Several things, like Bluegills' name and the Preservers being the Ancient Humanoids were from behind-the-scenes planning and discussions with the series producers and writers. They aren't strictly from STO or the novels.
STO tends to draw from three primary places:
1) The needs of an MMO and tendencies in MMO storytelling. STO has parallel elements to many fantasy MMOs because many of those devices work in parallel ways... and because STO borrowed from ideas floating around Cryptic for a combination H.P. Lovecraft/Indiana Jones pulp-style MMO.
But there's a kind of MMO Hero's Journey formula to ANY modern "larger saga with strange races and subplots" and it's rooted in Tolkien and fantasy. Romulans = Drow. The Dominion = Celtic Fantasy Races (ie. Jem'Hadar=Orcs, Changelings = Changelings, Vorta = Elves). High fantasy has been used by Trek authors all along. It also works for constructing MMO quests quite well which is why I think fantasy took over tabletop RPGs to begin with. (They got their start in semi-modern wargames.)
And STO follows the MMO version of that. Lies. manipulations. A vengeance-obsessed questgiver. Just charting the WoW parallels: Borg=Forsaken, Romulans=Blood Elves. Iconians=Old Gods. I don't consider this hackery. I think following tropes is a good thing and it's a BAD THING to be original at the expense of following tropes if the tropes are effective. I think these tropes are reasonably effective and that Kestrel has gotten better at adapting them since the game launched.
2) Behind-the-scenes production notes. Whether from DVD commentaries or archived material, Cryptic tends to use things from actual scripts and producers' notes that didn't make it to screen. Most of the time when people say Cryptic is pulling from the novels, what's really going on is that Cryptic and the novels are both independently pulling from behind the scenes DVD commentaries, interviews, and production resources with series creators.
3) The "alternate future" episodes of the shows. Much of STO is pulled from that. From the chest stripes on the uniforms (modeled on AGT uniforms) to episodes like Timeless, Endgame, The Visitor, and All Good Things, Cryptic has adopted the stance generally that anything that wasn't overtly changed by time travel in those episodes still happened. That ranges from Picard serving as ambassador to Vulcan to Kim commanding the Rhode Island to the resurgence of Klingon tensions, which was shown in three out of four of those futures.
If you treat the various alternate futures as a rough guide, you have an arc where the Klingons begin conquering Romulan space and rattling sabers with the Federation in the early 25th century and ultimately end up in a place where they join a larger Federation in the 26th century which includes Klingon ships fighting like Klingons. At some point, there will be no conflict between Klingon warrior values and Federation ethics. Granted, we also tend to see a much more morally grey or morally alien Federation in the far distant future as well.
It. Sounds. AWFUL. He might have spent 20-years on it, but it would be an abomination. Dear God in Heaven, but what I (or I imagine a lot of us) could do with the opportunity to write for the true franchise...
i flagged the thread op, this thread is not directly related to star trek online itself, i hope it is moved to ten forward where it should be.
as for the contents whatever happens, id wish that cbs would get off their hands and put the money into a new trek series, but the chances of them actually doing such a thing are about as much as earth suddenly exploding for no apparent reason, just because it wanted to. so pitching a series to paramount a different group who do not control tv rights to series any longer, just the films now, the only way this gets any traction is if it were a new film that is being pitched instead. a series would never take off.
T6 Miranda Hero Ship FTW. Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
Several things, like Bluegills' name and the Preservers being the Ancient Humanoids were from behind-the-scenes planning and discussions with the series producers and writers.
"Bluegills" was actually from the Novelverse, the parasites themselves were originally supposed to be part of the early concept for the Borg. You are correct about the Presevers/Ancient Humanoids though; that came directly from Ronald Moore who wrote "The Chase" (the TNG episode that introduced the Ancient Humanoids).
It's been far too long since I've watched these, I'm working off memory.
"Bloody explorers, ponce off to Mumbo Jumbo land, come home with a tropical disease, a suntan and a bag of brown lumpy things, and Bob's your uncle, everyone's got a picture of them in the lavatory."
