Arix
08-11-2008, 06:53 PM
I do have a few 'questions' or issues I suppose.
1. Race Customisation:
Now being a creative person myself, I can understand the appeal of creating races. But as a Trekkie, I don't want to see a bunch of bizarre, ridiculous looking aliens everywhere I turn.
And as Mr Emmert himself said on GameSpy "What we can do is take aliens, like the Bolians and the Gorn, and give them a society, give them a background, give them more storyline," he said. "Characters that have been in the background or rarely engaged are going to be a bigger part of the world, and a more present part of what's happening." And I agree, I think it'd be great to encourage people to play as less 'typical' races, like Human or Vulcan, and instead to develop characters such as the Bolians, Gorn, Andorians, Tellarites, Orions, Caitans, and even more established races like the Trill (my favourite race), Bajorans, Cardassians and Ferengi.
So I propose to Cryptic, what about a compromise between the two? After all, Mr Emmert also mentioned that players could create some of the unseen races. But, what happens if, for example, I create the 'Tarellians' (no idea whether they've been seen or not, I merely picked a race name off the top of my head) and I make them... bright orange, three arms, no hair. And yet someone else ALSO makes 'Tarellians' who are green with purple polka dots, have lizard tails and ridged foreheads.
What if instead, people could create races and then submit them to be 'judged'. Then the races which seem to fit into the Trek Universe, and those which didn't double up, etc, could be included as a selectable race. BUT, as well as this, all races should have a great deal of customisation for each individual - but this should fit within the race's features, i.e. maybe you can choose from a number of different shades of blue for an Andorian, or different antenna sizes/types. Or make a dark skinned Vulcan, or a Trill with pale spots.
2. Bridge Crew:
I just want to say, that if you can't figure out some way to let players be a Bridge Crew together, then I think this is the best compromise you could have come up with. I was a bit skeptical, but after reading Mr Emmert's interview with GameSpy I'm happy you're at least trying to figure out a way to make it work.
I do think a way to give each character (as in, each player) a more 'individual' feel is, as mentioned in the Vegas Webcast, to give each character a 'specialty'. So even though we're all technically Captains, and we have a bridge crew, if we got together with other Captains and formed a Fleet, then we'd have something unique to bring to the table. So finding some way to bring in other 'specialties' would be a good way to go I think, but I do like the idea of a Bridge Crew, and even better if you make them customisable. (By specialities I mean say, Engineering, Scientific (from Exobiologists to Warp Theorists), Diplomatic, Security, etc)
3. Klingons vs Federation:
This news is both very upsetting, and not upsetting at the same time for me. While I can understand why it'd not only make for a better game, with PvP and such, and that it'd be plausible within the Trek Universe, it does sadden me that the implication is that the Klingons and Federation aren't on friendly terms anymore. While I can understand how the Romulans or Dominion might be trying to fight the Federation again, the Klingons had become some pretty strong allies by the end of the Dominion War. And I realise its been 30-40 years since that war ended... but still, I hope they're not constantly fighting at least? Maybe you could at least let them unite against some common foe occasionally.
Also, a question, how will playing as different races within the Klingon Empire work exactly? As far as we know, there are only Klingons there really. I'm curious as to how that'll work.
4. The past 30 years...
I literally did a fangirl squeal when I heard that you were going to post up the past 30 years' history, and then again when I heard you were reading the novels and considering them as part of the backstory.
And I just wanted to say, Mr Emmert wanted to know what books to read?
Yeah, all I have to say is... DS9 Relaunch! Those books are brilliant, and as well as being a great read, I think the storyline is more than worthy of being included in the backstory of STO. (They go from Avatar up until the latest, [which I'm yet to read, sadly] Fearful Symmetry.) Also, the Titan books, are very brilliant.
I don't have a high opinion of the direction the TNG relaunch has taken, but it might be interesting to see where the Destiny trilogy goes. And Voyager relaunch, small as it is, is probably a good place to look too. Maybe tying in B'Elanna and Tom's daughter could be some good backstory, or even reason for the hostilities between the Klingons and the Federation?
Maybe getting together with Pocket and some of the writers there, and asking about the direction the books might go, or how best to incorporate them into the backstory of STO would be a worthwhile thing to do.
5. Good work so far.
(Really, this does deserves a point all on its own.) While I might have a few 'issues', after hearing the webcast, and learning about how much you're trying to stay true to the idea and 'lore' of Trek, and even going so far as to read the novels (I'm a big reader, and my dad and I own well over 200 of the books, so it thrilled me that they're being considered).
So good on you guys. I'm really excited you've picked this up, and the direction you're heading seems wonderful. I'm sure my dad, brother and I will be picking up a copy of this game whenever its released, cause I have a feeling its only going to get better from here. Can't wait to hear more.
