Star Trek Online Free-to-Play is on STEAM now

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Brent_Justice

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For those interested, Star Trek Online is now on Steam for Free-to-Play. The game is 100% free, so if you are at all interested in this MMO you really got nothing to lose. I'm a huge fan of STO, if you haven't noticed by now. Been playing the game since Open Beta back at the beginning of 2010. The game has been through a lot of changes, and a changing of the guards with Cryptic being sold by Atari, and bought by Perfect World. I've seen the good, the bad, and heard all the debates. All of that said, its a fun game IMO.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/9900/

If anyone is interested in playing, and would like information on how to play this game, I have started a Let's Play series on Youtube, playing through the game and explaining it along the way - http://www.youtube.com/user/JustGaming4Us

I also did a DX11 vs. DX9 performance evaluation a bit ago, as Cryptic updates DX11 to something more useful I'll look at DX11 again in the future - http://hardocp.com/article/2012/01/17/star_trek_online_dx11_performance_review/

Find me in-game @The-Doctor.

Any questions, ask, glad to help out new players! Happy Gaming.
 
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Well now that STO is F2P there isn't a reason for me not to try it.

Installing right now. I hope there isn't a ton of patching a head of me.
 
Godmachine said:
Well now that STO is F2P there isn't a reason for me not to try it.

Installing right now. I hope there isn't a ton of patching a head of me.
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They are on a steady weekly patch system, every Thursday morning, early hours in the morning PST, there is a new patch each week.

The game supports on-demand patching, so it won't download everything for you, you can disable on-demand patching in the launcher if you just want all the patching to be installed on your system, otherwise, it might download files here and there as you play the game with on-demand patching on, up to you.
 
I joined the game a few days ago. It's a pretty fun game, and I'm hoping to get level 5 at least when the Odyssey Class ship is released tomorrow.

Hopefully they fix the DX11 option since I'm currently seeing some texture flickering in gas clouds and other areas of the game. I've switched back to DX9.

The one thing I'm trying to figure out is where all the systems are located at. One thing I like about EVE Online is that I can search for the system, right-click, Set Destination, and I have a set of systems I can follow on-screen to jump to from gate-to-gate. I am not sure if STO has anything similar. I keep going back and forth between the game and the STO wiki to figure out where one system is located in.
 
octoberasian said:
I joined the game a few days ago. It's a pretty fun game, and I'm hoping to get level 5 at least when the Odyssey Class ship is released tomorrow.

Hopefully they fix the DX11 option since I'm currently seeing some texture flickering in gas clouds and other areas of the game. I've switched back to DX9.

The one thing I'm trying to figure out is where all the systems are located at. One thing I like about EVE Online is that I can search for the system, right-click, Set Destination, and I have a set of systems I can follow on-screen to jump to from gate-to-gate. I am not sure if STO has anything similar. I keep going back and forth between the game and the STO wiki to figure out where one system is located in.
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I explained the system thing in my 4th Let's Play video which is uploading right now, so make sure to check out my channel on youtube.

You can find each system by using the map, hit M in sector space. At the top, there is a tab called Systems List, it lists all the systems in each sector block. Also, on the first tab you can see where all the systems are in the sector block, and in the Galaxy tab you can see how the galaxy is arranged in sector blocks.

You CAN fly to destinations automatically. Simply click on the system you want to go to, either from the first tab in the Map or the System's list, and it will ask you to plot a course to destination? Hit yes and your ship will autopilot to the system while you sit back and enjoy the scenery.
 
Godmachine said:
Well now that STO is F2P there isn't a reason for me not to try it.

Installing right now. I hope there isn't a ton of patching a head of me.
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i concur.. just started playing the game a couple days ago after finding out it went F2P.. good game, still has its issues but still fun when in a group.. i just wish they allowed more people per team because out of all my friends that play there's always 1 or 2 people left out of the team.



octoberasian said:
I joined the game a few days ago. It's a pretty fun game, and I'm hoping to get level 5 at least when the Odyssey Class ship is released tomorrow.

