Some people just want to fly starships. That’s the impetus behind playing Star Trek Online and the driving interest behind video game players like Cynicman, interviewed below in game. Massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) have become a new social strata for gamers to gather, experience a persistent virtual world, participate in challenges, and express themselves. As a game, STO has become a cultural and emotional watershed for thousands of players.

The original series of Star Trek aired from 1966 to 1969 and would become one of the most profound Western science fiction TV shows ever—now fans are swimming in regalia and products related to this series and its spin offs. However, with all the media available, STO is the only MMO available to the fans, known colloquially as Trekkers.

STO is developed by Cryptic Studios and published by Perfect World Entertainment and since joining the free-to-play movement in gaming has seen a tremendous explosion of content.

Identity and costuming in Star Trek Online

In the virtual world, Cynicman talks about building and costuming characters. Amidst those he shows off display the breadth and width of the capabilities of the STO character creator. While not as customizable as other, past MMOs (such as City of Heroes) the STO character creator allows for a surprising versatility of appearance and outfit enabling creative players to express themselves in surprising ways.

This is especially of interest to Trekkers—who have a subculture of costplayers who arrive at conventions not just in uniforms from the TV series but sometimes wearing full-on alien makeup to appear as Klingons or other in-series races.

In the case of Cynicman, he reveals that often he takes to the character creator to enhance his social experience and expression by sticking to a theme. With characters such as Ruthven and Carmilla he can produce individuals who prevail a Gothic romance aesthetic such as vampires from modern media from Brahm Stoker’s Dracula or the film Nosferatu.

Even though he tends towards these themes, he also mentions a sense of immersion with the game and social obligation by mentioning that even Ruthven—the Nosferatu look-alike—has in-game “costumes” that make him appear more presentable or formal.

In the end, it’s going to be all about the spaceships

During the interview, Cynicman also spoke a little bit of his interest in the space side of Star Trek Online. A portion of the game that reflects the naval side of the TV series, taking massive star faring vessels out of the water and into space to fight science fiction battles alongside alien friends and against alien enemies.

In STO, every character also has a starship, but unlike the standard role playing game model—which fixates itself on a humanoid character with a paper doll to fit equipment such as swords, helmets, boots, armor, etc. STO also has starships, which are themselves yet-another collection of equipment, their own classifications, and even possess particular roles in naval combat.

A player who is used to flying a cruiser may find themselves out of practice with an escort or a destroyer.

Since Star Trek had so many iconic starships, STO does also. Everything from the Constellation-class from the original series to the Galaxy-class from Star Trek: The Next Generation. So compelling are the computer models of these ships that often players, who may be Trekkers themselves, sometimes tend to build their ships as close to the original portrayal on screen just to capture a bit of the nostalgia.

Many players, such as Cynicman, also extend their identification and costuming from their characters also to their starships. They choose ships that extend the expression of their characters into space as well—and even in STO there is a degree of ship customization or “costuming.” It’s extremely limited, but it’s possible sometimes to produce vessels with a particular visual feel; and the addition of equipment in game that can change the appearance to fit.

Of course, most players relegate themselves to naming their ships something that fits their character theme or personal taste.

Players make the game

As the interview with Cynicman shows, Star Trek Online is both a video game and a form of social media. As a game, it gathers both video game players who enjoy a social experience as well as fans of Star Trek into a persistent virtual universe with episodic content that gives them a reason to participate.

It’s a little bit different than the days of sitting on a friend’s couch watching Deep Space 9—especially when you can actually warp to Beta Ursae, beam down, and stalk down the promenade “in person.”