[STO] Open Beta is On! (you still need a key)

Hardtarget

Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan

wait

i mean

Star Trek Onliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!

The Open Beta is now on, the game is super fun, you guys should play!

Dates of interest:
Open Beta: Jan 12th - Jan 26th
Head Start: Jan 29th
Retail Release: Feb 2nd

There are 3 versions of the game
For 50 bucks you can get the normal release


For 80 Bucks you can get the Collector's Edition


Or for 60 bucks you can get the Digital Deluxe Edition which I think is my preferred version

The DDE comes with:

* TOS Uniform Set (in-game item): 3 Uniforms from the Original series (blue, red, yellow)
* Joined Trill: Play as a Joined Trill. Joined Trill come with a symbiote that grants you several lifetimes of experience. The "Joined" species trait grants you a bonus to 5 skills.
* Exclusive “KHAAAN!” Emote (in-game item): An unforgettable moment from the second Star Trek Film. This exclusive emote allows players to relive Kirk’s unforgettable moment of fury, with the timeless cry… “KHAAAN!”
* Exclusive Klingon Blood Wine Toast Emote (in-game item): Raise a glass like a Klingon! Greet and interact with other players with an exclusive Klingon gesture -the blood wine toast.
* Unique Registry Prefix (in-game item): Give your ship the coveted NX prefix, seen only on a handful of elite Starfleet vessels like the Defiant, 22nd century Enterprise, and Prometheus.”
* Unique Ship Item (in-game item): - Automated Defense Battery. This Tactical Module that grants any ship a passive 360 arc attack power with a short range.

Play with us!
We have a Fleet up and running but if you want to play with us this really isn't as important as joining the PA Chat Channel is. To do so type this:
/channel_join "Penny Arcade"
The Quote marks are super important, don't forget them

Now some links:
Open Beta Info and where to get Keys
Retail Purchase Options (with pre-order bonuses listed)
Pre-Order Faq

And a Game Summary:

The year is 2409, 30 years after the events of Nemesis, and space is once again becoming a hostile playground. Play as one of two factions; Federation or Klingon, to secure (or or simply explore) your corner of the galaxy.....

From the official word:

Become part of Star Trek®: The Star Trek universe will appear for the first time in a massively multiplayer online game. Everything from the elegant domes of Starfleet Academy to the ancient temples of Vulcan, from the towers of Qo’noS to the Fire Caves of Bajor, from the mysterious Mutara Nebula to the unexplored voids of deep space, all will be represented in stunning 3-D graphics. Immerse yourself in the future of the Trek universe as it moves into the 25th century: a time of shifting alliances and new discoveries.

Adventure in the Final Frontier: Explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations in an expanding vast universe. Make contact with alien races, discover resources and uncover mysteries that will change the future of the Star Trek universe.

You Are the Captain: Command your own starship as a Federation Captain or a Klingon Warrior. Outfit it with the systems that you need to make your mark in the galaxy. Customize your ship as you see fit. Recruit, train and mold your crew into an elite force for exploration and combat.

Surface, Shipboard and Deep Space Adventures: Command your vessel in thrilling space battles, or beam down to planets with your away team for face-to-face confrontations. Missions will take you and your friends into space, planetside and even inside starships!

System Requirements:
The minimum system requirements are:

* OS: Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32 or 64-bit)
* CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 Ghz or AMD Athlon X2 3800+
* Memory: 1GB RAM
* Video: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 / ATI Radeon X1800 / Intel HD Graphics
* Sound: DirectX 9.0c Compatible Soundcard
* DirectX: Version 9.0c or Higher
* HDD : 10GB Free Disk Space
* Network: Internet Broadband Connection Required
* Disc: 6X DVD-ROM

The recommended system specifications are:

* OS: Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32 or 64-bit)
* CPU: Intel E8400 Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2 5600+
* Memory: 2GB RAM+
* Video: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 / ATI Radeon HD 3850+
* Sound: DirectX 9.0c Compatible Soundcard
* DirectX: Version 9.0c or Higher
* HDD : 10GB Free Disk Space
* Network: Internet Broadband Connection Required
* Disc: 6X DVD-ROM[/QUOTE]

Other Things!:
Want This Uniform?

