Changes: Star Trek Online

Revision as of 19:27, 26 September 2021

Star Trek Online (often abbreviated to STO) is a Star Trek themed free-to-play MMORPG developed by the Cryptic Studios, published by Perfect World Entertainment.

Setting

See also Chronology and Canon in Star Trek Online

Star Trek Online begins 30 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis and 22 years after the destruction of Romulus (seen in Star Trek (2009). The year is 2409 and the infiltration by the Undine (Species 8472) has led to a new war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, and a Romulan Republic (under Spock's protege D'Tan) has broken away from the remnants of the Romulan Star Empire (under Empress Sela). The game covers characters, locations and events from all series and films, including the latest releases such as Star Trek: Picard.

Gameplay

For information on how to get started, see the links on the wiki's main page.

Gameplay revolves around playing a character of desired faction in an open world, with various locations and elements from the Star Trek universe. It features a combination of space, where you take control of a starship, and ground portion of the game, where you control an avatar from the first or third person view. Game starts with a character customization, and a tutorial which introduces player with basic mechanics and available game formats, such as PvE (episodic storyline, PvE Queues), PvP and other content slowly unlocked with leveling.

Game release

_{Announcement trailer}

Star Trek Online - Official Console Announcement Trailer

The launch of Star Trek Online for Microsoft Windows occurred on February 2, 2010. Players who pre-ordered had early access, called Head Start, which began January 29, 2010. The launch build was temporarily revived on April 1, 2015, known as Star Trek Online: Rebirth, allowing players to experience the game as it originally existed.

On November 12, 2013, a beta version of Star Trek Online became available for MacOS, but official support ended on February 5, 2016.^[1]

Microsoft Windows:

Beta access dates

Closed Beta: October 22, 2009
Open Beta: January 12–26, 2010
Head Start: January 29, 2010

Release dates

North America: February 2, 2010
Europe: February 5, 2010
Australia: February 11, 2010

Xbox One and PlayStation 4:

Release dates

North America: September 6, 2016
Europe: September 7, 2016

Development

Star Trek Online was originally being developed by Perpetual Entertainment, but in January 2008 the company announced it would no longer be developing the game and the license and content was transferred to Cryptic Studios, while the game was being published by Atari Interactive and Namco Bandai.

After Perfect World acquired Cryptic, it was announced on August 31, 2011 that they would be offering Star Trek Online in a free-to-play model in addition to its subscription option. The details of such a system, with free silver accounts and paying gold accounts, were announced September 6. The free-to-play service launched on January 17, 2012. By July 2012, Star Trek Online was the top performing game for Perfect World North America ^[2].

System requirements

As of March 1, 2017, Star Trek Online no longer^[3] supports Windows XP and Direct3D 9, or Video Cards with a Direct3D Hardware Feature Level less than 10.0. To ensure a smooth gaming experience, it is recommend that the following specifications are met:

OS: Windows® Vista SP2, 7, 8 or 10
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz (or equivalent AMD CPU)
Memory: 2 GB
Hard Disk: 21 GB
Graphics: NVidia GeForce 8000, ATI/AMD Radeon HD 2000, Intel G965M Express, Intel HD Graphics 2000 or better (Supports Direct3D Hardware Feature Level 10 or higher)
Sound: DirectX 10 compatible sound chip or onboard audio capability with the latest sound drivers
Network: Broadband Internet connection required

Updates

The logo of Legacy of Romulus

Main artice: Season, Release notes

In Star Trek Online, major updates/patches are called seasons in reference to the television show. Season numbering has remained consistent between PC and Console releases, despite seasons 1-11 being released at launch for console. The largest updates have been called expansions, which to date include;

Legacy of Romulus: introducing the Romulan Republic faction and early-game KDF characters.
Delta Rising: adding the Delta Quadrant and a Star Trek: Voyager focused storyline.
Agents of Yesterday: introducing the TOS Starfleet mini-faction and a Temporal Cold War story.
Victory is Life: focusing on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Since Victory is Life, the game has focused on releasing expansions overtime with thematically-linked major story updates.

Season 15 to Season 18 focused on Star Trek: Discovery.
Season 20 to Season 23 focused on a Year of Klingon theme.
Season 24 and onwards focuses on a Terran Empire story arc.

