Star Trek Online

Star Trek Online (STO or ST:O for short) is a game (MMORPG) developed by Cryptic Studios. Released in, the game takes place in the year 2409, nearly thirty years after and 22 years after the destruction of Romulus as depicted in.

Premise
The year is 2409, and the Federation and the Klingon Empire are once again at war. The rise of a new Chancellor, J'mpok, sees the Khitomer Accords torn up, and an aggressive campaign of Klingon expansion underway. The Romulans, directionless and adrift after the destruction of their homeworld in 2387, continue to intrigue amongst themselves - a conflict which inevitably draws the Federation in to the machinations of the once-proud Star Empire. The Cardassians, still recovering from the Dominion War, stir up trouble near Deep Space 9, as does a resurgent Terran Empire. And, after a period of relative inactivity, the Borg have begun to encroach on the Alpha Quadrant once more, starting with an attack on the Vega colony. At the same time, the Undine, aggrieved at what appear to be incursions into fluidic space by Alpha Quadrant powers, have begun infiltrating the major powers and driving them to conflict. And, behind all of this, a mysterious, ancient presence...

Development
Following the termination of development on the earlier version of the game by Perpetual Entertainment, Cryptic acquired the license for Star Trek Online in, and subsequently hired several members of the Perpetual development team. The game was rebuilt from scratch as Cryptic had acquired no useful assets from Perpetual aside from several pieces of concept art that may be included in the final game.  On, after placing a countdown timer on its website, Cryptic officially announced that they were the new developers and publishers of Star Trek Online. The official website was relaunched with details and screen shots. 

On, at the official Star Trek convention in Las Vegas, Cryptic released several key details of the game as well as a gameplay trailer derived directly from the functioning game. Although no release date was announced at the time, Cryptic Chief Creative Officer Jack Emmert hinted that it would be sooner than players would expect, and certainly within the next three years.

Along with Cryptic's other assets and projects, Star Trek Online was acquired by French game company Infogrames on, and would be listed under its Atari brand at release. 

Star Trek Online entered the closed beta stage on. On, the February 2010 release date was announced, with open beta details being released the following week. The open beta stage was originally intended to last from through. This was ultimately extended until, when the final day saw Cryptic stage a Klingon invasion of the Sol system, later interrupted by a full-scale Borg attack on Earth Spacedock which targeting both sides. A head-start offer to customers who had pre-ordered the game allowed them into the full game on, ahead of standard retail customers.

Release
Star Trek Online was released in the United States on, and in Europe. Several different editions were available at launch, as well as a number of retailer-specific pre-order bonuses. Aside from the standard release, Deluxe and Collectors' Editions were produced, as was a digital release, the Digital Deluxe Edition. Each came with thirty days of free game time, although players were required to provide payment details when signing up.

The Collectors' Edition was only released in the United States. Packaged in a unique box, it came with a deluxe manual featuring extensive artwork, a metal replica of the standard combadge used in game, three 3-day timecards for referrals, as well as a redemption code for the uniforms seen in The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, and a special in-game item.

The Deluxe Edition was a European edition of the Collectors' Edition, omitting the deluxe manual, combadge and the additional timecards, but including a special Star Trek Online T-shirt, a set of artcards and a version of the game's galaxy map.

The Digital Deluxe Edition was a download of the game, and therefore had no physical box or extras, but provided a number of in-game items, including the ability to play as a Joined Trill, the ability to add an NX prefix to the player's starship, two special emotes, and a special weapon.

Retailer-specific pre-order bonuses included the ability to command a Borg Bridge Officer, a TR-116 rifle, and a starting ship with unique weaponry which scaled with the player's level.

Perfect World acquisition
Perfect World, a China-based game developer and publisher, announced on that it was in talks to acquire Cryptic Studios from Atari, including the Star Trek Online property and development team. The acquisition was completed in early, the transition involving the removal of all Atari branding from the game (including reverting the usage of Atari Tokens to Cryptic Points, called Zen). Amongst the other developments as a result of the transition was the lifting of a hiring freeze in order to add more developers to the staff, and ramp up for new content. 

