Ask Cryptic (November 26, 2008)

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This Ask Cryptic contains answers on power management, exploration and small ship tactics. A big thanks goes out the development team for taking the time to provide these answers!

We’re not using anything like a traditional MMO “mana bar” for energy. Your ship’s Warp Core provides power, and you allocate this power to individual systems – shields, weapons, propulsion, etc. But you won’t “run out” of energy and have to wait to fire phasers. That’s not fun. The more power you allocate to weapons, the more effective your phasers become.

Read more here! (http://www.startrekonline.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_11-26-08)

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Cool info. Thanks for the birthday present :D

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Finally, I am impressed. These ask cryptics have been a little boring lately but this fills my head with promise of a grea game. thanks cryptic. Dont forget to keep up with the timeline updates and maybe some gameplay videos or a new exclusive trailer for ST:O. Anywho, well done and congrats to the boys over at cryptic. I'll see you around the alpha quadrant.

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Any time we don't hear from them, is time they are spending working on the game! This I think, is a good thing.

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This makes me happy:

Will a gang of smaller ships, say, several Bird-of-Preys, be able to take out something like a Warbird using superior tactics and numbers?

Yes. Since we’re not using a traditional level-based system, smaller ships with good tactics and teamwork can take on bigger ships with a solid chance of success.

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I think that is a very good system of power allocation between systems though the system of diversion should be like in Star Trek: Encounters(PS2- Blue back disk) where weapons+shields and engines+sensors were linked.


I also think the small ship teamup system will work out. Now if you could make a formation system for the small ships to do forms like the "Diamond-Slot"(The First Duty(TNG)) and other formations.

And an always updating star map is probably the best because if someone found a new system and you want to see it, you have the system's coordinates already.

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Cool info. Thanks for the birthday present :D

Oh, and happy B day, dooooood.

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Oh, and happy B day, dooooood.

Thank you very much.

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oh baby a new Ask Cryptic before the holiday weekend!

Cheers for no "mana" bars. I always get tired when games just slap a new name on the same old "magic" bar. Lots of ship details in this one. I think that info about multiple small ships being able to take out a big ship is good. Most mmos favor the top end character so much that they are untouchable.

Love the tid bit on unique items and equipment. Sounds like there will be quite a bit crafting involved as well. Studying technology before using it fits right into trek. Maybe my engineer can make modifications and improvements. As for super rare items this has me drooling. Nothing makes exploring more fun then an old fashion treasure hunt!

if we have items like that they will be revealed during play.

..you guys are such a tease.

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I really, really want this game.

Anyone have a time travel device so I can just jump to release day?? ;)

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Glad to hear it won't be a Mana Bar type thing. Sounds more like Starfleet Command, which is a good thing.

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Nice, What a pleasent surprize

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Will a gang of smaller ships, say, several Bird-of-Preys, be able to take out something like a Warbird using superior tactics and numbers?

Yes. Since we’re not using a traditional level-based system, smaller ships with good tactics and teamwork can take on bigger ships with a solid chance of success.

all i needed to hear from that Ask Cryptic :cool: "not using a tranditional level-based system" awesome. :D

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Will there be unique items and equipment to find in the galaxy?

Many thanx for responding to my question.I loved what i read!:)

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I`m happy to hear/read something new abaout the game. Thanks!!

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Thanks for the info, this game looks to be shaping up to be great

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This is very great, but i would like to run out of energy... It would be more realistic, and harder, and will make strategic battle.

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Awesome hearing about the energy distribution stuff. Sounds very Bridge Commander-y or Starfleet Command-ish (all of which are good things!). Overall a lot of cool stuff in here that makes me pretty excited for the game (more so, if that were possible!).
The only kind of so-so piece of information is that bit about sharing discovered locations. I may be totally wrong when I see it in implimentation, but what does it matter what cool and/or unique locations you as a player have discovered if other players don't even know or can figure out about its existence?

But please, keep up the good work, Cryptic.

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This is very great, but i would like to run out of energy... It would be more realistic, and harder, and will make strategic battle.

But like they said... not fun. The way it is set up is so that you don't have "down time" which really has become the bane of MMO's since more of the players are casual now. (Most of us old school hardcore players don't have the time any more).

It will still require strategy because you still have a "finite" amount of power to allocate. So you might have strong phasers, but weaker shields, you just won't drain your power and have to wait to fire those strong phasers.

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The only kind of so-so piece of information is that bit about sharing discovered locations. I may be totally wrong when I see it in implimentation, but what does it matter what cool and/or unique locations you as a player have discovered if other players don't even know or can figure out about its existence?.


I think this works in a few good ways. First it means that any place you "discover" is really some place you did discover and not just some planet that 1000's of others have been to. Secondly if I were a member of Starfleet or the Klingon Empire and I discovered a new planet I'd transmit the info back to hq and they'd take their time updating the planetary maps. It would be far more likely that a comrade would hear about this new planet from me first than they would from hq.

