Executive Producer Craig Zinkievich has published what will probably be his last State of the Game address before Star Trek Online launches on Feb. 2, and he reveals that the game's first update will "be out before you know it." The update will add more PvP, Klingon exploration content, more ground fleet actions, more ship costume pieces, and more playable species to the MMO.

Zinkievich says that 5-player "raid-i-sodes" will be released every few weeks for the next three months, and a series culminating in an encounter with the Borg queen is on its way. In fact, he states that you can expect to see a lot more Borg in the future.

As if that's not enough information to assimilate (Borg pun!) before the game's launch, Lead Designer Al Rivera has written a post that explains Star Trek Online's skill system. The team wants your questions about the system for its next Ask Cryptic segment.

Keep reading after the jump for the full State of the Game address and Rivera's skill system article.

State of the Game: January 27, 2010

The Journey Begins…

Thank you all so very much for making this entire Beta experience as awesome as it has been.

I could look back and reminisce about the downtimes. I could wax nostalgic about the patches. I could even recall every exploit with distaste and still fondly remember the awesome emergent gameplay you've shown us... And yet, all that implies an end. Sure, the test is over. But, in reality, this is only the beginning.

We’ve been working without rest for nearly two years to reach this moment -- the moment when we can begin expanding Star Trek Online in earnest. The years ahead when we get to work directly with you to figure out what we add next to the game, where we fill out content, and what new systems we might add. That's real development. That's live development.

Not a team to just sit back and wait, we’re already working on content additions, bug fixes and 'quality of life' improvements that we’re going to roll out over the next couple months. Here are a few of the things we’re working on:

The Borg

The Borg have planned. They have adapted. They have evolved. What the Borg cannot assimilate, they will destroy.

You saw a little Borg action in our End of Beta event – prepare to see more. The Federation have tracked down the Borg staging ground for their assault on the Alpha Quadrant. Join up with Battle Group Omega and take the fight to the Borg. Experience new Federation Episodes, Borg Exploration Clusters, deep space encounters. Also expect daily missions for these tasks to maximize the rewards you’ll be getting for helping out Starfleet in the Gamma Orionis Sector.

"Raid-i-sodes"

These are the high-end episodes you’ve been waiting for. Locked to 5-players, you’ll need every trick and every bit of teamwork to complete these challenges.

A Borg raid-i-sode series culminating in an encounter with the Borg queen is on its way. Expect a couple other “loose ends” to be addressed in the future, as well.

Available for both Klingon Generals and Starfleet Admirals, we’ll be releasing a new one of these every few weeks for the next three months.

First Update

We’re already working on it and it’ll be out before you know it.

The first update is going to have more PvP, Klingon exploration content, more ground fleet actions, more ship costume pieces, more playable species, and then some.

Bugs and Reactions to Them

Of course, like any MMO, we’ll scramble during the first couple weeks reacting to new bugs. putting in quality of life fixes, and closing exploits that weren't exposed to us during Beta.

We’ll be fine tuning as well, but don’t expect thoughtless or harsh changes to game balance. We’re more than willing to wait and make sure everything we do is measured and calculated.

Expect a public test shard to become available real soon, too. We’ve named her "Tribble." This is where the brave Captains (read: addicted testers) amongst you can try out our changes before we push them live. If you’re one of those who can’t get enough of the bleeding edge of development – or have a penchant for finding bugs and balance issues – keep an eye on the forums for details.

So, thank you again for the awesome Beta, but the fun begins now.

We have years of development left in us and a universe of content still to add. Here’s where it gets interesting... Here’s where you help us figure out what comes next.

I, for one, am looking forward to taking that journey.

-Zn

STO Skill System

There are several ways to improve and advance a Starfleet Captain in STO, but Skills may be the most important. Not only do they have a significant impact on a character’s performance, Skill Points affect the strength and weaknesses of a starship and its Bridge Officers.

There are two types of Skill Points: a Captain’s Skill Points and a Bridge Officer’s Skill Points. Accumulate both by completing missions and defeating enemies. Today, we’ll focus on a Captain’s Skill Points (which we’ll simply refer to as Skill Points from here out).

The Basics:

• Skill points go into Skills.
• Skills typically give statistical bonuses, though they can grant other bonuses, too.
• Stats improve abilities and items.

There are over 100 different Skills in STO. Some are exclusively for ground and some are for space. All captains have access to all space skills, and profession determines what ground skills are accessible. Additionally, Skills are gated by rank, so rank up to gain access to higher ranked Skills. Low ranked Skills typically grant small bonuses to several different abilities and items. For instance, the Lieutenant ranked Skill “Starship Energy Weapons Training” grants a small improvement in damage to all energy weapons (beams, cannons, phasers, disruptors, etc.). At Lt. Commander, “Starship Beam Weapons” and “Starship Cannon Weapons” can be improved. These skills give a bigger stat bonus, but to fewer items. Higher ranking officers can then become even more specialized in specific energy types by spending points in skills like “Starship Phaser Weapons” or “Starship Disruptor Weapons”. These skills are very specialized but they offer the largest bonus. Most of the Skills in STO follow this model. When purchasing a Skill, examples of what items or abilities it will affect will appear. Also, right-click on an ability or item and select “Info” to see exactly what Skills affect it.

Spend Skill Points to rank-up and grade-up. There are 5 ranks (from Lieutenant to Rear Admiral), each with 10 grades (for example, Commander-Grade 6). Spending Skill Points improves a grade, and 10 grades earns a new rank. As his grade improves, a captain becomes more powerful on the ground – gaining bonuses to base HP and damage (this does not happen in space, as it is the ship that improves base HP and damage). Grading-up periodically unlocks some new ground and space abilities, too. Ranking-up, makes more powerful items, ships and Skills available.

In Summation:

• Low rank Skills grant small bonuses to many items and abilities.
• High rank Skills grant large stat bonuses to fewer items and abilities.
• Accumulate Skill Points by completing missions and defeating enemies.
• Spend Skill Points to increase grade and rank.
• Increasing grade and rank improves a character and unlocks access to additional items, ships and more Skills.

When ranked up, most skills come with a Stat bonus number. Typically, this number is the bonus applied to the items or abilities that use that stat. For instance...

• Starship Energy Weapons Training: 17
• Starship Beam Weapons: 22
• Starship Cannon Weapons: 28
• Starship Phaser Weapons: 36
• Starship Disruptor: 40

That says there is a 17% damage bonus to all Energy Weapons, a 22% damage bonus to all Beam Weapons, a 28% bonus to all cannons weapons, and so on. Use a Phaser Cannon and the total damage bonus would then be 17 + 28 + 36 = 81%. Use a Disruptor Beam Array and the total damage bonus would be 17 + 22 + 40 = 79%. Most items and abilities work with Skills in a similar manner, but sometimes the bonuses apply in a different way. For instance, some stats don’t increase the magnitude of an ability, but instead increase the duration. In some more powerful abilities, it’s not a one-to-one ratio and you only get half the bonus from Skill.

Some Skills don’t improve stats at all, but offer other bonuses. For example, Starship Command grants an HP, Turn Rate and Impulse speed bonus to all ships. Also note that many Skills don’t improve a captain or starship at all, but instead improve Bridge Officer or ground abilities.

Finally, a note about Respecs... Simply put, they are coming soon. We are currently working on this feature right now. The details are not final, however.

Al Rivera

Lead Designer