Meet the Team - Christine Thompson (December 8, 2008)

[jsutich]

Learn more about Christine Thompson, writer for Star Trek Online!

I’m a fan of a lot of the female characters in the series – Uhura, Crusher, Kira, Dax, Janeway, Torres. Star Trek has never shied from creating characters that are strong and multi-faceted. Trek was one of the first things I could watch where the women weren’t just plot devices, moms or damsels who needed rescuing, and that’s part of what helped hook me on the shows in the first place.

Read more here! (http://www.startrekonline.com/articles/meet_christine_writer_for_star_trek_online)

[Apolladan]

Interesting, especially the stuff about the episodic content. Quests that are similar to episodes of the TV shows? Count me in.

[Varrangian]

Learn more about Christine Thompson, writer for Star Trek Online!



Read more here! (http://www.startrekonline.com/articles/meet_christine_writer_for_star_trek_online)

Thanks Razor and Christine!

[RandomRedshirt]

I'm a bit curious. In Las Vegas, Jack said that Cryptic was going to be hiring a professional Star Trek writer, someone who was intimately familiar with the franchise, a veteran if you will.

But it seems this writer comes from the fish wrapper industry. Why the 180 change in direction? I'm pretty curious as to why someone was brought in that has NO background in Trek whatsoever over someone who at the very least has a Trek game credit to their resume, or a Trek novelist, or in the ideal scenario, a writer for one of the series.

[Flatfingers]

I'm also looking forward to this "episodic mission structure." If I understand, it sounds like a good decision for the mission structure of Star Trek Online to reflect the episodic structure of the TV show -- that's a good usage of the license, and an improvement on the disconnected standalone mini-missions of most of today's MMORPGs.

One note: I'm hoping that NPCs in STO will be designed (within reasonable limits) to have goals and be aware of events that occur near them -- not because that would be "cool," but because in the world of Star Trek, good stories spring from interesting characters. To what extent is the AI for NPCs in Star Trek Online helping Christine do her job of creating memorable experiences in the Star Trek universe?

Just curious. At any rate, thanks to Christine and the Cryptic team for another enjoyable peek inside the process.

--Flatfingers

[Ensign.Ricky]

Good interview Christine. The mission system has me really excited. Content and interest in the mission is important to keeping it from feeling like a grind. I like how you commented on the beaks question too looks like Cryptic is really putting a lot of research into the history of Star Trek. The fact that TAS is even referenced will make a lot of people I know pretty excited. Keep up the good work.

[jagerbolt]

Nice interview! Glad to see we have fans of the show working on the game and looks like we'll have some solid writing for all the 'episodes'!

[Blackfire2]

Episode like missions? that rocks!! looking forward to Launch.

But a clarification here on the way this interview was written Razor. Is she the 'Head' writer or one of the writers on staff?

[Kestrel]

Episode like missions? that rocks!! looking forward to Launch.

But a clarification here on the way this interview was written Razor. Is she the 'Head' writer or one of the writers on staff?

I am a writer, and I have a head. :p

But to clarify, I'm the writer for Star Trek Online. That means I write everything in-game -- collaborating with the rest of the design team, of course. I'm also writing the updates to the timeline (http://www.startrekonline.com/fiction) that we post on the web site.

Razor is one of our awesome community reps, and one of his responsibilities is getting content on the web site. So that's why he's the one who posted the interview.

[willriker09]

Very cool. This is like my dream, to be a writer for a Star Trek video game. I'd be happy to be a writer for any video game, let alone Star Trek Online of all games. I have the utmost confidence in your abilities, Christine.

[Lizzio]

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur

[Haegemon]

There is so much about this game that is awesome, but I’m really excited about our episodic mission structure. We’re creating content that’s not “typical” MMO quests – we want to reflect what you’ve seen in the shows, with a variety of locations and actions in each one. I want people to be excited during episodes and eager to find out what happens next, not just wanting to finish quickly so they can get some XP and move on

This is exciting indeed.

[RogueEnterprise]

Always interesting to read the backgrounds of the people that work at Cryptic. A lot of people that work there seem to have a higher-education background (graduate school and beyond) or come from very interesting lines of work that aren't video game related (as we see here with Christine =) ) before working at a game developer.

Either way, glad to see a new person on Cryptic's end that's dedicated to the title!

[Sherp]

I'm going to miss Perpetual's head writer. He was a very fun and cool guy.

That said, I look forward to seeing what Ms. Thompson comes up with! Writing is vital. Can't wait to see what epic stories she pens for Star Trek Online!

Anyone with better language skillz than I care to translate that last line? That second word looks like it means "stars", but that's all I got.

[Hagon]

Can you knit me a pair of Star Trek socks for Christmas?

[Haegemon]

I'm a bit curious. In Las Vegas, Jack said that Cryptic was going to be hiring a professional Star Trek writer, someone who was intimately familiar with the franchise, a veteran if you will.

But it seems this writer comes from the fish wrapper industry. Why the 180 change in direction? I'm pretty curious as to why someone was brought in that has NO background in Trek whatsoever over someone who at the very least has a Trek game credit to their resume, or a Trek novelist, or in the ideal scenario, a writer for one of the series.


Maybe they're busy or they are more expensive. Anyway in the bigscreen as in the TV industry, the less important is who's the writter but how good is the script.

[Haegemon]

I'm going to miss Perpetual's head writer. He was a very fun and cool guy.

That said, I look forward to seeing what Ms. Thompson comes up with! Writing is vital. Can't wait to see what epic stories she pens for Star Trek Online!