Free-to-Play
On, it was revealed that STO would transition to a free-to-play (F2P) access model before the end of the year. Further details of the model, including a comparison of the features available to both player tiers, were released on - the model sees Silver members (free players) restricted to smaller inventory sizes, bank slots, Bridge Officer slots, as well as restrictions on in-game chat, mail, voice chat, and access to the STO forums. Gold members (subscribers and Lifetime members) would have a monthly stipend of 500 Zen. All content will be freely available to both tiers. Klingon and Romulan content can be used starting at level 1. 

On, it was announced that STO would go free-to-play on , but many of the F2P-related changes would be released on the main server during the first week of December (later confirmed to be ). On, it was announced the F2P launch would go under the Season 5: Call to Arms title. 

Gameplay
STO's gameplay is largely combat-based (although non-combat missions are present, and a specific "Diplomatic" advancement path is available). Players may choose to align themselves with the United Federation of Planets or the Klingon Empire. The Federation is the most strongly developed in terms of mission gameplay, with the Klingon faction originally intended as a pure PvP (Player vs. Player) faction - although this has begun to change in more recent updates. The newest faction, The Romulan Republic, is a breakaway faction of the Romulan Star Empire, with its own ships, missions, storyline, and ranks, but players at level 10 ally with either the Federation or the Klingons, gaining access to either faction's facilities.

The player's principal character is the captain of their own vessel, with support characters assigned as Bridge Officers. These Officers provide the player with additional skills and abilities both in space and on the ground. Starting as an Ensign (Starfleet), Warrior (Klingon), or Civilian (Romulan), the player gains skill points and specializations via gameplay to advance in rank, unlocking new skills and more powerful ships along the way, until reaching the maximum rank.

The game staff intend for the level cap ultimately to be extended to Fleet Admiral/Dahar Master. Bridge Officers may also be promoted up until Commander level, unlocking the use of new skills.

A difficulty slider is available for players to change the level at which they play. At Normal difficulty, the enemies are of an equal level to that of the mission, and rewards and equipment drops are at a standard level. At Advanced and Elite difficulties, the enemies are more powerful, but equipment drops provide rarer devices, and mission rewards are scaled higher. At the two higher difficulties, the death of your character or the destruction of your ship can result in the imposition of injuries, which impair the player in different ways depending on the nature of the injury - for example, a Minor Concussion injury on the player's character results in a reduction in their resistance to energy damage.

Missions
Principal gameplay occurs through the completion of missions. These missions are acquired from communication with superior officers, and often involved travel to a particular system, where space and ground objectives must be completed to earn rewards. Some missions span multiple systems. There are several types of mission encountered in STO:

Tour of Duty
This is the tutorial mission encountered by all players upon starting a new Federation character. The player assumes the role of an officer aboard his starting starship, during the Borg attack on the Vega colony. After assisting the USS Khitomer in repelling a Borg invasion (introducing basic movement, combat and interaction), the player finds themself in command of their ship, and must assist in recovery operations (introducing basic starship operations), engage a weakened Borg force in orbit (introducing starship combat) and on the surface (introducing power "kits" and combat tactics), and finally join a Starfleet task force to eliminate a Borg cube. Upon completion of the tutorial, the player proceeds to Earth Spacedock, to begin the game proper.

Episode Missions
These missions provide the central backbone of the STO storyline. Each "Episode" features an extended storyline across a number of individual missions, relating to a particular Trek race. The Episodes take place in separate "Fronts" made up of specific sectors. Most Fronts have at least one Starbase where the officers who provide missions are based and players can purchase equipment and upgrades.

Klingon Front
After an introductory mission to rescue a disabled freighter, the player encounters an Undine agent, prevents the kidnap of Miral Paris, follows a chain of listening posts to a Klingon base, stops a dangerous genetic engineering experiment, travels in time to complete a predestination paradox, and stops the Klingons from taking control of a Doomsday machine.

