I notice that you have alot of knowledge when it comes to mmo's.
I have an idea for an mmo that is realistic and would totally change the way we play. I would like partial credit for my idea but if you or somone else could private message me with maby an email adress so that you could hear my idea that would be great and maby great on your part also.
A timely answer to requests that were made after the last JE Q&A..... I like the attention Cryptic is showing the people that are interested in this project. I believe they are genuinely listening to our feed back & taking on board community advice... Bravo, can't wait to see what develops. Should be a cracker of a game.
Captain Geko I love every thing you have said and I'm am really happy that your the one in charge of these things I'm so happy about everything you have said
Great to know that the team at Cryptic is on the side of the Trek fans, and staying as true to the franchise as possible for this worldwide MMO
Looking forward to additional updates as progress continues.:)
I remember the 10six game. Played it for a short time since at the time my isp dropped my connection often. We road around on like skateboards that flew along the ground and picked out unoccupied land to start our own bases. People had hacks in it that would drop your base security before you offically did the things such as leveling past a level to get the auto protection to drop and that was that for me. Was cool though with energy held weapons.
Some of the stuff about Starship Combat he's saying reminds me of nothing more than Star Trek: Starfleet Command II. That is in some ways a very good thing, that game had a good storyline, deceptively complex missions, and, once you were into it, kick-TRIBBLE starship combat.
Just one problem.
I loved that game, but it had less a learning curve, and more a learning edifice.
As you slowly improved both your ship and your playing style, and began to get how things were done (especially energy management) it became awesome, but on the first two or three trials, it was so hard to punch through that "Whu?" barrier, I stopped playing for months at a time, and gave it up as simply a "bad" game.
I too have waited for a long time for a game like this and a find myself craving more and just waiting for every piece of information I can get my hands on. So far every detail I have seen makes me want this game so much more and anticipate how great this game is going to be. I have never been so happy or looked forward to any game as much as I am looking forward to this one. Finally a game where the battles are going to take thinking as opposed to past games where you just have to kill your keyboard. I cant wait!
Learn more about Al "Captain Geko" Rivera, the lead designer of Star Trek Online!
My primary responsibility is to ensure that the team maintains that overall vision. This means writing design documentation, creating systems, implementing assets and managing the design team. It is also my personal responsibility to ensure that the work we do remains true to the IP. But most importantly, it is my job to make sure that the game is fun.
im sold that part about space combat is just how i dreamed of it, turning the ship facing shields dammage control turn rate firing arcs ect ect finaly not a other combat system were you can marco every thing 2 1 button and bash away at some 1.
tactical combat were you need to think not some mindless zerk.
i would love to see a trailer of that system in action!
"This is not going to be another cookie-cutter MMO with a Star Trek skin on it."
Music to my ears. The lead designer sounds cool.
I will be taking a LONG break from the community forums. I trust Cryptic to do a good job until then, I hope they polish up the graphics and do not implement overly simplistic gameplay. Until there is serious information about the game, I will rejoin. It could be a month, it could be a year. we will see.
Glad to see that the designers are Star Trek fans, even before the game was conceived. I think it adds to the responsibility they've been giving to make this game as great as it can be rather than someone who's not a fan, just doing another MMO. Good to hear the news and that you own a Bat'leth! Ka-Plaa!
Fun and true to the IP. Captain Geko those were the words that Ensign.Ricky likes to hear! Someones getting a gift basket this christmas :rolleyes:. Glad to know a hardcore Trek Fan and veteran game designer is in charge and cracking the IP whip. My Trek Geekness is relieved for now. A man that owns a Bat'leth truly loves his trek. Great to see a little background of the team too, those are some of the best choices of Episodes from the series.
I'm really excited to hear about the space combat. Shield facing and turn rates can tell us a lot about how certain ships will play. I hope things like sensors and customizable attack patterns might have some role too. An important note that was mentioned was the different levels of automation. I think this will appeal to all types of players since we tend to vary on that topic or sometimes we might just want to change our style from time to time. Although I will be looking forward to Space combat the most, I think we all would also like a little light on the mystery of ground combat too though (ranged, hand to hand etc). I hope it's as exciting and tactical as space is, since I'm sure theres a few who will prefer more ground combat.