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trade maps , for tech

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Thanks for the info Cryptic

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Thanks for the info Cryptic

/signed +1

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I like the power management system, and it sounds to me like i'll have to drop shields if I want full power to the engines. That will make jumping someone while cloaked before they can raise shields all the more satisfying.

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nice to see some more info on ship combat, and the crafting sounds like it's going to be fun to try as well.

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Nice info, the power distribution system sounds just like the one used in FreeSpace, which was ****** awesome, can't go wrong there, I simply cannot wait for this game!

Thanks again Cryptic, I always look forward to reading new info every month, it's not evey developer who think of their customers like this.

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That last part about tactics and having a fleet of small ships being able to take out one large one made me pretty happy. Keep it up cryptic, doing good so far :).

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Lots of good new info given and its shaping up quite well from what ive been hearing :D

But i have a small question that i havent seen addressed anywhere yet so sorry if its been asked a thousand times lol . . . . . i was wondering will you be able to divert power to a specific shield (e.g. just the dorsal shield) or will it just be all the shields that get a boost when you divert power to them?

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I think that this is definitely the best installment of Ask Cryptic to date and I am looking forward to the next one. Thank you for posting this!

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Forgive me if this has been broached elsewhere. I'm new to the forums and still wading through a lot of information.

How do you think taking damage is going to be handled in this game? Relying on the "warp core" as a source of energy opens a lot of interesting scenarios for combat. I wonder, will damage affect a ship's ability to redirect power? Is there any room in the game for a surgical strike to disable a ship by targeting its engines and taking out its "warp core?" Or will overall damage be the only way to immobilize a ship?

-M-

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That last part about tactics and having a fleet of small ships being able to take out one large one made me pretty happy. Keep it up cryptic, doing good so far :).

As soon as I read that I thought of the TNG episode "Pre-emptive Strike" with all the Maquis ships attacking the Cardassian Destroyer, that was great.

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Thanks for the above-average "Ask Cryptic". Definitely some good stuff this time around.

Naturally, a few comments:

Your ship’s Warp Core provides power, and you allocate this power to individual systems – shields, weapons, propulsion, etc.

I think this approach can work just fine. Every system will have a minimum level of power-based effectiveness, but there are still interesting tactical choices to be made -- we'll have to decide which system at any moment we want to favor over other systems. Excellent.

However, now there are some additional questions that occur to me:

What other systems will benefit from having additional power diverted to them? Main computer? Sensors? Communications? Main deflector? If having more power matters to those systems, what effects will be produced by giving them more power?

More importantly to me, I look forward to learning what this ship power management feature will do for non-combat gameplay.

There will be new items to find during your adventures as well as the ability to create new items or improve existing ones.

I'm generally happy to see this.

My one concern is with that first part, which may signal that Cryptic intends to design Star Trek Online to be a loot-centric game. That's not necessarily a bad thing in terms of gameplay -- after all, some form of reward for playing needs to be offered, and (as the next quote suggests) if not XP for leveling-up, then objects/gear are the obvious alternative. However, "lootcentricity" could lead to a couple of things that aren't much good: grinding for "epics" and attractiveness to farmers. We'll need to see what having "new items to find" really means to know if those concerns are justified.

More positively, I hope this statement means that we can look forward to crafting in Star Trek Online being more about rewarding player creativity -- which I believe is most appropriate for a MMORPG based on the Star Trek license -- and less about the manufacturing and sales gameplay that are emphasized in MMORPGs based on other IP.

If "the ability to create new items" just means being able to crank out a bunch of slightly-different copies of some developer-defined object, or trying to sell thousands of bits of junk, that's not very interesting and IMO won't add unique value to this particular game service.

If, OTOH, crafting in Star Trek Online is being designed to reward perceptiveness over mere persistence by letting players create new kinds of objects (within appropriate limits)... well. For this game, that is most epically win. :)

Since we’re not using a traditional level-based system, smaller ships with good tactics and teamwork can take on bigger ships with a solid chance of success.

As interesting as that second bit of information will be for some folks, you do realize that the throwaway comment that Star Trek Online won't be using the class/level advancement model of other triple-A MMORPGs is what's really going to "energize" some of us around here, right? ;)

Let the non-negotiable demands for an explanation of what "not ... a traditional level-based system" means begin!

--Flatfingers

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Thanks cryptic for this. I am really looking forward to this game. Any chance we can get a l;ook at what the interface for power management will look like? or anything else for that matter?

Chris

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In terms of power management in combat, will damage to the ship affect how much power is available for distribution (as in Bridge Commander or Starfleet Command)?

Also, will ship combat enable the targeting of specific sub-systems of ships, or will it be a more simple system?

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In terms of power management in combat, will damage to the ship affect how much power is available for distribution (as in Bridge Commander or Starfleet Command)?