Anyone with better language skillz than I care to translate that last line? That second word looks like it means "stars", but that's all I got.




ad astra per aspera - (To the stars through hardships)

[boydyma]

if in doubt about a phrase just drop it on google search... maybe you'll find an idea on what it is..


but thats enough OT.


thx for the interview, i feel like im getting to know a bit about the people behind the scenes here, this gives me great aspirations on how this game is going to turn out......


trick now is to continue the grind in my other MMO till this one hits the floor....:(

[frojoe2004]

I'm a bit curious. In Las Vegas, Jack said that Cryptic was going to be hiring a professional Star Trek writer, someone who was intimately familiar with the franchise, a veteran if you will.

But it seems this writer comes from the fish wrapper industry. Why the 180 change in direction? I'm pretty curious as to why someone was brought in that has NO background in Trek whatsoever over someone who at the very least has a Trek game credit to their resume, or a Trek novelist, or in the ideal scenario, a writer for one of the series.

If you didn't notice, most the writing for every star trek game besides Elite Force were horrible. The writers for STX did a lousy job, and the writers for enterprise took till after the series was canceled to come up with anything remotely interesting and relevant to the star trek universe. So Veteran writer creds don't make you a good writer, much of the veteran writers lost that magic touch to there stories after Gene Roddenberry left the picture.

Its about time we have writers who come into the franchise with a fresh mind; and know a thing or two about writing, plot devices, and have other fantastic writing skills.

It seems to me that she's not going to disapoint us. She has seen every star trek episode, and reads a book a week. She now knows more about star trek than most likely you. And given her wonderful education background, her background in intence writing working envirnments, and her obviously well developed intelect, its no doubt that she studies story line themes of the shows, movies and books, and works hard at understanding the IP at a very intimate level.

Also in writing star trek, the most important knowledge to have isn't knowledge of the star trek IP, its worldly knowledge, and understanding of politics, drama, history, and worldly affairs; an understanding of how people work in relationships, and through stress ect; and a nack for creative plots. - this knowledge is what is important to actually create interesting plots that keep people wanting to read more.

In other words, she's smart, capable, and is putting her hart into it. that is when masterpieces are written.

All I ask, and I'm sure she understands this, is that the story follows inline with the vision and feeling of star trek, its true to caanon, the story line is thrilling and full of treky goodness, and she works hard on proper charecter development.

By the way, what I've been reading on the last 3 time line posts are better than anything released into star trek cannon since the end of DS9 and VOY.

Thanks for the interview Christine, I've loved the plot so far. Can't wait for more, and to experience the game for myself.

[ToadMonkey]

Are you one of the people responsible for the liberal slant found in newspapers :p

Anyhoo....I look forward to hearing more about you and your roll with STO.

[Eidolonael]

I am very excited about the direction I see this game taking, but I wonder how episodic you can make the missions while keeping the feel of a MMO. I love the episodes that don't seem to fit at all but that were a nice break from the main story arc (Quarks Bar at DS9... namely Vic and his 26 hour per day holosuite nightlounge) and am wondering if you will be doing these types of 'side quests' and if there will be special items rewarded for them such as 1950s Tuxedos. Speaking of holosuites or holodecks... will there be missions associated with the holo-programs that we can indulge ourselves in? It would be interesting to log in and say "Fleet, I think we should take a little R&R... meet me at the holodeck for a trip to 21st century earth Las Vegas Casino action!" and then go in and get immersed in a short storyline based in real-world Las Vegas and maybe even run into a continuum anomaly called the Star Trek Experience based at a certain Hilton... THAT would be odd....

Anyway, nice to see you on the team and nice to know there's someone writing because they love the shows and not because they were assigned the position.

[Trekkie]

This was a great article, and I really like learning more about the people who are working on the game. I also really enjoyed learning more about the episodic-type content, because that is exactly the kind of thing that I want to see in the game.

[pyriel32]

Ad astra per aspera.= To star very violent. loose transltion

[KirksOtherSon]

I am a writer, and I have a head. :p

But to clarify, I'm the writer for Star Trek Online. That means I write everything in-game -- collaborating with the rest of the design team, of course. I'm also writing the updates to the timeline (http://www.startrekonline.com/fiction) that we post on the web site.

Razor is one of our awesome community reps, and one of his responsibilities is getting content on the web site. So that's why he's the one who posted the interview.

Glad to read the details, Kestrel. I'm liking the timeline updates mightily, and it's always good to put a (partial?) face to a name.

Of course, by "outing" yourself here as the official game writer, I do hope you haven't painted too large a target on your back for the "Must Complain Always" contingent here on the forums to aim toward -- then again, one does not work in journalism without developing a thick skin against such harrying.

Best,

KOS

[Captain_Intrepid]

Hi Kestrel :)

Congratulations on your new position :D

What's your best solution to the dreaded Writer's Block?

[Blackfire2]

I am a writer, and I have a head. :p

But to clarify, I'm the writer for Star Trek Online. That means I write everything in-game -- collaborating with the rest of the design team, of course. I'm also writing the updates to the timeline (http://www.startrekonline.com/fiction) that we post on the web site.

Razor is one of our awesome community reps, and one of his responsibilities is getting content on the web site. So that's why he's the one who posted the interview.

Many thanks kestral, i appreciate that :D

btw, I noticed the poem line in your sig came from TOS episode "where no man has gone before" nice touch :D

[Acidrain]

I'm a bit curious. In Las Vegas, Jack said that Cryptic was going to be hiring a professional Star Trek writer, someone who was intimately familiar with the franchise, a veteran if you will.

But it seems this writer comes from the fish wrapper industry. Why the 180 change in direction? I'm pretty curious as to why someone was brought in that has NO background in Trek whatsoever over someone who at the very least has a Trek game credit to their resume, or a Trek novelist, or in the ideal scenario, a writer for one of the series.