Thanks again for an excellent Q&A. These really help us pass the time and stir interests.
So to get to the bulk of the question, is there any need for writers in the game industry?
Many games have, at their core, a lot of plot, and good writing is essential to developing the kind of atmosphere you want your player to experience even if the player may not necessarily be reading text. And with games like RPGs (Assassin's Creed, The Witcher) and MMOs, that writing comes to the forefront as well in character interactions.
Thanks for the bio, Al & company. It's always appreciated to get a better idea of the real people behind the product. In fact, this is an area where computer game development is far superior to pretty much any other kind of business -- how often do you get to meet the person who designed your car or your TV?
In particular, like others here I was really pleased at the final comments. I'm one of those who thinks this game will do best by serving both Star Trek fans and current MMORPG gamers in a balanced way, so it's pretty important when the lead designer makes it clear that in addition to offering deep gameplay, the IP will be respected.
Having said that... I guess I get to be the voice of caution.
Star Trek Online is going to be a massively multiplayer persistent-world roleplaying game based on an IP that makes the highly visible point that non-violence should always be the preferred option. So it raises a red flag for me when the lead designer offers the following comments:
Q: What part of Star Trek Online are you the most excited about working on?
A: Space combat. I am a combat system designer at heart, and I am very excited about the system we have worked out for space combat.
Q: What are your favorite episodes?
A: ... If I had to pick one, I guess I would have to say my favorite is "Sacrifice of Angels" (DS9), where Sisko retakes DS9; closely followed by "Yesterday's Enterprise" (TNG), where we see Tasha return, which eventually gives rise to Sela.
Star Trek most definitely has its smackdown moments. I consider it primarily a character-driven world, but there's certainly been a lot of phaser fire. (And I'm on record as endorsing the Federation philosophy of standing up for principles, even if that sometimes means violent conflict.)
That said, I'm a little concerned about how balanced gameplay in STO will be when the lead designer makes no bones about preferring destruction -- in Star Trek as well as in MMORPGs -- over constructive behavior.
I would have been happier personally if the lead designer for this particular game, with its particular IP, had been someone who was primarily interested and experienced in gameplay that's focused on character development, on world-building, on crafting, rather than on yet another set of rules for how to kill things. I'm not thrilled that the core design for non-combat content is in the hands of someone who by his own statements doesn't find that kind of gameplay to be the most exciting opportunity when designing an entire MMORPG based on a license that explicitly values non-combat solutions to problems. It's not a criticism of any kind of Al's experience or interests to say that I'm somewhat skeptical that he was the right person for this critical development role -- I'd rather the job had gone to someone who wasn't so combat-oriented.
On the plus side, he did mention preferring Picard over Kirk, so maybe there's some hope for him after all.
Seriously, though, none of the concerns outlined above mean that I'm angry or grumpy or having any kind of emotional reaction. Nor are my comments any kind of "attack" on Al or on Cryptic from which they need to be defended.
Nor am I criticizing the presence of combat in Star Trek Online. Combat is a part of Star Trek as well as being conventional MMORPG content, and on both of those grounds it needs to be baked into Star Trek Online's core design. Heck, I'm actually glad to hear that ship combat is being conceived as a deep tactical experience; that's exactly what I was hoping for. (Although I'm not satisfied yet that "tactical" is being correctly understood as requiring lots of environmental features, as opposed to just tying GUI buttons to character abilities and calling it "tactics." But the jury's still out on that one.)
What I'm saying is that the Star Trek IP has a uniquely strong emphasis on negotiation and science and cooperation over violence and destruction and competition. If the lead designer for this particular game is admittedly more energized by combat content, then those of us out here who believe that non-combat content needs to play an important role in this game need to politely express our hope that this aspect of the game will be given the enthusiastic high-level design attention that it deserves. And we need to step up with constructive suggestions for examples of broadly enjoyable non-combat content that can help achieve that balance between rules-based and world-based play that will best serve all of this game's likely subscribers.
