Star Trek Online Impressions Day Four: The Son of Day Four

Ok it is day four of this coverage and things are getting better and getting worse.

Let me clarify that for you. More people on Destructoid are getting on STO and playing with them in fleet battles and pew pewing Klingons with them is loads of fun. Having said that the glitches throughout the game seem to still be a major problem. I know this is supposed to be a beta but it seems some of the main problems are not being resolved. Like your away team not beaming down with you or appearing in space as your character or the opposite of appearing in ground missions as your ship still persist. And these are well known issues so you would think they would address them by now. As of writing this the server went down for emergency maintenance again it seems. I realize the problems are being worked on during the beta phase however I can't help but feel a pending disappointment at these problems persisting even into the full release. However despite all this Cryptic seems confident they will be able to fix all of these with their push for the subscription programs of lifetime ones. That seems extremely optimistic for an MMO that isn't even out yet and still experiencing problems.

However despite these problems it remains fun with very well done space battles and strategy as well as a seperate ground mission status that is its own beast altogether. Now if you are looking for a game that is not like an MMO then this is not for you. It doesn't break the mold of MMO quest structures and such nor is there that much difference when it comes to combat. There is still cool down to abilities and such like in most MMO. However it is the overall theme and execution of this persistent world that really keeps you coming back.

My friends from Destructoid have already put together a fleet. A fleet is basically a guild or clan when compared to other MMO. You can have your own private chat channel, a shared bank of inventory and currency, and some missions that open up just for characters in a fleet. This gives you a good way to pool resources for each other as you often find yourself with left over equipment that lower ranked people could use for their own ships and bridge officers.

The servers hiccups have become more noticeable throughout gameplay. It seems they are working overtime to try and address all the problems coming in and are bringing down the servers in some cases. I'd really like some kind of developer journal or something on their website to give you an idea of what was changed and what they are currently working on to give me a rough idea of how they are progressing with finishing out the world. It is probably the first game where I have a vested interest, being a long time Trek fan from years past. I want to see this succeed after they seemed to have put so much effort into it and the community of Trek fans so quick to adopt it into the fold. So far the online community has been very cordial and helpful, something that is rare if you are familiar with most MMO. Is it simply because of the content is Trek related or perhaps just because everyone is new here? I can't say for sure but I do find it nice not to be spammed with dick references nonstop or to see some jerks screwing over others with exploits they have found to level faster or steal drops.

The community is what can really make or break an MMO as far as attracting players and keeping them. Lots of people are familiar with the astounding asshattery in other MMO such as WOW no doubt. It has put off many players to the game and even irks long time players as well.

As of this writing I recently was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and get to choose a new ship. I plan to go with a Cruiser class as I like the big ships from the TV series. I will let you know how that decision pans out later on.

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Bigby