Its been a moderatly busy week for Star Trek Online with a number of interesting updates across the board. 

The community has been screaming out for new screenshots or new videos as of late, however Cryptic have not yeilded, instead giving us a blog update, a new Kobayashi Maru scenario, a new wallpaper and a new ship of the line update.

In the blog update, Craig Zinkievich tells us all about their weekly internal playtests, what purposes they serve and how they help the whole team get in sync and move forward with the game:

We assemble a build of the game late Monday, and on Tuesday afternoon we drop what we’re doing and get into a conference room to go over what we’re testing that week. We go over what the major changes and additions over the last week have been to the game, what content we’re going to play and what is the particular focus during the play session.
We spend about an hour playing, and then everybody gets back into the same room. We spend another 15 or 30 minutes gathering as much feedback from the team as possible. What did we like? What didn’t we like? Most importantly - did we have fun? It’s important to talk about the good stuff in addition to the bad, so we can stress the “likes” in future tests.

Read the full blog entry at MMORPG.com by clicking here: http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs.cfm?isapi_rewrite_remap=Awenyddion%2F062009%2F3961&bhcp=1

The ship of the line update revolves around the Federation Excalibur Class which effectivly seems to be a 25th century kitbash of the original series Constitution Class.

Updating the iconic profile of the Constitution class, the Excalibur is the first of a group of new, state-of-the-art cruisers intended to fill a variety of roles for Starfleet.

Designed with the modular construction favored by the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, the Excalibur can tackle almost any task. Its expanded cargo capacity and advanced warp core make it an ideal solo exploration vessel, but it also performs well as a support ship during fleet actions.

Many community members have complained that this ship is an insult to the Constitution Class Lineage and is undeserving of the name "Excalibur".  Make up your own mind by viewing the full update here: http://startrekonline.com/ships/excalibur

In "celebration" of their new ship class, Cryptic also released a new wallpaper featuring their Excalibur - check it out here: http://www.startrekonline.com/wallpapers

Finally, if you enjoy participating in the Kobayashi Maru scenarios, check out the latest one by clicking here: http://startrekonline.com/node/270

Captain's log, stardate 0905.09: Nova class science vessel USS NOVA, sector Lambda Hydrae, five light years from Starbase 234. All systems report active and functional except warp engines and subspace communications. For three months we have been gathering data on a nearby anomaly, which is causing subspace interference, making it impossible to generate a warp field or contact even the nearest starbase. We have been until now staying within 10 astronomical units of it.

"Captain!" cries your Communications Officer. "We are receiving a distress call! It is so faint, Sir, it can only be very near, a few AU at most. With all the interference, it could not have been received by anyone else."

"Ops, on audio, and boost signal."

 "This is Warbird Jar'vuk," you hear a voice say. "All ... propulsion syst ... disabled by ... system wide failure ... are drifting out of ... Neutral Zone into Federation territory toward ... Klingon Emp ... border... Warp breach in progress! ... request urgent assistance!"

"Sir, their scanners have detected us," says your Comms Officer.

The voice returns. "To Fed ... ship: This is ... Jarv'uk. of ... Imperial Romulan Fleet. This is not ... repeat, not an intentional violation of Treaty! Stay clear! We will destroy ourselves before ... drift into Klingon territory ... or surrender our techno ... to you!"

The bridge erupts in a cacophony of voices.

"Ops confirms through scan both position at 1 AU astern and disability of the ... Sir! The Romulan Warbird ... it just exploded, Sir!"

"Tactical here, Captain. Long range sensors detect a Klingon Vor'cha class battlecruiser on our starboard bow, on an intercept course toward the debris field. ETA 15 minutes. And, on her present course and speed, she will reach our own position at least five minutes before that!"

"Helm ready for full impulse out of this sector, Sir. Shields and weapons, Captain?"

"Sir, Romulan Warbird decloaking 1,000 meters in front of our bow! Sir, their weapons are locked on us!"

 A new voice appears over the communication system. "Federation vessel! This is Warbird Shar'duk of the Romulan Imperial Fleet! We have monitored the destruction of our sister ship and the approach of your Klingon allies! You are under arrest for violation of treaty and unprovoked attack against an Imperial Starship! Prepare to be boarded or destroyed!"

"Sir! Two more Klingon Vor'cha cruisers have decloaked, directly astern, and now they are jamming all frequencies. Their weapons are locked on the Warbird - and on us!"