GotMMOG?

We’ve been playing the beta and it’s been fun though there are some things that are making me think the launch ain’t gonna be too smooth. Some basic MMO tools are missing (social mostly), and it’s something of a pain to comm when you’re in FPS mode and you have to remember to hit enter to chat MMO-style. The voice chat only went online today (with one day left in beta).

Still, the various PvP modes and the Conquest mode (for monthly subs) looks pretty cool. Combat in PvP is always team-based (no FFA here) and involves capping points or doing some of the game modes that are direct copies of old UT game modes like Assault (though not as interesting) and existing TF2 modes like payload.

PvE is regrettably boring as hell with lame AI bots, uber strong elite bots (with the ability to walk through shields…fun), and the same maps over and over again. But, if you want to craft, you’ve got to do those PvE runs.

The Conquest mode seems to be the best part of the game (and is playable early but really for end game t ypes).

We’ll try to get a review up around launch after we’ve gotten to run through the Early Start. Stay tuned.

g afk

Cryptic’s put out a little bit about their lifetime and annual subscription plans. The real question is: is it worth it?

It’ll really come down to how long you think you’ll play it and how long you think it’ll last. I’m wagering that unless it really fizzles (and it could) or unless Cryptic does a terrible job of managing their business (remember, there isn’t a publisher to save them…though someone might be interested in buying the game if they went belly up), the game’s going to be around for at least 3-4 years.

Meanwhile, it’s going to cost you $14.99 per month if you go monthly (knock off a dollar a month for each step you take up the recurring payment ladder–e.g. 13.99/mo for the 3-month recurring plan).

The annual plan is priced at $119/year. Those of you with calculator or who are autistic will find that’s a price of $9.99 (ish) a month. Not bad. It comes with a couple of extra character slots to boot.

The lifetime plan (which I think is usually a serious waste unless you’re sure you’re going to be playing that game for ever) runs $239. In addition to the two character slots the annual sub comes with you also get an unlock allowing you to play a recently freed borg (a la Seven of Nine…breast implants not included).

If you assume you’re going to play the game for a solid 2 years, hands down, you’ve just paid $9.99/mo roughly. Now, you could just go for the annual plan, especially if you figure by the end of year two, you’re going to be bored and likely working on a different MMO.

Still, if you’re thinking you’re going to go die hard and play the game out for ages (I’m talking to you EQ/SWG peeps), then after a five year run you’re looking at an average of roughly $3.99/mo.

So, which one’s the best one for you?

If you’re a die-hard Trekkie/Trekker and you’ve tried the beta and loved it, then–assuming you have the cash/credit–you probably should just go for the annual or lifetime plans. Even if you take a break for a few months or do the WoW cycle like me (play for a couple months, move on for a few months, repeat), assuming you keep at the game for years to come, you’re doing fine with either package.

Of course, if you’re more of the MMO-of-the-month type and you’ve played the beta and aren’t impressed (hand going up here), then one of the typical packages are just fine.

For everyone else who isn’t sure? I recommend just sticking with the monthly to start. You don’t have to deal with the hassle of getting (or trying to) some of your money back and you’ll definitely know if you’re going to be there for a while after you’ve passed through the starter missions and get into space. This is one of those games that’ll either grind on you or make you feel right at home right away.

And, about the “bonuses”: unless you’re dead set on playing a “liberated” borg or really need those extra two character slots, I would ignore them in making your decision. Think of them as the icing on the cake…not the cake itself. You know at some point, they’ll offer up specials and bonuses (remember that whole Cryptic Points system? It’s got to pay for momma’s new dress some day) that’ll get you something you need, including character slots.

