Today brings a special treat. MMO Junkies has gotten the chance to interview Christine “Kestrel” Thompson, one of the writers for Star Trek Online. Known for her work on “The Path to2409” series, Kestrel talked to us about working at Cryptic and how Star Trek Online is coming along…

MMO Junkies: What do you like most about working at Cryptic?

Cryptic_Kestrel: Cryptic is a very creative atmosphere with an incredibly talented and fun group of people – and I get to play Warhammer 40K at lunch. But I think the best thing about working here is that everyone has a voice. No matter what you do or what department you’re in, if you have a suggestion about how to make our games better or help our customers, it will be listened to and considered.

Did you get to meet any Trek actors at work?

Not yet! I keep hoping, though – it would be amazing to get to talk to some of the actors about their experiences on set.

Did you collaborate with devs about ship or space station designs?  Could you describe that effort?

I provide reference materials and research information, but our amazing artists and designers are the ones creating our ships and space stations.

We have a lot of Trek fans on the team, and some of us are really into the lore and history. So we collaborate when we need background information. For example, I would go to Lead Designer Al Rivera if I had a question about ships, because he knows everything. Someone looking for the history of the Borg might come to me, and when we need those “OMG how does he know that!” bits of trivia we turn to Content Designer Dan Griffis.

Did you get to make your Beowulf episode?

I’m holding out for a space dragon.

One of the great things about MMOs is that we get the chance to expand the game. It’s not just “gold master and done.” After launch, we’ll be turning to the community to find out what they want in the game, but we’ll also be looking at the ideas that we all loved but couldn’t squeeze into the initial launch.

Are you able to read the startrekonline.com forums at work?

I try to read the forums every day. If I’m waiting for files to update, I might get a few minutes to browse the hot topics, but I do most of my forum reading in the morning before I go to the office.

Do you feel there will be enough content at launch to keep players busy the entire first month?

I think so. We’re looking at people who have been playing internally, and they’re logging a lot of hours and haven’t made it through everything yet.

Could you expand on how exploration will be incorporated into the game? Most of the information we have seen skimmed over exploration aspects that many fans requested.

I believe that we’re going to release information on exploration content soon. Stay tuned to www.startrekonline.com for to learn more!

Do you feel the exploration and non-combat aspects of STO are compelling enough to stand on their own?

The exploration and non-combat aspects work with the combat, just like they do on the shows. You need the variety and the combinations of different activities to keep things interesting.

Are there plans to change ground combat mechanics based on feedback from trailers and beta testers?

We’re always updating and changing based on beta feedback. There will be significant changes to ground combat.

What will be the development status when STO goes into open beta?  (finished, debugged, unstable, unfinished?)

The team has been focused on making an exciting, engaging and deep core experience. That’s what will be finished and debugged at launch. But, nothing’s ever “finished” in an MMO.

There are always things that will be adjusted based on player feedback and datamining, and we’ll be adding new content in a regular cycle. And we’ll be squishing bugs up until launch day and beyond. Adding all that new content is the best thing about working on an MMO.

Rumor has it, a Klingon tutorial couldn’t be added and Federation is the only faction at the start of the game. Is there any chance after February 2 hits and everyone gets settled in, there will be a Klingon tutorial added?

We’ll be looking at player feedback to drive what we do in content updates. Nothing is off the table.

What was the most controversial or debated decision within Cryptic regarding STO?

We’re all extremely passionate about Star Trek so there were definitely productive debates about which direction we wanted to go.  But in the end we all came to agreement on where we wanted to take Star Trek Online.

What will set STO apart from other MMOs in terms of grinding and following menial quests?

I think the Episodic content is really something special. We get to tell a complete story, with a variety of locations and actions, and it’s something that you can do alone with your Bridge Crew or share with friends. To me, it’s much more immersive than a standard MMO quest.

Can you confirm or deny that tails will be available in the character creator?

I can neither confirm nor deny that tails will be available at launch. We know players want them, but our primary focus is bipedal humanoids, and anything we do beyond that we want to do right.

Will there be any missions/challenges which pop up?  e.g. A space rift is going to destroy your ship and you have to figure out how get out, or an NPC admiral calls you while heading to a non-timed mission that needs you right now.

Yes, there are distress signals and priority alerts, and occasionally you simply stumble across something interesting. We are trying to mirror the shows as much as possible in an MMO format, and so not everything comes from the guy with the exclamation point over his head.

Many of the Klingon Bird of Prey ships look nearly identical in the TV series.  What will differentiate these ships as players progress through the Klingon faction?

There are multiple variants on the Bird-of-Prey. I’m not the best person to be explaining this  – I’m a writer, not a systems designer – but I believe that players who choose to stay in a BoP instead of moving to a ship like a Negh’Var or a Vo’Quv will be able to choose upgrades as they advance through the game.

Are Federation and Klingon ships the only playable types?  Could someone choose to play with a Gorn or Romulan or Cardassian ship?

Once again, ships aren’t my area. However, I believe that it will be Federation and Klingon ships at launch.

On a lighter note, who would you rather be stuck in a runabout with, Ezri or Jadzia?

Definitely Jadzia. She’d get us home safe.