Star Trek Online

[Jobydrone]

There's an awesome six page cover story on the game in the new Game Informer magazine, available at all Game Stop stores.  There's some great info on the story, play mechanics, episode structure, character creation, and loads of other stuff.  Go get it asap, they will usually give you a copy for free if you ask nicely.  They are saying release is Fall 2009, but Game Informer (read: Game Stop) release dates are about as accurate as throwing bones or reading tea leaves, so take this with a big grain of salt.

[Rico]

Some cool new wallpapers from the game here:

http://www.startrekonline.com/wallpapers

[Jen]

STO has a forum. I signed up as "Sevryll". Hope to see some of you guys over there too. :)
http://forums.startrekonline.com

[Jen]

New Screen shots of game:
http://www.startrekonline.com/gallery/screenshots

[Jen]

Looks like people are beginning to put together guilds, or "fleets". Anyone interested in starting one now?
Here's the link to the post that tells you what to do, and displays examples of fleets that are being formed now.


http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=9791

[billybob476]

I will most definitely be giving this game a try and I'd be more then happy to be a founding member of the TrekSF fleet (or whatever name we give it).

Will we be an RP fleet? I'd assume so...

[Rico]

Years away still for this game....

[billybob476]

Well, never too early to reserve a name.

[Rico]

Well, never too early to reserve a name.

Are you saying player names or Fleet names that will be used in the actual game years from now are officially already being reserved?  I've never heard of something like that before for a game.

[billybob476]

Honestly, not a clue. Probably not official.

[Jen]

Well, never too early to reserve a name.

Are you saying player names or Fleet names that will be used in the actual game years from now are officially already being reserved?  I've never heard of something like that before for a game.

I believe the spokes person made mention of this in the streaming video. I'm pretty sure that's what this is, though it does seem strange to me that they would be forming them so early. :)

[billybob476]

So...any ideas for fleet names?

fuzzybunnykins?

:)

[Jen]

Arabella

Tiberius

Aurora

Treksf

fuzzybunnykins...that would strike fear into the heart of the Klingon Empire. LOL. ;)

[Jen]

INFOGRAMES TO ACQUIRE CRYPTIC STUDIOS, A LEADING MMO GAMES DEVELOPER, PUBLISHER AND OPERATOR



- Acquisition Will Provide State-of-the-Art Games and Technology Expected to Boost Atari's Online Business Growth -

LYON, FRANCE – 9 December 2008 – Infogrames Entertainment, the parent company of Atari, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to fully acquire Cryptic Studios Inc., one of the world's leading developers, publishers and operators of Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games.
The transaction encompasses all of Cryptic's proprietary IP, tools, technology and work-in-progress and integrates all members of the leadership team and employees into Infogrames. This acquisition is a critical step in the implementation of Atari's strategy to become a leading online game developer and publisher.

Cryptic is currently developing three unique MMO franchises, planned for release over the next three years on PC and next-generation consoles, including Champions Online to be released in 2009 and Star Trek Online to be released in 2010. A third game currently in development will be announced in the near future.

Established in 2000 and headquartered in Los Gatos, California, USA, Cryptic has a proven track record of delivering successful MMO franchises (City of Heroes and City of Villains sold to NCSoft) generating over USD 100 million in lifetime revenues and up to 180,000 peak subscribers.
Cryptic is led by a highly experienced management team who shares Atari's vision in online gaming and who has committed to stay with the group. Cryptic employs approximately 150 professionals, comprising leading industry creative, technical and operation experts with a proven track record in delivering on-time, on-budget titles. Cryptic's revenues for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008 amounted to USD 17 million.

Atari will benefit from Cryptic's powerful proprietary engine, scalable content development tools and online server architecture to deliver very high productivity-per-employee and industry-leading client/server performance and create unique, high quality MMO games on 18 to 24-month cycles. Atari will also gain a proven set of high-quality MMO game operating tools for sophisticated customer service and account management.

David Gardner, CEO of Infogrames, the parent company of Atari, said: "The acquisition of Cryptic Studios brings to Infogrames an outstanding creative organisation, with a proven track-record of success in the fast-growing MMO category. Cryptic's success is founded on leading-edge technology and the vision of a seasoned executive management team. I am impressed with the tools and technology that Cryptic has developed to make MMOs less expensive to build. Creating vast worlds and interesting interactions can be very people intensive but with the use of Cryptic's toolset they have a proven way of cutting average production costs in half. This is exactly the type of company we wanted to acquire in order to build Atari for the 21st century."

"We share a common vision with Atari and their leadership team." said John Needham, Chief Executive Officer of Cryptic Studios, "With our game development and online platform technology skills, we're very excited about the opportunities that this unique combination with Atari creates. I am committed to helping Atari grow into a leading online game company and look forward to being part of the team."

