More Star Trek Online Details

TrekMovie.com has provided an excellent summary of information provided via various interviews that have been published with staff members working on Star Trek Online. Details include story arcs, balancing issues, game play and more.

The full article is here, below are a few highlights that grabbed my interest.

- Story progresses through 4 "seasons" starting with Federation or Klingons, then Romulan, Cardassian and the Borg. These will be further subdivided with one-off "episodes" of various lengths (that I assume also overlap).
- Klingon game play is more player versus player with fighting for planets along the Neutral Zone but at launch the content will be social based rather than story (with more story added later I assume).
- Economy based on resource gathering, technology and trading that.
- Cryptic plans on home console release (by this PS3 and 360) but no specifics on when.
- Death (ship goes boom) results in respawn at beginning of the map.
- Game will have subscription fee (no price but betting in the $15 range) with a goal of "few hundred thousand players" as recognize that World of Warcraft success is unlikely.

Harlan Ellison Writes Star Trek 2?

Harlan Ellison, famous Sci-Fi writer, has indicated on his website that he is more than willing to work on the sequel to Star Trek, according to TrekMovie. He claims the reason he is willing to return to Star Trek is the opportunity to work with Director JJ Abrams. The writer just recently settled his lawsuit against Paramount for issues dealing with his classic episode "City on the Edge of Forever" that introduced the Guardian of Forever.

From HarlanEllison.com:

I would jump at the chance to work with the inordinately-talented J.J. Abrams on a new STAR TREK film. Yes, I would likely try to steer him toward the original film idea I was asked to pitch, by the late Gene Roddenberry and a production exec whose name I have blissfully flensed from memory (but he had been, if I recall, a hairdresser or clothing designer or ex-boyfriend of someone or other, and he kept trying to press me to include the Mayan Calendar).

If the very smart Abrams didn’t want to go that way, I would be wide-open to rethinking such a film from the git-go.

Paramount would, of course, have to pay me from the first meet git-go; but I have absolutely NO attitude that would prevent me from jumping in to work with such a clever fellah. One is NEVER too old to come up with fresh ideas, particularly if one has lived long enough, and cleverly enough, to know WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE to death, sixteen times over.

If anyone out there thinks this melding has legs, let Abrams or anyone else with the chops to get in touch with me DIRECTLY. I am without full-time film-agent representation, by choice, at the moment; so if the job presents itself, I will work for pay.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

He later followed this up in response to fans:

"Yehya Show" at Star Trek DVD Party

As part of the promtion for last week's release of Star Trek on home video, the Jimmy Kimmel Show sent its correspondent Yehya to cover the event. The result is a serious of amusing questions for JJ Abrams, John Cho and Zachary Quinto. It is pretty hilarious and all handle it a lot better then I think most would in similar circumstances as they just roll with the absurdity of the situation. (via TrekMovie)

Star Trek Cast Talk Sequel Character Development

TrekMovie.com has posted additional videos with various members of the cast of Star Trek as they discuss their ideas for what they would like to see in the sequel. The first video is with Leonard Nimoy (Spock). He believes it is unlikely he will be in the next movie as he served his role of bridging the old with the new and that to his knowledge Shatner has continued to avoid watching the movie. The second video is with John Cho (Sulu), Zoe Saldana (Uhura), Karl Urban (McCoy), Zachary Quinto (Spock) and Bruce Greenwood (Pike). Sulu wants to "turn Sulu's battle internal", Zoe wants the opposite with Uhura kicking some butt, Quinto wants more explorations of Spock's dual heritage, Urban wants to evolve McCoy further as the triumvirate emerges, and Greenwood wants to Pike to be on the Enterprise and avoid the chair.

Leonard Nimoy


Cho, Saldana, Quinto, Urban & Greenwood

Shatner's Star Trek "Cameo"

The scenes that Star Trek writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman has been released by TrekMovie.com and confirmed as accurate. These scenes have been alluded to multiple times during promotion of the movie and the back and forth between JJ Abrams and William Shatner (who remains angry on not being in the movie as seen by his refusal to see it). Now my understanding is the scenes are in an early draft of the movie but once William Shatner declared he "doesn't do cameos", it was removed from the drafts that followed. Equally important (and lays the blame around), I don't think that version of the script was ever shown to Shatner; therefore he was never given an opportunity to change his mind.