I would have to agree, as well as i would like to add that i don't believe that this story is of this writers own making. I think and the writing sounds lot like veteran writer D.C. Fontana, the co-writer to Gene and i find it rather disturbing and could be considered plagiarism. It almost sounds as if he is stealing the thoughts of someone who is great within the franchise and they have gotten political hack! Iam sorry if this offends some, however ive read alot of DC Fontana's work including that of her co-writer and it would seem someone is trying to take credit for something that they didn't come up with on there own.

[RandomRedshirt]

If you didn't notice, most the writing for every star trek game besides Elite Force were horrible. The writers for STX did a lousy job, and the writers for enterprise took till after the series was canceled to come up with anything remotely interesting and relevant to the star trek universe. So Veteran writer creds don't make you a good writer, much of the veteran writers lost that magic touch to there stories after Gene Roddenberry left the picture.

Its about time we have writers who come into the franchise with a fresh mind; and know a thing or two about writing, plot devices, and have other fantastic writing skills.

It seems to me that she's not going to disapoint us. She has seen every star trek episode, and reads a book a week. She now knows more about star trek than most likely you. And given her wonderful education background, her background in intence writing working envirnments, and her obviously well developed intelect, its no doubt that she studies story line themes of the shows, movies and books, and works hard at understanding the IP at a very intimate level.

Also in writing star trek, the most important knowledge to have isn't knowledge of the star trek IP, its worldly knowledge, and understanding of politics, drama, history, and worldly affairs; an understanding of how people work in relationships, and through stress ect; and a nack for creative plots. - this knowledge is what is important to actually create interesting plots that keep people wanting to read more.

In other words, she's smart, capable, and is putting her hart into it. that is when masterpieces are written.

All I ask, and I'm sure she understands this, is that the story follows inline with the vision and feeling of star trek, its true to caanon, the story line is thrilling and full of treky goodness, and she works hard on proper charecter development.

By the way, what I've been reading on the last 3 time line posts are better than anything released into star trek cannon since the end of DS9 and VOY.

Thanks for the interview Christine, I've loved the plot so far. Can't wait for more, and to experience the game for myself.


Not every Star Trek game was a masterpiece, but that doesn't make all of them bad. The actual story in some of the games was pretty good. Legacy is a good example. Bridge Commander had a decent story, Starfleet Academy had a fun story, etc. So you can't dismiss all the games just because some of them aren't winners.

But that is beside the point.

I do find it interesting that everyone is so happy with the current storyline history additions. Anyone who takes the time to read these histories will discover these ideas, these historical components have already been written, by other writers, in already existing Trek novels. Sure, some key things have been changed here and there so that they didn't have to pay for the license to use the material, but in the end, this history has already been written, just creatively rearranged by this new head writer, but everyone on here, including you, wants to credit this woman for that.

We haven't seen anything that she actually wrote! How do we know if she is a good writer? She hasn't stopped using other people's creative works yet!

I also find it interesting how you bash on every Star Trek writer in existence based on the actions of just a handful of Trek's worst writers. (Early Enterprise writing was bad.) So you are saying that writers like David Gerrold, Dorthy Fontana who have been at it since TOS and continue to write good books, comic books, etc, don't have the skills to write good Trek stories? How about all the Trek novelists out there who wrote the works that Christine is using as the basis for her history. Guess they kinda suck too. And the writers for Voyager, DS9 and TNG obviously must not be good enough either since most of them are still around. Instead, this writer who before coming to Cryptic, never wrote any Trek material and only wrote for a fish wrapper, is better than EVERY other Trek writer in existence, including those who wrote the work that she is basing the history up to 2409 upon.

Smart frojoe. Real smart.

By the time STO launches, I think we'll see just how important it might have been to get an actual Star Trek writer, but by then, the damage will have already been done.

[Sevenblade]

I am a writer, and I have a head. :p

But to clarify, I'm the writer for Star Trek Online. That means I write everything in-game -- collaborating with the rest of the design team, of course. I'm also writing the updates to the timeline (http://www.startrekonline.com/fiction) that we post on the web site.

Razor is one of our awesome community reps, and one of his responsibilities is getting content on the web site. So that's why he's the one who posted the interview.

Unlike most other people on this site, I remembered that this was you, Kestrel. Good to see you get some recognition for your efforts. I gotta say, your updates for Path to 2409 are literally my favorite parts of any Cryptic info release.

You've done an excellent job. I love how you've expanded on some of the favored books (and my favorite) that take place after the franchise, while remaining true to the story already set in place. The way you balance plausibility while also entertaining with your extrapolations is wonderful, and something I find most writers/authors have a hard time keeping in balance when approaching the Star Trek franchise.

Keep up the good work. I look forward to absorbing the engaging and interesting scenario you are preparing for us and STO. Like I said, your updates are my favorite part of this site, period. I anxiously await the others. :)

[Voorhees]

Please keep up the good work. I love deep story driven content. I love City of heroes, but what made me mad about that game is the immersion. No offense to Cryptic. I hated the cookie cutter missions. Can you please just make sure all missions and quest is hand done and not generated by a quest generator that some of these games uses.

If they have you and your team right up all the missions in the game by hand I think that the story and content related stuff is in good hands.

One more thing. For a little Christmas present to the community can we get another cool game play footage.

Maybe something that shows some missions and the interface?

Pleeeeeaaaaaaaasssssseeeee :)

[Loekii]

Please keep up the good work. I love deep story driven content. I love City of heroes, but what made me mad about that game is the immersion. No offense to Cryptic. I hated the cookie cutter missions. Can you please just make sure all missions and quest is hand done and not generated by a quest generator that some of these games uses.


I agree -- hate 'cookie-cutter' content, and love immersion.

The Episode Mission system sounds intriguing and I hope it is successful. It is good to hear from the writer that they are thinking out-side the box and looking to make STO, a Trek experience, rather than just an MMO with a ST skin.

