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I’ve added a countdown on the right to when Star Trek Online goes live on the right of this site.  The timer counts down to January 29, 2010 – when people with “Head Start” gain access to the game. Want in early?  Go pre-order the the game! 

Other Important Star Trek Online Dates:

Star Trek Online Open Beta is January 12, 2010 until January 26, 2010.

Star Trek Online Head Start begins on January 29, 2010 and ends on February 2nd.

Star Trek Online Launches on February 3, 2010.

Cryptic, the maker of Star Trek Online, released several new pages that seeks to clear up the confusion over the upcoming MMO’s pre-order bonus program and other issues (a good sign for player/developer relations!)  See the links below. Thanks Cryptic!

List of Star Trek Online Retailers

Cryptic Star Trek Online Pre-Order FAQ’s

FULLY Complete List of STO Bonuses This link provides some interesting updates on what the various bonuses do, however it is still somewhat incomplete.

UPDATE: Cryptic Clears Confusion Over Pre-Order Bonuses

I haven’t played an MMO in years. The last one I played was Star Wars Galaxies.  That game had a lot of potential… all of it squandered and wasted. After SWG I felt pretty indifferent about joining another MMO. For starters most had a pretty boring setting or looked like they might not be taken seriously by the developers – that or they appeared to be yet another grind-fest.  Sometimes I wonder how many random made-up Star Wars creatures did I kill? Thousands? Millions? Playing Star Wars Galaxies often seemed like the developers were searching for things to keep us busy with, and thought long travel time and repetitive missions would satisfy the demand for “content.”

Star Trek Online is the only MMO I’ve seen recently that seemed interesting, and I’ve been keeping a wary eye one it. The game nearly died after the previous developer dumped the game after going bankrupt, and with the near death of Star Trek I figured that this game was vaporware.

Not so!  A miracle befell all Trek-dom with the 2009 release of Star Trek. A fresh new look at Star Trek got people interested in the universe again and breathed new life into Star Trek Online.

Now it looks like nothing’s going to stop STO: it’s being nominated for “Most Anticipated for 2010″ by Massively (a mmorpg Webzine), new and interesting pictures, videos, and tidbits are being released every couple of days with new and juicy looks into the game.

You can even pre-order the game – but here’s the problem: FROM WHO!? There are no less than 8 American pre-order offers and 9 European pre-order offers… each with a different set of goodies!

I’m not even sure who I’m going to order from, mostly because I’ve had trouble finding a cnocise list of who offers what.  To solve that problem for myself and for you, please enjoy this helpful guide:

The List

This is a up to date listing of the various pre-order bonuses for Star Trek Online – if you find more details, a missing picture, etc., please let me know and I’ll include it here!

For physical copies, most retailers are offering a Collector’s Edition and a Standard Edition.

All Collector’s Editions include the same items:

• A very fancy box.
• “Deluxe” game manual.
• Replica communicator badge.
• 3 Guest Passes – give to your friends and they can play for 10 days for free!
• “Red Matter Capacitor” – a unique item that gives extra energy to your ship.
• TNG & DS9 Uniforms.

So if you’re buying a collectors edition from a site that also has a pre order bonus, you get both. Bully for you.

All pre-order retailers offer Head-Start access (allowing you to play the weekend before launch, before everyone else) and access to the Open Beta, which starts January 12.

Unless specified, assume a retailer only offers a physical edition (not a digital download.)

GameStop

GameStop is offering a Collector’s Edition as well as a Standard Edition. Both editions offer an in-game Constitution Class Starship, like the Original Enterprise.  GameStop offers In_Store pickup for this item, so you can pick it up the day of release. GameStop offers a physical edition as well as a downloadable edition.

Amazon

Amazon offers the Regular Edition as well as the Collector’s edition. Both come with an exclusive Borg Bridge Officer.  This NPC comes with some special skills: Nano Probes, Efficiency, and Borg Neural Blast.  It’s unclear what any of these do yet. Also unclear is how customizable this Borg NPC is: will it always be a woman? Will it always have that “freshly assimilated yet made sexy for nerdy fapping” look? We’ll have to wait to find out… Amazon offers a physical edition as well as a downloadable edition.

Best Buy

Best Buy offers In-Game Pets in the form of a Tribble or a Klingon Targ. It’s unclear what in game pets do, or if they can be killed by other players. We can hope.  By far this is the weakest of the pre-order offerings. Best Buy offers a physical edition as well as a downloadable edition.

