StarQuest Online has new developers.

There was a battle in the heavens, the foundations of space quaked. At the end of the day there was silence, but no winner. The space gods were gone.

They have been replaced.

Yes, you have read that right dear SQO-inhabitant, StarQuest Online is now under a new banner. Nexeon has agreed to stay the course and continue to run the servers and billing while aT Games takes over development of StarQuest Online.

Many things will be different, but in the end the core of StarQuest will stay the same. Let me explain. StarQuest Online is one of the most in-depth sandbox sci-fi MMO's ever.

"In StarQuest Online, players can assume the persona of a character living, exploring, fighting, and possibly dying in the 23rd Century. As an intrepid Starfleet officer, swashbuckling pirate, devious smuggler, deadly bounty hunter, wealthy merchant, or ordinary civilian, players shape this world and its history into whatever they wish."

-This is StarQuest. After we have finished this will be truer than ever.

We will be doing many things:

1. Fixing bugs

2. Fleshing out gameplay systems that already exist such as colony building, bounty hunting and faction building

3. Replacing mechanics that are not up to par with the quality we want in StarQuest Online such as the UI, windowed client, factions and player economy

4. Bringing in new technologies such as a modern graphics engine (DX11 capable or equivalent), a brand new fullscreen client, and improved engine code for smoother gameplay.

5. Building a new in-game tutorial

6. Fully fleshing out all the non-Alliance factions; Klinshayans, Therataan and Tikopaika

7. Redoing every piece of artwork in-game. We will be going from DX7 quality graphics to DX11 quality, the new graphics technology mentioned above actually decreasing lag!

8. Bringing in a new payment model. StarQuest is going to have a free-to-play (F2P) mode. All players can play Fleet for free, indefinitely. Going into the civilian side of the game or into other factions, will cost a premium subscription of $10 a month. The premium subscription plan will not be implemented until we have enough content and quality to justify for it.

9. Bringing a new development model into StarQuest. We are a different development team than CTS was, we do things differently. There will be a clear timeline for big additions to the game, these will be well documented expansions. The first expansion will include many of the things above. Bug-fixing patches will continue to be released "when we get them done", as they have always been. It is critical to get bug fixes out as fast as possible.

In conclusion:

StarQuest Online has long been a game with huge potential. We intend to bring StarQuest Online to its full potential with a complete package of development. Our artists are artists, not programmers in disguise. Working on things like eye candy will not at all slow down the development of the game, as no programming capable people were transferred to work on art in the first place. Great game design is a balanced trinity of elements:

1. Great Gameplay Mechanics

2. Great Community

3. Great Graphics

All three can and will exist together from now on. But first we have several things we need to do. Our programmers need to learn StarQuest Online's programming inside and out so we can intelligently decide our path into the future. This will take some time. In short, bug fix patches will not begin until January. Our first expansion will be within the next 6 months, and it will be big. You will know what is in it, and exactly when it is coming when we know ourselves.

Lastly, when the payment plan is changed StarQuest Online is going to be reset. Everyone will be starting from the beginning, everyone will be playing equal. What you make of the universe is for you to decided. This your game, we will take care of our community. All we ask is that you stand by us while we learn the engine, and begin the development in earnest. Thank you for being a great community, we will build you your great game.

StarQuest Online will live again.

http://forum.starquestonline.net/showthread.php?14880-StarQuest-Online-has-new-developers.