Star Trek Online....

I've been enjoying bouts of Star Trek Online over the last few month's. When I first started Star Trek Online I paid for it and with a friend enjoyed a few month's of gameplay. Now in it's sixth year the game is a lot different, for the better. Not only in being free to play but really worth playing and not just a gimmick to get ingame purchases. I'm not saying that there are not gimmicks, there are "oh shiny ship" moments. But I feel it is worth getting into and I feel worth buying into, although I have not done so(yet). There are people that share the opposite side of the argument and say how bad they think it is.
For me I'm happy with being a free to play-post subscriber. This status gives me some perks that are more cosmetic than anything else. The game faq says this:
"Q: I canceled my Star Trek Online subscription, but I'm interested in becoming a Silver Player. Will I have the same access to the game as I did previously?
Your characters are still available, but they may not be able to use all features that are available if you were to be a Gold Player. Additionally, Gold Members and Silver Players differ in Star Trek Online. A player who previously subscribed to Star Trek Online and then returned to game as a Silver Player will not have the same exact features provided to Gold Members."
My main character has levelled to within half a "ding" of level 60. He is a tactical class. So is all about shields and guns, even if technically he is more about buffs and debuffs.

The last push feels like a little bit of a grind.... so close.....

Free Ships and good mission rewards are worth having....

Even shuttle missions are fun almost STO lite encounters....

I've done a lot of missions within STO but there has been a lot of XP gained by doing the duty officer assignment missions. Very much in the same way that Wow has garrison missions. So it your officers work for you even when you are offline or on another character.

Each Dept. head has a separate set of missions that also change when you are in a different region.

Some missions can take 30 minutes, other can take 20 Hours.

Progress on the types of duty missions also enhance your stats.

The mission journal is separated into what I call permanent and current expansion (episode) missions on offer. Some are moved from the current/temporary status to the more formal list of mission(quest) chains. Like the Epic arc's of Eve online.
As I write the current featured episode is called "Midnight" and is the end of the current expansion/chain/arc.

I've enjoyed it and found it both entertaining and rewarding (in and out of game). I've completed the Klingon, Wasteland and Romulan entries and am doing the second last mission within the Cardassian series. I am really looking forward to doing the Borg and Breen episodes. I also need to complete the Solanae Sphere and Delta Quadrant Episodes as I've only touched on them slightly.
So lots to see and do. With being level 60 soon I'll be better prepared to buy items for in game credits/dilithium. Or as best as I can be as a Free to Play Player.
Unlike wow there is way less spamming for joining a fleet (guild/corp). But in joining one you do unlock access to other resources, points to earn and spend on ships etc.

I've praised this game a lot but the game does have it's flaws. Not just in the graphics being dated. Repetitive mission sequences such as space combat followed by ground combat followed by space combat. You can pace yourself and proceed accordingly. Unlike wow thankfully I've never come across the same "dungeon" set and least not that I've really noticed. Each area/planet seems to be unique.

When you die in game whether on a ground mission or in space you can always respawn. You dont' loose anything in doing so, more like wow and a lot less like Eve in that regard. This is a good thing but can be frustrating at times when you face off against an enemy that absolutely hands your caboose to you each time. This has only happened twice so far. Once in space trying to defeat a Romulan Empress in her ship that caused me to try, try, try walk away, watch some youtube clips, try, try. Finally watch a pro player on youtube, try, try again and win. It took a while but I was determined to get it done. Frustrating but worth sticking with it to get to more content. The other was a ground mission, my character alone in an arena. I faced off against waves of NPC's but could not avoid the attacks of the last creature, despite getting that foe down to 50%. With no team to help back me up and only a melee combat weapon this became frustrating. However I noticed on respawn that for a split second my class specific button to call in a security team was highlighted before being disabled. So on the next death I hovered my mouse over the button and almost at the same time as I hit enter to respawn and at the same time I spammed my mouse to click on the ability before it greyed out. And it worked!!!!! What had taken me 30 odd minutes to try and achieve was over in a few seconds. I dont' know what I would have done if I'd not noticed that "glitch" or had been of a different class. Probably would have been the same as before, try, walk away, try so meting different and try again. Maybe that old phrase is worth it.

Once you have completed a mission you can then go back at any stage and replay it. The rewards are based on your level so this becomes a thing once you are max level. Going back to get a reward that was good will give you that reward but at a better level than when you first saw it.

I can't recommend Brent Justice enough, his insights, his free to play, playthrough series on STO is a must watch and has helped me in my own gameplay of STO on so many levels. I look forward to seeing more on how a pro player for STO on a less pimped out free to play account tackles the gameplay.

These voyages are not done yet and will be entertaining for a good bit longer!