About Cryptic Studios

Cryptic Studios, Inc., based in Los Gatos, CA, and established in July 2000, is one of the leading independent developers of massively multiplayer online games. Cryptic is developing three major titles for the PC and current generation consoles, including Star Trek Online, Champions Online and an unannounced project. For more information on Cryptic Studios, please visit http://crypticstudios.com/.
About Infogrames Entertainment and Atari

The Infogrames group, including the Atari brand, is a global producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment software for all market segments and all interactive game platforms including consoles from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony Computer Entertainment, advanced smartphones, Personal Computers, web and online. Its games are sold in more than 60 countries through an international distribution network and direct to consumers via http://www.atari.com/.

Atari's extensive catalogue of popular games is based on original franchises (Alone in the Dark, Test Drive, V-Rally, My Horse & Me, Backyard Sports franchise, Total Annihilation, Outcast etc.), publishing properties (The Witcher, Legendary, Race Pro etc.), international licenses (Dragon Ball Z, Dungeons & Dragons, Jamie Oliver etc.) and classic games covering the entire history of the video game industry (Pong, Missile Command, Asteroids etc).

© 2008 Atari Europe SASU. All rights reserved.
Champions, Champions Online, and Cryptic Studios are trademarks of Cryptic Studios, Inc. STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of CBS Studios Inc and used with permission.

[Jen]

Latest Update to the STO Fiction:

EARTHDATE 2008.12.05
The Path to 2409: 2382

The unstable situation of the Romulans continues to be a source of concern for the Alpha and Beta quadrants.

The loss of agricultural planets now claimed by the Imperial Romulan Empire threatens Romulus with severe food shortages. Romulus' power plants and factories cannot increase output without the heavy metals and dilithium that once flowed from Remus.

To avert the looming civil crisis, Praetor Tal'aura reluctantly accepts food shipments from the Federation. But she refuses the Federation's offer to facilitate negotiations between her and Empress Donatra, saying that it is an internal Romulan matter.

Tal'aura charges her proconsul, Fleet Commander Tomalak, with retaking the planets held by Donatra. Tomalak appoints Admiral Taris as his second in command and orders her to re-organize and mobilize Romulus' remaining military forces.

Seeking to stabilize the homeworld, Tal'aura agrees to reform the Romulan Senate. A reorganization commission selected by Tal'aura votes to allow her to appoint senators directly rather than holding elections, and she packs the Senate with her supporters. Leaders of the Romulan-Vulcan Unification movement petition Tal'aura for representation in the Senate for themselves and the Remans, but Tal'aura declines to respond to their request.

The makeup of the Romulan Senate angers Romulan nobles, who dominated the Senate prior to Shinzon's takeover but now hold only a handful of seats. Representatives of several of the noble lines argue that for centuries the Romulan Senate has been a partner with the praetor in governing the empire, something that a weakened body beholden to Tal'aura cannot be. The Line of Tellus goes so far as to denounce Tal'aura publically and withdraw its members from government service.

The Klingon Empire takes advantage of the weak position of the Romulans to stage lightning strikes into Romulan space, retaking Khitomer and the sector surrounding it. The Federation Council criticizes the move, but Ambassador K'mtok responds that the empire is simply reclaiming territory that belonged to the Klingons by right.

Thwarted in their attempts to find a role in the Romulan government, the Unification movement, represented by Ambassador Spock, presses its case with the Federation Council. The Council takes up the matter of formally supporting the Unificationists, but is heavily influenced by Councilor T'Los of Vulcan, who states that the result of the unification of the two races cannot be predetermined, while the probable course of the Romulans and Vulcans remaining separate can be reasonably predicted. Therefore, her only logical choice is to protect the Vulcan way of life by opposing unification.
The council does not reach a decision on whether or not to support the Unificationists, and votes to table the matter.

A legal issue of interest to analysts in the Federation is rights for artificial life forms. On Stardate 60334.46, Admiral Owen Paris of Starfleet Research and Development orders that the mobile emitter brought back from the Delta Quadrant by the USS Voyager be taken to Starfleet's facility on Galor IV for study.

The Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH) known as The Doctor files a lawsuit to block the transfer of the mobile emitter, arguing that he is a sentient being who acted as a member of Starfleet during Voyager's time in the Delta Quadrant and that the mobile emitter is necessary to his quality of life and performance of his duties. The office of the Judge Advocate General issues an injunction against the transfer of the mobile emitter until it can study the case and issue a ruling.

The Bajorans and their allies continue to press for the Cardassians to surrender members of its government and military to stand trial for war crimes. But over the course of four months, 472 Cardassians wanted by the Bajorans disappear from Cardassia Prime.

The Cardassian government reports it is attempting to determine the whereabouts of its citizens. The Bajorans respond by accusing the Cardassian government of willingly assisting fugitives.
Ro Laren completes her time in Federation custody and returns to Bajor. She accepts a commission in the Bajoran militia and is appointed head of security for Deep Space Nine.