One thing I am hoping to see fleshed out in the Writing style, is that the Klingons are also written in an 'out-of-the-box' style, rather than just being the 'violent mongol villains'. In an old flight sim game, 'Tie Fighter', the instruction book gave a Background perspective of the SW Empire from the view of a loyal subject -- really painting the SW Alliance as terrorists and Insurgents -- instead of the 'good guy/heroes' image seen in the Films.

I love different perspective Writing, and I hope that STO will not be solely written from a Federation/Star Fleet perspective -- where the Klingons are framed from the View of Starfleet.

Looking forward to the time line episodes as the unfold. Thank you for the interview.

~ Cheers

[frojoe2004]

Not every Star Trek game was a masterpiece, but that doesn't make all of them bad. The actual story in some of the games was pretty good. Legacy is a good example. Bridge Commander had a decent story, Starfleet Academy had a fun story, etc. So you can't dismiss all the games just because some of them aren't winners.

But that is beside the point.

I do find it interesting that everyone is so happy with the current storyline history additions. Anyone who takes the time to read these histories will discover these ideas, these historical components have already been written, by other writers, in already existing Trek novels. Sure, some key things have been changed here and there so that they didn't have to pay for the license to use the material, but in the end, this history has already been written, just creatively rearranged by this new head writer, but everyone on here, including you, wants to credit this woman for that.

We haven't seen anything that she actually wrote! How do we know if she is a good writer? She hasn't stopped using other people's creative works yet!

I also find it interesting how you bash on every Star Trek writer in existence based on the actions of just a handful of Trek's worst writers. (Early Enterprise writing was bad.) So you are saying that writers like David Gerrold, Dorthy Fontana who have been at it since TOS and continue to write good books, comic books, etc, don't have the skills to write good Trek stories? How about all the Trek novelists out there who wrote the works that Christine is using as the basis for her history. Guess they kinda suck too. And the writers for Voyager, DS9 and TNG obviously must not be good enough either since most of them are still around. Instead, this writer who before coming to Cryptic, never wrote any Trek material and only wrote for a fish wrapper, is better than EVERY other Trek writer in existence, including those who wrote the work that she is basing the history up to 2409 upon.

Smart frojoe. Real smart.

By the time STO launches, I think we'll see just how important it might have been to get an actual Star Trek writer, but by then, the damage will have already been done.

I wasn't saying that all Trek Writers are bad, in fact I didn't say any of the trek writers were bad. I love star trek because of its fantastic writing. But what I was saying is that Veteran doesn't mean good, and the latest works from these writers have not been all that great.

Also, every series of star trek was written by mostly new writers, most books were written with writers that were not involved with the TV shows (so when they started there books, they were new and not veteran) and I bet many of the games were written by studio staff.

As far as not having her own writing on the time line, her task right now isn't really to create new content, why would she when she has a license from paramount and CBS to use anything in the Trek IP. So her task right now is to watch all the shows and movies, play the video games, and read the books. Pick and choose what fits for the direction Cryptic wants to take is, and make sure there arn't any inconsistencies in the story line.

Anyways, I simply don't understand why its so horrible that we have an intelligent, informed, hard working writer, that seems to be dedicated to the IP. I think we can be thankful we have a writer thats more than a fan, and more than a simple writer. she seems to dedicate herself to the project, as seen with all the resurch she's doing, and because she is doing her homework to intamatly aquant herself with star trek, I look foreword to a fresh perspective in the franchise.

Honestly, I think you are making way to big of a deal about this. writers come and go, what matters is the content written.

[KO_Gilligan]

I actually had the pleasure of meeting Christine at GenCon. Friendly, outgoing, and very bright in my opinion. I'm sure she's both highly valued and well loved around Cryptic Studios. She's also community oriented, if you guys think listening to the fans is important.


They've been living off this stuff in the studio, and writing MMO feasable content is probably becoming second nature around there by now. They didn't just hire some unknown expert in Trek Content for writing content. That would be rediculous to try to fit the game.

I'm also sure that hiring some famous Star Trek fiction content writer to shape the development team was... how would Jack say it..... not in their cards.

Right-on Cryptic, I can't imagine you guys trying to build a Star Trek game by creating the Lore and cramming the game into it. This needs to be content written for an MMO, content created by.... you.



We're in good hands.

[Eidolonael]

I wouldn't be suprised if they all walk around in starfleet uniforms (after all, in one of the DS9 episodes, Worf said they were designed to be comfortable in any environment) and have a ships compliment assigned within the studio...

[RandomRedshirt]

Anyways, I simply don't understand why its so horrible that we have an intelligent, informed, hard working writer, that seems to be dedicated to the IP. I think we can be thankful we have a writer thats more than a fan, and more than a simple writer. she seems to dedicate herself to the project, as seen with all the resurch she's doing, and because she is doing her homework to intamatly aquant herself with star trek, I look foreword to a fresh perspective in the franchise.



Did I say it was horrible? No I did not, and I will thank you not to put words in my mouth.

What I have been asking though, since the top of this thread is why Cryptic announced they would be hiring a veteran writer (Las Vegas Convention) and then, turn, do a 180, and hire someone who has never written Trek in their life.

Does not matter if she is hard working or a lazy bum. Does not matter if she is the greatest person on the planet, or the worst. That is not the matter at hand. The matter at hand is Jack made it clear he intended to bring in someone who is familiar with Trek, and has written Trek before, in order to make sure the game would "feel" Trek. Now it seems they have tossed that concern out the window. Makes me wonder what other things about this game are being considered inconsequential and therefore will get tossed to make this game work.

[amb]

Hey Christine! Nice to have you on board! I wish you best of luck and inspiration for your work at Cryptics. You're a key factor for a successfull and exciting game experience, I count on you! ;)

[KO_Gilligan]

Did I say it was horrible? No I did not, and I will thank you not to put words in my mouth.