Also, will ship combat enable the targeting of specific sub-systems of ships, or will it be a more simple system?

maybe they could make is so if you divert more power to the sensors then you will be able to target a specific sub-system or something along those lines. that would be another tactical decision to make with the power managment.

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Thanks for the new info.

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I may be one of the few who finds this Ask Cryptic unsatisfactory.

Not only did they tell us things that we could have inferred on our own (power management of the starship, as it has been in this system allocation format since the Starfleet Command games over a decade ago), but they failed to give us anything remotely valuable like in previous Ask Cryptics about how our NPC crews would work.

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They did drop a big hint that their exploration content will likely be localized to your pc/character data. That makes sense given that if everyone explored the exact same universe then players who join a year in have little to no chance of finding something new themselves. I like it from a mechanics and gameplay perspective but some hardcore realism people might be mad that it could effectively make the universe different for every player, making a multiverse instead of a universe.

Another important tidbit about their space combat system is that it is fortunately going the way of EVE in that several small ships from brand new players can seriously threaten single ships flown by experienced players. Alot of traditional MMO's aren't like that, no matter how many lvl warriors you get toegether, you aren't going to drop a completely decked out lvl80 warrior.

Good news, even if expected.

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This makes me happy:

Will a gang of smaller ships, say, several Bird-of-Preys, be able to take out something like a Warbird using superior tactics and numbers?

Yes. Since we’re not using a traditional level-based system, smaller ships with good tactics and teamwork can take on bigger ships with a solid chance of success.


That also made my day...I love that we are getting away from those dumb level systems. I'm very sick of them.

I love pretty much everything in this new information, and glad that nothing is "rehashed" from what we already know.

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How does one ask a question anyway? Havne't seen a place to add one ...

I've found sooo much information on the Gorn, I would love to know if Cryptic is interested in looking it over and maybe what they are seeing as background ... even for Tellarites, Andorians and Orions.

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I truly have noone and nothing to live for except this game. Sad but true. anyway... Keep up the great work!

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very interesting faq answers this time around. ty for the new info :D

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I may be one of the few who finds this Ask Cryptic unsatisfactory.

Not only did they tell us things that we could have inferred on our own (power management of the starship, as it has been in this system allocation format since the Starfleet Command games over a decade ago), but they failed to give us anything remotely valuable like in previous Ask Cryptics about how our NPC crews would work.


What if.. Just what if they are so busy answering questions that they never finish the game!! AHHHHHHHH!

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Yes, no traditional level based system! That makes me happy beyond words(you know, besides the words I just used)

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This is sounding better with every update.
I really like what there doing and it does seem there passing ideas and thoughts from the forms up to the dev team.
Really like they are getting the team work idea out.
A group of smaller ships able to take out a larger ship or give it a good going over sounds like they are going in the right direction with team play.
as well tactics are going to be a real thought not a run and gun or I'm so big and invenciable.
Keep up the good work.:D

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How does one ask a question anyway? Havne't seen a place to add one ...

I've found sooo much information on the Gorn, I would love to know if Cryptic is interested in looking it over and maybe what they are seeing as background ... even for Tellarites, Andorians and Orions.

Every few weeks or so, they open up a thread called Ask Cryptic (I think in the Star Trek Online Discussion forum but don't remember for sure atm) where everyone posts a multitude of questions. That thread usually stays open for a week or two, collecting pages and pages of questions. After a certain amount of time they close the thread, and the devs then choose which questions to answer (and which to ignore lol).

They then post the Ask Cryptic (http://www.startrekonline.com/dev_blog) answers.

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Great info I want to play this game more every day

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What role will the "Q" play in this universe if any?

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I was a little worried that Cryptic team was gonna leave us in the dark, thanks for proving me wrong with a great update Razor.

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Thanks devs. Keep up the good work!

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Some really good info here, thanks Cryptic!

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What if.. Just what if they are so busy answering questions that they never finish the game!! AHHHHHHHH!

You wanna hear something hilarious, for the same amount of budgeted time that they used to answer these Ask Cryptic questions they could have answered some really important questions about the game. I'm not asking them to answer all of my questions and not work on the game, I'm asking them to answer questions that are important.

Who cares about power allocation of ship systems when we don't even know the exact number or types of bridge/department head officers that we are able to have onboard? Can I customize my helm officer or will it be a random ensign NPC that gets to fly the ship? Can we have a counsellor? Will operations and science be merged as in most 24th century Trek? What about a communications officer?

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they are probly still working on that aspect.
so they can't comment on something thats not finished.
when you get a update its been finished in game and confirmed thats coded into the game.

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I think this was answerd b4 but i cant rember.If ur in a battle with another player ship and u take down his shields.Can you board his ship and attack and if you can. lets say for exsample.Im crusing around and i see my buddys ship under attack by a klingon ship and it startes to board his can i send my own team to his ship to assist him and if there is a boarding party away and the ship that owns that party is destroyed dose the away team just disapear or do they keep fighting till there dead?

