One thing that sticks out in my mind is, how are individual ships going to work? I see two possible ways for this to unfold:

To answer your question from the official FAQ:

Will everyone be the Captain of their own ship? Yes, but you will have to earn the responsibility and skill to command larger and more powerful vessels. Remember, in Star Trek as well as naval tradition, whoever commands the ship is the "Captain," even if it is not your current rank. Can I play something other than a Captain like a Doctor or an Engineer? Everyone is a Captain, (remember, if you command a ship, you are automatically a Captain), and you will command a crew, but that does not limit your role. Your character will still be able to choose from a variety of career paths, such as Engineer, Tactical Officer, Doctor, Science Officer, etc. Your career path is your root, and will affect your skills, and how you command your crew. Consider Jean-Luc Picard, Beverly Crusher, Worf and Kathryn Janeway. Picard was an archeologist and diplomat, Crusher was a doctor, Worf a security/tactical officer, and Janeway was a scientist. Each eventually chose a career in command and became ship captains. This does not mean the game will limit your ship choices based on your profession – far from it. The examples are simply an example of how the game design was inspired.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by curiousuburb Planned: Windows version, XBox360 version, PS3 version. Meh.

Where'd you read that?