No, seriously. This is a legitimate question. They just unveiled the T6 Excelsior and it looks like a stripped down and wimpy Presidio class. Aside from the T6 Galaxy, EVERY T6 Fed ship that has been released thus far has an arrowhead/teardrop/egg-shaped saucer section.
What happened to the round saucer design that is classic to Star Trek? I understand that these ships are supposed to be upgrades to the originals, but when I first learned that they were making a T6 Excelsior I was thinking of it looking practically the same, only sleeker/more refined, kind of like the difference between the Galaxy/Gal-X and the Venture/Venture-X (still one of my favorite Cryptic revamps).
Am I the only one who would like to see more of the traditional round saucer on future Fed ships? *le sigh*
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On the bright side, one can grab the old saucer off the old ship. But you might not considered that reasonable for an 'upgrade'.
Myself I'm greatly disappointed in their release of what can only be described as the poor cousin of the Presidio, it's like someone took that rather nice ship (stats wise anyway) and whacked stuff off it and called it the new Excelsior. The new Excelsior doesn't have a role outside of being a pale shadow.
Greatly disappointed indeed. It may be time to take a break from this game until its under new management.
Sovereign, Norway, Luna, Vesta, Intrepid, Prometheus...
These ships didn't have the round saucer section. Even the Steamrunner didn't.
If we look ahead to the 29th Century, the Wells pretty much does away with the Saucer Section entirely.
As to the design of the T6 Excelsior... she wasn't designed AS an Excelsior. She was designed to be an evolution of the Excelsior model. Naturally she wouldn't look exactly like an Excelsior because she's an entirely new class based on the older one. That would be like saying a modern warship fails because it doesn't look like one from WW2.
If people are so concerned about its looks... use the classic parts exclusively! It will be able to, just like the Andromeda can use the classic Galaxy parts and the Pathfinder can use Intrepid parts!
Also... why say its a "poor cousin of the Presidio"? Yes there are some similarities, but it could be like the relationship between the Galaxy and Nebula or Connie and Miranda! What's wrong with that?
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It's a poor cousin because it's BOFF/Console layout is so close to being identical- but reduced or degraded in nearly every respect.
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The point is, she wasn't designed as *anything*. She'll *cost* the same as a TAC Command Cruiser, do no job at all better than a TAC Command Cruiser, and is in fact inferior in every single way that can possibly matter. That would all be fine- *IF* she could do any *different* job- but she can't.
She serves no in-game purpose except to fleece people who are willing to pay for the Excelsior skin. And as much as I love that skin- I won't do it, I'll keep my T5-U instead. I feel sorry for those who will pay for it.
She's more maneuverable and comes with Advanced Transwarp capabilities.
And to me it sounds like you're willing to write off anything that isn't a Presidio, and that people are being forced to buy every new ship. It is an option. No one is forcing anyone to buy anything. You want to keep the T5U that is your choice. Maybe someon would like the T6. That is their choice. But to rip the ship apart before anyone actually can fly one is premature and a little immature IMO.
I'm sure someone can put a pretty good build on one tomorrow and kick all kinds of pixels.
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Perhaps he is suffering from premature exasperation?
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Who cares if the round saucers dissapeared?? we are talking about people that flies the excelsior BECAUSE OF THE ASTHETICS, and they want a revamp because they want to fly a better ship but with the SAME asthetics, maybe a bit improved, but nothing like a triangled saucer, that obliterates the "excelsior" feeling in the moment you look at it.
As a long time Excelsior player (all I flew until this year), even I stopped using Transwarp to any significant degree after the Sector revamp. The maneuver advantage isn't significant, I didn't suffer any when I switched from my old Excelsior to the TAC Command Cruiser in that respect at all.
So, two minor insignificant differences that still leaves the ship without a role. Sure people can toss a good build on it and do well. I do that with my K'tinga. I won't stop the presses for that sort of news.
I took the privilege of emphasizing what you just said. Considering that the captain of the original Excelsior was the Conn Officer on the original Enterprise and the functions/bonuses that the Resolute's console provides, it seems like this ship was made to be the very first Pilot cruiser. That alone would be a big enough selling point for people to buy the ship, and would make the fact that this is a standalone vessel and not part of a pack much more understandable, because it will be unique.
As it stands, the ship is now yet another Command-oriented Cruiser, and stat-wise, it is little more than a poor man's Presidio with a slightly higher inertia rating. Its disappointing because I don't own any Excelsior variants and I was hoping I would like this ship enough to consider buying it, but I'm afraid I have been disappointed. At least there's a T6 Galaxy-X rumored to be in the works. I'll wait for that one.
I reserve judgement until it's actually released. And I can take a look at it from all angles--most importantly, above and to the rear because if I'm going to be spending most of my time looking at the ship's backside, I want it to be shapely.
Which sounds a lot dirtier than it really is.
This a hundred times over.
It may or may not be a very effective build, but it would have given a guy like myself who already owns the TAC Command BC a reason to pay for one instead of being asked to pay for a downgrade.
I'm fine with elliptical saucers, personally; I liked how the Galaxy and Sovereign saucers looked. If we could get more of those, I, personally, would be perfectly happy. Instead, it's chevron after chevron after freaking chevron. That sort of shape looks okay on some ships, e.g., the Intrepid or the Presidio, where it sort of looks like the primary hull is growing/extending out of the secondary one. That's a look that works. But on ships like the Resolute or Avenger, where there is something of a neck connecting primary and secondary hulls, it just looks awkward -- to me, and apparently to others as well.
And I think that, when people are saying they want round saucers, they don't necessarily mean perfectly round like a circle. The Guardian's saucer isn't round by any stretch of the imagination, yet it looks sufficiently "saucer-like" (for lack of a better term) not to twig my "hey, this doesn't look very Starfleet" sense.
Then again, when I first saw the Voyager and the Defiant on the shows, my first reaction to both ships was, "hey, this doesn't look very Starfleet". So maybe it's just a matter of getting used to the new design language. I mean, the Avenger's look certainly has grown on me (a lot!) since I first saw it.
With that said, I still want more saucers and fewer chevrons. That's just my aesthetic preference.
Then make a kitbash with the old saucer. Most people are buying this for the canon look, not the Cryptic look.
Although the Enterprise-J actually had a very round saucer.
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And that would be their business practices most likely.
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Norway and Yeager dammit... I still want my Typhoon and Jupiter though.
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The ship designers are really, really good when they have to go with the plain and simple flowing forms of the original iconic ships. They have to put all the effort into the skin and correct geometry.
The new Galaxy class, the new Intrepid, the Ambassador and even the old Excelsior all are very good examples and I am sure, if the upcoming T6 Defiant gets her facelift it will look equally brilliant.
The original designs and variations all suffer from a toy-ish appearance because they rely on the glowy bits and stuck on pieces for detail which reduces the perceived size, scale and realism.
The command cruisers have their design problems, but work for the most part, because they worked with more flowing and simple lines like the original Excelsior.
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