CAG Star Trek Online Fleet/game discussion thread

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Join the CAG Star Trek Online Fleet!

Star Trek Online is FREE TO PLAY!

To join the CheapAssGamer Star Trek Online Fleet, you may PM the following to manlai (http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/member.php?u=208227):

Real name: (optional)
Location (city and state): (optional)
Email: (required)
CAG username: (required)
Steam username: (optional, if you have a Steam account. You can sign up for Steam for free so there's no reason not to)
Star Trek Online account/user name: (required)

Alternatively, once in game, you can send a message to a current CAG Fleet member. Most will have invite privileges. Here are some member's STO user names:

@manlai (leader)
@metaly (leader) - easiest to find if you're on the west coast time
@eastx (leader emeritus)
@kingdox
@ITDEFX
@Stormnnorm

If you have friends you want to bring with you to CAG Fleet, send their info along with yours. We're happy to take them in.

You do not need to purchase the game through Steam; the Steam Group just functions as our fleet homepage, messaging system, and voice chat room. Since the game currently supports its own voice chat system, joining the Steam group is optional as well.
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About the game

Official Star Trek Online site
Star Trek Online is an MMORPG set in 2409, 22 years after the destruction of the Romulan homeworld (as seen in the latest Star Trek movie) and 30 years after Star Trek Nemesis. Both Spock actors - Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto - lend their voices to this game. It came out on February 2, 2010.

WARNING: IF YOU INSTALL THE STO CLIENT FROM THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING!!! VERY IMPORTANT!!!

When downloading the game client and files direct from PWE/Cryptic, it uses a system called "Pando Media Booster" which is basically a P2P system for torrenting game installs. Several F2P MMO games use this system, such as League of Legends or LOTRO.

The catch is, after STO finishes installing, the Pando Media Booster continues to run on your system whenever it is booted, seeding the STO game files to others. This hogs your system resources and, importantly, your internet bandwidth. Both your upload speed and data caps will be affected, possibly leading to overage charges on your internet bill. The installer does this automatically and silently, without your explicit consent.

You can check to see if PMB is running on your system by starting the task manager and looking for the process called "PMB.exe". You can manually kill it from there but it will come back every time windows boots. Fortunately there seems to be an easy and permanent fix by simply uninstalling the Pando Media Booster via add/remove programs in the Windows Control Panel. That should get rid of it for good, and has no negative effects on STO once the game has successfully been installed.

Note that PMB is only installed when you initially install STO. Subsequent game patches and updates done via the Game Client Launcher are downloaded directly from Cryptic, and do not use or install PMB, so you should only need to uninstall PMB once. However, this post on the STO forums, specifically the comments by the PWE employee, suggest that Pando may or may not be reinstalled with major game update patches. Therefore, the only safe way to be sure your computer and internet connection are not forcibly enlisted as a free distribution server for PWE is to regularly check your system for the PMB process and software.

If you installed STO prior to the F2P changeover, you should not have PMB running as it was not used before PWE bought Cryptic and converted it to F2P. But I guess it wouldn't hurt for everyone who has or ever had STO installed to check their systems for this program just to be safe.

Check this thread in the STO forums for more information regarding the Pando Media Booster and how it is used with STO: http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=250083

The recommended approaches are to either be sure to uninstall PMB after installing STO, or install STO through Steam, which apparently does not install PMB alongside the game. Also regularly check your computer for the existence of this software, particularly after major updates to the game client.

Subscriptions
There are now 2 kinds of subscriptions: Silver (FREE) and Gold (Paid Premium). Full details on Gold pricing are available here: http://startrekonline.com/gold.

The differences between the 2 are explained here: http://startrekonline.com/f2p_features.

Special in-Game items:

While the game is F2P, you may still purchase old retail copies of the game for the in-game bonus items. Here are what the various editions offer:

Digital Deluxe Edition Bonuses:
DDE copies are hard to find now that the game is F2P. For old times sake, the Digital Deluxe Edition includes the following extras:
TOS Uniform set, NX Registry Prefix, “KHAAAN!” emote, Klingon Blood Wine emote, and Automated Defense Battery.

Collector's Edition (retail) Bonuses:
You may still be able to find retail physical copies in stores. They include:
Physical items:
Deluxe Packaging - Futuristic 3dX holography set in a high quality brushed aluminum finish.
Deluxe Manual - Hardbound, art book, manual, and disc case in a single, elegant package.
Communicator Badge - High quality cast metal design based on the in-game badge model.
Guest Passes - Credit card-style buddy passes entitling friends for a ten day game trial.
In-game items: Red Matter Capacitor, Next Generation Uniforms, Deep Space Nine Uniforms

Admiral Outfit:
The uniform made famous in the TOS movie The Wrath of Khan can be yours in game for free! Simply go to http://startrekonline.com/enter_key, login, and enter JIH MUSHA SOH - that's the code.

Retailer Exclusive Bonuses: some are available for purchase in the C-Store and some are still missing. Note that the retail game is dirt cheap now at every retailer (if you can find it). So if you want these items, either because you don't want to use the C-Store or because they're not available there, you can pick up the game with the item you want in that particular store and add the code to your account at: http://www.startrekonline.com/activate.

Amazon: Borg "efficient" Engineering Bridge Officer (no longer available with newer prints of the game, you can still get lucky and get it if they happened to ship you an older printing that included it)
GameStop: Constitution-class starship
Atari: Standard CE and DDE bonuses, nothing exclusive
Best Buy: Tribble and Targ pets
Direct2Drive: Multi-spatial Personal Shield
Target: TR-116 Ground Rifle (that crazy transporting bullet sniper rifle from DS9)
Walmart: 500 additional skill points (NOT over cap, it's basically like completing a 500 SP mission)

Notes Regarding Gameplay

With the introduction of F2P, many new game mechanics have been introduced and the economy has changed substantially. Periodically, I will update this post with links where you can read about these new mechanics. If there's a useful note you like, simply edit this post and post it (please take care not to delete others' contributions, even if it overlaps or contradicts it).

Thanks and see you in game!

-manlai

CAG Players Reviews
manlai's recommendation: New players: YES, try it out. Former/Current account holders curious about returning: NO, STAY FAR AWAY!
Why: For new people, it's free to play. It's kind of Trek-y with standard MMO mechanics. All mission relevant content is available to f2p'ers. The space portions can be fun and you get your own starship. For old members, you will find STO a super grindy, shameless, embarrassing, and money-grubbing shell of its former self. A single new grindy currency has infected every aspect of the game and "Gold" member benefits are nothing of note. You will be angered, but mostly saddened, at the horrible state of something that bears the name Star Trek.

Links
 
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am i reading this right? if you buy the lifetime subscription you don't get the game included in that? you have to buy the game separate?
 
Yeah, you do have to buy the game separately. It's a lot of money to spend off the bat, but you also save lots over time.
 
i would never trust a lifetime subscription on any mmo besides a blizzard based game. hell, look at hellgate london =\.
 
There is a risk of the game closing, but it's probably not too high. Most MMOs by major publishers last more than 2 years. Lord of the Rings Online offered a lifetime subscription model and it's still going strong. Even The Matrix Online, a crappy licensed MMO lasted 5 years.
 
Games usually die a long time before their servers shut down for good.

What gets me about this is you have to sign up for the Lifetime/Annual subs before the game is released. $240+$50 is a lot of money to plunk down on a game. The decision will be based entirely on the Open Beta, which is both very bug-filled and lagged-out at the moment. In the Open Beta, you're constrained to only the beginning zones with a level cap of 16. I'd fear that they could present a Conan-type problem to us....the starter zones are awesome, but once you hit lvl 20 or so, everything goes down hill.
 
I still don't get MMOs. Why pay $15+/month when you can get a full game for that price (like Mass Effect this week).
 
I'd buy a lifetime subscription to TOR but I'm not too sure about Star Trek .. it's fun from what I've played but I'm not sure it brings anything new to the table. Plus it's rough around the edges, granted it's a beta but after playing the final version of Champions Online, it seems like Cryptic doesn't polish their games prior to release ... Bioware on the other hand tends to take bit more time with their work.
 
[quote name='sukru']I still don't get MMOs. Why pay $15+/month when you can get a full game for that price (like Mass Effect this week).[/QUOTE]

it's not "just" a game, its the whole social aspect to it.
 
[quote name='fart_bubble']it's not "just" a game, its the whole social aspect to it.[/QUOTE]

But isn't the "social" aspect a way to kill your real social life? :D
 
there's going to be infinite trekkie support behind this game, it's pretty safe to pay for the lifetime if you're an mmo type-of-guy
 
[quote name='sukru']But isn't the "social" aspect a way to kill your real social life? :D[/QUOTE]

Aren't there people out there that wish to kill themselves rather than experience a "real social life"?
 
You can play an MMO and maintain a social life. Many people go overboard, but it doesn't have to be that way. That's one thing I like about the lifetime subscription deal - you don't have to play a certain amount of time every month just to justify a monthly fee. You can take a break and come back whenever you feel like it.
 
I used to play free MMOs, but gave up because they easily become very competitive and you have to spend more and more time to keep up.

MMO designers make it so that you have to do lots of chores to access "fun" parts. For example (I did not play, but from what I read) you have to mine gold a lot in WoW. For free ones (like Facebook/Zynga) it limits you for a day, until your some kind of meter (e.g: energy) refill, or you pay some amount of money to fill it quickly.

So you either lose time (1000s of small clikcs), or money, or even worse both.
 
Shit, Cryptic charged $199 for Champions lifetime subs. I guess that ST license will cost you another $40. I dunno, I played the beta a bit and just couldn't get into it. Plus all the heavy handed nerfing and wholesale changes that went on right on the opening day of Champions left a sour taste in my mouth. I guess I will just hold off for Old Republic. I'd be willing to pay a lifetime sub for that one for sure.
 
[quote name='sukru']I still don't get MMOs. Why pay $15+/month when you can get a full game for that price (like Mass Effect this week).[/QUOTE]

Some people see it differently. Like why bother paying $20+ on new games that come and go when you can spend a small amount of money each month playing a seemingly endless game?
 
[quote name='PikaPichu']Some people see it differently. Like why bother paying $20+ on new games that come and go when you can spend a small amount of money each month playing a seemingly endless game?[/QUOTE]

I prefer to think of it in terms of money I'll spend on the monthly fee vs how much time I'll get out of it. For fifteen bucks, it's quite easy to get 20+ hours in a month out of an MMO. I can think of a large number of games that I beat in far less time and (foolishly) paid far more for.
 
[quote name='PikaPichu']Some people see it differently. Like why bother paying $20+ on new games that come and go when you can spend a small amount of money each month playing a seemingly endless game?[/QUOTE]


But how many of those people just stick with and play with one MMO for years, not buying any other games? Usually they are addicts and hop from one to the other, maybe going back and forth to several different MMOs a year.

Nowadays, I just buy games on the cheap, like the deals from steam and before that the $5 games from Direct2drive. Probably cheaper than paying full retail than a monthly sub for a MMO, and for me, a lot more fun, rewarding. I stay away from MMOS now. (Ironically, thanks to Champions Online)

Now of course, people who buy games as soon as they are released at full retail (You are deemed not a Cag! :), playing a couple MMOs exclusively is a lot cheaper than that.
 
Yeah I was really thinking about getting the lifetime for this but would have strain myself financially right now, however not worth it because I have been playing the beta since opening day and to be honest to many things that should have been a core part of the game was taken out/not included for their rush to hit their deadline. Yes the game still has many bugs both graphical and technical like no away teams on some missions, starships loading for ground missions etc... It doesnt matter anyway because I still have my lifetime sub for lotr online to fall back on, but you can bet I will have my money ready when kotor online gets ready to go live, I love bioware.
 
I'm an MMO player, and I'd never buy a lifetime subscription to any game without playing it first.

I'm also very reluctant to pay any kind of monthly fees without giving the game a free trial first. There are plenty of MMOs out there that are so gawdawful that you won't make it past the trial stage anyways.
 
In theory ~$240 for a lifetime subscription is a great deal ONLY IF it turns out to be a good MMO. I'm sure they'll fix the bugs and add more stuff since this is Star Trek... but without any proper testing at this point, I wouldn't take it myself.
 
[quote name='sukru']I still don't get MMOs. Why pay $15+/month when you can get a full game for that price (like Mass Effect this week).[/QUOTE]

Because even Mass Effect 2 is going to be boring and old news a week after its released. Some people get sick of console games since there is so little content, where a decent enough MMO can keep you playing nearly forever. I haven't found one console game in the last 3 generations of consoles that hasn't been a boring piece of shit after a maximum of 2-3 weeks. Only exception is MW2 which is probably gonna go unplayed soon enough since the god damn latency is so fucking stupid.
 
Any time i think MMO i think "hellgate" and it immediately leaves a sour taste in my mouth. When Kotor comes out im in because im a die hard fan (still waiting for the KOTOR 2 restoration project to finish...come on Team Gizka!!) but i would have prefered a non-MMO. Either way, this is the last time i'll be spitting cash out for an MMO unless something EPIC comes along. Hopefully, KOTOR will be EPIC!
 
[quote name='Warn3rv3']Any time i think MMO i think "hellgate" and it immediately leaves a sour taste in my mouth. When Kotor comes out im in because im a die hard fan (still waiting for the KOTOR 2 restoration project to finish...come on Team Gizka!!) but i would have prefered a non-MMO. Either way, this is the last time i'll be spitting cash out for an MMO unless something EPIC comes along. Hopefully, KOTOR will be EPIC![/QUOTE]


Does Bill Roper have his hands in Star Trek online? I know he works for Cryptic Now..after playing Hellgate London and creating flagshipped.com (Gapes) for that mess of a game I'd stay far away from anything that guy has his hands in.

Remember they offered lifetime subs for Hellgate:London and that game didn't last a year.
 
Sadly part of the reason hellgate failed is BECAUSE of its business model. Don't get me wrong. it ultimately failed because the game SUCKED but the business model didnt help.

[quote name='Drabelincoln']Does Bill Roper have his hands in Star Trek online? I know he works for Cryptic Now..after playing Hellgate London and creating flagshipped.com (Gapes) for that mess of a game I'd stay far away from anything that guy has his hands in.

Remember they offered lifetime subs for Hellgate:London and that game didn't last a year.[/QUOTE]
 
I have played the open beta and despite some technical issues, I've been having a blast. I have never subscribed to this kind of game before, but I have played the open betas for several. This is the first one I have found to make a little bit more sense to me.

I don't even mind the grinding XP because the missions have been pretty varied with different types of enemies. In Champions Online I just kept killing the same thing over and over.

Today, I just warped into a planet, knocked out a group of Klingon raiders with some team mates, beamed down with them and fought our way up a hill to a monastery before finding our bad guy, chasing him, beaming back to our ship before shooting his out of space. Awesome.
 
Thanks for posting the info on this, eastx. But I'm definitely going to pass, since every preview I've seen said I have to choose a side and I can't just go around being a rogue/mercenary and just cause complete havoc.

Of course, the monthly fee(s) are also a major obstacle, since I still refuse to pay to play online aside from my internet fees.

I really wish they'd make a game(whether MMO or not) where you could just do your own thing and not have to pick sides. THAT would be my ultimate dream game. Of course, it couldn't be a turn based title or I'd hate it for that aspect as well.
 
[quote name='eastx']Dang, I was hoping somebody'd be interested in Star Trek Online. At least there was some discussion, though.[/QUOTE]

The complainers are always louder than the folks who like it. I appreciated the info, even though there's no chance that I'll be able to pick up a lifetime before Feb 1. Oh well.
 
[quote name='Spacepest']I'm an MMO player, and I'd never buy a lifetime subscription to any game without playing it first.

