[Faeldawn]

The star-trek mmo was dropped recently, if anyone was ever going to try it again, they would need to ask why.

Co-op ship controls, as in you can't pilot a Starship without a minimum crew, then theres an optimum crew which would increase reaction times, weapons lock, firing, manouver reactions, shield balancing etc. That being said single piloted fighters should also be available as well as a broad spectrum of other specialist ships and various sizes and configurations. The key would be getting the balance right.

Have a race based system with classes unique to those races, if you want a Startrek "feel" you have to get with the racial relationships and cultures.

Federation, Ferengi, Klingon, Vulcan, Romulan etc etc all have very complicated relationships with each other and very diverse cultures.

Personally i'd put ground combat on hold and go initially for a space-based mmo. Sure you'd need ships and starbases to explore as a character, also be able to board other ships, shuttles etc. Have the basics of fps combat on the ships so you can board, invade, attack, defend etc. Actual ground assaults can follow once you have the basics sorted out in an enclosed and easily controllable environment such as a ships corridors and compartments.

One thing players will want is the ability to explore, this is a real problem as to get it right you need a huge amount of content. PvE is not a good idea on any significant scale outside of special events such as Borg invasions etc. The question is can enough players be found to cover all the races to a number where large-scale combat is not only possible, but very achievable. If not then your talking about npc races or at least npc characters making up the balance between races, and that can be tricky.

Another issue is the type of player a Star Trek mmo can attract. You want to cater for the hardcore mmo players, but if you tap into the trekkie crowd, you'll find the vast majority will want to roleplay and probably not all of them will want pvp in any way.

It's a difficult thing for something with so much background to fit into an mmo, you have to pick a specific angle and direct the game that way, you'll struggle be able to cover it all in enough detail to suit your target audience.