Star Trek Online - To Boldly Beta where No One Has Beta'd Before!

[SunnyD]

Damn you SunnyD :sneaky:

I'm thinking of pre-ordering but not sure where to get it with the different bonus you're getting from different places.

Amazon gives a Borg Bridge Officer, Gamestop gives a Constitution Class Starship, and BestBuy gives 250 RZ points for members ($5? eh..).

Anywhere else?

As far as I know, the Borg Bridge officer sounds like the best, since it allows you to upgrade your crew faster. A lot of people say the Constitution will be what they're going with - it gives you an early boost, but the ship itself isn't upgradable, so it starts to fall behind quickly. The tribble pet? Meh. BestBuy? Meh.

To each their own.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

As far as I know, the Borg Bridge officer sounds like the best, since it allows you to upgrade your crew faster. A lot of people say the Constitution will be what they're going with - it gives you an early boost, but the ship itself isn't upgradable, so it starts to fall behind quickly. The tribble pet? Meh. BestBuy? Meh.

To each their own.

The Borg bridge officer is apparently not customizable either, meaning all of them will look the same. I suppose that isn't that big of a deal, but it would have been nice to be able to add some customization.

Also, don't forget that Target, Wal-Mart, Steam, and Direct2Drive also have their own exclusives. From memory (don't have time to verify; at work right now):

Target -- an exclusive projectile rifle (TR-116 or something like that)
Wal Mart -- additional skill points to start with
Steam -- Chromodynamic (sp?) armor
Direct2Drive -- personal shield based on Borg tech


And of course, there are various "deluxe" editions floating around with bonuses ranging from different uniforms to assault batteries for your ships. I think Cryptic jumped the shark with all of these different bonuses.

 

[SunnyD]

A-patching we will go...
A-patching we will go...
Hi-ho the dario...
Nine gigs of patching we will go...

When will I get to play...
Oh when will I get to play...
Not last night, that's for fucking sure...
Oh when will I get to play...

 

[Beev]

I remain cautiously skeptical because Cryptic hasn't made anything worth playing in the past.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Judging from the STO forums last night, I guess Cryptic must have officially confirmed that Klingons will not really be a "full" faction (I need to search and find their announcement). I wasn't planning on playing as a Klingon, but I did want player-controlled Klingons as enemies. Apparently Cryptic promised to "add more content" for the Klingons down the line. This is not the way you run a successful MMO (look at SWG and Conan for examples).

So, that just about clinches it for me and I probably won't buy it for launch. The fact that they would half-ass such an important part of the game leads me to believe that the rest of it will be half-assed as well. It is a pity because I really wanted a new MMO to dive into.

 

[JoshGuru7]

Looks like January 12th is open beta.

I'm really looking forward for this since I've been following the development for years, but I have a bad feeling about this...

Are you allowed to use star wars quotes in a star trek thread?

 

[SunnyD]

... still patching.

 

[TheVrolok]

... still patching.

.. goes back to EVE.

 

[SunnyD]

And we're done... I hope.

 

[SunnyD]

Yes! I made it into today's playtest!

For all of 3 minutes before the playtest was done for the day.

 

[cronos]

Hey at least it's 3 minutes more than me

Btw, official info on pre-order bonuses: http://www.startrekonline.com/node/754

where you can get pre-order: http://www.startrekonline.com/retail

and the FAQ: http://www.startrekonline.com/preorder-faq

 

[SunnyD]

Actually someone boo-boo'd. As I thought, someone forgot which timezone they were in, and ended up bringing the servers back up for a couple more hours.

Initial impressions: Hmm.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Actually someone boo-boo'd. As I thought, someone forgot which timezone they were in, and ended up bringing the servers back up for a couple more hours.

Initial impressions: Hmm.

Is that a good "Hmmm, this is COOL!" or is that a "Hmmmm, what in the hell were they thinking?" I am afraid it is the latter.

