After months of testing, beefy Star Trek Online update Season 5: Call to Arms has been released.
In a nutshell, Season 5 brings a Duty Officer System, the story of The Borg Advancement, Klingon gameplay updates, a skills revamp, a mission revamp, lore missions and economy restructuring.
STO executive producer Stephen D'Angelo offered an overview of the changes in a dev blog.
Star Trek Online turns free-to-play on 17th January 2012.
New and Improved Content
New and Improved Game Play
Other Improvements
Full Star Trek Online Season 5: Call to Arms patch notes can be found on the STO website.
Star Trek Online will go free-to-play before the end of 2011, developer Cryptic Studios has announced.
Confirming reports that surfaced last week, the MMO will still offer a standard subscription model but players will now be able to jump in without opening their wallets.
While free-to-play users enjoy the same level cap as subscribers and can access all of the game's sectors and missions, they'll have two character slots rather than three, a smaller inventory and credit storage limit.
Access to Create a Fleet is limited and the Foundry Creator is locked off entirely. Free-to-play users will also see restrictions on in-game chat, forums, mail and customer service, and will have to put up with advertisements in In-Game Vivox Voice Chat.
Take a look at the lengthy FAQ over on the game's official site for more details.
"In addition to seeking out new life and exploring strange new civilizations, part of our continuing mission for Star Trek Online is to expand and improve," commented Cryptic CEO Jack Emmert.
"Transitioning to a free-to-play model is a natural way to share all we've built with a broader community of players and we couldn't be more excited."
Late last week it was revealed that Cryptic Studios' massively multiplayer Star Trek Online would be going free-to-play later this year, swapping required subscription fees for an active player base. Today we find out what's free and what'll have players reaching for their gold-pressed latinum.
The free-to-play model being applied to Star Trek Online really isn't all that restricting to free (silver) players, something that might annoy those that plan of shelling out $14.95 a month for gold status. Free players are limited to two character slots instead of three; 48 inventory and bank slots as opposed to 72 and 96 respectively for paying players; and they won't be able to create new missions using the game's Foundry system, though they'll still be able to play player-created content to their hearts' content.
Free players also get limited access to forums, in-game mail, in-game chat, and customer service, are not eligible for priority login or veteran rewards, and have to deal with ad-supported in-game voice chat.
It seems restrictive, but looking over the full list it looks like free players will have access to just about everything Star Trek Online has to offer, without having to drop a dime. That should boldly go a long way to repopulating a universe that's steadily declined since launch.
Star Trek Online Free-to-Play [Official Website]
Star Trek Online, the MMO picked up by new owner Perfect World when it acquired Cryptic Studios back in May, will be taken to a free-to-play format by the end of 2011, says the new ownership.
Perfect World's chief financial officer told investors during a call today that it's looking to a free-to-play Star Trek Online to "have a bigger potential in US market and also in China market."
Star Trek Online launched in February 2010. Champions Online, Cryptic's other MMO, already is free to play.
Star Trek Online Goes Free to Play [Industry Gamers]
Cryptic Studios is developing a free-to-play business model for Star Trek Online, new owner Perfect World has revealed.
The free-to-play model will launch by the end of 2011.
This, not unsurprising news, tumbled from the mouth of Perfect World chief financial officer Kelvin Lau.
"Cryptic is working on the free-to-play model for Star Trek Online," Lau told investors during the company's latest earnings conference call (transcription courtesy of Seeking Alpha).
"This is going to be launched by the end of this year."
"So I think free-to-play model we have a bigger potential in US market and also in China market."
Cryptic Studios' other MMO, Champions Online, switched from subscription to free-to-play earlier this year. Whether Star Trek Online would follow suit depended on the reaction to Champions Online, developer CEO Jack Emmert previously told Eurogamer. Our only indication of Champions' F2P success has been Atari describing the switch as "promising".
Perfect World bought Cryptic Studios in May. The company now owns the rights to Champions Online, Star Trek Online and also, according to the conference call, Neverwinter - the not-quite MMO in development at Cryptic.
"[Cryptic] will help us grow in the US and the Europe," said Perfect World chairman Michael Chi, "and further strengthen our R&D and operations around the world."
Star Trek Online was released in early 2010 and scored 6/10 on Eurogamer. A year and a half of improvements has been made since then, including the addition of user-created missions.
Cryptic Studios - creator of City of Heroes, Star Trek Online and Champions Online - has a buyer: Chinese MMO outfit Perfect World.
Perfect World paid $50.3 million (£30.4 million / 35 million) for Cryptic. That's 55 per cent more than Atari paid for Cryptic in 2008 - $27.5 million.
Perfect World runs free-to-play cartoon MMO Legend of Martial Arts as well as Battle of Immortals, which looks similar to World of Warcraft.
How Champions Online and Star Trek Online will slot into Perfect World's portfolio is unclear. With Champions Online already free-to-play, however, the transition should be painless.
Perfect World talks of the purchase as a great way to charge West. Will this mean significant investment for Cryptic's new almost-but-not-quite MMO Neverwinter?