Funny of the Day: “Desperado” or “Wildly Inappropriate”

“The Needs of the Many” or “Lore: Delayed”

The more I find out about Star Trek Online, the more I am excited. I have been critical of the game’s set-in-stone and seemingly rushed deadline, and especially critical of the developer, Cryptic Studios. But I have been a fan of the IP for as long as I can remember, and maybe my subconscious mind is perpetuating the notion that this may, in fact, be a good thing.

I have been closely monitoring the flood of information and media collateral coming out of the Cryptic camp, but one piece of news struck me as very odd. Via Massively, it turns out that there will be a novel tie-in to the MMO’s launch. Penned by Star Trek veteran author Michael A. Martin, the book will be called “Star Trek Online: The Needs of the Many”. The novel will be available March 30, 2010, nearly two months after the February 2, 2010 MMO release date.

Don’t watch the clip below if you haven’t seen Wrath of Khan (shame on you!). But if you don’t care about spoilers, go on ahead.

I am excited about the book just because of the title alone. But it begs a few questions:

• Why release it nearly two months after the launch of the MMO? Surely you want to set up the events that lead to the game prior to the game launch?
• The above is void if there is no correlation between the two, and if there isn’t, why have the tie-in the first place?
• If there is a tie-in, will the two month delay in the book’s release, juxtaposed against the events in the game, make the book pointless? In short, it seems almost as if the apparently rushed deadline might screw up the prospects for the tie-in novel.
• Nimoy’s Spock made a return in Star Trek 11, despite the time line shifts and the rewriting of the universe’s history. I wonder if he continues to play a crucial role in the book and /or the game. I mean that is one of the most memorable (albeit socialist) quotes from the Vulcan!

I suppose time will tell. I will keep my fingers crossed. I mean, after all, William Shattner is not authoring the books… *shudder*…

“Dante’s Stitches” or “Subtlety is a Lost Art”

They Said Whaaaat?: “Crap on a Cracker” or “Alganon Blues”

“Keep giving us that Crap on a Cracker. I’m beginning to get use to the taste.”

– Cadfael, Alganon Forums

“My Name is John Marsten” or “No Words Needed in This Post”

Thought of the Day: “Alganon Launches” or “Price Slashes”

Alganon launches today. On launch day, the prices for both the game itself, and the monthly subscription were slashed to $19.99, and $9.99 respectively.

That should go over well with the people that bought the game full price!

Anyone playing the game? First impressions? I am dying to know what the one-month added development cycle did for the game!