I've been re-watching all of DS9 in the past few weeks, and I've again gotten into the heavier Dominion parts. Weyoun, as kiss-***/patronizing as he can be at times, is pretty rad. I had a total blast hangin' out with my good friend Eraun in the Dominion episode. Even Loriss ended up being OK, in my book, showing a kind of rationality in her decisions and even teasing Eraun a little to you (hail her at the end of "Boldly They Rode" if you haven't before).
Where others my see sycophants, I see a wit and cunning. But I'm also a sucker for political intrigue and thought that was just as interesting in that war (negotiations with Bajor, Sisko pulling the Romulans into the war, the manipulation of the Cardassians by the Founder [and the Breen], etc.) as the big battles.
How off-the-wall stupid am I, or do others think they have the potential to be a very interesting race, moreso than they may already be?
I thought it was great that there's a doff pack with Jem'hadar and vorta officers, and having a Jem'hadar boff is pretty neat. The vortas' lack of combat skills, though, means I won't get to beam down to planets with a vorta pal any time soon, but alas.
Somewhat related, I still am a little anxious to see if there are more Alpha-Gamma quadrant interactions and how the Dominion may or may not become involved more. I suspect they won't, keeping to their space these days, but I for one like the idea of the galaxy banding together against the Borg, Undine, and Iconians (I'd also love to see more Romulan/Reman involvement, even just NPCs as I am not holding my breath on captaining their ships, that went beyond just being borg-ified).
I thought it was great that there's a doff pack with Jem'hadar and vorta officers, and having a Jem'hadar boff is pretty neat. The vortas' lack of combat skills, though, means I won't get to beam down to planets with a vorta pal any time soon, but alas.
Ive got a very very Dominion orientated crew, 6 Cardassians, 1 Vorta and 1 Jem'hadar, Dominion ground sets, Galor (Just waiting for the Breen BOFF lol) , you can easily make up a Vorta using the Alien template, just look for a suitable set of skills when aquiring one and use him/her as a science officer
Allways liked the Vorta as they do seem to be interesting and Weyoun was allways my fav character (apart from Garak), would have been nice to know more about thier background and thier abilities like Eris's powers
I thought Eraun played the situation very well. He got the Founder out of captivity when the Dominion instead could have simply sent a different Founder.
It is much harder to tell with Loriss. If there was no contact from HQ, she should have sent a ship through the wormhole to make contact. Otherwise, for all she knows, the Dominion lost utterly and were completely obliterated. It is rarely considered a good sign when gods cease answering.
The Vorta were a hit & miss for me , and I'm not sure why .
I sometimes think that it was their conceptualization that made them at times uninteresting (or bland) , but I absolutely adored Weyun (and the Vorta from "rocks and shoals" -- who ended up hating Ferengi in "the magnificent Ferengi") .
I just think that Jeffrey Combs brought a lot to Wayun (and Shren on Enterprise) , and from a Transformers fan aspect , I'm also very glad that I can continue to hear that actor in the current day-time Emmy winning show "Transformers : Prime" .
My first character to hit level cap was a self-made Vorta. I still cry noob tears that the Jem'Hadar bug came out when I was flat broke from Christmas shopping.
The Vorta were a hit & miss for me , and I'm not sure why .
DS9 was rather hit & miss itself, for me at least. Much like ENT it had a lot of good ideas but, i'm not sure if it knew where it wanted to go.
I would like to see more of any of the things from DS9 in game really. More of various races, the bajorian ships, (one wonders why they haven't put a bajorian carrier in yet, it'd make sense) i would also like to see the gold plated phaser rifle, and tell me i'm not the only one who is bugged by the fact Quarks Bar does not have spiral staircases or a tongo table?
Jeffrey Combs is just such a good actor, he was the only one that could perfectly play with the sarcastic/sinister/sycophantic elements.
Though what's her face from The Ship didn't do too badly and Loriss tried.
The whole Dominion arc is still the best thing to ever happen in Trek. Closely followed by the Borg. Then the TNG era Romulans, DS9 era Ferengi... god Star Trek has been great.
I got sick of the Dominion War mid way through, but I always felt that Combs along with Andreas Katsulas were the highlights of that era's guest actors.
I tend to fancy that high-strung accent the Vorta use. I canae pin down the nationality but it's entertaining for sure. Kind of makes a good intellectual companion. Or just fawn for attention like Loriss. To me, Drama is Life
I really liked Weyoun. Weyoun held the founders as gods, regardless of which side of the dominion they were on. I recall an episode where one of his clones commited a self-less act to save Odo from being harmed, as I'm sure any other Weyouns would have done. The other Vorta's confused me, however they were in the presence of anyone but the founders, so their aggressive or inhospitable demeanor could be natural outside the company of upper management.
, so their aggressive or inhospitable demeanor could be natural outside the company of upper management.
This is something that strikes me as realistic as this 'domineering middle management' thing is quite common from my experience with Oriental corporate culture.
It's as though, without supervision, the Vorta are entitled to represent the Dominion's best interests using their own initiative and judgment, which is appropriate given the scale and distance of interstellar affairs.
