According to Eurogamer, Cryptic has confirmed that Star Trek Online is set for a February 2nd, 2010 release date in the U.S., and a February 5th, 2010 release in Europe. This comes about a month after Cryptic previously confirmed that STO was set for a first quarter 2010 release.

STO is currently in closed beta, allowing those lucky select fans a chance to the game out. If you previously had purchased the Champions Online lifetime or six month subscription package, you will also be getting a chance to try the game out during the closed beta stage.

We'll be sitting down with the STO development team soon, and are looking to take all the questions you have about the ships of STO; so hurry up and get them in before 12 p.m. PST tomorrow!

[Edit: We contacted Cryptic to confirm Eurogamer's story, and they say that this is not the official release date, but they will be announcing it very soon.]

Do you have burning questions for the Star Trek Online development team? We certainly hope so, because over the next several weeks we'll be issuing posts like this looking for your questions on a specific topic concerning the upcoming Trek MMO. This week? Ships! We want all your ship-related inquiries, whether they're about customization or weapon points; Federation of Klingon Empire.

We'll give you until 12pm Pacific time Friday, November 6th to submit your questions in the comments section below. Following that, we'll round up a cross-section of the most popular and most poignant questions and by next week we'll have your answers straight from the folks at Cryptic. We're also open to suggestions on next week's Q&A topic, so feel free to throw your hat into that ring while you're typing 'em up.

Update: We'll be extending the time limit on questions until the end of Friday, November 6th, so keep 'em coming guys!

There's a new Star Trek Online trailer out from Cryptic, originally released through GameSpot. The trailer features some impressive gameplay footage that illustrates nicely a few aspects of STO we've been hearing about for a while.

There's both ground combat and space combat featured, with Klingon, Federation, and Borg ships taking part in the overall action. In one scene we see a fleet of ships attacking a single Borg cube in quite a nice display of firepower, including several (of what appear to be) quantum torpedoes.

One of the more impressive aspects of this gameplay footage that we picked up on right way was the tactical maneuvering of what appears to be a mid-range ship of Romulan design. A captured still of the scene is pictured above, and you can clearly see in the video that the ship is moving to direct hits against its "bottom side" after the port shields were taking a significant beating. Note that the two ships attacking the main ship with green phasers are Klingon Vor'Cha class, so we're assuming the ship demonstrating the tactical moves is of Romulan origin.

We also noticed that the ship pictured above bares some resemblance to the unidentified "classified" ship listed in the Ships of the Line articles at the official STO website. The above ship can be viewed more clearly in the HD trailer, however the unidentified ship on the STO website doesn't have a clear image -- only a blurry reconnaissance image. The warp nacelles both look similar (espeically if you take the image angles into consideration), both have the same general outline, and both have guns protruding from each wing. An interesting coincidence we wanted to point out.

The video after the break.

We recently mentioned that Star Trek Online fans would get a chance to play through a demo of the game at Eurogamer Expo last week. One of the first reports we've read about the Star Trek Online demo comes from Oli Welsh at Eurogamer who was uniquely positioned to check out the game (it was their Expo after all.) Welsh begins by writing, "Trekkies can put one fear to rest right now: Star Trek Online feels just like Star Trek." Although this might assuage a bit of the apprehension some gamers have about trying yet another Star Trek game, Welsh is up front about the fact that the demo he played through was a contained single player experience. It's too soon to say what gameplay will feel like when hundreds of other players are thrown into the mix.

He writes about the demo's transitions between locations via warp jumps, keyboard navigation of star ships (standard WASD, with additional throttle control), and the pacing of ship combat. Welsh also walks the reader from the bridge of a Federation vessel down to the surface of a planet where Klingon opponents await. Fans of the game should read Eurogamer's hands on with Star Trek Online and may also be interested in the video footage of STO gameplay from Limited Edition, shot at this year's Eurogamer Expo (starting at 02:40. They've also captured gameplay of Global Agenda as well.) We've got a video embed of that for you after the jump.

Romulan and Klingon love anyone? That's what you'll find in our five exclusive Star Trek Online screens, one of which you can see above in all its sleek sexy glory.

If space isn't your thing -- although if that's the case, you may want to reconsider your interest in space MMOs -- Cryptic is showing off this view of a tropical environment that's making us long for warmer weather. Although, we're much more interested in shots that feature the glory of the Klingon Empire. Well, okay maybe that last one wasn't exactly glorious insomuch that nobody was being blown up. Let's just pretend that all the rubble was the remains of a powerful enemy brought to its knees... yeah.

Check out all the new images in the gallery below. You'll find all new images at the end.

With beta now beginning, we shot some relevant questions at Cryptic's Craig Zinkievich, executive producer on Star Trek Online. He gave us his insight on what the team's goals are during beta and what some of their toughest challenges were from their point of view. Plus, we even got him to spill the beans on when Klingons would be entering the fray for beta testers -- hopefully the rest of us get to see and hear more about the warrior race soon thereafter.

It's a short interview, mostly because we kept our questions on topic and well, also because we didn't want to distract Craig from working on his game for very long. Someone's got to work on fulfilling our childhood fantasies!

Sometimes you get a phaser blast to the face, and other times you get 12 new Star Trek Online screenshots courtesy of Cryptic Studios. Guess which one is today? Oh, we left our phasers at home so you'll have to make due with these 12 new screens. Good thing we had those on standby for just this occasion.

