Star Trek Universe Going Online

[zavvy]

<b>Star Trek Universe Going Online</b><br /><br />LINK<br /><br />Fans of Star Trek will have the chance to explore the final frontier in a multi-player online game based on the hugely popular TV series. <br /><br />Games firm Perpetual Entertainment has secured the rights to develop the game which will allows thousands of trekkers to immerse themselves in the world of the United Federation of Planets. <br /><br />The 24th century universe being brought to life by Star Trek Online will launch considerably earlier, in 2007. <br /><br />It could attract millions of players. <br /><br />Forget Spock <br /><br />The game has the potential to be a huge money-spinner, given the millions of Star Trek fans worldwide and the success of other so-called massively multi-player games which create not only a games universe but an online community around it. <br /><br />Games like Everquest, Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies have hundreds of thousands of subscribers. <br /><br />Analysts DFC Intelligence forecast that the worldwide market for online games will reach $9.8 billion in 2009. <br /><br />This estimate includes casual online games that are increasingly popular. <br /><br />Encompassing not only the original TV series but also The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, there should be something for even the most pedantic of fans. <br /><br />They will have the chance to meet some of their favourite Star Trek characters but anyone hoping to play the game as the ice-cool Mr Spock will be disappointed. <br /><br />According to a guide on the official Star Trek website, players will not be able to play the role of one of the show's best known characters. <br /><br />Similarly gamers will not get the chance to follow in the footsteps of Captain Kirk and command the starship Enterprise, although they may get to captain or crew their own lesser-known starship. <br /><br />Characters will gain skills and rank by completing mission

 

[a_lost_packet_]

Interesting. Perpetual Entertainment is headed by two ex-EA employees. While EA is certainly a leader in gaming and, to some extent, MMO gaming, this doesn't translate to instant success. Earth and Beyond was one of the titles that the princples managed. It is dead now.<br /><br />Star Trek is a quirky franchise. To date, there have been very few Star Trek licensed titles that have done well. The only one I can think of which received good reviews and a strong following was the First Person Shooter from a couple of years ago. Other than that, the rest have done pretty miserably. (I didn't count Star Fleet Battles which is an excellent game with excellent reviews. That's because it has a strong SFB following from the old P+P game... and, of course, I'm biased. <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" />)<br /><br />The MMORPG world is exploding right now. However, most titles that have been released are failing. Here is a list of the survivors, hopefuls and hangers on (imho):<br /><br />EverQuest - The King. Evercrack. It will have a declining base over the next year and server consolidations will probably take place. However, it will endure for awhile yet.<br /><br />EverQuest 2 - The WoW killer? Who knows. It should be hitting the shelves soon. Pre-Order boxes are already up.<br /><br />World of Warcraft - Stress test for the open beta is this week. This game is being touted as the EQ-killer. However, many have claimed that title and are no more. EQ will loose a good percentage of people to this game. However, with the offerings coming up, WoW will have to have a very smooth opening week and very good gameplay "out of the box." So far, everything seems to be running fine. Time will tell.<br /><br />Star Wars Galaxies - Declining subscription base. The upcoming (released?) Space Combat expansion pack will boost subscriptions as players reactivate old accounts. This may be the "turnaround" that Sony has been looking for on this franchise. It should remain viab <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1">I put on my robe and wizard hat...</font> </div>

 

[zavvy]

I've never been an online gamer, except for chess and scrabble, but I guess they don't count, eh? I'm looking forward to the Star Trek game though, being a bit of a Trekker at heart... <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />

 

[arobie]

I havn't heard of many of those games, but there are a few I am familiar with.<br /><br />I was dissapointed in Star Wars Galaxies. The graphics were bad (according to me) and I can't fly ships yet, but according to my brother I will be able too with the expansion.<br /><br />I'm greatly looking foward to World of Warcraft and Middle Earth Online though. I'm just a loyal fan of Warcraft. And my brother has been reading about MEO for a long time now, got me interested.

 

[a_lost_packet_]

I've played many.. that is probably unfortunate. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> My first "Online" experiences were an ascii Star Fleet Battles type game and a text MUD. Then came Doom... wasn't online but you could do peer to peer. My first MMO was Neverwinter Nights (AOL version). That really doesn't qualify as an MMO in my book though. Then came Ultima Online and a slew of others including EQ, AO, SWG etc.. The only one that I stuck with for any length of time was EQ. Although I do have an SWG character. He's somewhere in the middle of the Tatooine desert looking for ore deposits at the moment.. I think. I don't play any MMORPG much anymore. I haven't had that much free time the last few months.<br /><br />However, the MMO community has fascinated me. There are some extremely dedicated people. Why they are so dedicated to online gaming I still haven't figured out. I know people who have gotten divorced and lost their jobs due to online gaming. The "hardcore" online gaming community is fairly close. Many hardcore gamers are well aware of other players' characters and their notoriety. Hardcore guilds are almost like real corporate entities in-and-of-themselves. Many have members who are designers and programmers for some of the top games out there. There are also guild members who graduate "into" game design purely based on their online play and experience being brought to the attention of developers looking for new talent. Many guilds have members who are well known in the "real world." I've been in guilds with noted sports, business and political figures. It's quite fascinating to watch the social dynamics in online play.<br /><br />So, the next guy you see speaking on TV just <b>might</b> be trying to hurry up and get home so he can go on his guild's next "raid" that evening. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1">I put on my robe and wizard hat...</font> </div>

