Last week Perpetual released their first in-game image from ‘Star Trek Online,’ which showed a space shot. Today WarCry have nabbed the first land-based avatar shot.
WarCry also talk to Perpetual’s Daron Stinnett about recent reports and rumors…
Regarding the move to a more casual gameplay model and ‘micropayments’ over monthly subscription, Stinnett told WarCry:
We’ve always believed that Star Trek is an inviting world for more than just the enthusiasts so we’ve stayed focused on making a game that everyone can enjoy. We know that difficult to learn gameplay can be a barrier for some as is the $15/month subscription fee. It is true that we have been discussing different payment models internally to see if there is a way to enable more people to experience Star Trek Online while ensuring that we are able to pay for the ongoing operating costs of a triple-A MMO. We haven’t yet come to any conclusions though.
Read more from the interview at WarCry.com
UPDATE: Perpetual Being Sued
Unfortunately the new screenshot and interview is not all the news being reported about Perpetual. On their RazorWire blog, WarCry is reporting that Perpetual is being taken to court by their former PR firm. This seems to be more fallout related to the cancellation of what was going to be their launch title, Gods and Heroes. More info at RazorWire.
the graphics has something comical to it. kinda like it.
I Love it…looks good.
Been waiting for a good Trek game since Bridge Commander came out.
Can’t wait, lets Beta test it now!!
Nice, they kept the phaser design JUST the way I like it… and the new uniforms look pretty deece too.
I cannot wait for this!
Why does that look like Wesley Crusher kicks ass??
This screenshot is not the only news about Star Trek Online.
Read it and weep:
http://razorwire.warcry.com/news/view/79784-Kohnke-files-charges-against-Perpetual-Entertainment-for-fraud-breach-of-contract
“According to documents received last Friday in California’s Superior Court for the County of San Francisco, public relations firm Kohnke Communications, Inc. – best known for promoting the efforts of numerous MMORPG developers like EA Mythic, Red 5, Turbine, and NetDevil – is suing Perpetual Entertainment, Inc. for breach of contract, fraudulent transfer, fraud, and various other charges for damages between $80,000 and $290,000, perhaps much more in terms of punitive or exemplary damages.”
But…but…but….they got a new screenshot to show us! Obviously that’s bigger news.
Exciting…I’ve never played a MMORPG because of the price, but I’ll be considering this one if the cost is reasonable.
Not a big fan of the uniform…the colors remind me of cadet uniforms…or is this character a cadet?
Dude, why is he just standing there? Shouldn’t he be hiding behind rock or something?
Bah.. It kills me that everything about this game seems to be about battles.. Trek is about peace and exploration….
Let the lawyers take them…
I like this kind of thing to socialize with others. I’m hoping we can shmooze and meet new friends. I’m not so into fighting stuff so much but I’ll explore sometimes when my buddies are offline. It would be a shame if this is not of interest to our female Trekkers. If it becomes a macho sausage fest, I’ll dump out of there at warp.
legacy is such a great game with the uu mod!
Okay… so the update… read that, and that’s pretty scary stuff… go on to read the rest of THAT update, only to find that the LAST image shown to us (the one with the Excalibur) was a fraudulent screenshot… what the hell is going on with this?? Before we all start paying for anything, and then paying monthly for anything… I think we deserve some explanations.
JJ… help us out here somehow… if this isn’t the Trek mantle when it comes to video games being disgraced, I don’t know what is… this is really sad.
#13
Seriously, i cant beleive ur buying that, i hope ur taking the mickey! i really really do.
Not looking too good for this game though. I’d love nothing more for a MMORPG within the Star trek universe but i dont think this will be the one.
p.s the pic i’m refering to is the one where they have replaced the picture of the “m” class planet with…. The Death Star
lol wait… it was a joke?!
IF it was… I am blonde… really, I am… hahahaha!
DOOM.
There I said it. Take some consolation that nobody wants to play a post Nemesis Star Trek game anyway.
#11. Female Trekker over here, lol. ;P
Seriously, this game looks nice. I’m actually a huge fan of MMORPGs…I’ve played WoW, Guild Wars, and Everquest….and I have to say this game looks appealing.
If it’s as addicting and full of quests as WoW, that $15/month thing might fly. BUT if it’s similar to Guild Wars in interest level…another payment option might be better.
And of course it has to be based on fighting, lol. Unless your character is Picard….
If this game has a huge world, with many different species, etc…I’d like to say that I might stick to it for several years ^^ so make it good, Perpetual!
I think voyager elite force was the only real way to make a star trek game, (and it wasnt the greatest) all other attempts have failed..so here we go again…
Yeah, okay, #13. Everyone relax. The faked picture is a joke. Someone added a Star Wars ship to the Star Trek picture. It’s a joke.
Second, that whole court case, I think you ought to copy the entire article rather than just part of it. Perpetual Entertainment, inc. will only lose that case if it is found they hired the PR firm with the malicious intent to not make the games the PR firm was working on. That firm is suggesting Perpetual planned to cut the other game and hired the firm anyway, used their work, and then sent the game into suspended status. That’s bad if it’s true. But I honestly don’t even believe that to begin with. Perpetual realized a Star Trek movie was coming up and saw all the hype and probably changed their plans for release. Makes sense to me.
Anyway, everyone relax.
Wow. So much for peaceful space exploration. I can see this game is gonna be some shoot em up with Trek slapped on it.
Fredster, not exactly.
The PR firm was already working for them. The argument is that Perpetual hid the fact that they were planning on declaring insolvency, continued to use the PR firm’s services, (basically Enron style, they are being accused of telling everyone that everything is okay while they’re readying the lifeboats.) and then when they declared the company insolvent (a kind of bankruptcy.), they hid the Star Trek Online license by selling it to their new shell company (P2) which was in fact selling it to themselves on the cheap. This is bad because under the law, the Star Trek Online license was an asset that probably would’ve been sold to pay off its creditors when the company was liquidated.
So what they’re accused of is actually very illegal if you read the briefs. Under new California statutes, they could be prosecuted if found guilty. Even if they’re not found guilty, this comes at a particularly bad time because Perpetual/P2 is desperately trying to find a publisher, and this makes it all the more difficult.
That’s what I understand so far. Mind you, I’m NOT saying they’re guilty of this, just that it’s very serious if they are found guilty, and it still might be even if they’re cleared, unfortunately. But you have a good point in that right now we only know Kohnke’s side of this, and we won’t find out Perpetual/P2’s side of it until they file their response, which legally they have to do within thirty days.
Here’s a summary of the documents that someone posted on startrek-online.net:
http://www.startrek-online.net/messageboard/showthread.php?p=156623#post156623
6. Joe Mama
You had me thinking at first, that this was the costume design for the new movie. YIKES! Close one.
Note to: ST Costume Designer
High (exposed) black boots please.
I’ll pay an extra quarter for that.at the box office.
Is it just me, or does that image at top of this page look like a World of Warcraft clone with a Star Trek veneer laid over it?
As much as I hope this game succeeds, I will wait a bit to hear more about gameplay before I get too excited. I don’t want to play WoW in space, I’ve already been playing WoW for 3 years.
Looks pretty uninspired. I imagine this game will do little to reverse the trend that most games based on Trek do indeed suck.
I hope for a lot from STO; unfortunately I also expect to see little :(
Screenshot looks likes garbage – the uniform textures seem baseline and it seems like they have a long way to go before they have the user interface polished off. Background, although fair, still looks like it needs a texture touch up…
Not really impressed to be honest.