What I have been asking though, since the top of this thread is why Cryptic announced they would be hiring a veteran writer (Las Vegas Convention) and then, turn, do a 180, and hire someone who has never written Trek in their life.

That's just straight out false - they didn't turn and hire her... Check your facts. She was already there. Additionally, they didn't offer this writer a lead seat... my guess is Christine or one of the team would still be in charge of content writing. How do you know they haven't hired an expert in the field or two, it's just not famous content writers that you were expecting?

Sounds to me like your just barking this stuff out. I don't see a single thing of relevance in your claim. They're making an MMO not a new series.... Jack didn't say enough to warrant your assumptions. If they didn't take on any writers yet, I'm sure there is still time if they need them.


Does not matter if she is hard working or a lazy bum. Does not matter if she is the greatest person on the planet, or the worst. That is not the matter at hand. The matter at hand is Jack made it clear he intended to bring in someone who is familiar with Trek, and has written Trek before, in order to make sure the game would "feel" Trek. Now it seems they have tossed that concern out the window. Makes me wonder what other things about this game are being considered inconsequential and therefore will get tossed to make this game work.

Hmmm... I'm not sure what your getting at, but you just repeated yourself and threw in your solid and lengthy conclusions that this will now not feel like Trek.

So I guess they should have hired you, since I'm certain you have enough zeal to keep this accurate.
Better brush up on your writing skills though.

[Kahn773]

Through hardships to the stars, great latin phrase. I am glad that we have people that are completely embracing Star Trek working on this game. Without them it would be very difficult to gauge where Cryptic was going with STO. Thank you for hiring people who really want to make a great game and just hiring people who want to throw something out half done.:cool:

[RandomRedshirt]

That's just straight out false - they didn't turn and hire her... Check your facts. She was already there. Additionally, they didn't offer this writer a lead seat... my guess is Christine or one of the team would still be in charge of content writing. How do you know they haven't hired an expert in the field or two, it's just not famous content writers that you were expecting?

Sounds to me like your just barking this stuff out. I don't see a single thing of relevance in your claim. They're making an MMO not a new series.... Jack didn't say enough to warrant your assumptions. If they didn't take on any writers yet, I'm sure there is still time if they need them.

Believe what you want. That is your own business. But I was there in Vegas when Jack stated they were planning to bring on a veteran Star Trek writer, and instead it appears that the most critical component, the history of what has happened from 2379 to 2409 i being written by someone who has never written Trek before, and furthermore, who is being lauded on these boards for essentially summarizing the work of other people in novels that already exist.

You can come to your own conclusions, I'll stick with mine.


Hmmm... I'm not sure what your getting at, but you just repeated yourself and threw in your solid and lengthy conclusions that this will now not feel like Trek.

So I guess they should have hired you, since I'm certain you have enough zeal to keep this accurate.
Better brush up on your writing skills though.

I never said they should hire me, nor did I ever infer that. I am no more qualified to write Trek than Rick Riley is. But that is the point. If you want to hire a writer that is familiar with a certain medium or source material, generally you don't go outside the medium on a hire when there are writers already available in that medium.

Would you hire Kobe Bryant to write a Broadway play? No, he knows nothing about Broadway.

You don't like my opinion, so be it. Frankly, I don't care. But I am still wondering why it was announced that a veteran Trek writer was being brought in, but instead, we have someone who has never written Trek leading the charge with the most important of the writing elements from a continuity standpoint.

[TheHybrid]

Awesome work you are doing for us Christine! I can't wait to experience some of your epic stories for STO. Keep up the good work!

[Stu1701]

Christine's job is to write Star Trek stuff for STO... I'd kill for that job!

[KO_Gilligan]

You can come to your own conclusions, I'll stick with mine.
.

No, that's the difference between you and I. You can make your baseless conclusions, yet I see no game killers in sight. Besides you should know that there's been more than a few moments in Star Trek that the writing was about as good as you or I could do, and most of the books are cheesy fan fiction.

Add to that the points that you never addressed.

1. They are not writing a TV show or a book, the team leaders should be someone who has knowledge in generating MMO instances, NOT Nacelle Pylon configurations.

2. Jack did not say they would let a "Veteran Writer" MANAGE their content. They may still have the hiring plan, or are already working with someone. You are just stacking the assumptions up.

3. You claim they said something and hired someone else. But Christine was already working there :D

No wonder you accuse me of making conclusions like you.

The other difference between you and I is your comparison of Cryptic doing Star Trek MMO content is to Kobe Bryant doing Broadway. What do you know about the Cryptic team, or a team member's abilities? You know nothing and your analogy is just silly and insulting. At least I can say I recognize the talent and the enthusiasm Cryptic has. Why don't you go ahead and post your expert opinions from others regarding the content writing... The truth is the writing has gotten a good reception. You also accuse them of rewriting stuff that's already been done by other writers. Well what eactly did you expect your seasoned Star Trek expert to do?

The more I think about it, I rejoice that they did not use your "hire a veteran to run things" strategy.

[RandomRedshirt]

...The truth is the writing has gotten a good reception....

Sure. The writing that has been done by others. Others like veteran Trek novelists. The same ones that you put down earlier in your post with this remark:

...and most of the books are cheesy fan fiction.

Perhaps you should learn to not contradict yourself before you attempt to tear down my posts.

And for the record, when the announcement was made in Vegas that Cryptic, we hadn't seen a thing from Kestrel regarding the history (aka the writing). So in fact, they did do a 180. Sure, Kestrel might have already been on staff, but they handed her the writing after making the statement about bringing in a veteran.

Oh, and one more thing:

They are not writing a TV show or a book, the team leaders should be someone who has knowledge in generating MMO instances, NOT Nacelle Pylon configurations.

