The Correct Mindset for Star Trek Online

MMOs have been nothing more than a “cookie-cutter” genre over the last couple of years.  It has had a dry spell of innovation and design with developers opting to take a much easier path.  We’ve seen franchise after franchise fall to this curse.  The Matrix Online and The Lord of the Rings Online are just two examples.  And, while LOTR definitely is a good game, it really doesn’t stand that far apart from World of Warcraft in terms of gameplay and design.  Some may say, ”What’s the big deal?  If WoW is a good game, what does it matter if other games copy its core elements to ensure they are good games?”  Well, nothing, but sooner or later something is going to have to change.

I’ve always said that the MMO is the final stage in the evolution of a franchise.  The franchise tells a specific story all the way to the point where it ends and then the MMO takes over, allowing players to “continue” the story until the end of time… or the game.

With five different sagas of Star Trek finished (even if one was short-lived), people are wondering about the future of Star Trek.  Most of these people are also aware of the Star Trek MMO being developed by Perpetual Entertainment called Star Trek Online. 

What concerns me is the mindset of Perpetual Entertainment.  Are they looking to make an accessible and casual MMO that allows for anyone to play?  Are they hoping to use core elements of successful MMOs to ensure that STO is also solid? 

Star Trek Online has huge potential, but not for the same reasons as World of Warcraft.  STO has the opportunity to bring the Star Trek experience to the loyal fans in a completely new way.  Crewing a ship, being assigned living quarters, graduating from the academy, and going on away missions are just a few of the things that people have been itching to do since Star Trek’s creation. 

Star Trek Online needs to be created for the fans, not for the masses.  Perpetual needs to do their best to keep the MMO from becoming water-downed.  Gameplay needs to be complicated and true to the universe, but not overly complicated.  We need to see tri-corders having a huge variety of functions.  We need to see ships fully crewed by human-controlled players, and with each player having a specific role or function aboard that ship.  We need to see a fully functional and, hopefully, player-controlled Starfleet Command.  We need to see different ships being given different missions, not the same ones over and over.

Now, imagine that you’ve logged into the game and you’ve spawned in your quarters aboard a Federation ship that you were assigned to after graduating from the academy.  Your rank is Ensign and you chose to pursue flight/medical training.  Once logged in, you can check your quarter’s terminal to figure out your ship’s current mission, location, status, and human-controlled crew complement. 

Obviously, if not many players are online, the ship will seem empty, and that is where NPCs come in.  At different star docks, the two highest ranking officers (Captain and Commander) can order a certain number of NPC crewmembers that are dynamically generated.  This means that each crewmember has a unique appearance and voice.  The NPCs would be constantly onboard, taking care of specific ship duties and functions while the human-controlled crew is offline. 

Anyway, you leave your quarters and take a turbo lift to the bridge.  Upon arriving, depending on the status of the other human players, you will either see NPCs, players, or both at different stations.  You take your station and perform various tasks.  The tasks you perform increase your experience; however, promotions aren’t dictated by skill levels or experience points, but by your commanding officer.  This means you could have more experience in a certain skill than someone who is a higher rank than you. 

Sound boring?  Well, to the non-Star Trek fan things like this might be, but that is the point.  STO already has a huge amount of trekkies just waiting for its release.  However, if the MMO ends up deviating from traditional Star Trek elements, most of this fanbase may be lost. 

Here is the problem:  If STO tries to be too trendy, it will lose its hardcore fanbase and, let’s face it, I don’t think many WoW subscribers are going to be rushing to stores to get STO.  On the other hand, if STO holds true to the series and keeps role-playing and player-controlled elements at the top, it may lose that casual fanbase, which, in my opinion, is far smaller.

Star Trek Online needs to keep role-playing as its most important element.  Also, built-in, locational voice communication would be a great addition.  Imagine being able to push a button on your keyboard to talk and only those within a certain area would be able to hear you.  Those with their backs turned would hear muffled voice and those in other rooms wouldn’t hear a thing.  Of course, you’d also have the ability to use your communicator, thus being able to start 1 on 1 voice communication with another play aboard your ship.

Star Trek Online will of course have action like raiding parties, starbase defenses, and fleet battles, but it should retain the core values of the Star Trek series, which are science and exploration.  I’d much rather be sent on an away mission and discover a new lifeform on an uncharted planet in an MMO than walk around killing Borg with my phaser until I level up. 

STO is only in its early stages of development, but the idea and issues I’ve mentioned are things the guys at Perpetual need to consider constantly.  If they don’t stay focused and driven on developing a Star Trek MMO true to the franchise, resistance won’t be so futile after all.