Steam

The Star Trek Online site seems to indicate we’ll be able to order from Steam, however as of
this publishing it’s not actually available there. STO says that Steam will provide Chronodynamic Armor, which looks a lot like fetishy scuba-suits.

So far the Steam pre-order bonus is the most concrete of the pre-orders!  We have actual numbers:

• 6.1% Physical Resistance
• 6.1% Kinetic Resistance
• 2.6% Energy Resistance
• +15% Critical Damage
• +5% Critical Chance
• +3% Energy Damage

It’s unclear how much better any of these statistics is compared to items we can get in game, however. The Steam version of STO is only available as a download.

Wal Mart

Wal Mart is selling the Regular and Collector’s edition. The pre-order bonus is additional skill points for your character. It is unclear how many points you will receive or exactly what they do. Wal Mart offers a Standard and a Collectors, but no download.

Target

Similarly to Steam, the Star Trek Online site says we’ll be able to order this item, however the link on the Star Trek Online page does not work, nor does searching for “Star Trek Online” at Target’s website. STO says Target is offering a TR-116 Ground Rifle. No stats or other information is provided by either STO or Target, however this weapon was originally featured in the Star Trek: Deep Space 9 episode “Field of Fire.”  Memory Alpha suggests that the weapon might be particularly effective against the Borg, or anyone using a person shield, for its ability to fire a physical projectile which the Borg may be vulnerable to.  It has been shown in the DS9 episode to be able to shoot through (and see through) physical walls, however this ability has not been confirmed in-game.

Atari

Atari offers a “Digital Deluxe Edition.” This includes a number of items: Original Series Uniforms, a Joined Trill Class that provides a bonus to 5 skills (as usual, the details of this are unclear), Two Exclusive “Emotes”, “Khaaan!” and “Klingon Blood Wine Toast”, a Unique Registry for your ship; NX-1234 instead of NCC-1234, and an Automated Defense Battery for your ship that provides a passive 360 degree weapon arc at close range (no information on the power of this weapon, or its effectiveness.)

Curiously, Atari’s website is very ambiguous about which packages get the bonus content. In most cases we can assume that you get the bonus content with all the editions, however the Deluxe page is the only one that say anything about the bonus items! Assume that you only get Trill, Khan, etc, with the Digital Deluxe. You still get the Collector’s goodies in the Collectors Edition, you might not get the Deluxe stuff though. Strange, eh?

Direct2Drive

Direct2Drive, an online video game store, offers a Multi-Spatial Personal Shield. This item constantly recharges your personal shield as well as your health. The rate of recharge is not clear, nor is  the amount of protection it provides. Direct2Drive is only available as a download. Direct2Drive offers a Digital Deluxe Edition, just like Atari… only you get the shield with it. So not only do you get the Original Series Uniforms, the Joined Trill Class Two Exclusive “Emotes,” a Unique Registry and an  Automated Defense Battery, you also get the Multi-Spatial Shield.  Neato.

So if you’re getting the Deluxe Edition, get it from Direct2Drive, not Atari.

In The Final Analysis….

I made this guide in big part to help me decide which one to go with!  Each different pre-order bonus has its own ups and downs.  Personally, I’ll be going for one of the digital downloads. I’m guaranteed to get it in time. Currently I’m leaning toward Atari’s Deluxe edition.

A serious question to consider is wether or not these items are going to be available as micro-transactions – where you can buy them for a dollar or two at a later time. The as yet up in the air nature of the game makes the pre-order decision a tough one…

In other news… those lucky European’s ordering from Gamestation get a Starfleet Shuttle Craft.  Sadly I think this is my favorite pre-order bonus! Too bad for me.

I recently won an auction of Ebay for some Watchmen Miniatures.  I probably paid too much, but hey, they’re awesome.  Now I’m stuck with a dilema… to paint or not to paint?  Made in 1985 they’re a pretty decent collector’s item now, especially with the successful film that just came out.

What to do, what to do…   (smart money’s on me painting them of course.)

I saw these awesome Watchmen miniatures on Ebay today… I’d buy them if they weren’t nearly 200 dollars!  The set includes Dr. Manhattan, The Comedian, Rorshcach, Nite Owl, a miniatures of the Owl Ship (Archy)  Ozymandias, Moloch, Silk Spectre, Hooded Justice, and Captain Metropolis…

*drool*

Check it out.