Romulan Front
The player encounters the mysterious Franklin Drake and becomes embroiled in the machinations of Section 31, unwittingly allows another Undine agent to infiltrate the Romulans, prevents data on Borg technology from being exploited by Romulan hands, uncovers the truth behind the Hobus supernova and its connection to Iconia, combats the Devidians, and deals with Empress Sela's alliance with the Hirogen.

Cardassian Front
Called to Deep Space 9 to help combat the True Way, a rogue Cardassian faction, the player again tangles with the Undine, recovers a Federation starship trapped in the Bajoran wormhole, learns what the Klingons want in the Minos Korva system, recovers an Orb, and encounters a resurgent Terran Empire before crossing into the mirror universe.

Borg Front
The Klingons and the Federation, recognizing the threat posed by the Borg, have combined forces in the Gamma Orionis Sector Block. The player is caught in the crossfire of the Borg-Undine conflict, counteracts a Borg nanovirus, encounters the mischievous Q and travels back to the Battle of Wolf 359 to prevent the Borg from changing history.

Undine Front
The player discovers a third party in the ongoing conflict in the Gamma Orionis sector after a mysterious vessel destroys a Borg cube. Preventing the Borg from discovering the key to assimilating the Undine, entering fluidic space and gaining new allies, and attempting to negotiate a truce with the Undine leads to the discovery of an Iconian gateway in fluidic space...

Exploration
There are two types of exploration mission provided in gameplay - Sector Exploration missions, and Star Cluster Exploration missions.

Sector Exploration missions (also known as Patrols) utilize the sectors present in the main galaxy map and the systems present there. These typically involve visiting four star systems within a particular sector and resolving individual missions in each. These mission, once completed, cannot be replayed.

Star Clusters are located in "deep space", outside the normal galaxy map, and are populated with systems generated by Cryptic's "Genesis Engine", which provides a randomized mission for each player. A mission involving exploration of these clusters typically requires the completion of three missions. These exploration mission are repeatable, and reward the player with dilithium which can be exchanged for equipment.

Diplomatic
Introduced in the Season Two update, the Federation Diplomatic Corps provides a combat-minimal method of advancement for players. Diplomatic missions are provided by Ambassador Jiro Sugihara, and are typically Exploration missions where combat does not take place. Some special non-repeatable Diplomatic missions are also available, and progression through the Corps' ranking structure unlocks first contact missions, as well as transwarp capabilities and unique diplomatic titles.

Deep Space Encounters
These are simple combat encounters, triggered when approaching or encountering a wandering enemy vessel in Sector Space. The encounter is resolved after defeating nine-ten groups of enemy ships. "Defend the... Sector" missions require a player to complete three DSEs. The enemy ships are at a level roughly equivalent to the missions within the sector, are related to the front to which that sector belongs, and do not level up with the player.

Fleet Actions
Fleet Actions are extended combat encounters at fixed locations, involving groupings of players working together to combat a significant threat. Both space- and ground-based Fleet Actions can be found, and often require complex tactics needing coordination of players.

Feature Episodes
Feature Episodes were introduced with Season Two. A series of five missions, forming a connected storyline, is released weekly. Each series focuses on a specific race, and provides unique rewards associated with the storyline, as well as limited-time additional rewards for completing the series soon after its release. Both Federation and Klingon players may attempt the missions, which are restricted to above a certain level. Additional daily missions may be added during the series, and all of the episodes are retained within the game following the end of the series. Feature Episode reruns introduced in May 2011 have allowed another chance for players to earn the limited-time rewards, as well as newly introduced rewards.

