In our latest Q&A with STO executive producer Craig Zinkievich, ZAM explores some of the new features added since "Season One," and we find out what's coming in next month's "Season Two" content update

ZAM: We understand Cryptic has big plans to expand personal ship interiors beyond just the Bridge; it's been hinted (the "Ten-Forward" remark) that players will be able to walk around in other areas of their ships. The latest Engineering Report also hints at "Curved Federation Ship Hallways" and player ship interiors. Can you tell us how far you're taking this development for Season 2?

Zinkievich: We're really trying to make sure that when we add parts of your ship to explore, that there are things to do there. Be it showing off trophies that you've earned in your ready room or "ten-forward", or playing mini-games in engineering for career specific rewards.

We're not that interested in providing deck after deck filled with mindless NPCs. We want the first pass of the ship interiors to have activities for the players, and continue adding sections of the ships as we have content to put there.

ZAM: Beyond Season 2, what is your ultimate goal in developing ship interiors? Are we talking about multiple decks, accessible via turbolifts, with all major ship areas accounted for? Even crew quarters, eventually? What's the ideal scenario?

Zinkievich: Definitely all those things. Putting Episodes dealing directly with your Bridge Crew is one of my dreams that I'd like to see in ship interiors eventually.

Like everything that we've done in STO since launch, the direction of what we add to ship interiors will be based on what the community wants out of the game. 3D chess? Holodeck for replaying missions? Do you really want to crawl through the Jeffries' tubes optimizing the functions of your ship? We'll go to the players for what ship interiors will become.

ZAM: With the max rank being increased to "Vice Admiral 1" in Season 2, what kind of new endgame content can players expect? Any new Raid Episodes and cool new gear to match that higher cap?

Zinkievich: Another tier of gear, special items, abilities – new Episodic content and more Tier 5 ships to choose from.

We'll also be adding new "daily" missions that will earn you badges towards those rewards.

ZAM: Finally, how are the mini-games coming along? Last time we spoke, the team was creating a "Dabo" mini-game based on the game seen in Quark's bar in DS9. What was it was like to develop an entire game based on Star Trek lore, considering there have never been any "official" rules?

Zinkievich: It's been fun. We've gotten to play with the game in order to make sure that it's a fun experience for the players around the table. Since there aren't established rules, it's been up to us to make sure that the game is a shared experience that players will enjoy.

ZAM: You're also working on a few other mini-games for STO, right? If Dabo is a casino-like game played in a "bar" setting, how will these other mini-games be integrated into the MMO? Will they serve a functional role, such as the mini-games we've seen in recent games like Mass Effect and BioShock?

Zinkievich: We're looking at creating mini-games that can be used in all sorts of situations. Games like Dabo that are social "casino-like" games as well as games that create items for your character. We're even toying with a minigame that will improve the rewards for scanning anomalies, giving you more data to be used at memory alpha if you're successful. 

ZAM: Thanks again for taking the time to talk with us about Star Trek Online, Craig!

Zinkievich: Thank you guys.