Star Trek Online News

Happy New Year fellow Captains! On behalf of Star Trek Online, I am very proud to announce that our voyage has just reached its 9th Anniversary. Our continuing mission: to explore exciting new and familiar worlds, to create new stories and gameplay, to boldly go where no player has gone before.

Welcome to the celebration!

https://youtu.be/w6A8WaDkoY4

It’s been a wonderful journey. 2018 saw the acclaimed release of Star Trek Online’s 4th major expansion – Victory is Life! It was here Captains explored the Gamma Quadrant and encountered the Hur’q threat alongside our beloved DS9 characters, voiced by the original actors in the largest cast ever assembled for Star Trek Online. For the first time, players created Jem’Hadar Captains, battled heroically in one of our most ambitious Battlezones to date and walked the promenade on our faithfully recreated Deep Space Nine station. We are incredibly proud of Victory is Life and we’re very pleased that so many players enjoyed it.

Alas, time does fly. The back half of the year found us phaser focused on setting the stage for our Discovery-era expansion. While not an expansion in the traditional Star Trek Online-sense, we instead wanted to do something a little different and develop this over multiple releases. Unbelievably, Star Trek: Discovery marks the first time that we’ve operated in lockstep with a live Trek TV show. This affords us many unique opportunities to evolve our plans based on the direction of the show and input from the players.

Enter 2019. Our journey advances deeper into the Star Trek: Discovery universe with the forthcoming launch of Mirror of Discovery. We have many fun surprises planned including a thrilling new story featuring Mary Wiseman as the Terran Empire’s Captain “Killy”, exploration of planet Pahvo, amazing new ships for players to fly, challenging new threats to overcome and a massive expansion of our Endeavors system.

Now is the perfect time for Trek fans everywhere to join us for the voyage ahead. Let’s find out together what’s beyond the second star to the right.

Take us out!



Andre Emerson

Executive Producer

Star Trek Online

Captains, welcome to Age of Discovery! This is a landmark event for Star Trek Online as it marks the first time that the game has run in parallel with a live Trek television show. We are already experiencing fantastic new synergies collaborating closely with CBS and the show writers. Captains will experience this right away in a reimagined Federation starting experience working alongside Cadet Sylvia Tilly (voiced by Discovery's Mary Wiseman) as players set out on epic, multi-release adventures.

In AoD’s maiden voyage, players will journey to iconic locations from Star Trek: Discovery, exploring the depths of the Dilithium Mines of Corvan II, boarding the new experimental Crossfield class starship, the U.S.S. Glenn, and defending Starbase 1 from a fearsome attack by the Klingon House of D’Ghor. Captains will also come face to face with the vicious J'Ula, matriarch of the House of Mo'Kai and sister of T'Kuvma who will stop at nothing to reunite the Klingon Empire.

This however is just the beginning in Age of Discovery. Multiplayer missions, formerly known as “Queues” have been expanded and rebranded as Task Force Operations (TFO). This change is certainly not in name only. Throughout AoD, we will be introducing exciting new TFOs that advance the narrative, while remastering and recreating others. This kicks off with the all-new TFO, Defense of Starbase 1, followed shortly thereafter by our first Featured Task Force Operation – Battle at the Binary Stars. In this new 3-Week Event, players will have an opportunity to earn exclusive rewards fighting side-by-side with fellow captains in one of the most important battles in Federation history.

Additionally, Task Force Operations introduce a new engagement feature, which offers captains big bonus payouts for supporting other players by joining Random TFOs. This new Random TFO feature further ensures that all captains will easily find groups to experience all the diverse TFO content in the game. Is there is particular TFO that you have never played or have trouble finding groups for? We've got you covered here as well. Select the Task Force Operation that you want to play and it will be quickly filled by other players seeking out the Random TFO bonuses! Stay tuned, as there is much more in the works for this evolving feature.

We’ve also completely overhauled the Mission Journal. Careful handling has gone into this undertaking, ensuring that our very best stories are presented to players early in the leveling experience. Some episodes have or will be undergoing a remastering process while others have become optional. Another big change here is the removal of level requirements. With the exception of certain pivotal episodes (for training and continuity purposes), players will no longer be level gated in the experience. Captains will also notice that many previously gated Task Force Operations are now unlocked while leveling. This gives newer players greater access to play with friends, get a taste of the end game experience and a huge head start on Reputation Marks.

And speaking of Reputations, this system has been expanded in Age of Discovery as well. All current reputations have been raised to Tier 6! There are fantastic rewards to be found here including, improved reputation traits, damage improvements for reputation weaponry, Fleet Ship Modules, vanity materials, account-wide reputation gear discounts and much more.

In short, building this first installment in Age of Discovery and working with Mary Wiseman has been an amazing experience for our development team. Additionally, we want to thank you for all the great feedback and continued support! While we have many more stories and features planned in the coming months, we are thrilled to be launching Age of Discovery: Part 1 next week! Thank you again and we look forward to seeing you in game very soon!



Andre Emerson

Executive Producer

Star Trek Online

https://youtu.be/_a8HN_r47OI
 
This year marks the 25th Anniversary of the launch of Deep Space Nine, and the team for Star Trek Online couldn’t wait to mark the occasion with our fourth full expansion: Victory is Life.  The only way we could see to top our previous expansions was to not only introduce a brand new player faction in the Jem’Hadar, but also throw in a level cap increase from 60 to 65!

Starting today, Captains in Star Trek Online will have the opportunity to create a brand new captain in their own Jem’Hadar faction.  All Jem’Hadar captains will be as formidable right out of space dock as their namesakes, as they will be leveled up to 60 with a fully equipped ship, a fully geared crew, and a variety of completed Reputations, Specialization trees, and R&D progress.  As a fresh captain you will have all the tools you need at your disposal to dive in and play Star Trek Online right at end game, all 100% for free.

On top of the ability to create a brand new Jem’Hadar captain that starts at end game, we’re delivering the first level cap increase in nearly four years. We have a variety of exciting content available for everyone. We’ll have 7 brand new episodes that will take you through an incredible story full of twists and reveals, a new queue, “Swarm,” that shows the devastating impact of the Hur’q, the all new Gamma Quadrant Sector Space Battlezone that takes the concept of a battlezone and increases the scope to include literally everyone playing in the Quadrant, and the Gamma Task Force Reputation that will give you everything you need to take the fight to the Hur’q.  Players that create their Jem’Hadar captains during the first six weeks of launch will also be able to participate in the new Jem’Hadar recruitment system.  This system provides challenges for captains to complete that will provide bonus personal and account wide rewards.  This collection of fantastic content will put you in the boots of a Jem’Hadar, and give you a true Deep Space Nine experience.

The story that drives Victory is Life dives deep into the history of the Hur’q, the Dominion, and is rich with classic DS9 moments.  To tell such an incredible tale we needed an incredible cast, and we were able to feature nearly the entire main cast of Deep Space Nine. We have Rene Auberjonois returning as Odo, Nana Visitor as Kira Nerys, Alexander Siddig as Dr. Julian Bashir, Andrew Robinson as Elim Garak, Armin Shimerman as Quark, Aron Eisenberg as Nog, Jeffrey Combs as Weyoun and Brunt, J.G. Hertzler as Martok, Chase Masterson as Leeta, Max Grodenchik as Rom, Salome Jens as the Female Changeling, and Bumper Robinson as Dukan’Rex.  All in all, this is the largest cast we’ve ever assembled for an expansion and with a story you have to play to believe.

This is an expansion that the team has been wanting to build since the launch of Star Trek Online, and we’re so proud to be able to deliver it during the 25th Anniversary celebration.

Victory is Life brings intrigue, excitement, and amazing characters into Star Trek Online, and I can’t wait to see everyone in game!

 

Stephen Ricossa

Executive Producer

Star Trek Online

The war against the Tzenkethi rages on with the arrival of Season 13 – Escalation. The Lukari are on a journey to rediscover their ancient home world and the secrets it contains, though an unexpected intervention by the Tzenkethi may put a damper on their homecoming. Political intrigue, exploring a bustling city and fantastic action set pieces all take place in the latest featured episode, “Mirrors and Smoke,” which is available now with today’s PC update.

Season 13 – Escalation also marks the debut of War Games. This new system offers Star Trek Online captains new ways to compete with one another by pitting two teams of five players against each other in competitive PvE scenarios. Players join forces to solve puzzles and race through the galaxy earning valuable rewards, including class-specific ships. To optimize this new type of queue, a new Player Potential System has also been introduced to match players of similar skill. Learn more about these features and other content introduced with Season 13 below:

New Featured Episode – In the new episode, “Mirrors and Smoke,” captains will travel with the Lukari to New Kentar and defend the planet from the Tzenkethi.

War Games System – Season 13 marks the debut of War Games, new competitive PvE scenarios which pit two teams of five players against each other for rewards.

“Core Assault” – A space-based 5v5 Convergence-class scenario, where two flights of captains compete to cross the finish line in a space station based in the Adelphous System.

“Binary Circuit” – A ground-based 5v5 Gauntlet-class scenario where captains will solve puzzles and complete various challenges in a Borg Co-operative Cube.

Rebalance Pass – A full rebalance pass has been made to ground and space combat to ensure that no matter what choice captains make when outfitting their skills or ship, it isn’t a wrong one.

Player Potential System – Matchmaking for Star Trek Online has been improved with the new Player Potential System, which evaluates players based on various factors, such as their characters’ equipment, specialization and participation in competitive matches.

New Reputation – Captains who participate in Season 13’s War Games queues will be rewarded with new Competitive Marks and Assessed Stratagems. The marquee rewards from this set feature class-specific set gear for the first time ever in Star Trek Online. Captains can choose to equip any of these three sets for their starships, and mix and match the individual sets as they see fit.

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The war against the Tzenkethi rages on with the arrival of Season 13 – Escalation. The Lukari are on a journey to rediscover their ancient home world and the secrets it contains, though an unexpected intervention by the Tzenkethi may put a damper on their homecoming. Political intrigue, exploring a bustling city and fantastic action set pieces all take place in the latest featured episode, “Mirrors and Smoke,” which is available now with today’s PC update.

Season 13 – Escalation also marks the debut of War Games. This new system offers Star Trek Online captains new ways to compete with one another by pitting two teams of five players against each other in competitive PvE scenarios. Players join forces to solve puzzles and race through the galaxy earning valuable rewards, including class-specific ships. To optimize this new type of queue, a new Player Potential System has also been introduced to match players of similar skill. Learn more about these features and other content introduced with Season 13 below:

New Featured Episode – In the new episode, “Mirrors and Smoke,” captains will travel with the Lukari to New Kentar and defend the planet from the Tzenkethi.

War Games System – Season 13 marks the debut of War Games, new competitive PvE scenarios which pit two teams of five players against each other for rewards.

“Core Assault” – A space-based 5v5 Convergence-class scenario, where two flights of captains compete to cross the finish line in a space station based in the Adelphous System.

“Binary Circuit” – A ground-based 5v5 Gauntlet-class scenario where captains will solve puzzles and complete various challenges in a Borg Co-operative Cube.

Rebalance Pass – A full rebalance pass has been made to ground and space combat to ensure that no matter what choice captains make when outfitting their skills or ship, it isn’t a wrong one.

Player Potential System – Matchmaking for Star Trek Online has been improved with the new Player Potential System, which evaluates players based on various factors, such as their characters’ equipment, specialization and participation in competitive matches.

New Reputation – Captains who participate in Season 13’s War Games queues will be rewarded with new Competitive Marks and Assessed Stratagems. The marquee rewards from this set feature class-specific set gear for the first time ever in Star Trek Online. Captains can choose to equip any of these three sets for their starships, and mix and match the individual sets as they see fit.

Follow Star Trek Online on Twitter
Like Star Trek Online on Facebook