Sean Punch (AKA Dr. Kromm) recently posted on his livejournal site that Steve Jackson Games is working on a GURPS supplement called “GURPS Gun Fu”, which he describes as  “the cinematic parts of GURPS Martial Arts, but with guns.”   Awesome!

I can only imagine that this is going to highlight the uber-fast, “everyone has altered time rate 2″ gun combat seen in movies like Equilibrium.  GURPS Martial Arts currently covers aspects of this, but a dedicated supplement might be nice. Keep an eye out for it over at Steve Jackson Games’ store, E23.

GURPS Stands for Generic Universal Roleplaying System.  I personally believe that GURPS is the best roleplaying system available today – it’s flexible, fun, and as detailed or simple as you choose.  Some people are turned off by how detailed things can get in GURPS, but flexibility is the key: it’s only as complicated as you want it to be.

On the Steve Jackson Forums first time players are often asking for hints or tips for starting a GURPS game.  Often the post is by a Game Master (GM) to-be that isn’t sure where to go.  I thought I’d do my part and give back to the GURPS community by compiling a list of useful links to help get your game going.

Getting Started

To start, you should have one copy of the GURPS Basic Set, which consists of GURPS Basic Characters and GURPS Basic Campaigns.  You can usually find them in Game Shops, occasionally book stores, online through Amazon and from Steve Jackson Games who offer print versions as well as download-able PDFs.

You only really need to have Characters, but if you start playing GURPS seriously, you’ll want both.  I would also suggest getting a copy of GURPS Lite, a free download-able PDF that distils the most basic GURPS rules (good for handing out to your players.)

Resources

The Big List of RPG Plots

S. John Ross has compiled a list of the most frequently used RPG plot elements with summaries and suggestions for merging elements or twisting them.  If you’re not sure where to go in your campaign, have a look at The Big List of RPG Plots and see if you can’t find a good place to take your game!

Robin’s Laws of Good GameMastering

A Steve Jackson book, Robin’s Laws is full of helpful tips and guidelines for the would be Game Master.  Written by Robin Laws (seriously) this short book is an essential read for a GM, detailing what makes good games good, the psychology of running a campaign, and more.  Robin’s Laws is currently out of print, however you can still buy it from Amazon and from Steve Jackson Games as a download-able PDF.

GURPS Campaign Planning Form

Steve Jackson Games is pretty good about providing free resources for gamers.  The Campaign planning form is a nice one, that lets a GM peice out exactly what they want their game to be like. Very useful when starting a new game, and for giving to players to let them know exactly what to expect (is there magic? Are there Super Powers? Etc.)  You can download it directly here.

GURPS Game Master Control Sheet

Another excellent free resource from Steve Jackson’s Resources page.  You can use a Control Sheet to help keep track of which player can do what – useful when your plot  hinges on something like wall stopping the players, and you forgot that one of your players can walk through walls!  You can download it directly here.

GURPS Character Sheet

SAB previously posted a detailed article on GURPS Character Sheet.  GCS is the best free GURPS Character Sheet program available.  The program includes a detailed, indexed library of advantages, disadvantages, skills, spells, equipment, and just about everything else you would ever need.   Even better, it works on any computer platform, not just windows like some other Character Sheet programs.

For more screenshots you can click here.  You can get it from Richard A. Wilkes’s site, Trollworks.

GURPS Lite

While I’ve already mentioned GURPS Lite once, the fact that it’s both free and extremely useful means it deserves to be mentioned twice!  A great primer to the GURPS gaming system, I’ve used GURPS Lite to lure unsuspecting gamers over to GURPS.  You can download GURPS Lite for free from Steve Jackson Games.

Steve Jackson Forums

The Steve Jackson forums are excellent.  You can use the site to research any question you might have about GURPS, or ask the friendly community there anything that might be on your mind.  There is a section specificially for GURPS (where I often lurk as my persona of Dantar) as well as other sections available.  Why don’t you visit it today?

D6 Probability Chart

GURPS uses 3 six sided dice for just about every roll.  This makes the mechanics of the game simple, and easy to catch on to.  SAB previously made a helpful post detailing D6 Probabilities. I keep one next to my desk when I’m making character sheets to easily see what my chances are.

GURPS Combat Cards

There are a lot of options in combat in GURPS and sometimes it can be confusing GURPS Combat Cards from Steve Jacskon is a free downloadable PDF that you can print off, cut out, and hand out to your players in game.  We’ve found they make combat a breeze (especially for new players.)

