Q&A: STO Community Issues and Concerns

Tags : star trek online, sto news, sto community

Last week, Cryptic Studios finally released the widely-anticipated Star Trek Online. It was well-received by the majority of its followers, earning praise from Star Trek fans as well as veteran MMO players. However, just prior to STO's official release last Tuesday, a handful of community-driven issues were consistently popping up in Cryptic's forums and in-game, during its beta-testing phase. We rounded up about a dozen of the most commonly-raised gameplay issues we've noticed throughout the past few weeks, hoping to get some answers from the developers.

Fortunately, ZAM was able to take our questions straight to the top; Star Trek Online executive producer Craig Zinkievich responds in this exclusive Q&A, which we submitted a few days before the MMO's official release. Zinkievich talks about STO's future content and gives us a rough idea of how often Cryptic will deploy new "Episodes" and other endgame material (including confirmation that an encounter with Borg Queen is in-the-works).

He also responds to some of the community's most commonly-asked questions regarding Klingon PvE gameplay, explaining why Cryptic originally designed the Klingon aspect of STO the way it did. Zinkievich also talks about the balancing STO's combat and solo play, as well as fixing the commonly-addressed "corkscrew" ship-maneuvering issue. Finally, Zinkievich explains why fans shouldn't be too quick to lose faith in the "exploration and diplomacy" aspects of Star Trek Online.

[Note: the following Q&A took place a few days before the official launch, after the open beta-testing phase concluded.]

ZAM: How much of Star Trek Online's total content still remains to be unlocked at launch, compared to what we've seen so far? Will future content be released on a regular basis, such as the "45 day patch cycle" we've been hearing about?

Craig Zinkievich: You will have more access at launch but we did open it up quite a bit on the last week of open beta. We don't have a planned schedule of when we'll release content, so to speak. Sometimes it will be before 45 days, others it might be later. It really depends on the size of the patch we're doing. If it's just a little content push then it could be every couple of weeks. If it's something bigger, then that will take a little more time.

ZAM: With regard to future content patches and new Episodes, how much does the development team already have "in the bag," so to speak?

Zinkievich: We already have a lot of things that we've been working on for post-launch. We just included a page on our website that talks about things to come very shortly. [Check out the Upcoming Content section of the site.] Also, keep in mind that our team is the same size now that it was a month ago. They're all working on new stuff, in addition to bug fixes and the like, so there will be even more available soon.

ZAM: On more than a few occasions, Cryptic has told the community that, if enough players request specific features or gameplay elements, they will be added to the game. Will Cryptic remain dedicated to that ideology, evolving STO in the direction that most fans want to see realized?

Zinkievich: Yes! We are already working on more exploration and more PvE content for Klingons. We definitely want to be able to take player feedback and incorporate that into the game. In a perfect world, we'd add everything everyone wants into the game immediately. Since that can't happen, we take a hard look at what our community wants, then determine if it's possible and would fit into the game. If it is, we add it to the list of things we want to make happen.

ZAM: In retrospect, why didn't Cryptic anticipate some of the major issues raised by the community, like the Klingon issue or the criticism that STO is "just a combat game"? Was it a deadline-related issue, or some unforeseen disparity between the community and the developers?

Zinkievich: A few things are going on, here. First and foremost, we made a commitment to our fans to ship the date in February, and we did it. We did anticipate that people would be looking for more out of the Klingon faction, and we're adding that now. We originally did design the Klingons to be much more PvP-oriented than the Federation, because we wanted players to have a vastly different experience than what they'd get in Federation play. But obviously folks are more interested in a broader experience on the Klingon side. So we're getting on that. We're also adding more exploration missions into the game as we speak.

ZAM: Regarding Klingon gameplay; what's the contingency plan if the single-server model doesn't provide enough opportunities for rank progression, especially later down the road? Some players are still worried there won't be enough PvE content to satisfy the Klingon faction; does it just depend on post-launch feedback?

Zinkievich: There is already PvE content in-the-works for Klingons. When we say dependent on post-launch feedback we really mean in terms of what kind of PvE content they would like and if it becomes the same scale as Federation. But right now we already have more PvE content coming for Klingons and with the mixture of PvP for Klingons there will be plenty of opportunities to advance.

ZAM: From a technical standpoint, how viable is Cryptic's ability to produce non-Federation episodic, PvE content? For example, how feasible is it that players might eventually receive more factions or races with their own specific play-styles, abilities and PvE progression?

Zinkievich: It's definitely feasible. Ultimately, it's just the application of what the system designers dream up. We've got a lot of smart people on the team and can make a lot of amazing things happen in a very short time. Ultimately, it just comes back to what the players want and whether or not it's something that will truly add to the game.

