Greetings all,

I want to start off by saying that my STO experience at this point in time is somewhere around 3-4 hours, so I am nowhere near as seasoned as most of the people here when it comes to gameplay. I did want to take a moment and comment on a few of the things I have seen on the community forums.

Due to my inexperience, I have spent a lot of time browsing through forums to help fill some of the knowledge gaps that I have. Now that the game has gone live around the world, the number of people doing the same has probably increased exponentially.

I have noticed that whenever someone posts an opinion, a complaint, or feedback that a vast majority of the responses are crafted in an attacking manner. I struggle to find the reason for the relentless attacks on individuals here who take the time provide their perspective on the game. Do we really want to be a community that smacks of arrogance and cynicism? Adopting this style of communication within the Star Trek Online community is really only going to erode one of the things that makes MMO's so enjoyable (building relationships with new individuals).

I would like to personally challenge everyone to try and be a little bit nicer so we can continue to grow the community into one that is productive and enjoyable by all.

perhaps you mistake lolflame for a real ack ack attack?

There's a distinct divide at the moment between:

1) Trek fans that want the game to respect established series/film canon

2) MMO players looking for something new and interesting to play

Both groups want STO to be a great game but have differing opinions on what makes 'a good game'

The recent debacle over weapon colours is a good example - Most (but not necessarily ALL) Trek fans want the colours to adhere to established canon whereas those players not really that interested in preserving the history of Trek want (not unreasonably) customization.

Obviously, this is a simplification of what's going on and there's grey areas too (I sit in the middle of those two groups) but you can see why there's some conflict on the forums at this time.

It's not all bad though, and there's plenty of people out there that will help - just be prepared to have a thicker skin than you might have otherwise thought necessary...

So you've discovered trolls.
I'm sorry, they are a particularly nasty bunch. Trolls are folks who, as children, would sneak onto their dad's CB radion while he was passed out drunk and say things like "Truckers suck!" just to get a rise out of the truck drivers. They'd never dream of confrontation in real life for fear of having their ugly little faces smashed by whichever 3rd grader with whom they might have disagreed. They aren't really mean or hateful. Just really really sad.

So don't let them ruin your gameplay or forum experience :-)

Well, as you point out, Star Trek Online is an MMO. Now, the forums here aren't the friendliest I've seen for an MMO. That's true. But they're far from the worst.

I think there's always going to be a certain amount of arguments, disdain, insults and such thrown around in a community of this size. That's just the nature of the Internet.

Personally, I try to keep my posts as polite as possible, even if I'm disagreeing with someone. But I admit I've made posts that were dripping with sarcasm and thinly-veiled annoyance. It's easy to slip into that on forums.

I will say this: STO is a new game. Right now things haven't settled down yet. A few months from now, I bet you the community will be a lot more stable.