Star Trek Online update plans outlined

With the Star Trek Online servers opening for pre-ordering players today, and the game's official launch next week, Cryptic has detailed its plans for the space MMO in its first two months.

The launch-day patch is relatively small - a major update was made a week ago, just before the end of open beta - but Cryptic is already planning the first major content update for the game.

"We're already working on it and it’ll be out before you know it," producer Craig Zinkievich said in his recent state of the game post. More player-versus-player options, exploration missions for the Klingon factions, more ground-based "fleet actions" (Star Trek Online's equivalent of large-scale public quests), extended ship customisation and extra playable species are promised.

Beyond that update, Cryptic will be looking to flesh out high-level content with major missions involving the Borg, one of these also featuring Q and a spot of time travel. It's also planning Raid Episodes - tough five-man missions aimed at max-level players, and accessible to both Federation and Klingon characters. Raid Episodes will be released "every few weeks", beginning a week after launch.

Further plans include additions to the Klingon side of the game - fleet actions, a new ship, more PvE content - and Federation-versus-Federation PvP.

Cryptic stirred up some controversy among players by introducing a cap to the number of skill points late in open beta, meaning top-level players could no longer max out all of their skills in the endgame. Although this simply brings it in line with standard MMO design, requiring some specialisation from players, the change has disappointed many.

Star Trek Online is released on 5th February for PC. For those who've pre-ordered the game, early access begins at 6pm GMT tonight. If you're looking for someone to play with, you might want to consider the fledgling Eurogamer Star Alliance: find out more in the Star Trek Online forum thread and Star Trek Online group folder.