ZAM: How would you describe STO's ideal "endgame" model in action? Will the final stages of higher-ranking Episodes serve as an "interim" until the next content patch is released, and so on?

Zinkievich: This is a place where we want to provide players with choice. More Episodes, Raid Episodes, and unique exploration content. Really giving the endgame players the ability to choose what they want to do to unlock and obtain access to the high-end ships, fill out their crew and skills.

We'll always be adding more things to do to the game. We don't plan on stopping any time soon. As time moves on, we'll be looking at increasing the rank cap, adding more ships and so on, as well. The idea is to keep players of all levels engaged.

ZAM: Can you describe some of the ways in which players will spend their time at max-rank, or give us any specific examples of the types of gameplay you're shooting for? Will this include elements like epic boss battles, sector-wide encounters and massive fleet show-downs, for example?

Zinkievich: We're in the process of unveiling numerous Raid Episodes, which offer new story arcs for advanced players to play through. The ones we have planned in the near term lead up to an encounter with the Borg Queen. So in the near term, it's very much about completing and continuing the Star Trek Online story and challenging players…and getting some pretty cool loot.

Of course, there always are PvP and exploration missions to enjoy. We're continually developing those angles of gameplay for people, too.

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ZAM: The Klingon "Carrier" sounds like a really fun and interesting ship. Can you offer any more details about the mechanics of this ship and its role within a fleet? Will this "Carrier" mechanic be extended to the Federation at some point, in any way?

Zinkievich: Sure, the carrier you're referring to is the Vo'quv, and it represents the latest in Klingon military technology. From a gameplay perspective, it's available only to General-level Klingon players. It lacks some of the firepower of the other high-end Klingon ships, but makes up for it in that it has a significantly larger crew and better-rounded Bridge Officer station setup. It can also release fighters to harass its enemies. It's just a beast of a ship.

As of right now, the Vo'quv carrier is exclusive to Klingon players.

ZAM: One of the most-criticized aspects of ship maneuvering is the "corkscrew spiral" required to increase or decrease altitude. Is this an acknowledged gameplay issue that will be addressed at some point?

Zinkievich: We've definitely taken a look at this. We're currently exploring ways in which we could address this and still keep to our "tall ships" design philosophy.

ZAM: On the topic of ship gameplay; most players agree that Cryptic did a great job a creating a three-dimensional space environment, but the Z-axis seems a bit under-utilized—as if everything "defaults" to the horizontal plane. Was this designed for accessibility's sake, or will the environment mechanics continue to evolve in future patching?

Zinkievich: It goes back to "tall ships." The starships you pilot in STO are massive; even a small ship staffs a crew of 50. They don't move like fighter jets. We felt that the best way to give the ships a feeling of mass was to provide them with an internal equilibrium, so turns feel like turns and so on. Going to a true Newtonian model in which there's no real difference between flying sideways and level, while physically accurate, probably would turn off more people than you'd think.

ZAM: Do you feel that ship combat balance is right where you'd like it to be? Some players love it, while others think it was "nerfed" too much.

Zinkievich: That is a tricky one, right? We'll always be adjusting balance because you don't want something too easy or too hard. So when some players said they loved it and some said we "nerfed" it too much, you have to take both into consideration. You have to look at what was making it just right for these people and what was making it too easy for the others. So we'll always be evaluating player feedback, observing it closely and then try[ing] to make the best adjustments we can so that people feel the gameplay is spot on.

ZAM: How accessible should STO be for the casual players, or those who prefer to play solo? Will they face more difficulty in later gameplay?

Zinkievich: We definitely designed the game to be solo/casual friendly. You're always able to beam down to Away missions with your NPC crew, giving you a full group all the time. But obviously, AIs aren't on par with human intelligences yet. People who do wish to group up and experience content together will enjoy advantages of communication and camaraderie that solo players may not. But we think it's pretty fair to both sides right now.

ZAM: How does Cryptic intend to ensure that STO doesn't end up feeling too "linear" or "railed"? This is the Star Trek universe, after all; exploration is a major draw for 'Trek fans. Can you describe how exploration and diplomacy will be integrated with gameplay to help achieve an "open-ended" feeling to STO?

Zinkievich: One of our [tenets] is to always make sure that players have a choice in the directed gameplay in Star Trek Online. At any given time, the idea is to make sure that players have Episodes they can do, they can do PvP, they can dip into the exploration content and see what the Genesis systems has created. Whatever type of gameplay the player is interested in, it's there for you to try.

ZAM: Finally, is there any one question that you've never been asked in an interview, but always wished someone had?

Zinkievich: I think just about every question regarding this game or Star Trek in general I've been asked at one point or another.

Source: Zam.com