ATARI AND CRYPTIC STUDIOS BRING THE FOUNDRY TO STAR TREK™ ONLINE

ONE-OF-A-KIND COMMUNITY AUTHORING TOOL PUTS PLAYERS IN THE CAPTAIN’S CHAIR

(Los Angeles, CA) March 31, 2011 – Atari, one of the world’s most recognized publishers and producers of interactive entertainment, and Cryptic Studios, creators of the acclaimed City of Heroes and Champions Online, announced today the release of The Foundry, a unique suite of robust community authoring tools unlike anything else created for MMOs.

Designed for players of Star Trek Online by Cryptic’s own diehard Star Trek fans, The Foundry is a compelling new addition to Star Trek Online that grants players the opportunity to create their own in-depth missions and share their creativity with other members of the community. The Foundry empowers users with the same tools that Cryptic’s own development team utilizes to build Star Trek Online’s engaging content. For the first time ever, players can contribute their own fully developed interactive stories to the Star Trek Online universe.

 

“The Foundry is a type of tool all of us here, as Star Trek fans, have been eagerly anticipating for a very long time,” said Daniel Stahl, Executive Producer, Star Trek Online. “The universe of Star Trek Online is constantly growing and improving, but now we are empowering users so that they may finally create their own Star Trek stories, missions and memorable characters inside our persistent game world. This is something truly special and we couldn’t be more excited to see what creative fans come up with.”

The Foundry is a proprietary addition to Cryptic’s internal game engine, which powers Star Trek Online, Champions Online and the recently-announced Neverwinter.

Cryptic Studios will periodically feature missions created by members of the gaming community. These “Spotlight Missions” will appear on the Star Trek Online website and receive special attention within the game.

Star Trek Online: Jumped the Shark

I just went to check Star Trek Online, and see if the updates have brought it back into line with the game I would love to play, but my disappointment in the game was only magnified when I saw that the Star Trek Online store had been updated with new items including this:

This felinoid race has been a loyal member of the United Federation of Planets since the 23rd century. Now is your chance to have one on your bridge! Purchase of this option allows you to create Caitian Federation Officers. These Captains begin with the Feline Instincts trait (20% bonus to Stealth Sight, 10% boost to Exploit damage, 75% increase to jump height, 10% chance to dodge half of the damage from ranged attacks). They may choose two additional traits, one of which may be the new Pounce trait (25-foot lunge melee attack power).

Yup, Star Trek has added furries to the game. I am sure the weird people that are “into” that sort of thing will be excited. I am really not impressed with the direction the game is going in. Maybe I am just not the type of person that should play MMO’s, but I keep hoping for a science fiction MMO that really captures my attention.

Torn between worlds, every gamers growing problem!

Currently i have been having a difficult time deciding on which MMO to play, i am a die-hard Everquest 2 player and can be found on the Crushbone server every night until the wee-hours of the morning. But recently i have been getting that blah feeling, i have completed all the quest with in the last expansion that basically are solo or heroic, i have not done the raid content or the group instances just yet as i just don’t like grouping with just anyone or PUGs, i do have a great guild “The Knights of Marr” behind me that gets together and works on knocking out these types of Zones, instances and group quest. We are not big enough or at least we do not have the active numbers to do the raid content that i would like to do, but they are a great bunch of people that i can call family.

But enough of the mushy things, the main thing is i have grown bored with Eq2, i do not want to cancel my subscription or stop playing eq2 as i love what SOE has done and has evolved the game over the years, i do however want to find something that i can gain as much passion for as i have with eq2 over the years. I have tossed the idea of going back to World of Warcraft, i have seen some new screenshot of the upcoming expansion and things look awesome. i originally left WoW due it it being too cartoony and felt like there were more 12-15 year olds playing, and didn’t want to deal with all the drama that was happening on the server or in the chat, plus the folks i original started playing WoW with left the game and i didn’t have the companionship of my friends or a guild to fall into the players, so i went back to Eq2. As i mentioned before that i have recently seen new pictures of the upcoming expansion of WoW and wanted to jump back in, but i am torn between all the MMO’s and the time that i will need to direct towards playing as i still want to continue playing the current MMO’s that i am associated with.

I also have an account with Star Trek Online, which i think is a well rounded game for as far as i have progressed (Lt. Commander 2), i grew up with the original series or at least the re-runs and fell in love with the movies and different spin-offs of the series. When i heard that they were making a video game, i was excited and could not wait for it to be released, to me it was one of those must have games and i have not been disappointed so far.

So this is where it brings me now, my delimia per say, what to do, do i re-enter the world of Azeroth and work my way up to my current expansion “Wraith of the Lich King” or do i just wait till the expansion comes out and then re-enter this ever changing world or do i just scrap the idea in general until i can manage the time to play all the MMO’s that i want.

I guess only i can make that decision and i need to consider the pro’s and cons of my choices, i will still find the time to enter the world of Norrath and Deep Space for any exploration and adventure, it’s just the time issue since there is one of me and 4 games, if not more that i want to continue to play……..now where did i put the human replicating device……hmmmmmmmmm wonder what this button does…(click) AhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhEwwwwwwwwMmmmmmmmZzzzzzzz…………

Well until next time happy hunting in all the worlds that you may call home.

