Star Trek: Online

[Commodore_Rook]

Yeah, I hope, when the Tholians DO debut, they don't put them in a protective suit. Would defeat the purpose. I have a feeling, they will suddenly have some "belt" that provides an invisible protective field or something. They are going to be awesome when they do show up!

 

[Commodore_Rook]

Incidently the "Vault" mentioned in the title of episode one has been confirmed by one of the dev's as the same "vault" that appeared in the "Star Trek: Countdown" comic. The same place that the Narada was outfitted with Borg technology.

Yes, so it is probabaly The Rommies and the Borg.

 

[Noname Given]

Yeah, I hope, when the Tholians DO debut, they don't put them in a protective suit. Would defeat the purpose. I have a feeling, they will suddenly have some "belt" that provides an invisible protective field or something. They are going to be awesome when they do show up!

I think we'll see Tholians at about the same time the up the STO Level cap to 61 and bring in the Iconian storyline they've also been talking about.

 

[Aeolusdallas]

They may be in the ground sections. They'd have to wear protective suits though. I don't know if they could do that from a design point of view. Might look a bit weird.

I kinda of assume that when they do add them they will use body shields to protect them. Otherwise all the hard work of the devs to make them look like souped up versions of the ones in Enterprise will be for naught.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

Yeah, I hope, when the Tholians DO debut, they don't put them in a protective suit. Would defeat the purpose. I have a feeling, they will suddenly have some "belt" that provides an invisible protective field or something. They are going to be awesome when they do show up!

so basically like how TAS handled spacesuits. Makes sense that someone would use that tech for something.

 

[Aeolusdallas]

Yeah, I hope, when the Tholians DO debut, they don't put them in a protective suit. Would defeat the purpose. I have a feeling, they will suddenly have some "belt" that provides an invisible protective field or something. They are going to be awesome when they do show up!

so basically like how TAS handled spacesuits. Makes sense that someone would use that tech for something.

Agreed..

 

[Bird of Prey]

Here's a question about the Foundry... if a user creates a mission that is identical to an episode from any series (recreated with same dialogue), would there be an copyright issues with that?

 

[Pauln6]

Yeah, I hope, when the Tholians DO debut, they don't put them in a protective suit. Would defeat the purpose. I have a feeling, they will suddenly have some "belt" that provides an invisible protective field or something. They are going to be awesome when they do show up!

so basically like how TAS handled spacesuits. Makes sense that someone would use that tech for something.

Early TNG novels had the characters wearing 'Field Effect Suits' instead of spacesuits. I always thought that was a bit dodgy and they avoided anything like that in the show itself.

 

[Bishop76]

Yeah, it was budget friendly dodginess - would have cost much more to create new character models with spacesuits on - let's just put a glowing line around them...

 

[Robert Treat]

I've read that the Terran Empire has been restored in STO. Did Vulcans feel the new Empire's wrath because of Spock's actions?

 

[Commodore_Rook]

I've read that the Terran Empire has been restored in STO. Did Vulcans feel the new Empire's wrath because of Spock's actions?

Not really. I am not sure what their story is, they just seem to be there, being an annoyance. As if the Feds needed ONE more hostile race attacking them!

 

[Noname Given]

Here's a question about the Foundry... if a user creates a mission that is identical to an episode from any series (recreated with same dialogue), would there be an copyright issues with that?

If it's identical down to the actual characters (with NPCs representing the original actors, etc.); yes, it would get flagged.

If it's a hybrid (ie same basic plot, but with original characters, altered dialog, etc.); no.

Basically the EULA and TOS states you have full use of any of the Star Trek IP settings, etc. From TOS through Nemesis; WITH THE EXCEPTION OF trying to create an NPC or likeness of any of the Trek actors. You can refer to their characters, and even use the characters 'off screen' per se; but create an actual NPC that you say IS 'Captain Kirk' (and attempts to capture William Shatner's 'look') is pohibited; because SAG actors retain all rights to their likeness in any media; and said likeness CAN'T be used without permission or compensation.

 

[Commodore_Rook]

Here's a question about the Foundry... if a user creates a mission that is identical to an episode from any series (recreated with same dialogue), would there be an copyright issues with that?

If it's identical down to the actual characters (with NPCs representing the original actors, etc.); yes, it would get flagged.

If it's a hybrid (ie same basic plot, but with original characters, altered dialog, etc.); no.

Basically the EULA and TOS states you have full use of any of the Star Trek IP settings, etc. From TOS through Nemesis; WITH THE EXCEPTION OF trying to create an NPC or likeness of any of the Trek actors. You can refer to their characters, and even use the characters 'off screen' per se; but create an actual NPC that you say IS 'Captain Kirk' (and attempts to capture William Shatner's 'look') is pohibited; because SAG actors retain all rights to their likeness in any media; and said likeness CAN'T be used without permission or compensation.

Unless said actor is dead, such as Bones or Scotty.

 

[Noname Given]

Here's a question about the Foundry... if a user creates a mission that is identical to an episode from any series (recreated with same dialogue), would there be an copyright issues with that?