Just like IRL, if 'flexibility and hospitality' are desired then deal directly with the Founders... if you can.
Hostile middle / lower management culture can be perceived as off-putting but in the RL corporate context, it's something necessary to prevent said managers from being bogged down by unnecessary and pointless negotiating.
I've used many management styles IRL and it strikes me that an open, accomodating stance to negotiations (aka TNG Federation) leads to the organization being perceived as weak. Oriental customers, in particular, seem to exploit and even openly bully those who appear to be nice and polite. They seem not to appreciate a cordial traditional European approach to business (Disclaimer : this is purely from my business experience, your mileage may vary IRL)
Vortas supported by Jem'Hadar force (and their RL corporate equivalents) get the job done without unnecessary hassle. So to me it's not really that they want to be hostile - they have to be in order to present a strong, no nonsense front to the Dominion.
I don't make a point to be friendly IRL. I'm deployed usually in crisis management roles or to get things done by the letter in the shortest time possible. Those who oppose my procedures and regard me as 'rude' usually aren't the sort to pay on time or follow correct legal protocol and their 'personal issues' are diverted to upper management (Director level) for their consideration. Indeed, sometimes I feel my job is to root out those who have ill intentions and would compromise the firm's good legal standing.
This could be an interesting alternative interpretation of Vorta psychology, given the fact Star Trek alien races are written as though they are individually, different aspects of Human psychology.
Comments
Ive got a very very Dominion orientated crew, 6 Cardassians, 1 Vorta and 1 Jem'hadar, Dominion ground sets, Galor (Just waiting for the Breen BOFF lol) , you can easily make up a Vorta using the Alien template, just look for a suitable set of skills when aquiring one and use him/her as a science officer
Should be a picture on my Dominion "Advisor"
http://i539.photobucket.com/albums/ff352/brimstone669/Mira.jpg
Allways liked the Vorta as they do seem to be interesting and Weyoun was allways my fav character (apart from Garak), would have been nice to know more about thier background and thier abilities like Eris's powers
It is much harder to tell with Loriss. If there was no contact from HQ, she should have sent a ship through the wormhole to make contact. Otherwise, for all she knows, the Dominion lost utterly and were completely obliterated. It is rarely considered a good sign when gods cease answering.
I sometimes think that it was their conceptualization that made them at times uninteresting (or bland) , but I absolutely adored Weyun (and the Vorta from "rocks and shoals" -- who ended up hating Ferengi in "the magnificent Ferengi") .
I just think that Jeffrey Combs brought a lot to Wayun (and Shren on Enterprise) , and from a Transformers fan aspect , I'm also very glad that I can continue to hear that actor in the current day-time Emmy winning show "Transformers : Prime" .
DS9 was rather hit & miss itself, for me at least. Much like ENT it had a lot of good ideas but, i'm not sure if it knew where it wanted to go.
I would like to see more of any of the things from DS9 in game really. More of various races, the bajorian ships, (one wonders why they haven't put a bajorian carrier in yet, it'd make sense) i would also like to see the gold plated phaser rifle, and tell me i'm not the only one who is bugged by the fact Quarks Bar does not have spiral staircases or a tongo table?
Though what's her face from The Ship didn't do too badly and Loriss tried.
The whole Dominion arc is still the best thing to ever happen in Trek. Closely followed by the Borg. Then the TNG era Romulans, DS9 era Ferengi... god Star Trek has been great.
This is something that strikes me as realistic as this 'domineering middle management' thing is quite common from my experience with Oriental corporate culture.
It's as though, without supervision, the Vorta are entitled to represent the Dominion's best interests using their own initiative and judgment, which is appropriate given the scale and distance of interstellar affairs.
Just like IRL, if 'flexibility and hospitality' are desired then deal directly with the Founders... if you can.
Hostile middle / lower management culture can be perceived as off-putting but in the RL corporate context, it's something necessary to prevent said managers from being bogged down by unnecessary and pointless negotiating.
I've used many management styles IRL and it strikes me that an open, accomodating stance to negotiations (aka TNG Federation) leads to the organization being perceived as weak. Oriental customers, in particular, seem to exploit and even openly bully those who appear to be nice and polite. They seem not to appreciate a cordial traditional European approach to business (Disclaimer : this is purely from my business experience, your mileage may vary IRL)
Vortas supported by Jem'Hadar force (and their RL corporate equivalents) get the job done without unnecessary hassle. So to me it's not really that they want to be hostile - they have to be in order to present a strong, no nonsense front to the Dominion.
I don't make a point to be friendly IRL. I'm deployed usually in crisis management roles or to get things done by the letter in the shortest time possible. Those who oppose my procedures and regard me as 'rude' usually aren't the sort to pay on time or follow correct legal protocol and their 'personal issues' are diverted to upper management (Director level) for their consideration. Indeed, sometimes I feel my job is to root out those who have ill intentions and would compromise the firm's good legal standing.
This could be an interesting alternative interpretation of Vorta psychology, given the fact Star Trek alien races are written as though they are individually, different aspects of Human psychology.