Statistics

For the 3rd Anniversary of Star Trek Online, PC Gamer released some game statistics^[4]:

2 million existing player characters
10 million starships in service
10 billion light years travelled
1 billion planetary encounters
800 million episodes completed
16,500 fleets in service

For the 4th Anniversary of Star Trek Online, additional statistics were released^[5]:

3.2 million existing player characters
16 million starships in service
300 playable starships to command
2.8 million reputation projects completed
75.8 million duty officers in service
21,500 fleets in service

For the 5th Anniversary of Star Trek Online, additional statistics were released^[6]:

3.8 million existing player characters, on 2.5 million accounts
- 51% tactical, 28% engineering, 22% science
- 73% Starfleet, 16% Klingon, 11% Romulan
421 playable starships to command
107 million duty officers in service
25,040 fleets in service

8th Anniversary updated statistics^[7]:

5.2 million total players (62% on PC, 19% on PS4, 19% on Xbox)
139 unique species available as captains, bridge officers, or duty officers
502 unique playable ships
161 playable episode

Gallery

Perpetual Entertainment screenshots

Some of the very few in-game screenshots released, shortly before Perpetual Entertainment stopped development.

Early Dev.Logo
Space scene
Ground scene
Ship Interior
Ship Interior
Ship Interior
Early Dev.Ship

Concept art

Early Concept art
Early Concept art
Early Concept art
Early Concept art
Early Concept art
Early Concept art
Early Concept art
Early Concept art
Early Concept art
Early Concept art
Early Concept art
Early Rating Pending cover art

Beta screenshots

Open Beta ground scene
Open Beta ground scene
Open Beta inventory & status windows
Open Beta space scene
Open Beta Loading Screen

References

External Links

StarTrekOnline.com, the official website
Star Trek Online at Memory Alpha, the Star Trek Wiki.
Star Trek Online at Wikipedia
Star Trek Online: 8th Anniversary Dev Reflections on Youtube, January 17, 2018.

Console edition

[1] Mac closure notice (February 2016)

[2] Dan Stahl - Forum posting (1 August 2012)

[3] Updated system requirements for Star Trek Online (December 2016)

[4] PC Gamer - Star Trek Online three-year anniversary beams up guest appearance by Denise Crosby (30 January 2013)

[5] 4-Year Anniversary Infographic (30 January 2014)

[6] 5-Year Anniversary Infographic (29 January 2015)

