It's About Time, Not Space

So I tried Infected for the first time today. First spent a few minutes getting a group together, then we went in. We had one of our five bail on us just as we entered the system, but we managed to take down the gateway and beam down with just the four of us.

After about an hour or so of battling Borg in the station, team members began to bail one by one until I was finally the only one left and had to quit the mission because there was no way to finish on my own.

Oh yeah, that's right, the reason why I liked STO over EvE was because I didn't have to worry about finding teammates. Apparently in STO, finding teammates to take on a mission isn't the problem, it's finding teammates you can count on not to bail out before the end. Hmm.

I'll try again, of course, maybe even later today. In the meantime though, I'm kind of annoyed at blowing nearly two hours on a mission I'll now have to start from the beginning next time.

Fuck it, I think I'm gonna go play some Bioshock 2.

Gaming In The Real World

It would be great if we had the time to game as much as we want whenever we want, but that's just not realistic for most of us. I've given up MMOs because they were just too demanding of my time or demanded I be in-game at set times it just wasn't possible for me to guarantee. EvE in particular I left because I just couldn't make it work logistically. Now that I'm playing STO, however, I've noticed a marked difference in the way the game is structured that allows me to play when I have time, not only when it's also convenient for others.

Normally, I'm not a big fan of instancing. I come from the EvE school of thought that it's a better game when all of the players are in the same play space. At the same time, though, I must say it's used to best effect here. Instancing allows players like me who log on at weird hours to still be able to find teammates to take on some enemies, and for me, that makes it a significantly better game than one where I have to make sure I'm on in a certain time range in order to ensure that I have something to do.

Right now, I'm taking a couple of days break from STO. There's just too much to do in RL right now. I did log in for a few minutes earlier today, but I doubt I'll have time until tomorrow, when the next winter storm hits. I've been playing so much since I've had it that I think I may have damaged the left button on my trackball mouse. It doesn't trigger reliably anymore, meaning I may have no choice but to replace it if I want to play STO, or really pretty much any PC game. What sucks is that it works well enough just for web surfing and other mundane tasks, but I can't see how I'll manage to survive a decent STO firefight with this thing.

Given that here in New Jersey we're looking at several inches of snow over the next few days, I have a feeling that I may find myself with the time to discover the answer to that burning question.

Running On Empty

Yeah, it looks like I've reached it, too.

There apparently comes a point in STO, at least currently, where you actually begin running out of new things to do in the game. At the same time, however, it's also important to remember that just because you've been somewhere in-game previously it doesn't necessarily follow that you're done with that area.

For example, after I'd appeared to hit a wall in the game yesterday, I checked my mission logs and realized that I hadn't finished the mirror universe mission. I'd tried it and failed repeatedly when I was still a Commander and flying a less powerful ship, so I'd just put that mission aside in the hopes of beating it once I had better skills and hardware. I went back to that mission and was able to finish it this time, but the experience of doing so pointed up for me one of the problems I have with this game in general: The lack of a sense of continuity within the STO universe.

Here's what I mean: When I'd originally gotten the mirror universe mission, I went to the indicated system and started the mission. I got far enough into it to be stuck on the other side of the portal, in the mirror universe, and had to defeat three docked Terran Empire ships before they could activate. This was where I failed repeatedly, and eventually gave up on the mission for a while.

The next time I logged in, I was placed in sector space and offered a button to press that would take me back to where I was in the mirror universe mission. I chose to ignore that and go do some other things to gain more skill points and a higher rank before taking on that mission again.

Now, here's my nitpicky continuity question: If I'm in a mission where I'm stuck on the other side of a portal but I haven't yet made it through and back to my own universe, how is it possible for me to continue doing missions in my own universe while this mission remains unresolved? A good writer could and should have closed this loophole in the mission story text.

For me, that's the biggest problem with STO. It feels unfinished, like there's a very solid foundation and a well-built core structure, but many of the finer details and amenities haven't been installed yet. There's still sawdust on the floor, bits of loose wiring that await connections, windows and doors to be installed and balanced...you get the idea.

