Cryptic Studios' latest generation of MMOs, Champions Online and Star Trek Online, enjoyed a moderately-successful launch followed by a bumpy period of balancing, tweaking and fixing various issues that arose after release. Throughout development, both MMOs were anticipated by the fan community as "AAA" titles, which are great for marketing and publicity's sake, but it also elevates games to a whole other league of expectations; a "AAA"-branded MMO will usually be held accountable to a stricter set of criteria than the rest, especially if it's a subscription-based game. After Champions Online launched, in September 2009, fans vigorously embraced it as the first "next-gen" superhero MMO, forging ahead in a genre that hadn't been revisited since NCsoft’s City of Heroes franchise.

Star Trek Online had a special, established fan base years before it actually launched. Similar to the upcoming Star War: The Old Republic, MMO gamers weren't the only ones looking forward to its release; legions of die-hard 'Trek fans were eager to play it as well. Games like STO are a boon to developers like Cryptic because of the pre-established fan community, but on the other hand, many of those fans are more critical than the rest.

Long before STO's release, 'Trek fans were dissecting every piece of news they could get their hands on, speculating about things like gameplay, adherence to Star Trek "canon" and other issues. When Cryptic announced the details of STO's relation to the "new" Star Trek timeline created by J.J. Abrams in the latest Star Trek film, the majority of fans were happy that the MMO would co-exist with the reboot, but still take place in the "classic" Star Trek universe. We explored this trend last summer in an editorial about STO's influences, following a series of community chats with the MMO's executive producer, Craig Zinkievich.

Cryptic's version of the Star Trek universe in STO was widely-received as faithful to the original IP, at least superficially. In most reviews, the MMO was praised for its attention to detail; the art and visual effects team reproduced the 'Trek world with familiarity in mind. Starfleet uniforms, character modeling and interior design looked great, despite the obvious resemblance to the Champions Online graphics engine. The space gameplay and ship combat also looked great while still bearing a stunning similarity to the original TV shows and movies.

Quote from Zam