I'd appreciate it if these comments were taken in the constructive and hopeful spirit in which I wrote them.
Thanks again to the folks at Cryptic for taking the time to say hello, and for letting us know that you hear our hopes for this product.
Thanks for the bio, Al & company. It's always appreciated to get a better idea of the real people behind the product. In fact, this is an area where computer game development is far superior to pretty much any other kind of business -- how often do you get to meet the person who designed your car or your TV?
In particular, like others here I was really pleased at the final comments. I'm one of those who thinks this game will do best by serving both Star Trek fans and current MMORPG gamers in a balanced way, so it's pretty important when the lead designer makes it clear that in addition to offering deep gameplay, the IP will be respected.
Having said that... I guess I get to be the voice of caution.
Star Trek Online is going to be a massively multiplayer persistent-world roleplaying game based on an IP that makes the highly visible point that non-violence should always be the preferred option. So it raises a red flag for me when the lead designer offers the following comments:
Q: What part of Star Trek Online are you the most excited about working on?
A: Space combat. I am a combat system designer at heart, and I am very excited about the system we have worked out for space combat.
Q: What are your favorite episodes?
A: ... If I had to pick one, I guess I would have to say my favorite is "Sacrifice of Angels" (DS9), where Sisko retakes DS9; closely followed by "Yesterday's Enterprise" (TNG), where we see Tasha return, which eventually gives rise to Sela.
Star Trek most definitely has its smackdown moments. I consider it primarily a character-driven world, but there's certainly been a lot of phaser fire. (And I'm on record as endorsing the Federation philosophy of standing up for principles, even if that sometimes means violent conflict.)
That said, I'm a little concerned about how balanced gameplay in STO will be when the lead designer makes no bones about preferring destruction -- in Star Trek as well as in MMORPGs -- over constructive behavior.
I would have been happier personally if the lead designer for this particular game, with its particular IP, had been someone who was primarily interested and experienced in gameplay that's focused on character development, on world-building, on crafting, rather than on yet another set of rules for how to kill things. I'm not thrilled that the core design for non-combat content is in the hands of someone who by his own statements doesn't find that kind of gameplay to be the most exciting opportunity when designing an entire MMORPG based on a license that explicitly values non-combat solutions to problems. It's not a criticism of any kind of Al's experience or interests to say that I'm somewhat skeptical that he was the right person for this critical development role -- I'd rather the job had gone to someone who wasn't so combat-oriented.
On the plus side, he did mention preferring Picard over Kirk, so maybe there's some hope for him after all.
Seriously, though, none of the concerns outlined above mean that I'm angry or grumpy or having any kind of emotional reaction. Nor are my comments any kind of "attack" on Al or on Cryptic from which they need to be defended.
Nor am I criticizing the presence of combat in Star Trek Online. Combat is a part of Star Trek as well as being conventional MMORPG content, and on both of those grounds it needs to be baked into Star Trek Online's core design. Heck, I'm actually glad to hear that ship combat is being conceived as a deep tactical experience; that's exactly what I was hoping for. (Although I'm not satisfied yet that "tactical" is being correctly understood as requiring lots of environmental features, as opposed to just tying GUI buttons to character abilities and calling it "tactics." But the jury's still out on that one.)
What I'm saying is that the Star Trek IP has a uniquely strong emphasis on negotiation and science and cooperation over violence and destruction and competition. If the lead designer for this particular game is admittedly more energized by combat content, then those of us out here who believe that non-combat content needs to play an important role in this game need to politely express our hope that this aspect of the game will be given the enthusiastic high-level design attention that it deserves. And we need to step up with constructive suggestions for examples of broadly enjoyable non-combat content that can help achieve that balance between rules-based and world-based play that will best serve all of this game's likely subscribers.
I'd appreciate it if these comments were taken in the constructive and hopeful spirit in which I wrote them.
Thanks again to the folks at Cryptic for taking the time to say hello, and for letting us know that you hear our hopes for this product.
--Flatfingers
Just as long as some punk that plays 80 hours a week cant kick my butt with me stadning no chance of kicking his since i can't play 80 hours a week, i'll be happy.