-Edmund Blackadder-
How many genuine god like beings has ST featured? Its a good week if a non-corporeal being who plays with the fates of all around it doesn't turn up.
IMO the iconians being proto-Q demonstrates a missing stage in the Lemarkian evolution of the ST universe. It may not be customary (with one example we've just seen the before or after, not the in-between), but it works. In that its just what I'd like to see out of a continuation of the property (much like the connection between some of the more interesting aliens of the week. It creates a structure to the IP which highlights how it isn't JUST trying to fill a release schedule.)
The TNG iconian episode, by the way, ended ambiguously. Picard speculated that the Iconians may not have been as malicious as portrayed by their opponents. He had no direct evidence to support that, its just a general point you can make about what tends to happen in historical conflicts (and there are certainly plenty of examples to the contrary where bad deeds were recorded with reasonable accuracy). Rather, he had some pretty strong evidence to support the alternative hypothesis (highly aggressive data systems, unquestionably designed to infect starships but without regard to their vital systems) and DS9 backed that up with the all too easy military application of the Iconian gateways (even if you could speculate that it wasn't their main function, its very difficult to say that it wasn't the gates' function at all.)
im pretty much rooting for the iconians at this point, history has painted them in a bad light, but the odd sentence, or word here and there, just doesnt fit with the distinction we have been given. things just dont add up. everything they have done, till now, seems to have been from forcing their hands. they know we are going back in time to destroy iconia, they have always known.
we know they cant directly effect a change to the original event, travelling through time strips all knowledge/memory they have gained during the intervening time ( i wonder how many tried?) but being immortal means they have a full understanding of the actual events, because they were there 1st hand. it is no wonder then that T'ket is on the warpath with cries for bathing in our blood, im somewhat in awe of the fact that the other iconians aren't when you consider the time they have had to think on all that was lost.
i guess that's why they need the servitor species, a way to remain anonymous to the krenim while they send species after species to end the threat they pose, and to keep all the other species from figuring out who the ghosts of air and darkness are. it would seem they have failed in both areas then, but.... what if the plan isn't to stop us going back in time? would that not then mean, all would remain unchanged? maybe they want us to go back in time again? maybe they aim to manipulate things enough to save or bring back the other, to be whole again, to change the course of the event and repair the damage done to their home. maybe this time around a more beneficial outcome for all? is this line an aberration of the prime line?
we can only see the things directly in front of our noses, we dont know the full extent of the iconians work over the eons, we dont even know what they were to start out with.. benevolent maybe? over the course of several hundred thousand years im sure they have been able to coax and nudge much, why they have not just totally annihilated us makes me wonder? interesting times, i just hope the writers do this storyline the justice it deserves.
I wanted to create a diverse new cast of characters that reflect our modern society (without being too literal or "preachy").
And yet in his image gallery of ideal cast / actors, 1 Black actor, 1 Asian actor. The rest white. So much for diversity
interesting comment, what do you feel would better represent a more diverse modern society 200 years after TOS?
may also be worth noting that he considers all the milky way species as 'us' as opposed to 'us and aliens'. I'm no fan of labelling, let alone outdated standalone 'ethnic labels', because there is so much more to ethnicity than Black, Asian or White. as it stands now, we are a multi racial rainbow of colour and cultural ideology, moving forward into the time frame of this series and that rainbow just gets far more brilliant.
in the same way I am no fan of outdated ethnic labels, I also dislike this modern day 'tick box pc mentality' that now exists. in my book, irrespective of positive or negative intent, discrimination is still discrimination. the right person for a position, should always be the right 'person' for 'that' position, or in this sense, the right 'persons' envisioned for the characters. so i guess my question is...
...are you talking about character diversity (as the writer is) or are you talking about the actual colour diversity within the cast? keeping in mind that the list is likely not exhaustive, at best a simple wish list, selected to fit the main protagonists within the story, based on things such as prior roles and 'just feeling right', and some of whom may be made up, in current terms, as Alien species.