Hopefully they fix the DX11 option since I'm currently seeing some texture flickering in gas clouds and other areas of the game. I've switched back to DX9.

The one thing I'm trying to figure out is where all the systems are located at. One thing I like about EVE Online is that I can search for the system, right-click, Set Destination, and I have a set of systems I can follow on-screen to jump to from gate-to-gate. I am not sure if STO has anything similar. I keep going back and forth between the game and the STO wiki to figure out where one system is located in.
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you won't be able to use it til you are a rear admiral so its not really a big deal if you hit level 5. i wish i had a dx11 card to check out the dx11 stuff because in dx9 the game looks so meh.


btw if anyone wants to get together and do some missions as a group(i hate playing games by myself, its boring as heck no matter what game it is) my ingame is sirmonkey@sirmonkey.
 
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Brent_Justice said:
I explained the system thing in my 4th Let's Play video which is uploading right now, so make sure to check out my channel on youtube.

You can find each system by using the map, hit M in sector space. At the top, there is a tab called Systems List, it lists all the systems in each sector block. Also, on the first tab you can see where all the systems are in the sector block, and in the Galaxy tab you can see how the galaxy is arranged in sector blocks.

You CAN fly to destinations automatically. Simply click on the system you want to go to, either from the first tab in the Map or the System's list, and it will ask you to plot a course to destination? Hit yes and your ship will autopilot to the system while you sit back and enjoy the scenery.
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That I figured out a day or two later, but been trying to memorize all the Sector Blocks and where everything connects to what. For example, I had trouble locating my two friends in the game. All it said was "Gate System..." and STO Wiki pointed to Pi Canis Sector Block, but didn't know how to get there.

Also, I've had to resort to the STO Wiki to find where DS9 and DS7 was located. For a Star Trek fan, I must be a failure. Haha.

As for the DX11, it looks very good and runs well especially on my 6950. Only a few caveats that I've experienced with DX11 Beta turned on was the texture flickering in the background for stuff like gas clouds. I've also had it where the character creator area didn't show the actual character. Therefore, I went back to DX9. Not sure if anyone else had a similar issue.

I think I've been too spoiled by EVE Online. :p

But, I'll check your video out. Thank you.
 
octoberasian said:
That I figured out a day or two later, but been trying to memorize all the Sector Blocks and where everything connects to what. For example, I had trouble locating my two friends in the game. All it said was "Gate System..." and STO Wiki pointed to Pi Canis Sector Block, but didn't know how to get there.

Also, I've had to resort to the STO Wiki to find where DS9 and DS7 was located. For a Star Trek fan, I must be a failure. Haha.

As for the DX11, it looks very good and runs well especially on my 6950. Only a few caveats that I've experienced with DX11 Beta turned on was the texture flickering in the background for stuff like gas clouds. I've also had it where the character creator area didn't show the actual character. Therefore, I went back to DX9. Not sure if anyone else had a similar issue.

I think I've been too spoiled by EVE Online. :p

But, I'll check your video out. Thank you.
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They also have a Transwarp to feature now, in each mission, so you can transwarp directly to the star system, but it costs energy credits. Each sector block is pretty much connected to the next, so just fly through them. One day they do plan to make space one big thing, with no sector borders, so you don't have to transition maps between sectors. That will be real nice.
 
Ive never really played an MMO before besides Guild Wars back in the day but I decided to download it last night and check it out. Any suggestions on how to set up my character for someone who knows little about STO or MMOs?
 
Wish I had a screenshot of my old pre-launch beta character so I could recreate him.
 
I tried this game way back when it came out and couldn't get into it, I just tried it again last week when former captains were invited back for free. Its just so hard to get into. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to quit out of the game so I ended up using task manager to kill it.
 
I was one of the people who bought the game with a monthly plan back when it first came out, had a subscription and everything. Quite honestly, I can say that the new F2P revision is a vast improvement.

