Tag Archives: Star Trek Online

Skype, aka, “Hey everyone it’s 2003 and I’m having a grand ol time!”

I know I know, I am on near about everything in the ether but I never managed to get around to using Skype. I don’t know what it was but I just never found a use for it. I had Google Talk for voice and video, I have Google Voice for calling outside of wherever I would need to call, and about 5 different IM clients that I can chat on. So why would I need Skype? Well, to be honest I am still occasionally asking myself that question. So here are some pros and cons

Pro: It does Audio and Video chat
Con: So does near about everything else, Google Chat mainly.

Pro: It does Screen Sharing
Con: So does MSN messenger through Remote Desktop which also allows for screen helping

Pro: It does Conference calls with multiple people
Con: I have been using Ventrillo and Team Speak, Of course those require a dedicated server.

Pro: Sound and Video Quality are amazing
Con: So are Google Chat’s

Pro: International Calling to a Landline number!
Con: 1: I don’t know anyone overseas and 2: Google Voice does that

Pro: Mobile App that allows voice to PC connections
Con: Ok No con here, that’s just fraking cool

Pro: All of that is in one package. You don’t need to run Google Voice, Talk, MSN, and Ventrillo, to do what Skype is doing all on it’s lonesome.
Con: Personally, I believe that these other programs sometimes do their tasks better than Skype.

This morning the Skype mobile app got release to the Verizon based phones and I was really looking forward to it! Until, that is, I ran it and discovered that to even run it had to turn off my WiFi. Seriously? I have not even seen a app on the droid that requires you to either be on or off WiFi. When I am at home I leave WiFi on so I can make use of it. Now if I want to use Skype on the phone, at all, I have to have WiFi off. That just seems lame. Haven’t had the chance to test out the quality of the calls yet so Stand by for that one.

The Desktop app, however, is pretty damn stellar. I know that version 4.X has been out for like a year now but again, it’s new to me. I did quite a bit of testing as was impressed with the audio quality (especially if someone has a really good Mic). The video quality was about as expected. I kind of expected the audio quality to drop when I added people to the call but was happy that it didn’t. Even running Skype in the background and STO (Star Trek Online) in the foreground was great. Add in the screen sharing, which helped my father install some somftware with my guidance. I even ran the screen share with my friend while I was running STO and he claimed it showed it running smooth, which amazes me.

So yeah, I will be adding Skype to the arsenal of contact methods for me, if you would like, my Skype username is Wizzer2801. Feel free to pop on by for a chat.

Picard never Hit me!

Posted by Steve on March 10, 2010 1 comment

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.

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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.

Still Plugging Away, Captain in sight!

Posted by Steve on March 3, 2010 No comments

Ok so I have been splitting a lot of my game time up for the last few weeks. Star Trek Online really has me stuck in the holodeck and has taken control of the ship. When I can get some escape from it I have been working my way through Bioshock 2. Since the time is split on both and finishing up neither it has left me with some wonder on what to post to keep things current out here on the site. So I will give you the thoughts so far on both of these. First up, a State of Rapture.

So I am quite a ways into B2 and it’s just, finally, starting to get to a near playable state. I say that because the first few levels were spent figuring out how to play and building up weapons so they can actually hurt someone wearing just a dress and a plastic mask. Where as the junkie with a pipe can kill me in my deep sea armor plated dive suit. Yeah, it’s a lot like that. It would also appear that the Xbox version has a few bugs. None of the vending machines give off the familiar “Welcome, to the Circus of Values!”. And I still miss the little sisters reacting to your rescue of them (“No No, No No!”). Now that I am past the build up phase and getting more into the game, it’s getting a little better. I may have to agree with the guys in the Joystiq Xbox fancast when they say that maybe using Bioshock 2 to follow Mass Effect 2 is a bad idea. When you go from a game that is very heavily story based and rich in it’s plot, and you go to something that is basically a re-hash of the first game, it’s bound to leave you a tad bitter. Fret not though, despite all this, I am still enjoying the game and it’s probably better that I take it slow so that I can enjoy the good parts and be away long enough to forget the bad.

In the meantime I have been enjoying the Trek experience in Star Trek Online. I have a grand total of 3 characters (BTW, the max is 3), My Main, Boothby, is a Trill Science Commander (Commander 9, soooooo close to Captain) flying the U.S.S. Amazonia which looks like it’s ready to be hatched. I hate the look of the Commander Science ships. They have that horrible sphere instead of a saucer section. I also have my Klingon Character which you are able to start playing after you reach LT 6 with your Federation character. The nice thing is that you start at LT 6 with the Klingon as well so Lt Lock, Tactical Officer of the I.K.S VeS Qab (WarCrimes), is bringing hell to the Federation. Finally I have my Alt, Lt Commander Wi’Zzer, Vulcan Engineering officer of the U.S.S. Fairfax. This character I am running with my friend Doc so we are keeping the characters in line with each other. When he isn’t on, I play Booth.