[7] 8-Year Anniversary Infographic (23 January 2018)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[File:Stobox.jpg|thumb|250px]]
+[[File:Star Trek Online promo art.jpg|thumb|250px]]
-'''Star Trek Online''' (often abbreviated to '''STO''') is a ''Star Trek'' themed [[MMORPG]], developed for the Microsoft Windows platform (with video game consoles promised for the future) by [[Cryptic Studios]]. The game was published by Atari and Namco Bandai.
+'''Star Trek Online''' (often abbreviated to '''STO''') is a ''Star Trek'' themed free-to-play [[MMORPG]] developed by the [[Cryptic Studios]], published by Perfect World Entertainment.
+==Setting==
-Star Trek Online takes place 30 years after the events of [[ma:Star Trek Nemesis|Star Trek Nemesis]] in the year [[2409]] when the [[Federation]] is at war with the [[Klingon Empire]] once again.
+:''See also [[Chronology]] and [[Canon in Star Trek Online]]''
+Star Trek Online begins 30 years after the events of [[Star Trek: Nemesis]] and 22 years after the destruction of [[Romulus]] (seen in [[Star Trek (2009)]]. The year is [[2409]] and the infiltration by the [[Undine]] (Species 8472) has led to a new war between the [[United Federation of Planets|Federation]] and the [[Klingon Empire]], and a [[Romulan Republic]] (under [[Spock]]'s protege [[D'Tan]]) has broken away from the remnants of the [[Romulan Star Empire]] (under Empress [[Sela]]). The game covers characters, locations and events from all series and films, including the latest releases such as [[Star Trek: Picard]].
+==Gameplay==
-Star Trek Online was originally being developed by Perpetual Entertainment, but in January 2008 the company announced it would no longer be developing the game and the license and content was transferred over to [[Cryptic Studios]].
+:''For information on how to get started, see the links on the wiki's main page.''
+Gameplay revolves around playing a [[Player character|character]] of desired [[faction]] in an open world, with various locations and elements from the ''Star Trek'' universe. It features a combination of [[Space combat|space]], where you take control of a [[Playable starship|starship]], and [[Ground combat|ground]] portion of the game, where you control an avatar from the first or third person view. Game starts with a character customization, and a [[tutorial]] which introduces player with basic mechanics and available game formats, such as [[PvE]] ([[Episode|episodic storyline]], [[Task Force Operation|PvE Queues]]), [[Player versus player|PvP]] and [[End game|other content]] slowly unlocked with [[Rank|leveling]].
+==Game release==
-After the [[Cryptic Studios|Perfect World acquisition]] of Cryptic, it was announced on August 31, 2011 that they would be offering a Star Trek Online [[free-to-play]] model in addition to its subscription option. The [http://startrekonline.com/f2p details] of such a system, with free silver accounts and paying gold accounts was announced September 6. The free-to-play service launched on January 17, 2012 (or 17/01). By July 2012, Star Trek Online was the top performing game for Perfect World North America <ref>[http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showpost.php?p=5072451&postcount=48 Dan Stahl - Forum posting (1 August 2012)]</ref>.
+{{video|service=youtube|id=O_Ft7luIDn8|align=right|title=<sub>Announcement trailer</sub>|dim=320|text=Star Trek Online - Official Console Announcement Trailer}}
+The launch of ''Star Trek Online'' for Microsoft Windows occurred on February 2, 2010. Players who pre-ordered had early access, called Head Start, which began January 29, 2010. The launch build was temporarily revived on April 1, 2015, known as ''[[Rebirth|Star Trek Online: Rebirth]],'' allowing players to experience the game as it originally existed.
+On November 12, 2013, a beta version of Star Trek Online became available for MacOS, but official support ended on February 5, 2016.<ref>[https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/1211294/mac-closure-notice/p1 Mac closure notice (February 2016)]</ref>
-For the 3rd Anniversary of Star Trek Online, PC Gamer released some game statistics <ref>[http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/01/30/star-trek-online-three-year-anniversary/ PC Gamer - Star Trek Online three-year anniversary beams up guest appearance by Denise Crosby (30 January 2013)]</ref>:
+{|
+|style="min-width:310px;" | <span class="fakeheading">'''Microsoft Windows''':</span><br />
+<u>Beta access dates</u>
+* Closed Beta: October 22, 2009
+* Open Beta: January 12&ndash;26, 2010
+* Head Start: January 29, 2010
+<u>Release dates</u>
+* North America: February 2, 2010
+* Europe: February 5, 2010
+* Australia: February 11, 2010
+|style="vertical-align: top;" |<span class="fakeheading">'''Xbox One and PlayStation 4''':</span><br />
+<u>Release dates</u>