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WOW! Every time I read a new Q&A I want to play this game more and more. Man when does the cb start finally:rolleyes:?

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I really liked the last question, its just adding to the fact that this game is just like in the series. God i could kiss the people making this:D

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i want this game even more now::D

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The more I hear, the more I like. Working in groups SHOULD be an advantage. Great Work!!

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sounds as if they are using the allocation scheme from the origional starfleet battles game (pen and paper version).

I would like to be able to send in boarding parties to capture a ship though, that can be an important part of pvp.

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Thanks for the info, I am looking foward to playing this game.

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Very pleased with this set of answers. A lot of things previously speculated upon now confirmed, which helps give a sense of what's coming. Thank you so much.

The ship battle system seems to be a good compromise between fun and strategy, and the idea that a group of capable, well-captained smaller starships can take down a larger enemy, if played well, seems to make all kinds of sense.

While I'm pleased to read that STO will be doing away with arbitrary "levelling" systems, it does beg the question as to what sort of "reward for good play" system will be introduced instead.

As has been said, if it's a "loot-based" reward system, that could threaten to overrun the game with gold farmers, and turn crafting into an "investment banker" game for those strange souls who'd rather log on to become pretend billionaires in pretend economies, than actually play a game for fun.

I guess I'll just have to wait and see what comes. Looks fun and encouraging so far. Thanks again.

KOS

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The only kind of so-so piece of information is that bit about sharing discovered locations. I may be totally wrong when I see it in implimentation, but what does it matter what cool and/or unique locations you as a player have discovered if other players don't even know or can figure out about its existence?

But please, keep up the good work, Cryptic.

Heya Rogue,

From a technical point of view it may be easier to have the randomized data associated with a new planet treated as a "configuration file" linked to an individual player character account, instead of constantly having to physically update the game universe every single time a player discovers and explores a new star system.

From what we've been told (as I understand it), when a player starship encounters a new star system/world which is not an established, permanent "in-game" location, the game engine randomly generates the details on the spot, as you arrive (out of warp, I presume).

You're effectively inside an unique, random instance (playing area) generated just for you and your starship. The planet you beam down to is similarly "assembled" on the fly as you arrive (c.f. The Game Informer article).

I can see how attaching the randomly-generated characteristics of a discovered star system to the captain/starship who found it makes sense from a meta-game prespective.

If you're already done the mission randomly-generated for that star system when you arrived, is there much point in adding that system to the general-access game galaxy? Now that it's been "played out", does it become a liability, in that, Cryptic now has to figure out a way to explicitly make all these "previously explored" random systems new and interesting again in a way that honors whatever the discovering crew already found? Sounds like a lot of time and effort for the devs.

All the benefits of randomly-generated instanced star systems goes out the window once you have to a) account space for them in the general game galaxy, and b) immediately create and assign (i.e. non-random) continuing content to them so that they remain "points of interest" for other crews, who arrive later.

On a game-building level, the whole point of random, instanced star systems is to provide maximum exploration content with a minimum of hands-on building by the developers.

I like "exploring strange new worlds" -- so let's say I play for 8 hours straight every day, and discover, perhaps, one new star system every two hours, and deal with whatever happens there.

That's four new star sytems a day; 112 star systems a month; 1344 star systems a year -- and that's just me. One player. There will be thousands of people playing this game, so the numbers get staggering fairly quickly, y'know?

So, by attaching the "discovered planets data" to the individual player-captain, it means I can go back to any place I've been at will -- I can share the data with friends if they want to see a place I've discovered -- but I'm not leaving over a hundred "played out" star systems a month cluttering the general game universe, which are of little fun-value to other players, and which Cryptic can't reasonably spare the time to follow up on with new "sequel" content.

I carry the "navigational coordinates" for all the planets I've charted. It probably gets "sent to HQ" , as has been said, to be counted toward the factional effort stuff in-game, but in practical terms, that location is likely only of any further interest to me -- and maybe to my friends ("Hey, wanna see that planet where I fought the Gorns? I beat the Gorns, but the sky is a really cool color!").

So, I can see Cryptic's point here, from a game-design perspective. That's all I'm saying. Apologies if I sounded "lecture-y" at any point. I was only trying to express myself clearly. I hope I succeeded. ;)

Cheers,

KOS

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Yes. Since we’re not using a traditional level-based system, smaller ships with good tactics and teamwork can take on bigger ships with a solid chance of success.

About fifty percent of your time will be spent in space, and the rest of the time you will be exploring planets, boarding other ships, visiting space stations or performing tasks aboard your own ship.

YES! Thank you, Cryptic! :D This year I am thankful that CRYPTIC ROCKS SO MUCH!

That's two out of my three major gripes about P2's design that Cryptic has squashed within the last few days. Now all we need is a one-server model so I can play with all my friends and I'll be a happy camper.