Yeah looked over his page in more detail. While yeah more aliens, it is basically a Generations reboot.
Renegades at least it offers something different, even if the writing is currently a bit weak for a screenplay, and some of their proof of concept scenes were bad. The idea in general has potential for a series spin off from their T.V. Movie.
While I love TOS and Gen, even ENT at times, I'm not sure the IP needs another version of that kind of ST right now.
Yeah looked over his page in more detail. While yeah more aliens, it is basically a Generations reboot.
Renegades at least it offers something different, even if the writing is currently a bit weak for a screenplay, and some of their proof of concept scenes were bad. The idea in general has potential for a series spin off from their T.V. Movie.
While I love TOS and Gen, even ENT at times, I'm not sure the IP needs another version of that kind of ST right now.
yeah there is definitely truth in that, i think a new trek series really does need to move away from what we have had, ideally striking out into new territory. i would even go as far as suggesting, and i may go to trek hell for this, that it really needs to move away from old cast members, and projected far enough into the future, that any reference to current trek becomes very historically dated. then it would allow the new story and new characters to establish what trek is.
i'd love to see a few mini series from the perspective of other factions. starfleet has been well documented, the others not so. diving deeper into the kdf and the romulans would provide a much deeper understanding with an audience, and provide far more scope and material for an ongoing series. that is the level of diversity and inclusion i would like to see from a character perspective, and the direction i would really enjoy seeing things go.
dont think we need to move away from established characters, but like Renegades tries, we need to move away from established perspectives... we all know how the pajama navy(starfleet) works by now and how they see things. Lets get perspectives on how the rest live, or how the crew of a Romulan Warbird handles the catastrophe immediately in the wake of Hobus. Hell split a series... lets have one that spends 1/2 its time on a Klingon battlecruiser as the Empire tries to exploit the weakness of the Romulan state, the other half the time we spend with the Romulans. Let Starfleet and the Federation be the NPCs for once. Let us only see THEM through the view screen as they meddle/help. This would be an awesome time to see exactly what characters like Donatra and Taris do.
I am just following "Axanar", it looks really nice. Already watched the "Prelude" and, even if it feels too slow when seeing the ships flying, it feels more "real" at the same time, and i love it lol.
scifi is great genre, but with trek there always seems to be an underlying need in the community to have some recognised trek personality involved in it, or have it framed in that same time frame. this means scripts end up getting written around the personality, rather than just around the trekverse. koda's suggestion of a series split between a kdf battle-cruiser and a romulan warbird, could be a good way to work around that issue though, and given the juxtaposition of ideologies between both factions, could really provide some great variety in the script, and a little more something for everyone.
if it is written around a trek personality though we are stuck with their perspective which i think rubs cbs the wrong way, and if we have something that is in the same time frame and doesn't include an old personality, fans would scream 'why?' which in turn could still rub cbs the wrong way. i always get the feeling that the repeated rejection for a new tv series, is down to cbs only ever seeing scripts for more of the same, when what they may be looking for is something for a completely new audience, yet still have elements that resonate 'trek' with the old. although again, koda's suggestion may well be the answer here too.
unfortunately i can only really base my comments on tv and film, i have no experience at all with any of the cast written fiction or fan novella.. so i may well be a little of the mark, apologies if that is the case.
scifi is great genre, but with trek there always seems to be an underlying need in the community to have some recognised trek personality involved in it, or have it framed in that same time frame. this means scripts end up getting written around the personality, rather than just around the trekverse. koda's suggestion of a series split between a kdf battle-cruiser and a romulan warbird, could be a good way to work around that issue though, and given the juxtaposition of ideologies between both factions, could really provide some great variety in the script, and a little more something for everyone.
if it is written around a trek personality though we are stuck with their perspective which i think rubs cbs the wrong way, and if we have something that is in the same time frame and doesn't include an old personality, fans would scream 'why?' which in turn could still rub cbs the wrong way. i always get the feeling that the repeated rejection for a new tv series, is down to cbs only ever seeing scripts for more of the same, when what they may be looking for is something for a completely new audience, yet still have elements that resonate 'trek' with the old. although again, koda's suggestion may well be the answer here too.
unfortunately i can only really base my comments on tv and film, i have no experience at all with any of the cast written fiction or fan novella.. so i may well be a little of the mark, apologies if that is the case.
