When Star Trek Online was first announced in 2004 by PE, there was a lot of excitement online. Because the vision of STO that many thought would come to be was groundbreaking and true to Star Trek and exciting. Sadly, after years of chaos and switched developers the current STO that is out there is a far shake from what I envisioned to be ideal. After years of following the game I decided not to buy or play the game, and I most likely never will, because the core mechanics of the game that I do not like will never change, even after updates and expansions.
Cryptic's STO is essentially a solo-experience and overwhelmingly emphasizes combat. As most reviews point out, there is little Star Trek essence. Major reviewers give the game mediocre reviews. There is no meaningful social interaction in the game. It is a highly instanced universe. The ground environments are barren and soul-less. Exploration and diplomacy are barely existent.
The vision of STO I had years ago that got me excited was this. A true MASSIVELY multiplayer universe. Less instancing. Ship interiors that are fleshed out and functional, and serve a purpose in game for socializing and exploration and training and relaxing. And ship interiors would not be a seperate instance like it is now, it would be part of the space engine. So you could look out the windows and see the planet you are orbiting and control the ship from the bridge.
Space stations would be true places of activity for socializing and equiping and training. There would be Holosuites for games and training. There would be games to be play like Dabo and chess at bars. The game would not be a simulation, because that would not be fun, but would be more accurate and realistic than the arcade-like version we have today.
Gameplay would include combat as a major portion, but exploration and diplomacy would be much bigger too. You would be able to team up with 1 or 2 other players to complete missions and explore space. Exploration would be more fluid and realistic than the sector map we have today.
Guilds would get their own space stations. Guilds could fill up a capital starship if they like as well. That would be true Role-Play.
Housing would play an important part of the game. There would be quarters available on your ship, as well as at space stations and ground locations. At space stations, you would have an awesome view out the window. You could invite other players into your quarters to relax and socialize.
There would be a true second antagonist faction. Something like the Dominion or Romulans or Klingons. A second faction would have it own storyline and housing and ships, and there would be combat between factions.
So that is the STO I envisioned, but will never come to pass. I would have enjoyed playing in the post-Nemesis setting with this kind of game, As was intentioned but sadly, fails to deliver.
---------------------------------------
Interface - Buggy to say the least, and when im not mashing my spacebar i'm clicking repeatedly because server lag didn't register it the first 20 times. Combat on the ground is just ... well lets just say its awful, so you target an enemy thats all good and fine, if he moves behind you or you were not facing him when you targeted him or both (which happens often) your body refuses to turn, meaning that your torso will face him and suddenly your arse is now your front groin and all your WSAD keys are inverted which makes for an annoying time when your trying to dodge the borg (you really do have to run around and keep your distance from them) Ships are limited to 45 degree angles on ascent and descent in space which is a real pain when your trying to fly to someone directly below/above you.
Content - Some of the episodes/quests/missions/whatever are ok i suppose, if you like killing 5 groups of enemy warships repeatedly for hours on end, most of the missions are just variations of go to XXX system and kill and/or scan 5 groups of enemies and/or rocks, and no im not joking, the number 5 and 6 is cryptics favourite number, theres ALWAYS (ok well 99% of the time) 5 or 6 groups of ships to kill or 5 or 6 things that need scanning, or 5 things that need blowing up etc etc you get the picture.
Levelling is capped at 45, purely as they have not finished the 45-50 content etc, most mmo's dont have and endgame at launch which i suppose is fair enough as normally by the time most people have reached that level its taken them a month or two with the endless grind and spiders routine, well in STO its the oppersite, no endgame and 1-45 in less than a week, and im not joking, since launch i have maxxed out 2 characters to level 45 and im bored there is
NO Klingon Content other than go here and kill, PVE is non existant. levelling in this game is a "total waste of time", then again if 4 words were used to sum up STO those would be them with the runner up being "Bored Bored Bored Wristache" or "broke my Spacebar Button".
Multiplayer Interactions etc - Eh ... What interactions, the whole game feels like a singleplayer rpg with a chat box. everythings instanced. theres no need to group up etc, all the quests are retardedly simple.
Graphics- Pretty, nice colours and the attention to graphical detail is nice, but whats the point, just because it looks pretty does not make it good, its like hooking up with a good looking person for some fun and finding out they have no idea of what to do and when they try they fail miserably, leaving you thoroughly unsatisfied and desperate to find something else.
Overall, i feel totally unsatisfied, bored and my spacebar is hurting. if Blizzard (knowing just how much i dislike that company) had the license even they would of done somthing better, but alas, cryptic got it, i really wish that THQ or the likes got it, i tend to enjoy their games.
Perpetual Entertainment image. 2004.
