Massively

Massively Exclusive: Star Trek Online announces EU relaunch, double XP weekend

Justin Olivetti — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Events, in-game, Launches, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play

Star Trek may feature universal translators, but the crew at Cryptic has to make do with old fashioned techniques until the future catches up with us. As such, the studio has announced that it is relaunching Star Trek Online in Europe to support its French- and German-speaking players.

Starting right now, the game, website, forums, and game support will be available in all three languages. To further cater to European players, Cryptic has vowed to add more EU-friendly event timeslots.

Executive Producer Dan Stahl hopes this will spread STO across the world: "The launch of Star Trek Online in Europe is the culmination of our efforts over the past several years to bring gamers the Star Trek universe on a truly massive scale."

All players can benefit from this European relaunch, as Q's coming back to celebrate with a double-XP bonus weekend. Anyone who logs in from today through Monday, April 2nd, at 1:00 p.m. EDT, will not only benefit from the a skill point and bridge officer point boost but can claim a free IDIC Tribble of his or her very own. The Tribble provides a unique buff to your character based on his, her, or its class -- and if you manage to get all three buffs on you at once, you'll be granted an additional boost to damage, resistance, and health regen.

[Source: Cryptic press release]

Massively Exclusive: Star Trek Online announces EU relaunch, double XP weekend originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Star Trek Online handing out Odyssey starships for its second anniversary

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Events, in-game, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play, Giveaways

It's been in the making for months now, but the wait is almost over. On February 2nd, Star Trek Online will release the latest in the line of Enterprises, the Odyssey-class (Enterprise-F) starship. Players are invited to do more than gawk at its power and majesty, as Cryptic is inviting all players level 5 or higher to take one for a test drive... and then take one home on the house.

Cryptic notes that the new Odyssey will be available for only a limited time at the start of the month, after which it will disappear from the game for an indeterminate amount of time. Players who cannot fly the top-tier starship can nevertheless earn it for use at a later date.

The Odyssey (and its corresponding Klingon Vengeance-class starship) giveaway is just the first part of STO's second anniversary events. From February 2nd through the 5th, the mischievous Q will challenge players to complete tasks in exchange for mystery prizes.

Star Trek Online handing out Odyssey starships for its second anniversary originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Game Archaeologist crosses Meridian 59: An interview with Brian Green (part 1)

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Meridian 59, Culture, Interviews, MMO industry, Free-to-play, The Game Archaeologist

Last week we began to examine one of the most significant MMOs in history: Meridian 59. While it never rose to the level of fame and subscriber numbers as its successors did, Meridian 59 was a daring pioneer that paved the way for all that followed. Its story is almost like a movie, with the title born from the fruits of two amateur programmers, surviving studio shutdowns and huge competition, and persevering from 1996 through today.

As I'll recount over the next two episodes of The Game Archaeologist, I sat down with Brian Green, a blogger and game developer who oversaw the resurrection of Meridian 59 in the early 2000s and ran it for the better part of a decade. Green graciously agreed to participate, saying that he always loves talking about games -- and this one in particular.

The Game Archaeologist: Hi! Please introduce yourself and your current position and project.

Brian Green: I'm Brian "Psychochild" Green, a long-time MMO designer and programmer. I'm known for my professional blog and my work on Meridian 59. I'm currently working on the Storybricks project as the MMO Wizard. We're a startup, so that means I do whatever needs to be done at the moment.

Continue reading The Game Archaeologist crosses Meridian 59: An interview with Brian Green (part 1)

The Game Archaeologist crosses Meridian 59: An interview with Brian Green (part 1) originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Stephen D'Angelo promises 'one more surprise' for Star Trek Online in December

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Events, in-game, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries

Star Trek Online's Stephen D'Angelo is one of the game's biggest cheerleaders, and it shows in his latest developer diary. "December has been an amazing month," he begins, citing the release of Season 5, new starships, and the Duty Officer system.

He highlights the game's first holiday, Q's Winter Wonderland, and the minigames and activities in which the players can participate to get the most out of this whimsical event. Of course, it's not all fun and games when serious prizes, like a holographic bridge officer or a Jem'Hadar Attack Ship, are on the line.

D'Angelo also says that a Duty Officer mini-event is on the docket for the month, as will "one more fun surprise." He concludes his letter by sharing the news that the team is now focusing on February's Dominion Episodes and ground skills/UI improvements.

Stephen D'Angelo promises 'one more surprise' for Star Trek Online in December originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Game Archaeologist crosses Meridian 59: The highlights

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Meridian 59, MMO industry, Free-to-play, The Game Archaeologist

A colony founded through a magical nexus, Meridian 59 had it all going on -- until, that is, the portal to the colony collapsed and it was left to fend for itself. Monsters swarmed over the land, politics split the community into factions, and adventurers were called to rise up and become the heroes that were desperately needed. And all it took was $10.95 a month and an internet connection.

Welcome to 1996 and one of the very first -- if not the first (more on that later) -- graphical MMOs to hit the scene. Meridian 59 may not have been one of the biggest games in the genre, but it was arguably one of the most important, the John Adams to World of Warcraft's Abraham Lincoln. If you were wondering, Darkfall was Chester A. Arthur.

It seems fitting to end 2011 by touching upon this significant title that, against all odds, continues to operate today. Meridian 59 weathered studio shutdowns, newbie developers in every sense of the word, and a world that wasn't quite sure what to make of these fancy-schmancy massively interactive roleplaying games. MIRGs! Oh, that would've been such a better acronym, but I digress. Let's set the wayback machine to 1978 to see how one amateur game led to another that led to the birth of an industry.