If it's identical down to the actual characters (with NPCs representing the original actors, etc.); yes, it would get flagged.

If it's a hybrid (ie same basic plot, but with original characters, altered dialog, etc.); no.

Basically the EULA and TOS states you have full use of any of the Star Trek IP settings, etc. From TOS through Nemesis; WITH THE EXCEPTION OF trying to create an NPC or likeness of any of the Trek actors. You can refer to their characters, and even use the characters 'off screen' per se; but create an actual NPC that you say IS 'Captain Kirk' (and attempts to capture William Shatner's 'look') is pohibited; because SAG actors retain all rights to their likeness in any media; and said likeness CAN'T be used without permission or compensation.

Unless said actor is dead, such as Bones or Scotty.

Nope. At that point you need permission from the actor's estate (if there is one.)

Cryptic requested, and got permission to use a likeness of a young Deforest Kelly and a young James Doohan for the Davidian featured episodes where you ran into them, from their respective estates and CBS. Cryptic stated that fact after the episodes went Live on the server.

Like anything else, there'd have to be no Estate and the actor would need to have been dead for 75 years before his likeness became 'Public Domain'.

 

[Commodore_Rook]

Well they have made some good progress so far with the year anniversary coming up. Is it perfect yet? Hardly, but look how long EVE has been out, so STO has a long way to go to be the perfect Trek game!!! I may as bite the bullet and buy the lifetime sub. Perhaps after my sub runs out in June.

 

[Aeolusdallas]

The new engineering report is up.
Among the goodies
Oberth, Vesta and Ambassador class starships
Delta Flyer in C-store in 2 weeks
Vulcan Science ship in 4 weeks

 

[Destructor]

Well they have made some good progress so far with the year anniversary coming up. Is it perfect yet? Hardly, but look how long EVE has been out, so STO has a long way to go to be the perfect Trek game!!! I may as bite the bullet and buy the lifetime sub. Perhaps after my sub runs out in June.

I just recancelled my sub after re-subscribing over Christmas. It's just SOOO boring! Fly here. Fight some ships. Beam down. Kill a ludicrous amount of Klingons. Beam up. Fight another ship. Repeat. God! If the story was compelling it might force me to grind through all this horror, but a lot of the dialogue is really awful, to boot. Gave up in frustration. Gah. Could have been so good.

 

[Commodore_Rook]

Oberth, Vesta and Ambassador class starships

Well about time!!!! Staple ships!!! Not these clunky Crytpic ships we have been given!!

Could you repost the report here please? (can't access forum)

 

[Aeolusdallas]

Oberth, Vesta and Ambassador class starships

Well about time!!!! Staple ships!!! Not these clunky Crytpic ships we have been given!!

Could you repost the report here please? (can't access forum)

Greetings!

Welcome to 2011! We are only a few weeks away from Star Trek Online's 1 Year Anniversary, and the team is as busy as ever! The development team continues to operate at Warp 9, continuing to develop new free content updates and features. The team is happy with how far the game improved in 2010 and this next year promises to bring even more exciting features to look forward to.

First up is the next Feature Episode series featuring a continuation of a Romulan storyline that was introduced at launch. The team is constantly pushing the envelop with these missions and we hope to deliver a quality story and game experience for players of both factions at any level (well at least above level 6). The next feature series will introduce some new storytelling tricks as well as bring with it some awesome new rewards. So mark your Calendar for Saturday January 29th and prepare to experience the first episode in this series - titled "The Vault". This series is scheduled to run for 5 weeks and take us through the end of February.

Next up is Star Trek Online's 1 Year Anniversary which include a weeklong event featuring an old "friend" who will be giving out some fun and collector item worthy rewards on the major faction bases. Bring your knowledge of Star Trek and perhaps your finest dance outfit as we celebrate one year of Star Trek Online together.

In other news the Foundry continues to perform wonderfuly in Beta on the Tribble Test Server. The development team is preparing the first major feature update for the Foundry which will introduce some much requested storytelling features for mission creators. Once this update is on Tribble in February, we will begin to make plans to migrate the Foundry beta from Tribble to Holodeck so that everyone can begin to see the awesome fun that is making and playing player created content.

In addition to new Feature Episode missions, we are also working to go back and rework some of our older content to bring it up to our new mission architecture. I've dubbed these as remastered episodes and the plan is that we will be working on these as time allows with the intent that all episodes will eventually get the treatment. Doing this will allow us to make some long term changes to how away teams function and provide avenues to pursue more complex enemy AI in missions.

One feature that is also underway is the PVE Queue Menu which will at the very minimum allow Fleets to organize, invite and create their own private instances of Fleet Actions. Similar to how the PVP Queue functions today, Players will be able to create private maps and then organize invitees into multiple teams via a lobby prior to starting the Fleet Action. Once everyone is set - all those in the queue will be transported to the Fleet Action and then back to where they were after the action ends. Were'nt available when the invite was sent out? No problem. You'll be able to see Fleet Actions in progress, and if you know the password you'll be able to hop into the action in progress. We hope to extend this system in the future to also include organizing STFs, Replayable Missions, and any other LFG uses we can find that make sense. This is a Season 4 feature.

