Before I bought LOTRO, some WOW people I know were like "hmmpf. I hear bad reviews about it." LOTRO rocks! You can actually find people to RP with (sporadically), and the visuals are really good even on an outmoded X700 card. I think the Star Trek MMO will probably not reach the popularity of WOW (unless ST XI is a huge hit) - but the richness of it, particularly once the fans start creating content, will be unparalleled, perhaps comparable to NWN which saw some of its best modules created by fans.
You realize that in the long run 'those people' (like me as I'm 45) either HAVE the disposible income to pay hardware, cost of the 'box' with the client inside (usually $50 - $70) and the monthly subscription fees, right? The 13 - 21 crowd usually can't/doesn't want to commit to an ongoing cost; so either way, it's the folks my age (well say 30+ or so) that are usually doling out the cash for this stuff. MMO developers don't usually cater to the 'younger' crowd as they usually don't commit the time or in some cases patience it takes to get ahead in them. Hell, my World of Warcraft Guild has an 21+ min age member policy (they of course make exceptions for Family members) because we need a level of maturity when it comes to Raiding upper level content and other issues. I'm sure both younger and older people will play this game, but I can guarentee that they're not aiming this at the younger crowd.
Actually there has been some studying done on the demographics of MMO players. The average player is 26 years old and male. My previous estimates of 18-30 were wrong. Demographics in PDF format.
I talked to a cryptic guy today. My interpretation is that the game will be released about a year from now, with not top of the line graphics cards needed. Too early for beta testers. More after the talk.
Just the ones that want to complain about the game and how it doesn't sync up with TOS in every single way.
Probably just the X360 as another MMORPG of theirs, Champions Online, was released for the PC and X360.
Looking at the CNN article this is looking interesting. Hopefully they will keep to the canon but the prospect of being able to create our own alien races is very cool. Would like to see how we can roam around our own ships. I wonder if we can recruit other players to serve on our ships?
Um Not I and that is a dim view of the fans of the classic show. To be honest I can't wait to hop into my starship and begin exploring the 25th Century,
Cryptic flacked its upcoming gameplay debut (and webcast) to the Associated Press, and the wire was a taker. Yesterday, the AP moved an interview with Jack Emmert, Cryptic's chief creative officer, and he gives gamers an idea of what to expect, what not to expect, and a little of how the deal went down when they acquired the title from Perpetual Entertainment. Or, well, the license, because there is nothing developed by Perpetual that's going into the game. "We took no assets," Emmert said. "There was nothing to be had, to be honest. We're building everything from the ground up." Emmert also assures us Sunday will be a bonafide gameplay reveal. "You're going to see the actual game working and functioning," said Emmert. "This isn't renders. This isn't concept art. Everything that people will see on Sunday is going to be taken right from 'Star Trek Online' as it stands today, so hardened people should know that a release date might be closer than they think." If you don't want to read the whole thing, here are the high points: • The game will be set a few generations following the last Star Trek film, so no Kirk, Picard or other familiar faces in the game. • "There might be a ship called Enterprise flying around, but it's probably not the same ship anymore," Emmert said. Worlds and galactic locations familiar to fans will also be in the game. • Characters can be created from existing Star Trek races, or new alien species can be invented altogether. • "There's going to be tons of space to investigate," says Emmert "We have a great system for exploration, which will allow for almost infinite possibilities."
It was a great overview of the game that has made me quite happy for the most part. Love the idea of you and your ship discovering and making first contact with new races and finding planets that no players have been before!. You could then end up with a unique and rare skilled crewman from that newly discovered world. The video from both the webcast and the gameplay trailer itself are available on the official website http://www.startrekonline.com/videos.html
I'm pretty excited about it having watched the webcast and trailer. I was pretty ambivalent about the idea of everything being a captain, but I really like the idea of being able to control the bridge crew and customize them to a degree. Instead of just having one player character, it sounds like I might be able to enjoy having multiple ones to degree. I'm also loving the idea of being able to create your own race, but I'm not too enthused at the very stupid races you know other players are going to make as a '"joke" but oh well. The trade off will hopefully be worth it. I'm definitely looking forward to giving the game a try! My only problem is I LOVE the idea of being a part of the Romulan Empire, and they said that will be a playable faction later on, so if I get too attached to my Federation ship, it might be hard for me to start over. Hopefully defection will be an option.
i wish someone had asked if the game was going to be solo friendly. that is my biggest problem with CoH and CoV (they are not solo friendly at all). overall, it sounds about like what i'd expect. you are leveling up your ship, your crew sounds like your 'talent points' from WoW (level up, get a new crew member to place to gain some new skill). ground based stuff sounds like you're playing a mastermind/hunter. building space ports sounds like the super group base building that they did. it's got potential, i just hope they arent going to try to rush it out.