1. Race Customisation:
Now being a creative person myself, I can understand the appeal of creating races. But as a Trekkie, I don't want to see a bunch of bizarre, ridiculous looking aliens everywhere I turn.
And as Mr Emmert himself said on GameSpy "What we can do is take aliens, like the Bolians and the Gorn, and give them a society, give them a background, give them more storyline," he said. "Characters that have been in the background or rarely engaged are going to be a bigger part of the world, and a more present part of what's happening." And I agree, I think it'd be great to encourage people to play as less 'typical' races, like Human or Vulcan, and instead to develop characters such as the Bolians, Gorn, Andorians, Tellarites, Orions, Caitans, and even more established races like the Trill (my favourite race), Bajorans, Cardassians and Ferengi.
So I propose to Cryptic, what about a compromise between the two? After all, Mr Emmert also mentioned that players could create some of the unseen races. But, what happens if, for example, I create the 'Tarellians' (no idea whether they've been seen or not, I merely picked a race name off the top of my head) and I make them... bright orange, three arms, no hair. And yet someone else ALSO makes 'Tarellians' who are green with purple polka dots, have lizard tails and ridged foreheads.
What if instead, people could create races and then submit them to be 'judged'. Then the races which seem to fit into the Trek Universe, and those which didn't double up, etc, could be included as a selectable race. BUT, as well as this, all races should have a great deal of customisation for each individual - but this should fit within the race's features, i.e. maybe you can choose from a number of different shades of blue for an Andorian, or different antenna sizes/types. Or make a dark skinned Vulcan, or a Trill with pale spots.
2. Bridge Crew:
I just want to say, that if you can't figure out some way to let players be a Bridge Crew together, then I think this is the best compromise you could have come up with. I was a bit skeptical, but after reading Mr Emmert's interview with GameSpy I'm happy you're at least trying to figure out a way to make it work.
I do think a way to give each character (as in, each player) a more 'individual' feel is, as mentioned in the Vegas Webcast, to give each character a 'specialty'. So even though we're all technically Captains, and we have a bridge crew, if we got together with other Captains and formed a Fleet, then we'd have something unique to bring to the table. So finding some way to bring in other 'specialties' would be a good way to go I think, but I do like the idea of a Bridge Crew, and even better if you make them customisable. (By specialities I mean say, Engineering, Scientific (from Exobiologists to Warp Theorists), Diplomatic, Security, etc)
3. Klingons vs Federation:
This news is both very upsetting, and not upsetting at the same time for me. While I can understand why it'd not only make for a better game, with PvP and such, and that it'd be plausible within the Trek Universe, it does sadden me that the implication is that the Klingons and Federation aren't on friendly terms anymore. While I can understand how the Romulans or Dominion might be trying to fight the Federation again, the Klingons had become some pretty strong allies by the end of the Dominion War. And I realise its been 30-40 years since that war ended... but still, I hope they're not constantly fighting at least? Maybe you could at least let them unite against some common foe occasionally.
Also, a question, how will playing as different races within the Klingon Empire work exactly? As far as we know, there are only Klingons there really. I'm curious as to how that'll work.
4. The past 30 years...
I literally did a fangirl squeal when I heard that you were going to post up the past 30 years' history, and then again when I heard you were reading the novels and considering them as part of the backstory.
And I just wanted to say, Mr Emmert wanted to know what books to read?
Yeah, all I have to say is... DS9 Relaunch! Those books are brilliant, and as well as being a great read, I think the storyline is more than worthy of being included in the backstory of STO. (They go from Avatar up until the latest, [which I'm yet to read, sadly] Fearful Symmetry.) Also, the Titan books, are very brilliant.
I don't have a high opinion of the direction the TNG relaunch has taken, but it might be interesting to see where the Destiny trilogy goes. And Voyager relaunch, small as it is, is probably a good place to look too. Maybe tying in B'Elanna and Tom's daughter could be some good backstory, or even reason for the hostilities between the Klingons and the Federation?
Maybe getting together with Pocket and some of the writers there, and asking about the direction the books might go, or how best to incorporate them into the backstory of STO would be a worthwhile thing to do.
5. Good work so far.
(Really, this does deserves a point all on its own.) While I might have a few 'issues', after hearing the webcast, and learning about how much you're trying to stay true to the idea and 'lore' of Trek, and even going so far as to read the novels (I'm a big reader, and my dad and I own well over 200 of the books, so it thrilled me that they're being considered).
So good on you guys. I'm really excited you've picked this up, and the direction you're heading seems wonderful. I'm sure my dad, brother and I will be picking up a copy of this game whenever its released, cause I have a feeling its only going to get better from here. Can't wait to hear more.