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Upcoming Potential Retcons (SDCC Spoilers)
nrobbiec
Member Posts: 959 Arc User
So Star Trek Picard introduced a short but breathtaking character trailer and after some composure it dawned on me, we're entering contradiction land now. As the title suggests there are spoilers for the SDCC reveals so you have been warned...
Let's start with something simple: Worf is grey in 2402. Not a huge deal, a lot of STO character models look way too young. We can ignore this as a stylistic video game thing or a model update. Not a massive one here.
Seven of Nine is officially a Starfleet captain. They kept old fashioned Seven so people could see Voyager Seven and Picard Seven but now her whole deal has kind of unravelled assuming there's no status quo change at the end of season 3 and she resigns her commission. Or I guess, STO writes in that in between 2402 and 2410 she resigned and joined Daystrom. That would be the least hassle option and would be an excuse for some more lore writings that we haven't seen in a while.
Geordi is a commodore. I suppose he could decide to reduce himself back down to captain since he may have some desire for adventure or something. Probably not a huge deal, quick model redesign or like Seven a lore thing.
Potential and I stress potential here, Enterprise-F. It has been stated that multiple Enterprises will appear and "there is an F but will we see it..." this could definitely be a headache, best case scenario the F is older than it originally seemed assuming they keep the Odyssey class design. If they make a whole new F then STO loses both USS and ISS F and that's a lot of work to realign the game which has done everything it can to remain a Prime Universe story.
I think sidestepping and declaring STO an alternate timeline would not be the best thing, effort has been put in to keep the game consistent and from a player perspective getting to feel like you're playing something that is a living part of such a rich legacy instead of just some adaptation of no consequence really enhances the experience. But who knows, the first three points from the character trailer can be explained away with minimal mental gymnastics. There's an illegible panel in season 2 that said Voyager was decommissioned in 2378 and that can be ignored or explained away quite easily but I will confess to being a bit worried about them introducing a whole new Enterprise-F.
Let's start with something simple: Worf is grey in 2402. Not a huge deal, a lot of STO character models look way too young. We can ignore this as a stylistic video game thing or a model update. Not a massive one here.
Seven of Nine is officially a Starfleet captain. They kept old fashioned Seven so people could see Voyager Seven and Picard Seven but now her whole deal has kind of unravelled assuming there's no status quo change at the end of season 3 and she resigns her commission. Or I guess, STO writes in that in between 2402 and 2410 she resigned and joined Daystrom. That would be the least hassle option and would be an excuse for some more lore writings that we haven't seen in a while.
Geordi is a commodore. I suppose he could decide to reduce himself back down to captain since he may have some desire for adventure or something. Probably not a huge deal, quick model redesign or like Seven a lore thing.
Potential and I stress potential here, Enterprise-F. It has been stated that multiple Enterprises will appear and "there is an F but will we see it..." this could definitely be a headache, best case scenario the F is older than it originally seemed assuming they keep the Odyssey class design. If they make a whole new F then STO loses both USS and ISS F and that's a lot of work to realign the game which has done everything it can to remain a Prime Universe story.
I think sidestepping and declaring STO an alternate timeline would not be the best thing, effort has been put in to keep the game consistent and from a player perspective getting to feel like you're playing something that is a living part of such a rich legacy instead of just some adaptation of no consequence really enhances the experience. But who knows, the first three points from the character trailer can be explained away with minimal mental gymnastics. There's an illegible panel in season 2 that said Voyager was decommissioned in 2378 and that can be ignored or explained away quite easily but I will confess to being a bit worried about them introducing a whole new Enterprise-F.
Post edited by baddmoonrizin on
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Comments
1. Stop caring about Star Trek as an IP. Most people don't seem to realize that caring about a thing is choice they are able to exercise. When thy do figure that out, though, if frees them from the anger and the ill effects it has on them.
2. Treat so-called "Nu Trek" with all the care and deference the new creators have exhibited toward Star Trek's legacy and history.
The same is true for any entertainment IP, really.
But never let anyone grind you down in regards to what you like.
Worf grew his hair out between 2402 and 2409 (or we get bald Worf in-game and nobody ever mentions the hair again), Commodore/Rear Admiral Lower Half LaForge commands USS Challenger just like all us Admirals gallivant around in our ships, and Capt. Seven of Nine is on detached duty to the Daystrom Institute in-game (certainly less work than rewriting her from Catsuit Seven to Civilian-wear Seven after PIC Season 1 came out). Not a problem.
Also, it would not be the first time the fact that there was a change was glossed over, even in the shows themselves. For instance, for about four years the Enterprise-C was seen (on the conference room wall models) to be a completely different class (Andrew Probert's Fearless class) from the one Rick Sternbach designed for Yesterday's Enterprise, yet that second one is the one that seems to be the official Enterprise-C now.
Wise words.
When the official owners can't even make up their mind about what happened in the universe/IP they own (with CBS-approved books, series and online media like this game showing huge discrepancies), why should I, as a fan, care about it.
I just feel sorry for the Devs and writers of STO who've worked so hard to continue Star Trek's post-Nemesis story during all those years when CBS couldn't care less. Only to find that now that CBS finally does care about the IP again, it doesn't care about what they themselves approved as official Trek content during the period they were too busy to be bothered about Trek.
To be fair, I don't think they (CBS) even deserve their fans' loyalty anymore. Just treat Trek for what it is: cheap entertainment to be either enjoyed or ignored - like any other movie or series. Don't care too much about it.
For me, personally, only this game deserves my loyalty because its creators at least showed continuous love for Star Trek when no corporate suit did.
Thanks!
