"We wanted to engage the collective imagination about the possibilities and promise of a well-executed Star Trek MMOG," announced Joe Keene of Perpetual Entertainment, which revealed plans last week to develop a massively multiplayer role-playing game based on all aspects of the Star Trek franchise.

The gaming site HomeLAN Fed interviewed company co-founder Keene, who explained the development of Perpetual Entertainment and the plans for the Star Trek MMORPG, which is slated to launch in 2007 after extensive beta testing.

Paramount, explained Keene, was looking for a publisher to create a large Star Trek online game. A friend in the business introduced Keene and partner Chris McKibbin to the Paramount team, with whom they shared initial design ideas. "I think our take on the franchise, our ideas on how best to implement a Star Trek MMOG and our views on the strengths and weaknesses of current MMOGs all resonated with the Paramount team," Keene said. "Once we realized we shared a common vision, the contractual and financial aspects of the deal were relatively straight-forward."

The size and depth of the Trek universe is daunting, admitted Keene, "but it’s also a source of enormous strength and creative opportunity." Though there are thousands of details from the shows and films to be incorporated into the game, "we’re constantly struck by how open and innovative Star Trek is...our goal in designing and building our game is to offers players the optimal blend of the familiar and the new."

Keene promised "more action, adventure, exploration and complex questing than many current MMOGs", with combat that involves teamwork and the ability to interact with characters based on those already in the franchise. There will be both space and ground play.

The complete interview, which explains the delayed launch date and Perpetual's plans for other games, is here.

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