Last
December, Cryptic Studios gave fans of upcoming href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/117"
target="_blank"> style="font-style: italic;">Star Trek Online
a
pleasant holiday surprise in the form of the first in-depth look at one
of the game’s multi-role ships, the NX-91001. When I first
reported the href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/52092" target="_blank">
news, I also pointed out that
speculation surrounding a
possible release date contained within the ship’s numbers had
already begun popping up on the game’s official forums:

One particularly
clever member of the official forums also pointed out
that this might potentially be a hint at a possible release date
– 10.01.2009 (the numbers from the NX-91001 sequenced
backwards)  Considering the shorter development cycle for
Cryptic's other announced title, href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/co" target="_blank"> style="font-style: italic;">Champions Online,
an October '09
release date doesn't sound too far off the mark.  Mind you
this is all just wild speculation at this point, but if it proves to be
accurate it would certainly be a much bigger holiday gift than anyone
realized!

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/72573"> alt="" src="/image/view/72573/preview"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 200px;">

Does
Foxbat know when the STO beta will begin?

The rumors died down shortly after, and by the time it was announced
that the launch date for style="font-style: italic;">Champions Online
was being pushed back to
September 1, 2009, an October ‘09 launch for STO seemed all
the more unlikely.



Flash forward to the present, and it seems that Cryptic may indeed be
dropping hints to players in the form of a mysterious set of posters
found on the side of random bus stops in CO’s Millennium
City. Each of these signs bears the same date – October 8,
2009 – curiously only a week off from the date that may or
may not have previously been hinted at with the NX-91001. Adding fuel
to the STO fire, the href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/72275" target="_blank">recently
announced 6-month and lifetime
subscription offers for Champions also include “ style="font-style: italic;">access to the
Star Trek Online Closed Beta, beginning later this year!”




Could October 8th be the magic date that players will get their first
taste of the captain’s chair in STO’s closed beta?
Or does Cryptic have some other super secret announcement
or event for
planned that week? Be sure to share your thoughts right here in our
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/72579" target="_blank">forums!