The Feature Episode series that have been released so far have been (with their debut dates in parentheses):
 * Series 1: The Breen (August-September 2010) - The player must unravel the reasons for Breen interest in the Deferi, a newly-encountered race, and protect the Deferi from Breen encroachment.
 * Series 2: The Devidians (October-November 2010) - The Devidians seek to use time, and the ongoing conflict in the Neutral Zone, to their own advantage.
 * Series 3: Cloaked Intentions (February-March 2011) - The internal struggles of the Romulans continue, pulling the Federation and KDF into the predicament.
 * Series 4: The 2800 (February-March 2012) - The Dominion fleet that disappeared in emerges from the Bajoran wormhole after having been displaced through time by the Prophets, and takes control of Deep Space Nine. The Odyssey class USS Enterprise-F made its formal debut in the series finale, "Boldly They Rode", on.

Daily Missions
These are repeatable missions set on a timer, so that a player may only complete them, and receive the appropriate reward, once in a 24-hour period (although the actual reset time is 20-22 hours). Most Daily Missions are intended for maximum-level players, and provide rewards that can be traded for special equipment and weapons.

Special Task Forces
Special Task Forces (STFs) are a unique mission type, created as "endgame" content for maximum-level players. More difficult and extensive than ordinary missions, the STFs are intended to be undertaken by a team of five players.

There are currently a total of 9 STFs available, 8 centered on the Borg, and 1 on the Undine.

9 STFs are currently available - Infected: Manus, Infected: The Conduit The Cure: Found The Cure: Applied, Khitomer Accord: In Stasis, Khitomer Accord: Vortex, Hive: Into the Hive, Hive: Onslaught, and Terradome'' - all centered around the Borg-Undine conflict.

The following STFs are currently tied into the PVE Queue system:
 * '''Infected: Manus (Ground)
 * '''Infected: The Conduit (Space)
 * '''The Cure: Found (Ground)
 * '''The Cure: Applied (Space)
 * '''Khitomer Accord: In Stasis (Ground)
 * '''Khitomer Accord: Vortex (Space)
 * '''Hive: Into the Hive (Ground)
 * '''Hive: Onslaught (Space)

Upon introduction, Infected, The Cure and Khitomer Accord were combined into a mixture of ground and space maps. Following Season 5, these STFs were split into their own segments for faster runs, and tied into the new PVE Queue system.

All of the PVE Queue STFs currently award Omega Marks which can be used for progressing in the Omega Force Reputation track, as well as purchasing various Borg-themed gear. Previously, these STFs awarded a number of tech drops and Encrypted Datachips. This was deemed overly complicated for some, and in order to obtain the best possible gear, one had to be lucky with the drops. Under the new Reputation system, all gear is accessable over time, without the need to rely on luck.

Terradome is currently the only STF not tied into the PVE Queue system. A revamp of this STF is planned for a future update.

Episode Replay and Re-mastered Episodes
Episode Replay was added to the game during the Season Three update, allowing players to re-experience missions they have already completed, with some new rewards added for replaying. Additionally, certain episodes are being re-mastered, taking advantage of new storytelling technologies, such as career-specific objectives and cinematic cutscenes, added to the game's engine since the initial release.

Borg Red Alerts
Borg Red Alerts were added during Season Four as quasi-random Fleet Action-type events where players from both the Federation and Klingon Empire can team up to defeat Borg incursions in various sectors in the game. Players are given a limited amount of time to complete the event, but benefit from a XP-gain bonus during the event, and can earn special Accolades and (until the release of Season Five,) an XP-boosting item upon victory.

Crafting
Crafting refers to the ability of players to research and create upgraded technologies for use by their character or their ship. Crafting takes place at Memory Alpha, and requires the collection of "data samples" which are acquired by scanning anomalies in space and on the ground. In the current crafting system, introduced as part of Season Three, these data samples are combined with "schematics", which provide the basic blueprint of the technology being researched. Certain very rare items can be crafted using rare "particle traces". The creation of new technologies provides the player with skill points, which increase the rarity of the technologies that can be crafted.

Additionally, special starship components, known as Aegis technologies, can be crafted at the highest end of the skill point range.

PvP
PvP gameplay, which is accessible to any player of level 5 or greater, is accomplished by means of a queuing system. Both ground and space mission types are available, and the queues are rank-limited so that only players of the same rank may play against each other. Three faction arrangements are possible - Federation versus Klingon, Klingon versus Klingon (House Battles), and Federation versus Federation (Wargames).

