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French & German Versions Of F2P Star Trek Online Launched

By
walkie
– April 3, 2012Posted in: News

Recently this year Perfect World and Cryptic re-launched the massive multiplayer game Star Trek Online as a Free-To-Play game (in English). And now they have followed that up with a European launch of French and German versions of Free-To-Play STO. More details below.

French and German versions of F2P STO now online

press release

STAR TREK™ ONLINE SETS COURSE FOR EUROPE

Popular Sci-fi MMO Releases French and German Versions

(Amsterdam, Netherlands) March 29, 2012 — Perfect World (Europe) B.V., the European subsidiary of Perfect World Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: PWRD), and Cryptic Studios, Inc., an acclaimed developer of MMO games, along with CBS Consumer Products, have announced today the European launch of the free-to-play, massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), Star Trek Online.

With this European free-to-play launch, German and French players can now lead their crew on missions in their own language and also participate in events, in-game chats, competitions and episodic missions that will immerse them even more in the always expanding Star Trek universe.

As the first AAA quality MMO to feature space and ground combat, Star Trek Online has continued to grow in popularity. Over the past two years, the game has expanded with five seasons of content updates, delivered story-driven Feature Episode Series, and introduced new systems that allow for enhanced gameplay, such as spacewalk missions in zero-gravity and the new Duty Officer system. In addition, the recent conversion of Star Trek Online to a free-to-play model has opened its doors to anyone who wants to experience the game at no cost.

“The launch of Star Trek Online in Europe is the culmination of our efforts over the past several years to bring gamers the Star Trek universe on a truly massive scale,” said Dan Stahl, Executive Producer for Star Trek Online. “We’d like to share this accomplishment with our community of players that have given their ongoing support to help us create an innovative game that captures Star Trek’s essence and we are happy to offer a localized experience for our French and German-speaking players. Our team is looking forward to sharing this experience with players in Europe and across the world.”

For more information and to begin playing Star Trek Online for free, please visit the official websites:
English: http://www.startrekonline.com/
French: http://fr.startrekonline.com/
German: http://de.startrekonline.com/

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After 8 years, Star Wars Galaxies MMO ends (and guess who won?)

By
walkie
– December 16, 2011Posted in: News

In 2003, LucasArts released a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMO) called Star Wars Galaxies … and last night, the controversial MMO ended. Cleverly, Sony Online Entertainment let the players decide who would win the game. And the rulers of the galaxy are …

The Rebellion. Take that, Imperial tyranny!

Eight years ago, the MMO started out with good reviews and a fan base eager to craft characters from more than 32 professions. But SWG’s numbers dwindled when players balked at how difficult and time-consuming it would be to become a Jedi. And then, in 2005, Sony simplified gameplay by cutting the number of character professions to nine. In addition, in what seemed to be a move toward competing with World of Warcraft, the game shifted toward more intensive combat, which meant players lost the ability to interact and fight at the same time. SWG lost players and never recaptured them.

Still, some players held on to SWG because they loved its “sandbox” nature, that is, the ability to go anywhere in the world, not bound by the limits of storytelling. Fans also enjoyed its crafting customization, player-made cities and its economy.

But the lack of players was only one of the reasons SWG folded. December 15 also happens to be the end date of a licensing agreement between LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment.

But more importantly, SGW shut its virtual doors to prevent competition from LucasArts’ upcoming MMO from Electronic Arts and BioWare, Star Wars: The Old Republic. Based on the extremely successful (and absolutely fabulous) videogames, The Knights of the Old Republic and The Knights of the Old Republic 2, SW:TOR opens on Dec. 20. Early reviews say the videogame takes the best of Star Wars and mixes it with the best of World of Warcraft.

Best of all, anyone in SW:TOR who wants to be a Force user can be. SW:TOR is set in the days of the Old Republic, when Jedi and Sith were legion.

There’s a lesson in SWG’s ending here: if you’re an MMO based on a property as awesome as Star Wars, just be yourself and don’t try to compete with Warcraft.

Oh, wait …

For an emotional description of the end of SWG, please read Chris Thursten’s piece at PC Gamer.

(via Kotaku)

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Trailer For William Shatner “The Captains” + Details On SDCC Panel/Online Q&A With Shatner & Avery Brooks

By
Scuttlebug
– June 23, 2011Posted in: News

William Shatner recently said that his The Captains documentary is his "final farewell to Star Trek." And today you can finally see a trailer for this documentary which premieres on EPIX in July. EPIX has also revealed details of a SDCC panel a…

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STO Update: New Fighter Ships + Season 4 Details

By
Scuttlebug
– May 20, 2011Posted in: News

While there has been some concern regarding the sale of Cryptic announced earlier this week, the Star Trek Online game developers continue to move forward with new additions to the game. This week they added new fighters, check out a video feature on t…

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A New Ask Cryptic For May 2011

By
Scuttlebug
– May 9, 2011Posted in: News

A new month brings a new version of Star Trek: Online‘s Ask Cryptic, with questions submitted by players answered by Star Trek: Online‘s Dan Stahl.

This month’s topics include: Klingons, fleet size, new ships, Bridge officers, torpedoes, PvP, The Borg, uniforms and more.