Even after participating in several betas, I still don't possess the arrogance to call myself a gaming expert, but I know what I like and what I expect when a game comes out of beta, officially opens its doors, and begins charging players to participate. STO comes close to that, but it's become clear to me that this game should have launched with significantly more playable content than it did, or the content that was released should have been made to be more difficult and time-consuming to get through.. What's available is good, some is even truly great, but it seems like right now for me it's all about my daily visits to the B'Tran Cluster and chasing down enemy signal contacts to finish tweaking the fitting of my assault cruiser.  

As a player who was there at the very beginning, it's becoming harder and harder for me to find new things to do in STO. I'm not saying that's totally the case as yet, but I can see that time rapidly approaching. If Cryptic's got more content ready to go, I hope they release it soon.

I'm considering starting a new toon, but I'd really rather keep working on this one. On the other hand, I just downloaded Bioshock 2, so maybe that's how I'll spend this afternoon...right after I log into STO and see if there's anything that actually does need my attention and piques my interest. First things first, after all.

Y'know, it's funny.  A while back, I said that waiting for STO to go live was like being a little girl who knows what she's getting for her birthday but doesn't know exactly what it will look like when she finally gets it. I still feel the same way, almost a month afterward, that I know and like this game but I still haven't had a chance to see it in its full glory.

By now, you might think I'm questioning my decision to get the lifetime subscription. The truth is that I'm not, at least, not yet. In my opinion, there's plenty of time for Cryptic to finish the job and make this game what it should be. I understand the business realities that may have lead to this game being released before it realistically should have been, and while I'm not thrilled with the less-than-optimal amount of content, the game itself is entertaining enough and holds enough promise that I'm willing to give Cryptic a little more time to catch up.

There's also one other thing I really like about STO, something that helped me become comfortable with the idea of getting the lifetime sub because it helps to ensure that STO will be a part of my gaming life for a long time to come. I'll talk about that next time.

You and Me in the Admirality

Yep, I'm an Admiral now, Grade 4 to be precise. I've entered the Gamma Orionis sector and my first set of missions there last night went pretty well. I now see that there's enough I haven't done in this sector to keep me busy for at least a while, but I'm interested to see how this all plays out over time.

I'm flying an Assault Cruiser now, and I'm having a pretty good time with it. I'm probably not the most lethal captain in the Federation, but I've become a pretty decent PvE warrior and I've got the hardware to back to it up. As far as PvP goes, I haven't seen much of that as yet, but I suspect I'll get good at that over time as I do more of it.

I find I have to keep reminding myself that this is still the very beginning, that STO has still been open to the general public for less than a month. That reality excites me and concerns me at the same time. On the one hand, I've had a great time with this game so far and I'm looking forward to a lot more. On the other hand, I'm concerned that if I'm able to burn through STO's early content so quickly that I'm already just a grade below max in just about three weeks of play, what's going to happen down the road? Will Cryptic keep up with those of us who are already entering the endgame less than a month in, or will we find ourselves waiting for Cryptic to catch up with us?

It's an interesting position for me to be in. With the single exception of Fallen Earth, I've never gotten seriously involved with any other MMO I've been in beta for. As with other MMO's, even in a new game like FE I found myself outclassed by a growing group of players who were already moving into endgame content early on while I was still far behind. In that case, while I enjoyed the game, it just didn't do it for me long term and I eventually left to re-enter EvE for a while, where I was similarly far behind a certain level of player. This time, I'm not only there at the very beginning, but I've set myself up with a collector's edition copy of the game and a lifetime subscription. Instead of feeling like I had to catch up to where others already were in the game, in this case I'm one of those out in front leading the way.

I know Cryptic has some pretty cool plans and so I'm not worried that suddenly there will be nothing for me to do in STO. For me, it's more about wondering if there'll be enough for me to do on an ongoing basis. My life goes through phases where I have more or less free time generally available for gaming, and so I tend to play a lot when I find myself with the time. Besides what I've written about in past posts, one of the big reasons I got a lifetime subscription to STO is that chances are it saves me money in the long run over paying on a continuous plan for a game that I may or may not play a lot at any given time of year. With the lifetime sub, I play whenever I have time and I don't have to worry about spending money on server time I don't use. Yes, I know the logic is a bit convoluted, but it works well enough for me.

What I think will be most interesting to see is how many STO players actually make it to Admiral and join the endgame play. Depending on the time you have to devote to it, getting there isn't really all that difficult. Still, the fact that I was able to put in a couple of eight-hour sessions toward achieving that goal didn't hurt either. I usually don't have the time to do anything like that even once, much less twice, but thanks to a quirk in scheduling I was able to pull it off.