I must also complement the art team on the Klingon Fortress screenshot that recently got released. They have Klingon architecture down pat. That structure screams Klingon design. Awesome!

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I have to say I am glad Cryptic is keeping us in the light, as to what is happening in game.


I find the new Q&A awesome,however I did have one concern. I'm all about the "no level" system within a game..its why I enjoyed EVE.

However, my one fear is,since STO is not going to be forcing players to grind away, will STO be going the way of EVE and having XPlayerX putting a new skill to learn in Que and having it take 2 weeks to learn before you can use such skill?


Other than that, i'm really happy in the direction STO is going.

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Wow, lots of great info in this update. I am very interested in how the skills system will work now that it has been confirmed. This is a great early Christmas present and has me very excited for this game.

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Now THIS is more LIKE it. A reverse engineering system. A discovery system. Astro-archeology. Astro-cartography, Being able to use information as a form of currency! Gold farmers can go to hell! Technology based skills and abilities. NO LEVLES!!!!! The tech race is on! This is going in the direction I had hoped it would be going. SWTOR is not, I DON'T want to be hand held through the entire play cycle. I don't want to read a script! I want to make my own story, my own discoveries, my own choices, and not multiple choice. Give me TOOLS to USE. Not a script to read!!! Do you hear me TOOLS!!!!

*catches breath*

Good job so far. I look forward to more information like this.

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where are the cardassians in all this, will they be in the expansion, will they be helping the romulans

and will the gorn or the orion make an appearence

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Good info. Thanks for the update Cryptic.

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Sweet! This seems like the perfect game for me! From the looks of things, this game's gonna be about F-U-N fun, and none of that obsessive, take-over-your-life WoW stuff. If the most complicated aspect of the game is that whole "Divert power to different things," than this is gonna be awesome! I didn't even think of doing that. This is actually a plus, because that just makes it more like the show!

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This is awesome! I really like the idea about the using the power core rather than a "mana" bar. This exploration map will be very intersting on how they develop that. I like the idea sharing the discoveries of new systems with everyone. However, what happens when those people that play 24/7 discover all the new systems? I want a sense that I'm making discoveries too! Great Q&A

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The energy management is what I had envisioned it to be. So no complaints here. :D

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However, what happens when those people that play 24/7 discover all the new systems? I want a sense that I'm making discoveries too! Great Q&A
Hey, you've got a point there. Every new thing in the galaxy could end up being discovered by uber-gamers while we're all "playing the game of life," if you will.

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Has cryptic given any indications that they may include the Q continuum in the game? It may be somewhat difficult but may be very interesting.

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Hey, you've got a point there. Every new thing in the galaxy could end up being discovered by uber-gamers while we're all "playing the game of life," if you will.

I think the idea is that when a system is discovered or explored, you have to directly share that information with another player. Kinda breaking in the immersion factor (if someone has been here before, why didn't they register the data with starfleet) but I don't think it will come up all that often.

I really don't care what other players do, I am going to play my kind of game, and hang out with my friends. As for "playing the game of life" why would I want to do that? I already play that game everyday, and a lot of it is lame. I am going to have adventures in space!

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The queston I would like to ask is about ships. More spacificly about player ships. What happens when a player can get newer and bigger ships do you have to give up the smaller ship or can it go into a dry dock where you can captain it later or do you have to give it up and loss it for good?

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One of the questions I had was regarding NPC ships. For example, Kirk and crew find the USS Exeter in orbit around a planet in TOS, they board the ship to discover the crew has died off somehow and the Exeter's captain is stuck on the planet. Also, a fan fave, the USS Constellation...no crew aboard, save for the commander. But the Enterprise ppl beam aboard her and attempt to salvage her, which ultimately saves the day.

In TNG, I can't remember the episode, Picard and company find the USS Brittain seemingly stuck in space, again the crew killed off, but they had to board the ship and attmept to restart her.

My question: Will we be running into situations where we get to board other NPC ships? And on that note, will it be possible to board/repair/salvage/commandeer other vessels (friend or foe)?

I'm mainly asking because I know we'll be seeing other player ships from the inside, but what about NPC's?

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how do we start playing??????

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can someone anyone help me get started??

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game hasn't come out yet but it will soon enough( ok it can never be soon enough)

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Great QA here and I loved the answers - Cryptic always seem to be giving the "right" answers for me every time I read.

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You wanna hear something hilarious, for the same amount of budgeted time that they used to answer these Ask Cryptic questions they could have answered some really important questions about the game. I'm not asking them to answer all of my questions and not work on the game, I'm asking them to answer questions that are important.

Who cares about power allocation of ship systems when we don't even know the exact number or types of bridge/department head officers that we are able to have onboard? Can I customize my helm officer or will it be a random ensign NPC that gets to fly the ship? Can we have a counsellor? Will operations and science be merged as in most 24th century Trek? What about a communications officer?