I was thinking more about the idea myself and thought for a series you could even borrow from the original concept behind 24... have one episode(or series of episodes) romulan side then flip it and cover the same time period from the klink side. Tho, imo, that format would probably work better for something internet based with a smaller budget than a weekly tv series, but even then we could expand it to season1(rom) then season1(klink) giving production plenty of time for season 2(rom) etc
scifi is great genre, but with trek there always seems to be an underlying need in the community to have some recognised trek personality involved in it, or have it framed in that same time frame. this means scripts end up getting written around the personality, rather than just around the trekverse. koda's suggestion of a series split between a kdf battle-cruiser and a romulan warbird, could be a good way to work around that issue though, and given the juxtaposition of ideologies between both factions, could really provide some great variety in the script, and a little more something for everyone.
if it is written around a trek personality though we are stuck with their perspective which i think rubs cbs the wrong way, and if we have something that is in the same time frame and doesn't include an old personality, fans would scream 'why?' which in turn could still rub cbs the wrong way. i always get the feeling that the repeated rejection for a new tv series, is down to cbs only ever seeing scripts for more of the same, when what they may be looking for is something for a completely new audience, yet still have elements that resonate 'trek' with the old. although again, koda's suggestion may well be the answer here too.
unfortunately i can only really base my comments on tv and film, i have no experience at all with any of the cast written fiction or fan novella.. so i may well be a little of the mark, apologies if that is the case.
I was thinking more about the idea myself and thought for a series you could even borrow from the original concept behind 24... have one episode(or series of episodes) romulan side then flip it and cover the same time period from the klink side. Tho, imo, that format would probably work better for something internet based with a smaller budget than a weekly tv series, but even then we could expand it to season1(rom) then season1(klink) giving production plenty of time for season 2(rom) etc
i could see something along those lines making a much better proposition. then again, i have always enjoyed underdog and survival story's over those of expansion and gain, that is maybe a large part of my desire to see a big change in perspective. The federation feels too 'save the day' with all the predictability and necessity to end in success, that comes bundled up within that.
i think with a kdf and rom angle, that predictability, that need to end well, can be taken out of the equation, adversity and loss is part of both culture, which would allow for something far more gripping, and tense. both factions really deserve to be portrayed starkly as they are.. pretty hardcore.. but, we only ever see it hinted at, and aside from a few episodes here and there, in practice it often seems more comical than canonical.
I wanted to create a diverse new cast of characters that reflect our modern society (without being too literal or "preachy").
And yet in his image gallery of ideal cast / actors, 1 Black actor, 1 Asian actor. The rest white. So much for diversity
interesting comment, what do you feel would better represent a more diverse modern society 200 years after TOS?
We are so interbreed that we are just "human"? That would be a good start......
i respect that there will always be differing opinions to any question that starts with 'what do you feel...' but in my mind 'that we are all just human' is the only possible correct answer.
I wanted to toss a refinement based on some feedback I got in the romulan forum
Im not suggesting outright warfare like in STO, in actual Trek they couldn't do that cause the Federation would ally up with the Romulans in a second crying about Klingon bullies tromping on the poor victims of an epic disaster. Even Klingon arrogance knows it doesnt want butthurt pajama navy AND Romulans wanting an outlet for their pain and frustration.
This would be, as Trek should be imo, more about character development, and exploring social dynamics. The fact that its not fedrat based means we can also forego the weekly morality tale in favor of exploring how different views on the same incidents can provide one with very different results. Such as X sees Y as evil because he did Z, and now he hates Y with a passion. But when we see it from Y's perspective we see he isn't evil because he did Z for reasons totally unknown to X and it portrays the whole situation in a totally new light. The nuances of interaction are complex as hell, not white/black like Trek in general likes to try to portray things.