I am encouraged a tiny bit by this statement: STO will be the unique experience that you have been waiting for
And I lose that encouragement when I take a look at this one: I am a combat system designer at heart
A combat oriented lead designer scares me a little. So I am on the fence again.
I do agree that I am making points out of context. The statement by itself worries me. I don't want a game that is focused on combat. Combat should be no more then 25% of the experience in my opinion because that fits with canon. I worry the Cryptic believes that in order to make it fun, that they feel they were forced to make a game that is predominantly combat. I will be more than happy to see a game that allows for any play style to be fun and achieve the highest levels and obtain the best gear. Other games seem to reserve the best for those who have a certain play style. I don't want that to happen here. A full time explorer capt. should be able to get all the best stuff. Just as a full time PvP capt should.
Thanks for the bio, Al & company. It's always appreciated to get a better idea of the real people behind the product. In fact, this is an area where computer game development is far superior to pretty much any other kind of business -- how often do you get to meet the person who designed your car or your TV?
In particular, like others here I was really pleased at the final comments. I'm one of those who thinks this game will do best by serving both Star Trek fans and current MMORPG gamers in a balanced way, so it's pretty important when the lead designer makes it clear that in addition to offering deep gameplay, the IP will be respected.
Having said that... I guess I get to be the voice of caution.
Star Trek Online is going to be a massively multiplayer persistent-world roleplaying game based on an IP that makes the highly visible point that non-violence should always be the preferred option. So it raises a red flag for me when the lead designer offers the following comments:
Q: What part of Star Trek Online are you the most excited about working on?
A: Space combat. I am a combat system designer at heart, and I am very excited about the system we have worked out for space combat.
Q: What are your favorite episodes?
A: ... If I had to pick one, I guess I would have to say my favorite is "Sacrifice of Angels" (DS9), where Sisko retakes DS9; closely followed by "Yesterday's Enterprise" (TNG), where we see Tasha return, which eventually gives rise to Sela.
Star Trek most definitely has its smackdown moments. I consider it primarily a character-driven world, but there's certainly been a lot of phaser fire. (And I'm on record as endorsing the Federation philosophy of standing up for principles, even if that sometimes means violent conflict.)
That said, I'm a little concerned about how balanced gameplay in STO will be when the lead designer makes no bones about preferring destruction -- in Star Trek as well as in MMORPGs -- over constructive behavior.
I would have been happier personally if the lead designer for this particular game, with its particular IP, had been someone who was primarily interested and experienced in gameplay that's focused on character development, on world-building, on crafting, rather than on yet another set of rules for how to kill things. I'm not thrilled that the core design for non-combat content is in the hands of someone who by his own statements doesn't find that kind of gameplay to be the most exciting opportunity when designing an entire MMORPG based on a license that explicitly values non-combat solutions to problems. It's not a criticism of any kind of Al's experience or interests to say that I'm somewhat skeptical that he was the right person for this critical development role -- I'd rather the job had gone to someone who wasn't so combat-oriented.
On the plus side, he did mention preferring Picard over Kirk, so maybe there's some hope for him after all.
Seriously, though, none of the concerns outlined above mean that I'm angry or grumpy or having any kind of emotional reaction. Nor are my comments any kind of "attack" on Al or on Cryptic from which they need to be defended.
Nor am I criticizing the presence of combat in Star Trek Online. Combat is a part of Star Trek as well as being conventional MMORPG content, and on both of those grounds it needs to be baked into Star Trek Online's core design. Heck, I'm actually glad to hear that ship combat is being conceived as a deep tactical experience; that's exactly what I was hoping for. (Although I'm not satisfied yet that "tactical" is being correctly understood as requiring lots of environmental features, as opposed to just tying GUI buttons to character abilities and calling it "tactics." But the jury's still out on that one.)