That’s it for now.  I hope some of these resources help you and your players out in your games!

Are you a GURPS roleplayer? Are you still using pencils and paper for your character sheets? If so you need to seriously consider GURPS Character Sheet. GCS is free, works on pretty much every computer and is maintained and frequently updated, and is approved by Steve Jackson Games. The creators appear to work diligently to keep the program in sync with official GURPS changes. Did I mention it was 100% Free?

This program will change the way you roleplay! Generate new characters in a heartbeat, browse through a library of advantages and disadvantages that even has the source page listed! If you use GURPS you need to download this and check it out.  Featured at right is Arick Vordan, Master Wizard.  Other screenshots are available here.

It has a few faults, specifically it lacks a few features of GURPS Supers. Eventually I’m sure the developers will fix this as they all seem to be active roleplayers themselves. Steve Jackson Games had a previous program called GURPS Character Builder,  and have a current program called GURPS Character Assistant.  Character Assitant receives updates when new books are released, something Gurps Character Sheet does not have, however GCS is regularly updated.  The official Character Builder from Steve Jackson Games costs money, and to my knowledge only run on Windows.  GURPS Character Sheet runs on any platform and is regularly updated and it’s free… so decide for yourself!

UPDATE  3/27/09  GURPS Character Sheet Errors

Some people get an error saying that a file called MSVCR71.DLL is missing when they try running GURPS Character Sheet.  If you need it, you can download it here.  Just plop the file in your Windows directory (or in the folder where you installed GCS) and it should work just fine.  It’s a .7z file, so you’ll need 7Zip which you should get anyway, it’s the best way to open .zip and other compressed files.

“What do you collect?”
“Well, everything—what do you want?”
“Can we have it all?”  “Sure.”
Dmitri Williams summarizing the conversation with Sony.

MSNBC and Ars Technica recently reported that 60TB of user data over the last 4 years of EverQuest II play will be released and studied by scientists. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation and, ominously, the Army Research Institute.

Among other things (read: all things) the information will include who players talked to, when they talked to them, and the geographic locations of those players, as well as their Body Mass Index (BMI), psychological and other factors like depression, and their sexual orientation.

Once the data and the study are released, some interesting trends may become available. Already we’re told that MMO players in the study are more fit than the United States as a whole, and interestingly that players on Roleplaying Servers are more prone to have higher levels of depression.  Players also tend to play with individuals that they know personally and who are geographically close to them.  Numbers on the percentage of gay players has yet to be released, I’m curious if the MMO population is higher than the general population.

In my personal experience of playing MMOs it certainly seems like there are more gay people around, however I suspect this may be because more people are “out” in MMOs, due to the consequence free environment these games provide.

The data in the study has been made anonomous, with no user names (real or otherwise) apparently involved.

A niche movie if ever there was one, The Gamers: Dorkness Rising follows both the real life and roleplaying fantasy life of a group of, you guessed it, Gamers.  Roleplayers to be specific.   The film shifts, akwardly, between poorly acted scenes around a gaming table, and slightly better acted scenes (not by much though) set in the fantasy world in which the gamers are roleplaying.

Gamers has a number of laughable scenes, like the unprovoked murder of several innocent peasants throughout the movie, killed out of boredom with the GM.  Sadly there aren’t enough of these diamonds in the rough, and many scenes go on far longer than they should.

If you’re a roleplayer and you’re watching this movie with someone who isn’t, you might find the whole thing embarrassing…  not just for how bad the film itself is but for how bad actual roleplayers act in-game, and at how dorky a hobby roleplaying really can be.

The thing that really pulls the movie down is the acting.  It is as though my gaming friends and I decided to get together and film a movie with whatever we had lying around…. which looks to be the story with Gamers. At times I almost got the feeling the movie was trying to be a cult classic (an aspiration it never rises to.)

The spirit of the film endures though:  a mostly good natured look at roleplaying games, pointing out the absurdities of several conventions, and for actual roleplayers probably bringing back some fond memories of wacky games of their own.  Near the end it even tries to draw a line between muchkin players (out to win at all costs) and those who play for the story telling element, for what roleplaying should “really” be.

Is this movie for you?  If you roleplay and have some time to kill (and don’t mind some poorly acted scenes) you might like it.  For almost everyone else, probably not.

2   Dice Out Of   5  (Nice Try)