I think it’s definitely possible to recreate a TV series like ST as a MMO, but it will take a lot more than the current generation of MMORPGs implements. I suspect that the story driven design behind SW:TOR is a step in the right direction, after all the Star Trek TV shows were all about story. The lack of story, I think, is the major flaw in the MMORPG genre to date.

@Scopique — Absolutely. It’s about the alternatives to combat. If I didn’t like the combat aspects, I wouldn’t be playing MMORPGs at all since that’s what they’re predominately about. What’s needed is the addition of these alternative systems. And it’s more than just adding systems for diplomacy, crafting, or explorations either. What’s needed is a way to integrate all these systems in a way where players can develop their own stories and have those become part of the world. We’re not there yet by a long shot.

The camp is divided: Star Trek the IP is about exploration, and there are those who want that in STO (but ain’t gettin’ it!). But there are also those who think that diplomacy would be boring, since it deoesn’t involve blowing things up. I like to blow things up as much as the next gamer, but I’ve played more MMOs over the years then the USDA recommends, and 95% of them force-fed you combat as the major focus. If there WAS any ancillary content (crafting, housing, alternate gameplay systems, etc), they’ve been marginalized. In my (failnig) memory, only Vanguard’s crafting and diplomacy systems, EQ2′s and SWG’s crafting systems, are close to being on-par with the combat systems most MMOs offer. That is to say that in each game, you never have to pick up a weapon to play if you don’t want to.

In the end, it’s not about switching STO to full-on-diplomacy gameplay and removing the combat. It’s about offering ALTERNATIVES to the same, mindless mission template over and over again.

This said, how can one recreate the tv series as MMO? With our typical combat based approach it is not possible, too much dialogue, not enough action in the series.

There are some missions that recreate some old TV episodes, like the Guardian of Forever and the Doomsday Device. It just is not much, and you are right, Tabula Rasa was not successful and was a more complete MMO.

I would like it as F2P game for those who enjoyed the space combat style of the Starfleet Command series. It is not a classic MMO and the way they do it now, it will never be one.