There are plenty of writers out there that have written Trek in a lot of mediums. Series Episodes, Books, Comic Books and Video Games. In fact, one of the most prominent writers of Trek, DC Fontana, has written in ALL those mediums, along with her writing partner Derek Chester, who wrote for Bridge Commander and Legacy. In fact, the two of them are the only writers who can claim they have written for all 5 Star Trek captains. (Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway and Archer.)

Are they not qualified per your ultra high standards that by your own logic don't seem to apply to the current writer? I mean, after all, DC Fontana has been writing Trek since Season 1 of TOS, but apparently according to your standards, doesn't know enough to write for STO.

Interesting philosophy you have there. :cool:

[KO_Gilligan]

Sure. The writing that has been done by others. Others like veteran Trek novelists. The same ones that you put down earlier in your post with this remark:



Perhaps you should learn to not contradict yourself before you attempt to tear down my posts.

And for the record, when the announcement was made in Vegas that Cryptic, we hadn't seen a thing from Kestrel regarding the history (aka the writing). So in fact, they did do a 180. Sure, Kestrel might have already been on staff, but they handed her the writing after making the statement about bringing in a veteran.

Oh, and one more thing:



There are plenty of writers out there that have written Trek in a lot of mediums. Series Episodes, Books, Comic Books and Video Games. In fact, one of the most prominent writers of Trek, DC Fontana, has written in ALL those mediums, along with her writing partner Derek Chester, who wrote for Bridge Commander and Legacy. In fact, the two of them are the only writers who can claim they have written for all 5 Star Trek captains. (Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway and Archer.)

Are they not qualified per your ultra high standards that by your own logic don't seem to apply to the current writer? I mean, after all, DC Fontana has been writing Trek since Season 1 of TOS, but apparently according to your standards, doesn't know enough to write for STO.

Interesting philosophy you have there. :cool:

For someone who asked another member not to put words in your mouth about how terrible you think this all is, you now have eloquently misrepresented me, Cryptic, and their writers (when Jack's main message has always been how a large number of people have been long studying Trek to come up with ideas) But apparently you know that Cryptic could have easily hired a writer with game making experience
(have you played those games? - are the missions in them some kind of work of genius? I must have missed something if they were)

or they could have hired an expert book, comic book, or series writer.

What novel did Cryptic copy for the story? I don't believe you anymore, and I don't believe your statement that I insulted a specific work by calling the books cheesy, most of them certainly are either inconcievable or unlikely for use in a series or movie... that's the nature of book writing. Fitting a book story into an MMO's gameplay would ruin it. The background leading to launch is important, but it's not anything close to game breaker, and I personally could care less.

Single player games follow a long linear progression but an MMO is short story instances at best.
Finding an MMO skilled writer is an aspect that you keep neglecting.
Your strategy sounds like a waste of money to me, yet you think they are killing the game through carelessness.

Did I mischaracterize you yet? Bacause maybe I'm just not getting it.

I remember Jack said they were looking to hire a writer, was that the webcast or the HF thing ? What was the time marker ? Also could you tell me what your quoting from, did Jack actually say a "Veteran" or "Expert" or "Experienced Star Trek" writer? There is a difference. I submit that they really only needed a bit of help with this timeline progression, and they either did hire someone, or don't need them anymore.

[RandomRedshirt]

What novel did Cryptic copy for the story? I don't believe you anymore, and I don't believe your statement that I insulted a specific work by calling the books cheesy, most of them certainly are either inconcievable or unlikely for use in a series or movie... that's the nature of book writing.

Wow, you really can't keep your story straight can you? One minute, all the books are cheesy, then the next minute, the writing that Kestrel has done is great, even though all those ideas were in the books, which you refer to as cheesy, then you don't even remember calling them cheesy at all.

You don't happen to work in D.C. do you? If not, I might suggest a career change.

And what novels were copied for the time line updates? Several actually. I could look them all up, but really, if you want to know, you ought to do that yourself. But basically, there are major plot elements from the following:

"Titan" Series
Death in Winter
Worlds of Deep Space 9
Avatar
Unity
A Stitch in Time
Articles of the Federation
Homecoming

Please feel free to check my facts here: http://startrek.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

Now, so we are clear, I am not saying that the history written by Kestrel is a direct copy. But major events were taken from the books, and either kept the way they were in the novel, or slightly modified for the purposes of the Cryptic History.

[Sevenblade]

Wow, you really can't keep your story straight can you? One minute, all the books are cheesy, then the next minute, the writing that Kestrel has done is great, even though all those ideas were in the books, which you refer to as cheesy, then you don't even remember calling them cheesy at all.

You don't happen to work in D.C. do you? If not, I might suggest a career change.

And what novels were copied for the time line updates? Several actually. I could look them all up, but really, if you want to know, you ought to do that yourself. But basically, there are major plot elements from the following:

"Titan" Series
Death in Winter
Worlds of Deep Space 9
Avatar
Unity
A Stitch in Time
Articles of the Federation
Homecoming

Please feel free to check my facts here: http://startrek.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

Now, so we are clear, I am not saying that the history written by Kestrel is a direct copy. But major events were taken from the books, and either kept the way they were in the novel, or slightly modified for the purposes of the Cryptic History.

What'd you expect? Cryptic almost literally stated that they would be using books taking place after Nemesis to help write the story for ST:O. They confirmed that books would be considered soft canon, and then, gee, someone else already has created an idea for what happened in this time period, and we just lent them credibility by our own standards. How could they not keep the major events of those books? And note, they kept the major events. Like you said, they're not copying them, so what's the issue? Are writers not allowed to build upon previous ones in a series? Realize that not everyone has read even one of these books, let alone all of them or even a good portion. Cryptic is trying to get everyone up to speed on the story that has been established to take place after Nemesis. After this is accomplished, maybe then we'll see Kestrel's talents (or lack thereof, as you seem to be implying) take off as we see more original content conceptualized by her.