What I'm saying is that the Star Trek IP has a uniquely strong emphasis on negotiation and science and cooperation over violence and destruction and competition. If the lead designer for this particular game is admittedly more energized by combat content, then those of us out here who believe that non-combat content needs to play an important role in this game need to politely express our hope that this aspect of the game will be given the enthusiastic high-level design attention that it deserves. And we need to step up with constructive suggestions for examples of broadly enjoyable non-combat content that can help achieve that balance between rules-based and world-based play that will best serve all of this game's likely subscribers.
I'd appreciate it if these comments were taken in the constructive and hopeful spirit in which I wrote them.
Thanks again to the folks at Cryptic for taking the time to say hello, and for letting us know that you hear our hopes for this product.
It is good to know that the lead designer is a fellow Star Trek fan and will do his best to do well by us. I am especially glad that they are goin to work on the combat system to make it more like Star Trek instead of a dogfighting sim and that they are going to try and make the scale right, it is weird to see a Defiant being the same size as an Intrepid or a Galaxy.
It is good that the designer has a bat'leth, it means that he will do the Klingons right.
Wow, I am amazed by the level of dedication and detial that they team at Cryptic is putting into STO, the space combat sounds amazing and very true to the core of Star Trek. Keep up the good work and keep the info flowing. You guys rock
I agree that from the federation perspective force is always a last resort and I am interested to see if gameplay will change drastically depending on which race a player chooses to be. I think that exploring beyond the federation perspective will be very interesting, especially once updates with other races are relased.
Everything in that interview is good news to me. STO being Star Trek turned into an MMO rather than an MMO being turned into Star Trek? Check. Space combat that emulates the movies and series? Check. A DS9 fan? Check.
Anyone that picks "Sacrifice of Angels" as their one of their favorites episodes gives me faith that the game will have heart to it.
Comments
I am Chuffed
I notice that you have alot of knowledge when it comes to mmo's.
I have an idea for an mmo that is realistic and would totally change the way we play. I would like partial credit for my idea but if you or somone else could private message me with maby an email adress so that you could hear my idea that would be great and maby great on your part also.
Looking forward to additional updates as progress continues.:)
Just one problem.
I loved that game, but it had less a learning curve, and more a learning edifice.
As you slowly improved both your ship and your playing style, and began to get how things were done (especially energy management) it became awesome, but on the first two or three trials, it was so hard to punch through that "Whu?" barrier, I stopped playing for months at a time, and gave it up as simply a "bad" game.
Maybe its the gamer side of me coming out but I really dont see how this latest info was really about the progress on STO.
im sold that part about space combat is just how i dreamed of it, turning the ship facing shields dammage control turn rate firing arcs ect ect finaly not a other combat system were you can marco every thing 2 1 button and bash away at some 1.
tactical combat were you need to think not some mindless zerk.
i would love to see a trailer of that system in action!
When will the game be coming out?
I'm really excited to hear about the space combat. Shield facing and turn rates can tell us a lot about how certain ships will play. I hope things like sensors and customizable attack patterns might have some role too. An important note that was mentioned was the different levels of automation. I think this will appeal to all types of players since we tend to vary on that topic or sometimes we might just want to change our style from time to time. Although I will be looking forward to Space combat the most, I think we all would also like a little light on the mystery of ground combat too though (ranged, hand to hand etc). I hope it's as exciting and tactical as space is, since I'm sure theres a few who will prefer more ground combat.
Thanks again for an excellent Q&A. These really help us pass the time and stir interests.
Many games have, at their core, a lot of plot, and good writing is essential to developing the kind of atmosphere you want your player to experience even if the player may not necessarily be reading text. And with games like RPGs (Assassin's Creed, The Witcher) and MMOs, that writing comes to the forefront as well in character interactions.
So definitely, yes.
In particular, like others here I was really pleased at the final comments. I'm one of those who thinks this game will do best by serving both Star Trek fans and current MMORPG gamers in a balanced way, so it's pretty important when the lead designer makes it clear that in addition to offering deep gameplay, the IP will be respected.
Having said that... I guess I get to be the voice of caution.
Star Trek Online is going to be a massively multiplayer persistent-world roleplaying game based on an IP that makes the highly visible point that non-violence should always be the preferred option. So it raises a red flag for me when the lead designer offers the following comments:
A: Space combat. I am a combat system designer at heart, and I am very excited about the system we have worked out for space combat.
