STLV – Star Trek Online Developers Panel

Last weekend Trek Radio and Massively hosted the Star Trek Online Discussion With the Developers Panel at the Official Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas. The DeForest Kelley Theater was packed with hundreds of enthusiastic and loudly gracious Star Trek fans, some of whom were being exposed to STO for the very first time.

Panel moderators Risa and Terilynn kicked off the festivities with a special presentation of the Free-to-Play Launch Trailer in full HD up on the big screen. STO had never looked so good! Soon after, the Cryptic Studio’s Development Team (Community Manager Brandon Felczer, UI Designer Thomas Marrone, Content Developer Jesse Heinig, and Executive Producer Daniel Stahl) took to the mics to answer a wide range of questions. From the warm reception of Season 6 to the story-inspired promise of Season 7 with a new playable sector and more Tholians, information was being tossed around faster than painstiks at an ascension ceremony.

Bigger. Better. More content. These were the buzzwords being used. Season 7 will be larger than 6. Season 8 will be larger still. We were told the development team has almost doubled since launch and will be taking on additional talent in the near future to accommodate the massive plans in store for Season 8.

There was talk about the Foundry. The uniqueness of this content tool was praised and we were told more assets and functionality were coming. Quality of life issues, such as being able to mark your favorite authors, are on the table. We were assured they are actively looking at ways to take the entire Foundry experience to the next level.

While timetables and release dates were hard to come by with most questions, we were pleased to hear Dan Stahl confirm the Vesta would be making an appearance much sooner than anyone had anticipated, perhaps as early as Season 7!

Many eager fans lined up to pick the minds of the Cryptic brain trust. While time did not allow for all the participants to ask their questions, a good many did. The conversations between fans and studio were truly something to witness. It’s this type of open dialogue and willingness to listen that will help propel STO past Season 8 and well on into the future.

Dev Panel Video (Fixed Audio)