Because Cryptic is dumb all you have to do is enter JIH MUSHA SOH into your STO profile page

Ship Tiers

I'm not sure if this was mentioned earlier, but this might help folks with ship selection.[/QUOTE]

Hardtarget

Pika's House of Knowledge:

PikaPuff wrote: »

NEW GUYS HEADS UP

In Space (no on ecan hear you scream):

-Shift+R to do full impulse. Or hit the ^ above the throttle and it'll blink. Works out of combat. This makes you go super fast but brings all your systems to minimum power (5). Turn it off early so your systems have a chance to power up again.

-Kill shields with beams. Kill Hull with torpedos/mines. (Mines may still be broken doing 1 dmg).

-Every beam fired at the same time over one is 10 energy loss per extra beam weapon. So three broadside beams will make you lose weapon energy and you can't fire for a while. 2 beams can work as you regen energy fast enough.

-Throttle at reverse/25/50% makes you turn better. Higher Aux power makes you turn better. Evasive manuvers makes you turn better.

Minimap

-Right of the minimap under the globe/+/- is a v arrow. there you can enter pvp or visit the bridge (from sector space)

-Under the minimap are little icons. Call starfleet is there but more importantly the warp to system/sector is there. You can use that to cancel out of missions when needed and you don't see the warp to sector where you normally do.

PikaPuff wrote: »

Today's Lesson: Sectors Systems and Patrols, oh my!

Press M and look at the map. Click the Galaxy Map. You will notice that the map is made of squares that are grouped by a think line. Each square is a sector. A group of sectors make a block. Inside each sector are systems and enemy contacts. Systems are the instances in which you do your missions.

Now a lot of you are getting missions to patrol the Vulcan Sector. The mission list states

• Patrol the Vulcan Sector
• Patrol the Bhea System
• Patrol the ... System
• etc
• Report to Sulu

Note that it says to patrol the Vulcan SECTOR, not the Vulcan SYSTEM. A lot of people see the mission list and go to the Vulcan System. They then wonder why the objective does not complete and why there is no mission in the Vulcan System. What you are supposed to do is go to the systems listed, and generally skip the first line of the patrol mission, which is noting the Sector you are patrolling.

To Secure a System Block you check the map for red arrows, or check the game for enemy ship NPCs flying around the Sector. These spawn you into a mini "fleet action" like event, where you defeat 8 patrols. This instance is limited to 5 on low population times, and can be set up to 20 when the instances start overloading. After 8 patrols are defeated, the event is complete and a 6 minute timer is reset until the next round starts. You need to complete this 3 times to complete teh secure block mission. You can press m to bring up your map, then click the change instance button. You can then go to a different instance and look around for one that is currently doing the mission or the between round timer is almost up. Upon completing the mission and turning in, you can immediately pick it up again. 6 minute timer, about 4 minutes to complete, 10 minute per objective, 3 to complete the mission means 30 minutes per mission. This is a current favorite way to grind xp amongst people too lazy to experience the awesome episodes this game offers.

Explore the [...] Cluster missions ask you to explore (do a mission) 3 locations within the cluster. Checking the Galaxy map, clusters are noted by an arrow pointing off the edge of a system leading to nowhere. The name of the Cluster is lister there instead of a nice grid-square. Inside the cluster are Unknown Items, and when you approach them they reveal what they are. They can be an anomaly (crafting items, loot and done). Or an unknown system. You need to complete the mission within 3 unknown systems To complete the Explore mission. Upon entering an unknown system, a random map/mission is loaded. This can be either find 5 anomalies (free crafting items loot loot loot), gather a total of 5 data, gather a total of 5 data that sometimes have enmies guarding it, defend a ship against 4 attacks, fight a random enemy and then 5 other patrols, or fight 5 enemy patrols. You can leave a system and reenter the exact same unknown system, and it will still load a completely random map/mission, which can or cannot be the system/mission you just left. You can easily exit/enter systems until you find an easy no-fight mission to complete your 3 explore requirements. Explore cluster missions can be repeated 30 minutes after complting the mission. This was popular due to a glitch that completed three missions at the same time, but unknown if that glitch is in open beta.

