I'm pretty confused, now. The missions seem pretty jumbled. I thought I was following the "beginner path" and all of a sudden I'm in the middle of the Terran Gambit arc? "The Calling" was put up front for me after completing the tutorial. I believe I accepted that mission along with Diplomatic Orders. Diplomatic Orders is what starts the Klingon War arc (which should be "first" I would think), but The Calling is in the middle of the Terran Gambit (and I'm absolutely getting my butt kicked in the space combat portions).

I partly want to go back and start a new character just to "erase" having touched the Gambit arc. Should I be closely following the wiki to make sure I'm proceeding in chronological order? Or am I expecting STO to be more like Final Fantasy XIV where each expansion builds on the last? Is STO less linear, maybe?

I want to love this game, and it feels so close to a super fun experience, but I'm not sure if it's quirks I need to get used to, or a shift of mindset.