Just shortly after Perpetual/P2 Entertainment was revealed to be dead, Star Trek Online's "official" unofficial fan site, StarTrek-Online.net, where ex-developers and fans of the MMO exchanged ideas and rants over the past 3 years, will be shutting down Friday 29th of February. Here's the Admin's official announcement:
Since the revelation that Perpetual had ceased development of Star Trek Online, and that its non-code assets had been transferred to a new developer, we've been waiting tentatively, like everyone else, to hear who that developer might be and what their intentions for the Star Trek MMO entail. The lack of any kind of announcement relating to that is one, but not the only factor, in our decision to make our own announcement today.
We've been covering STO for over three years and in that time this site grew beyond our expectations and has been host to a great and varied community, one we've been incredibly proud to be a part of. But our niche with STOnet was always linked to the Star Trek MMO being created by the previous developers, ever more so as our site grew and our relationship with the men and women who worked on the game strengthened, our site became the major hub of activity in terms of the community surrounding this game and so the downfall of Perpetual and the game they were developing has obviously hit the site hard, both in terms of our active community and indeed, our role and function.
In closing this site, it is important to understand that STOnet has over its lifetime operated at a significant 'loss' in terms of revenue generated by our Google Adsense banners versus the growing costs associated with having dedicated server hardware and intensive maintenance of the site, a cost which is growing by the month especially in the face of rapidly declining visitor numbers since the end of 2007. There is also the factor of time volunteered by the staff who have helped build and operate this site, in the face of such uncertainty it would be dishonest to say our interest, enthusiasm and will can be maintained throughout many more months of silence and speculation.
As of this announcement, our intention to close is definite and permanent, though a full backup of the server and database will be maintained, and our assets including the domain name retained. Amidst the rumours and unconfirmed reports, we've no idea who really is the new developer, nor what their PR intentions are in the coming months but ultimately STOnet might return in one form or another. For now, it's been a pleasure to host you, the STO community.
Needless to say, this is the final blow to all Star Trek Online's fans, who've been following the game's prospect shoot up only to crash and burn with Perpetual's demise.
Share your final words on StarTrek-Online.net's goodbye thread.