I don’t know about you but it was easy as hell for me to drop kick Champions. I love the Star Trek universe and all but right now the only thing that’s appealing to me is the starship combat. And, even that, right now, is starting to wear thin with some of the balance issues I’ve encountered. On one mission (team mission), I just made a mad dash for the objectives to end the damned thing after having faced the fifth fleet of three bops, two escorts and two of those monster Klingon warships (not the bcs, the big assed Na’Whatever) versus my fleet of three light (starter) cruisers. My team mates were dead set on battling for another 20-30 minutes to finish up. I couldn’t do it…after over an hour on a single friggin mission…I just couldn’t).

I guess you can figure out what sub plan I’m going for.

g afk

So, I’ve started trekking around the galaxy in Star Trek Online’s Open Beta. First impression? Talk about code reuse. The ground component (where you’re running around with your main character in space stations or on planets) is SO much like Champions Online. The difference is less cel-shading and more legible text. Meanwhile, the space part is very reminiscent of the Starfleet Command games of yore (which is a good thing). A quick summary:

The Good

- Starship combat is fun and what you’d sort of expect. The controls might take a little getting used to (you’re using WASD and the mouse though you can remap those keys all you want) but soon you’ll be working your firing arcs to take out enemies left and right.

Where's the Flying Trait? Oh yeah...

- Character creation is like Champions which is actually a good thing in this case. You can choose a preset race (from the ST universe) or create an “Unknown” race which is you picking four main attributes that affect your stats and then customize the hell out of your appearance.

- While it might get a bit tiresome later, the main way you go from star system to star system is actually kinda cool. It’s a large map with systems hovering in 3D space. You and everyone else in the instance can wander around and enter whatever system you want. At some point, you’ll get over the cool aspect of it but it’s still an interesting way to do it.

- You, your ship and your bridge officers all have slots for things like weapons, devices and the like. And, just like Champions, you’ll end up with a shitload of devices and other doodads dropping from mobs and as mission rewards. This lets you customize your ship and officers all sorts of ways.

...Then take a left at Regulus. If you hit Vega, you've gone too far...

- Speaking of bridge officers, these guys act as a combination pet and stat-enhancer for you. Onboard your ship, their skills (which you level up with points you gain accomplishing missions and the like) can be used in combat or for non-combat tasks (scanning, etc.). Planetside, you can bring one or more of your bridge officers (the total party size varies depending on the mission) along with you. Each has skills that can be used on the ground (and of course, whatever you’ve equiped them with can also be used).

- Despite the whole Champions cloning experiments, the space aspect of the game really does feel right. You start with your typical Reliant-style light starship and gain access to others as you level up. And space looks real nice when you’re in a system. Even the inter-system space (that whole map thing) looks nice.

The Bad

- Unfortunately, the planetside stuff is just too Champions-esque in a boring way. The environments are mediore looking and have a lot of the standard bits and pieces you might have seen in Cryptic’s other games. Enemies spawn and just stand around like mannequins. Animations (like when you knock an enemy down) just look so stiff and automated (i.e. the guy’s just standing there then cut to the knock down animation). Take this with a grain of salt, since plenty of MMOs can be similar. It’s just a bit TOO much like Champions though.

I know he's a drone but, c'mon...

- The enemy AI/logic seems a bit weird. I’ve been in team combat with AI enemies where the enemies just pick a single ship to pick on while the other members of my team just pound the hell out of their fleet. Meanwhile, on the ground, enemies show no logic beyond running up to you and trying to hit you. Granted this isn’t an FPS but what’s the point of having a dodge function (double-tap a direction) then?

- The currency system is ridiculous. There are tons of different “currencies” in the game. Energy credits (you only get these by selling items then you can use them to buy items), Starfleet Merits (gained from missions, used to buy or up your bridge officers’ skills), Data objects (there are several types of these; used to buy special items), and there are still more. The Data objects are hilarious because there are at least 6 or 7 different types of them. The prices in the price list look hilarious…something like 5 3 2 1 5 2 3 1 with each number sitting next to the icon of a Data object. Give me a break!

The Ugly

Space sure is gorgeous!