The moments would have been a perfect nod to the fans and a good ending for the film but definitely would have a cameo leading me to think Shatner would have refused anyway. Honestly, I think Shatner's refusal to do even a cameo in the film is basically an FU to the fans as he put his ego ahead of the franchise and the fans that essentially gave him the life he has enjoyed these many years.

For perspective, keep in mind that this movie does follow Star Trek canon by having events begin off screen in the Star Trek "Prime" universe with Nero and the Nerada entering the Star Trek 2.0 Universe and attacking the Kelvin with Spock Prime following 25 years later. As a result, that means Shatner's Kirk remains dead as a result of the events in Star Trek Generations movie so any cameo would have to be through other creative means, in this case with holo-emitter and voice over.

The scene:

Abrams, Orci, Lindelof Video Interviews

TrekMovie.com has posted two video interviews, one with JJ Abrams and other with Producers Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof as they were at the Star Trek Home Video Release Party earlier this week.

In the first video Abrams talks about the sequel or at least try since "its way to early" to get into specifics. Abrams indicated that while he is slated to direct the sequel that could change depending on circumstances at that time (which would probably be around mid 2011 when filming is likely to start).

In the second movie Orci says they will "mediate over Christmas and hit the ground running in the new year" for writing the sequel and try to knock it out in 2010 despite the likely 2012 release date for the movie. Part of the way he is preparing for the sequel is marathons of The Original Series" and looking at "great epic sci-fi stories." Lindelof seemed open to a 2011 release date but said to hit 2010 they would have to "get writing now". The goal for the sequel is "to give the audience an experience that feels that it is not a sequel, in all the best ways."

JJ Abrams


Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof

Orci Talks New Directions

Despite there being no script and no meaningful leaks on what direction the writers are going in, the talk of Khan continues as this recent interview with Star Trek Writer and Producer Roberto Orci attests to. Long story short, nothing has been determined but they are not opposed to the idea (personally I don't see it happening). Snippets below, full interview here.

Nrama: Now that you know people are happy with the reboot, are you guys coming up with more nods to the series to stick in there? Do you feel like you can do more of that now?
Orci: Yeah, you know, because we do our homework, and now the whole team has done their homework and read a bunch of stuff, you can't help but have that bubble up. Because you invariably come to some situation and say, 'Someone should come in and, oh! It should be...oh! That's perfect!' We don't even have to try for that at this point. As we go through the story, the story will tell us what needs to come out and hopefully we'll still have the knowledge accumulated to do it justice.

Nrama: Sooo, are we admitting anything about Khan yet...?
Orci: [shakes head] Cause in a way, even if we do Khan, or not, we're trying to approach the story as just what's best for it, and then can that character become Khan or not, you know. You're not trying to rely on previous knowledge or love of it, so you almost want to strip all the names away and just come up with the emotional forces and the scientific forces that are going to come into play, and then start letting the details kind of bleed in.

Nrama: So, Shatner accepting a Scream Award for JJ Abrams...does that mean anything? That he might show up in the sequel?
Orci: Well, we wrote a scene for him in the first one and I got outvoted in terms of where it ended up. I'll write another one and we'll see what happens. [laughs]

Star Trek Online Starship Tactics and Bridge

Two new videos are now online for Star Trek Online that shows some off some features of the game. The first video shows off some of the starship fighting techniques using pre-beta footage. It shows how combat is handled within the game using various ship designs and I believe this is the first time the user interface is shown off.

The second video gives you a brief look at the bridge feature of the game, which will be an environment players can visit within their ship. Exactly what functionality the bridge will provide is unknown. It also shows off more battle footage and planet environments. Of note is apparently one of those planets is where the Guardian of Forever resides from the famous episode "The City on the Edge of Forever." I just hope that Cryptic got permission to use that character as its creator, Harlan Ellison, has shown in the past a williness to sue to get money for anytime any element form that episode is used without his permission.

Star Trek Online Q&A

Cryptic participated in a Q&A session with readers from Massively.com about the upcoming MMORPG that is coming in February. The questions cover things from combat, the various alien factions, ship designs and much more.

Page One | Page Two
Few highlights:
- A ship's look will not affect its stats. Stats are based on class and configuration, not aesthetics.
- Except for Bridge, ship's interiors are not explorable but feature being worked on.
- Any ship acquired is "yours for the rest of your career" but sounds like no reason to go back to older, lower level ships.
- Ships of different classes (escort, science, engineering, etc) will have different attributes that provide different strengths and weaknesses.
- The Federation continues to not use cloaking technology but there are exceptions in the game.

