Pandion Knights

The very latest Ask Cryptic is centred around the PVP aspect of the game.

They have covered many questions including expanding the current size of PVP maps and introducing a wide array of weapons for both Ground and Space PVP.

Personally there is not a huge amount for me here as I am not a huge PVP fan but perhaps for other fans this is a good update.

The forum are ripe with this latest topic in STO.

Cryptics answer to been able to communicate with the fans and take onboard what people are saying is to form the "STO Advisory Council".  This group of people initially consists of a very small amount of STO gamers who represent the Fanbase.

At at least 125 pages long the Official Forum Thread has caused quite a stir and the fans are not holding back about what they think.

Will it Kill or Save the game?
The debate is no one as to whether the Council will kill or save the game.

Many people feel that the game is not finished and that only die hard fans remain.  From PK's point of view we have lost a huge amount of members who are simply not playing the game anymore.  Recruitment is very very difficult and when you consider this is only on one server I have to wonder what the lifespan of the game is.

Other games have heard promises of new content and many new features which never materialised and lost a vast player base.  STO looks to be heading that way unless the "Council" persuade Cryptic to forget about making fancy new Bridges and Off Duty clothing and concentrate on lots of Group content, more Items.

No Matter what Happens STO will allways be about because we will allways have Trekkies.  I just hope that they ensure the game appeals to a wider audience because otherwise I fear for Fleets like ourselves that are not for the "hardcore" Trekkie.

Season One: Common Ground, the first major content patch for STO, has finally been released.

The major bit of news is of course the release of the next end game content which is "The Cure".  This follows on from "Infected" and can only be picked up if you have completed "Infected".

Now alot of people on the Official STO forums have complained about this.  They have stated the "Infected" is too hard and they want to have ago at "The Cure".  Well "The Cure" is harder than infected which is why you can only try it once you have completed the one before.

That said though I dont know why people think "Infected" is so hard.  We are not a hardcore Fleet and quite happily complete it within 90 mins whilst drinking beer and throwinf smoke grenades :).  I can only assume that the problem lies in PUG's in which case it might be worth thinking about joining a Fleet ... hint hint.

More details on what else is in the new patch can be found on the Official STO site including Respecs, New Bridges ...etc

Tonights planned Infected run will be changed to "The Cure".

Finally we have some in game promotions to announce.  Please head over to this post to find out more.

The guys over at STO have released an update answering questions from people.  It looks like our very own Alphadelta got a mention?

Welcome to the 20th installment of Ask Cryptic, where we put the questions you ask to our development team. In this issue we are focusing our discussion on Skills. Read more to learn about Star Trek Online!

alphadelta: Given that a focused build will be as powerful as any build available with no skill point cap how does the skill point cap ensure that content is not trivial?

The skill point cap is actually set low enough that players will not be able to max out every skill on their way to Admiral. There will be gaps. For instance, you will not be able to spend all the skill points in the Starship Deflectors and Emitters trees. Additionally, this allows for a clean leveling curve. When we release new content, and raise the skill point cap, we can balance this content for both old and new players alike, making sure that it's fun for everyone. This also puts us in a position where we're not forcing new players to grind out a bunch of skill points in order to see newer content, or releasing content that older players will breeze through with no challenge due to how many skill points they have in order to maintain a clean leveling curve.