PikaPuff wrote: »

Oh and about Cluster Missions. The no fight missions give no xp. The maybe fight and definite fights give xp. So if you take the time and do 3 fight missions you will get more xp than one secure block/enemy contact mission. I mena each fight mission is about the same xp as one complete enemy contact mission. Fight missions can be touch because (I think) they are always set to your level. At level 25+ I went to the level 1-5 cluster and still had to fight even level enemies (and got my butt whooped).

PikaPuff wrote: »

In Inventory, there is a button called replicator. It is effectively a mini shop, where you can buy tea and crumpets, and sell your stuff. Again, saves you having to go back to spaceport. note that you can only use it when you're on your ship. You can drag items at any time onto the button itself to sell them. Opening the menu to buyback/buy/sell requires you to be on the ship or something.

Ok I do stuff in this game, but what do I do between doing stuff in this game?

-Log in
-Press J. Click "Hail Starfleet" on the bottom left. Any missions available remotely show their contacts. Click contact, click mission, click accept mission. Close starfleet window
-The J brought up journal, in the mission tab. Check missions. Be confused at the bad mission text and try to figure out what Sector Block, what Sector in that block, and what System in that sector you need to go to.
-Press M, click galaxy tab to find the sector block and sector and figure out how to get there
-Get to the sector block. Notice you're on a wierd sector space place you might not like. It's like... an astrometrics map with blue lines and orbits and it's like you're flying on a giant map with a grid and stuff. Wiiiieerrrd.
-Press M again, goto system list. You can double click the system to autopilot there.
-Enter system. It's your own instance. You're now alone. Maybe with your team if you have one. Fleet Actions and enemy contacts are public. If you don't like being alone you can do some wierd setup where others with that same setup with auto join you or you autojoin them when entering a map like that.
-Do space stuff. maybe you're done. Maybe you need to fly close to something to beam down. Do ground stuff. Finish up and leave the system back into sector space.
-Press J, Hail Starfleet, turn in missions, check for new ones
-Press K, spend your own skill points on skills. After spending x points, you level up. This is why some/many people go "hey i'm 11 why can't i get a new ship?" You need to spend your points to effectively level up, then at 11 you get autohailed for your new rank/ship mission.
-Press I, is your inventory full? Drag things to the bottom right to autosell to the replicator. Or click replicator to open it up and buy sell... ok ok... to replicate/dematerlize in energy credits. Energy Credits is replicator currency. Also used to bater with normal people. users for equipment and material goods.-Want to use a bank, or get new bridge officers or change your looks at a tailor or your ship looks or visit an auction house or a store or change ships? Find a spacedock. Sol SpaceDock is available with the magic of transwarp. You can use this ability to go to sol spacedock with a 30min cooldown.

MagicPrime

muldoon@magicprime

U.S.S. Zosimus - Tactical

Hardtarget

please PM me any other stuff you want in the first couple of posts, I can't see every post in the thread heh

Just_Bri_Thanks

I am totally getting a lifetime if the offer is made for them.

Edit: And it looks like the forums mail system over there is back up.

Avynte

Maybe this is blatantly obvious, but are the ship classes I can captain gated by what career I choose?

Say, can I put my tactical captain on the engineering cruisers? or do I have to roll and engineer captain to pilot them?

The whole skill block system is a bit confusing, hehe ;-)

Mordrack

Avynte wrote: »

Maybe this is blatantly obvious, but are the ship classes I can captain gated by what career I choose?

