Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

"Space. The final frontier."

Those words were first broadcast to television sets across the country in 1966 and have rippled through the fabric of time ever since. The original Star Trek series may have only lasted 3 seasons, but in that short time it captured the hearts and minds of science fiction fans everywhere. Its popularity grew over the years into a cultural phenomenon and shows no signs of slowing with the future release of Star Trek Online.

Skimming the rings of a distant planet.

Set 30 years after the events in Star Trek: Nemesis, the last Star Trek movie (until May, woot!), Star Trek Online will introduce players to a changed political dynamic. Things have deteriorated between the Klingon Empire and the Federation during this time, but rather than having a strictly Klingon versus Federation setup, there will also be an as yet unnamed ancient evil all players will need to contend with. Somehow I get the feeling that you'll need to do more than set your phasers on stun.

The Ten Ton Hammer crew has brought two Star Trek Online videos to the masses this week from the New York Comic-Con, “Craig Zinkievich on Races, Exploration, and More” and the “Character Races Demo Video”. The highlight for me was a deeper look at the character creation aspect of the game.

For those that have been following Star Trek Online's development, the announcement that players will be able to create their own races may not be news per se, but it's still incredibly exciting. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't think of any MMOG that’s allowed their player base to do this. Vicious warrior races, highly evolved geniuses, or sexy chicks that just happen to be green, the possibilities are staggering. It makes me all tingly in a (most likely) completely inappropriate way even thinking about it. You can't tell me I'm alone, and I'm not just talking to the Star Trek geeks out there.

Resistance is futile.

The ability to create your own content (in any form, let alone your race), has been requested by players around the globe for longer than I care to think about. Players have been creating unofficial content to amuse themselves for well over 20 years. I remember creating a number of "Choose Your Own Adventure" style games with a number of friends back when we had to save everything on a cassette tape (I'm not kidding, you whippersnappers!). From there, players moved on to creating more mods than you can imagine for more games than you could ever list. This is all well and good for single player games but playing by yourself can get kind of lonely on those cold winter nights.

Understandably, the idea of players creating mods for their favorite MMOG (outside of user interfaces changes) hasn't been met with a lot of love from the industry, but Cryptic Studios is set to take the first step into that expanse. What better way to seek out new worlds and new civilizations than by allowing (and actively encouraging) your players to create their own race?

Aside from allowing players to delve into the depths of their imagination to bring forth a unique race to impress the masses with, Cryptic has also managed another less talked about (though no less important) feat - shutting up the whiners like me. I'm sure it will come as no surprise that the race I truly had my heart set on playing were the Romulans (I’m betting they’ll be in the first expansion). I'll go ahead and give you all a moment to compose yourselves from the shock that statement induced. All set? Seriously though, I really did have my heart set on it. The Romulan Warbird is the coolest looking ship currently in existence in the "known" Star Trek universe and I wanted to be able to have one.

I'd suggest hiding in that nebula!

While I won't be zipping around in a Warbird, thanks to Cryptic's empowering vision, I will be able to create a Romulan (at least in my own head). With the ability to assign attribute points to any created race, they've opened a role-playing opportunity rarely realized in today's gaming world. I may have to choose between the Klingon Defense Force and the Federation of Planets, but that can be used as a powerful tool. Perhaps I've been stranded in Federation space and am trying to make my way back to Romulus. The possibilities are endless.

Some time back, I labeled City of Heroes/City of Villains as the reigning champ in terms of character customization. The game may now reside in the hands of NCsoft, but it was originally created by Cryptic Studios, the driving force behind Star Trek Online. In other words, if any company has a chance of not only taking the crown, but doing it with style, Cryptic is that company.

If virtually any other company had made this historic announcement, I'll freely admit right now that I'd meet it with a healthy dose of skepticism. Fortunately for all of us, this isn't just any company. Cryptic Studios has a proven track record when it comes to providing more character customization than any company has been able to touch. I have no doubt they'll pull the feat off again.