The Admiral’s Log: My Journey Through ‘Star Trek Online’ – Part LI

Written by John Edward Betancourt

A Series of Surprise Patrols

If there’s one universal truth about life, that applies to just about anything we do, it would have to be that sometimes… you just gotta change things up. Because sometimes routine gets a little boring and that’s why we do things a little differently in regard to our daily routine in the mornings or at work, or that’s why we surprise our significant others with a night out on the town, just so that we can keep things interesting. And I wasn’t kidding when I said this applies to just about everything in life since even in the creative world, things get shaken up from time to time in order to spice up a particular storytelling experience and for proof, look no further than Star Trek Online.
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Because this is a game that for that most part, has stuck to a pretty baseline formula in the near ten years that’s it has been around, and that’s not bad thing by any means. Because the story system in this game has brought forth some incredible tales, the kind that have taken our breath away. But clearly the powers that be wanted to try something new for Awakening and well, that’s quite the bold move to say the least. For we’ve grown used to traditional episodes playing out when we log into the game, but after finishing ‘Beneath the Skin’, I (and many others, I’m certain) came to quickly realize that this was going to be a vastly different type of story arc.

For everything that plays out after that season premiere takes place via a unique style of patrol mission, one where a story plays out from the bridge of your ship and while this is jarring at first, since you’re patiently waiting to beam down on an away mission and enjoy some quality cinematics, this ends up being quite the unique and exciting experience for so many reasons. First and foremost, it’s action packed for certain, since you quickly find yourself under fire from House Mo’Kai forces and you’re forced to think fast and employ everything you’ve learned about combat so far since J’Ula’s thugs are fierce and overwhelming at times, especially when waves of them just keep coming.

But what I truly appreciated about the wealth of patrols that I went on to further the story arc, was the sheer fact that this more or less allows for your imagination to run wild. Because while my Anti-Proton beams were tearing into my enemy, Lieutenant Commander Stamets and the rest of my bridge crew were chiming in to the move story along and I don’t know why, but it definitely made me feel like I was truly sitting in a captain’s chair, making calls on the fly while the Red Alert klaxon and lights blast around us and that makes these missions… just a true delight to play. But all nerdiness on my part aside, these missions really do deserve big credit for offering up a brand-new way to tell a story in STO.

Because this push to stop House Mo’Kai adds a genuine sense of urgency to the story, since it is clear that J’Ula is working hard and fast to perfect her Mycelial weapon, and having to move to multiple places in a hurry, adds to her mystique since she’s in essence launching a multi-pronged attack and really, you can never go wrong with subtlety in storytelling and that’s really where these missions succeed. If anything, it is quite cool to see a hybrid story arc present here, one that I’m certain will wrap up in cinematic fashion down the line. But while I wait for the next episode or patrol to drop in this arc, I may replay a few of these to see if there’s anything I’ve missed, and also to enjoy the thrill of being seated in the big chair, while the action unfolds in fast and furious fashion, one more time. 

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