Especially when coming from totally different cultures, one man's paladin is another race's berserk marauder. (or at least CAN be)
I wanted to toss a refinement based on some feedback I got in the romulan forum
Im not suggesting outright warfare like in STO, in actual Trek they couldn't do that cause the Federation would ally up with the Romulans in a second crying about Klingon bullies tromping on the poor victims of an epic disaster. Even Klingon arrogance knows it doesnt want butthurt pajama navy AND Romulans wanting an outlet for their pain and frustration.
This would be, as Trek should be imo, more about character development, and exploring social dynamics. The fact that its not fedrat based means we can also forego the weekly morality tale in favor of exploring how different views on the same incidents can provide one with very different results. Such as X sees Y as evil because he did Z, and now he hates Y with a passion. But when we see it from Y's perspective we see he isn't evil because he did Z for reasons totally unknown to X and it portrays the whole situation in a totally new light. The nuances of interaction are complex as hell, not white/black like Trek in general likes to try to portray things.
Especially when coming from totally different cultures, one man's paladin is another race's berserk marauder. (or at least CAN be)
yeah i like that refinement, it is very reflective of real life. in any era and very likely any species, miscommunication and misunderstanding are the single largest cause of disagreements in any relationship, especially when both parties feel they are in the right and the other in the wrong.
i could see this series playing out that 'relationship' dynamic perfectly, the pride and sensitivity of both factions has always been very evident, but never really explored for just how raw it is. it would create viewer empathy that would switch between both factions, at the start of each week you would be fully supporting X over Y, half way through you would be wanting to mediate between the two, and by the end of the episode you will have switched that empathy and support from X to Y.
people will automatically relate to the whole thematic without maybe realising that what they are relating too and experiencing is the same emotional roller coaster that can be present in any very close relationship.
yep, i definitely like it, it still focuses on social dynamics, but on a far more personal level. each ship representing a partner in a volatile, yet passionate relationship, and because it is romulan and kdf, it allows for things to be more spur of the moment, with excessive reactions and even irrational behaviour from both parties.. awesome.
Comments
STO tends to draw from three primary places:
1) The needs of an MMO and tendencies in MMO storytelling. STO has parallel elements to many fantasy MMOs because many of those devices work in parallel ways... and because STO borrowed from ideas floating around Cryptic for a combination H.P. Lovecraft/Indiana Jones pulp-style MMO.
But there's a kind of MMO Hero's Journey formula to ANY modern "larger saga with strange races and subplots" and it's rooted in Tolkien and fantasy. Romulans = Drow. The Dominion = Celtic Fantasy Races (ie. Jem'Hadar=Orcs, Changelings = Changelings, Vorta = Elves). High fantasy has been used by Trek authors all along. It also works for constructing MMO quests quite well which is why I think fantasy took over tabletop RPGs to begin with. (They got their start in semi-modern wargames.)
And STO follows the MMO version of that. Lies. manipulations. A vengeance-obsessed questgiver. Just charting the WoW parallels: Borg=Forsaken, Romulans=Blood Elves. Iconians=Old Gods. I don't consider this hackery. I think following tropes is a good thing and it's a BAD THING to be original at the expense of following tropes if the tropes are effective. I think these tropes are reasonably effective and that Kestrel has gotten better at adapting them since the game launched.
2) Behind-the-scenes production notes. Whether from DVD commentaries or archived material, Cryptic tends to use things from actual scripts and producers' notes that didn't make it to screen. Most of the time when people say Cryptic is pulling from the novels, what's really going on is that Cryptic and the novels are both independently pulling from behind the scenes DVD commentaries, interviews, and production resources with series creators.
3) The "alternate future" episodes of the shows. Much of STO is pulled from that. From the chest stripes on the uniforms (modeled on AGT uniforms) to episodes like Timeless, Endgame, The Visitor, and All Good Things, Cryptic has adopted the stance generally that anything that wasn't overtly changed by time travel in those episodes still happened. That ranges from Picard serving as ambassador to Vulcan to Kim commanding the Rhode Island to the resurgence of Klingon tensions, which was shown in three out of four of those futures.
