Star Trek Online is a game being built upon many years of television and films of the sci-fi IP, which has been packed with hundreds of skirmishes and full-on battles. It's not surprising that a number of gamers who are curious about STO want to know about the game mechanics of space combat in the upcoming MMO, and if they'll be able to do the things they've seen play out on their television screens. This was the focus of yesterday's dev chat at Cryptic Studios, where Star Trek Online executive producer Craig Zinkievich fielded questions from the game community.

Starship navigation in Star Trek Online will allow for a range of movement but it won't be possible for ships to dogfight. (And honestly, should these massive ships really be pulling barrel rolls in combat?) But even the smaller vessels with very different attributes will be subject to limitations in movement, so "there's no strafing, no moving backwards and shooting (kiting)" says Zinkievich. He clarifies this by saying that ships can move in reverse, but doing so wouldn't be useful in combat. So apparently the game will not have Jumpgate Evolution-type scenarios where smaller ships move with blazing speed and agility, as STO combat is by design a more tactical experience.

There is perhaps nothing that Star Trek content creators fear more than the collective power of Trekkie nerd rage when the universe's canon is altered. Cryptic Studios is well aware of this and wants to clarify where Star Trek Online falls in the IP's timeline, and they frame this in reference to the latest (and eleventh) film and the deviation from canon it introduces with an altered timeline.

Plainly stated, Star Trek Online adheres to the standard timeline. STO will be set in the same reality as the first ten films and the various TV series, from First Contact right through Voyager and beyond. Cryptic Studios has put together a graphical timeline of the entirety of the Star Trek legacy, showing exactly when the game picks after the shows and films leave off, with the events of Star Trek Online taking place in 2409. Have a look at Cryptic's Star Trek Universe Timelines for more.

I'll give you original Star Trek fans a moment for the mist to clear from your eyes, for your hearts to slink back down your throats... All better? Good, because the newly revealed Excalibur class for Star Trek Online is quite striking. Interestingly the team at Cryptic is using a more angular design for their re-imagined Constitution class, as opposed to the recent Star Trek movie, which employs a sleek and streamlined design philosophy.

Both designs are pretty attractive, but we're sure plenty of people will prefer one over the other. Either way, we're really digging the look of the Excalibur class vessel. It makes us wonder what other old designs will feature newer updated versions as well, such as the Klingon Empire's Bird of Prey.

Having both the original and updated appearances of ships would be the wisest choice, of course. Although we're not entirely certain many players would want to enter a fight with the original Constitution class version of this design, as that one's a bit... outdated.

We knew that Champions Online was heading to the PC on September 1st, and that hasn't changed. What has been altered however, is the release date for the Xbox 360 version of Cryptic's second superpowered MMO -- that date is now sometime between September 1st and December 31st of this year. A bit vague, we know, but it's a whole lot better than being unannounced entirely.

Another piece of news is the projected release date for Star Trek Online, which according to Cryptic, will come out no later than March 31st. So mark your calendars boys and girls, because you'll be boldly going where no man has gone before well within a year.

But wait, there's more! The final piece of announced news is that Cryptic is hard at work on a, "series of new games based on Atari's existing and historically successful IPs," which covers quite a few games. Still, with the release dates of their only two projects not that far off, it's good to know they've got plans for the immediate future.

Although the most popular MMOs of today are in the fantasy genre, a niche within the MMO market has always existed for sci-fi games. For quite some time, EVE Online has dominated this niche with a steadily growing playerbase that has now exceeded 300,000 paying subscribers. It's been noted that releases in the fantasy market tend not to affect EVE Online, showing that it's not directly competing with games in the fantasy market. Perhaps the target markets of sci-fi and fantasy MMOs have very little overlap or perhaps the gameplay in EVE is unique enough that no real alternatives exist. Whatever the reason, EVE has been blessed with a relative lack of competition since its release in 2003. But with four major sci-fi MMOs on the horizon, could the game's creators CCP be in for a rough ride?