Updates
Regular patches provide bug fixes and improved features. Major updates are released under a "Season" banner on a semi-regular basis. Prior to release on the main gameplay server, "Holodeck", these patches and updates are tested on STO's test server, "Tribble". Another revamp form the original game is the incorporation of a more modern shooter mode, replacing the original RPG style Point-and-Click. both modes are still available.

Season One: Common Ground
The first major update to the STO system, Common Ground was released on, providing a wide range of changes, improvements, and fixes. Amongst the most extensive changes were: the introduction of a respec system, which allowed players to reallocate their skill points if needed; Federation wargames in PvP, as well as a new ground map; the second Special Task Force mission, "The Cure"; two new Fleet Action missions; and additional perks for Lifetime Subscribers.

A supplemental update, Season 1.1 was released on. It added the next Special Task Force mission, "Terradome", and introduced the first revamp to the crafting system.

Season 1.2, released on, added Accolades, a level-balancing team formation system, and changes to starship powers and mechanics.

Season Two: Ancient Enemies
Season Two, released on, saw the increase of the maximum level that can be achieved by players from 45 to 51. Along with this expansion came new starships and items that were associated with level 51. A new Undine Front was opened, with new missions developing the ongoing storyline. Klingon players received episode missions for the first time, moving away from the pure PvP concept of the original release. Diplomacy was introduced, allowing players to pursue a less combat-heavy progression track. Two new mini-games, Dabo and an anomaly-gathering task, were provided, as were arrangements for the first Feature Episode season.

Season Three: Genesis
Released on, Season Three's central addition was the release of a beta version of the Foundry, a tool that allows players to generate their own missions and publish them for other players to attempt. At the time of release, the Foundry was only available to players on the Tribble server, but a full beta roll-out on Holodeck followed in. Additional improvements included: an overhaul to the graphics of the Sector Space navigation area, reducing the amount of elements present in order to present a more "realistic" portrayal of space; Episode Replay, which permits players to redo missions they have already completed; another revamp of the crafting system, to introduce the use of schematics for crafting rather than having to purchase basic versions of the technology being upgraded; a new arrangement for contacting superior officers and acquiring missions; a consolidation of equipment vendors across the various stations; allowing Klingon players access to the previously Federation-only Pi Canis sector; and numerous minor changes and fixes.

Season Four: Crossfire
Released on, Season Four's principal focus was a complete revamp of ground combat, with an introduction of an optional over-the-shoulder reticule system, improved UI responsiveness, weapons functionality changes, kit power changes, AI updates, and animation enhancements. The release also saw a revamp of the Borg, allowing them to adapt to players' weapons, and providing them with the ability to assimilate players and their Bridge Officers. Other Season Four updates include: improved graphical compression; Vivox voice chat integration; further character customizations, including a new design for the Gorn; new loading screens; a Fleet Action queuing system; and a new Qo'noS First City zone. A patch released on also added Starfleet Academy as a second social area in the Sol system to compliment Earth Spacedock. On, Borg Red Alerts were launched as part of the ongoing Borg Invasion content; both Starfleet and KDF factions combat the sudden resurgence of Borg incursions into nearly all sectors in a timed quasi-Fleet Action scenario.

Season Five: Call to Arms
Released on to existing subscribers, Season Five was the first major release of STO for F2P, with numerous changes to gameplay mechanics to fit the F2P model. The early game experience was revamped, with a refreshed tutorial for Federation characters, and a higher starting level for KDF characters for "tighter" early gameplay. Other changes geared to make the game easier for all players (but mostly new ones) included: faster leveling; mission journal upgrade with episode missions organized into storylines designed to be played sequentially and transwarp ability to a mission's starting point; space skills revamp to simplify the relationship between skills and abilities; and an event calendar with rotating events.

