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[Interview] Star Trek Online: New Romulus Expands the Story

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129

Star Trek Online players have been excited as the development of Season 7: New Romulus has been underway. The new season brings lots of changes to the game and expands the story to give players insight into what has happened to the Romulan home world and more. We caught up with Executive Producer Dan Stahl to talk about New Romulus. Check out what he reveals!

MMORPG: What are some of your personal favorite parts of Season 7?

Daniel Stahl: Personally, I’m a big fan of story and so it is a lot of fun when we get the chance to expand on themes and plots that make this game feel like Trek. You’ll notice that in Season 7, we’ve made an effort to incorporate characters, locations, and story elements that should be familiar and fun for fans. Whether it is fighting the Borg Queen in “Into the Hive”, helping Obisek defend the Vault against a Tholian Web, or aiding D’Tan as he works to restore the Romulan people, Season 7 feels like Trek at every corner. That is my favorite part of this Season and something I can’t wait to experience with other players. This is going to be a lot of fun!

Read more of Garrett Fuller's Star Trek Online: New Romulus Expands the Story.

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Comments

  • YamotaYamota Member UncommonPosts: 6,593
    Whenever I hear the word 'story' about an MMORPG it makes me cringe. It has no place in an MMO unless it is one story for the entire server or parts of it. Single player stories in MMOs makes no sense, at all.
  • TheHiveLeaderTheHiveLeader Video MaestroMember RarePosts: 234

    I actually really enjoy STO.  I think the story is pretty good, however, chunks of text don't really do it for me too much.  It could be better.  Oh well.  Still fun.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zeyqc9Sq-aw

  • TerranahTerranah Member UncommonPosts: 3,575

    I am a huuuuge Star Trek fan.  As in I have a uniform in real life, all the weapons, tricorders, 3 large plastic storage bins of Star Trek action figures, and have read a 100+ novels.  I'm a life time member. 

     

    Once you leave a game it's hard to go back because the reasons you left are still there.  I fell in love with the 1701 A and the movie versions.  I have no connection to the artists updated starship designs, although i can't say they are bad.  I also love Next Gen. 

     

    But they make a Star Trek game and place it in the future beyond TOS and Next Gen.  This would be excuseable if they let you at least use the ships we love without penalty, but they don't.  They force you to 'upgrade' if you want to be competitive or advance beyond a certain point. 

     

    They could even make it a skin only I can see as a compromise.  But they don't even do this.  I paid a couple hundred dollars for a lifetime membership to an idea.  That idea did not materialize because the ships I love I can not play to endgame.  So I will not give them ONE SINGLE RED CENT more. 

     

    THIS FAR, AND NO FARTHER...

  • TalruneTalrune Member Posts: 339
    Originally posted by Yamota
    Whenever I hear the word 'story' about an MMORPG it makes me cringe. It has no place in an MMO unless it is one story for the entire server or parts of it. Single player stories in MMOs makes no sense, at all.

    Well as a long time mmo player(17+ years now) I can say your wrong in my opinion.  The character stories do matter as they help the character(player) fit into the larger storyline and become more immersed in the larger picture, the character needs to feel are helping out in their own way and these type of stories do that..

  • RohnRohn Member UncommonPosts: 3,730
    Originally posted by Yamota
    Whenever I hear the word 'story' about an MMORPG it makes me cringe. It has no place in an MMO unless it is one story for the entire server or parts of it. Single player stories in MMOs makes no sense, at all.

     

    "Story" has been in MMOs for a long, long time.

    Remember all that contrived text for those "kill X of Y" quests - the things people just skipped over?  Those were stories, too.  Granted, they were shitty stories, but stories nonetheless.

    As long as there are other things to do than just a main storyline, there's nothing wrong with it.  With fleet advancement, duty officers, personal advancement, etc, there are other meaningful things to do beyond engaging in the story arc.

    Hell hath no fury like an MMORPG player scorned.

  • TalonsinTalonsin Member EpicPosts: 3,619
    Is it just me or do Devs always push the "story" when other parts of the project are lacking?
    "Sean (Murray) saying MP will be in the game is not remotely close to evidence that at the point of purchase people thought there was MP in the game."  - SEANMCAD

  • FoxyShoxzyFoxyShoxzy Member UncommonPosts: 120
    Originally posted by Terranah

    I am a huuuuge Star Trek fan.  As in I have a uniform in real life, all the weapons, tricorders, 3 large plastic storage bins of Star Trek action figures, and have read a 100+ novels.  I'm a life time member. 