 

[a_lost_packet_]

<font color="yellow">grevie - I wonder how many people will be paying REAL money in exchange for "Star Trek game credits" as in SW Galaxies</font><br /><br />As long as there is a way to transfer money and items between characters, people will auction off and buy items and credits for "real" cash. Some of the figures are astounding! For instance, during the prime period in EverQuest for this type of thing, some friends and I figured out we could net $60,000 a year running multiple characters, farming certain camps, on multiple servers. If done smartly, someone could make $10k a year for just a few hours of work online each night.<br /><br />There are infamous groups that have been doing this for the past couple of years. They specialize in farming items which sell for good "in game" credits and then they turn around and sell these "credits" online at several sites. There is no real way to catch this kind of activity other than setting up the offender for an online sting. Then, the only punishment available is to revoke their registration. Even that doesn't make a big dent. Most of these people have multiple characters on multiple servers. After all, they buy and sell characters too. A top-notch EQ character (Time/GoD Flagged) with good gear can fetch $375 to $500+. (That estimate may be a little high now. The desire for high end characters is waining with the release of all the new MMO's coming out and the maturity of EQ.)<br /><br />EQ isn't the only game fraught with this problem. SWG, as you suggested, probably has it's share of in-game trading and outside auctions. Even Diablo 2, an extremely mature game, still has a very active auction community. I think I remember hearing about some items being sold for $175.00+ on ebay.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1">I put on my robe and wizard hat...</font> </div>

 

[jcdenton]

Monthly fees... Never been a fan of games with those.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[strandedonearth]

Currently playing SWG myself, and have been since Feb. It has plenty of annoying little bugs, and it has its boring moments, but then sometimes I just engage the autopilot (roll of pennies on the up-arrow) and read while I cruise. I'm mostly in it for when the Jump to Lightspeed Space expansion comes out, but they really had to get the ground game going first. As for the graphics, well, you need a very good video-card at the very least. Once I upgraded, some of the visuals were stunning.<br /><br />The last MMOG I played was EA's botched Motor City Online, which was simply never executed properly. EA lost a lot of its rep (at least to me) with that debacle. Sadly, for those that stayed to the bitter end, apparently the last days were the best, and if they'd run it like that earlier, it may have survived.<br /><br />WoW is tempting, but.... One game at a time, and I'm more hooked on Star Wars than Star Trek or Warcraft (for some reason Warcraft 3 didn't fascinate me as much as Warcraft 2 (the game that made me buy a PC) or StarCraft, perhaps I was just burnt out on RTS's). Perhaps a "Universe of StarCraft" might inveigle me away. The interesting thing about SWG is that while the ground game is all skill-mod-role-play, the space game will be a flight-sim style twitch game. If they applied that to StarCraft, I just might switch.

 

[cramic]

The game launches in 2007 !!!! come one, we will have real transporters by then

 

[a_lost_packet_]

<font color="yellow">The thing with these sort of games is. Will people still be playing in a few years time? I seem to take ages getting through a game and it would be annoying if the servers were deactivated/lack of users etc. It would spoil the game expereince. </font><br /><br />That is true. However, the online games that have had quality content are still going strong even after years of being on the market with outdated engines. Ultima Online and Everquest are just two examples. Sony has even stated that they will continue to run EQ servers as long as their is membership enough to support them. Of course, they will consolidate servers and lower their overhead by doing so when membership drops. However, all they really have to do is shift employees that aren't needed on EQ support over to support EQ2.<br /><br />Online gaming is not for everyone. Especially games that require servers hosted by the agency. However, it is a trade-off. The experience of interacting in a persistant environment along with thousands of other people tends to outweigh the prospect of the game, eventually, being shut down. All things must come to an end in time. Even an MMORPG.<br /><br />I really enjoyed Morrowind. I think it's construction set is one of the best that has ever been released. Morrowind is certainly the most in-depth game in it's genre. However, it isn't for everyone either. Travel times are difficult, the quests are somewhat complicated and it does take along time to accomplish certain things. There is a large emphasis on "talking" with many NPC's. These are things that I find somewhat discouraging. However, the construction set makes up for these! I didn't use it to cheat much mind you. I just made myself a nice little house that I could keep my stuff in. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> As you can see, people have different tastes. At times, Morrowind seemed.. lonely. <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" /> (FYI- imho, Morrowing is the best <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1">I put on my robe and wizard hat...</font> </div>

 

[jcdenton]

I prefer Neverwinter Nights. Playing online is free and there are many user-made mods on a variety of servers.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[a_lost_packet_]

Neverwinter Nights is an awesome game. The "Aurora" engine is very similar to Morrowind's. It's no accident because both games, like most, use C derived languages for their engine. I like NWN although the isometric view sometimes gets a little "old." The constant supply of expansion packs has made this a very long game. Coupled with the Aurora Toolset and broad support from fans and amatuer developers, this game has alot of life left in it. One shining example of third party building for the game is the "City of Doors" project. I hope they finish it soon. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> http://www.city-of-doors.com<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1">I put on my robe and wizard hat...</font> </div>

 

[jcdenton]

Hmmm, a Planescape mod, this should be interesting. I loved that game (as well as all the other infinity engine games, especially BGII). I use to play on the City of Arabel, but I haven't been on in a long time. I also haven't played either expansion pack so I might purchase the upcoming platinum pack and get back in to it.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>