Q: What are your favorite episodes?
A: ... If I had to pick one, I guess I would have to say my favorite is "Sacrifice of Angels" (DS9), where Sisko retakes DS9; closely followed by "Yesterday's Enterprise" (TNG), where we see Tasha return, which eventually gives rise to Sela.
Star Trek most definitely has its smackdown moments. I consider it primarily a character-driven world, but there's certainly been a lot of phaser fire. (And I'm on record as endorsing the Federation philosophy of standing up for principles, even if that sometimes means violent conflict.)
That said, I'm a little concerned about how balanced gameplay in STO will be when the lead designer makes no bones about preferring destruction -- in Star Trek as well as in MMORPGs -- over constructive behavior.
I would have been happier personally if the lead designer for this particular game, with its particular IP, had been someone who was primarily interested and experienced in gameplay that's focused on character development, on world-building, on crafting, rather than on yet another set of rules for how to kill things. I'm not thrilled that the core design for non-combat content is in the hands of someone who by his own statements doesn't find that kind of gameplay to be the most exciting opportunity when designing an entire MMORPG based on a license that explicitly values non-combat solutions to problems. It's not a criticism of any kind of Al's experience or interests to say that I'm somewhat skeptical that he was the right person for this critical development role -- I'd rather the job had gone to someone who wasn't so combat-oriented.
On the plus side, he did mention preferring Picard over Kirk, so maybe there's some hope for him after all.
Seriously, though, none of the concerns outlined above mean that I'm angry or grumpy or having any kind of emotional reaction. Nor are my comments any kind of "attack" on Al or on Cryptic from which they need to be defended.
Nor am I criticizing the presence of combat in Star Trek Online. Combat is a part of Star Trek as well as being conventional MMORPG content, and on both of those grounds it needs to be baked into Star Trek Online's core design. Heck, I'm actually glad to hear that ship combat is being conceived as a deep tactical experience; that's exactly what I was hoping for. (Although I'm not satisfied yet that "tactical" is being correctly understood as requiring lots of environmental features, as opposed to just tying GUI buttons to character abilities and calling it "tactics." But the jury's still out on that one.)
What I'm saying is that the Star Trek IP has a uniquely strong emphasis on negotiation and science and cooperation over violence and destruction and competition. If the lead designer for this particular game is admittedly more energized by combat content, then those of us out here who believe that non-combat content needs to play an important role in this game need to politely express our hope that this aspect of the game will be given the enthusiastic high-level design attention that it deserves. And we need to step up with constructive suggestions for examples of broadly enjoyable non-combat content that can help achieve that balance between rules-based and world-based play that will best serve all of this game's likely subscribers.
I'd appreciate it if these comments were taken in the constructive and hopeful spirit in which I wrote them.
Thanks again to the folks at Cryptic for taking the time to say hello, and for letting us know that you hear our hopes for this product.
--Flatfingers
Just as long as some punk that plays 80 hours a week cant kick my butt with me stadning no chance of kicking his since i can't play 80 hours a week, i'll be happy.
STO will be the unique experience that you have been waiting for
And I lose that encouragement when I take a look at this one:
I am a combat system designer at heart
A combat oriented lead designer scares me a little. So I am on the fence again.
I do agree that I am making points out of context. The statement by itself worries me. I don't want a game that is focused on combat. Combat should be no more then 25% of the experience in my opinion because that fits with canon. I worry the Cryptic believes that in order to make it fun, that they feel they were forced to make a game that is predominantly combat. I will be more than happy to see a game that allows for any play style to be fun and achieve the highest levels and obtain the best gear. Other games seem to reserve the best for those who have a certain play style. I don't want that to happen here. A full time explorer capt. should be able to get all the best stuff. Just as a full time PvP capt should.
I couldn't have said any better.
It is good that the designer has a bat'leth, it means that he will do the Klingons right.
Anyone that picks "Sacrifice of Angels" as their one of their favorites episodes gives me faith that the game will have heart to it.