Star Trek: Online Klingon fans will be pleased to hear of a tweaking of the Qo’noS planetary zone. “We are completely remaking the Qo’noS planetary zone where Klingon players currently start the game,” said Stahl. “Previously this was an interior map, and now it is the courtyard and neighborhood around the Great Hall. This makes Qo’noS feel much more like a bustling city complete with back alley ways, a new shipyard, and the ability to walk from the primary exterior to various interior areas (such as the Great Hall).”

The Borg will also be coming in for change, becoming more menacing. “We are revamping both the TNG Borg so that they have adaptive shielding and are more badass like I remember them being, and the newer Borg are also getting a revamp similar to what we did with the Romulans,” said Stahl. “As far as when will we see more of them? Very soon; and in big ways.”

With the Klingons getting “attack Targs,” expect to see other “attack” creatures down the road. “When we eventually add the Targ breeding game, we expect to allow players to train other types of ‘away team’ pets as well,” said Stahl. “Attack Saurs would be included in that. (Although internally we refer to them as GornDogs).”

Stahl admitted that there is fan dissatisfaction with space PvP and that there is room for improvement. “Admittedly, there has been a lack of PVP support in STO since Season 1, and many would say that PVP is not STO’s strong point,” he said. “Over the last seasons we have been slowly working towards improving the system by way implementing a new PVP queue and the ability to create private PVP challenges. As we move forward, the goal is to work in PVP versions of maps as we do Feature Episode series. So look for something new towards the end of the next series.”

More answers can be seen at Zam.com.

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Exclusive: The True Story Behind The Bryan Singer ‘Pitch’ of “Star Trek: Federation”

By
Scuttlebug
– April 14, 2011Posted in: News

For years there has been talk about a Star Trek pitch made by director Bryan Singer, including a mention by Jonathan Frakes last week. Some details have been reported online, but TrekMovie has received an actual copy of the "Star Trek: Federation&#…

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Watch the chilling new Doctor Who season 6 prequel episode NOW

By
Scuttlebug
– March 25, 2011Posted in: News

The premiere of Doctor Who‘s sixth season is less than a month away (April 23), and the BBC’s doing a darn good job of keeping us all pumped and ready for its Easter weekend debut by releasing an online prequel that kicks off the upcoming new season.

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Star Trek Online: Ask Cryptic

By
Scuttlebug
– March 4, 2011Posted in: News

Star Trek Online Executive Producer Dan Stahl answered almost three dozen questions regarding future plans for the MMORPG recently.

Some of the questions included ones about new classes of ships, ranks, new features of the ships, actors who provide the voices of the characters,  and pets.

For fans of Deep Space Nine, expect a visit to the station in the future. “In our Feature Episode series planning session today we were discussing that we may be visiting DS9 in one of the next Feature Episodes,” said Stahl. “When we do, we plan to give DS9 some love.”

Simale wanted to know if players would ever be able to “assign Fleet ranks with uniform rank pins from Cadet to Fleet Admiral (from various eras) so that they match the rank the player has within the Fleet?”

According to Stahl, the answer to Simale’s question was yes, and “in addition to what you are asking for, we are also looking into this tech so that we can add various other badges to uniforms as well. These tech investigations don’t come with ETAs but I can say that I’d like to see it in game at some point and we are collaborating with the software team to make it happen.”

SFZEROSF was interested in new ships. “Now that we have a Light Escort (NX Class), a Light Cruiser (TOS Constitution), and a Jack-of-all-Trades (Miranda),” he asked, “will we be getting the Oberth or other Science Equivalent soon?”

“The Oberth is coming in either April or May and we will continue to fill in gaps when we can for both Fed/Klg ship charts,” said Stahl.

Fractal_Eye was concerned with adding pets to his gaming experience. “When will we get Porthos pets?” he asked.

Stahl explained that over time, pets will be added. “Once we are happy with the number of ambient animals being represented in missions we will start adding more of these as player pets,” he said. “It would be fun to see these pets randomly roaming your ship interior as well.”

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2/19/11 – A Night of Reboots

By
walkie
– February 19, 2011Posted in: Audio Archive, Featured

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:20:42 — 46.2MB) | Embed


Their was One Word that Ruled this Episode of The Elite Force Podcast
and a Word that always has the Sci-Fi World Always Debating about and
that Word is Reboot and on this Episode Walkie Take a Look into News
Three Rebooted Science Fiction Franchise and looks into the Upcoming
News that Makes Walkie Brain Hurt at what may and may Not Happen and
in a way will make you Look Foward to whats to Come.

Amongst This Episode Discussions
.Star Trek Sequel Script To Be Delivered In Late March
.Stargate alums headline Syfy’s original movie Iron Invader
.Smallville: Series Finale – Episode Titles And Dates
.Possible Movement on Terminator 5 At Last?
.Highlander” Reboot Gets New Script Writer
.Lohan Linked to Superman Role
.Star Trek: The Animated Series Available For Online Streaming

This Episode Also Marks 1 Full Year Since The Podcast Return and Walkie
Looks Back at the Past Year and Looking Forward to Many More

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New episode of Star Trek: Online now live

By
Scuttlebug
– February 6, 2011Posted in: News

Cryptic has released the first episode of the latest “Star Trek: Online” Feature Episode series, “Cloaked Intentions”. The current series focuses on the Romulan Star Empire. Details on the new episode after the jump.

“The Vault” is the first of five new episodes for Series 3: Cloaked Intention. Here’s the description for the episode:
The crew find [...]

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