Captain's Log

As a self-confessed altaholic, I spent a lot of time in Star Trek Online over the past week. The third anniversary celebration is still in full swing (although it does end on Thursday, February 14th), and I needed to get all 13 of my characters through the special featured episode in order to obtain the special ships being given as rewards. Suffice it to say that I pretty much know the episode by heart now.

I actually dusted off my two low-level Klingon Defense Force characters and took them out for a spin so I wouldn't miss out on the beautiful new Kamarag class vessel, but in doing so I found myself chewing on the story as presented so far in Star Trek Online and what the most recent missions could mean for the rumored introduction of a Romulan faction, as well as what they might mean for the mighty Klingon Empire.

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I have had more fun in Star Trek Online in the past week than I have had in the past six months! Part of the reason has a lot to do with the fact that the game's third anniversary has delivered something that many of us have been craving since the release of last year's featured episode, The 2800: a story-based mission. And it wasn't just any story-based mission; it was a doozy!

The team at Star Trek Online also released a third anniversary trailer, which contained a very big surprise at the very end. The teaser sent shockwaves through the loyal player community. There's a lot to go over, so join me past the jump as I touch on the anniversary celebration and ruminate on what the game will bring us in May 2013!

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Huzzah! It's here! Star Trek Online's third anniversary celebration begins today! So while we all await the patch and loosen up our trigger fingers in order to undertake the new mission that will reward players with either an Ambassador class or a Kamarag class ship, you can sit back and read a new interview with Star Trek Online's Executive Producer, Daniel Stahl.

Stahl took the time out his busy schedule to answer a litany of questions about the past year as well as the future of STO. We were also given a few new screenshots and you can view them in the gallery below. There are a lot of questions, so let's get to it!

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I've said it once and I'll say it over and over again: It can be hard to write about a game in the weeks leading up to a scheduled event or content release. This week is no different. Star Trek Online's team is nose down into the final touches of the new material being released next week for the game's third anniversary, and new information about any of it has slowed to a crawl.

However, in the interim, we have been given the information on the contents of Star Trek Online's newest lockbox as well as the specs on the new ships either contained in the boxes or available in the Lobi store. I also had the opportunity to take part in the most recent Q XP Weekend event and actually found myself having a lot of fun.

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Sometimes it's a little tricky to write about an MMO right before content releases. There's usually a definite slump in developer interactivity as the team prepares for what will inevitably be a very busy time. Star Trek Online is no exception to this rule, and this is one of those weeks.

We're still about two weeks away from celebrating Star Trek Online's third anniversary. To date, we have only a few ideas about what the anniversary celebration might entail, but not much else has been revealed by the team at Cryptic.

However, that doesn't mean nothing has happened. Quite the contrary! There are a few things to talk about this week, including some fun news that actress Denise Crosby has been tapped to participate in the game. So join me past the break as I touch on some of the fun stuff in STO that we're hearing about!

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As I took the time to really go over the past 12 months in Star Trek Online, I began to realize just how much the game had changed between this time last year and now. While some people will never be pleased, I can't say I'm one of those people. I'm utterly delighted by most of the changes in the game and am looking forward to the expansion of the reputation system into 2013. With that said, however, there are improvements that Star Trek Online still needs if it wants to quell some of the harshest (and sometimes deserved) critiques.

Join me as I finish up my year in review and then touch on some of Executive Producer Daniel Stahl's answers to player questions in this month's Ask Cryptic post.

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As 2013 gets underway and before Cryptic Studios and Perfect World Entertainment begin hinting at upcoming material due out for Star Trek Online's third anniversary next month, I'm taking the opportunity to go over the past year in the game. It's a great time to sit down and be reminded of just how much transpired in the last 12 months.

Last week, I barely scratched the surface of what happened in Star Trek Online during 2012, but I was able to touch briefly on some of the minor changes that occurred with user-generated content tool, The Foundry. Join me while I continue my look back on what 2012 brought to STO!

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Here we are again, facing another New Year's Eve and the taking down of the old beat-up calendar and replacing it with a brand-new, pristine one. It's a day to both reflect on the past and celebrate and revel in the exciting unknowns of the future. While we're still a few weeks away from Star Trek Online's third anniversary in February, right now for me it's a time to celebrate two other anniversaries: Last week I celebrated my first anniversary with Massively, and today marks my 18th wedding anniversary!