So the State of the Galaxy is that Boothby just managed to reach Deep Space 9 out towards Cardassian space. I like that there are a specific set of missions for each area and a specific enemy that you are working against. Something I would love to see, though, is a different set of missions based on what you are. I’m a Doctor not a Tactical officer! Where are my Science specific missions? Why does my Engineer character get missions where he needs to scan Nebula’s and gathering Data? My Science officer is running off on missions to take out 5 squadrons of ships that should be better suited for a Tactical officer. Now it’s usually better if you are running in a team of course so you have 1 of each type, but that is rare. Another big complaint would be in the stats and skills. So I have my ship that I can outfit with a billion different bits and parts. I loot a science console that gives me +10 to Astrometrics. I have found no where to tell me what exactly that does for me! Some of the skills are good in that they give you examples of the skills they benefit, but it’s really hard to keep the granularity straight.

On the plus side, the missions I have run lately have been great for the story. Learning about the Hobus Star and what happened to Romulus was very intriguing. Playing as my Engineer and being the tank while Doc tears through with his Escort ship, and even playing through as my Klingon even though it’s just PVP for him. (Need more Klingon Quests!!!) I can see that I will be very entertained for quite a while still. Is it bad that I have had the urge to watch more of the TV show and movies as of late? Not much else on the radar right now so I will be cooking up some non-review articles in the coming weeks. Stay Tuned!

Farpoint 2010

Posted by Steve on February 12, 2010 No comments

The snow is starting to melt and I only have a mildly high trench of a driveway to navigate. Most of the time at home was split between Star Trek Online and Bioshock 2. (Rescued my first Little Sister.) Believe it or not I actually reached a point in my cabin fever where I got up and could game no more. Instead I went and watched the Star Trek Reboot on Blu-Ray. Anyways, this is just a quick update to say that I won’t be posting anything this weekend, or even playing as I am off to Farpoint in Baltimore MD. Also it is Sarah and my one year Anniversary! So it’s a nice little get-away after a long internment at the house. Should be some costumes and a few guests to visit with. I’ll probably have an after action report on Monday-ish.

In the meantime, remember, Level up, and spend those skill points!!

Returning from the Alpha Quadrant, or, Shore leave on Hoth

Posted by Steve on February 8, 2010 2 comments

Well, the snowpocolypse 2.0 has taken it’s toll on us, and the house. We got about 20+ inches of snow and spent most of Saturday and Sunday clearing it off the driveway and everything else. Some of my neighbors have drifts in front of their houses (mostly because of the plows) that measured up to about 9 feet tall! This of course meant that most of the time, not spent shoveling snow, was spent inside playing games. Sarah was on the Internets, until she picked up Overlord 2. Andrew was on Mass Effect 2, after he finished with Uplink, and I was playing Star Trek Online, no after there, it was all STO.

Over the weekend I have managed to make it to the rank of Lt. Commander, I have 4 different ships to choose from, and I have 5 bridge officers. (Also, I have at least 3 tribbles.) The long arduous road to Lt. Commander was painful right at the end, mostly because of the lack of realization that I needed to spend skill points to earn the promotion instead of just earn them. Made it all the way to Lt rank 11 before I figured that out. Once I had earned the rank I ventured back to the Sol Sector and attended my promotion ceremony. It was very touching. After that it was off to claim my new ship. I had actually been saving up energy credits for my entire career so that I could buy an extra ship so one Cruiser and one Escort. Since I am still new to the heavier ships, I will hold off on the pluses and minus until later. Instead lets go over some of the things I loved and hated about my time as a young Lieutenant

Things I loved:

Who needs friends with an away team like this? – Every time I had to beam down to a planet I always had an away team with me. For starters it was just me and my Engineering officer along with a few security guys, (those poor red shirts) but after a while I had my science officer, my tactical officer, and my ferengi, ok so he is a engineering officer too but he’s my token. Each officer has a special ability that they use on their own or by my command. Even coming around and reviving me if I get knocked out. It’s very helpful!

Autogrouping with Others. Now I know this may be a plus or a minus depending on the type of person you are but I found it to be very helpful. If you and 3 other people are working on the same mission at the same time (as is the case in most missions), it will auto group you together and adjust the level accordingly. The amazing thing about it is that without even sending a hail, everyone just worked together! This avoids all of the Awkward conversations and ninja tagging.

Dead Klingon = New Mark II Engine – Everything that I needed for my LT Career was found in loot. I had no need to spend credits on anything because it was all available in loot. This allowed me sell anything excess that I had looted and didn’t need so I could have the money to buy the second ship.