I've barely scratched the surface of endgame play so far, but it's looking good, really good. There's still one question I can't help but ask, though: Why was it so easy for me to get there? And along those lines: Shouldn't it be at least a little tougher to rank up in STO just in general?

Risk vs reward, people. If you make the reward too easy to obtain, it doesn't carry the kind of value it should.

Just one captain's opinion.

Speeding

I dunno, it just seems like it's going a little too fast. I mean, it's just over two weeks since the beginning of head start and I'm almost through Captain and into Admiral. If this is really as long as it's going to take to max out in terms of level, why even bother having levels at all? It just seems to me like a lot more effort should have to be expended to make the higher ranks than required right now.

I am having a pretty good time with this game, but it just seems like what some people are saying is true: It's a bit lighter on content than it should be. That's not to say I'm not still encountering new missions, but also a lot of re-hashes of the same missions with different environments or with or without bad guys to fight.

I'm just hoping that when I max out on Admiral there's still lots of stuff to do. After all, it seems that anyone who plays this game for even a short amount of time is going to be one. Funny how it's so early along in the life of the game, and yet right now it feels like I've almost played it through.

I definitely think they rushed this game out when they should have taken a little more time creating missions and other content. Still, I'll be just as happy if they deliver the content in future patches. The way I look at it is that the MMO and Trekkie communities have embraced this game to the tune of a million registered accounts, and so we should have the right to expect a level of content and updating worthy of a top-ranked MMO. I don't expect miracles two weeks in, but at the same time my expectations are high, higher than they were before we knew for certain that this game would be a hit.

It'll be interesting to see how it goes...

Onward

So, I'm a Commander, Grade 5, now. Obviously, I've been spending a bit of time in-game. It's funny how with a new game like STO you sometimes run into things that aren't really bugs per se, but nonetheless are really annoying and need to be fixed.

For example, at one point you get an exploration mission to the Afehirr Nebula. You're told by the NPC who gives you the mission where it is (off the Psi Velorum sector block), but when you go to your map it's not there. You can't set a course there, you have to manually fly your ship to the end of the Psi Velorum sector block where you'll find the border and be able to warp in as normal. It's all there, it's just not listed or shown on your map.

I'm starting to become more strict about what I bank and what I sell to make an attempt to keep my inventory at a manageable level. I'm trying to hang onto stuff that will be useful to my crew once I make Captain and can promote them to Commanders, but I also like to keep a stock of hypos, shield boosts and power cells for ground combat. I have a lot of RL retail industry experience, and I decided that my biggest user of "shelf space" with the lowest amount of benefit (profit) was commodities. I'd accumulated a lot of these, but with the exception of just two missions where I'd had to deliver medical supplies and astro-something-or-others, I'd found no practical use for them other than to sell for energy credits. So, that's what I did. I sold off just about my entire stock of commodities, though I kept the medical supplies, just in case. Not only do I have a nice cushion of energy credits now, but also a lot more space in my inventory for other things.

Another thing I find interesting about this game is how the storyline missions have slowed to a trickle now that I've made Commander, instead of the virtual smorgasbord players were offered at the lower levels. In short, once you get to a certain point they start making you work for it. Storyline missions are now offered to me one or two at a time, usually after I've done some other higher-level mission or area exploration.

While some may have a problem with this style of play, I happen to like it. It encourages the player to stop and smell the roses, not to rush through. While I'm as motivated to rank up as any player, I'm not playing STO to get the highest rank as quickly as possible, I'm playing to have fun. For me, ranking up is a consequence of having fun (and playing the game well), not the other way around.

I mean, damn, we're in freaking Star Trek! That's the great part about this game, not how high of a rank you can manage. At least, that's what it's about for me, anyway.

Warp Speed

Yeah, that's the reason why I haven't written here in  few days. I've been playing STO. Once my collector's edition arrived and I finally figured out how to claim my bonuses, I started playing, a lot. It's pretty much what I've been doing for the last couple of days. I'm currently a Lt. Commander, Grade 6, about to be Grade 7.

I've gotten pretty good at space and ground combat, too. I don't die all that often (at least at the moment), and I've got myself a nice bank of energy credits for if and when I need them.

