Outpostgamez had the pleasure to sit down with Adam the Ship Artist (CaptLogan) of Star Trek Online. Great interview covers some old, new and upcoming areas including a little discussion about Star Bases!!!! Star Trek Online is currently in its second year and has official gone Free to Play.

1. As you are aware, at this moment our ships don’t move up the rank tree with us, (many have indicated they wish for their ship to upgrade with them) could we we see a refit or upgrade or the ability for a ship to migrate

This is something many fans want – and many devs also want this – but we have to maintain the importance of retaining IP.  For example, I don’t know if we can have tier 5 Connies flying around owning Borg cubes.

Personally, as far as making a fun game is concerned I don’t have a problem with this paradox, but I understand not implementing it for reasons stated above.

Ultimately I think a lot of ships will be released as refits, but I don’t know which ones and I don’t know when.

2. What can you tell us you use in regards to official and non-official reference materials; do you have anyone that you have authorization to speak to outside of Cryptic which helps in your endeavor to bring forth Cannon and Non-Cannon references? (ex; Doug Drexler)

CBS has given us some official IP or Canon schematics/diagrams/concept art to work off of from, but a lot of what we use for model reference are things we’ve gathered over time from internal sources, DVD’s of all motion pictures and shows, and other literature about the series.

I personally often refer to Drexler’s site, John Eaves’ art, and others.  Ex Astris and other sites are invaluable to me.  The STO Forum community and twitter communities are also insanely valuable to me for the same reasons.

Outpostgamez had the opportunity to interview Sergey Burkatovskiy, Wargaming.net Lead Game Designer, he has provided some very interesting insight into the area of World of Tanks. 

1.                We understand that you have plenty more premium tanks to dish out, is it possible to have 2 different battles such as premium battle and random battle and keeping premium tanks strictly to premium maps unless they are in platoon to improve the overall game quality.

We’re actually creating a single game space in World of Tanks. Whatever Class/Tier a tank belongs to, we’ll stick to a classic rock-paper-scissors approach that counterbalances the pros and cons of all the “classmates”. One vehicle’s firepower is balanced with lower accuracy, while a slow-paced machine will excel in armor and durability, and premium tanks fit in this formula perfectly.

Every game balance change we implement is based on the statistics we gather and process daily. The only advantage to a premium tank is the economic benefits players get from them, and this is where we come back to the core basics of our free2play model — premium stuff accelerates your progress through the game.

2.                  In previous interviews, wargaming.net stated that the prices of premium tanks such as Lowe, Type 59, etc are based on their capabilities as well as demand. You have raised the price of Lowe due to high demand, why was Type 59 not monitored more carefully that you had to remove it from Game Shop in short notice.

Although it wasn’t the most effective tank, the Type 59 definitely gave players more confidence, which made it the most popular premium tank in the game. It, thus, had a far bigger and, unfortunately, negative impact on the in-game balance than the Loewe, for instance. The mediums are one of the most popular vehicle classes, and having a chance to go and kick some butt in a tier-8 med was a golden opportunity for players.

We’ve been monitoring the statistics of the Chinese medium and hoped that the issue will improve, but, obviously, the further rise of the Type 59 population would have crushed the balance between the free and premium content in the game, so we opted for its overall removal.

3.                  In upcoming garage battle, what prevents arty or massive number of tanks from camping the spawn area for easier kills/victory? Aka: Spawn camping.

This could be an issue, but garage battles will have several spawn points making it highly difficult and absolutely useless to try massive area camping. Only outnumbering of, let’s say, 7 by 1 grants victory. Moreover, garage battles will be more chaotic and exciting than the regular base-on-base clashes; every battle will become a “seek-and-destroy” mission eventually evolving into “seek-and-destroy-the-bastard-that-just-killed-you” mode.

Anniversary event, all Klingon Defense Force characters of at least level 21 will be able to acquire the new Bortas class starship for free. You must be a Lt. General to operate the Bortas class starship. Any character below Lt. General rank will receive an inventory item that can be opened later, upon achieving Lt. General, in order to access the ship.

When the KDF became aware of the upcoming commissioning of the new Odyssey class ship, they rushed completion of the Bortas, in order to ensure Klingon dominance when it comes to space combat. The final stats are still classified and subject to last minute changes, but our intelligence group has collected the information below.

Starship Details

Anniversary event, all Federation characters of at least level 5 will be able to acquire the new Odyssey class starship for free. You must be a Vice Admiral to operate the Odyssey class starship. Any character below Vice Admiral rank will receive an inventory item that can be opened later, upon achieving Vice Admiral, in order to access the ship.

The design of this ship is credited to Adam Ilhe, winner of the Design the Next Enterprise contest held last year.