Things I Hated:

Oh god more Patrol missions – To boldly go where everyone has gone before. The patrol missions are really more of a love hate thing. I love that there is a large variety of types of missions, but they start getting repetitive after a while. Clearly they are meant to be filler around the other larger missions, so my advice….don’t run them back to back. Run one system, go do a main mission, come back and do another system.

No, mister Klingon, I do not want to enter an chance enemy encounter. – Flying around in sector space I found myself automagicly sucked into enemy encounters, which under normal circumstances would be fine, but these are on a timer, and the timer is ALWAYS ticking down from like 5 min to start. So I won’t be sitting around for 5 min for my “chance” encounter.

Still a tad clunky – Ok so this is an overall grievance. Unfortunately the game is still a little rough around the edges. There are minor glitches in the graphics, in the performance, in the interface. BUT… It’s a brand new MMO and it’s still finding it’s place and growing into some very large combat boots. After wittnessing the launch of SWG, EQ2, AOC, LOTRO, WoW, COH, and who could forget The Matrix Online! (Wow, I have tried a lot of MMO’s, and many of them from launch!) I can easily see how things will get ironed out and the issues are really minor. I have seen nothing that is a show stopper.

Final verdict: For a starter MMO, I give Star Trek online a good 7.5 out of 10 Tribbles. But I reserve the right to change this score after 1: I play more since it doesn’t really end and, 2: Time mends all glitches.

Just in time too as tomorrow I will be venturing back to Rapture for Bioshock 2!

Snowpocolypse 2.0 or What do you do with a drunken Yeoman?

Posted by Steve on February 5, 2010 No comments

So it’s supposed to snow for the next, like, 48 hours solid bringing around 24 inches of cold insanity with it. I have finished Mass Effect 2 and have no Bioshock 2 to take it’s place. (Yeah, I think I should have slowed down on that one.) So what am I to do with all this time on my hands and locked indoors. I guess I could spend time with my family…….yeah well We know I do that enough and Snow time is Game time! Yesterday we had gone to the mall to take care of some appointments and I just happened to walk into the Gamestop, you know, by accident. There I see it, the Star Trek Online box, just calling to me. The following is the conversation that took place:

Me: Ooooo STO! And Look at all the stuff you get!

Sarah: So if you want it, get it!

Me: But… But… Wait a sec, why aren’t you fighting me on this?

Sarah: Am I supposed to tell you not to get it? If you buy it, then I will get to play it too!

Me: I Love You!

So safe and warm did STO come with me home and get installed. I managed to Create Captain Boothby of the U.S.S Wizzer last night and began my exploration of the galaxy (the other galaxy, not the one I just finished saving from the Reaper/Collector attacks, you know, so we can keep this straight.) I am not sure I am ready for a good enough review at this point, so here are a few key points that I have found so far.

Upon loading into the game I noticed that the first Intro mission was Glitchy as all hell. At first I thought my system wasn’t good enough to handle it, but when I got to the rest of the game it ran just fine. The only thing I could think of is that That certain battle had WAY too much going on it it and it over taxed the system. But I guess that’s a good way to weed out people eh?
Flying your ship looks Amazing. The graphics are outstanding. I would put this about half way between EVE Online and the Space side of Star Wars Galaxies. Your control over the ship is a bit more hands on and granular than Eve, but not as twitchy at SWG.
The ground game is not bad. It probably could use a little more polish, but it’s new so I will give it a chance. Nothing has stood out as “bad”, but nothing amazed me either (unlike the space side)
I have had the chance to do a variety of missions and it plays out like “Episodes” of the show. You can do Diplomatic missions, combat stuff, and exploring and sciency type things. So there is something for everyone!

I think that will do for now. Feel free to message me in game if you would like and remember to stay warm!

To Boldly Have Gone. or Mission Accomplished

Posted by Steve on February 3, 2010 No comments

Here I am, only minutes after finishing Mass Effect 2, and I am still processing all that happened. I may end up actually replaying from my last major save point because I am not completely happy with some of my choices. For now I am going to let them bake in my head and deal with the consequences. (And mourn the loss of Jack, Grunt, Thane, and the Colonists. In the words of Joker: “Shit Shit Shit Shit Shit, What the Shit!?”

This also means that I am now un-distracted until next Tuesday! A fact that I am sure Sarah and Andrew will be happy about. (Or not.) In the mean time I have to say that I have become increasingly tempted by Star Trek Online based on what I have seen about it online and the few friends who have tried it. I am probably only slightly less of a Star Trek fan than I am a Star Wars fan. (Which is to say, pretty damn rabid.) Although I do not own any Star Trek costumes, and I am not sure I will any time soon, I have always enjoyed the shows and the inspiration they provide. I loved many of the other trek games, even though they were widely un-popular. I even have a copy of the Star Ship creator lying around here somewhere. I am curious to the designs of the ships and to see the variants. Ok damn, this is really not helping.