There are a few little things that annoy me though. For example, there's a mission where you have to destroy Rubindium asteriods. When you target these things, your ship suddenly announces that you're under attack and declares red alert. Why is a Red Alert declared for targeting a piece of rock that doesn't shoot back? The same thing happens when you destroy B'Vat's empty ship at the end of the Guardian of Forever mission. What exactly is my ship supposed to be under attack from?

There are also many missions that could be explained more clearly, such as ones that take you to the Sierra-39 starbase, rather than the Sierra-9 Outpost (or something like that). Very confusing. I'm hoping stuff like this will be resolved in future patches.

According to MMORPG.com, STO already has over a million subscribers, just two days after it's official launch. That's great, and I think it validates what I've been saying all along: This game is gonna be a huge hit.

So, I'll keep checking in. I never get so lost in a game that I don't surface and write about it. Still, I have to admit that it's been a long time since I've taken up this much of my free time with any single game. Right now, though, it's time for dinner. Maybe after that I'll do a few more missions. I want to make Grade 7 before bed tonight.

Timing Is Everything

It's funny how sometimes when you order something from an online company that features package tracking, it'll tell you the package is in transit until you actually have it in your hands. When you buy from a retailer who ships with the US Postal Service, like Amazon, you can find your package marked as already delivered in their tracking system even as you're still waiting for that day's mail to arrive.

In my neighborhood, the mail would arrive around 10:30-11:00am every weekday, with Saturdays perhaps a bit later around noon or 12:30. It was like this without fail from the time I was a kid. Now we're lucky if the mailman shows up by 4pm. Today, it matters. The tracking page says my Star Trek Online Collector's Edition has already been delivered.

*****

The mail is here, but my package from Amazon is nowhere to be seen. Technically, it's supposed to be delivered tomorrow, so I'm not allowing myself to become upset yet. Still, if it's not here tomorrow I am so not going to be a happy camper.

*****

Even though at times it seems like the servers are down as often as they're up, I'm having a great time so far with this game. I'm still building up my main. She's a Lt. Commander now, captain of a pretty nicely turned out Constitution Class cruiser.

I took a look at the Liberated Borg in the character creator, but decided against creating one right now. I'm thinking perhaps when/if I need a break from playing my main for a while, I'll create one then. We'll see. In the meantime, I think I'll go log in and play some more.

Do I Really Want To Be A Borg?

The truth is, I dunno. I mean sure, as a lifetimer I can create a liberated Borg character, I'm just still not sure I want to play one.

For me, part of the fun of this game (and other MMO's) is recreating myself within its universe. Right now, my main (and so far only) character is Lt. Bekka Jai, a Bajoran tactical specialist. I like her, even though critics may complain that they've never seen a red-haired Bajoran before (at least, not my color...Kira's hair was a bit darker). Hey, there are always new discoveries to be made in the Star Trek Universe, and I would venture to guess that any species with spacefaring capabilities has already long since mastered the art of hair coloring. Male Klingons often wear more crap in their hair than human females, so perhaps it's even a necessary cultural step on the road toward interstellar travel.

Despite myself, I'm already invested in my Bekka Jai character. On the one hand, I do have an interest in creating a liberated Borg character to try out, I'm just not sure I want to focus on one for any ongoing length of time. I expect that sooner or later I'll create a liberated Borg just to see how it is, but I'll admit to a fair amount of ambivalence about it, despite the buff advantages of doing so.

STO, more than any other MMO I've ever played, fills me with a motivation to put as much of myself inside this universe as possible, as opposed to other MMOs where I've usually tried to escape into another persona and bury the real world completely rather than bring some of it with me.

Maybe it's that it's Star Trek, a universe that's been a part of my life for a very long time. I remember watching TOS in reruns on Channel 11 after school as a kid, I read Star Trek comics, I played with Star Trek toys, and when I was older I started reading Star Trek novels, watching new Star Trek movies and shows as they appeared, and generally being as much of an active part of the fanbase as someone who doesn't go to conventions and such usually is.

It's like I feel a desire to roleplay myself as much as possible within the context of the STO universe. A liberated Borg doesn't really fit my physical self-image, but in an odd sort of way the history of such a character does synch with my own. So, there are pros and cons for me in creating and using a libeated Borg in STO, and I haven't worked out my solution as yet.

