Warp Speed

That’s what it seems like anyway. I’ve been back in STO a little over a week and I’ve already run through all of the Featured Episodes, so now I’m pretty much doing stuff at random.

I’ve checked out a couple of the dailies. I need to do more before I can pass judgment, but my first impression is that they’ve been improved from when I was doing them previous to my near-year-long break. Back then it seemed like they were just the same five or six missions and themes combined in different ways to make them appear to be different missions, but in reality they were almost exactly the same every time, and it got pretty boring pretty quickly.

I also did one of the player-created missions. It wasn’t as good as the ones created by Cryptic, but I will say it was entertaining enough and held my interest all the way through. This is one of those things that I fully expect will improve over time, as those who enjoy creating these missions get better at making them and the Foundry software improves. I’ll probably take a look at the other two that are already up, and I look forward to more.

There are still many missions I haven’t tried, particularly those which require a team. Frankly, based on my experience last time I did one of these, I’ve been avoiding them. Nothing, and I mean nothing, pisses me off more than spending two hours getting most of the way through a multiplayer mission only to have my teammates bail out and find myself with no way to finish it.

Oh yeah, and also in the Pissed Off Department: For some reason Blogger’s post editor has suddenly decided to take a shit on me and refuse to load properly, so I’m now using Windows Live Writer to post. Normally I’m not a big fan of these kinds of free Microsoft tools since they’re often buggy, poorly designed, and usually tied into their crappy online services, but I will admit this one works well enough for my purposes. I just prefer the Blogger editor because I’m used to it.

One thing I was especially pleased to see in the latest feature episodes was the voice acting. It wasn’t perfect (it seemed to me that Admiral T’Nae had just a little too much emotion in her voice for a Vulcan), but it was a very welcome addition which helps to increase the immersion level.

One thing they haven’t done yet that I’d like to see is create voices for all of the primary NPCs in a featured episode series, including those drawn from the canon. Yes, I know DeForrest Kelley  and James Doohan are no longer with us, but that doesn’t mean Cryptic couldn’t find living actors to voice McCoy and Scotty in STO.

The same goes for any other characters original actors who have passed on or are unable to appear due to price or availability. My understanding is that Cryptic is licensed to use any and all of the Star Trek characters and canon in STO, so this should be a no-brainer and a logical next step in making the game more immersive and attractive to serious Trekkies especially, but also just for players in general, and make the STO experience more like participating in a real Star Trek storyline.

Another thing I really liked was the cutscenes. I only wish these could be a bit longer and flesh out the story a little more. The best thing about Star Trek, what has kept fans coming back for more for over forty years has always been the writing, the stories. In Star Trek, the action and the technology have always served to support the stories, not the other way around. I’d like to see that aspect played up more than it has been until now, and I know I’m not the only who feels that way.

Anyway, that’s about it for now. See ya out there.