You may have also seen some of the early postings I've made about the new Duty Officer system we have planned for the release of Season 4. Duty Officers will represent the various departments that make your ship crew compliment different than other player's ships. Every player will have a set number of slots in thier officer roster that they can fill with Duty Officers. These officers will have different specialties and training that they've received at the Academy. Depending on how you comprise your Duty Officer Roster, new abilities, new craftables, and even new game options could open up to you. Locating and recruiting specific duty officers will allow players another form of customization that has become a Cryptic trademark.

There's so many other things in the works, that it is hard to give everything equal justice in this reports. Updated Ground Combat continues to develop, new UI updates, and minor features are all underway as well and you'll have to keep checking the release notes every week to see what was added or improved that week.

In the meantime, there is a lot of other great things happening around the office. Champions Online has set a date of when they will open the doors for Free to Play - starting January 25th. We will be watching closely to see how the public responds to this offer and evaluate whether or not it is something that would make sense for Star Trek Online.

For those wondering about the change of CEO at Atari, I personally feel that this is a positive move for Atari and the support for Star Trek Online has never been stronger. Our subscriptions remain strong and there are new players rolling up new captains every day. The number of lifetime subscriptions continues to grow and I'm thankful for all the support I've received since taking over the EP helm. This is a challenging task to keep us on course, but I hope you're finding that the ship is headed in the right direction, and that we have some great fun ahead of us.

Here's to an awesome 2011 and beyond!

Now on to the rest of the report.


In Testing
These items are currently being tested on either an internal test shard or on TRIBBLE/REDSHIRT
Foundry: Mission Creation Tools
New Playable Vulcan Ship
TNG: All Good Things Uniform
Open Jacket Uniform ("PC Gamer Cover")
Feature Episode Series 3
New playable shuttles including the Delta Flyer

Under Investigation
These issues are hot topics in the QA and CS world. It by no means represents all the bugs we're looking into, but instead new issues that I want you to know we are on top of.
Reports of expired exchange items not being returned to the user
Daily PVP Reward Balance
Fine tuning warp in and out animations
PVP wrap up screens closing too quickly
A way to edit prior captain's log entries
Error Messaging related to "Unable to take down your sale. Please try again later."
Increasing number of players allowed in social zones
Adding a way to obtain the the Guramba Siege Destroyer using in game currencies
Upgrading the amount of content Demo accounts are allowed access to
Ridiculously difficult Borg in STFs
Additional reports of the infamous 1 shotting dual pistol exploration creatures
Better "Aid the Planet" rewards
Distribution of Anomalies in various Star Clusters
Interaction problems in STFs
The Captain's Table
Future Veteran Rewards past 400 days

In Development
These items are actively being worked on by the at this time by the development team.
Feature Episode Series 3 missions
400 Day Veteran Rewards
Ways to boost XP gain while leveling up (new type of consumables)
PVE Mission Queue System (to allow Fleets to run private fleet actions, initiate episode replay etc)
New Ground Combat v 2.0 - major update to weapons and a new over shoulder aim and shoot (optional) reticle system
New Running, Sprinting, and 8 direction of movement animations
New craftable consumable items
New Gorn customization options
New Loading Screens
Imroved Sector Space Map
New Earth Spacedock Exterior and Interior
Andorian Playable Ship
Better ways to promote and inform players about Feature Episodes in game
Ability to spend Atari Tokens as well as Cryptic Points in STO
Reviewing designs of the STFs to determine areas that need improvement and ways to make these episodes better
More voice over and cutscenes in missions
Ongoing support for new Foundry features and updates

In Design Discussions
The lead designers are currently discussing these features for implementation in an upcoming update
Feature Episode Series 4
Duty Officer System (formerly known as the crew system)
New Bonuses, items, craftables, and game mechanics related to Duty Officers
Redesign for Exploration Sectors (and Exploration in general)
Off-Duty Costumes and ways to improve the feature so that costume rules are clearer and better defined
Adding BOFF abilities to power list on the ground (so you can slot them)
New Prometheus, Oberth, Vesta, Ambassador, and Future Enterprise ships
Exchange Updates
STF: The Hive

Long Term
Designs and features being considered for updates further in the future
Converting First Officer to Playable Captain
Fleet Starbases
Fleet Action Updates
More Fleet Actions
More PVP Maps
Updated Game Tutorial and ability to skip it
More iconic locations such as Starfleet Academy, Rura Penthe etc...
Explorable Sol System
Improved Social Planets with social gameplay
More Minigames
More Borg parts for AlienGen
Ability to construct new ships at Starbases
Territory Control War
Deepspace Exploration Concept
Additional Playable Factions (Romulan, Cardassian...)
Android species
Aenar species
Talaxian species
Hologram species
Improved Hair Tech

 

[Commodore_Rook]

Hmmm interesting, thanks!

That sounds like a laundry list for 2011! I doubt we'll have all this by the 2nd anniversary, Feb 2nd 2012! Clearly STO has a LONG way to go.... The weeklies are designed to keep us interested and occuppied while they work on this stuff.