Continue reading The Game Archaeologist crosses Meridian 59: The highlights

The Game Archaeologist crosses Meridian 59: The highlights originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Priority One podcast interviews Daniel Stahl

Brandon Felczer — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Interviews, Star Trek Online

Daniel Stahl, Executive Producer of Star Trek Online, sat down with the guys at Priority One podcast to answer some community-submitted questions and drop some exclusive news about upcoming content. While he also shares a little bit about his leadership style and some inner-workings of his team, he was unable to comment on anything about the Perfect World acquisition of Cryptic. But he answered plenty of other questions!

Are you interested in finding out when the new Enterprise-F will be making it into game? Have you dreamed of learning more about what happens with the Q Continuum? Are you wondering when more minigames are coming? Still upset you have so many Trianium rare samples that are not used for anything? You will definitely want to tune in get answers to these questions and many more!

Priority One is hosted by The Quantum Cafe, a "facebook-like" social network dedicated to STO players. The show comes out weekly, so make sure to tune in to listen to guest developers and to share community-submitted ideas and feedback.

Priority One podcast interviews Daniel Stahl originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Jun 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

One Shots: Hi Q

Krystalle Voecks — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, Star Trek Online, One Shots

Ship sub-systems working? Check. All stations reporting? Check. Weird guy with an enormous head peeking in from the vacuum of space? Wait a minute! As we see in today's One Shots, regular contributor Andrew got a surprise in Star Trek Online the other day -- in the form of a visit from a not-so-friendly alien lifeform that many Trek fans will recognize. So much for peace and quiet! He writes in to tell us more about this image: "I finally got a chance to meet up with Q in Star Trek Online during the weekend. It was such a great moment -- and a game highlight. This pic has my Rear Admiral 'Pojoh' finding the nefarious entity staring back at him from space. I geeked out. Looking for more Q action from STO in the future."

Have you had someone sneak up on you during your recent MMO travels? If you'd like to share your moment of "whaaaat?" with us, then all you have to do is send in a screenshot to us here at oneshots@massively.com. Please make sure your image is at least 1024 pixels wide and has no visible UI elements. Additionally, it would be a good idea to make extra sure your files are attached to the email, as we've been getting a lot of mails lately without files attached!

Gallery: One Shots: 2011

One Shots: Hi Q originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

New info and screens for upcoming Star Trek Online content

Kyle Horner — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, New titles, News items, Star Trek Online

Earlier we got a small taste of what's to come in Star Trek Online through the State of the Game feature, but already Cryptic is treating the community to a brand new "What's Next" page that lays bare their free update plans for the next two months. While all the major points themselves are old hat, it's the details of those major points that are in fact, new.

We've got a breakdown of the coming updates after the break, plus new screens in our gallery.

Continue reading New info and screens for upcoming Star Trek Online content

New info and screens for upcoming Star Trek Online content originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Digital Continuum: Federation stands for 'fighting'

Kyle Horner — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Opinion, Star Trek Online, The Digital Continuum

A new fragrance is out, and it smells exactly like the old one. It's the gentle waft of something I'm quite familiar with: Star Trek fandom. Let me preface this by saying I've been a fan of Star Trek ever since I saw an episode of The Next Generation back when my parents used to tape it every week so we could watch it as a family. So when I declare that people griping about Star Trek Online's emphasis on combat aren't true Trek fans, I know the amount of weight that statement carries.

And you know what? They really aren't true fans.

Continue reading The Digital Continuum: Federation stands for 'fighting'

The Digital Continuum: Federation stands for 'fighting' originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: Which Star Trek races do you most want in the MMO?

Kyle Horner — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Opinion, Star Trek Online, The Daily Grind

There are many races within the Star Trek universe to choose from when it comes to your favorites -- and we say that in plural form because lets be honest, you can't pick just one -- so of course we're curious about your personal choices. If you had the power to choose four or five races for Star Trek Online, what would they be? Vulcan? Cardassian, Bajoran, Ferengi, Klingon, or Romulan? Or maybe something less expected like the Voth? We'd totally roll some bipedal hyper-dinosaur characters. Obviously we're assuming that Humans are included in this list, but hey if you want to exclude them feel free.

There's certainly a lot of room for discussion on this topic, seeing as there have been six Star Trek series (if you count the animated series) and ten -- but soon to be eleven -- movies. One thing we personally thing is that all Game Masters should be forced to be the Q race, because come on... that just makes too much sense!

The Daily Grind: Which Star Trek races do you most want in the MMO? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 04 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

STO devlog 4.0 reveals nothing except the dev team's geekiness

Samuel Axon — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:29:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, New titles, Star Trek Online

Star Trek Online news is still sparse. We've heard nothing since we read the third devlog over a month ago. Now the fourth devlog is out, and it completely lacks new information about the game itself. However, it does eliminate any fears you might have had that the team at Perpetual Entertainment were not true Star Trek fans. We already assumed they were. After all, they're computer programmers and/or sci-fi artists. Plus, they're making a Star Trek MMO.

The individual members of the development team answered questions like, "What's your fondest Star Trek-related memory" and "If you could bring one character from the Star Trek universe into Star Trek Online, who would it be?" The latter of those was the most amusing question. "We got a lot of requests for Q, Data, and Khan," the devlogger writes. "That explosion you just heard was the design team's brains trying to figure out how to integrate two dead guys and an omnipotent space god into the game."

Indeed. As for the omnipotent space god, though, we think Richard Garriott might have a big enough ego to roleplay the part. Just a thought!

STO devlog 4.0 reveals nothing except the dev team's geekiness originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments