SFF Chronicles News
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3rd May 2010 07:17 PM
Darren Allan
Atari and developer Cryptic have announced a new loyalty system for its Star Trek Online massively multiplayer game, to help keep subscribers playing the game.
And a demo to entice those who’ve yet to sample Star Trek Online’s combination of space combat and first-person shooter style away missions.
The demo goes live at the end of the week, and includes the “Stranded in Space” mission, complete with angry Orion space pirates.
A veteran awards program will mean loyal subscribers receive bonuses. These will consist of various bits and bobs such as new titles, ships, costumes and extra character slots. New bonuses will be awarded for every hundred days of playtime.
A referral program is also planned, whereby those who introduce a friend to the game receive bonus Cryptic points and a unique holographic bridge officer. (Presumably not Rimmer from Red Dwarf).
The extensive nature of this program of incentives has inevitably led to whispers about a potentially ailing player base, and the number of people who are boldly going and cancelling their subscriptions.
But these have got to be welcome measures, especially the demo, which will at least let the curious try out the game, and see how well it runs on their PC.
There has been some anger on the official forums from a small number of lifetime subscribers, who currently have exclusive access to areas such as the Captain’s Table.
A few of these folks, who have paid out large sums of money for their subscription, aren’t happy about the prospect of having to share their space Fish Fingers with “normal” veteran players who will now get access as a reward for 400 days play (along with a full respec and the title of “Valiant”).
But, by and large, the player base seems to be taking a mature attitude to the situation, and the fact that players who have been in the game that long have earned the right to visit the table.
Star Trek Online was launched back in February, so is still very much in its MMORPG infancy.
Darren Allan
Atari and developer Cryptic have announced a new loyalty system for its Star Trek Online massively multiplayer game, to help keep subscribers playing the game.
And a demo to entice those who’ve yet to sample Star Trek Online’s combination of space combat and first-person shooter style away missions.
The demo goes live at the end of the week, and includes the “Stranded in Space” mission, complete with angry Orion space pirates.
A veteran awards program will mean loyal subscribers receive bonuses. These will consist of various bits and bobs such as new titles, ships, costumes and extra character slots. New bonuses will be awarded for every hundred days of playtime.
A referral program is also planned, whereby those who introduce a friend to the game receive bonus Cryptic points and a unique holographic bridge officer. (Presumably not Rimmer from Red Dwarf).
The extensive nature of this program of incentives has inevitably led to whispers about a potentially ailing player base, and the number of people who are boldly going and cancelling their subscriptions.
But these have got to be welcome measures, especially the demo, which will at least let the curious try out the game, and see how well it runs on their PC.
There has been some anger on the official forums from a small number of lifetime subscribers, who currently have exclusive access to areas such as the Captain’s Table.
A few of these folks, who have paid out large sums of money for their subscription, aren’t happy about the prospect of having to share their space Fish Fingers with “normal” veteran players who will now get access as a reward for 400 days play (along with a full respec and the title of “Valiant”).
But, by and large, the player base seems to be taking a mature attitude to the situation, and the fact that players who have been in the game that long have earned the right to visit the table.
Star Trek Online was launched back in February, so is still very much in its MMORPG infancy.