First, let me start with stating that I am not a huge fan of the direction Cryptic seems to be taking STO, and the whole "1 man starships" idea is among the worst. Here is my idea for what a group-based starship should be in an MMO setting (including tank, healer, dps and support roles). Added a simple poll to this post, which will expire after 7 days from this posting.

A starship should be manned by 5 key personnell at all times. Going by the 5-man party system, found in other MMO:s, all roles should be held by human players, however there may be some flexibility found by utilizing a "hencemen" type system, in that you replace certain roles by NPC characters, when no human players are around.

Captain: Group/Party Leader, provides morale abilities for the party, and issues general commands. On away missions, the Captain functions as mission leader, similar to the role so often played by Commander William Riker or Commander Chakotay during TNG and VOY respectively. Essentially, the Captain/Team Leader can function in all of the roles listed below, however being more generalised. "Jack of all trades, master of none" sort of ideals.

Helm: Navigates the starship, controls all of the ships movement functions including warp and sub-light capabilities as well as setting up orbits around planets and occasionally even landing on the surface of planets. On away missions, the helm officer functions mostly as a scientist in the field, with some knowledge within his/her chosen line of work. For example, knowledge of possible radiation or other interference, limiting a starships ability to warp/maneuver.

Tactical: Controls all shipboard weaponry, able to target enemy ships/subsystems at will, while also under the guidance of his/her commanding officer. An experienced tactical officer is more proficient during combat operations, and in most cases play a huge role in the success of an individual starship over another. On away missions, the tactical officer functions as the head security of the team, often going forward into unknown situations first.

Engineering: Commands the heart of the starship, which is it's engine room. An experienced engineer can modify/tweak his/her starship to the best of it's ability, and sometimes gaining an edge over starships of similar size/class. Engineers can boost power to various subsystems, while also rerouting power from less needed subsystems. For example, rerouting power from warp engines during sublight combat operations. On away missions, the engineer is proficient in hacking/modifying technological objects, in some cases able to free the entire team from holding cells/behind forcefields. Engineers are also able to repair both their starship, by directing damage control teams under his/her command, and while on away missions, repairing damaged objects/supplies.

Science: The head science officer of a starship, is able to detect all forms of man-made transmissions, and has the ability to scan objects to gain greater knowledge and understanding of it. During combat situations, the science officer can in coordination with the engineer, sometimes obtain knowledge of enemy shield frequencies, allowing the ships tactical officer to bypass the enemy shields entirely. On away missions, the head science officer functions as the medic of the team, repairing/reviving injured teammates. Has the ability to use local plantlife as a source of medicinal use.

Please comment on these ideas with some constructive critisism. Also, if anyone has any "inside connections" to Cryptic, perhaps they can forward these ideas to them, giving them some ideas on what might improve the game (which at current looks very uninteresting to such a dedicated Trek fan, such as myself).

I voted "other". I think they probably put a lot of thought into this, so untill we see how it plays out in the game, I won't really make a judgement on this.

Otherwise: *agrees with Zach*

 I like this idea Darkthunder though I think I would seperate the science/medical area's myself.

 For science the officer in question could use their abilities in studying anchient ruins on new worlds, or for that matter ruins of a more comtemporary theme to deduce what happened to it's inhabitants. Also Science officers can find new resources in the form of metals or liquids that have properties for further study etc. On ship their skills with sensors could help locate vulnerable points in hostile alien caft to assist the tactical officer and perform experiments in the ships labratories when not under combat pressures on the bridge.

 Medical will have some similarites to the above, healing injured personnel on the ground or dealing with massive numbers of injuries as people are brought into sickbay from areas of the ship during ship to ship combat. This would entail treating npc's as well as players in this situation.  When not in combat, the good doctor can research cures for diseases, study new alien anatomy and so on.

 there would be many other things other officers such as the tactical/security officer, captain and others could do on and off ship, but I wont go into this here unless your interested in further elaboration.

 All in all though I like what you have written here.

  Zach -- I agree what you have said here too.

 

 I am of the opinion that this game needed the multiple manned crew to make it the game it deserves to be.
 I could "lock" out the ability for other players to join me on ship, and have NPC avatars take the other four positions, and I could solo all I want.
 But for intense combat scenarios, I would like to have a "live" person at the helm and at tactical; at Engineering and Medical; for the simple fact that human intuition and experience far outweigh the speed brought to the equation by an NPC avatar.

I know your poll is closed, but i don't like the 5 human idea.

First off, I'm going for Gorn as my race.  Now, seeing that Federation pretty much is doubled in player than Klingon side, getting 5 players for my ship will be a pain in the rear.

I would rather much have myself and 4 other NPCs that I can control through commands, and other player captains in my clan I am trying to put together.