     

    Once you leave a game it's hard to go back because the reasons you left are still there.  I fell in love with the 1701 A and the movie versions.  I have no connection to the artists updated starship designs, although i can't say they are bad.  I also love Next Gen. 

     

    But they make a Star Trek game and place it in the future beyond TOS and Next Gen.  This would be excuseable if they let you at least use the ships we love without penalty, but they don't.  They force you to 'upgrade' if you want to be competitive or advance beyond a certain point. 

     

    They could even make it a skin only I can see as a compromise.  But they don't even do this.  I paid a couple hundred dollars for a lifetime membership to an idea.  That idea did not materialize because the ships I love I can not play to endgame.  So I will not give them ONE SINGLE RED CENT more. 

     

    THIS FAR, AND NO FARTHER...

    People who paid for a lifetime sub get a monthly stipend to spend in the store. When I recently went back I had almost 8k, enough to buy 3 ships for leveling with money leftover. I didn't "need" them, I just wanted them.

     

    If you are a lifetime sub then you should check in on it again and see how much currency you have to spend. If you can't afford what you want right away, wait a bit and eventually you will be able to..

  • madmikethegmmadmikethegm Member UncommonPosts: 43
    Originally posted by Terranah

    I am a huuuuge Star Trek fan.  As in I have a uniform in real life, all the weapons, tricorders, 3 large plastic storage bins of Star Trek action figures, and have read a 100+ novels.  I'm a life time member. 

     

    Once you leave a game it's hard to go back because the reasons you left are still there.  I fell in love with the 1701 A and the movie versions.  I have no connection to the artists updated starship designs, although i can't say they are bad.  I also love Next Gen. 

     

    But they make a Star Trek game and place it in the future beyond TOS and Next Gen.  This would be excuseable if they let you at least use the ships we love without penalty, but they don't.  They force you to 'upgrade' if you want to be competitive or advance beyond a certain point. 

     

    They could even make it a skin only I can see as a compromise.  But they don't even do this.  I paid a couple hundred dollars for a lifetime membership to an idea.  That idea did not materialize because the ships I love I can not play to endgame.  So I will not give them ONE SINGLE RED CENT more. 

     

    THIS FAR, AND NO FARTHER...

     

    The ship upgrades aren't 100% needed.  A friend of mine used her TOS Constitution for every level past the tutorial.  It was fun watching her solo a Borg Cube in that thing.  It was a tough fight, but she pulled it off without being destroyed a single time 

    Since the movie era Constitution is a tier up than her TOS then I'd say give it a try!

     

  • OzmodanOzmodan Member EpicPosts: 9,726
    Originally posted by wayubb
    Originally posted by Yamota
    Whenever I hear the word 'story' about an MMORPG it makes me cringe. It has no place in an MMO unless it is one story for the entire server or parts of it. Single player stories in MMOs makes no sense, at all.

    Well as a long time mmo player(17+ years now) I can say your wrong in my opinion.  The character stories do matter as they help the character(player) fit into the larger storyline and become more immersed in the larger picture, the character needs to feel are helping out in their own way and these type of stories do that..

    Disagree, the idea of a MMO is to make your own story, not what some one sitting in an office came up with.  That is what killed SWTOR, too much story and no flexibility to create your own.

  • OzivoisOzivois Member UncommonPosts: 598
    Is this game still highly instanced with a cheesy free-space map?
  • WhiteLanternWhiteLantern Member RarePosts: 3,306
    Originally posted by Ozivois
    Is this game still highly instanced with a cheesy free-space map?

    The map has changed dramatically since launch (for the better is subjective), and yes, it is still highly instanced.

    I want a mmorpg where people have gone through misery, have gone through school stuff and actually have had sex even. -sagil

  • ZekiahZekiah Member UncommonPosts: 2,483
    Oh goodie, scammy Romulan Lock Boxes littering the screen!

    "Censorship is never over for those who have experienced it. It is a brand on the imagination that affects the individual who has suffered it, forever." - Noam Chomsky

  • RohnRohn Member UncommonPosts: 3,730
    Originally posted by Ozmodan
    Originally posted by wayubb
    Originally posted by Yamota
    Whenever I hear the word 'story' about an MMORPG it makes me cringe. It has no place in an MMO unless it is one story for the entire server or parts of it. Single player stories in MMOs makes no sense, at all.

