If the Season 1 patch for Star Trek Online pushed forward huge improvements to the game's engine, Season 2 looks to expand into several areas players have complained were lacking. Cryptic has just released a preview page detailing several additions, including added Klingon PvE play and six additional levels. The new levels let players reach the coveted rank of Vice Admiral in the Federation and Lieutenant General in the Klingon Empire, bringing improved versions of Tier 5 ships to coincide with the new maximum ranks. While it's not explicitly stated, it's implied that the new ships won't be mandatory upgrades, but rather options for players who want to fly some of the most iconic ships in the franchise's long history.
Even with no other additions, the changes would bring new aspects of play, but the update also sees the launch of the Federation Diplomatic Corps (a separate leveling track of negotiation and social interaction) and a new minigame associated with anomaly scanning. Currently a passive form of resource gathering, scanning will be changed into a simple wave-matching game to help gather additional resources -- making it somewhat more interesting than walking to a node and pressing a button. That's still not getting into the special weekly content due to start arriving in August... there's a good reason Cryptic has made a large page to summarize it at a glance. Star Trek Online's second major patch is targeted to hit later this month, with a first impression from testing available from West Karana.
Reader Comments (6)
Posted: Jul 14th 2010 11:55AM J Brad Hicks said
Less than half of Season 2 is up on the test server, yet. (Which, among other things, means that they're not going to come anywhere close to the original July 22nd release date, but that's the MMO industry for you.) But the half that's up there is really, really good.
For example, this is just ONE of the Klingon missions (***SPOILERS***)
* With help from a few lower level NPC ships, defeat several waves of light cruisers guarding a Starbase in the Neutral Zone.
* When a Federation cruiser shows up, blow the shields off of it and breach the hull enough to kill most of the crew, but don't blow it up. No, instead ...
* Beam into their shuttle bay with your NPC raiding party of bridge officers.
* Fight your way across the engineering deck, defeat the tactical teams sent to stop you, and raid sick bay because the bridge has shut down the turbolifts to stop you, and that's where the power coupling you need is. (A huge, sprawling, beautifully wrecked and spot-on map, by the way.)
* Take a turbolift to the bridge and defeat the cruiser's bridge crew in combat.
* Storm the captain's ready room and torture him for the transwarp conduit codes for the Sol system.
* Beam back to your ship and blow him and his ship to Gre'thor.
* Petition High Chancellor J'mpok for a fleet to back you up in an assault on Earth. Get turned down, in favor of a somewhat less risky venture ...
* Take a small fleet of B'rel class birds of prey with you to Mars and assault the sprawling orbital Utopia Planetia shipyard complex (another absolutely beautiful environment, by the way). Destroy three cruisers under construction and the fleet of construction vehicles tending them, plus the various light cruisers guarding them.
* Transwarp back to Qo'nos to receive a medal from the Chancellor himself.
(***END SPOILERS***)
In any other game, this would be an end-game raid. In Star Trek Online, this is a single level 20 mission.
For example, this is just ONE of the Klingon missions (***SPOILERS***)
* With help from a few lower level NPC ships, defeat several waves of light cruisers guarding a Starbase in the Neutral Zone.
* When a Federation cruiser shows up, blow the shields off of it and breach the hull enough to kill most of the crew, but don't blow it up. No, instead ...
* Beam into their shuttle bay with your NPC raiding party of bridge officers.
* Fight your way across the engineering deck, defeat the tactical teams sent to stop you, and raid sick bay because the bridge has shut down the turbolifts to stop you, and that's where the power coupling you need is. (A huge, sprawling, beautifully wrecked and spot-on map, by the way.)
* Take a turbolift to the bridge and defeat the cruiser's bridge crew in combat.
* Storm the captain's ready room and torture him for the transwarp conduit codes for the Sol system.
* Beam back to your ship and blow him and his ship to Gre'thor.
* Petition High Chancellor J'mpok for a fleet to back you up in an assault on Earth. Get turned down, in favor of a somewhat less risky venture ...
* Take a small fleet of B'rel class birds of prey with you to Mars and assault the sprawling orbital Utopia Planetia shipyard complex (another absolutely beautiful environment, by the way). Destroy three cruisers under construction and the fleet of construction vehicles tending them, plus the various light cruisers guarding them.
* Transwarp back to Qo'nos to receive a medal from the Chancellor himself.
(***END SPOILERS***)
In any other game, this would be an end-game raid. In Star Trek Online, this is a single level 20 mission.
Posted: Jul 14th 2010 12:46PM Daemodand said
It looks like the new leadership is taking the game in the right direction. That actually sounds like fun!
Not going to get into this one yet, but definitely keeping my eye on it. I'd written the game off, but your description of that mission is encouraging.
Reply
Not going to get into this one yet, but definitely keeping my eye on it. I'd written the game off, but your description of that mission is encouraging.
Posted: Jul 14th 2010 2:25PM Lateris said
I was just thinking if it is time to come back to STO yet.
Posted: Jul 14th 2010 2:29PM Felnor said
No thank you. I'll be waiting for SWTOR while my lifetime sits on their server taking up storage space.
Posted: Jul 15th 2010 2:25AM (Unverified) said
Anyone who paid for lifetime makes me lol. The Closed and Open Betas showed just how terrible the game was. If you still paid for it after that then you deserve it.