+* North America: September 6, 2016
+* Europe: September 7, 2016
+|}
+===Development===
+Star Trek Online was originally being developed by Perpetual Entertainment, but in January 2008 the company announced it would no longer be developing the game and the license and content was transferred to [[Cryptic Studios]], while the game was being published by Atari Interactive and Namco Bandai.
+After Perfect World acquired Cryptic, it was announced on August 31, 2011 that they would be offering Star Trek Online in a [[free-to-play]] model in addition to its subscription option. The [http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/3026713 details] of such a system, with free silver accounts and paying gold accounts, were announced September 6. The free-to-play service launched on January 17, 2012. By July 2012, Star Trek Online was the top performing game for Perfect World North America <ref>[http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showpost.php?p=5072451&postcount=48 Dan Stahl - Forum posting (1 August 2012)]</ref>.
+===System requirements===
+As of March 1, 2017, Star Trek Online no longer<ref>[https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1225790/updated-system-requirements-for-star-trek-online/p1 Updated system requirements for Star Trek Online (December 2016)]</ref> supports Windows XP and Direct3D 9, or Video Cards with a Direct3D Hardware Feature Level less than 10.0. To ensure a smooth gaming experience, it is recommend that the following specifications are met:
+* OS: Windows® Vista SP2, 7, 8 or 10
+* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz (or equivalent AMD CPU)
+* Memory: 2 GB
+* Hard Disk: 21 GB
+* Graphics: NVidia GeForce 8000, ATI/AMD Radeon HD 2000, Intel G965M Express, Intel HD Graphics 2000 or better (Supports Direct3D Hardware Feature Level 10 or higher)
+* Sound: DirectX 10 compatible sound chip or onboard audio capability with the latest sound drivers
+* Network: Broadband Internet connection required
+==Updates==
+[[File:Legacy of Romulus logo.png|thumb|300px|The logo of ''Legacy of Romulus'']]
+:''Main artice: [[Season]], [[Release notes]]''
+In Star Trek Online, major updates/patches are called seasons in reference to the television show. Season numbering has remained consistent between PC and Console releases, despite seasons 1-11 being released at launch for console. The largest updates have been called expansions, which to date include;
+* [[Legacy of Romulus]]: introducing the [[Romulan Republic]] faction and early-game [[KDF]] characters.
+* [[Delta Rising]]: adding the [[Delta Quadrant]] and a [[Star Trek: Voyager]] focused storyline.
+* [[Agents of Yesterday]]: introducing the [[TOS Starfleet]] mini-faction and a [[Temporal Cold War]] story.
+* [[Victory is Life]]: focusing on [[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]].
+Since Victory is Life, the game has focused on releasing expansions overtime with thematically-linked major story updates.
+* [[Season Fifteen: Age of Discovery|Season 15]] to [[Season Eighteen: Awakening|Season 18]] focused on [[Star Trek: Discovery]].
+* [[Season Twenty: House Divided|Season 20]] to [[Season Twenty-three: House United|Season 23]] focused on a [[Year of Klingon]] theme.
+* [[Season Twenty-four: Reflections|Season 24]] and onwards focuses on a [[Terran Empire]] story arc.
+==Statistics==
+For the 3rd Anniversary of Star Trek Online, PC Gamer released some game statistics<ref>[http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/01/30/star-trek-online-three-year-anniversary/ PC Gamer - Star Trek Online three-year anniversary beams up guest appearance by Denise Crosby (30 January 2013)]</ref>:
 * 2 million existing player characters
-* 16 million starships in service
+* 10 million starships in service
 * 10 billion light years travelled
 * 1 billion planetary encounters
@@ Line 16: / Line 76: @@
 * 16,500 fleets in service
-For the 4th Anniversary of Star Trek Online, additional statistics were released: <ref>[http://sto.perfectworld.com/news/?p=1089211 4-Year Anniversary Infographic (30 January 2014)]</ref>:
+For the 4th Anniversary of Star Trek Online, additional statistics were released<ref>[http://sto.perfectworld.com/news/?p=1089211 4-Year Anniversary Infographic (30 January 2014)]</ref>:
 * 3.2 million existing player characters
-* 10 million starships in service
+* 16 million starships in service
 * 300 playable starships to command
 * 2.8 million reputation projects completed
@@ Line 24: / Line 84: @@
 * 21,500 fleets in service
+For the 5th Anniversary of Star Trek Online, additional statistics were released<ref>[http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/9065123-star-trek-online-5-year-anniversary-infographic 5-Year Anniversary Infographic (29 January 2015)]</ref>:
-On November 12, 2013, a beta version of Star Trek Online became available for Mac OS.
