With Entertainment Weekly publishing a story and photos about J.J. Abrams' new Star Trek movie, the franchise is getting a lot of attention. While I'm very curious on the direction the Lost co-creator will take with the young Enterprise crew, I'm just as interested in Star Trek Online updates.

Cryptic Studios has posted an interview conducted by Star Trek Online.info with lead designer Al Rivera. Originally posted in German, STO.info has translated the interview into English. The questions focus on various topics, such as transportation, socialization and playable races.

Some planets or locations may be only accessible via a shuttle, but if you are asking if you will manually fly the shuttle through the atmosphere and land on the surface, then no.

The full interview can be found after the jump.

1. Is it possible to visit a planet by using a shuttle or only by using the transporter?

You, and your chosen away-team, will be able to transport down the surface of planets. Some planets or locations may be only accessible via a shuttle, but if you are asking if you will manually fly the shuttle through the atmosphere and land on the surface, then no.

2. Since the official website features LCARS-style graphics, will the game interface adapt the looks of the familiar LCARS?

Absolutely. LCARS is fundamental to Star Trek, and so you can expect to see all Federation game-play to make full use of an LCARS UI. Klingons will have their own UI.

3. Travelling at Warp is one important part of the "Trek-feeling". Will the different star-systems be connected (which means you would be able to warp across the universe) or will they be kind of clustered, only connected by Transwarpgates comparable to Freelancer?

Both. You will be able to fly across sectors, but space is very vast, and crossing the quadrants like this will take a very long time. We will make use of Transwarp conduits and wormholes to get quicker access to far away sectors of space.

4. One of the most discussed questions is how will be Space travel implemented in game, what is the maximum estimated time you want for traveling from one end to the other of the Galaxy?

I don't think we really know the full answer to that question yet. It is unlikely that STO space will be a simulated model of real space. It is something we will be looking closely at as we build the universe to ensure space continues to feel very vast, but not so vast that it will feel lonely. It needs to be fun first.

5. You said STO will have a progressive timeline. In Star Trek there are not really such things like the good and the bad guys, so will there be also changing alliances and enemies (e.g. the Romulan Empire joins war against the Klingons)?

Certainly, neither the Klingons nor the Romulans are "evil". They have unique and complex social structures and are simply motivated by different values. However, there are certain constants that never change - The Federation is an idealistic society, always striving to better itself; the Klingons are feudalistic, warlike and have a strong sense of honor; and the Romulans have a strong state not unlike ancient Rome and are always buried in subterfuge and espionage. I won't give away any of the details of the story, but Star Trek is not a world of black and white. Expect dramatic and subtle changes in the timeline, and expect every change to make sense for the IP.

6. Will the universe of STO expand due the ongoing exploration and will there be new quest lines (maybe computer generated ones), such like e.g. protecting the new species you made first contact with?

Every player should expect to discover unique strange new worlds and make first contact. Your actions will affect how these new civilizations will end up fitting into the Federation, the Empire and the universe.

7. Do you plan separate European- or servers for each larger country with a localized game client?

It is too early to give you an answer for this.

8. Can you tell us perhaps 3 races, possible to play on Federation side and 3 races, playable on Klingon side? Or will only Klingons be playable on the other faction?

Here are 6 of the playable races. I'll let you guess what side they are on: Human, Klingon, Ferengi, Orion, Andorian, Gorn.

9. May there be world events in which Federation and Klingons must work together to defend themselves against a threat (e.g. Borg invasion)?

It's very likely.

10. Will there be a kind of class-system with the different departments (such as command, security, science, engineering)? A kind of specialization of the own character?

Yes, there are professions like Tactical, Medical, Science, Engineering, and of course, Command. The exact number of professions is not final. Each profession has access to unique skills which will define your character and crew.

11. Will there be a kind of standing to different factions implemented? For example if a Cardassian player talks to a Bajoran NPC, he should react in an other way like if the Player is Human?

It's probably a little too early to give full details on that, but our technology does support faction standings, so it's just a matter of deciding the best way to implement it.

12. As we know from one of your past interviews, away missions of player groups or single players will be instanced, will this kind of instancing only appear on "real", quest driven away missions or will it not be possible to meet other players on planets like Vulcan or space stations?

Players will absolutely be able to interact with each other at popular locations like Vulcan, or space stations. There will be a mix of instanced and persistent maps for known and new locations.

13. What about character clothing? Will it be possible to change the clothes every time and everywhere or will it be restricted, for example on the bridge of a star ship. Or isn't it planned at all?

Character customization is one of the hallmark features of a Cryptic game. You will be able to modify the uniform of you character, but it will always have the look of a uniform appropriate for your side.

14. In a past interview you talked about the possibility to configure your accommodation (quarter) in your own ship. What is important for us is the option to add own furniture and/or change the existing furniture. Will you add such a feature to the final version?

The level of customization for ship interiors is still TBD.