Star Trek Online is on Server Overload

Tuesday marked the official launch of Cryptic Studio's MMORPG, Star Trek Online. Proving that Trek isn't just for geeks, fans flocked to the just-launched PC game and have now overloaded the servers, catching Cryptic by surprise. Unlike other MMORPG launches, Star Trek Online came packed with a pre-installed fan base stretching back to the 1960's, making this overload unsurprising.

The Star Trek Online beta, launched last month, suffered the same fate, enduring a flood of players that locked up the log-in system and thus prevented this annoyed gamer from checking out Roddenberry's virtual world. Cryptic eventually alleviated the burden by optimizing and expanding the MMORPG's server-base, however now it seems that those efforts weren't enough for the full-fledged launch.

"Throughout Head Start we noticed the overwhelming response to the game and we are working on changes to further increase the number of people who can play Star Trek Online at any given time," the company said. "Our current plan is to have these changes in place sometime this coming weekend. We will, of course, keep you updated on progress as it happens."

Atari recently announced that Star Trek Online already has over one million registered users. This probably includes the players of the now-closed beta program. Still, recent troubles sounds like something needs a nice, warm warp core injection, eh Scotty?

  • Blessedman
    Haha who knew?! I bet it's very hard to start an MMORPG these days as you never know how many users are actually going to flock to your game. You either spend way to much and give your game an early death or spend to little and end up with a lot of pissed users.
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  • anamaniac
    =D

    Kirk was good, but Picard was better!
    Screw Chuck Norris, Kirk and Picard would double team his ass.
    Reply
  • JeBuSBrian
    No surprise to anyone who was in the beta.
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  • fonzy
    I don't know why there are so many people, I thought the game was terrible.... at least the beta was.
    Reply
  • Gankak
    Picard was better really? I don't want a captain who is at best a metro-sexual and a damn Frenchman. I would rather have Janeway than Picard she had more balls than him.
    Reply
  • NivenFres
    Been playing since the open beta. Only had a couple times where I had login issues. So far it's a decent game. It needs a little polish still too. While I don' think it's going to be a WoW killer, it's been a lot of fun.
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  • cryogenic
    I'm gonna buy the game and make a bold terran character named Pikard, or something similar ... (Yes I'm original :P, I know)
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  • zelannii
    I played the beta. They were still ordering servers on the fly to handle load. That was only a few weeks ago, and for only about 10,000 active keys. I can't imaging in a few weeks that they were able to install enough additional servers to handle over half a million logins.... I fully expects a day-one onslaught of epic proportions.

    Thankfully, I don't have to suffer with it, as the Beta period was enough for me to know this is a game I have no further interest in.

    Gripes:
    1) flying a starship in combat is about as exciting as watching 2 aircraft carriers do a circle. It's excruciatingly slow. These ships are not fighter planes.
    2) These are not fighter planes! WTF do they fly as if there's an atmosphere in space? No momentum, can't rotate on all 3 axis, it only moves in the direction the nose of the craft is pointing, shutting down engines does not allow the craft to continue course.
    3) Cooperative FPS mode ("beamed down"), is another god awful engine. Slow, dated by modern standards, limited controls. ANY current MMO that uses minions/henchmen has a far superior engine. After a few hours bored in space combat, I was hoping for a more exciting ground scenario, but no, it's also painfully slow.
    4) The interface. It;s horrible. It has a vaguely Trek-like feel, but it's all pastels. i expected sharp colors and clear, readible displays, similar to what's on TV, but the UI feels almost childish this way. It;s also difficult to read many screens, and some real-time indicators, even on a 1900x1200 resolution which most people won't have.
    5) The camera engine and flight controls. Ships perform best in combat when you have multiple firing arcs overlaping between you and the target (aka, usually the target was to be to your port or starboard), yet the flight controls work best when the camera is directly behind the ship (as turning is accomplished by clicking both mouse buttons in the direction you want to turn). This means, most commonly, your target is very difficult to keep ON SCREEN while fighting. One of the most common combat scenarios in Star Trak had someone at the chair scream out "Attack pattern Delta!" yet there are no automated controls for ship movement while you control the camera. The game SERIOUSLY needs function to say "circle target" "maintain x distance from target" "roll to present strongest shield to target" etc.
    6) Another common statement "take out their engines" or "take out their shield generator" Once their shields are weak, all you do is beat on the hull. You can't target specific subsystems, there's no strategy in combat outside of focussing on bringing 1 shield quadrant down by simply being in the right place while firing.

    This game SUCKS. It needs a complete UI overhaul; a major upgrade to space combat including ship controlls, targeting, and more; and a completely seperate ground combat engine and UI from the ship (they tried, and failed, to use the same 3D engine in both areas, often when beaming down I'd find myself in a room with lots of people, but I was still a ship, and moved like a ship, for 30 seconds or so.) It's 2 completely different game play experiences, they should look and work different.
    Reply
  • agentjon
    Once they fix the hardware issues I hope the spend time on the Klingons. We are so gimped we don't even have signs at our space docks to tell us where things are. You go to a Starfleet base and ther are BIG SIGNS telling you which corridor the Shipyard or Personel office is. And don't get me started on the Klingon Requisition system.

    I play games to get away from my real world troubles but gees this is just like work where I cant get a tape despensor for crying out loud, let alone a Mark IV terminal so I don't have to keep rebooting my computer
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  • back_by_demand
    GankakPicard was better really? I don't want a captain who is at best a metro-sexual and a damn Frenchman.You're an idiot. He may play a French person but Patrick Stewart is an Englishman. Plus everyone knows that Pike was the best Captain.
    Reply