Say, can I put my tactical captain on the engineering cruisers? or do I have to roll and engineer captain to pilot them?

The whole skill block system is a bit confusing, hehe ;-)

No. Yes. No. It sure is.

Oddsmaker

From what i understand any captain can command any ship, and eventually you will have all the basic skills with a few class specific skills.

randombattle

If I buy this on steam do I have to use the steam install or can I just rip the cd key from somewhere and use the normal cryptic thing?

MasterOfPupets

Any captain can use any ship. At the moment, I'm leaning towards tactical or engineering captain with a science ship.

Decoy

For those who care, Del Taco is having a STO Promotion. Go to the link below and look at the far right hand side at the "Beam Up To Macho"

http://www.deltaco.com/

Beam Up To Macho

Get a free.....

• Star Trek Online Trial
• Exclusive in-game Shuttle Pet
• Collectible Cup

...when you purchase a macho combo meal or macho drink.

Sadly, they aren't in every state. So if anyone on the west coast wants to get me a combo meal, I'll buy it, you just send me the code.

Shens

A shuttle pet?

SOUR THE MILK!

dwwatermelon

Maybe if beta goes down again this weekend I'll go get me some tacos. If I do I'll buy two and have leftovers and send you the key.

DudBolt

I am totally a red shirt. I can't wait to die in droves.

Decoy

Now the question is, are they stupid enough to use the same code for all shuttle pets, like they did for the admirals uniform??

Edit: dwwatermelon, you rock.

dwwatermelon

well if both my meals have the same code, then I guess we'll know!

Invisible

Oh and if anyone wants the code for the Admiral's Uniform it's: JIH MUSHA SOH

Hardtarget

randombattle wrote: »

If I buy this on steam do I have to use the steam install or can I just rip the cd key from somewhere and use the normal cryptic thing?

you can get a key from anywhere, register it on the STO site, and download the client from them

randombattle

Hardtarget wrote: »

randombattle wrote: »

If I buy this on steam do I have to use the steam install or can I just rip the cd key from somewhere and use the normal cryptic thing?

you can get a key from anywhere, register it on the STO site, and download the client from them

No I mean when it comes out. I've already got the beta.

Hardtarget

randombattle wrote: »

Hardtarget wrote: »

randombattle wrote: »

If I buy this on steam do I have to use the steam install or can I just rip the cd key from somewhere and use the normal cryptic thing?

you can get a key from anywhere, register it on the STO site, and download the client from them

No I mean when it comes out. I've already got the beta.

the key you get from steam is just any key, you plug it into the STO site and then you can patch the open beta client you already have to the full version without ever downloading the steam version

plus if you pre-order your steam key will also get you into the head start with the client you already have

Blinks77

I'm really really enjoying the game.

Just got one itsy bitsy issue. Half the time i've no idea at all wtf the skills i'm clicking on are doing. Let alone the begining racial traits.

randerson84

Played a bit more of this last night. Was wondering what kind of missions you get exploration badges/merits(can't remember the proper name) for? I was just wandering around the different bits of earth starbase and you need these to buy consoles for your ship or ground weapons from the middle section of the base.

I thought it was going to be the explore system missions but that just gave me the usual rewards.

Carlos Rodrigues Captain of the U.S.S Eclipse

shryke

Where can a man get a Beta Key for this?

DudBolt

I gotta say, I really like the music in STO.

PikaPuff

Put this in the OP.

Ship tier details

MasterOfPupets

I'll have to research, but I think my first ship may be an engineering ship just because I want 2 aft weapon slots. I've seen the science ships described both as 1aft and 2aft though, so we'll have to wait and see.

LibrarianThorne

So, my character's maxed out the skills I've got access to and it says I'm a lieutenant 5. How much longer until I can nab a Constitution ship?

Also, how the hell do I get new kit for the ground crew? I can't seem to buy it in starbase.

