CAPTAIN'S BLOG
Blog History
- + 2016
- + June
- + May
- + April
- + March
- + February
- + January
- + 2015
- + December
- + November
- + October
- + September
- + August
- + July
- + June
- + May
- + April
- + March
- + February
- + January
- + 2014
- + December
- + November
- + October
- + September
- + August
- + July
- + June
- + May
- + April
- + March
- + February
- + January
- + 2013
- + December
- + November
- + October
- + September
- + August
- + July
- + June
- + May
- + April
- + March
- + February
- + January
- + 2012
- + December
- + November
- + October
- + September
- + August
- + July
- + June
- + May
- + April
- + March
- + February
- + January
- + 2011
- + December
- + November
- + October
- + September
- + August
- + July
- + June
- + May
- + April
- + March
- + February
- + January
- + 2010
Where's the Star Trek?
Captain's Blog Stardate 91580.51
Today I was thinking about Star Trek in general, not just STO, and how it's progressed over the years. The original series had a good mix of exploration, battle, and problem solving. I think that's why it became so popular. Even the movies with the original cast had their mix of these.
We move to TNG which I feel captured the spirit of Star Trek perfectly. This could be because it was on TV much longer and had time to evolve. DS9 and Voyager were different. They each had their fun exploration and problem solving episodes, but I always felt that these two really focused on combat above all else. Finally we have Enterprise which was interesting because it was based on the early days of Starfleet and honestly I don't think it'll fit into my whole point.
So here's my question and point of this post, what is STO missing to make it feel more like Star Trek and would it be possible to have it in the game? One thing that I feel would made this game perfect is some sort of "true" exploration. What I mean by this is a way to head out into deep space and coming across random planets or anomalies and doing something about it. This would require a lot of work though. It would need some sort of program that could pick random scenarios and put them together to create a unique mission.
I just feel that there is too much combat in STO and the whole idea of exploration has been forgotten. What I loved about New Romulus was this huge map that I could explore and find secrets in. The Dyson sphere could be something like this. It's supposed to be huge and we're stuck in this little corner of it fighting the Voth. What about the rest of it? Maybe I'm asking for too much, but I would love to be able to explore strange new worlds.
What do you think is missing from STO that would make it feel more like the Star Trek that we've come to know and love?
Written by Attilio on December 22, 2013 at 10:49 pm
Comments
December 23, 2013 at 12:22 am
Personally, I think you are absolutely right. Cryptic has tried to bring this major aspect of the Trek Universe back with the star clusters and the "To Boldly Go Missions." It would make me cry if Cryptic opened up the Gamma Quadrant with the Release of Season 9 Just think about it exploring the Gamma Quadrant eluding Jem'Hadar patrols. This game has so much potential, and only a small part of it has been filled. On top of all that STO is missing major planets and maps like list as follows:
1. Starfleet Headquarters
2. Feranginar
3. Betazed
4. Federation Headquarters
And if there was a better ship explosion animation that would make me very happy I mean seriously %99.9 of every fight in Star Trek you see debris like when a Borg cube blows up there is debris why cannot a dying players ship generate that and make a nacelle fly off or something watching a ding ship do a barrel roll and disappearing after dying is tiring MAKE ME WANT TO DIE IN SPACE COMBAT PLEASE!
Bottom line STO has lots of room for improvement and Cryptic is doing a very good job at using it.
December 23, 2013 at 03:28 pm
Won't disagree. At current, the only exploration areas are the little anomaly zones where you can scare up somewhat random missions.
That's a bit light for exploration. Granted, the Alpha quadrant is at war (sort of). But all things considered, the Fed/KDF conflict is almost a formality except in a very few places.
What might be interesting is a series of exploration missions that generates in a specific zone and truly sets the player on his/her own for a while. And I do mean ALONE. Right now, you can get back to ESD or Quo'nos pretty much in an instant.
What if you couldn't do that? What if you had to traverse space that really stuck you out on the sharp end of exploration. You have what you have and only successfully making a first contact gives you a place to trade for things or sell drops.
I could write up tons of ideas in this area, but I'd have apost that put people to sleep if I tried!
December 28, 2013 at 03:14 am
Hi Folks,
Since F2P I got me and got rid of two successive accounts with lvl 50 toons just because I missed the Star Trek feeling of Gene Roddenberry´s creation. I could not find this general Star Trek thing in STO. Since some time I play a third account (and more) and have come across the Public Service channel. This gave me the idea to have a real life Star Trek experience by helping other captains. I set up The Help Channel. Introducing in the new year (2014) a General Help Desk with official Business Hours to ensure that there will be an Assisting Officer online. If a captain needs help or assistance it is available during business hours. So this will hopefully get me some real life Star Trek feeling just by helping and assisting others.
If you like this, join The Help Channel, if you want to put some real life time into this, contact me per in/game mail.
Live Gorn and Proper.
December 29, 2013 at 03:50 am
Imho, you can't do much exploration in an MMO with that many players.
If you really want to do exploration all alone, you have games in development like Star Trek Excalibur ^^