Violent threats involving energy weapons capable of vaporizing you in mere seconds aside, these are some substantially great screens. Whether it's some Cardassian love seen here (SFW, it's not literally alien love making) or various gratuitous space shots elsewhere, there's a whole heck of a lot to soak in visually. And with beta now just beginning, we're sure to have plenty more where this came as the weeks slip on by at sub-space speeds.

Star Trek Online's the Future Past part two video brings us up to speed on everything that's led up to the open conflict between the Federation and Klingon Empire in the year 2409. It details the events that brought the Gorn into the Klingon Empire, as well as the initial attack that led to actual war between what will be the two player factions when the game launches.

While they may not be as crazy and over-the-top as other videos we've recently seen, these lore pieces are more than welcome. This is probably the last of the lore videos, and we imagine from here on out Cryptic will be releasing more game feature orientated stuff -- so enjoy this while you can, lore nerds.

Check out the lore-filled video after the break.

You there! You look like the kind of aspiring individual who knows what's best for him or her. Why, we bet that if you had to choose between the cowardly Federation or mighty Klingon Empire, you'd make the right decision. Would you? Of course you would. That's right, you're a proud and courageous warrior, it's so obvious now.

We asked Cryptic if they were involved, but their official response was that, sadly, they weren't. Even still, the video is nothing but pure awesome and we hope that whomever is responsible makes a Federation variant at some point -- or even a Borg version!

Check out the video after the break, and afterwards you will come to love Qo'noS as much as we now do.

The next major MMO from Cryptic Studios is Star Trek Online, which may bridge the gap in sci-fi MMOs between ship-based combat and avatar interaction on planetary surfaces. Cryptic has been releasing new screenshots and talking quite a bit about character progression lately, but sometimes it's better to show than to tell. That's what they're doing with the latest game trailer showing off footage of conflicts in space and planetary environments your away teams will explore.

The Star Trek Online cinematic war trailer at GameVideos gives some background on the STO setting along with the requisite phaser fire, Borg cubes, and bridges boarded. We've got the latest Star Trek Online footage embedded for you, so stick with us after the cut.

Some people have already gotten into the closed beta for Star Trek Online, but for the rest of us it's going to be a waiting game. There may be good news for some of our UK-based readers, though. Those in attendance at this week's Eurogamer Expo will get to experience both ship-based action and ground combat firsthand in a Star Trek Online demo Cryptic Studios has set up. According to Eurogamer, Cryptic will allow Expo attendees to fight a fleet of Klingons and follow that up with an away mission on a planet's surface, where they will encounter the "Guardian of Forever."

Eurogamer Expo will run October 27-28 in Leeds, and October 30-31 in London. You can check out the full details of this public hands-on of Star Trek Online in the Eurogamer announcement.

One of the big claims about Star Wars: the Old Republic is that the game is meant to be fully voiced, from start to finish. On the flip side, Star Trek Online will not be fully voiced -- in fact, its executive producer Craig Zinkievich recently made some statements asking more or less what the point of voice acting in the game really is. To quote: "It adds something to the game, but I don't think that VO-ing all of your text provides for that big a bang for the buck in terms of immersion."

Bio Break seems to disagree rather emphatically. As he points out, voice is one of the most immersive and important parts of a game world in which our immersion is, by necessity, limited. We can only hear or see what's going on in front of us, which makes the things we hear and see all the more important. (Or makes a USB taste simulator all the more urgent.) He points out, quite rightly, that each of us have at least one or two bosses that we remember more on the strength of their voice acting than because of the fight itself.

Bioware, of course, has long offered a great deal of voice acting in its games. It remains to be seen if the promises of pervasive acting in Star Wars: the Old Republic will be carried out, but the discussion about how important voice is will remain either way. Take a look at the article, and share your thoughts in the comments: is it important that a game have full voiceovers and cutscenes, or is that a distraction without much relevance?

The Star Trek Online closed beta has officially begun as of today, October 22, Cryptic Studios announced. Rekhan from Cryptic Studios writes: "If you've signed up, keep an eye on your email, as we'll periodically be inviting people to join in and share their feedback." He also pointed out that the "Closed Beta" graphic seen on the game's homepage will change to read "ACCEPTED" in big, bold letters once you're in.

If you haven't applied to become a beta tester there's still time, just point your browser towards the sign-up page and you're one step closer to getting an early peek at Star Trek Online.

Now that Champions Online is live and full of players facing off against comic-style villains, Cryptic Studios is starting to reveal more about their other major MMO project, Star Trek Online. We're noting more gaming press coverage of this title and came across a preview at the online community Alltern8 written by Carl Doherty. It's worth a look for Star Trek fans curious about what the MMO might add to the IP. He gives readers a basic overview of what Star Trek Online has to offer, but Doherty also acknowledges the challenges Cryptic Studios faces with making the game a hit with fans of the franchise. Doherty writes, "The cerebral pacing and ambitious allegories of Star Trek don't always translate well to the action-packed experiences most gamers expect."

That's by no means an indictment of Cryptic's particular take on bringing Star Trek into the MMO world. In fact, Doherty's impression of STO is that it has the requisite interplay of exploration and conflict that's made Star Trek such an enduring IP.