I would assume all of the people in the thread so far that have stated such? Maybe?

It's a given that with each release of info, there will be info that is 'valued' more for some, and less for others...

Give them time, man... They'll release the info as they have been.. in spurts, until launch. The next AC might have more info that you deem 'valuable.'

- Peace

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Another important tidbit about their space combat system is that it is fortunately going the way of EVE in that several small ships from brand new players can seriously threaten single ships flown by experienced players. Alot of traditional MMO's aren't like that, no matter how many lvl warriors you get toegether, you aren't going to drop a completely decked out lvl80 warrior.

Good news, even if expected.

I agree, I really like the idea that there is no 'demi-god' mode, where if you are invincable to say 10 'gray' mobs just because you out-level them by 10 (yes I know, no levels).

It adds to both PvP and PVE, in that any enemy may present a threat. One of the things I miss in MMOs is the danger/Challenge, where you can be killed even in a lower level zone if you careless.

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This makes me happy:

Will a gang of smaller ships, say, several Bird-of-Preys, be able to take out something like a Warbird using superior tactics and numbers?

Yes. Since we’re not using a traditional level-based system, smaller ships with good tactics and teamwork can take on bigger ships with a solid chance of success.

ME TOO! This is what makes me think no know this is going to be something great!!!!! Ok I am calmed down now. lol This is what I was hoping for when battles come this is on line to a true Star Trek feel.

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Will there be unique items and equipment to find in the galaxy?

Yes! There will be new items to find during your adventures as well as the ability to create new items or improve existing ones. Sometimes you will need to unlock skills to be able to use a piece of technology you have found. Or if you acquire a new kind of alien technology you may need to study it before you can use it. But if you’re asking about super-secret, super-special items of which there is only one in the entire universe, if we have items like that they will be revealed during play.

I like this and what he means to learning new technology, again hats off love the update and I feel this game will set the standards.

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I want to know if you can disable a players ship

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I want to know if you can disable a players ship

aye and be able to board and salvage other players' ship...? Not saying the other guy loses their ship but I get a copy of all his tech or something?

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Ilike the sounds of that but as far as commands to officers go on individual ships how will that be handled any comments?

Adm. DE Maglio II

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Thank you Cryptic for giving us yet another round of informative information to sooth the savage beasts that are Trekkies!!

Honestly glad to see the level thing wont be an issue, although, I will admit, i will miss the DING sound and satisfaction you get from gaining another level. Although, with the Badge System COH/COV have, i was a badge *****, so I am confident that STO will have just as many great ways to appeal to all of us. That being said..

With the ability to have groups of smaller ships take on Larger ships.. this is going to greatly enhance fleet movements, and game play. Imagine the Players cooperation levels to fly escort missions for the "Big Brothers" of the fleet. This is getting better and better..

Still doesn't mean that I wont try for a Capital ship though LOL

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When in single person mode, like on an away mission, how will the interface work? I played Star Wars for 2 years and they really messed up the player actions. If I can make a suggestion, please make the player just like a single person shooter game. It will keep the decision making in the players hands instead of the developers. I don't want a button that will produce an action, like F1 makes you dive forward and do a hip shot. I will leave the ship functions up to the developers.

Thank you

And just for the record, I am 47 years old and have been playing computer games from the beginning.

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Here are some of my biggest questions and I am sorry if someone has addressed them already....but I was wondering if our ships will be able to emit certain "Star Trek" related beams like Anti-Proton beams, Tachyon beams or even an Inverse Tachyon Pulse to have the kinds of effects we are all familiar with from our favorite episodes?

Will we be able to divert all power to our deflector dishes to emit a huge weapon beam like the enterprise tried against the Borg in "Best of both worlds part 2"?

If the interviewer who does the "Ask Cryptic" columns could kindly ask these questions, it would be awesome and greatly appreciated!!!!!!! If Cryptic adds these types of beams or capabilities, they would truly go way beyond what any MMO or Trek Game has ever offered before! Just think of the possibilities!

:D

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This Ask Cryptic contains answers on power management, exploration and small ship tactics. A big thanks goes out the development team for taking the time to provide these answers!



Read more here! (http://www.startrekonline.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_11-26-08)

Which brings up an interesting question, something I have always been curious about in the Starfleet Command series, which was freaking cool btw.
How long will it take for shields to recharge, this was VEEERRRRY long in the SFC series and will power tweaks affect this.
This info may be taboo at the moment and if its been asked before, my apologies for being redundant.

Regards,
Slade

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we’re not using a traditional level-based system

thank goodness...always hated that level crap :D

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I'm new here. And i'm sorry if this has been asked before.

Is there a release date set? And will there be a one time fee, or a monthly fee to play this?

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what up Everyone?

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Here's a thought...are the ships your able to get based on promotion only, or can you buy lesser ships and switch between them at will?

