So basically I play SF when Im waiting to do something in this game (you have to travel Real Life time to get somewhere, which can be an hour or so so I play SF to entertain myself) but basically;
you are NOT a starship, you are a player who crews a starship with other players. In SQO there are 4-5 different factions;
Therataan Protectorates - Similar to the Vulcans in Star Trek
United Systems Alliance - Similar to the Star Fed. of Star Trek
Imperial Klinshaya Empire - Similar to the Klingons in Star Trek
Tikopaika - Fish people, possibly Romulans, but in my opinion they are a fresh idea heh.
There is also a race called the Alshaya, they are similar to the ancients in Stargate, where they have gone extinct, or ascended etc, no one knows, but the Therataa idolize them as 'gods' basically.
Each factions has its own 'brand' of ships.
Therataan - Star Warrior (battle ship), Star Hunter (Stealth/recon ship)
Alliance - Ares (Civilian warship), Ticonderoga (Battle ship), Manning (Cruiser)
Klinshaya - Raptor (Scout), Deathwing (Heavy cruiser)
Tikopaika - Remora (Battle ship)
There is also tech levels, Therataan being most adv. then the Tikopaika, then the Alliance and then the Klinshaya.
In the game, you can take the role of a member of a group (faction) and serve as an Officer aboard a starship in Starfleet, Therataan Star Navy, Klinshaya Warfleet, or the Tikopaika Warfleet. There are several ranks (in starfleet - Recruit, Crewman, Able Crewman, Petty officer, Senior Petty Officer, Ensign, Lieutenant Junior Grade, Lt. , Lt Comander, Commander, Captain, Commodore, Rear Admiral, Admiral, Fleet Admiral, there is also the respective ranks for hte other factions, with different names, BUT, you dont gain exp like other games, and the promotion is not automatic. Your fellow players promote you rather than the game, by submitting you for promotion, then 3 higher ranking officers to sign off on it, so there is only ever 1 FADM (fleet admiral), and then you prove you are able to have that rank)
In all Starfleets, the basic goal is defense, and offense, ofc and right now, there is a major war between the United System Alliance Allied with the Therataan Protectorates, against the Klinshaya Empire and Tikopaika.
You can also walk around the ships, and tailor it to your needs, IE, add plants here, Food Sequencer there, chairs here and carpets there. You can do what you want with your room. There is also person vs person fighting ON ships (if you get boarded) and it is not like STO, you can just port onto someone elses ship whenever you want, IF their shields are down and you are within range. You also sit at actual consoles/chairs, to control the ship, IE Helm console drives the ship, Tactical Console shoots, etc etc (and note, its 1 character per console...so you cant have both screens open at the same time, IE helm OR tactical)
You can also choose a simple life of a Civilian where you (if you have the money) get your own starship for cargo running, or even buy the Ares for piracy, or just shooting NPCs. You can also build your own Colony. Basically it means you place a charter down and you have made a colony, you also now own that entire star system. As a civ, you also cargo run to other colonies, or even your own, and you make money. You can also build ships and other orbitals (like defenses, and trade stations) from a CCF (civilian construction facility) by mining or buying the metal, trycene and electronics, and putting them in a computer and scan a ship in and press build
Really, even with the long travel times, there is quite a lot to do, be it exploration, science, shooting or recon etc.
If your interested here is the website, and then there is a forum where everyone helps ya (even though there is a lot of fighting on the forums, between the factions anyway heh)
http://www.castlethornsoftware.com/SQOweb2/index.htmlhttp://forum.castlethornsoftware.com/
