MeinMMO author Maik Schneider comes from a different time in terms of MMORPG technology and couldn’t do anything with the “WoW generation” for a long time. But a strong franchise title drew him into the maelstrom from which he could not get out for over 1,000 hours – almost entirely as a solo player.
Personal computer log of Ensign Schneider of the “USS Hit It,” Stardate 67091.97 – The files of Starfleet’s tactical simulation program are finally available not only to the “Red Squad”, but also to normal officer candidates. Time for some space action.
My first thoughts sounded something like this when Star Trek Online (STO) switched to its Free2Play model on January 17, 2012. I knew right away that this was for me. Captain Janeway and other bridge greats of the “Star Trek” franchise have been with me since I was still called “snotty rascal” and even established an interest in science that has lasted to this day.
Being a starship captain myself… it was literally a dream of mine. Not just once. STO delivered exactly that and I took countless hours at the controls of a self-painted space cruiser. More than 1,000 hours to be exact. Mostly as a solo player.
Update: I originally published the article on July 28, 2020 and revised and adjusted it in April 2023.
Star Trek Online beamed me into the MMORPG genre
How could that happen? Playing an MMO solo isn’t all that unusual. In a MeinMMO survey in 2020, we found out that almost 10% of the participants are almost always solo. We even have a list of the best solo MMOs.
But flying 1,000 hours alone through the vastness of space seems steep. For me it was absolutely logical at the time, because I actually expected something different from an MMORPG.
When I first started playing MMOs, the session usually started with an obtrusive whistle from the router. That was part of connecting to the internet in the late 90s, early 2000s.
Big MMORPGs like World of Warcraft with 3D graphics were supposed to take years to release and instead of a Battle.net launcher, all I had was my Internet Explorer. Because my first MMO was a browser game.
I played a few browser games until I came across Galactix-Online and stayed for a while. Here you sat together with 19 other players in one of many galaxies. You expanded your base, fleet and research, went on raids for enemy resource asteroids.
Sneaky attacks on their own resource storage were also part of it. Every few months there was a reset that determined a round winner and set the progress back to 0 for the next round.
“GO” no longer exists today, but you can imagine it being very similar to the much larger OGame. The German YouTuber “Aeonitas” introduces you to the browser game in his video:
When I joined “Galactix-Online”, there were already fixed structures within the player community. 2 large alliances, led by a few galaxies, escalated into a big war at the end of the rounds and the winner mostly decided the whole “season” for himself.
The big alliances consisted of extremely active players who hardly slept through the night without checking if their ships and asteroids were still doing well. These players were constantly on the lookout for new recruits, scouting the scoreboards for new soldiers volunteering their free time in the service of the Alliance.
So you were looking for me.
The concept of 20 players in a galaxy, all in the same boat and sharing a forum, quickly turned an unknown group into a fun bunch. As the “diplomat” of our “gala”, I also got into conversation with more active galaxies and then rose from round to round.
At some point life got in the way, I didn’t play that actively anymore. Even the little Galactix Online was slowly but surely running out of steam. The game probably never had more than 2,000 players, only a fraction of which played as actively as I did. You knew each other, challenged each other, sometimes played a round together in a gala or alliance.
I expected something similar from “real” MMORPGs back then. But the reality was different – no one came and took me just because I was actively playing. The connectedness of the entire community was much lower.
But how did 1,000 hours come together? Because of these false expectations, I never considered joining a larger “guild”, which of course in STO is called “fleets”. So I trotted through the activities on my own and Star Trek Online still managed to keep me hooked over the years. So I have accumulated a number of hours of play on my account.
The first few hundred hours with a buddy, at the latest after my first comeback it was only solo. STO was really just the thing for me:
I had a hard time understanding why one of the cast of “Deep Space Nine” once said he’d played a lot of MMOs, but never Star Trek Online.
I could spend hours typing commands to distribute power, change course, or fire on my keyboard.
The MMORPG-style spaceship battles were a lot of fun, with around 40 skills to manage at the same time. You consistently throw buffs, de-buffs, dodges, draw fire and time flies in the skirmishes – it was great.
The fan factor certainly played a certain role. Star Trek is simply best.
At some point you could even build a starbase with your “fleet”. This thing was consuming an insane amount of “dilithium” (one of the premium collectible currencies) and I had to beg my long-dormant buddies to give this one a little more.
I grinded into this thing with such passion that the basis of “Battle Commando” still stands for my tireless dedication to video games to this day. And as a memorial to let it be at some point.
If you want to see more of Star Trek Online, check out the German YouTuber “Teddykrieger”:
Personal computer log Admiral Schneider, Commander of the “Schnitzelbasis”, Stardate 84141.21 – My old ship the “Hau Drauf” is docking with us for a few days for technical upgrades. It’s unbelievable that the old mill actually still flies missions. But the same could be said about me. I’ll see if Cargo Hold 3 is still a Tribbles spawn.
Why did you stop? New games, new friends, new challenges. Star Trek Online was fun for me for a long time and with every new trailer the nostalgia kicks in briefly.
But the air was and is out. Pretty much with starbase completion, for which I spent several months squeezing every dilithium asteroid in range.
But Star Trek Online remains something very special for me and there will never be another game that I play solo for so long – even if it was really great for a while.
If you want to read another personal story from me, then have a look here: I paid 280 euros for a PS5 controller and damn it, I would do it again