Some new Star Trek news real quick for today.  I am, of course, still playing Star Trek Online which has been going good with one small exception that I will go into in a moment, but I want to discuss a few other Trek related things first.  DragonCon is coming and quite a few new guests have been announced and many of them are Trek related.  I don’t know if Shatner and Nimoy got back and passed the word about how much fun they had but there is a HUGE guest list of Trek people:

• Rene Auberjonois – Odo from DS9
• Avery Brooks – Sisko from DS9
• Denise Crosby – Tasha Yar from Next Gen
• John de Lancie – Q
• Jonathan Frakes – Riker from Next Gen
• Robert Duncan McNeill – Paris from Voyager
• Armin Shimerman – Quark from DS9
• Marina Sirtis – Troi from Next Gen
• Brent Spiner – Data from Next Gen
• Garrett Wang – Ensign Kim from Voyager

I am eagerly awaiting the chance to find and get signed a picture of Q and Sisko in their boxing gear from DS9.  This list, no doubt, will be growing as we get closer to the time of the Con, which is Sept.

3-6 of this year.  I will in attendance and, if I can manage it (without ending up with a restraining order), I will get as many interviews as I can with some of these folks.  I would love to hear what they think about some of the more modern versions of Trek either in Game or other new media.

Also on the radar is a new project that some friends and I are working on….the creation of the “Maroon Monster” costume, which I understand is the nickname for the Wrath of Khan style uniform from Star Trek.  The patterns have been ordered and work will start soon.  I will be more than happy to post progress pics and eventually a full production blog on the process.

Ok, lastly, my progress in STO has slowed only slightly because of a problem I am having.  I made it to Deep Space 9 in the game and noticed that you can purchase a Danube class Runabout from one of the vendors.  This is a small Shuttle that you can fly and outfit with weapons.  It’s purely a luxury item and fun to fly.  The problem lies in that when you buy it, all of your stats on your equipment get cut in half, or at least they display that way.  No one has determined exactly what happens.  I put in a ticket about the issue and was brushed off with a “Yeah we know about it, we’ll fix it soon”.  Normally I would be ok with that except that, from what I have read about this bug from others, No one is sure if it’s a display issue or a real game effecting issue and no GM has stated one way or the other.  Players also claim if you decommishion the shuttle, your stats get resolved, and that’s great but I paid 149k credits for the shuttle and I would hate to waste that.

So I mentioned all this to the GM’s in the ticket I submitted hoping to get an answer on if it was a display issue or real issue, and if they would take the item from me and refund the amount.  Neither of which happened.  I was told again “Yeah we know about it and the devs will get to it” with a side glancing “we don’t give refunds”.  So as of now, you can still purchase the Danube class ship from DS9, it WILL break your stats, and there is NO WAY to get a refund even if you put in multiple tickets.  How hard is it to get a ticket, remove the item, refund the credits?  it has no effect on the economy because the goods are removed.  It would remove the headaches of dealing with players afflicted with this bug, and if you remove the item from sale and implement it when it’s fixed, all the better!  My ticket is still open and there is a thread open on the STO forums.

Sigh.