+* 3.8 million existing player characters, on 2.5 million accounts
+** 51% tactical, 28% engineering, 22% science
+** 73% Starfleet, 16% Klingon, 11% Romulan
+* 421 playable starships to command
+* 107 million duty officers in service
+* 25,040 fleets in service
+th Anniversary updated statistics<ref>[https://twitter.com/trekonlinegame/status/955917627938914304 8-Year Anniversary Infographic (23 January 2018)]</ref>:
-==Playing Star Trek Online==
+* 5.2 million total players (62% on PC, 19% on PS4, 19% on Xbox)
-* [[Playing STO|Getting Started in STO]]
+* 139 unique species available as captains, bridge officers, or duty officers
-* [[Star Trek Online FAQ]]
+* 502 unique playable ships
-* [[Suggested trait builds|Suggested Trait Builds]]
+* 161 playable [[episode]]
-* [[Class (starship)|Starship Classes]]
-* [[Trait chart|Traits Chart]]
+==Gallery==
-==Beta Access Dates==
+===Perpetual Entertainment screenshots===
-* Closed Beta: '''October 22, 2009'''
-* Open Beta: '''January 12&ndash;26, 2010'''
-* Head Start: '''January 28, 2010'''
-==Release Dates==
-* North America: '''February 2, 2010'''
-* Europe: '''February 5, 2010'''
-* Australia: '''February 11, 2010'''
-==Major Updates==
-* [[Season One: Common Ground]]: '''March 24, 2010'''
-* [[Season Two: Ancient Enemies]]: '''July 27, 2010'''
-* [[Season Three: Genesis]]: '''December 9, 2010'''
-* [[Season Four: Crossfire]]: '''July 7, 2011'''
-* [[Season Five: Call to Arms]]: '''December 1, 2011'''
-* [[Season Six: Under Siege]]: '''July 12, 2012'''
-* [[Season Seven: New Romulus]]: '''November 13, 2012'''
-* Expansion: [[Legacy of Romulus]]: '''May 21, 2013'''
-* [[Season Eight: The Sphere]]: '''November 12, 2013'''
-* [[Season Nine: A New Accord]]: '''April 2014'''
-==External Links==
-* [http://www.startrekonline.com StarTrekOnline.com], the official website
-{{MA Link}}
-* [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StarTrekOnline Star Trek Online] at [http://tvtropes.org TVTropes.org].
-==Perpetual Entertainment Screenshots==
 Some of the very few in-game screenshots released, shortly before Perpetual Entertainment stopped development.
 <gallery>
@@ Line 71: / Line 110: @@
 Image:Closed_6.jpg|Early Dev.Ship
 </gallery>
-===ConceptArt===
+===Concept art===
 <gallery widths="150px" perrow="4">
-Image:Concept_1.jpeg|Early Concept ART
+Image:Concept_1.jpeg|Early Concept art
-Image:Concept_2.jpg|Early Concept ART
+Image:Concept_2.jpg|Early Concept art
-Image:Concept_3.jpg|Early Concept ART
+Image:Concept_3.jpg|Early Concept art
-Image:Concept_4.jpg|Early Concept ART
+Image:Concept_4.jpg|Early Concept art
-Image:Concept_5.jpg|Early Concept ART
+Image:Concept_5.jpg|Early Concept art
-Image:Concept_6.jpg|Early Concept ART
+Image:Concept_6.jpg|Early Concept art
-Image:Concept_7.jpg|Early Concept ART
+Image:Concept_7.jpg|Early Concept art
-Image:Concept_8.jpg|Early Concept ART
+Image:Concept_8.jpg|Early Concept art
-Image:Concept_9.jpg|Early Concept ART
+Image:Concept_9.jpg|Early Concept art
-Image:Concept_10.jpg|Early Concept ART
+Image:Concept_10.jpg|Early Concept art
-Image:Concept_11.jpg|Early Concept ART
+Image:Concept_11.jpg|Early Concept art
+Image:Stobox.jpg|Early Rating Pending cover art
 </gallery>
-==Beta Screenshots==
+===Beta screenshots===
 <gallery widths="150px" perrow="4">
 Image:Open_1.jpg|Open Beta ground scene
@@ Line 91: / Line 133: @@
 Image:Open_3.jpg|Open Beta inventory & status windows
 Image:Open_4.jpg|Open Beta space scene
-Image:Open_5.jpg|Open Beta Bridge
 Image:Open_6.jpg|Open Beta Loading Screen
 </gallery>
@@ Line 98: / Line 139: @@
 <References/>
+==External Links==
-{{Seasons}}
+* [http://www.startrekonline.com StarTrekOnline.com], the official website
+{{MA Link}}
+* {{wikipedia|Star Trek Online}}
+* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwJK1tWyU64 Star Trek Online: 8th Anniversary Dev Reflections] on Youtube, <small>January 17, 2018.</small>
+;Console edition:
+* [http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/xbox/star-trek-online/news/detail/9981193-star-trek-online%3A-console-ui Star Trek Online: Console UI]
+* [http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/xbox/star-trek-online/news/detail/10010203-star-trek-online%3A-console-space-ui Star Trek Online: Console Space UI]
+* [http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/xbox/star-trek-online/news/detail/10031843-star-trek-online%3A-console-ground-ui Star Trek Online: Console Ground UI]
+* [http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/xbox/star-trek-online/news/detail/10029803-star-trek-online%3A-navigating-console-ui Star Trek Online: Navigating Console UI]
+* [http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/xbox/star-trek-online/news/detail/10142423-star-trek-online-console-differences Star Trek Online Console Differences]
 [[Category:Star Trek Online]]
+[[de:Star Trek Online]]