In this speculative opinion piece, I examine how EVE reacted to competition in the past and suggest how it may react to the next wave of sci-fi MMOs to hit the market.

Everyone has their favorite ship designs in Star Trek. Some people can't get enough Klingon ships, while others are all about the Federation. Today however, is a good day for Romulan fans, as two new screens featuring the species' ships are available for ogling and general drooling-over.

It must be admitted, the sleek sexy curves of these two ships are most... fascinating. It's almost enough to make a person forget the beauty of some of the more advanced Federation vessels. Not that we would, of course. Our dedication to the Federation is... uh, well okay we'd probably fly one of these without a second thought if the opportunity presented itself.

What's even more beautiful than the ships, perhaps, is the space they're flying through. It can't be easy to consistently awe inspiring space vistas, but the people working on this game seem to keep churning them out time and time again. Hopefully we'll get to see some of it in motion sometime in the future.

Ten comics enter, one leaves with a beta key for Star Trek Online. That's the latest contest the folks at Cryptic are running, and they're letting the community vote! The one minor caveat is that you've got to have a forum account to actually place your vote, which is an easily resolved matter.

We kind of wish that the comics had been re-sized a little, as some of them appear to be quite massive in dimensions. Nonetheless, there are some really great Trek-humor entries. Just be careful to go into these knowing that unless you watched a lot -- and enjoyed a lot -- of Star Trek, you probably won't really care too much for the humor. And while the art may not be the best in the world, it's an enjoyable effort by an obviously enthralled community.

There are few science fiction properties in existence that command the fan devotion that Star Trek does. Cryptic Studios is hoping to tap that huge fanbase with Star Trek Online, one of their massively multiplayer online games in development. Gamespot writer Andrew Park recently got a hands-on with STO that sheds some more light on the title. Park explains where Star Trek Online is set in terms of the IP's extensive timeline (the year 2409) and the political backdrop (The United Federation of Planets/Khitomer Accords). Much of his preview of STO focuses on three main aspects of gameplay -- ship battles; exploration; and away teams -- but Park also imparts some details about race customizations and the importance of preparation (advance recon, crew choices, weapon and shield decisions) in succeeding as a starship captain.

If you're interested in hearing more about the upcoming title, you'll want to check out Andrew Park's "Star Trek Online Exclusive Impressions: Ship Battles, Exploration, and Away Teams" at Gamespot.

A nice thing Cryptic Studios has been doing across their MMO titles in development is "Ask Cryptic", where fans of Star Trek Online (and Champions Online) pose questions to the developers and get answers. The latest (and tenth) Ask Cryptic for Star Trek Online covers a wide variety of topics.

Cryptic explains a bit about space navigation in Star Trek Online, done via three levels of maps -- sector space maps (planets, solar systems, space stations, nebulas, anomalies), system maps (3D), and ground maps which include the surface of planets for away missions as well as space station interiors. They also address a strength of Star Trek Online that not all MMOs have -- entity into entity collision. What does this mean for STO players? Ramming speed! In fact, that will be one of the skills players can select. Cryptic explains the advantage to this, with one caveat: "Keep in mind, if your ship is already badly damaged, you may not want to ram into a fully intact Borg cube, for example. That would be a bad idea. On the other hand, if you know you're going to lose, you could ram into them, hit the self destruct and take them out with you."

Word has come down from Starfleet that there's a new kind of scientific vessel being spotted across the Alpha Quadrant for upcoming title Star Trek Online. Being used by the Kobheerians, Galadorans, Barolians and Coverians, the Type VII might look harmless, but captains are being warned not to judge a ship by its exterior.