If you treat the various alternate futures as a rough guide, you have an arc where the Klingons begin conquering Romulan space and rattling sabers with the Federation in the early 25th century and ultimately end up in a place where they join a larger Federation in the 26th century which includes Klingon ships fighting like Klingons. At some point, there will be no conflict between Klingon warrior values and Federation ethics. Granted, we also tend to see a much more morally grey or morally alien Federation in the far distant future as well.
as for the contents whatever happens, id wish that cbs would get off their hands and put the money into a new trek series, but the chances of them actually doing such a thing are about as much as earth suddenly exploding for no apparent reason, just because it wanted to. so pitching a series to paramount a different group who do not control tv rights to series any longer, just the films now, the only way this gets any traction is if it were a new film that is being pitched instead. a series would never take off.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
"Bluegills" was actually from the Novelverse, the parasites themselves were originally supposed to be part of the early concept for the Borg. You are correct about the Presevers/Ancient Humanoids though; that came directly from Ronald Moore who wrote "The Chase" (the TNG episode that introduced the Ancient Humanoids).
Yeah, ok.
It's been far too long since I've watched these, I'm working off memory.
-Edmund Blackadder-
im pretty much rooting for the iconians at this point, history has painted them in a bad light, but the odd sentence, or word here and there, just doesnt fit with the distinction we have been given. things just dont add up. everything they have done, till now, seems to have been from forcing their hands. they know we are going back in time to destroy iconia, they have always known.
we know they cant directly effect a change to the original event, travelling through time strips all knowledge/memory they have gained during the intervening time ( i wonder how many tried?) but being immortal means they have a full understanding of the actual events, because they were there 1st hand. it is no wonder then that T'ket is on the warpath with cries for bathing in our blood, im somewhat in awe of the fact that the other iconians aren't when you consider the time they have had to think on all that was lost.
i guess that's why they need the servitor species, a way to remain anonymous to the krenim while they send species after species to end the threat they pose, and to keep all the other species from figuring out who the ghosts of air and darkness are. it would seem they have failed in both areas then, but.... what if the plan isn't to stop us going back in time? would that not then mean, all would remain unchanged? maybe they want us to go back in time again? maybe they aim to manipulate things enough to save or bring back the other, to be whole again, to change the course of the event and repair the damage done to their home. maybe this time around a more beneficial outcome for all? is this line an aberration of the prime line?
we can only see the things directly in front of our noses, we dont know the full extent of the iconians work over the eons, we dont even know what they were to start out with.. benevolent maybe? over the course of several hundred thousand years im sure they have been able to coax and nudge much, why they have not just totally annihilated us makes me wonder? interesting times, i just hope the writers do this storyline the justice it deserves.
And yet in his image gallery of ideal cast / actors, 1 Black actor, 1 Asian actor. The rest white. So much for diversity
interesting comment, what do you feel would better represent a more diverse modern society 200 years after TOS?
may also be worth noting that he considers all the milky way species as 'us' as opposed to 'us and aliens'. I'm no fan of labelling, let alone outdated standalone 'ethnic labels', because there is so much more to ethnicity than Black, Asian or White. as it stands now, we are a multi racial rainbow of colour and cultural ideology, moving forward into the time frame of this series and that rainbow just gets far more brilliant.
in the same way I am no fan of outdated ethnic labels, I also dislike this modern day 'tick box pc mentality' that now exists. in my book, irrespective of positive or negative intent, discrimination is still discrimination. the right person for a position, should always be the right 'person' for 'that' position, or in this sense, the right 'persons' envisioned for the characters. so i guess my question is...
...are you talking about character diversity (as the writer is) or are you talking about the actual colour diversity within the cast? keeping in mind that the list is likely not exhaustive, at best a simple wish list, selected to fit the main protagonists within the story, based on things such as prior roles and 'just feeling right', and some of whom may be made up, in current terms, as Alien species.