So I figured now was the perfect time to review the amazing changes that have taken place in Star Trek Online. Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be going over what worked and what didn't work and try to prognosticate on what the past year may foretell for the future of the game.

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Three weeks away from home and any legitimate connection to the internet can certainly make one feel a bit disjointed. However, I've discovered it can actually be a bit more disconcerting trying to reintegrate into the previous patterns that existed before the break was taken.

When I left on my vacation, I seriously anticipated that very little news about Star Trek Online would occur. I expected the news about the 2012 Winter Event to come out, sure, but what I didn't expect was all of the other little bits of news that seemed to blindside me when I got back last week. Join me while I go over a few of the more interesting tidbits -- from the grassroots effort to reinvigorate PvP in Star Trek Online to the changes made to Foundry rewards.

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It's been just over two weeks since Season Seven went live in Star Trek Online, and a lot of tweaks to the new reputation systems have already been implemented. Because of what seems to be low turn-out on the Tribble test servers, the team placed its focus on major performance bug squashing and decided to wait to make changes to the system mechanics until after it could get more solid data from the players on the live (Holodeck) server. Once that information was received, the changes were fast and furious.

Star Trek Online's Executive Producer, Daniel Stahl, released two blog posts over the course of the last week, outlining not only the alterations to the Season Seven material but also answers players questions in the November Ask Cryptic. Join me as I go over a few of the changes!

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It's been a week since Star Trek Online launched Season Seven, and some of the mechanics revolving around the new Reputation systems are beginning to unfold. The day Season Seven was released, many players were caught off-guard by the fact that a dilithium reward was missing from the Strategic Task Force missions. These missions became affiliated with the new Task Force Omega Reputation system with the patch. The outcry was so immense and so loud that within 30 hours of the patch, Star Trek Online's Executive Producer, Daniel Stahl, updated the game's blog to reflect that a dilithium reward (albeit a reduced one) would be added back to the STF missions.

Since then, quite a few players, including me, have had the opportunity to give the Romulan reputation system a try, and we've seen some highly unanticipated results. Join me past the jump as I discuss the Season Seven shakedown.

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It's finally here! Season Seven has finally made its way to Star Trek Online! Months of waiting have produced the game's single largest ground map filled with new activities for veteran players. A brand-new sector of space with 17 new systems is waiting for exploration and patrols. A new strategic task force mission allows captains to take on the Borg Queen herself, and two new reputation systems will fundamentally alter endgame content for the foreseeable future.

On the cusp of the new release, we took the opportunity to ask Star Trek Online's Executive Producer, Daniel Stahl, some questions about the new content and what we can expect from STO in the coming months. So jump past the break to check out what he said and take a look at some exclusive screencaps of the new material!

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Season Seven is closing in on us! According to the most recent State of the Game blog by Star Trek Online Executive Producer Daniel Stahl, the team is aiming for a launch "in the first half of November."

A majority of the new material is already up on Star Trek Online's Tribble test server, and this past weekend, a special Tribble test event was held. Players who signed into the test server and played for at least one hour will be granted a special reward.

I had an opportunity to take a quick run around the new Tau Dewa Sector and the new adventure zone on the planet of Mol'Rihan (New Romulus). I've also had the opportunity to give the new Romulan reputation system a spin. So join me as I go over my first impressions of the material that's coming in Season Seven!

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As expected a few more dev blogs have appeared on the website for Star Trek Online. We are quickly moving towards the release of Season Seven in November and many parts of the new content are already available to play on the game's test server, Tribble.

The first blog reveals more information about the back story of the budding colony on Mol'Rihan (New Romulus). Two more blogs detail the new reputation systems that will be released in Season Seven and finally, a fourth blog discloses more information about the new Embassy Outpost project that will be a part of the existing Fleet Starbase System.

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Finally, and somewhat surprisingly to many of us, Star Trek Online announced the beta of the STO Gateway, a new web-based application with some pretty awesome potential! So jump past the break as I go into more detail about the continuing wave of new information.

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