Day: February 3, 2010

Star Trek Online Launches to One Million Minus One Community Manager


Daeke! NO!!!!!

I have good news and I have bad news for you Cryptic fans out there, and in favor of the old journalistic value of stringing you along, I will start with the good news.

This news concerns Star Trek Online, which launched just yesterday. Despite the fanfare of the vocal minority on the Star Trek forums over the open beta and head start, Star Trek Online opened to better than expected numbers, one million accounts. Aside from being on the top 10 lists on Amazon, Steam, Direct 2 Drive, and other venues, Cryptic’s latest title has been doing so well that the company will be beefing up the server capacity in order to contain it all.

Unfortunately, where there is good, there is bad. While Star Trek Online players prosper, Chamions Online players are met with sorrow. Those of you who play Champions Online, and are at least moderately active in the forums, will likely know Daeke, Cryptic’s Community Manager. No, Daeke was not pulled out of a ship through its open hull (well, he wasn’t killed by it, but that is another story entirely. Daeke has left Cryptic, on unknown terms he is either not willing to talk about or unable to legally.

I think even those who constantly complain about Cryptic will be sad to see Daeke go, although the conspiracy train is already trudging out of the station. The speculators believe that Daeke was fired due to his slipping of the information that the next expansion in Champions Online would be a paid-for expansion, a factor Cryptic may have wanted to keep under wraps, especially considering the uproar the announcement has caused.

More from the Cryptic Future as it appears.

Cryptic Says: Ask Us Anything


Gustav says: Don't say anything without a lawyer present.

Being the purported Cryptic employee that I am,  I have to take as much opportunity as possible to spread uncertainty among those who would otherwise believe such claims. Granted, a talk with Cryptic will offer more specific results than, say, a talk with Jagex’s CEO Mark Gerhard (Ask him anything about the game, assuming he even acknowledges the question, the answer will likely be “I can’t talk about that at this time.”), but the question still remains as to whether or not Cryptic takes player feedback to heart. Take, for example, earlier last year I reported on Cryptic’s seeming lack of recognition towards their own test servers, not only making the mistake of having a two hour cooldown during the Blood Moon event, but after lowering the time making the exact same mistake on the Winter event.

Ask Cryptic is back, on this forum thread, you can literally ask Cryptic anything you want, on any subject, as long as it is respectfully worded (No, you can’t ask “why are you guys such Nazi nickle-and-dimers”). If the question is related to upcoming content, your odds of getting a straight answer are much more likely. Otherwise if you’re going to be giving a little bit of advice, you may be better off doing it on the feedback forums where you can be ignored on a more fulfilling level.

Not to say Cryptic doesn’t care about its userbase, but they have had something of a breakdown in communications ever since Champions Online, that is yet to have been corrected. Moments that make you wonder who in their right mind green-lighted that move.

Star Trek Online: Expanded Servers And Guinness


The tag on this Borg says...Made in China?

Star Trek Online’s launch feels like it was just yesterday, although that may be because it was in fact just yesterday. Despite the normal outcry from the usual vocal minority, the player response to the title has been great. So great, in fact, that Cryptic is rushing to get better server capacity to the title. The following surfaced on the main Star Trek website.

Hey folks,

We just wanted to update you on our in-game server capacity status. Throughout Head Start we noticed the overwhelming response to the game and we are working on changes to further increase the number of people who can play Star Trek Online at any given time. Our current plan is to have these changes in place sometime this coming weekend. We will, of course, keep you updated on progress as it happens.

Really, we just want to thank you all again for your continued support and patience. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be here.

-The Star Trek Online Team

Meanwhile, do you live near London? If not, can you get there on February 14th? Cryptic is holding an attempt to get a spot in the Guinness book of world records for most people gathered in one place dressed up as Star Trek characters (with a fork in one hand, a small dog under the other arm, and two eggs balanced on a drink hat, in case the category wasn’t specific enough). Best dressed cosplayers are up for prizes, including lifetime subscriptions to Star Trek Online.

I think it’s about time to don the old borg outfit and head down to London to start assimilating.