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Enterprise Crew's Final Voyage
March 4th, 2009 by Theo, MMOsite Columnist |
Via Trek Web, information regarding the final mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise has been released, detailing the fate of both the ship and crew. It looks as though some of the more senior crew members including well known names such as Geordi, Data, and Worf, will be moving on to different roles in the Federation with others taking extended leaves' of absence to work on personal projects. The U.S.S. Enterprise herself will go through an extensive year long refitting, including the testing of new technologies.
An excerpt can be read below;
Among the ships that will be assigned to new duties is the U.S.S. Enterprise-E. "The flagship of Starfleet is not a warship," says Commander Marie Durant, a spokesperson for Starfleet Command. "The Enterprise and her crew are the pinnacle of Federation achievement. We need them out on the edge of explored space, making new contacts and reaching out in friendship to races across the Galaxy."
The Enterprise's final mission before returning to Earth for reassignment is to assist the population of Khitomer. On Stardate 62230.13, the Klingon Empire announces it is expelling all non-Klingon residents of the planet as a "safety measure." It gives the residents 14 standard days to leave the planet, but Chancellor Martok agrees to extend the deadline after speaking to Captain Jean-Luc Picard. The Enterprise-E leads a contingent of ships to Khitomer, assists in the evacuation, and the former residents are safely settled on Federation colonies.
That mission becomes the legendary captain's final one for Starfleet as well. After a personal request from the president of the Federation and a great deal of personal reflection, Captain Picard resigns his commission with Starfleet. After a three-month sabbatical in France, Picard takes his place as the Federation ambassador to Vulcan.
He is not the only senior staff member of the Enterprise to be moving on to other projects. Chief Medical Officer Beverly Crusher accepts the position of captain of the U.S.S. Pasteur, an Olympic-class ship. Her first task will be to assist efforts to rebuild hospitals and medical facilities on Cardassia Prime.
Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge requests a long-term leave of absence from Starfleet to work on personal projects, including a plan to build and test his own starship designs. But his first project is to assist the team at the Soong Foundation studying the Soong-type android B-4. With his help, on Stardate 62762.91 the team unlocks what it calls the "Data matrix," successfully accessing the personality, knowledge and memories of Data, who had downloaded this information into B-4 before his destruction in the Battle of Bassen Rift.
The Data persona asserts itself over B-4's more primitive programming, and the android is able to assist the Soong Foundation team to upgrade the positronic brain and recreate the emotion chip invented by Dr. Noonien Soong. The team is confident that their work will be completed in months.
And Worf, son of Mogh, also resigns his commission to Starfleet. Worf believes that with the recent strains in relations between the Federation and the Klingons, he will best be of service in a diplomatic role. He returns to Qo'noS to take up the post of lead ambassador, and a few months later begins a tentative relationship with Grilka, the leader of a Klingon noble house whom he had met while serving on Deep Space 9.
With much of the senior staff off ship and its role in flux, the Enterprise-E is assigned to the shipyards of Utopia Planitia for an extensive refit. The Starfleet Corps of Engineers reports that the refit will take at least a year to complete because they are going to use the ship as a testing ground for new technology. Among the new equipment will be the advanced sensor array first tested onLuna-class starships, which has been approved for retrofitting onto other classes of ships.
You can read the full news article regarding this timeline at StarTrekOnline.com
In other Star Trek Online News the specifications for a new Klingon Class of ships called "Raptor" has been revealed.
The Raptor Class was built as the "Klingon Empire embarked on an aggressive period of starship design and construction" which was in response to ships lost during the Dominion War and subsequent conflicts.
Facing increasing demands to create more ships in less time, Klingon design teams looked to the past for inspiration for new ships for the Empire. The Raptor class of the 22nd century was a small frigate intended for use as a scout ship. Its limited weapons and small crew compliment made it a ship for hit-and-run raids rather than extended conflicts.
The new Raptor shares the basic geometry of its ancestor but is larger and packs a much more powerful punch. The ship is classified as a destroyer and is fast, maneuverable and armed to the teeth.
To read about the Raptor Class in full detail, head over to the official website.
Lastly, Massively.com recently did an interview with STOs executive producer Craig Zinkievich (aka Zinc).
Here is a small excerpt;
Massively: What's been the bigger challenge thus far: ground or space combat ?
Craig: They both have challenges. Space combat was something that we haven't done before, and it's very different from the combat in our other games. Positioning is huge in space combat, and that was something we were very concerned about when we started the project.
We know ground combat focuses on parties of five whether they're NPCs or PCs, but what will the group size and dynamics be for space battles ?
Our teams have a maximum size of five, and the Episodic content is designed for either 5 player characters or a combination of players and Bridge Crew.
That doesn't mean that there won't be epic space battles with tens or possibly hundreds of starships. We will have events that require groups of players working together to resolve, like a invasion by the Borg.
Are there any plans to make use of Holodecks for things such as tactical training or role-playing/social areas ?
Wow -- holodecks are tricky. They're so powerful and so cool that everyone on the team wants to cram everything possible into them. I'm about ready to say no one on the team is allowed to speak the word " holodeck " for the next three months.
We will have holodecks -- they're too " Trek " to leave out. But we're not sure what they'll be used for yet. Maybe you'll be able to go to a holodeck and play Champions Online!
Has the team considered Picard-style diplomatic encounters, where players have to talk their way out of a tight situation ?
Diplomatic gameplay is tricky. We want to make sure that the gameplay is fun and doesn't feel contrived. We're constantly trying new things to try to get more non-combat gameplay in.
Obviously you guys want to make sure everyone's favorite starship is added to the game sooner or later, but will Cryptic be able to eventually create their own ship designs to add to the game ?
Yes ! We're using many of the ship classes that are known and loved by the fans, but we're also adding new ships that haven't been seen before. And whatever ship a player chooses, he or she will be able to customize the appearance, weapons and equipment.
We've seen some impressive player-made designs floating around the official Star Trek Online forums. Is there a possibility that player created ships could be added into the game ?
Ship customization will be a big part of Star Trek Online. You've only seen a glimpse of what you'll be able to do with the ship creator. I'm sure that there will be lots of amazing player-created starships.
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