Final Thoughts

Star Trek Online is, for those who can play it well, an incredibly fun and engaging MMO with a novel take on the genre.  While there are certainly idiosyncrasies with gameplay and content left to be worked out, it's no worse than what should be expected with any fresh offering.  Where it fails to meet expectations, though, is with accessibility.  While certain accessibility shortcomings are to be expected, others are easily correctable and frankly shouldn't exist.  The obvious embodiment of this is, again, autofire on the ground.  For many disabled individuals I have spoken to that participated in the beta, this was the single most valuable element to let them feasibly play ground combat.  While it may not have been initially implemented as an explicit accessibility aid, that was undoubtably one of the things it had become.  By unceremoniously removing it from the game without warning or explanation, Cryptic alienated many a disabled gamer -- not to mention able-bodied gamers who simply found it a convenient feature to eliminate a repetitive task.  Hopefully, Cryptic will be willing to address this and other issues moving forward and make Star Trek Online's accessibility among the best out there.