Building a game off of such a well established concept has to be hard but the developers of Cryptic Studios have not let that daunt them in their pursuit to create Star Trek Online. With such a large and devoted fanbase, Cryptic has a lot to live up to with this mega franchise, so how do they plan on staying true to the Star Trek name? EpicBattleAxe.com recently interviewed Cryptic's Executive Producer Craig Zinkievich and found out just that.

EBA: As Executive Producer, what do you consider the core goals of STO?

CZ: It's easy for us to get caught up in the details, but I'd say that the core goal of STO is to provide a genuine Star Trek experience.

Starting with our first conversations about the project on, we've been thinking about what a Star Trek game needs to be, instead of what a standard MMO has and then how to skin it with Starfleet and Klingons.

We've actually scrapped some really cool ideas because they didn't feel like Star Trek, but that has let us go in directions that we might not have considered for any other game.

EBA: The folks behind the upcoming Star Wars MMO tout an enormous story (and the ability to interact with it) as a major selling point for the game. What is the major selling point for STO?

CZ: I think that the selling point would line up with our core goal. We want to provide a Star Trek experience.

In addition to that are Cryptic's unprecedented commitment to customization, content that is story-driven and takes you to space, on planets and inside space stations and starships, exploring a galaxy, tactical starship combat ….

Maybe I’m too close to the project to give you only one reason why I want to play the game. : )

To read more of this interview and catch a couple of new screenshots, please visit EpicBattleAxe.com!