Star Trek DVD, Blu-Ray Price Guide

Below is an exclusive feature and sale price guide to help determine where is the best place to go to buy Star Trek in its various editions when it’s released on Tuesday November 17th. Most stores don't have anything exclusive but some do, often at an extra charge.

I will add stores (or alter prices) as new information becomes available. In addition, if you’re on the fence about what version to buy, click here for a detailed review by AICN of the movie and all the special features to decide if they are worth the extra bucks to you. The deals after the break.

Abrams Talks Sequel, Spock and More

TrekMovie.com has a two part interview with Star Trek director JJ Abrams as part of the home video release of the movie today. In the interview he discusses working on the film, design, possible sequel release date, and more.

Part One | Part Two
Highlights:
- "The Gag Reel really made me laugh. The whole process of Casting and finding the people and see the audition sections is fun. The design of a movie like this, it is easy to take it for granted, because there is so much in it, but when you get to sort of break down the sort of work that people like [Creature Designer] Neville Page did and [Concept Illustrator] James Clyne did, under the supervision of [Production Designer] Scott Chambliss, it is a terrific thing to see. You get a sense of how much work went into it, not just the construction and execution, but the
conception and design of it. There were thousands of hours that went into it, that if the job is done well, is invisible."
- On why Nimoy did the "Space, the final frontier": "To me what it was, honestly, was when you heard it was more a send-off, than it was Kirk’s moment. I understand that, and I think either would have worked, but there is something, especially given the legacy of Nimoy and his involvement in this, it somehow felt right."
- "I have never been moved yet to put together a version that was an extended or Director’s cut of something. Whenever I have worked on something that has been transferred to DVD, I sort of felt like ‘The movie was the movie’ and it should be left as is."
- "I think the key to Star Trek moving forward is that it retain the sense of adventure and fun and excitement, and at the same time, go a little bit deeper. ...No one wants a movie that feels like it is moralizing and some manifesto, but I feel like it has to go a little deeper. ...We are just trying to offer the story that is as rich as possible and fun as possible, but we are not looking to get on the soap box."
- "I believe the next Star Trek film will be in 2012."

Eight New Star Trek Clips

In time for the release of Star Trek on DVD and Blu-ray, eight new clips from the various featurettes that come with the film. They cover such topics as Simon Pegg's accent, casting, Leonard Nimoy, and more. (via IO9)

Star Trek Online Box Art, Preview

Star Trek Online is coming in February and now Cryptic has revealed the box art for the game. In addition, G4's X-Play has an interview with the games Executive Producer Craig Zinkievich about some of the play mechanics of the game while showing off about 2 minutes of battle footage on both land and space. Of note is something they call the "Genesis System" that is used to generate planets to explore and aliens to meet. The name is likely a nod to the Genesis Device from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. In addition, click here for new screenshots.

Video Game - E3 2009 - X-Play

Star Trek Nominated for People's Choice Awards

Star Trek has recieved five nominations for the 2010 People's Choice Awards in several categories. Nominated actors include Zoe Saldana ("Breakout Movie Actress"), Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto (Breakout Movie Actor). The movie itself was nomiated for Favorite Franchise and Favorite Movie.

To vote for your favorites in the above characters and many more for television, movies and music, click here. Winners will be announced live during the People's Choice Awards telecast on Wednesday January 6th by CBS.

Star Trek Online Specs

Cryptic has released the minimum and recommended system requirements for Star Trek Online that is being released in February. The specs leave my system out but hopefully yours will do better.

System Requirements
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: 8GB Free Disk Space
Network: Internet Broadband Connection Required
Disc: 6X DVD-ROM

Recommended System Configuration
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: 8GB Free Disk Space
Network: Internet Broadband Connection Required
Disc: 6X DVD-ROM

Star Trek Online Dated

Cryptic has announced the official release date for Star Trek Online as February 2, 2010. The game takes place in 2409, a few years after the destruction of Romulus and Remus in the most recent Star Trek movie. The press release is below. No details on how much it will cost, if a special edition is going to be released or how much the monthly payments will be.