    Well as a long time mmo player(17+ years now) I can say your wrong in my opinion.  The character stories do matter as they help the character(player) fit into the larger storyline and become more immersed in the larger picture, the character needs to feel are helping out in their own way and these type of stories do that..

    Disagree, the idea of a MMO is to make your own story, not what some one sitting in an office came up with.  That is what killed SWTOR, too much story and no flexibility to create your own.

     

    The funny thing is that SWTOR allowed the player to "create their own story" just as much as any other themepark out there - WoW, RIFT, and GW2 included.

    Unless a personal story is "Killed Chromag 400 Times", "look at my resplendent Tier 2! - It's my story", that's as far as they allow you to tell a story or change the world.

    It's not a problem particular to STO - it's a limitation of themeparks in general.  They've all been hitched to "story" in one fashion or another.  From throw-away quest text for meaningless quests, to overarching storylines, to repetitive "dynamic events", they have been limited by them.

    That's why we call them themeparks - they present limited, pregenerated "content" to the player.  They have never been good at allowing real character choice or development.

    At least STO does have some systems, like Personal Advancement and Fleet Advancement, that allow a little different type of content that fits the genre.

    Hell hath no fury like an MMORPG player scorned.

  • NobadeeftwNobadeeftw Member UncommonPosts: 129
    STO is the epitome of the Star Trek IP as a whole.  Fans and non-fans of every generation vomited into a bucket and everyone pretends they didn't notice that nothing in the game makes any sense at all; but, I suppose that is how Star Trek has always been.  A nerds twisted wet dream, that defies all rational.
  • koboldfodderkoboldfodder Member UncommonPosts: 447

    I have played this game, got to max level...all that stuff.  Downloading it again for the new season.

     

    STO will always be the "game with potential" that never does anything with it.  The entire IP cries out for a sandbox type game experience like SWG had, but that is not what Cryptic does.  They make little themeparks, and F2P you to death with lockboxes.

     

    Still, it actually is a lot better since the day it released.  If you can play it without being duped by Perfect World into buying their currency (Zen) then you might enjoy yourself.  They have made it VERY hard to with this last season though.

     

    In fact, if someone were writing some sort of thesis on how this genre got to be in such pathetic shape this would be THE game to do a case study of.

     

    Because the bar is set so low for the entire MMO genre, this game actually is one of the better titles.  That is the best thing I can say about STO.

  • BabylonParkBabylonPark Member UncommonPosts: 1
    Next time ask his about the absolute firestorm season 7 has set off on the issue of dilithium, and Stahl's bullshittery about it.   And how many players he's lost because of it.
  • Hyperion5182Hyperion5182 Member Posts: 66
    Originally posted by BabylonPark
    Next time ask his about the absolute firestorm season 7 has set off on the issue of dilithium, and Stahl's bullshittery about it.   And how many players he's lost because of it.

    Yeah. This website clearly missed the boat. Stahl is a straight up lying son of a bitch.

     

    And before you decide to give me an infraction forums

     

    Stahl had previously stated ON THE FORUMS TO PLAYERS that STFs would have a dilithium reward at 900ish/450ish and these levels were installed on Tribble.

     

    Season 7 launched...and those supposed numbers are now 0. Zero Nada bubkis zip. And then he launches one of the most assanine devblogs i've EVER seen http://sto.perfectworld.com/blog/?p=747851

     

    In which the following lovely quote is issued: In our game design, Dilithium represents time invested in playing a variety of select missions in STO. By setting the max cap per day, obtaining large amounts of Refined Dilithium requires logging in regularly and engaging with missions and systems that the STO team has designated. The STO team has consistently ensured that there is enough missions and systems in the game that any player should be able to earn 8000 Dilithium per day if they focus on Dilithium based missions for about 4 hours. By the way, the average level 50 player plays approximately 3.5 hours on a given day.

     

    Blatently he expects players to play this game and nothing else to earn the commody they made the MOST PRECIOUS with their actions OR force them to Buy Zen to BUY dilithium! He is a liar, may well be a theif by his actions and this interview is a disgrace. I wish you'd investegated the game more closely before you gave this free PR blog.

  • CaphookbrzCaphookbrz Member Posts: 1
    Weekend without STO 11/24 and 11/25

    Let's show how much we want our dilithium back. Weekend without a single player logged! Players on strike!
  • Crunch2600Crunch2600 Member Posts: 1
    They're backpedalling on the changes they've made to dilithium acquisition. I guess they heard us. http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?p=6581631
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