Originally intended to launch with Season Four, the Duty Officer System was part of Season Five's release. The system is separate from, but complementary to existing Bridge Officers, and has been likened to a trading card game, where duty officers can be added to a player's active roster to provide passive abilities to combat and non-combat gameplay. Duty officers can also be sent on assignments of varying requirements and length of time and return with rewards, like energy credits, skill points, or even additional assignments and new duty officers.

Continuing with the introduction of Borg Red Alerts during Season Four, Season Five introduced the Borg Invasion of Defera, a ground-based combat event where cross-faction players defend Defera by accepting missions of various difficulty levels to neutralize the Borg threat. The last stage of the Borg Invasion is the "re-envisioned" Borg Strategic Task Force maps (STFs), which have been refreshed with different mission objectives than before, split into smaller pieces for easier completion, and revamped rewards system to obtain some of the highest "elite gear" available in the game.

Season Five introduced the new dilithium economy which consolidated many of the old in-game currencies into dilithium ore. Dilthium cannot be directly exchanged with other players, but the new Dilithium Exchange is where players may set a price to exchange between one another their dilithium (in-game currency) for Cryptic Points (the microtransaction currency) and vice versa. The new economy also forced upon a change to the crafting system, in that dilithium is now a requirement to craft higher level items on top of preexisting crafting material prerequisites. Furthermore, many of the items available in the microtransaction Cryptic Store saw price and item functionality changes to reflect the realities of the new economy.

Minor changes include social map facelifts, expanded focus on Starfleet and Klingon Academy areas via lore missions, patrol mission revamp, new login screens, a compass for ground mission navigation, and the ability to purchase Foundry slots with dilithium to expand the number of user-created missions one can develop at a time.

Before Season Six's release, other notable game additions include: the fourth Feature Episodes series, a dilithium mining minigame, a shuttle event, a Duty Officer system expansion, several new missions (some holiday-themed), and new C-Store items. An account-shared bank was also recently added to the game. 

Season Six: Under Siege
Season Six was released on. The primary feature is the introduction of the Fleet Advancement system, which allows players to work collectively with their fleetmates to build a fleet starbase (with other fleet holdings planned for the future) through Projects, a similar mechanic as the Assignments from the Duty Officer system, which require contributions such as energy credits, dilithium, various in-game items, and a new currency called Fleet Marks.

Players can earn Fleet Marks from several new missions designed around defending fleet starbases in space and ground scenarios, such as protecting incoming freighters breaking a blockade, clearing one's cargo hold of enemy saboteurs, and a twenty-player space Fleet Action with numerous waves of enemy starships. Contributing to Fleet Starbase Projects rewards players with Fleet Credits, which can be used, along with other requirements, to purchase high-end space and ground combat items, boosts for starbase-oriented missions, and new starships. Higher-level starbases unlock better rewards in the Fleet Store for fleet member purchase.

Two new endgame re-playable PvE missions were also released: a Colony Invasion ground scenario, and a No Win Scenario space mission with waves of enemies of progressing difficulty attacking a freighter. The Tholian Assembly was introduced as a new enemy faction with new missions, starting with a ground event with multiple missions on a demon class world. They can also be found as the random opposition in the new starbase-oriented space missions.

The user-generated content tool, the Foundry, was updated as well with general usability and performance improvements.

Season Seven: New Romulus
Season Seven, released in November 2012, introduces the new Reputation System which functions similarly to Starbase Projects.

Storywise, Season Seven continues the story of "Cloaked Intentions", adding a new "adventure zone" - New Romulus, a colony of peaceful Romulans and Remans led by D'Tan - to the game. Through the Reputation system, fleets can establish embassies on New Romulus.

Daniel Stahl has been quoted as saying, "My expectation is that Season 7 will be the biggest single update we’ve made since we launched the game." 

Expansion Pack: Legacy of Romulus
Star Trek Online's first full expansion, Legacy of Romulus, will introduce the Romulans as a third playable faction. Players will be able to create Romulan characters from the onset; Reman characters will be unlocked either by reputation with New Romulus or purchase from the Cryptic Store, and player-generated alien characters will only be creatable by subscribers or Lifetime players. Romulan players will be able to command their faction's ships, including Romulan warbirds.