Until then, however, I suggest you cease the nitpicking and borderline personal attacks on a valuable and talented member of the team who is creating the game that I'm assuming you're here to discuss because you want to play it. I'm sure Christine doesn't appreciate trying to create a fun and enjoyable backstory to the hopefully fun and enjoyable game while people like yourself proceed to verbally (or textually, in this case) eviscerate her hard work. Especially since I've been shocked by your audacity to do so in this very thread, most likely in front of her eyes. Sounds real grateful, no?

Before you start attacking someone who you barely know and have only seen 3 small pieces of their work, try to consider not judging them. If you really are that displeased with the scenario, how about suggesting an alternative? Perhaps you could write your own take on the Path to 2409 (completely original, please, without any backing authors referenced, as you seem to place so much emphasis on this), and then we could all dissect it so thoroughly and viciously as you did? Or perhaps you don't want to do that, as having your hard work spit on is generally not a good feeling? Think about that next time you want to criticize another. As cliche as it may sound, the Golden Rule does tend to come in handy.

[RandomRedshirt]

What'd you expect? Cryptic almost literally stated that they would be using books taking place after Nemesis to help write the story for ST:O. They confirmed that books would be considered soft canon, and then, gee, someone else already has created an idea for what happened in this time period, and we just lent them credibility by our own standards. How could they not keep the major events of those books? And note, they kept the major events. Like you said, they're not copying them, so what's the issue? Are writers not allowed to build upon previous ones in a series? Realize that not everyone has read even one of these books, let alone all of them or even a good portion. Cryptic is trying to get everyone up to speed on the story that has been established to take place after Nemesis. After this is accomplished, maybe then we'll see Kestrel's talents (or lack thereof, as you seem to be implying) take off as we see more original content conceptualized by her.

Until then, however, I suggest you cease the nitpicking and borderline personal attacks on a valuable and talented member of the team who is creating the game that I'm assuming you're here to discuss because you want to play it. I'm sure Christine doesn't appreciate trying to create a fun and enjoyable backstory to the hopefully fun and enjoyable game while people like yourself proceed to verbally (or textually, in this case) eviscerate her hard work. Especially since I've been shocked by your audacity to do so in this very thread, most likely in front of her eyes. Sounds real grateful, no?

Before you start attacking someone who you barely know and have only seen 3 small pieces of their work, try to consider not judging them. If you really are that displeased with the scenario, how about suggesting an alternative? Perhaps you could write your own take on the Path to 2409 (completely original, please, without any backing authors referenced, as you seem to place so much emphasis on this), and then we could all dissect it so thoroughly and viciously as you did? Or perhaps you don't want to do that, as having your hard work spit on is generally not a good feeling? Think about that next time you want to criticize another. As cliche as it may sound, the Golden Rule does tend to come in handy.

The issue here is not the use of the novels as the basis for the backstory history from 2379 to 2409. What is at issue was KO_Gilligans assertions that Kestrel was a wonderfully talented writer that wrote this amazing story and is better than all other Trek novelists, series writers and game writers.

How can anyone truly know what the quality is of Kestrel's writings, when all the writings to date have been based on the work of others, or for a lack of better terms, a paraphrasing/summation of novels that occur post-Nemesis?

The original argument was not if Kestrel is a good writer or not. Obviously, if she was working for a fish wrapper, she must have some writing skill. Newspapers don't just hire Joe Shmoe off the street. What I questioned however was the assertion by Jack in Vegas that an experienced Trek writer was being brought in to handle the writing on STO, and instead, it appears the writing has been handed over to someone who has not written Trek at any time in the past.

If you choose to view my questioning of that as a personal attack, then that is your business, but I hardly see the similarity. If I had stupidly said "Kestrel is the worst writer ever and knows jack squat about Trek" then that would be considered a personal attack. But I never said that, nor did I elude to it. I did question her qualification to write Trek though, as she has no previous experience in the Trek arena. That, along with the assertion by Jack that an experienced TREK writer (ie someone who has written Trek before in some medium or another) leads me to question Cryptic's dedication to providing a quality Trek experience.

STO will not be Trek because of the gameplay. The gameplay itself will not feature anything unique to the Trek franchise itself. The only thing in the game that will make this game "Trek" is the writing, and based on that, it would seem that the most important component of the development team in assuring that this game "feels Trek" as Cryptic has vowed many times over, would be the wirting staff.

If Cryptic comes out and says they are going to be bringing in someone who is intimately familiar with the franchise to oversee the work done by the writing staff, I will gladly announce that I jumped the gun, apologize to the community, and shut my mouth. But something tells me that won't be happening.

Finally, as to your suggestion that I should write my own history of the Post-Nemesis events, perhaps I will. I know that my take on some of the events would be far different, which would have major impacts on the gameplay aspect, especially pertaining to the Klingons suddenly becoming our enemies once again. But yes, I could write a history of Post Nemesis. After all, I have seen all the Trek series, read many of the books, played the games, etc. But, like Kestrel, I have never written Trek myself before, therefore, what would make me anymore qualified to do such a task?

Fact is, I would not be qualified to do so. Hence my argument that the writing of Trek for STO should be handled by someone who has written Trek before, in order to ensure that the story within the game has the most "Trek" feel to it as is possible which is the most vital component to making STO feel "Trek".

[KO_Gilligan]

What is at issue was KO_Gilligans assertions that Kestrel was a wonderfully talented writer that wrote this amazing story and is better than all other Trek novelists, series writers and game writers.


Well, that's not exactly what I said.

But I think she's pretty darn cool, and the team of Cryptic feels that she's up to it. Fans have enjoyed the synopsis so far.

