Cryptic officially launched the Star Trek Online site today, together with the official forums. You can expect much more news about this game on this blog, as it’s the one that I’ve been waiting for a long time.

Also, the first gameplay footage is coming on August 10, so that’s a day I’m marking in the calendar.

Already discussions in the forums are heating up, and people are voicing their desires when it comes to the game. It was to be expected for a game based on such a popular franchise.

One of the talks that got my attention was about the speed of travel, where some want instant travel and others want it to take hours between systems. Obviously, a compromise needs to be found, where the majority will be satisfied. An alternative would be to launch multiple servers, one of them for the die hard fans, that want the most realistic experience possible.

Another, is whether everyone will be the captain of their own ship, or they will have the option to team up, multiple human players on a space ship, each serving in different positions.

If you’re a Star Trek fan, head up to the game’s forums and make your opinion known.

Apparently someone at Cryptic Studios slipped, and the following ad was run in the Game Career Guide e-newsletter (pdf file), on page 43. If you look at the text in the lower half, you will see that they’re hiring for Star Trek Online.

Now, that’s a game that I would pay a monthly subscription to play. Keeping my fingers crossed that they don’t screw it up.