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Has the dev. thought about different camra angles.
we seen the 3d out side view in space.
but was thinking will they add inside bridge views with interactive bridge controls and displays as with the main viewer display.
example interactive helm controls and displays as well ops, and tactical, science, comm's, navagation,
and capt. postion.?
giving players the feel your in a ship and using systems than looking and giving orders and manually doing things in a 3d outside view only.
but leting players decide how they want to interact with the enviroments.

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In Flashtrek Broken Mirror you can buy weapons, ships, and even illegal items is there a system like this in STO?

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sounds much better than having to wait for things to charge back up.

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Very nice info.

How quickly will you be able to switch power? I am used to making alterations with a thought so it is already an imposition to have to use a keyboard or mouse. How intuitive will the controls be?

Will the game allow for automation of rudimentary tasks? I am really above all of this so you should feel honored I am even lowering myself to play, I definitely do not wish to be encumbered by menial tasks in the middle of combat.

OK seriously, for one sec, WOW purposefully requires many combat mechanics be done manually but on a star ship I think automation during combat would be already built in. Also WOW intentionally keeps breaking my macros and I hate that. I spend a lot of time to make these OP macros and I still loose battles but I like to fight optimally. Will you please give us good macro options that actually imitate a ship board computer and allow me to think about battle scenarios ahead of time and use my abilities in intelligent ways?

OK, now back to the continuum.

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OK seriously, for one sec, WOW purposefully requires many combat mechanics be done manually but on a star ship I think automation during combat would be already built in. Also WOW intentionally keeps breaking my macros and I hate that. I spend a lot of time to make these OP macros and I still loose battles but I like to fight optimally. Will you please give us good macro options that actually imitate a ship board computer and allow me to think about battle scenarios ahead of time and use my abilities in intelligent ways?

While I expect replies along the lines of "That would give a limited number of players an advantage over the rest, so its unfair in PvP!", that would actually fit pretty well into the universe. I'm surprised, I didn't think of that possibility myself. Writing macros for certain actions (e.g. "Ship, turn 45 degrees port, fire phasers, turn to face current target, fire torpedoes") would be the ingame-equivalent for a captain ordering "attack pattern Riker-delta" or something like that. So that's a very cool idea indeed!

Maybe even make such "attack-pattern-macros" shareable with other players?

Anyway, as for the info provided by Cryptic, I just made a big sigh of relief. The magic words have been spoken: "No traditional, level-based system". Gosh, how much I hate leveling. While it can actually be fun in singleplayer games, when there are dialogue-only-quests (such as Fallout 3 recently, for example), in most MMOs its merely timesink.

Someone raised the question what kind of system they WILL be using: I'd bet my latinum on something "Oblivion'ish" (or GURPS'ish, if you know that one), as in most cases "non-level-based" means "skill-based". So your character will probably not go "from zero to hero" like in WoW, but start out knowing some skills on an average level and constantly improve them and learn new stuff along the way. So, by the time you've reached endgame, you don't have an "IWIN-Machine" but rather a specialist in his field, that can still benefit from a newbie-characters skills in other fields. At least thats my wishful thinking.

The energy distribution system sounds great too and it fits into the universe like a charm. Warp cores don't "run out of power", but they can only provide so much energy to the ship. I'd like to see the system from Bridge Commander implemented, though, that allows your core to be damaged, reducing the total amount of energy you have at your disposal.

As for the items... I'm sceptical, to say the least. I very much HOPE that your equipment will not be what wins battles for you, but rather how you handle it. I would be seriously disappointed to know that this brutish klingon bested me in battle just because he's got "Supreme Disruptors +20" mounted on his ship. Or that we'd have to farm dozens of romulan warbirds to get the "Transphasic Modulator"-addon for our torpedo-launchers, before we can take on borg cubes. I think you get the idea. ;)

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With the Klingons feeling burly, it would be interesting to find out what the Lyrans might be thinking or doing about this.

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Can anyone please tell me where can i find this game!? I love it... Pls tell me where can i download it or something or buy just write to me on josifovivan@hotmail.com!



<3 Star Trek

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The General Hailing Freq used in Star Trek.. is based on years of standardization between empires.. but the
Archer era is a great example of learning from new encounters..
A variation of these two great systems and the old private Team speak VOX and Text SFC system could bring more to an interactive experiance for the player and save on the need for outside products to support the fun.
anyone thats played on-line anything for years knows about the international time line and its difficualt to coordinate PAcifc Northwest and Australian time with GMT and midwestran east cost or maritime provances..
Could you add a widget to show world time zomes at the Ships SCI station? Without makign it a SFA Bridge comamnder micro management nightmare?
I believe a Fleet could have a channel if 5 or more reg players type in the same old dos text channels [-1-899?]
Could you explain the General Star fleet Comminications and Directives.. system interface you invision?
oh,yes Go MAgpies!