The original STO felt like it was released before everything was fully thought out. It had a lot of technical and inside references sure to make die hard Star Trek fans nerdgasm, but as a game it lacked polish. There was very little in terms of first time player help, and missions were long, boring, and repetetive, usually involving flying to a random planet, scanning some objects, fighting some ships/people, and then repeating.

The F2P release has introduced a lot better central storyline, with several fronts (Klingon, Undine, Romulan, Borg, etc) being available at different levels. Each front has it's own unique storyline, with feature rich and unique missions to be completed.

The majority of the missions are actually solo play based, but if you have friends online, you can share the mission with them, making it easier to complete, and giving both of you the rewards. There are also several major group missions called Fleet Actions, which pit a group of ranging from 5-20 players against large NPC forces. At later levels, there is also PvP queues, typically with Starfleet against Klingon.

The great thing about F2P is that now you have access to pretty much everything in the game for free. Unlike most F2P games that depend on microtransactions, players who subscribe or buy cryptic points don't actually have access to significantly stronger/better items that give them an unfair advantage. Rather, most cash items are convenience items, such as expanded inventory, larger duty officer rosters, more character slots, and ship costumes. There are some ship classes that are cash only, but again most of these come with bonuses such as the ability to instantly warp to any sector, which doesn't have a major impact on actual gameplay.

Overall, I'd highly recommend the game, it's beautifully made and definitely worth downloading as a F2P
 
LigTasm said:
I tried this game way back when it came out and couldn't get into it, I just tried it again last week when former captains were invited back for free. Its just so hard to get into. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to quit out of the game so I ended up using task manager to kill it.
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Not that hard to quit out... your Esc key brings up the main menu, from there, quit.... standard of any game really....
 
I'm going to give it a try also.

Those are very informative videos, by the way. They look terrific to boot.
 
It's Free 2 Play, but is it Fun 2 Play? I tried the pre-release beta as well and wasn't really impressed at all.
 
castun said:
It's Free 2 Play, but is it Fun 2 Play? I tried the pre-release beta as well and wasn't really impressed at all.
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yes.. at first it feels like a grind fest just trying to go through as many missions as possible to level up.. but once you hit about level 15 then the fun starts. especially with the action fleet stuff which i've been doing lately. pure insanity with the the gorn mine field scenerio. but damn is it fun. i've only been playing for 2 1/2 days though so i'm still learning as i go but i'm enjoying it so far. and yeah i did the pre-release beta as well and didn't care much for it then. but its definitely been improved on.
 
I was hooked on this game until I found out the PvP in it was almost non-existent. Killed it for me. It's a shame because it really is a nice game.
 
bodan said:
I was hooked on this game until I found out the PvP in it was almost non-existent. Killed it for me. It's a shame because it really is a nice game.
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no one really bothers with PvP and PvE is far more fun to play anyways.
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
no one really bothers with PvP and PvE is far more fun to play anyways.
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PvE can be mildly entertaining for short periods but it's not very intellectually stimulating. I see PvE as appealing to schizoids and such, or generally just incompetent players. It's nothing compared to PvP. The reason no one bothers with PvP, as the very limited STO PVP community says, is due to developer neglect and the issue w/ premades vs randoms and such - not because PvP isn't fun.
 
Brent, is there any explanation in game about why TOS era Constitution Class ships are still around?
 
Spare-Flair said:
Brent, is there any explanation in game about why TOS era Constitution Class ships are still around?
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The Conni and NX class are replications of the original and not the actual ship, but just in case, Conni refits (Enterprise-A) are still around and used for cadet training as mentioned in TNG. After all, we still see Obreth and Reliant classes through out TNG and in the battle at Wolf359 we even see some Conni and some new kind of Conni refits. The Excelsior class played a prominent roll during the Dominion War and Comdr Will says there is a NX-class in a museum on Earth (I believe it might even be the Enterprise).
 
Tsuyoi said:
Not that hard to quit out... your Esc key brings up the main menu, from there, quit.... standard of any game really....
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Mine doesn't. I actually just loaded it up and tried again just to make sure. I actually sat there and pressed every key on the keyboard as I couldn't find a menu of any kind to even list what the controls were. Weird.
 