NEW YORK, Nov. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Atari, Inc., one of the world's most recognized videogame publishers, and Cryptic Studios(TM), creators of the acclaimed Champions Online, City of Heroes and City of Villains, announced today the highly anticipated Star Trek Online for PC is set to release on February 2, 2010 in North America and February 5, 2010 across Europe and Australia. This first-of-a-kind massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) will offer space and ground gameplay to fans and players.

"Star Trek Online is poised to become the ultimate Star Trek gaming experience," said Jim Wilson, CEO of Atari, Inc. "Throughout the last four decades, Star Trek has been a mainstay in pop culture, influencing legions of fans through television, film, and more. Star Trek Online opens a whole new chapter and expands upon this incredible universe in 2010."

Taking place in the year 2409, continuing the story of the latest film installment, Star Trek Online boasts extraordinary features and lets fans both new and old experience unparalleled adventures. Players will have the opportunity to become a high ranking Starfleet officer and will participate in missions that will take them into the depths of space, across exotic planets and even inside other starships. Star Trek Online offers total customization, where every ship players command can be customized, from color to construction. Additionally, anyone can create their own species in Star Trek Online, as well as customize the look of their avatar's uniform.

Wil Wheaton's Trek Cameo

It turns out that Wil Wheaton did have a cameo in the recent Star Trek film, just not in a way expected. Rather then having an onscreen role, Star Trek: The Next Generation's Wesley Crusher provided voice work for the various Romulan crew members on Nero's ship.

From Wheaton's blog:

I met JJ at an ADR stage a few days later, where he told me the entire plot of the movie (and, for the record, hearing JJ Freakin' Abrams tell you the plot of his Star Trek is even more awesome than you'd expect) and showed me some of the scenes that I'd be dubbing. I ended up providing voices for all the Romulans on Nero's ship, including the guy who tells him that "it's time" at the very beginning of the movie. (Yeah, how cool is that?)

Greenwood Up For Star Trek 12

Bruce Greenwood, Christopher Pike in Abrams' Star Trek, has indicated he is up for reprising the role in the sequel according to Trek Today.

“I can hardly wait,” said Greenwood, talking about the sequel to J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek reboot. Greenwood has spoken to Abrams about Star Trek XII, and Greenwood’s participation in the film. “…there are no guarantees,” said Greenwood. “J.J., one of the nicest guys on the planet, has indicated there will be a place in the project for me.”

Star Trek Online History Lesson Part Two

Cryptic has release part two (part one) of their history of Star Trek to catch people up on events that occur between the end of Star Trek: Nemesis and the universe that Star Trek Online will live in about 25 years later. For those that read the novels, it seems some recent developments are are not really a part of the game such as the Borg, after a massive invasion that killed trillions, has been eliminated as a race. The video gives a good look at the games graphics and many of the aliens that will be part of the online universe.

More Star Trek Online Battle Footage

Cryptic has released a new video for the upcoming MMORPG Star Trek Online that provides a glimpse of space and planet side fighting the game will offer. The graphics still need work but the game is showing potential.

Star Trek Deleted Scene, Casting Spock Videos

Two new videos have popped up online to help promote the upcoming release of Star Trek on DVD and Blu-ray. The first video is a deleted scene with Kirk (Chris Pine) as he apoligizes to the wrong Orion woman. I think he meant to apoligize to Rachel Nichols's character from the awkward scene in Uhura's (Zoe Saldana) bedroom. The second video from TrekMovie.com is from a casting featurette that gets into the casting of Spock and why they chose Zachary Quinto.

Wrong Orion Deleted Scene


Casting Spock

Abrams Talks Khan

In a new interview with MTV, Star Trek director JJ Abrams spoke about sequel possibilities and the potential of using Khan in the movie. A video of the interview is below.

"I think one of the byproducts of doing this movie was we were able to dispel the obvious and understandable concerns—how can 'Star Trek' possibly exist without those original cast members?" the director explained during a recent interview with MTV's Josh Horowitz. "Now that we are in a parallel existence with what fans of the original series love so much, we could introduce any number of characters, settings, references and situations that the original series introduced. Dealing with Khan would certainly be a challenge, but we had an equal challenge in finding our crew of the Enterprise."

"While I don’t want to approach the second film as a remake of episodes we’ve seen in the past... nothing is off limits in terms of what we’re discussing," he said. "When Bob Orci and the others who know 'Trek' so well, the fun of working with them is they know this universe so deeply they’re the ones who are always considering what it means to deal with the stuff in the past, so it’ll be exciting."

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