 

[SunnyD]

Is that a good "Hmmm, this is COOL!" or is that a "Hmmmm, what in the hell were they thinking?" I am afraid it is the latter.

Just "Hmm." There's definitely potential, the mechanics seem fairly solid. Main thing I'm afraid of at this point is the potential lack of content. The Star Trek universe needs content, and has the necessary tools to provide it.

All I can say at this juncture is "Hmm." I haven't had enough time to formulate an appropriate opinion yet.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Just "Hmm." There's definitely potential, the mechanics seem fairly solid. Main thing I'm afraid of at this point is the potential lack of content. The Star Trek universe needs content, and has the necessary tools to provide it.

All I can say at this juncture is "Hmm." I haven't had enough time to formulate an appropriate opinion yet.

Fair enough. The handling of the Klingons is probably enough to keep me away from launch for now unless the initial impressions from people just blow me away.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

The Borg bridge officer is apparently not customizable either, meaning all of them will look the same. I suppose that isn't that big of a deal, but it would have been nice to be able to add some customization.

Also, don't forget that Target, Wal-Mart, Steam, and Direct2Drive also have their own exclusives. From memory (don't have time to verify; at work right now):

Target -- an exclusive projectile rifle (TR-116 or something like that)
Wal Mart -- additional skill points to start with
Steam -- Chromodynamic (sp?) armor
Direct2Drive -- personal shield based on Borg tech


And of course, there are various "deluxe" editions floating around with bonuses ranging from different uniforms to assault batteries for your ships. I think Cryptic jumped the shark with all of these different bonuses.

Holy cow that's completely rediculous. I'm of the opinion that nothing game affecting should be in special editions/preorder bonuses (like the pets for WoW collector's editions (which I own)).

 

[cronos]

I just want to be a Bajoran and pilot an Intrepid class ship. I'll probably even get myself to RP if that's the case *shiver*

 

[SunnyD]

Holy cow that's completely rediculous. I'm of the opinion that nothing game affecting should be in special editions/preorder bonuses (like the pets for WoW collector's editions (which I own)).

Sad thing is there are people on the official forums that have stated they will be buying multiple copies of the game from different vendors simply to have multiple bonuses on one account.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Holy cow that's completely rediculous. I'm of the opinion that nothing game affecting should be in special editions/preorder bonuses (like the pets for WoW collector's editions (which I own)).

And that isn't even all of the preorder bonuses. If I can remember to do it, I'll post the link to all of the preorder bonuses when I get home. It is completely and utterly ridiculous and as SunnyD mentioned, many on the STO forums are saying that they will buy multiple copies just to get as many bonuses as possible. Those guys are insane.

 

[SunnyD]

And that isn't even all of the preorder bonuses. If I can remember to do it, I'll post the link to all of the preorder bonuses when I get home. It is completely and utterly ridiculous and as SunnyD mentioned, many on the STO forums are saying that they will buy multiple copies just to get as many bonuses as possible. Those guys are insane.

Let me help:

Retailers and Bonuses (Click on Details link to see the bonus for a given retailer)

Bonus items and their effects

As you can see, there are a LOT of exclusive items out there, some far more significant than others. This is simply marketing gone wrong.

Now if Cryptic does what they did for Champions Online, and I have no doubt they will, I'm willing to be a month or two after launch they will offer the preorder bonuses on their "C-Store" (microtransaction store). I've asked for clarification on the forums about this.

 

[Molondo]

I would love to try this, but i STILL can't get passed their image verification system. Ha!

 

[SunnyD]

I would love to try this, but i STILL can't get passed their image verification system. Ha!

Did you get a closed beta invite from them?

 

[Molondo]

Did you get a closed beta invite from them?

No i couldn't sign up because of the image verification system. I'll try again when it's open beta.

 

[SunnyD]

No i couldn't sign up because of the image verification system. I'll try again when it's open beta.

Ah, wouldn't matter. You probably wouldn't get into the closed beta at this point anyway.

 

[Ayah]

Damn, some of the pre-order bonuses look retarded good.