Star Trek Online

Earlier this month, Cryptic hinted at some big changes to fleet holding projects in Star Trek Online. Executive producer Daniel Stahl went on the record in the company's Ask Cryptic column and explained that the STO team had something planned involving "dilithium-based mechanics." Today's dev blog finally explained what all that means: Starting soon, fleets will have the option of working on the Dilithium Mine, a brand-new fleet outpost.

The Dilithium Mine features both indoor and outdoor environments and is accessible through the Beta Ursae Block or through an unlockable transwarp. If you play Star Trek Online, those are probably words that make sense to you. The mine's appearance will change as fleet members upgrade its facilities by following its three progression tracks.

Completing the main progression track for the Dilithium Mine will reward fleets with discounts on project dilithium input costs, new construction projects, daily missions, and a daily repeatable that allows fleet members to refine ore beyond their normal cap. The sub tracks offer a variety of bonuses, mostly related to discounts on fleet projects.

Fleets will have access to the Dilithium Mine the moment it goes live but will need to reach the first tier of its main track before being granted access to the physical space.

Last week the unstoppable Jasmine Hruschak was one member of Massively's crack team who braved the traffic of Los Angeles to take in the sights, sounds, hawking, yelling, and craziness that was the Electronic Entertainment Expo. While she was there, she interviewed Star Trek Online's Executive Producer, Daniel Stahl, and put forth a few questions from the Massively team.

Stahl was able to drop a few hints about the future of Star Trek Online in his responses, so join me past the jump as I deliver the highlights from their conversation!

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One thing is certain: Many players have returned to Star Trek Online since the Legacy of Romulus expansion was released. Many new players have also given Star Trek Online their first try and are suitably impressed with the game's improvement. Bug patches are forthcoming, and server crashes have been reduced over the past couple of weeks.

Many players who have started new Romulan Republic characters and have reached level cap (50) are now turning their attention to the endgame material. Still others have decided to start their very first Klingon character. But what about stuff that isn't about Legacy of Romulus? It just so happens there are lots of "little" items to cover, so join me while I go over some of the news and tidbits that have popped up recently.

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Man, it's downright shadowy underneath the raptor's wings! Reader Draxos is kicking off our player screenshot exhibition this week with an interestingly lit picture from Star Trek Online's new expansion.

"This picture is of my new Romulan character inside a Romulan space station that was having a few ... issues," Draxos wrote in. "When the lights suddenly go out in a space station, you become thankful for the brightness outside the window because then at least there is some chance of seeing what may now be lurking within the darkness. Although you could say that my Reman crew members are the true ones to be fearful of in the dark."

Couldn't you use the Borg's head as a flashlight? That's what I would do. Join us for more shadowy flights into dangerous worlds of characters who do not exist in today's One Shots!

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In a recent interview with Gamasutra, Cryptic's Jack Emmert announced the formation of Cryptic North, a studio reborn from Pirates of the Burning Sea's Flying Lab and currently set to work on polishing Champions Online.

Led by Flying Lab co-founder Russell Williams, Cryptic North is looking to grow the team by recruiting Seattle-based talent. When asked if the new studio will be working on any projects independent of Cryptic's Redwood City, California branch, Jack Emmert called that a "definite possibility."

Be sure to read the entire interview over at Gamasutra for more.

[Thanks to Psi for the tip!]

It's been more than two weeks since Star Trek Online saw the implementation of the Legacy of Romulus, its first expansion. The game has seen its fair share of queues and server crashes, as well as frequent maintenance closures to address the stability problems.

In the game's most recent Ask Cryptic column, Star Trek Online's Executive Producer, Daniel Stahl, addressed some of those issues, answered numerous player questions about the current state of the game, and also gave hints of what we might see in the months to come. Join me past the jump as I attempt to prognosticate on what his answers actually mean.

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Star Trek Online executive producer Daniel Stahl is back to answer your questions in the latest edition of Ask Cryptic. In addition to fielding a few community queries, Stahl provides an update on what appears to have been a hectic week following the launch of the game's Legacy of Romulus expansion.

While Stahl admits that there have been some rough spots when it comes to emergency downtime and queues, he says that the hubbub is ultimately a sign of STO's growth and subsequent higher profile.

We did buy new hardware. We did upgrade the network. We did plan for all the new people, but sometimes bad things just happen for no good reason. We've had to replace some new hardware, rewire some networks, upgrade some firewalls, and pretty much anything else that you could think of from an infrastructure standpoint. We're sorry and we're working around the clock to whack the moles as they pop up. But in general, we've had more people in and playing the game than any previous update in STO. We're seeing record numbers of captains creating new Romulan characters. It's pretty awesome.

Is your gaming world a Perfect World? If you're one of the publisher's legion of players, then prepare to encounter Perfect World's latest initiative. It's called Arc, and it's a gaming platform that seeks to tie together PWE's account system, games, and news.