Token characters and you can bet, no homosexuals in sight. Why are people like this being given the limelight!
I'm sure the majority of us here could come up with, or likely already have, much better ideas for what we'd do should we find a genie in a bottle.
Umm this was in regards to casting, not characters. Although it could affect both.
How many of those aliens could be played by a Black, Asian, heck Middle Eastern (left out completely) actor?
Renegades at least it offers something different, even if the writing is currently a bit weak for a screenplay, and some of their proof of concept scenes were bad. The idea in general has potential for a series spin off from their T.V. Movie.
While I love TOS and Gen, even ENT at times, I'm not sure the IP needs another version of that kind of ST right now.
yeah there is definitely truth in that, i think a new trek series really does need to move away from what we have had, ideally striking out into new territory. i would even go as far as suggesting, and i may go to trek hell for this, that it really needs to move away from old cast members, and projected far enough into the future, that any reference to current trek becomes very historically dated. then it would allow the new story and new characters to establish what trek is.
i'd love to see a few mini series from the perspective of other factions. starfleet has been well documented, the others not so. diving deeper into the kdf and the romulans would provide a much deeper understanding with an audience, and provide far more scope and material for an ongoing series. that is the level of diversity and inclusion i would like to see from a character perspective, and the direction i would really enjoy seeing things go.
if it is written around a trek personality though we are stuck with their perspective which i think rubs cbs the wrong way, and if we have something that is in the same time frame and doesn't include an old personality, fans would scream 'why?' which in turn could still rub cbs the wrong way. i always get the feeling that the repeated rejection for a new tv series, is down to cbs only ever seeing scripts for more of the same, when what they may be looking for is something for a completely new audience, yet still have elements that resonate 'trek' with the old. although again, koda's suggestion may well be the answer here too.
unfortunately i can only really base my comments on tv and film, i have no experience at all with any of the cast written fiction or fan novella.. so i may well be a little of the mark, apologies if that is the case.
i think with a kdf and rom angle, that predictability, that need to end well, can be taken out of the equation, adversity and loss is part of both culture, which would allow for something far more gripping, and tense. both factions really deserve to be portrayed starkly as they are.. pretty hardcore.. but, we only ever see it hinted at, and aside from a few episodes here and there, in practice it often seems more comical than canonical.
We are so interbreed that we are just "human"? That would be a good start......
Im not suggesting outright warfare like in STO, in actual Trek they couldn't do that cause the Federation would ally up with the Romulans in a second crying about Klingon bullies tromping on the poor victims of an epic disaster. Even Klingon arrogance knows it doesnt want butthurt pajama navy AND Romulans wanting an outlet for their pain and frustration.
This would be, as Trek should be imo, more about character development, and exploring social dynamics. The fact that its not fedrat based means we can also forego the weekly morality tale in favor of exploring how different views on the same incidents can provide one with very different results. Such as X sees Y as evil because he did Z, and now he hates Y with a passion. But when we see it from Y's perspective we see he isn't evil because he did Z for reasons totally unknown to X and it portrays the whole situation in a totally new light. The nuances of interaction are complex as hell, not white/black like Trek in general likes to try to portray things.
Especially when coming from totally different cultures, one man's paladin is another race's berserk marauder. (or at least CAN be)
i could see this series playing out that 'relationship' dynamic perfectly, the pride and sensitivity of both factions has always been very evident, but never really explored for just how raw it is. it would create viewer empathy that would switch between both factions, at the start of each week you would be fully supporting X over Y, half way through you would be wanting to mediate between the two, and by the end of the episode you will have switched that empathy and support from X to Y.
people will automatically relate to the whole thematic without maybe realising that what they are relating too and experiencing is the same emotional roller coaster that can be present in any very close relationship.
yep, i definitely like it, it still focuses on social dynamics, but on a far more personal level. each ship representing a partner in a volatile, yet passionate relationship, and because it is romulan and kdf, it allows for things to be more spur of the moment, with excessive reactions and even irrational behaviour from both parties.. awesome.