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Phaser Strike on Gorn Soldier (Exclusive: First Avatar Screenshot)

In this exclusive interview, WarCry chats with Daron Stinnett, the Executive Producer of Star Trek Online. What's more, we also debut the first ever in-game avatar screenshot since the company rethought its art direction. The image shows a human character in battle with a Gorn Soldier.

It's been a turbulent couple months for the folks at P2 Entertainment (formerly Perpetual Entertainment). They cancelled their anticipated debut MMORPG Gods and Heroes amid layoffs and concerns for the company's long term health. Now as the dust begins to settle, we find out about Star Trek Online the game, it's long term health and where it's headed.

Yesterday, their former public relations firm Kohnke Communications launched a lawsuit against them, which included allegations of fraud against Perpetual, P2 and the company's leadership. The following interview was conducted last week, but WarCry did seek comment on the lawsuit from Perpetual and Kohnke prior to publish. As is customary with pending lawsuits, neither company had any comment.

WarCry: Recently, rumors suggested that STO would become a more casual game, while others said it would simply adopt a more casual business model. At its core, do you believe that the Star Trek universe is suited a casual experience?

Daron Stinnett: We've always believed that Star Trek is an inviting world for more than just the enthusiasts so we've stayed focused on making a game that everyone can enjoy. We know that difficult to learn gameplay can be a barrier for some as is the $15/month subscription fee. It is true that we have been discussing different payment models internally to see if there is a way to enable more people to experience Star Trek Online while ensuring that we are able to pay for the ongoing operating costs of a triple-A MMO. We haven't yet come to any conclusions though.

Click on "Read More" to do so.

Phaser Strike on Gorn Soldier (Exclusive: First Avatar Screenshot)

In this exclusive interview, WarCry chats with Daron Stinnett, the Executive Producer of Star Trek Online. What's more, we also debut the first ever in-game avatar screenshot since the company rethought its art direction. The image shows a human character in battle with a Gorn Soldier.

It's been a turbulent couple months for the folks at P2 Entertainment (formerly Perpetual Entertainment). They cancelled their anticipated debut MMORPG Gods and Heroes amid layoffs and concerns for the company's long term health. Now as the dust begins to settle, we find out about Star Trek Online the game, it's long term health and where it's headed.

Yesterday, their former public relations firm Kohnke Communications launched a lawsuit against them, which included allegations of fraud against Perpetual, P2 and the company's leadership. The following interview was conducted last week, but WarCry did seek comment on the lawsuit from Perpetual and Kohnke prior to publish. As is customary with pending lawsuits, neither company had any comment.

WarCry: Recently, rumors suggested that STO would become a more casual game, while others said it would simply adopt a more casual business model. At its core, do you believe that the Star Trek universe is suited a casual experience?

Daron Stinnett: We've always believed that Star Trek is an inviting world for more than just the enthusiasts so we've stayed focused on making a game that everyone can enjoy. We know that difficult to learn gameplay can be a barrier for some as is the $15/month subscription fee. It is true that we have been discussing different payment models internally to see if there is a way to enable more people to experience Star Trek Online while ensuring that we are able to pay for the ongoing operating costs of a triple-A MMO. We haven't yet come to any conclusions though.

Click on "Read More" to do so.

Daron Stinnett is the Executive Producer of Star Trek Online and took some time during the Austin Game Developers Conference to chat with us on the development status of his game.

"We'll start talking about it when we're ready to show it," said Stinnett simply. That said, they cannot disappear entirely and with that in mind, he took some time to bring us up to date on the game's development.

For the first six months of 2007, the team has focused primarily on space gameplay. Then, this summer, they transitioned over to ground. The plan is to split this calendar year and as they hit the home stretch, Stinnett told us that both halves of the game are functional.

Read more after the click.

We have a brand new section as Star Trek Online on WarCry debuts here today. To celebrate, Perpetual Entertainment Executive Producer Daron Stinnett answered a whole bunch of our questions in this new interview.

WarCry Network: Greed and money were not a driving force in Star Fleet. How do you envision the economy working in game? Is an ideal like this even something you will try to translate over?

Daron Stinnett: When we originally pondered this question, STO had a more hard-core focus on Star Fleet than it does today. But even then we realized that if we didn't provide a fully functioning economy, players would just come up with other, less convenient means of exchanging goods and services. Fortunately, the Star Trek universe provides no shortage of examples where economy plays an important role - even within Star Fleet itself.

Click here to read the article and check out the new site.

We have a brand new section as Star Trek Online on WarCry debuts here today. To celebrate, Perpetual Entertainment Executive Producer Daron Stinnett answered a whole bunch of our questions in this new interview.

WarCry Network: Greed and money were not a driving force in Star Fleet. How do you envision the economy working in game? Is an ideal like this even something you will try to translate over?

Daron Stinnett: When we originally pondered this question, STO had a more hard-core focus on Star Fleet than it does today. But even then we realized that if we didn't provide a fully functioning economy, players would just come up with other, less convenient means of exchanging goods and services. Fortunately, the Star Trek universe provides no shortage of examples where economy plays an important role - even within Star Fleet itself.

Click below to read them all!