Star Trek Online Previews and Interview
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First in line with a preview is Game Revolution:
Along the way, you'll have help from your own custom NPC bridge crew. They're essentially pets who give your ship various attributes and have their own set of unique skills on the ground as well; a science officer, for example, may give your shields a boost or maybe carry some grenades on foot. Think of it as getting your own pet Diana Troy or Spock to do with as you see fit. If you don't have any friends with you to do away missions, your bridge crew will take up the empty slots. And since they can be killed, only knocked unconscious, no one has to wear the red shirt.
Then we move to Gamereactor:
The space combat is not what you would expect from an action oriented space shooter. Not at all. In fact, it's not really about tricky maneuvers at all. Instead it is all about managing your shields and weapons as well using your bridge officers special abilities. It comes across as rather stiff to start with, but in fact it's a nice way of making space combat manageable to a MMO player and still making it responsive and involving. It's a compromise, but it was always going to be that.
Before hitting MMORPG.com for their preview...
After docking, you are free to move around the Starbase. There are lots of things that you can do while on the Starbase: character customization, equipment, ship customization, socialization, and the like are all available. At least in the early stages of the game this starbase acts as a hub.
Even with all of those things to do, your first trip to the station is on business. You have to meet with an Admiral who gives you command of your ship and commends you for a job well done. You will also be able to grab missions from various NPCs around the Starbase. Once you are finished with all of your business, you beam back to your ship and warp to Sector Space.
...and interview with Jack Emmert:
(One of the lessons I've learned over the years is not to be too rigid as a designer, always try to keep a very open mind, because the players will tell you what they want,) he told us. (In the past I got tunnel vision in what I wanted, maybe I was right, maybe I wasn't, but sometimes the players are right too and I'd rather go with their right than my right.)
So, what will the Klingon faction really be? Emmert insists that it is a full fledged faction within the game and not just a glorified version of Lord of the Rings Online's Monster Play. They have a full set of skills, their own bridge officers, their own ships, their own territory, their own advancement and their own missions. They are not just something to entertain the Federation players.
