Star Trek Online at Ten Ton Hammer

• Bridge Officer Training
  
  Star Trek Online throws you right into middle management with little to no preparation (or bad Office Space sound bites). Very early on in the game, players get their first bridge officer and then they start accumulating points and merits to help bolster the abilities. It can be a little daunting to have so many people reporting, so this week we look at how to manage the responsibility.

• Star Trek Online - First Impressions
  
  The Star Trek intellectual property is a game maker's dream. The geeks of this beloved franchise number in the millions and pleasing them all will be no easy task. Can Cryptic Studios succeed where so many others have failed before with Star Trek Online?

• The Traveler's Guide -Episode 2
  
  The universe is an awfully big place and it would take more than a human lifetime to see it all. Realizations like that make the idea of a personal tour guide sound pretty good, don't they? Today's your lucky day then, because we (allegedly) smuggled none other than The Traveler onto a Federation ship to bring us weekly images from every quadrant of the galaxy and beyond just for you!


• Your First Days in the Klingon Empire
  
  

  Just the word, “Klingon”, sends a shiver down the spine of the most battle-hardened veteran. Respected and feared throughout the galaxy, the Klingons and their allies are not to be trifled with lightly. Here’s what you can expect in Star Trek Online when you add your name to the list of warriors wishing to be worthy of an afterlife within Sto’Vo’Kor.

  "If you want to really test yourself though, go ahead and challenge the absolute beast of a Gorn standing at the edge of the ring. Trust me, you'll know exactly who I'm talking about once you see him. Let's just say I eventually admitted I was a coward after my third death and left him alone after that."

Another week in the books and Medeor has traversed a few more star systems and even got into a scrape aka Pee Vee Pee. Knuckles bloody and ego bruised, the crew and I limped back to base to grab some blue beer, we’re not ready for prime time PvP just yet. It might help to be a little higher rank as well. Seeing all those plus signs gave me math nightmares. And now on with the show.

The Week That Was

The first official patch was launched and so far the new is better than the old. I like the character select screen much better and it’s great to see the dev team making so many “player facing” changes. The gripes I’m seeing continue are all centered on PvP, see below.

Sea Sickness or Lack of Balance?

The lack of balance in PvP is definitely rising on the list of issues for the game. My guess is that the real issue is lack of people at the same level for the developers to really get a sense of how to balance it. If they balance for the current population, it will be totally out of balance again as people get to end game. It’s a no win situation for the development team right now, but they should use this time to handle any of the known (and glaring) issues.

Swordmasters, how I hate thee.

So Swordmasters should run up and hit me with swords right? Well then why do they insist on running and gunning with two pistols? They really tear me up unless I can get them stunned. I snuck up on a group that consisted of a Swordmaster, Torg Handler and some other bad guys That got a little rough, but I stuck with last week’s mantra of “take out the Handler first,” and we all survived. By “we” I mean me, other crew members may have been resuscitated in the making of this story.

Briar Patch Bonus Footage

So far I’d have to say that the Briar Patch episode was the longest one I’ve run. The story is fun and the battles in space and base are cool, but towards the end I was looking for the credits to roll. I think my restlessness may have started when it took me a while to navigate the gas clouds and dealing with the cannons. Next time, knock that out more quickly (it would be like using my DVR fast forward button).

Pack Rat or Cash Cow redux.

Last week I said I was selling everything not nailed down. I’m changing my tune as the loot drops get better and I start my never ending alt-creation. I thought I’d be safe in STO and not feel the need to create an alt every week, but it’s getting tougher to fight the urge. I now have a tiered approach to handling inventory.

It goes like this – if any answer is yes, then it stops there and gets equipped. If the answer is no, then go onto the next question.

Can my character use it? Me Me Me, as in Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (awesome band).

Can my ship benefit from it? Pimping the ride is a primary objective.

Can my bridge officers use it? Go ahead and give it to the little ingrates. If my bridge officer can use it, do I really want to give to them? I mean, did they send me a bottle of wine on Boss’ Day?

Can my future alts use it? Not knowing what that character’s career will be or when I’ll actually create said alt makes this option a “green or better only” quality gear.

If the answer is no to all of the above, I’m selling it. And since I’m not a huge fan of warping back to Earth only to slog all the way back out to where my missions are, I’m going to use the Replicator. Is anyone having good success on the auction house, or market exchange, or whatever it’s called? Maybe I should start looking into selling some of this better gear on the open market.

• Borg Update Preview Video


• Borg Update Preview Images