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it must be difficualt after watching your favoriate football squad on saturday blow 2 away points by giving up a stoppage time header.. then go to the home office and try to programme a responce on early sunday.
Stiff upper lip and soldier on.. we appreciate the dedication.. may father christmas smile on the lot of you.

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Will you have to completely create any character you make from scratch? Will there be pre-sets if you want to make a hybrid or would you have to completely create it from the ground up? I think it would be better if there was an option that you could simply click to string together the attributes and defining characteristics to create the desired hybrid in your character creator system.

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Should one block out 2 hours of the work calendar to begin the process like PnP "Traveler?"
it could be fun to trial a Personality profile system.. like a college or officers aptitude questionnaire.
as so many humours results could lightened up the moment..
Well sir or Madame as you seam to be aware of spanners you'd be a good fit in the engineering section..
It could be like visiting the military recruiters office.. [hey i have a quota for clerks and you're gonna be a clerk]
Could the Avatar be similar to the Lionhead product Movies actor actress face modeling?

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Will you have to completely create any character you make from scratch? Will there be pre-sets if you want to make a hybrid or would you have to completely create it from the ground up? I think it would be better if there was an option that you could simply click to string together the attributes and defining characteristics to create the desired hybrid in your character creator system.

Been wondering about that myself!

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Here is a gift to all the star trek fans out there that did not know about this new project. www.startrekofgodsandmen.com This is a low budget movie directed by Tim Russ who also played Tuvok. Considering that it is a low budget movie I found it very good. I don't want to spoil anything but you are going to find a lot of familiar characters in this movie. It is about one hour a thirty minutes long. Like I said, it is a low budget movie but it was done nicely. I am a big Star Trek fan and I have to be honest that I loved it.

Again the website is www.startrekofgodsandmen.com

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mmmm sounds like the federation is up to its old tricks LOL!

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wow I am eager to get the new game any clue when it will be out??
Thanks all)

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If we are able to draw upon costumes/uniforms that was in Star Trek over the years for our characters, would that include the kind that was used in the original pilot ('The Cage') and the second pilot ('Where No Man Has Gone Before')? Where the only thing that distinguished one shipboard department from another (i.e. Science, Command, Engineering) would be the Star Fleet badge? It was one of my favourites, and the jackets for away teams really made them cooler.

For those whose characters are aliens who are not able to breathe the standard air onboard most ships, would they be able to have costume pieces to chose from to represent equipment allow them to take part in regular ship (and possibly M-Class planets) duties?

Will certain species in Star Trek be toned down to make them fit the balance of the game (i.e. Vulcan's superior strength and endurance, mental discipline, secondary eyelids, touch telepathy, the Vulcan Nerve (aka Death) Pinch, etc.), or those who are lacking be given something to compensate (i.e. non-enhanced humans)?

Speaking of humans, would we be able to have genetically-enhanced characters, like Dr. Bashir?

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this game is sounding more and more fun by the minute, i really cant wait to get my captain-on!

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about the release date when is it?

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Im an avid MMO player, one thing that I look for in an MMO is game content. I want more to a game than just ship to ship battle. I can get that style of game play in several other Star Trek PC games. Will I be able to take my away team, being NPC or actual players, down to a planet and spend several hours exploring said planet? Will I be able to dock at a space station and interact with other player? Will there be an option to board another players ship and interact with that crew and ship? As you can see interaction with other players is an important aspect to me for a MMO.

It's going to be bad enough with every single player being captain of his/her own ship. The Alpha Quadrant is going to be quite over-crowded! Add PvP to that, complete pandomonium! I think this is quite the opposite of what Mr Rodenberry's vision was for Star Trek.

This game could have the potential to be an awesome game, if the devs make the right choices. Don't make this just another PvP MMO!

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Do you expectr random starting points for initial log on?
Where to I keep my Tribbles...do you have tribble day care?

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I have been on alot of rpgs i have seen many styles of rpgs from message board rpgs to triva rpgs an irc rpgs an even email rpgs.

i have even played pc games that were startrek

i want to know if we will be able to really work on a ship such as take the helms or even work at the weapon station in this game

every game i have played was unable to allow me to really get into the game

there also the making of the character will we be able to if wanted say scar or maybe a tatoo like the first officr on uss vogyar

will be able to change there face appearence ya know eye color to hair color even skin tone

i want to know my limts on what will be done in the game


there also been also the lack knowlege base on starfleet academy i am wondering will there be infomation on that

also will there be a way to studies just like starfleet academy maybe even do the g-gravitety training like wolf did when the borg were trying to take over the ship?

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my thought on your post here..(using small ships to attack larger ones) is can you as a captain launch your shuttles or some kind of fighters from your ship..... and have them to attack.... thus your like a battle carryer... kicking butt with both ship and fighters (I am vary new to this forum stuff so... hope i have asked this right)