Closed Beta starts TODAY!

News reports are coming in from multiple sources that closed beta will be starting today!

LOS GATOS, Calif., Oct. 22 -- Atari, one of the world's most recognized videogame publishers, and Cryptic Studios, developers of Champions Online and Star Trek Online, announced today that Star Trek Online will enter its Closed Beta phase on October 22, 2009. The public will finally be able to log into Star Trek Online and go where no one has gone before.

"We're pleased to begin sharing our addition to Star Trek's legendary story with the public," said Craig Zinkievich, Executive Producer of Star Trek Online. "We know fans of Star Trek, and fans of MMOs, will be incredibly impressed by what they see when they play Star Trek Online."

Star Trek Online boasts a combination of space and ground gameplay and for the first time ever, bringing to the table Cryptic's penchant for unrivaled customization, players will be able to truly become a captain by designing a unique character and heavily customizing their own ships. In addition, gamers will be able to create their own unique alien races, outfit and captain a succession of ships throughout their careers, lead their own away teams in planetary exploration, and battle Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians and more.

Star Trek fans will soon be able to join Starfleet, defend the Federation and promote peace within the war torn Alpha Quadrant. Closed beta is a particularly exciting time during the development of a game; the Cryptic team of developers is looking forward to getting user feedback.

To sign up and participate in the Star Trek Online Closed Beta, please visit:
http://www.startrekonline.com/preview_application

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Star Trek Online Screenshots at Voodoo Extreme

The guys at Voodoo Extreme just posted a bunch of screenshots some of which are new. Check them out!

You can see the rest of the screenshots HERE!

Part Three with VideoGamer.com's Interview with Craig Zinkievich

Wesley Yin-Poole from VideoGamer.com has posted the second part of his interview with Craig Zinkievich. Check it out below!

Karlius: Will it be full of Star Trek fanboys that will get pissed off if you mess around? If so sign me up!

Craig Zinkievich: There will probably be Star Trek fanboys that will get pissed off if you mess around. For Cryptic one of the funnest parts about an MMO is to relax restrictions, relax what people can do in terms of customisation - not tighten it up, not put hardcore rules in. Because then what people get out in the end, how people role play, all the behaviour that just comes out of nowhere, is just awesome. It's fun to see. It's one of the most rewarding parts about putting out an MMO. So yeah, maybe the fanboys will get a little upset, but I'm looking forward to it.

CheekyLee: I think that the world needs to know one thing above all others: Will there be Tribbles? :O

Craig Zinkievich: [Laughs] There have to be Tribbles in the game! There's definitely Tribbles in the game. There's even one full episode, an hour long chunk of space ground, space ground, that is focused on the Tribble menace.

Check out the rest of the interview HERE!

RUMOR: Star Trek Online Closed Beta to start by October 24th?

According to Media-NewsWire.com Namco Bandai Europe has just leaked some information that Star Trek Online closed beta will be playable at the London Expo which will be running this weekend October 24th-25th.

Namco Bandai Games have today announced an exciting line-up of titles to be exhibited over three stands at the MCM Expo in Docklands Excel Arena over the weekend of the 24th-25th October. Amongst them will be the eagerly anticipated MMO, Star Trek Online with Tales of Symphonia and Ghostbusters along with a Guinness World Record attempt for the longest winning streak on the imminent, Tekken 6, set to launch on Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3 on October 30th.

The Star Trek Online stand will feature eight hi-spec PCs running the closed beta in all its galactic glory for show-goers to play. On the opposite stand as part of the MCM Expo’s impressive guests line-up, Terry Farrell ( aka Jadzia Dax ) and Nicole De Boer ( aka Ezri Dax ) from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, will be accompanied by acclaimed DS9 writer, Ron D Moore, conducting signings for the legions of Star Trek fans expected to attend the show.

Source: HERE

Five New Star Trek Online Screenshots at Curse.com

DoranM from Curse.com has just posted 5 new screenshots from Star Trek Online! Check them out below.

Check out the rest of the screenshots HERE!

Star Trek Online Preview at Alltern8.com

Carl Doherty from Alltern8.com has just posed a 5 page preview article for Star Trek Online. Check it out below!

When J.J. Abrams’ time-bending reboot surprised critics, stubborn fans, and casual cinemagoers alike – and, more importantly, knocked the Box Office for six – it was easy for many to tout it as the return of Star Trek. But in all fairness, if one movie every three years is all we can expect from Gene Roddenberry’s multifaceted universe then it’s probably safe to say that the franchise is still in further need of a boost if it’s going to once again enjoy the reception met by The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine during the 80s and 90s.

Star Trek Online, the long-awaited MMORPG from Cryptic Studios and Atari, has a lot riding on it. Recent Star Trek games have hardly proven critical or financial successes, with the most memorable spin-off, Raven Software’s Voyager: Elite Force, being released all the way back in 2000. The game’s journey has also been troubled, with Perpetual Entertainment going bankrupt while developing the game from between 2004 and 2008. But latest developer Cryptic, the creative minds behind the accusable superhero MMO Champions Online, will undoubtedly find that the series’ faithful fans are still out there, and no less eager to boldly go where no one has levelled-up before.

And it’s this fervent fanbase that Cryptic is clearly going to have to work hard to please. Not least because the Trek community is notoriously critical of the franchise’s new directions, but because the cerebral pacing and ambitious allegories of Star Trek don’t always translate well to the action-packed experiences most gamers expect. But from what we’ve seen of the game so far, it’s looking to be an involving blend of the series’ staple exploration, trading and direction and dynamic phaser battles. The latter of these which may not feel entirely synchronised with the shows ethos, but is a realistic requisite in bringing a large enough number of people into this virtual Trek universe.

Read the rest of the Preview HERE!

Star Trek Online Developer Chat

The Developer Chat has just finished, check out the transcript below.

Cryptic_Rekhan: Hello everyone, and welcome to today's dev chat! This week we're talking about player progression. With us today is Steve "Snix" Nix, one of our earstwhile systems desginers. If you have questions you'd like to ask, please ask them in #stoquestions. You can talk about the chat in #talktrek

Zoberraz: I would like to know how race selection (beyond cosmetics) changes a character. For example, what gameplay differences will a human and a vulcan science-oriented captains have?
Cryptic_Snix: Race selection (or species selection as we refer to it) offers Species Traits. Most species have one or more Traits that are always gained, while allowing the player to chose a few from the species list to customize their character.

Arokh72: You've given us a hint at the engineering side of things, can have some hints for the other professions such as Science. For example will we have medical as a science tree..think Dr Crusher and the USS Pasteur?
Cryptic_Snix: There is a medical branch of the Science career, as well as various classes of science vessel to captain. Dr. Crusher and the USS Pasteur is a great example of this.

Deltab: Can one go from a Tactical ship to a Cruiser and then back while they are leveling form Commander, to Captain, then to Admiral?
Cryptic_Snix: Absolutely. Your choice of ship to captain is up to you.

Click Read More to read the rest of the Dev Chat.