posted
That's possible- maybe a nice homeworld within the Neutral Zone on some barely habitible rock (to challenge the Hirogen, of course).
Really though, the Hirogen need aton of work beore they're in any way interesting- the Predator thing really made me sad- soo many Voyager episodes were devoted to these two-dimensional goons- and it's yet another society where being a warrior is the norm- impossible in any society that needs everyting from engineers to computer techs.
They'd have to have someting on par with the treatment that was done for the Cardassians- taking them from "alien menace o' the week" to Trek's most believable baddies.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
| IP: Logged
Teh PW
Self Impossed Exile (This Space for rent)
Member # 1203
posted
Kinda like how the Clans from battletech kinda sorta couldn't exist, by the numbers, Jason?
posted
Er..I guess so- I'm not real familliar with Battletech.
I really liked the Enterprise episode with the Klingon lawyer lamenting the decline of his culture as the "warrior class" took over. Probabaly explains why the KLingons still fly 80-year-old recalled KBOPs.
A better solution would be for children to be tested for aptitude at an early age with the smartest growing up to form a ruling class that (while honored) is rarely seen- prefering the (still well trained) soldiers handle the dangerous work of inter-species relations on a daily basis.
Registered: Aug 2002
| IP: Logged
posted
I always thought that they missed a trick with the Klingons, and how they were presented. I thought that the whole "warrior ethic" thing was going to be presented as part of the Klingon psychology/worldview, not (as it actually turned out) as almost every Klingon turning out to be a warrior.
That way, a Klingon doctor would be just as much a doctor as his Federation counterpart, he would just view it as fighting a battle against an enemy - in this case, disease or injury. Klingon engineers, lawyers, leaders etc would all do the jobs they wanted to do, but would just view everything as a fight for a cause they thought was honourable. Being a warrior and fighting a battle would be a key concept to the Klingons, but it would just apply to different people in different ways, in different fields of work.
Like I say, I always thought they missed a trick with the Klingons and just ended up going down a fairly boring route. That said, my wife did point out once when watching DS9 that the Empire must have a huge import market for shampoo and conditioner. Maybe that's how the Federation can afford to churn out ships at such a prodigious rate?
Registered: Nov 2004
| IP: Logged
posted
Well, folks, Star Trek Online is now in open beta.
I've been playing for a while now, as I was lucky enough to get invited to closed beta (couldn't talk about it at the time, non-disclosure agreement and whatnot), and I gotta say that so far the game is good. Not great, but good. I do have a few issues with it.
First, the bridge officers. I had said quite some time back that Cryptic (the developers of the game) were quite well known for customization options. And for the most part, that's true for Star Trek Online... Except for the important stuff like their gender and species. I had been formulating in my brain what kind of crew I'd like to have beforehand, and this just throws my creativity right out the window. No matter how much I may want a female Vulcan science officer, if the game gives me a male Andorian science officer, well, I'm out of luck. I'm really hoping full customization is implemented before launch.
Secondly, space combat is way too hard. I'm no stranger to MMORPGs. I've been playing World of Warcraft and Cryptic's earlier game City of Heroes for a while now. In those games, unless you do something colossally stupid (like go up against WoW's elites or CoH's archvillians on your own), you've got a pretty good shot of surviving fights. Defeat is still possible, but unlikely. Star Trek Online's space battles are a fight to the death with every fight. For example, I had a cruiser with max power to shields, which is the closest thing this game has to a tank (a character meant to absorb damage, for those not in the know). Even so, I had about a 50% chance of getting blown up, and even if I didn't blow up, I was down a battered wreck of a ship. Granted, there doesn't appear to be a death penalty in this game, but I don't enjoying dying on a more-than-regular basis. The difficulty seriously needs to be adjusted.
Thus ends my rant.
-------------------- "Kirito? I killed a thing and now it says I have XPs! Is that bad? Am I dying?"