I'm also very reluctant to pay any kind of monthly fees without giving the game a free trial first. There are plenty of MMOs out there that are so gawdawful that you won't make it past the trial stage anyways.[/QUOTE]


Awe man this post was awesome :applause:

Took the words right out of my mouth.

I have tried to get a beta key and so far have failed.

There is no way I'd invest any amount of cash without trying it out first.
 
[quote name='mythus']i would never trust a lifetime subscription on any mmo besides a blizzard based game. hell, look at hellgate london =\.[/QUOTE]

That.

Most companies are just not committed enough to their games. Development halts, profits go down, and then the game is just dead entirely. :drool:

Pretty confident that this game will end up being total shit. Not enough time in development. Star Trek MMO is nothing more than a gimmick to rip people off, and will probably be given up soon enough.

[quote name='Warn3rv3']Sadly part of the reason hellgate failed is BECAUSE of its business model. Don't get me wrong. it ultimately failed because the game SUCKED but the business model didnt help.[/QUOTE]

Hellgate London wasn't bad at all. It's just stupidity on their part to try and make it into a P2P MMO. It's a FPS/ARPG. With something similar to battle.net/D2, it'll thrive.

Unfortunately, that's not what they went for.
 
Even after complaining, and being set not to buy the game, I tried the demo.

The game seems to be Ok, there are various missions (in ship, space battles, beaming down, etc). In my opinion, it might catch on (of course not with me).
 
[quote name='Ocajavati']
Pretty confident that this game will end up being total shit. Not enough time in development. Star Trek MMO is nothing more than a gimmick to rip people off, and will probably be given up soon enough.
[/QUOTE]

You obviously don't know anything about the game, so your prediction counts for very little.
 
Lot's of uninformed people in this thread

"There is no way I'd invest any amount of cash without trying it out first. "

You could not get the lifetime or 12 year plan anyway. It's only for people who pre-ordered the game, and are already playing in the beta.

"Pretty confident that this game will end up being total shit. Not enough time in development. Star Trek MMO is nothing more than a gimmick to rip people off, and will probably be given up soon enough."

Like sukru said how do you know? I've been playing the beta a lot, and it's very good. Still some bugs need to be worked out in the ground combat, but the ship combat is way above expectations. People will be surprised just how good it is

"Hahah, such nerds. "

Says the guy on Video Game board
 
[quote name='CaptDS9E']
"Hahah, such nerds. "

Says the guy on Video Game board[/QUOTE]

+1

Show some respect for an entertainment franchise that probably has something to owe to whatever gaming you are interested in.
 
[quote name='Warn3rv3']Any time i think MMO i think "hellgate" and it immediately leaves a sour taste in my mouth. When Kotor comes out im in because im a die hard fan (still waiting for the KOTOR 2 restoration project to finish...come on Team Gizka!!) but i would have prefered a non-MMO. Either way, this is the last time i'll be spitting cash out for an MMO unless something EPIC comes along. Hopefully, KOTOR will be EPIC![/QUOTE]

You don't have to wait for Team Gizka, (especially since he'll probably never release). TSL Restored Content Mod came out in September, and it's mostly debugged by now. Of course, the whole game is still buggy as anything...
 
[quote name='IronsideGrunt']Awe man this post was awesome :applause:

Took the words right out of my mouth.

I have tried to get a beta key and so far have failed.

There is no way I'd invest any amount of cash without trying it out first.[/QUOTE]

You could always go to best buy and get a preorder case from the pc section. It has a beta key inside.

Then you can always cancel your preorder if you want to buy somewhere else or decide you dont like it.
 
Make sure you try it out first. I've been in several MMO betas - Everquest, Planetside, Hellgate London, Age of Conan, and now this one. IMHO this one is pretty bad for being less than a month away from launch. I don't know what they were thinking by having an open beta now. Again, make sure you try it first.
 
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I got into the Beta, played it - and I'm not buying this game. In fact to be honest, I'm I doubt that I'll even continue to play it for free right now. Just isn't fun.
 
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