AirLockAlpha.com

Well, our very own Michael Hinman is right about one thing: Airlock Alpha doesn’t normally cover the computer game industry because there are plenty of other Web sites that specialize in doing just that.

On the heels of my last article, plus the article Michael just wrote last week, I was a little hesitant to continue on with yet another column about the recent launch of the massively multiplayer online roleplaying game Star Trek Online.

But I came to Airlock Alpha specifically to comment on all matters Star Trek, and right now there’s no bigger news in the Trek world than Cryptic’s launch of what has been, in all honesty, a very rough start to a very cool game.

One of my favorite quotes from the movies happens to be from Kevin Smith’s film “Dogma.” It’s a pretty funny scene wherein the homicidal angels, Bartleby and Loki, are rebuked by a snippy bus ticket agent when they’re surprised that the bus to New Jersey is sold out. The saleswoman advises them, with attitude I might add, “I suggest you not underestimate the staggering drawing power of The Garden State.”

It never ceases to amaze me how many times I have repeated that same line but have substituted the words “The Garden State” to “Star Trek.”

It’s unfortunate that Cryptic has had to learn this lesson the hard way.

Those of us involved in the open beta of the online game were taken aback by the server capacity issues we were experiencing at the time. It did not bode well that Cryptic was already showing trouble with the intense public interest during their open beta and head start periods. Their server literally couldn’t handle the load.

Worse, Cryptic was, well ... cryptic in their responses to our concerns. We were told that we were playing a “limited” game and that the servers and the game would be opened more fully at head start. While we knew we were playing a limited version of the game, after the head start period began and the server started crashing, we figured out very quickly that Cryptic was simply overwhelmed.

I will now clarify that Cryptic has since formally acknowledged their oversights and have stated they will expand their server capacity this weekend to handle the unexpected load. I hope so, because I really do love this game and I would hate to see it die because it was too popular.

Now I know there are a lot of people who would think that any Star Trek-themed computer game would only be loved by the hardcore, stereotypical gamer. You know that stereotype I’m talking about. It’s the same stereotype any true fan of any genre has to live with – the “oily-skinned-loveless-geek-who-lives-in-their-mother’s-basement” stereotype.

And now I'm left to wonder if Cryptic is experiencing these problems because they made assumptions based on that stereotype, because it’s damn well obvious they didn’t do a lick of real market research! If they had, I think they used lousy data.

I read a couple of weeks ago (and please, I don’t remember where – nor do I have any legitimate backup for the claim) that there are an estimated 250 million people worldwide who would call themselves fans of Star Trek. I’m not saying “Trekkie.” I am saying “fans,” or people who merely loved the show.

250 million people.

Considering there are about 6.8 billion people on this planet at this time – 250 million is a little less than 3.7 percent of the world’s total population.

Now, I’m going to tweak these numbers and make my own assumptions and will acknowledge that many of the 250 million so-called fans aren’t really television watchers or computer users. As such, I’ll make a rough guesstimate that there are about 100 million potential customers who would laugh at one of those Capt. Kirk inspirational posters if they saw one. Cut that figure in half, and you’ve got 50 million Trek fans that went to go see one or more of the films.

Cut that number in half again and you’ve got 25 million people who still watch the television reruns on occasion. Cut that number in half again and you’ve got 12.5 million people who secretly want to go to a convention but won’t out of fear of being called a geek.

Cut that number in half and you’ve got 6.25 million people who might actually own the new film on DVD. (I think I might be conservative here. *runs to google* Oh! I’m SO good! I looked up the sales numbers and what do you know?! As of Nov. 17, 'Star Trek' has sold 6.2 million units.)

Now of those 6 million people who liked the genre enough to buy the latest movie, even if you cut the number by two-thirds – that leaves 2 million people who might actually love the show enough (especially because of the fact that the game has a post-Nemesis universe) to try the new online game, especially if it’s successful enough down the line.

I understand that World of Warcraft has more than 11 million subscribers. Sure they’ve been around for a bit, and I’m absolutely sure that “subscribers” doesn’t translate into “frequent players.” But WoW had to build their user base from scratch!

Star Trek makes its own gravy! The fan base already exists! We’ve been here! Waiting! Waiting to play this game. And it's only now we hear that the game was more popular than Cryptic anticipated?

Dang! What do we have to do to get a little respect around here?

Star Trek is the quintessential franchise. It’s the franchise that other franchises wish they could be. If you put Batman in front of a television, he just might be watching Star Trek. Star Trek defined the term!

So you see? I totally understand why people in New Jersey get offended when people make fun of their state. It has a bad reputation in the “rest of the world.” Why? Because the media only shows the rest of the world that New Jersey is nothing but the armpit of the United States.

We often only see New Jerseyans portrayed as stereotypical thugs, low-class fools and jerks. We rarely, if ever, get to see the lush green and beautiful countryside it has, nor do we get to see how truly nice, helpful and kind most of the people are. I only know because I’ve been there and found out for myself.

I think it’s a lot like being a Trekkie. Most people assume we’re all like the fans that the media chooses to represent us. Don’t get me wrong, I love my fellow Trekkies who cosplay at conventions, I think it’s great! But the vast majority of the world will only see a news report about "those silly Trekkies" gathering once more to celebrate some old television show and the only images they’ll see will be of those who dressed up for the occasion.

The world rarely sees the fact that the overwhelming majority of convention attendees don’t wear costumes or plastic Vulcan ears. Why? Because it doesn’t make for a very exciting or interesting news feature.

So when a business like Cryptic goes out to make money from a market it clearly didn’t understand and then acts surprised when we show up en force, I think we have a right to be a little miffed. We have a right to be miffed in the same way people from New Jersey would (and should) take offense by assumptions made about them because of where they live.

I am looking forward to the server capacity expansion of Star Trek Online with glee. I can understand Michael Hinman’s desire for his money back as the product, at this point, clearly isn’t what was promised as a lot of people can’t even get in to use it. (I was just kicked out of the server right before I wrote this - right in the middle of a very difficult mission.) But I’m going to stick this out and I will report occasionally on what improvements (or forbid the thought – what other failures) are taking place in and around the game.

Oh! By the way, as an update to my last column, my character’s now a lieutenant-eighth grade. She’s been defeated in battle countless times (the word “respawn” is now cemented in my vocabulary) and she has an affinity for the sniper rifle instead of a phase pistol. She’s awfully fond of rifle-butting Klingons and leg-sweeping Orions and she’s really, really good at running.

However, she’s a crappy pilot. She’s getting better, but those big-ass Klingon warships are awfully hard to fight off with a measly Miranda-class starship and lieutenant-grade phasers.

So if you are playing Star Trek Online – wait, let me preface that – if you are lucky enough to be able to log into Star Trek Online to play, and you see this chick named Beth in the USS Ada Byron (or Cassidy in the USS Persephone) zip into a battle just to explode in spectacular fashion after 30 seconds … that would be me. Just wait a few. I’ll be back after my respawn. I am nothing if not tenacious.

And my advice to anyone, anywhere who may think that Star Trek fans are a weak market, I will only say this: Never underestimate the staggering buying power of the Trekkie.

Ever.

Just ask Cryptic.