-Asuna, Episode 2, Sword Art Online Abridged
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
Charles Capps
We appreciate your concern. It is noted and stupid.
Member # 9
posted
quote:Star Trek Online's space battles are a fight to the death with every fight.
Only if you're the first to get aggro. Enemy threat control is entirely busted.
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
quote:Originally posted by Charles Capps: Only if you're the first to get aggro. Enemy threat control is entirely busted.
Well, I was mostly referring to solo play (especially vs. groups of Birds-of-Prey), but that is also definitely true. In fleet actions, I was either not taking any damage at all, or was insta-killed in about two seconds, depending on whether I had aggro or not.
Oh, and CC was playing and I didn't know it? Boo.
-------------------- "Kirito? I killed a thing and now it says I have XPs! Is that bad? Am I dying?"
-Asuna, Episode 2, Sword Art Online Abridged
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
Charles Capps
We appreciate your concern. It is noted and stupid.
Member # 9
posted
Just started last night, actually. I wanted to start when Open Beta started, but the servers going down five minutes before I tried to log in two nights in a row was a wee bit painful.
Using my WoW name, @Galthron. Feel free to bug/friend me in game.
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
posted
Is the game system intensive? I'm trying to gain access to the open beta, but I don't know if my POS Radeon X1600 PRO can handle it.
Registered: Feb 2005
| IP: Logged
posted
Maybe they'll go all WOW and let characters have familliars- I want a Horta...maybe my own Ceti Eel.
Charles, what's the general goal of the game? I mean, is there some event going on beyond the ship youre on that defines the missions or something? You know, stuff like Borg trying to destroy earth, Whale Probe trying to destroy earth, V'Ger trying to destroy earth, Picard clone trying to destroy earth, time-traveling romulan miners trying to destroy earth, Xindi trying to destroy earth....then there's the old "Spacial Anomaly about to destroy earth" gag for when you want a refreshing change of storyline.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
| IP: Logged
Charles Capps
We appreciate your concern. It is noted and stupid.
Member # 9
posted
There's pretty much very little coherent plot that I've encountered so far.
Then again, I've played it for about four hours total so far due to the beta server sucking.
I don't know how intensive the game is, as I have a relatively modern system. If your card can handle DX9 games, you should be OK.
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
posted
Krenim and Charles, any screenshots of ship constructs that you've hammered out? Are the ships seen rolling out of a spacedock once you press "Finish" at the customization screen?
Registered: Aug 1999
| IP: Logged
posted
Well, with FlareUpload shot at the moment, no. However, I cannot sing the praises of the ship editor enough. I really can't. It is awesome. That cruiser of mine I talked about earlier? Think gunmetal post-refit Connie variant. (Yeah, I know, what are Connies doing in the 25th Century? My answer to that is "Shut up, its a Connie.")
-------------------- "Kirito? I killed a thing and now it says I have XPs! Is that bad? Am I dying?"
-Asuna, Episode 2, Sword Art Online Abridged
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
Charles Capps
We appreciate your concern. It is noted and stupid.
Member # 9
posted
quote:Krenim and Charles, any screenshots of ship constructs that you've hammered out?
As I mentioned, I've only played a few hours, and so I'm still in the newbie ship. You get to pick from a Miranda, a Centaur, or something else that starts with an S and has a ' in it that I can never remember the name of. It's ugly.
The editor is basically a kitbash generator. Based on the available ship tier, you can pick from a set of three related designs per ship type, and mix and match parts, hull plate pattern, colors, etc.
The USS Flare is a Miranda with Centaur pylons and the rollbar and nacelles from the S-some'thing class.
Wait, what's all that in the background? It's Wolf 359.
Unfortunately it's just composed of generic dead starships. I was unable to locate anything special, but I didn't try too hard.
quote:Are the ships seen rolling out of a spacedock once you press "Finish" at the customization screen?
Customization occurs when you're at Earth Spacedock, but nothing fancy happens after you accept the changes.
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic
