Looking Back to the Beginning

stelakkh

The date was August 10, 2008. The place was Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The event was the Star Trek Convention.

At the time I had been a fan of Star Trek for over 40 years. I went to conventions, had all the episodes and movies from the various incarnations on both VHS and DVD, I became friends with people who worked on Trek, prop makers, wardrobe people, makeup artists. I spent tens of thousands of dollars collecting real, screen-used props and items from the different shows and films and converted a spare bedroom into a Trek memorabilia room. I was lucky enough to marry a woman who was almost as much a fan as I am. My mother was even in the same nursing home as the mother of Barry Jenner (Deep Space Nine's Admiral Ross), although that was sheer coincidence.

So yes, I was nearly ecstatic that finally there would be an MMO where I could go and live vicariously through my character in the world of Star Trek.

Leonard Nimoy walked onto the stage to announce the development of Star Trek Online, then he introduced the Chief Creative Officer of Cryptic Studios, Jack Emmert, and Emmert took over.

I had so much hope and excitement for this game after watching that webcast live back in 2008.

Have a look for yourself at the webcast, available on YouTube in the following videos:

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=netVYbeaiDo
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvmo9_7S4YM
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCWrbXOEAZQ
Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a7l20sa8TA
Part 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBx0FYirKvo

Look at everything we were promised. All of the fantastic ideas we were told would be in Star Trek Online.

Then look at how much of it never appeared. Where is the trade going from fleet to fleet, or from Federation to Empire?

Where is the exploration? We had some horribly lame excuse for exploration, but even that was removed from the game because it was so terribly broken.

Everything that Star Trek Online was supposed to be is exactly what it isn't today.

We were promised that STO would be so much more, that STO would be an extension of the shows and movies, the universe and people, the races and cultures, the places and planets, that we had come to know and love.

And five years later, we still don't have it. If you've watched the webcast, maybe now you understand why so many of us are so disappointed in STO and even angry at Cryptic.

Because they sold us a dream, and gave us a nightmare.

Happy Fifth Anniversary.

robertcrayven

"Because they sold us a dream, and gave us a nightmare."

So well-said. This so eloquently sums up everything. I agree.