Many, I suppose, will read this and ask "Why give a shit? It's all about having the best, most powerful character you can to better pwn everyone else!". I guess that's true for some people, but for me it has to be about more than just being an uber-leet (or whatever the hell the term of the moment is) player, it's also about the experience.

I want to immerse myself in this game when I play, and so I did what I did when I was involved with Second Life, I literally recreated myself within that universe as closely as possible, but an idealized, not realisitic, version of myself. It is, after all, a fantasy universe and there's nothing wrong with taking advantage of that reality to refine the personal image you want to present to others by making it more in keeping with the way you see yourself. In other words, it's a transsexual's best friend (and before you ask, the answer is yes, I am).

And so, for now it's Lt. Bekka Jai who will captain her starship, the USS Blackheart, across the vast reaches of the STO universe. Is there a liberated Borg in my future? Maybe. I've got some nifty stuff coming with the STO collector's edition, so I think I'll wait until at least then before I make any decisions. Either way though, I'm still happy with my main and I think she's going to stay my main. I just like her.

Damn, I'm having a great time with this game.

Did This Piss Off Anyone Else?

I preordered my Collector's Edition of STO from Amazon back in December. A few days ago, I get an email from Amazon telling me that for an extra six bucks shipping I can get it delivered on the release date. I'm thinking that I preordered this thing over a month ago, why shouldn't I have it on the release date anyway? Why should I have to pay extra for that?

Of course, I paid it. I want it in my hot little hands as soon as possible, and the alternative looked to be about another week. Still, it kind of feels like my package was being held hostage for an extra week by Amazon for six bucks ransom and that's pretty annoying. One thing's for sure, I'll think twice before I preorder anything else from Amazon in the future. They're fine for books and and stuff that's already in stock, but I'm not happy with this all.

What do you think? Am I being unreasonable here?

Meanwhile...

...as we wait for that magic moment tomorrow when we find out just how stable Cryptic's servers really are, I've been doing a little reading on the forums.

Now before I go any further, I should point out that I have a lot of experience with blogs and discussion forums. I have extensive experience an active forum participant as well as a forum moderator and administrator. So that's the perspective I bring to this.

For me, and I expect for many, MMO gaming is about a lot more than just the game itself. I left EverQuest, my first MMO, mainly because all the smacktalk in chat made it unpleasant after a while. The social aspects of an MMO are important to me. After all, without a good social experience you might as well just go out and buy yourself a one-player game.

I'm not going to name names or link threads, but there have been several posts I've seen On the STO forums that make valid or at least semi-valid points or criticisms but do so in a way that's unpleasant, impolite, and and often just rude. Frankly, I've always believed Star Trek fans were better than that just in general.

I mean sure, we'll fight each other tooth and nail over who was the best Captain or Chief Engineer, but we all come together in our love of the ST universe and it's stories. That's not to say that there's not a good amount of criticism and discussion about that universe, but it's generally presented and discussed in a civil (if often spirited and enthusiastic) manner.

Personally, I think the STO forum has huge potential, some of which is already showing itself. Two things need to happen in order to ensure it's the best it can be. The first one is an easy one for Cryptic: They need to listen to their players and evolve the forums as the game and conversations around it grow and change. Second, there needs to be swift, effective, but most importantly fair, moderation. Those who moderate the STO forums must understand that the diversity reflected in Star Trek is also reflected in its audience, and they must keep that in mind when determining what rises to the level of something requiring their intervention and what does not.

First and foremost, even before the game, it's all about Star Trek, about that universe we all love. If STO is to be a reflection of that universe, let's at least make it as positive as the one we've come to know and love over the years.

Personally, I don't know about you, but I'm having more fun with this game than I have in an MMO in a while, maybe even ever. I mean, it's a pain in the ass trying to follow some topics on the forums when they get into the multi-hundred page range, but it's something I'm willing to deal with (when I have time) because it's a symptom of a large and active player base, which is a great thing all the way around.

The bigger this game gets though, the more likely it is that we'll get more trolls at the STO forums. Here's the thing, though: Not just anyone can post on the STO forums, only registered users with active accounts. That limits the potential problem substantially. No idiots making multiple accounts to post from, no flame-and-runs, no one except paying customers. Now, of course that's a pretty big group and getting bigger, but at least it's one account, one person, for the most part anyway.

