NYCC 09: Cryptic panel covers Champions MMO, reveals Star Trek Online race creator
by Majed Athab 
{ Feb 8th 2009 at 2:00PM } 
First off, Champions will feature a lot of unique and odd weapons such as guitars. Essentially, this means you can create a "Guitar Hero" (hey, not our joke – blame executive producer Bill Roeper). The crew at Cryptic is also looking into implementing vehicles such as motorcycles, tanks ... and pogo sticks. Lastly, the formation of "super hero groups" will still follow the basic MMO guild structure, but with an integrated ranking system.
Moving on to Star Trek Online, the game was revealed to be set in the year 2409. That's 30 years after the events of Star Trek Nemesis, which marks the end of the ST timeline. The MMO puts players in the captain's chair as they are tasked to command their own ship either under the banner of the Starfleet or Klingon Defense Force. Ships and bridge officers are customizable. Cryptic says to expect a lot of "beaming up and down" from ship to ground for an authentic ST feel. The most interesting reveal was the race creator, allowing players to customize their own race. See that in action after the break.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jboy @ Feb 8th 2009 2:10PM
2049? No.
Big Chief Knockemboots @ Feb 8th 2009 2:12PM
Um, you mean 2409. 2379 was the end point for Star Trek so far.
zuburi @ Feb 8th 2009 5:34PM
NNNNNNNNNNEEEEEERRRDDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
UltimateQ @ Feb 9th 2009 7:29AM
And don't you ever forget it!
333mzh @ Feb 8th 2009 2:22PM
What does end point mean? Isn't this just a new chapter in the Star Trek timeline?
I for one can't wait. This is the RPG I have been waiting for. It is a shame though, as much fun as it will be being a Starship Captain I have always wanted to take on a role like Harry Mudd and travel with my own set of goals in the Star Trek Universe.
UltimateQ @ Feb 8th 2009 2:27PM
Seems everyone is more excited over ST:O rather than Champions. Understandable because Star Trek is pretty f'ing sweet.
Batzarro @ Feb 8th 2009 2:28PM
As a fan of things that involve capes, tights, and punching in the name of justice, Champions might as well be my gateway drug into the world of MMOs. They didn't have video of it, or nothing?
Joe @ Feb 8th 2009 2:34PM
Can't wait.
ronald.raygun @ Feb 8th 2009 2:54PM
i cant wait for star trek online, and even better, i didnt see a single annoying ass ferengi
Thranx @ Feb 8th 2009 2:55PM
Meh. Not a fan of the race creation. I think it's something that will give the characters a less authentic feel. I'm by no means a Star Trek purist, but this feels more like cryptic trying to give the game a big character creation feature to mirror Champions and CoH, and less about doing something to actually add to the value, fun or quality of the game.
Snowblind @ Feb 8th 2009 5:43PM
Have to agree with that, coupled with the bizarre ship design and bad uniform designs, nothing about the game feels very Star Trek-ish to me. Hopefully that'll change when we see more, but if there's a monthly fee (and there is) I'm not interested anyway.
Clinton RRoD sept.3 @ Feb 8th 2009 3:15PM
champions is what im waiting for
hiiro @ Feb 8th 2009 5:36PM
Was that a Vorta in a Federation uniform right before the Klingon?
Jarrod @ Feb 8th 2009 10:17PM
It was. Pretty sure I saw a Founder in there too which is really weird. I mean I guess it works, but I just don't see any of the Dominion species signing up with Starfleet, let alone the Dominion itself joining the Federation.
Still really excited for this though, my life has been MMO-less since the Star Wars Galaxies NGE Fiasco.
Nick8708 @ Feb 8th 2009 7:11PM
I wonder if they'll have a way to be a member of a player-created race? It'd be cool if you could easily play as the same race a friend created, maintaining the same general look while being able to make yourself look unique within that race, without having to start from scratch and fudge the whole thing.
I'm not sure what to expect from this. Most of my exposure to ST is through the movies with Patrick Stewart. I'm not sure what one would spend most of his time doing since, for the Federation anyway, the primary directive discourages putting yourself in a position to engage in combat. I am, however, excited about a new MMO that takes place in space, so I'll be keeping an eye on it. I've thought about getting into EVE, but I'm pretty sure I'd get my ass handed to me this late in the game's life, especially since I couldn't make it my full-time hobby.
Ryuukuro @ Feb 8th 2009 7:15PM
Both games look interesting. I probably wouldn't play more than a demo for either but the customization looks great. Champions definitely looks like a great evolution from City of Heroes. As for Star Trek, I'm not sure how it would play out but it sounds exciting and different. The custom race feature really sounds fun.
My hope, however, is that Cryptic someday does a stand-alone game with these customization features. I hate the fees off MMOs and I don't like being forced into multiplayer since I don't play games as much as I used to. But if they were to do one that I could play on my own time without needing the help of others (or a constant influx of cash) then I'd buy it as soon as it was on the shelf.
pete @ Feb 9th 2009 12:31AM
what does this have to do with the 360?? shouldn't mmo news be in the pc section of joystiq?
splinteredvision @ Feb 9th 2009 12:53AM
they're both coming to 360 as well
jc @ Feb 9th 2009 4:26AM
Umm agreed, what do these have to do with the 360? Even If they are bothcoming to it Star Trek still sucks...
xenocidic @ Feb 9th 2009 10:13AM
no doubt, they should really supress any news related to the 360 for titles that jc doesn't like
Onomah @ Feb 9th 2009 3:43AM
I have to say that is a bit impressive. I find this whole Star Trek MMO to be Quite intriguing. From what I have read, they are doing things differently. However I wonder if even with such a rapid following as Star Trek has can even make the MMO Goliath that is Warcraft bat an eyelid. There are quite a lot of excellant MMORPGs out there that nobody is playing because it is not really feasible to play more than one at a time.
I wonder if making an MMORPG in this climate is a doomed venture from the get go...
xenocidic @ Feb 9th 2009 10:13AM
I think you meant "rabid" fans.
But I don't think WoW is going to stifle STO, I'm sure there's a lot of former WoW players who are also Star Trek fans . . . who might give it a shot.
clo1_2000 @ Feb 9th 2009 10:22AM
Well, this MMO is a bit different. It is more of an action-oriented game, plus it is set in a sci-fi universe. If anything, this is geared at people who aren't into WoW, not trying to take away from WoW's userbase.
Remember, a game does not need millions of subscribers in order to be profitable. In fact, depending on development costs, if a game were able to keep a subscriber base of 75-100k for about a year, it would be profitable.
Onomah @ Feb 9th 2009 10:44AM
Hmm must have missed that error in spelling, that is what I get for flying too close to the sun with my winged spelling high horse....incidentally, that was a very rabid response to my error, har de har.
Many MMOs are a bit different, the market becomes a bit more saturated by the day. I'm not saying that it is definately going to fail, or that it will fail if it is not as successful as WOW. I just meant that as long as already established MMOs like WOW are still in existance, then it is harder to get a foothold.
And yes it is a different gameplay mechanic but I still think that the target market is basically the same even if one is more or less action orientated. Arguably they are quite different, but I think that the fact that they are MMOs gives them more things in common that different. Unless they are radically different like a Racing game and a real time strategy are then I think they are really aiming for the almost the same audience.
please tell me how wrong I am citing precedent. Charts if you have the time.
Onomah @ Feb 9th 2009 3:45AM
Spelling error in the title? Crpytic?
jc @ Feb 10th 2009 4:44AM
@ xenocidic yes please then that would save me alot of time then!!! Good Idea!!!