 

~Chubbylilbuddy~

Movie/Television IPs and AAA MMOs – Star Trek Online

It’s not a secret that often when a movie or television property is made into a video game, the result is mediocre at best and a complete flop at worst. I’ve often wondered if this is because there’s a thinking that goes on at video game publishers that when you have a licensed IP you can cut back on the development and allow the product to make money based solely on the strength of marketing and popularity of the source material alone. What happens though when this mentality is transferred to a AAA MMO game? I believe we’re seeing some of that right now in the latest installment of the ongoing controversy that is Cryptic’s Star Trek Online.

Star Trek Online has had a rocky start already with the players. The original promises were largely scaled back to an experience that was 90% Federation, 99% solo gaming and 100% space combat at the beginning. The second of the initial two factions the Klingons were a tack on, with no quest content of their own and only pvp to skill up and move on. The initial reviews were mediocre to good, nothing exceptional considering the hype that was generated around the game. Since that time much has been added to the game to make it more fleshed out, some of it welcomed by players and some of it not. The latest news is something that has the players up in arms for what I think are some very good reasons.

Cryptic announced they would be setting up an Advisory Council made of players to be the liaison between the community and the developers, an idea that has seen some success when implemented in other games. Unfortunately Cryptic’s announcement has invited much criticism from the players, centered around how the choice of council members was made. It seems, according to Marcom Manager Ivan-Cryptic:

“The first batch of participants was a starting place decided upon by a social networking firm that works for our folks at Atari. They gauged interest, received responses, and settled on a decent place to start the effort.”

In EVE Online, the Council of Stellar Management is an entity made of five player representatives that are voted on by EVE players, and accountable to the community via a message board on the official website. Terms are limited to 6 months and the satisfaction with the program is high among the players. Cryptic decided to take another path, namely hiring a marketing/social networking firm to choose the Council. No regulations were announced about how long these people would be speaking for the community and no mention of any procedures put in place to see that they’re accurately representing the views of those in the playing community. It’s bad form and inviting trouble when you try to place a set of players over any others and that’s exactly what’s happening now.

What bothers me most though is that Cryptic seems to be less interested in what current players have to say and more in what will bring other people from the larger Star Trek community into the game. It’s a short sighted way to think and doesn’t really show concern for retaining their current population. Here’s another quote from Ivan-Cryptic later in the thread:

“… maybe we could find a better way of approaching them. Like, maybe we could speak with people who run Star Trek conventions, other Star Trek fan clubs, Star Trek exhibitions, etc. Maybe we’re already doing exactly that.”

Are those the people you need to talk to about changes you’re going to make to your game? I normally don’t listen when people are hysterical about things but the claims of the council in Star Trek Online being just a “PR stunt” ring a little truer given statements like that.

What do you think about the marketing of Star Trek Online, is it neglecting the players who are currently playing at the expense of trying to bring in more? And how do you think this relates to Bioware saying recently that the upcoming Star Wars: TOR MMO must reach 1 million subscribers to break even on production costs? Would love to hear what you have to say.

STO – Season 1: Common Ground Fact Sheet

Our latest content update, Season 1: Common Ground, is releasing shortly. Here’s just a bit of the updates we have headed players’ way.

Lifetime Subscriber Perks

We’ve put together a special thank you package for our Lifetime subscribers:

·         Classified Access Codes – A free C-store item.

·         The Captain’s Table – A special social area exclusive to Lifetime subscribers, available to both Federation and Klingon captains.

·         Special In-Game Title – “Career Officers” are those who’ve joined Starfleet or the KDF for the long haul.

PVP Updates

·         Wargames – Federation players can now participate in PvP against one another to better prepare for the dangers of the battlefield.

·         New PvP Map – Explore “Shanty Town,” a brand new Ground Assault map available for both Klingon and Federation players.

Customization

·         Off-Duty Uniforms – Experience Risa in style! Starfleet officers will have the option to change into off-duty outfits to enjoy more casual attire.

·         New Stances and Hairstyles – Further customize your Captain by changing his or her hairstyle, or adopting two brand new stances: Stern and Relaxed.

Ships

·         A New Klingon Battle Cruiser – The K’Tanco Battle Cruiser has been made available to Klingon Lieutenant Commanders.

·         Klingon Ship Customization – Use the ship tailor to customize your Bird of Prey or Raptor.

·         Respec Is Here – Unhappy with your Captain’s loadout? Use the respec tool to change things up.

Missions

·         New Fleet Actions Everywhere!

o   The Big Dig – Available in Romulan space.

o   DS9 Under Siege – The True Way has attacked and boarded DS9. Repel the invasion to save the day.

o   Klingons Can Play, Too – Klingon Captains may now access the Crystalline Entity, Big Dig and Breaking the Planet Fleet Actions

Skills

·         New Skill: Starship Attack Vectors – Improve your ship’s accuracy and critical hit chance.

·         New Skill: Combat Maneuvers – Improve your ship’s evasion and turn rate.

·         New Skill: Starship Battle Strategy – Improve your ship’s critical hit severity and damage resistance.

In The C-Store

·         New Bridge Variants – All new ways to update your Bridges’ look, available for a low price in the C-Store for both Federation and Klingon ships.

·         Federation Ship Variants – New takes on your old favorites, available for a low price in the C-Store.