STO, A Good Game for Goldies

Star Trek Online is an MMORPG based on the Gene Roddenberry series Star Trek, which original ran as a television series from 1965 to 1969 on American television. Unless you are completely uninterested in Science-Fiction, you no doubt were aware of the iconic series and probably watched it when it was a live series. Star Trek is the most successful television/movie franchise in history, yes, even more than Star Wars. Though it has gone through many generations of fans, as well as many alterations in production quality (I'm looking at you, Discovery), it remains a favorite among many. Star Trek Online, commonly known as STO, is a free-to-play MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) game developed by Cryptic Studios and published by Perfect World Entertainment. Gamer Goldies out there will recognize the original publisher of the game as a small company known as Atari. A little after one year of the game's release, Atari announced that they were getting out of the MMORPG business and sold Cryptic to Perfect World Entertainment for $50.3 million.

THE GAME

STO has, arguably, one of the highest average gamer ages of any online game. While this data doesn't seem to be easily confirmed, you will find many players over the age of 50. If you are into games where you can take an Away Team down to a planet and explore and fight many types of humanoid and alien creatures, then beam back aboard your starship to battle among the stars, then STO may be for you. Be forewarned --however-- that there are bugs like in most large games, but typically aren't game-breaking. There are also a lot of material and systems to figure out and you would be best to journey into the game along with someone experienced who can help you through the hoops. Although the game has become much easier to grasp over the years, there are still a few things that may make a new player stumble.

While not state-of-the-art, the graphics in STO are pretty good and have been improved since introduction. The character customization is likely among the best in gaming where you can make some of the most extreme and alien characters and some pretty attractive humanoid types. There are a lot of costume options in the game, some that you can unlock through game play and some that must be purchased via the Z-Store, or C-Store, as many still refer to it. The Z stands for "Zen", a premium game currency that players may purchase using real money or via the Dilithium Exchange, where you can exchange dilithium for Zen. This means that you could potentially obtain anything in the game without paying real money, but the exchange rate is so high that you likely won't be earning a lot this way, but it is possible. This used to be called the C-Store because the C was for "Cryptic", the game's developer, but was later transitioned to Zen.

FREE-TO-PLAY

STO was originally a subscription-only game, but became free-to-play after about a year. It still offered a monthly subscription option but it really wasn't worth it and eventually was removed altogether. Oddly, they still offer a lifetime subscription, which runs about $299, although at times is offered on sale for $199. It would be advised to anyone who seriously wants to play the game long-term to buy at least $5 worth of Zen and purchase the Energy Credits upgrade from the store. A Zen is equal to one cent, so $5 will buy 500 Zen, a bit more if they are on sale. Energy Credits, or EC, is the standard in-game currency you earn from doing missions, selling items, etc. Free players are capped at 15 million EC and this will not take long to reach. There are items in the game that sell for about 1 billion EC. If you buy the EC upgrade, you will unlock the capacity for having 2 billion EC. It's a good investment if you intend to keep playing the game. As stated previously, you could earn dilithium in the game and exchange it for 500 Zen, but this would take about 200,000 to 250,000 dilithium, depending on the market rate at the time.

GETTING STARTED

The first consideration when creating a new character, or toon, is what faction you will want to side with. There are really only two factions in the game, the Federation and the KDF (Klingon Defense Force). You can also begin a new toon as a Romulan, but at around level 10 you must choose to ally with either the Feds of the KDF. This used to have consequences as to what ships you could pilot, but these rules are getting lessened all the time as Cryptic seeks to find ways to sell more ships. You can also start a Dominion toon playing as a Jem'Hadar that starts at level 60, but I do not recommend this for new players as you miss out on a lot of the game and experience you'll likely need to be a good player. This game is very easy to level anyway and the level cap is 65.

CHOOSE A CAREER

The next decision is to select the career for your toon. This is one of the few things that cannot be altered later in the game, so choose carefully. There are three main careers to choose from: Tactical, Engineering, and Science. Technically, it is recommended that Tactical captains fly Escort type ships, Engineers fly Cruisers, and Science captains fly Science ships, but this is not mandatory and you can have fun and be successful flying any type of ship. Tactical captains usually have an edge in some attack abilities while Engineers excel in defense and healing while Science uses special to control or drain their enemies. The ships are also designed to accentuate the respective abilities, as a Cruiser for example, usually has a stronger hull and can take more damage before going boom! I would encourage new players to try different ships to get a feel for what they like and perhaps create a new captain later if necessary to tweak their build.

You will get a free starter ship and then another free ship at levels 10, 20, 30, and 40. The ship you receive will depend on the faction you aligned with, but you will usually get to choose between an Escort, Cruiser, or Science ship. There is also a mission around level 20 that grants a free Cruiser.

Star Trek Online has far too many features to be completely covered in a blog of this nature. Suffice it to say that it has enough to do to keep you very busy. Special events are held several times a year, most notably the Summer and Winter events and yearly anniversaries where many cool items can be earned as well as a top-tier free ship. The investment in completing these events is very minimal and most require only a few minutes of your time per day, but this may be for two weeks or more to get the ship.

A good way to get help is to join a larger fleet. There are many in the game and they typically welcome new players. If you want, you can try to add me to your social list in the game by searching for snowpiercer#1188.

If you play this game, "May you live long and prosper!"