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

12-08-2008, 01:31 PM

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

Quote:

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!

Apolladan · 12-08-2008, 01:36 PM

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

Varrangian · 12-08-2008, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Razor

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

Read more here!

Thanks Razor and Christine!

RandomRedshirt · 12-08-2008, 01:44 PM

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 · 12-08-2008, 01:54 PM

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 · 12-08-2008, 01:59 PM

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 · 12-08-2008, 02:18 PM

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 · 12-08-2008, 02:19 PM

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 · 12-08-2008, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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?

I am a writer, and I have a head.

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 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 · 12-08-2008, 03:12 PM

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.

12-08-2008, 01:44 PM	#4
RandomRedshirt Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Salem, OR	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 reject your reality and substitute my own!" - Adam Savage "I got it one piece at a time, and it didn't cost me a dime." - Johnny Cash

12-08-2008, 01:59 PM	#6
Ensign.Ricky Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: U.S.S. Wing & a Prayer	Good read 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. __________________ Ensign Ricky * Fresh out of Star Fleet Academy, Assigned to the Red Shirt Fleet Famous last words: "I volunteer for this away mission Captain." "Did anyone else see that?" "I'm gonna go for a closer look."

12-08-2008, 03:12 PM	#10
willriker09 Career Officer Join Date: Jul 2008	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. __________________ Don't try to be a great man...just be a man and let history make its own judgements. - Will Riker quoting Zefram Cochrane Check out my Examiner.com articles at http://www.examiner.com/x-53720-Hart...aminer?showbio

12-08-2008, 01:36 PM	#2
Apolladan Banned Join Date: Jul 2008	Interesting, especially the stuff about the episodic content. Quests that are similar to episodes of the TV shows? Count me in.

12-08-2008, 01:54 PM	#5
Flatfingers Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Texas	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

12-08-2008, 02:18 PM	#7
jagerbolt Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008	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'!

12-08-2008, 02:19 PM	#8
Blackfire2 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: London, Ontario Canada	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?