If STO remains set in the future like PE had intended, it is safe to say that we won't see even 1/2 of the places we know, at least not in the way we would expect to see them.
For all you SWG players out there, can we say Kashyyyk?
Fact is, in the "modern" Trek era, the universe has simply become too big to present to us in the manner we'd like it presented without spending about 10 years mapping it, by which time, the people who have been waiting for STO for 3 years will have lost their minds.
However, if STO were presented in an era such as TOS or the new vision for TOS which will be coming from JJ Abrhams, then perhaps we might see the most familiar of places, such as Vulcan, Andoria, Tellar, Kronos, Romulus and Earth in a greater detail, with more free navigable space. This would do wonders for everyone because it allows more focus to be spent on just 2 Quadrants that were still being vastly explored in the 2260's and it allows for people to begin really discovering places for the "first time" which is the mission of Trek to begin with.
The way I see it, if all the places we know from the TV and Movies are already in the game, and it is set in the future beyond Nemesis, we might as well call this "Star Police: Online" rather than Star Trek. There is no exploration in discovering places that everyone has already seen and been to through the stories already told.
Think about this line from Star Trek: Insurrection. "Can anyone remember when we used to be explorers?" Truth is, the "modern" Trek era has become nothing more than NATO in space, acting as peace-keeper forces throughout the galaxy. But back in Kirk and Archer's time, they were truly explorers first and foremost.
That is the STO I'd like to see, and that STO can be a reality, if the locations of Trek follow the proper era, and truly allow us as the players, to boldy go....well, you know the rest.
:)