The point is that even though the player base of STO is big and getting bigger, the user base of the STO forums is at a manageable level if those who want civil and quality discussion about ST and STO insist on exactly that. In my experience, one thing remains true of discussion forums no matter what the topic or the user base: Moderators can enforce the rules, but ultimately it's the site's users who will determine a forum's tone and its level of civil discussion and hospitality.

Right now, even though it's been around for a while, the STO forum is really still in it's infancy. In fact, I'd bet that most of the participants have started paying attention only recently. Even though I joined the forum back in mid-'08, I've only just begun reading and posting there on a regular basis, mainly because once I was in the beta it suddenly mattered.

The point is that the STO forum isn't a public accommodation, it's a members-only club. If you want to hang out there, you're expected to behave yourself. Being a member gives you access to the exclusive space, but it doesn't give you the right to spoil everyone else's experience.

STO is cool. The STO forums should be just as cool, as cool as the fanbase. And if we truly want it that way, we will make it so.

Now Open Beta Is Really Over...

...and damn that was a hell of a finale!

I have to admit, even though I knew there was some sort of surprise in store, I didn't expect a Borg invasion. That was a lot of fun, but only as long as there were a decent amount of ships in the same area. Trying to take on a Borg ship solo is basically insta-death, and once enough Federation ships had left the area, there was really no point in sticking around. Still, it was a pretty awesome fleet battle while it lasted, and best of all I didn't have to take months to get myself into 0.0 space and heavily armed in order to participate, as you do in EvE. I made it out to 0.0 in EvE, but I never got a chance to participate in a major fleet battle. In STO, I've already been in a pretty decent one, and I'm betting there will be plenty more after launch.

Funny how I love both games but I've already done more varied stuff in STO in terms of space combat than I did in all the time I played EvE. Not that combat in EvE isn't good, but it's just a different kind of combat and one PvE mission is much like another except in terms of strength of the forces you go up against. There's a heck of a lot more variety in STO, and that's not even counting the ground combat, which EvE doesn't have so it's not fair to compare.

One thing that tells me that this game is going to be huge, bigger than EvE, bigger than probably most MMOs, is the forums. It's not unusual to see comment threads going on for a hundred pages or more, and that level of participation tells you something. If there are that many people motivated to participate in the forums, can you imagine how many are participating in the game?

It's no surprise to me that STO is this popular. Each mission I did was at least somewhat unique unto itself, with it's own storyline, graphics, goals, obstacles, giving it the flavor of an episode of Star Trek. One thing I would like to see is a bit more story on some of these missions, a bit more than "Help us! We need you to _______". There are some notable exceptions I discovered that were terrific such as the Guardian of Forever mission, but I'd still like to see more.

Now we really wait a few days. I'm hoping I'll be able to log in Friday and spend some time in-game. After a pretty awesome open beta and finale, I can't wait to see how they try to top it.

Well, at least now I have three full days to get some work done. Chances are, I wouldn't have had much time to play until Friday or Saturday anyway. Works for me.

And So Now We Wait...

...for four very long days.

They finally pulled the plug on STO Open Beta just a few minutes ago as I write this. I can't complain. Despite the server going up and down like a yo-yo during most of it, I got plenty of play time, more than enough to explore and get a pretty good idea of what this game is about, or at least, where it's starting from. I've fought Klingons, Nausicans, and Gorn, I've rescued ships and planets in distress...in fact I've done a hell of a lot.

A pity I never got my promotion to Lt. Commander. I'd earned it, I just didn't get to Earth Spacedock in time to make it official. Oh well, it doesn't really matter, anyway. With what I learned in beta, I'll be promoted quickly enough, especially with the head start.

It's funny. The last time I was in beta for a Cryptic game, Champions, I was thoroughly unimpressed. Lots of people apparently love the game, but it just didn't do it for me. I joined the Champions beta thinking I'd love it because I was a huge comics fan as a kid, but for some reason I just didn't find it to be all that great, certainly not enough to invest real money in. Yet, here I am investing piles of money in a different Cryptic game. While certain aspects of the ground battles in STO are very reminiscent of Champions, the rest of it is completely different. I didn't care for the ground combat as it was presented in Champions, but in STO it works, in large part because the style of combat fits the game better than Champions, and I'm slowly becoming pretty good at it. I just wish is that they'd started open beta earlier so I'd had a little more time to practice.