I'm not going to change your mind about it feeling like Trek when you've made you decision before playing it. It's obvious you are not gonna like the game no matter what.
Yet I suspect you have fair weather feelings, and will jump off the bash mobile once it's a popular game.

I remember a fine and valued member of Cryptic's staff once told me of STO, that they won't be able to make everyone happy (in paraphrase).

Well I guess that says it all.

[Sevenblade]

Well, that's not exactly what I said.

But I think she's pretty darn cool, and the team of Cryptic feels that she's up to it. Fans have enjoyed the synopsis so far.

I'm not going to change your mind about it feeling like Trek when you've made you decision before playing it. It's obvious you are not gonna like the game no matter what.
Yet I suspect you have fair weather feelings, and will jump off the bash mobile once it's a popular game.

I remember a fine and valued member of Cryptic's staff once told me of STO, that they won't be able to make everyone happy (in paraphrase).

Well I guess that says it all.

QFT

Naysayers have this tendency to pick out only the most negative aspects of something, before we even have enough information to actually judge it on. It's just kind of sad how adamant they are in keeping that very narrow view of the future for this game.
I, for one, will continue to remain positive about the story and STO in general. There'll be plenty of detractors, but I have a feeling people will be pleasantly surprised when Cryptic finally puts out a great game.

[Eidolonael]

To the two folks arguing in the forums: TAKE IT TO PRIVATE MESSAGES

Not everyone wants to listen to the negativity and the accusations and blah blah blah... It is nothing more than forum clutter.

To everyone else, they are working to make this game great and I, for one, appreciate what they are doing. They are well aware there are options now with more to come in the Science Fiction genre (STO, SWTOR, SG:W, and soon 40kO or Warhammer 40,000 Online for those of you unfamiliar with the setting... it's being done by THQ which means it has just as many resources as Cryptic does now that they have Atari financing everything... so we have Cryptic, Bioware, CME, and Vigil studios under THQ, lots of talented competition). Quite simply, if they don't put out a quality gaming experience, they won't survive. So please stop with the mumblings about them not doing Star Trek justice and this and that blah blah... it's old, it's boring, and it's not what I come to these forums to read.

That is all.

[Traynor94]

Reading the novels! Woohoo! I've been worried that we might have writers who didn't read them/care about them. That bit by itself makes me happy.

I don't knit my own socks... how much work is that? Sounds like a long process. :)

[AaronH]

Reading the novels! Woohoo! I've been worried that we might have writers who didn't read them/care about them. That bit by itself makes me happy.

I don't knit my own socks... how much work is that? Sounds like a long process. :)

Knitting can be an insanely long process depending on how much you are knitting. Suprisingly though, the time just flies by. I've never knitted socks though, so I don't really know for sure.

[KO_Gilligan]

Knitting can be an insanely long process depending on how much you are knitting. Suprisingly though, the time just flies by. I've never knitted socks though, so I don't really know for sure.

Just last week my daughter submitted her report on 18th century colonial living. Turns out they passed laws requiring children to know how to spin, and a girl, by the time she was 8 would knit the whole family's socks, do the mending, make the soap, make the candles, and possibly even whip up herbal medicines if they were needed :eek:

[Signalsgt]

Ad astra per aspera

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!

[Kestrel]

Just last week my daughter submitted her report on 18th century colonial living. Turns out they passed laws requiring children to know how to spin, and a girl, by the time she was 8 would knit the whole family's socks, do the mending, make the soap, make the candles, and possibly even whip up herbal medicines if they were needed :eek:

Wait, I can knit, sew a little, I know how to make soap, I've made candles, peppermint is good for an upset stomach ...

I'm an eight-year-old from the 18th century!! :)

[Signalsgt]

Just last week my daughter submitted her report on 18th century colonial living. Turns out they passed laws requiring children to know how to spin, and a girl, by the time she was 8 would knit the whole family's socks, do the mending, make the soap, make the candles, and possibly even whip up herbal medicines if they were needed :eek:

All I want my wife to do is learn to cook...

/She's not on the forums

[0wl]

Great and well met!

[TreffnonX]

The thing about the episodic missions is one thing I had asked if i had been to the release of the first trailer. But since I am from germany that would have been a major trip just to drop off one question ;}

Even though I registered only recently with the forum I am monitoring the developement and the plot developement that is written for quite a while now so it's really a good thing to finally know who to blame if something doesn't add up. ;-D (kidding)
I am however a little bit worried, not by the fact that the writer behind the game hasn't made any ST games yet or anything like that, but more the fact that it is only one writer overall, doing all the little chat-bubbles, all the dialogs, all the stuff that normally takes a team of plot developers for any other mmorpg.
Also Star Trek has always been the work of multiple writers, there was not a single season of any star trek series i know of that was entirely written by one person alone.
Now one writer (and I have no doubt about her abilities or anything that's not the point) writes nearly 30 years of plot. In a manner of speaking one person now controlls the "entire fate of the galaxy".
Am I the only one concerned with this?
So in fact there are two questions:
1st:
Is it really enough to have one person working on so many plots and will it not affect the size of the game?
2nd:
Is the huge responsibility of writing so much "history" fit to be handed to one person alone?

Now to round this up, plz don't get me wrong, I have no specific problem with the plot so far or anything in particular, in fact the detail on some of the characters lifes have been more accurately described than I had anticipated. So all in all i am just asking if there is some kind of control over what is done here, becasue from what I understand the plot will be "law" for any future series (may there ever be more that are post Nem.).

I have given it alot of thought, even if i should write this at all, especially since i have not yet spoken up about STO but I think it is about time. :]

-waiting for the impact, TreffnonX (plz don't rip my head off ;) )

[CherryTerri]

Glad to see ladies on the team!

Be good to us Gorn in the missions!