This. Will. Be. The. Best. MMORPG. Ever.

Especially if you’re a closet or not-so-closet Trekkie.

Online game developer Cryptic Studios announced Monday it had secured the rights to produce a massively multiplayer version of “Star Trek” and intends to provide a sneak video peek at the company’s progress during a Star Trek convention in Las Vegas next month.

But there’s no need to wait even that long. Screen shots of the game already have been posted at the new “Star Trek Online” website.

The announcement resurrects hopes that a role-playing Trek truly will take shape following dashed plans by the former P2 Entertainment to make it happen earlier this year. Trek is the mother of all sci-fi franchises, with an intricate history and detail that makes it perfect for this kind of gaming.

According to Cryptic and those allowed to look over the company’s shoulder while it’s working, “Star Trek Online” will let players captain Federation or Klingon ships, recruit and customize the crews, explore planets, engage in battles and add customized content to the playing environment, among numerous other things.

Gamers will be able to climb aboard the starship Enterprise or a Bird of Prey using consoles, PCs and Macs. Details about the final release date were not publicized Monday, but the sneak peek on Aug. 10 likely will include that information. And everyone can attend: A live webcast of the event is slated for broadcast at startrekonline.com. (Game Guy urges the site administrators to stock up on servers and bandwidth now, because the audience will be huge. Huge.)

The Trek MMORPG has potential to become one of the most popular, if not the most popular, role-playing experience in cyberspace. Its roots go back four decades, to the days of Kirk and Spock and Nixon and Brezhnev, and its multi-billion dollar culture has spawned countless book series, several TV series and movies and created a cult phenomena unmatched in modern times.

Trek is so widespread, so enmeshed in our society, a well-designed and intelligent MMORPG in that vein probably would make “World of Warcraft” and those old D&D all-nighters look like dreary skirmishes. So prepare for the further online adventures of the starship Enterprise. Game Guy’s pretty sure they will rock your pre-warp-drive world.