The beginning levels have been described as a prequel to the events of the "Cloaked Intentions" series; the players are part of a band of survivors unaffiliated with either the Tal Shiar-dominated regime or D'Tan's Romulan Republic, settled on an agricultural colony unknown to any of the factions in the galactic conflict. At a certain point, they will be forced into the maelstrom, and Starfleet and the Klingon Defense Force - both of whom have come to the aid of New Romulus - will call on Romulan captains to choose a side in the escalating Federation-Klingon war. All player ships will receive a new resource in the form of distinct power cores; Starfleet and Klingon vessels will receive warp cores, while Romulan vessels will use their unique artificial quantum singularity cores.

Players will fight against a new "silent enemy" in a series of newly-created Romulan story missions. Denise Crosby, who made an appearance in the Third Anniversary event, "Temporal Ambassador", as Tasha Yar, will return as the voice of Empress Sela for the new campaign; she will also lend her voice to the previously-unvoiced appearance of Sela in the mission "Cutting the Cord", the end of the "Cloaked Intentions" feature episode series.

In addition, the Klingon faction will receive an expansion, allowing players to start a character at level 1 once again (the current starting level is 20). A new Tholian-based reputation will be available to players, the Nukara Strikeforce. The game's UI has been completely overhauled, and has been redesigned to be more "functional." There are now new color pallets, TNG (A 2364 look), Federation (designed to look similar to the current UI), Klingon (same, designed to look similar to the current UI), Voyager (2375 LCARS look), Orion, Reman, Romulan, and Gorn.

Legacy of Romulus was released on. 

Characters
Characters are extensively customizable, with every aspect of their physical appearance - from height, hairstyle, uniform, to finger length and forehead protrusion - capable of being changed to suit the player's desires. A player selects from one of three character types - Tactical, Science, and Engineering - each sharing some skills, but having their own unique trainable skills within their career path. A wide variety of template races are available with their own traits and customizations. In addition, all sides have the option to create an "alien" character with its own appearance and player-selected traits.

New player races, and uniforms and accessories are added to the game fairly regularly, most requiring purchase via the C-Store.

Uniforms
In Star Trek Online you can customize your uniform. Uniforms are purchased through the C-Store or are standard in game.

Starships
Like characters, starships have a degree of customization - this is more limited, due to the need to ensure each customizable piece can fit together and not cause graphical errors - individual components of a ship type (saucer, warp nacelles, etc.) can be selected and used. All players begin with a light cruiser, and can then branch off into one of three ship paths - Cruiser, Escort, and Science (although the player is not locked into that path, and may choose any vessel at any time). New vessels are introduced at each rank, with most of the vessels having at least three sub-types for customization purposes.

Vessel interiors are present, and can also be customized by selection of a specific bridge design - the remainder of the interior is largely fixed with a ready room, engineering deck (including main engineering, engineering lab, and transporter room), and crew deck (with captain's quarters, sickbay, and a mess hall or lounge), although the size of decks can be altered. The interiors are largely intended to be for social interaction (as other players can be invited onto them), and STO staff have expressed a desire to further improve on the capabilities of the interior.

Each vessel has a number of assigned stations for Bridge Officers. Depending on the ship paths and rank, the Bridge Officers can use certain of their abilities when assigned to a particular station (for example, a Science Bridge Officer with rank of Commander may only use abilities up to Lieutenant if assigned to a Lieutenant Science station).

Ship equipment and consoles are used to provide boosts to vessel statistics, as well as temporary boosts to shields, weapons, engines, and auxiliary systems.

Cryptic Store
The Cryptic Store, or C-Store, is a micro-transaction store which allows players to purchase unique vessels, ship and bridge designs, costume packs, playable races, and character services with Zen. Most of these purchases apply across all of the characters on a player's account.