I was talking to a friend tonight and told her that I'd gotten the STO collector's edition and a lifetime subscription to the game. She thought I was crazy for spending that much on a video game, saying for that I could buy myself an XBox for that money. I had to laugh. What could I possibly need an XBox for when I have a nice, fast, relatively brand-new PC? If I want crappy games with substandard graphics, I don't need to buy XBox games, there are plenty of those for the PC, too.

But I digress...

Actually, while I have no interest in owning an XBox and consider it a source of pride that I have never and will never own one, my friend's comment did get me thinking: $300+ is not a bank-breaker but it is a significant amount of money for me, more than I've ever spent on any single game. Even if you totaled up all the subscription time, maps, and other stuff I've bought relevant to playing EvE I doubt it's as much in total as I've already spent on STO, and the frakking game hasn't even launched yet.

I don't know if it's just the fact that I'm a total Trekkie and had to have it all, or something else. I know I'm critical of video games enough just in general and MMOs in particular that if I didn't really like the game there's no way I'd buy a lifetime subscription, Star Trek or not. I did buy a year's subscription to EvE but RL got in the way and I didn't play very much for the second half of that year. These days, I'm kind of skittish about investing in a game I'm not sure of and tend to go with the quarterly plan, as I did when I played Fallen Earth.

This time, I don't know, it just felt right so I went for it. A game I enjoy playing, based on a sci-fi universe I dearly love, and one that looks like it's going to be hugely popular and therefore successful and long-running. STO gives every indication of being a Trekkie's wet dream that only gets even better over time, and that, for me, is worth every penny. Sure there are technical bugs right now, but if the quality of the game itself, the story, the graphics, the gameplay, stays as high as what I've seen (and hopefully gets even better) I believe this game is going to be a serious contender in the MMO wars.

STO offers me something that an XBox will never give me, and I don't have to play with pottymouthed fourteen-year-olds to get it. Thank Goddess most at that age don't really care about Star Trek, and will go off and kill orcs with other foulmouthed children...elsewhere.

Now I feel like a little girl who already knows what she's getting for her birthday but doesn't know exactly what it'll look like when she tears open the wrapping paper. Sure, I have an idea of what to expect on Friday, but I also know there's a lot we haven't seen yet.

In the meantime, I suppose we can speculate, and perhaps I will, but in my next post. It's now 2am local time, and it's time to hit the sack.

Four days is a long time.

UPDATE: Literally seconds after I posted this, Cryptic announced that they are extending Open Beta until Tuesday at 6pm! Woo-hoo!

Downtime

I know it's beta, but doesn't it seem like the servers always pick the most inconvenient time possible to crash? Sigh...so much for my planned Saturday afternoon. I'd finished up some work and was all set for some STO, but about ten minutes into it the server crashed. A quick trip to the STO website shows that the server is down for maintenance, but no details on the customer service page or in the forums. I have to admit I'm now wondering if Cryptic's version of "Down for Maintenance" is actually a beta catch-all for "Something fucked up and we haven't gotten it fixed yet, so deal with it until we can.".

As always, it's beta, and today in particular it's the second to last day of Open Beta before the servers go down for a week. I've gotta figure that's about as good a recipe for server overload as I've ever heard. Every Trekkie with a decent PC and three seconds of free time is jumping in to check out this game before they'll have to start coughing up actual cash in order to play.

Another thing I suspect may be contributing to all the server crashes and slowdowns is that Cryptic didn't take what I call the "Trekkie Factor" into account properly. What I mean is that, as Craig Zinkievich noted in his "State of the Game" post recently, they underestimated the amount of interest and attention this game was going to get. They studied the models, and they based their expectations upon what had come before. Thing is, Cryptic should have known better. This isn't just any MMO, this is a Star Trek MMO, and that makes all the difference.

There's a major difference between STO and every other MMO out there, up to and including even those based on hugely popular books and movies like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. The difference is that Star Trek is by far the sci-fi universe that's the longest running, most detailed, presented in the widest variety of media, most profitable, most honored, and most collected, with a worldwide fanbase so huge that it makes the subscriber list of WoW look like a sparsely-attended tea party.