This starship is the newest ship in the Starfleet arsenal, and so we’re sure that you are all wondering what the full capabilities of this ship are. The final stats are still classified and are subject to last minute changes, but our intelligence group has collected the information below.

Starship Details

We are rapidly approaching Star Trek Online's second anniversary on February 2nd, 2012. To celebrate this moment in Star Trek history, we have four days of fun lined up for you. The event will run from around 10 AM PST on Thursday, February 2nd, through around the same time on Monday, February 6th.

As with many STO events, Q will be the master of ceremonies. Log in each day and seek out Q at Earth Spacedock or Qo’noS, and he’ll have something unusual to do. Q is easily bored and really enjoys watching humanoids do silly things. Complete his task, and he’ll have a fun prize for you! Log in all four days to collect all the prizes. What are they? You’ll have to find out for yourselves by joining in the event.

New York, New York – January 17, 2012 – Syfy has inked actor Grant Bowler to star in Defiance, a groundbreaking science fiction series that will unite television and massive multiplayer online (MMO) gaming for the very first time. The visionary enterprise is in collaboration with Trion Worlds, with the Syfy series and Trion’s multi-platform shooter MMO poised to debut simultaneously.

The announcement was made today by Mark Stern, President of Original Content, Syfy and Co-Head of Original Content for Universal Cable Productions, which is the studio for the project.  “Grant's charismatic charm and his depth as an actor make him the perfect anchor as we build the ensemble for this sweeping adventure series," said Stern. "We’re very excited to have him join us on this incredible journey."

The New Zealand born Bowler is well known for the recurring role on  Ugly Betty (2008) as Wilhelmina Slater’s love interest, Connor Owens, and for the role of Cooter, the leader of the werewolf biker gang in the HBO series  True Blood (2010) and Captain Gault in ABC's  Lost (2008). Bowler’s other notable roles include movies such as Atlas Shrugged (2011)  and Killer Elite (2011).  He will next be seen in indie movie,  City of Gardens (2012).  Bowler is represented by Don Buchwald & Associates / Fortitude in USA and Sue Barnett & Associates in Australia and managed by Untitled Entertainment.

NEW YORK – January 26, 2012 – Players preparing to aid King Arthur when he returns to Britannia in upcoming RTS/RPG

King Arthur II - The Role-playing Wargame will now have an advantage come release day.

Paradox Interactive and Neocore Games today announced that a demo for King Arthur II: The Role-playing Wargame is now available.

Soon-to-be knights can download the demo here:
http://www.kingarthurii.com/media/demos

This demo for the anticipated sequel to Neocore Games’ critically acclaimed King Arthur series gives players a taste of what's to come, allowing champions of Britannia to play through the title's tutorial and first mission. With an expected gameplay session of about 60 minutes, King Arthur fans will be able to manage their army and territories, and lead their battalion into battle.

Help set Britannia free when King Arthur II - The Role-playing Wargame releases on January 27th, 2012 (PC, $39.99).

Pre-order King Arthur II: The Role-playing Game and get access to the prologue chapter for free:
http://www.kingarthurii.com/buy

Markham, Canada  -  January 26, 2012 - Rock Hippo Productions Ltd. announced today the launch of its Knox Pow Wow update for the popular cartoon style third-person shooter, MicroVolts.   This latest update features exciting new parts for the hip hop action figure, Knox, plus a peek inside the developers' office with the new map: "Bitmap"! MicroVolts' new trailer and screenshots highlight these exciting updates to the game and players can visit www.MicroVolts.com for all the details!Knox, a super poseable hip hop action figure,uses his street smarts and heavy build to defend himself in the toybattlegrounds.  As a constant jokester, comic relief is always apart of his gameplay but with Knox's tough exterior comes a heart ofgold. 

This new update centers around this favorite MicroVoltscharacter and features all-new Chief and Warrior costume sets inspiredby traditional Native American outfits!  Players can also getexcited about the new Katana melee weapons as well as the three newrare rifles and a brand new costume set for Pandora, all of which areavailable exclusively in MicroVolts' Capsule Machine! Another cool component of the update is the newmap, "Bitmap", based on the developers' actual office space! This challenging new battlefield takes place on top of office desks,behind computer screens and various other office supplies. Players can finally become part of the developers' world as they fendoff enemies to reign supreme in this ultimate toy battle!  "Knox is a MicroVolts fan favorite, andplayers are going to love the new parts for this street wise, superflexible figure that always keeps his fans and opponents in stitches,"said Howard He, President and CEO of Rock Hippo Productions. "MicroVolters are like one big family so it's also fun that they cannow get a sneak peek into the developers' office in the new "Bitmap"map." Players can get a glimpse of what's in store withthe latest trailer and screenshots featuring the Knox Pow Wow in fulleffect.   Visit www.MicroVolts.com for all the details.