Similar to Steam, Origin, and other such digital distribution platforms, Arc will allow players to install and access games through a unified interface (assuming, of course, that the only games you're going to want to play are PWE's).

Arc uses players' current login information to access it and offers access to billing, support, friend messaging, and coupons. There's also a browser so you can check out the forums and whatnot, although if you really need a gaming platform to do that for you in 2013, one has to wonder how you're reading this in the first place.

Last week Star Trek Online's much anticipated expansion, the Legacy of Romulus, went live after months of veritable hype. The launch was not without its problems, and some of those problems are still being ironed out.

In spite of all the server issues, I finally got to jump into the game and begin my first Romulan character and take my Vice Admiral character to the new adventure zone on Nimbus III to take a look around. Take a leap past the jump to see what's new in the Star Trek Online universe.

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After months of waiting, we can finally say that Star Trek Online's Legacy of Romulus expansion is upon us! After yesterday's launch, it's now possible to play as a member of the new Romulan Republic faction. It's now possible to begin a Klingon faction character from level 1! There's a new adventure zone and a completely overhauled user interface.

We recently had the opportunity to ask Star Trek Online's Executive Producer, Daniel Stahl, some questions regarding the update. We were also given a lot of screenshots of the new material, and all are included in the new gallery below. There was a lot to cover, so let's get to it!

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With today's launch of Star Trek Online's first expansion, Legacy of Romulus, players can boldly go where no one has gone before. (Not to mention it gives us a reason to use that iconic phrase!) From new species and ships to more Klingon content, this next chapter in the STO saga expands the universe for players to explore. Want to captain a new ship as a Romulan or a Reman? Can do. How about adventure in a new zone? Yup. Or maybe just revel in the bounty of new rewards? Go for it.

If, however, you're stuck in spacedock and unable to head out yet, you can check out the changes awaiting you in the guides, videos, news briefs, and galleries below.

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Just because you're playing a Romulan in Star Trek Online's first expansion doesn't mean every other Romulan is your friend. Empress Sela's Tal Shiar are a huge threat not just to the nascent Romulan Republic but to all sentient life throughout the galaxy, epitomized with their insectoid ships that fuse Romulan, Borg, and Elachi technology together. Needless to say, these ships are never good to see on the horizon. Unless you happen to open one in a lockbox, anyhow.

Yes, the newest lockbox in the game will give players a chance to earn the strange ships of the Tal Shiar, giving all captains a chance to fly some of the strangest ships yet seen in the game. The ships perform similarly to Romulan crafts with their built-in cloaks, but they exchange some of the active Romulan cloaking power for tactical weapons like Shrapnel Torpedoes. For more details on what awaits in the upcoming lockboxes, take a look at the full rundown of potential prizes.

It's a little strange to think that it's already been three months since the developers at Star Trek Online first teased us with the Legacy of Romulus expansion with the March Beneath the Raptor's Wings kicker at the end of the anniversary video. Even then there were many of us who sincerely doubted the teaser meant we would finally be able to play a Romulan character, let alone that the Klingon faction would be filled-out.

Yet here we are, on the eve of the release of Star Trek Online's first expansion and a flood of new material. Beware, I will be writing spoilers about the new content, but if you're not worried about that, feel free to join me as I touch on most of what we're going to see!

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Klingon Defense Force players who have been crying out for years for a significant update to their unfinished faction will have their prayers answered when Star Trek Online's Legacy of Romulus expansion releases next week. Cryptic posted a blog telling these gamers that they have not been forgotten but will be vindicated with a complete experience from level 1 to 50.

"It was always promised that if Star Trek Online was ever going to add a third faction, we would make sure that Klingons would get expanded content first (or at the same time). With Legacy of Romulus adding Romulans as a playable faction, it was a matter of honor that the Klingons get their own content from level 1 to 50," Cryptic wrote.

The devs give slight spoilers to the new, reworked, and revised content that Klingons will be experiencing, such as how players will get their first starship and what iconic locations they'll be visiting (hint: a certain prison planet from Star Trek VI will come into play). The studio is also adding a pair of new KDF ships to the store when the expansion hits.

Cryptic is pumping out the Star Trek Online dev blogs as the game's Legacy of Romulus expansion draws near. The latest comes to us from content designer Sean "Commander Ander" McCann, and it's all about the Nimbus adventure zone.

Nimbus is a crime-ridden locale currently lorded over by the Orion Syndicate. The new episode series Wasteland takes gamers all over the planet, from the run-down fugitive haven of Paradise City to a destroyed ship that doubles as an Orion stronghold to a Gorn-filled canyon that houses some sort of mysterious project.

Nimbus also boasts dailies, open missions, and accolade rewards for said missions and for exploration. More details are yours at the official STO website.