Where did we all come from, Craig? We've always been here, patiently waiting over the last couple of years for our chance to play this game, this newest iteration of the Star Trek universe we've all heard so much about. The real question I have is how on Earth or any other Federation planet could you and Cryptic not have seen this coming? You make an awesome game based on the most popular sci-fi franchise on the planet and you didn't expect it to get above-average interest and attention? Really?

Given that it's still beta, I discount such issues as expected growing pains, but I also hope that this has served as a lesson to Cryptic: This isn't Champions, it's Star Trek. You can't administer and promote this game in the same way as one which will likely struggle to maintain half of STO's eventual player base and level of player loyalty. While many of us have played MMO's before, we're not your average MMO players. Trekkies are a breed unto ourselves, and Cryptic needs to learn how to effectively market to and cater to that fan base, not the average MMO player.

Their marketing stumble with the incredibly poorly-planned and executed Del Taco promotion also adds to the evidence that Cryptic and their marketing team really need to take the time to understand exactly who they're trying to market this game to and how to do it most effectively. It doesn't matter if you can offer the best game ever if your marketing is so bad that you end up pissing off players who've already made an investment in your game. In my opinion, the smart move for Cryptic here would be to make the Del Taco shuttle pet available through in-game microtransaction as soon as the game launches officially, and I mean immediately. Remember, Cryptic, we're collectors. Don't offer STO collector's items that only some have access to. All you're doing is guaranteeing yourselves more angry complaints in the future, the very last thing this game needs.

Politicians understand that in order to be successful you need to take care of your base. Mediamakers of any stripe need to understand that the same is true for them as well. Cater to your base, make us happy, all of us. Take care of us, Cryptic, and we'll take care of you.

First Steps Into The Final Frontier

It was only four days before it ended that I finally managed to wrangle myself a key to Star Trek Online's Closed Beta. It didn't really start off well, what with a four-hour client download, but it was interesting enough (and Star Trek enough) to hold my interest and keep playing despite the annoying "betaness" of it all.

Open beta has brought with it continuing improvements, as the game seems to become more polished and fun to play with every patch. I knew I was going to want to play this game enough that I preordered the collector's edition. I was willing to go that far sight unseen just because it's Star Trek. Once I got a taste and good idea of what this game is about, I gave STO the greatest vote of support and confidence any player can offer. I bought a lifetime subscription.

Buying a lifetime subscription to any game this early on has to be at least something of a risk, but I think it's a very safe bet that this game will be around for a while, a long while, in fact. If all goes as I anticipate, I think the folks at Cryptic are going to make a whole lot of money from this game. Still, just the fact that I'm confident the game will be around long enough to make it worth the $239 bucks I just blew on a lifetime subscription wouldn't be enough, in and of itself, to get me to shell out that much (bringing the total with the collector's edition to a little over $300 spent on STO).

No, what got me to drop the big bucks on this game is that it's fun. Even though it's more directed in certain ways than some MMOs, I feel like I'm more in control of my own experience in STO than in others. Until recently I played EvE, and in that game there reaches a point where pretty much everything you do in the game of any significance has to be done in concert with other players. I reached that point, and the problem became that my real life schedule is so irregular that there's really no way for me to coordinate with other players. In STO, I play when I want to (and have time to) play, I team when I want to team, I coordinate with other players when and as I have the time to do so. This game has a lot of what I love about EvE but almost none of what I hate about it.

And then, there's the other factor: It's Star Trek, and because it's Star Trek, it's special. No I'm not into it enough to speak fluent Klingon or anything deeply concerning like that, but I've been a fan just about all my life and so it's a comfortable and fun universe to play in.  

As far as the game itself, right now I feel like I'm just wandering around, learning what I need to learn, trying things to see what happens, all those things you do in beta that you'd probably never dare try once it counts. I'm trying and retrying missions (the last patch gave starter ships a nice power boost and some missions I couldn't solo the first time were beatable afterward), and just basically trying to learn the game as best I can before they wipe the servers and it all starts for real.

For now, at least, it really feels like the final frontier. Everything is new and and just waiting to be discovered. I've made a bet that I'll still feel that way a year or ever two years from now, a pretty expensive bet at that. Call it a hunch, but I have a feeling that it's going to pay off.

Stick around. I have a feeling this is going to get interesting.