Klyka

I love the customization in the game so far. When I get home tonight, I'll do my little "Let's Play" and show off some stuff.

Ayulin

Played for a bit earlier, but just basically flew around pew-pewing enemy ships. Love the interactive aspect of combat, and the graphics aren't bad.

Will have to join the chat channel to hopefully lose some of the cluelessness I'm having

MasterOfPupets

LibrarianThorne wrote: »

So, my character's maxed out the skills I've got access to and it says I'm a lieutenant 5. How much longer until I can nab a Constitution ship?

Also, how the hell do I get new kit for the ground crew? I can't seem to buy it in starbase.

Umm, don't think it's possible to max out all the skills. make sure you're scrolling down (I think that convo got lost in the thread change)

As for Kits, you can't equip kits on your crewmen, only yourself.

Arthil

Here's my Tall Fucker from TallFuck Prime.

WMain00

Request thread name changed to [STO] Open Beta is On! Stroking my tribble!

:P

Klyka

It's weird.

On the one hand,I am a fan of "EVERYTHING IS INSTANCED" because it stops "camping" of questmobs/zones/etc...

On the other hand "EVERYTHING IS INSTANCED!" kinda makes the gameworld look way more empty than it is.

I mean, 40 starships around Earth look cool,but 400 would look even better!

tsplitter

Is the download manager for the beta messing up for anyone else? I get less than one gig before the the download errors and I have to start over

WMain00

Klyka wrote: »

It's weird.

On the one hand,I am a fan of "EVERYTHING IS INSTANCED" because it stops "camping" of questmobs/zones/etc...

On the other hand "EVERYTHING IS INSTANCED!" kinda makes the gameworld look way more empty than it is.

I mean, 40 starships around Earth look cool,but 400 would look even better!

Not when it would lag like every day in Jita space, it wouldn't. :P

(Eve reference).

Klyka

Well,it's just that the game feels empty and will probably feel empty because most players will leave it pretty quickly.

Sad really, Star Trek would have deserved a better,more polished game.

Ayulin

I'd imagine it'd be slightly immersion breaking too. It was already a little odd to warp to the second tutorial area and discover 3 other near-identical ships sitting there in the cinematic.

Klyka

Ayulin wrote: »

I'd imagine it'd be slightly immersion breaking too. It was already a little odd to warp to the second tutorial area and discover 3 other near-identical ships sitting there in the cinematic.

I actually liked it when you had to go to the fleet meet up and fight the big Borg cube.

But yeah,having other ships there beforehand was weird.

Archonex

Well, I don't know about you all, but I like the game.

The focus is a bit off compared to lots of MMO's. It's not about leveling. It's about story. Levels are just a means to open up new episodes, gameplay features, and combat/crafting options.


It's alot like what the developers of SW:TOR are claiming they want to do. It's just a shame that the STO developers haven't advertised STO as such. Then again, it's been pretty clear to me since CO came out that advertising and PR isn't Cryptic's speciality.


Also, on the "empty gameworld" thing, it's only empty if you have auto-grouping disabled. Otherwise you'll be auto-teamed with anyone else doing the same mission at the time.


Anyone found the mirror universe episode yet? Someone in beta mentioned it was in, and awesome, but I haven't been able to locate it myself. The same with the time travel one which supposedly takes you back to TOS era Star Trek.

Klyka

Oh,I like the game too. I like Star Trek.

The game just doesn't look and feel like it's worth money. Especially not repeatedly paid money.

It does SOUND like it though. Cause the music and sounds are GREAT.

Ayulin

Klyka wrote: »

Oh,I like the game too. I like Star Trek.

The game just doesn't look and feel like it's worth money. Especially not repeatedly paid money.

It does SOUND like it though. Cause the music and sounds are GREAT.

I have to admit it doesn't seem that compelling at first, but I think the game's slowly growing on me. I like the space combat, and the "holy crap it's STAR TREK" factor helps some.

Glad to have not come across any "USS lolwhat"s floating around yet.