As hinted to in an earlier developers chat, a new Star Trek Online developer blog at MMORPG.com explains the episodic progression in more detail. The post, "Star Trek Online: Episode Missions Explained," reveals the mechanic used in the upcoming MMO that link main story arcs together, progressing the content in 45- to 90-minute "Episodes." Apparently, Cryptic Studios decided to base the MMO's main "quest lines" on a format that better lends itself to the franchise; a series of "Episodes," each containing missions that advance the overall story at a familiar pace.

Just like watching a TV episode or movie unfold, the Episode missions "have themes, interesting dialog and dramatic moments designed specifically to look, feel and play like Star Trek," according to the blog. At launch, STO will feature three "Seasons," containing 14 Episodes each. "Post-launch, we already have plans in place to continue Star Trek Online's story with even more Episodes," the dev post indicates. Again, check out the full post for complete details, and stay tuned to our STO portal site for future news.