RangerXML said:
The Conni and NX class are replications of the original and not the actual ship, but just in case, Conni refits (Enterprise-A) are still around and used for cadet training as mentioned in TNG. After all, we still see Obreth and Reliant classes through out TNG and in the battle at Wolf359 we even see some Conni and some new kind of Conni refits. The Excelsior class played a prominent roll during the Dominion War and Comdr Will says there is a NX-class in a museum on Earth (I believe it might even be the Enterprise).
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Yes, but why do they have replica Constitutions and NXes in the late 24th century serving in Starfleet? I totally get that fans want to play these ships but it just seems a little odd to me without a good explanation. It kind of takes away that feeling you get when you first play the Guardian on the Edge of Forever mission where you go back see the Big-E for the first time and you talk to Spock which I remember from beta.
 
Considering that the NX class looks similar to the Akita class nothing is lost there. The Connie class is a little different with all the TOS fan boys who wanna feel like Kirk, I don't blame Cryptic for including it, but does stand out against the other ships. Its 100% fan service, even I bought c-points when it became availabe, and eventually the NX class.
 
LigTasm said:
Mine doesn't. I actually just loaded it up and tried again just to make sure. I actually sat there and pressed every key on the keyboard as I couldn't find a menu of any kind to even list what the controls were. Weird.
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yeah definitely weird, unless you are playing with steam and maybe the overlay for some reason is screwing it up..
 
Okay I am very tempted to start playing again. Disliked the game in beta but I am thinking of spending a few $ to get over the grind.

The starter pack seems to be a good idea for 240 C points as Brent mentioned. Any ships worth buying? I really only like the Sao Paulo class and the Exeter class designs in the ships for sale.

Also, what are the promotional points that gold players get?
 
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The 2 year anniversary event is going on right now. I popped back into Earth Spacedock to re-arm my fleet escort, and this dude is there saying he needs folks to test-drive Starfleet's new hotness... You get to take an Odyssey cruiser out for a spin and blow some stuff up. It's definitely no escort, but it was really fun to try out... Then something ridiculous happened; dude gave me the ship. No lie. Free ship. Free ship. Party on. Excellent.
 
Tempest_Prime said:
The 2 year anniversary event is going on right now. I popped back into Earth Spacedock to re-arm my fleet escort, and this dude is there saying he needs folks to test-drive Starfleet's new hotness... You get to take an Odyssey cruiser out for a spin and blow some stuff up. It's definitely no escort, but it was really fun to try out... Then something ridiculous happened; dude gave me the ship. No lie. Free ship. Free ship. Party on. Excellent.
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Okay I am downloading STO now. Where do I meet this guy?
 
Earth Space Dock, outside Admiral Quinn's Office, but on a note, you must be atleast lvl 5 to take the mission to get the free lvl 50 mission, but that should take to long (tutorial might even cover it).
 
Yeah, I can't figure out how to group up with anyone. I'm Zynon@zyn0
Trying to find that guy in Earth's Spacedock, I'm failing. I'm level 13.
 
Got my Bortas and Odyssey classes today :D I won't be able to fly the Odyssey for a while, but my klingon is 44 right now so it won't be much longer for him.
 
omg the new patch makes me want to punch babies.. i seriously hope todays patch removes all the crap they changed in the last one. my SLI no longer works now and i seem to be cpu limited all of a sudden now. i get retarded graphic glitches, new levels don't fully load and/or popups don't disappear when starting a new mission/action fleet event.
 
Picked it up officially last night. Played up to Lt. rank 5 and grabbed the cube for my class ship which I cant even use until Admiral I believe. So, oh well, at least I got it.

Its fun.
 
I need companions, but my account is "too new" to say anything in zone chat or direct message anyone according to the game. Lt. Commander means nothing lol
 
Anyone know if you can still get retrofit token when you get to lvl 50?
 
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