Star Trek Online caused some consternation when they announced:

Klingon Captains have the same number of skills available as their Federation counterparts, including the same professions. Your Klingon Captain can be a Science, Engineering or Tactical officer. However, they must advance through PvP, as they will not have access to the same amount of player-vs.-environment content as Federation players at launch.

That's not to say Klingons won't be a robust faction. While they are PvP-focused, PvP in Star Trek Online is something we designed from the ground up to be a viable advancement path, meaning both Klingon and Federation players can reach a rank of Admiral solely through PvP. Players can engage in team vs. team, Federation vs. Klingon, Klingon vs. Klingon and Federation vs. Federation combat. What's more, certain PvP maps will have PvE objectives over which opposing players can struggle.

Cryptic exec Jack Emmert has this to say to IGN about the unfortunate situation:

The fact is, people make their buying decisions early and he felt it was important to have Klingons in the game, even if they were not as deep as everyone would like, from day one. "If I sit back and wait for it to be perfect, frankly people aren't going to wait around for it," he added.

Bottom line, too bad. The Klingon are going to be boring, or no Star Trek Online. Still the Klingons in the game will have their own ships, bridge officers and territory, if that helps at all.

[via IGN]

This trailer was released at the Spike TV Video Game Awards, revealing that there will be a Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2, canon be damned...

How the hell is he still alive? There were two options at the end of the game: death, or life as a half-robot half-creature thing, Sith Stalker, pictured here....

Not that we are complaining, Sam Witwer's Secret Apprentice rage and scowl are the things dreams are made of 00 but no thanks to the robot head and claw hands. This just doesn't work, or make sense. We liked the dark endings that tied up this character's fate with existing canon. Please do explain, LucasArts. More Force Unleashed concept art here.

But other spacey gaming news, we've got a new trailer from Star Trek Online, which also announced today that Zachary Quinto would be lending the game his voice! Here's the new Klingon-heavy trailer:

You probably already knew that Spock and Nero created an alternate universe, where Vulcan got vulcanized and James Kirk's dad died when he was born. So the TNG continuity still exists, just as an alternate reality. But just in case you got confused, here's a chart to explain it all for you. Also, is this the first time we've seen official dates for the events of J.J. Abrams' recent Trek movie?

[Star Trek Online]

During yesterday's Cryptic panel, we got a sneak peak at the highly-anticipated Star Trek Online MMO game. This absolutely gorgeous-looking game is set in the year 2409, 30 years past the events of the ST:TNG film "Nemesis." Klingon compromises have fallen apart, with the Klingon Empire on the verge of all-out war. There will also be "an ancient threat from the past." You'll be able to play as either a Starfleet officer or as a member of the Klingon Defense, with both choices at Captain rank. Yes, you will be a Captain of your own starship. You'll be able to select your bridge crew and command them, as well as pilot the ship yourself.

Early on you'll choose your career path — either tactical, engineering or science-based. But the game seeks to bring to the fore what the creators feel to be the fundamentals of Star Trek: space, shipboard and ground exploration. Gameplay will be focused on beaming down to planets for a variety of missions, mastering shipboard concerns and, of course, exploring the final frontier.

You'll be able to have "total customization" of your own alien races, with the ability to modify characters down to the slightest skin-textures and features. While you'll also be able to choose from all of the "known and loved Trek races" to play, if you've ever wanted to father your own alien species, this will be your chance. The brief glimpses and stills we were given of the actual game look extraordinary. The graphics are detailed, rich and look better than the space scenes in most movies. We got to see the character-design elements in action, and the level of detail will please even the most exacting of fans.

After the panel, I asked game producer Craig Zinkievich whether we could expect a high level of social interaction to be available between players along with missions and character-building. He confirmed that character interaction would be very present in the game — just as it is in the Star Trek universe — with sites like space stations offering places to congregate. "And pleasure planets?" I suggested, to which he laughed and skirted the issue — but implied that it could be a possibility, and definitely isn't ruled out. See you all on Risa?

The Star Trek MMO continues to post segments of the future history of the universe, after the last underwhelming movie, Nemesis. They provide lots of wish-fullfillment for TNG/DS9 nerds, like the news that Keiko O'Brien had become a big wheel in the Cardassian relief effort last time around. But the news that Ro Laren, finally out of Federation custody, has joined the Bajoran militia and become head of security for DS9 is an extra thrill for us Ro fans.

In other news, the Emergency Medical Hologram from Voyager sued to keep custody of his portable holo-emitter, which Starfleet wanted to take to a facility on Galor IV for study. The EMH argued that the holo-emitter was necessary for his quality of life and performance of his duties. The Starfleet judge advocate, that notorious softy, granted a temporary injunction against the transfer of the emitter. (Seems to me a more potent argument is that the emitter is future technology that Starfleet shouldn't even have yet, and attempting to duplicate it violates the temporal prime directive.)

Also, the Romulan empire is still in chaos after the events of Nemesis, and Praetor Tal'aura attempts to tighten her grip by convening a new Senate that's in her pocket. Meanwhile, the Bajorans are demanding that hundreds of Cardassians stand trial for war crimes, but those alleged war criminals keep disappearing from Cardassia. Cardassian conspiracy? Or something else?

I still have no idea if the MMO will be fun or worth playing. But I'm enjoying the random updates on the future of Trek probably more than is healthy, especially now that the franchise is sailing backwards. And here are some new screenshots:

[Star Trek Online]

According to TrekToday, the Romulan empire starts rebuilding after the events of Nemesis, and gets new leadership under Praetor Tal'aura, aided by Fleet Comander Tomalak. (I always liked him.) Meanwhile, the Enterprise-E gets refitted and repaired, and Picard gets yet another crew, replacing most of the crew he got at the end of the last movie. And the events of DS9 get a bit of resolution as well. The "female Changeling" gets put on trial. And Cardassia's reconstruction gets help from the Federation, in the form of an agricultural aid project headed up by Keiko O'Brien. I totally want to see Keiko O'Brien work her way into becoming the new dictator of Cardassia.

According to Memory Alpha, only a handful of books have revealed much of anything about the events after Nemesis, and it's mostly just been vague hints. You never know, the new Abrams movie might fill in some blanks when we meet Old Spock in the future, but I'm guessing it'll be glossed over pretty quickly to avoid confusing people. Trek isn't really about moving into the future any more, it's about churning through its own past. [Trek Today]

I'm sorry, but if exploration is the main focus of this MMO, what's the point if everyone looks like a blocky CG character from the 90s? I need barely clothed green ladies, and I need them now. But besides the predictably bad graphics for an MMO character, the actual landscapes look spot on fantastic.

While I want a little more from my characters in this new Star Trek MMO the Borg ships and varying takes on the Enterprise are interesting. I'm excited to see what new worlds and ships the people over at Cryptic Studios will bring us. That being said according to chief creative officer Jack Emmert, it could be about 3 years until this MMO is released.

Players can look forward to building their own races, ships and crew. Yes, there will be a holodeck, and you will even be allowed to add a holodeck character to your crew.

Star Trek Online Las Vegas Webcast from Cryptic Studios on Vimeo.

In this MMO players will be able to customize characters and their ships. Exploration isn't limited to already-existing Trek planets and races although Andorians and Klingons will be making appearnces (according to hints from the game site). Cryptic Studios also announced that they will be revealing gameplay footage of the new Star Trek Online video game at the Star Trek convention in Las Vegas August 10.

[Star Trek Online via Information Week]