- You know how “modern” MMOs tend to make it easy for you (or like WoW are trying to make it easier) to find the target of your current missions/quests? Yeah, STO won’t have that. You might get a blip on a map mixed with twenty blips for merchants/vendors or a blip next to a star system if it’s close enough. Otherwise, you’re on your own. Zone chat was full of people asking where the fuck some guy was…and this was in the main starbase.

- You know that whole thing about being able to read the text finally (something about comic ink at 1280×1024 just didn’t work for me)? Well, turns out there isn’t much to read but there are plenty of screens to read it on. I understand the need/desire to make it look like we’re having a conversation with a talking head that barely talks but give me a break.

Real friends act as photon sponges...

- Combat still pisses me off in places. Even space combat where, in combination with the aforementioned bullying by the AI (though that can be forgiven since it IS a potential strategy when dealing with an opposing force), there are problems of balance. Again, grain of salt/open beta, but since your “team” (why they didn’t just call this task force or something I don’t know) can be left at any time I have a feeling this is going to be an ongoing problem. In some cases battles were ridiculously hard (and the death penalty is that you just have to wait to respawn though I expect that to change) and took multiple deaths for a team of three to accomplish. Meanwhile, the “public event” sort of battles that you stumble upon tended to have upwards of ten people in there at a time laying waste to Klingon fleets of 4-5 ships.

I can understand sending a fleet of five ships (say two cruisers and three bird of prey) against a group of three players. That can be tough but you can do it–if you play it right–without getting killed. And, I can understand if my team mates leave but the game already spawned those suckers, there isn’t much you can do. But, assuming I either survive that or you send the extras running to make things even, the next fleet you send me should be tied to my current state (solo) and be more like three bops or one cruiser and a couple of bops.

I guess we’ll see how things turn out once the game launches. I for one, though, think this game will have it’s time as all of them do at launch but will eventually settle on a niche subset of players that will keep the game alive for a couple years. The starship combat is fun when balanced (or tipped in your favor) and the missions stack towards starships rather than ground combat (so far). That combined with the PVP that I haven’t seen yet could keep that subset of players happy for a while.

g afk

It looks like the Open Beta is starting off with the usual thud. There are login issues currently.

Also, it looks like the open beta is limited to the “lower levels” to begin with according to a news bit that only seems to be available to you if you’re in the open beta:

Open Beta will start with characters restricted to playing Federation and Klingon sectors only. You will not be able to access Romulan, Cardassian, or Borg space until we update a little later on into the Beta.

In addition, all players will hit a level cap at 16 – which will allow you to complete all missions available in your respective sectors.

Though, I guess the interesting part is the fact that you’ll get to wander into other sectors of the Alpha Quadrant and stumble into Borg space…yum.

Details coming soon!!

g afk

Downloads are available, supposedly. If you’re doing a digital download and you’ve pre-ordered, your respective retailer will offer download links (e.g. Steam, etc.).

If not, you can grab it off FilePlanet and a couple of other places.

If you haven’t pre-ordered, or you’re like me and you pre-ordered through a retailer like Amazon (who’s notoriously slow at getting out pre-order bonuses and keys), you can grab a key here at one of their partner sites.

We’ll see how things have progressed since the demo I played at PAX last year. I’ve heard the closed beta was bumpy but that’s what you’d expect in a closed beta.

I’ve noticed the Web site’s been getting 500 errors which doesn’t bode well for launch (I mean, if they can’t run a simple Web site, how are they going to run an MMO?). At least, this time, they’re not screwing around with the pre-orders. It looks like every pre-order, regardless of the retailer, gets you Open Beta access and Head Start access (unlike Champions Online). Phew.

Now, the question will be are we looking at queues and lag in the first few days after launch or will it be smoother? And, how long will bouncing around a set galaxy (or rather, string of solar systems) keep people interested?

We’ll see how things look after we download the Open Beta and take our clunker starter starship for a spin…

g afk