Al Rivera Talks Star Trek Online

With the closed beta finally live, we thought it was time to ask some questions about the way Star Trek Online was evolving and changing before release. We tracked down lead designer Al Rivera and grilled him about Klingons, crafting, future races, and more. Read on.

We're just starting to see more about the Klingon side of Star Trek Online - up until now the story has been pretty much told from the Federation point of view. What can we expect to learn about playing the game from the Klingon side in the upcoming months?

Klingon gameplay revolves more around PvP – both within themselves, but primarily with Starfleet along the Neutral Zone. There are planets and points of interest to encounter, raids, and some special missions, but for launch, Klingon Star Trek Onlineplay is more about social gameplay than story driven content.

There are almost 40 Federation vessels for players to choose from. Will there be a similar number of Klingon ships?

First, let me be clear, there are 16 Federation ship configurations. Each configuration allows the player to customise from the parts of three different ships – for instance, the first ship you get is a Lt. Cruiser, and you can customise it from the parts of a Miranda, a Centaur, and a ShiKahr (something new we introduced to the IP). So technically, there are 48 Starfleet ship models in the game, but there are 16 playable configurations (five Escorts, five Cruisers, five Science Vessels, and one starting Lt. Cruiser).

Klingon ship progression is slightly different. You can advance through five different Birds of Prey: four Raptors, three Battle Cruisers (like the Vor’cha and the Negh’Var) and one Carrier. You start in a Bird of Prey. When you gain a new rank, you can choose to advance into the next tier Bird of Prey, or instead choose a Raptor. At the next rank, you can choose from the next Bird of Prey, next Raptor, or choose the Battle Cruiser… and so on. Altogether, there are 13 Klingon ship configurations. There is slightly less overall configuration than Starfleet, but there are more high-end ships to choose from.

We haven't heard much about crafting in STO. What can you tell us about it?

There are two forms of crafting in STO, but they are a little less traditional. Throughout the game you are crafting Bridge Officers. You will acquire new Bridge Officers, skill them up, and train them in new skills. You can train them in several Star Trek Onlineways, including training skill, finding other Bridge Officers to train them, or acquiring data resources to train them at planet Memory Alpha. You can then trade Bridge Officers to other players, or transfer them back to Starfleet for reputation.

There is also a harvesting feature in STO where you collect a number of different resources throughout the universe (both in space and on planet surfaces). These resources can be used to unlock special recipes for new items at Memory Alpha.

How much of the game would you say is spent in your ship and how much as your actual character on away missions or in star bases?

For missions, it’s probably around 60% space, 40% ground. This changes a lot depending upon what kind of missions you are pursuing.

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