Primarily a science vessel, Starfleet has noted that the Type VII can be retrofitted with impressive shields making it a formidable tactical challenge for any Captain who comes across it:

"Defenses on the Type VII are not designed to withstand a sustained attack. Because the Type VII is primarily used for civilian or commercial purposes, captains of the Type VII are more likely to run or send out a distress signal rather than fight an opponent alone. However, a handful of Type VII ships have been successfully retrofitted with multiphasic, paratrinic or metaphasic shield emitters. On Stardate 84072.55, the U.S.S Trieste recorded an incident where the S.S. Trialas, a Type VII vessel registered out of Galador II, successfully evaded a group of Nausicaan raiders by hiding in the corona of a star."

The concepts behind Star Trek need no introduction to its legion of fans well-versed in the various films and TV incarnations of this particular sci-fi IP. Given how zealous science fiction fans can be about continuations, offshoots, or reboots of their favorite properties, we've been curious about how well Star Trek Online will match up with player expectations, especially given the disappointment some Trekkie gamers have had with older Star Trek titles of the non-MMO variety.

That said, we're always looking to find out more about what Star Trek Online will offer MMO gamers, whether they're Trekkies or not. Cryptic Studios has been releasing bits of the game's lore which we hope will give us an accurate picture of where the game sits in the Star Trek timeline. We've also came across a Star Trek Online interview that might interest you. Gareth Von Kallenbach from Skewed and Reviewed recently interviewed Star Trek Online's executive producer Craig Zinkievich, who discusses some of the customization options that will be available to players in STO.

MSNBC have released a video interview with executive producer Craig Zinkievich from Cryptic Studios about their upcoming title, Star Trek Online. The video is released at a time of renewed interest in the Star Trek franchise with the latest film, simply called Star Trek, due for release in May.

Star Trek Online is set in the year 2409, which is 30 years after the events of the last Next Generation film, Star Trek: Nemesis, and allows players to take the role of starship captains. In the video Zinkievich explains the basic themes of the title while video showing footage of the game plays alongside footage from the new film. Traditional Star Trek style gameplay is emphasized, with starship combat featuring heavily in the video and Zinkievich focusing on the ability to form away teams of up to four player captains, although if you have less than four then NPCs will take the roles of any slots not taken by other players. These NPCs are bridge officers that you level up and equip who also bring abilities to the space combat side of the game. Finally the fact that Star Trek Online will appeal to all science fiction fans, not just fans of Star Trek is emphasized. You can view the full video over at MSNBC.

In an inventive -- if not creatively fun for whoever wrote it -- display of storytelling, the most recent "Path to 2409" update on the official Star Trek Online website takes the form of an in-character interview set against the backdrop of Quark's Bar. Now it just may be us, but placing your characters in Deep Space Nine fans' favorite locale seems like a great way to pique interest among usually too-long-to-read types.

And hopefully it works, because this interview details the beginnings of the war between the Federation and Klingon Empire from an engaging first person perspective. Historical logs can be interesting for some but yawn-inducing for many others -- so more of this wonderfully more interesting approach is definitely for the best.

Hopefully if enough people check this one out, Cryptic will see the demand and create even more dynamic media for the game's lore. It's certainly been working well for Star Wars: The Old Republic, so why not for this game as well?

Today brings three new screenshots from Cryptic's upcoming Star Trek Online. While these crazy space mushroom trees in the ground shot gave us overwhelming "heebie-jeebies" they're beginning to grow on us at a startling rate -- they're almost majestic. The same could be said for this familiar Klingon Empire starship, which appears to be a variant on the Bird of Prey. But don't quote us on that, as our Trek-fu will never be as strong as the fan collective's.

This new planet with ring shot is quite possibly the most impressive yet. If the game's visuals continue to increase at this rate until launch, we'll have a built-in incentive for exploration. And while we're certainly expecting some in-game rewards, the sheer beauty of that shot makes us wonder about black holes, quasars, red giants, nebulae and all sorts of wonderful celestial bodies.

Hey Cryptic, think you can get a naked singularity or two in the game? We'd be eternally awestruck if you could pull it off.