When Star Trek Online was launched it was like many MMO’s. It had some server issues, member inflation, a subscription fee, and more automated and a very simplified game play structure. Some of these issues may be minor, but they have ultimately contributed to the evolution and an almost complete redesign of STO, as a whole. On top of that the game expanded it’s player base by building a dedicated MAC client.
In mid 2008 fans of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek received a first look at Star Trek Online. Within a year they would be allowed to beta test and the game would be released. Unfortunately the servers at Cryptic couldn’t deliver, and the Alpha Quadrant would have to wait for some. This however isn’t a huge issue, despite what some people may say. Virtually every MMO has had problems with their server being overloaded by the literal horde of players trying to get their first taste of the newest world(s) to grace our computers. Since it’s launch the STO servers has grown and been upgraded to accommodate the player base. When I started playing five years ago I remember that the login would take quite some time, even on the best of internet connections. Now you’re in game, and fighting off Klingons in under a minute. If you’re a Klingon, sorry.
The inflation of players come with the launch of any MMO. That being said, it helped contribute to server issues, in it’s own way, and in turn Cryptic having to rethink their server structure and in turn add more servers and or make them more powerful. In the end this inflation of players allowed STO to become a stronger game, on a technical end. Even once the player base started to shrink, we would be left with a stronger back end system that ultimately made the game as a whole more stable.
The automated feel of Star Trek Online was a bit off putting at first. I can recall a handful of players that expressed their disgruntled thoughts about STO. One that I agreed on was that things felt a bit to automated. You can scan an anomaly, then you get the resources from it. You can open up a command on a console. You can select a target and shoot, then they die. Excuse the over simplification, but STO really use to be a standard point and click game, much like a browser game.
Today however they have implemented many new systems, actions, and items that have helped the game evolve into something more than, essentially, a downloadable browser game. Upon scanning an anomaly, players have to align a wave form inside of a mini-game console. You’re only given a few seconds to do so. If you succeed you get higher end resources, and if you fail you get lower end resources. Some other in game actions have followed suite, and have helped elevate the level of interactivity, as well as create a better game. Players have seen an interesting change in the administration of STO, as an MMO that has constantly sat on the border of subscription based and free-to-play, or as some prefer to call it “pay-to-win.” In 2008 Cryptic was purchased by Atari SA, and then was subsequently acquired four years later by Perfect World, which now owns and operates the game.
The original Earth Spacedock, at launch.
A Galaxy-class orbiting Earth.
The HUD and UI have come a long way.
When it was launched STO had a $14 per month subscription fee. Player were also introduced to the C-Store, which offered a small selection of items, such as ships, additional playable races, and a limited selection of services, such as skill retrain and name change tokens. Over the next five years additional ships were added to the C-Store. For the most part the ships were “retrofits”, which were part of the original Star Trek canon. With the evolution of the retrofitted canon ships came the addition of upgraded class ships, such as the new Enterprise-E. As well as ships from other races, like the Delta Flyer, or again the Enterprise-E.
There is also the Dilithium mining, which was introduced in 2013. This was added as another form of currency, to go hand-in-hand with C-Points, which are now known as Zen. The Dilithium can be mined, processed and transferred into Zen, or Cryptic points. Turning back the clock a bit to January of 2012 STO went to a tiered free to play model, and was part of the Perfect World gaming network. This lead to an increase in the player base, as well as an exodus of players that didn’t agree with the free-to-play model or the increasing pay-to-win nature of the C-Store. In March 2014, Perfect World released a Mac client for STO. Allowing all of the mac players to join in on the fun, instead of using wonky and even shady wrappers and third party clients.
The final two major additions and changes to the STO world were The Legacy of Romulus, in which players are given the ability to play a Romulan Captain, that helps rebuild the empire with the help of either the Federation of Klingon Defence Force. Finally there is Delta Rising, in which players return to explore and even relive the long seven year journey of the starship Voyager crew. In Delta Rising you can see how the decisions of the crew affected the Delta Quadrant, and how ultimately their trip helped expand the world of Star Trek.
Through the years we have also seen smaller changes, that have been met with both positive and negative criticism. Such as changes to the skill system or how consoles work. Even tweaks to game performance. Star Trek Online, unlike some MMO’s still sits in an odd place among the internet community. It’s tried to bridge the gap of being a free-to-play game with the qualities of a subscription based game. The game has changed hands several times, which so far it has survived, and it’s community fluxuates like no other. Even at it’s lowest points we see die hard players continuing to explore the final frontier. Even if they complain about it, they remain, and that is a mystery to me.
It’s not clear as to why or how STO has survived balance on the edge of that precipice that all MMO’s, short of a handful like World of Warcraft and EVE Online don’t appear to be subject to. But for better or worse, there is a large community, both of players and general Star Trek fans that support the game and hope that it lives long and prospers.
WHAT GETS YOU NOSTALGIC ABOUT STAR TREK ONLINE?
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WRITTEN BY KRAZIYK
EDITED BY McCLINTOCK - UFP.CLINT@HACARI.COM
