The Vault #STO
stargrace 
A fair number of my friends have already written glorious posts about Star Trek Online’s latest episode titled “The Vault” so if you want a good read with information that actually makes sense (as opposed to my ramblings) be sure to check out Tipa, BlueKae, and MMO Gamer Chick and their write ups. I don’t want to give away any spoilers but it was a lot of fun, although I found the reward a little lacking. It’s a ship device that launches level 9 (for me at least, no idea if rewards vary or upgrade based on player etc) ships that fight for you. The item only has 20 charges, so once they’re used up that’s it.
The experience on the other hand was awesome and I managed to hit Lieutenant 10 which means I am just one small level away from 11 – and tier 2 ships. It will be my first promotion (I don’t count moving from Ensign to Lieutenant as a real promotion since that happens as soon as you’re done the tutorial) and I’m pretty excited about it. Yesterday was a nice glitch-free play session, and I think I’m finally beginning to understand things a little better although I can still never remember the names of weapons/gear/places and I don’t speak the “game language” at all so I end up fumbling around talking about “that thing over there” and pointing while waving my arms.
Missions are broken into categories and I’ve noticed there are a few public quest types. I’ve had a lot of fun with public quests no matter the game they seem to be implemented in and it sort of surprised me to see them in STO. You may consider this the lazy mans method of grouping since you’re not actually forced to communicate or group up with anyone that you don’t want to, but you’re still all working towards a common goal.
Next? Hitting Level 11 and obtaining a new ship!
Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.