I think the game will just stick to its lore and only change parts that are convenient. Maybe at some point when the missions are due for a remake things get retconned, but until then we won’t see big changes.
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But also in STO lore Tuvok and Ezri resigned from Starfleet.
Yeah I was never able to see how that was meant to be Data even way back when that episode was new, just some random no name who had the holo thing of Yar. Could be anyone.
People assume it's Data.
But it's really just that: an assumption.
It was definitely INTENDED to be Data, I'm pretty sure Kael has even confirmed it in one of the weekly livestreams. For whatever reason they just couldn't get the rights to use Spiner's likeness, so just like with Kirk's appearance in Return to Babel they don't show his face.
However, since they were so vague about it they could easily retcon it as someone else. Maybe the character that talks to Sela is one of the newer, Picard S1 Coppelious androids, with some of Data's memories somehow transferred but with a unique personality?
Wasn't Seven given a field commision of Captain in the s2 finale of Picard by Picard?
We also have to consider that at the time STO was following some of the comics more, and that this was long before Picard s1 canonized Data's fate, so yes it was supposed to be Data resurrected through B4. And who else with that skin color and hair would have the memorial hologram of Tasha Yar?
To be fair... Star Trek has contradicted itself all the way back to TOS. Even in TOS things weren't consistant episode to episode. And how had Discovery contradicted anything? Other than running into non smooth head Klingons it honestly added. meh... probably a conversation for another thread.
Yep, pretty ,much. I lost any respect for CBS yonks ago.
STO has been 'soft canon' since it first came online. The only thing that's canon in the Star trek franchise is what's on your TV screen or a Trek feature film.
Also <GASP> as a fan who's been watching Star Trek first run since 1969 (I was 6) on NBC - I hate to break it to you, but the ONLY thing that's really consistent regarding Star Trek is its inconsistency. Star Trek has been breaking/retconning various 'canon' since day one.
Google the term YATI (It stands for "Yet Another Trek Inconsistency") - and it's a term that's been around since TOS ' first season.
As for a poster's comment above of:
^^^
Please give me a break as (unlike Rick Berman and Brannon Braga when they were running the TNG era) the current show runners are ALL Star Trek fans - and they have actually WATCHED TOS, TNG, etc. episodes. UNLIKE either Berman or Braga who both didn't bother really watching previous Trek until a few years into their runs.
As much as some (who really haven't seen the totality of Star Trek over the decades) want to believe Star trek is a cohesive and consistent story -- while overall yes, it's cohesive in that its the future with Humans and aliens in Space and working together no matter what era you peek in on -- the various inconsistencies are NOTHING NEW, no matter what era or production team you care to look at.
PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
Cherry picking my post in what could be construed as an attempt to start a flame war isn't going to work with me. Though, it is pretty convenient to leave out the part where I wrote, "But never let anyone grind you down in regards to what you like."
It's perfectly fine for you to like what you like, just as it is perfectly fine for others to like what they like. Trying to force people into your box will get you nowhere.
And honestly, I'm sure cryptic is fine with that, they'll adapt where they need to. retcon what they want to. and at the end of the day to quote an example of classy behavior. simply be glad they've been allowed to play in the sand box.
I doubt any of this is real, it sounds like fan fiction tbh.
Riker being on Earth when S1 showed him retired on another planet? A stretch, but explainable.
Picard developing a special code while assimilated? If that were the case it would have been mentioned in BoBW.
Doctors Without Borders not having a new, futuristic name to signify it's expansion into space? Silly.
I doubt the Titan will be the primary ship they use this year, they spent too much money on the Stargazer sets to just trash them.
Copying STO's Starfleet Museum is definitely a fan fiction idea, if they were to do something similar in a canon show it would be a lot different, and would probably feature additional ships beyond just the various TV and movie "Hero" ships.
There are still a lot of unanswered questions regarding s3... and the summary probably only raised more than it answered. But IMO... better to wait and see what happens than cry foul off come comments from ComicCon. Its way too easy to fall into the trap of "find fault" with limited information, as there is really nothing to difinitively say one way or the other, and therefor nothing to contradict the percieved fault.
We need more information, which probably won't come until s3.
All we got right now... are interpretations of what little was given.
It is true that Trek has always contained inconsistencies. Kurtzman and the other people running the show(s) aren't the only ones to blame in that regard.
For me personally though, it's the first time it has begun to bother me. That's because - indeed - I didn't watch all of the older shows. As a 90s kid I grew up watching Voyager and then Enterprise. No DS9 because, for some reason, it was broadcast very late in the evening here in the Netherlands. TNG - which was briefly available through Syfy - seemed too boring to me. The series that is, the movies were more interesting.
Of course I knew that Archer wasn't supposed to be the first one to encounter the Ferengi or the Borg. But I didn't care as much about this discrepancy because I hadn't grown up with those other shows that were being contradicted by the (then) current series.
Things are different if you have actually seen stuff previously and it's all changed... just because. Or when stuff is undone only so that the new heroes (and creative staff) can leave their mark on the franchise.
Any fair person would readily admit that there have always been inconsistencies in Star Trek. But that doesn't mean that those inconsistencies are going to be treated the same. People just care more about the things they've become familiar with and changes to that can be difficult to accept. So it's only natural, I think, that some of the more recent inconsistencies are more irksome than discrepancies from longer ago. It may be that the hate and rage over inconsistencies is silly and irrational - but that doesn't mean that it should be less explicable or understandable.
To be fair, I wouldn't be surprised if the current inconsistencies are going to be hated less over time. I've seen plenty of comments (on YouTube especially) of people who didn't like ENT before but who could appreciate it now. Things will probably develop the same way for Discovery, Picard and other currently running shows.
I would venture to state that a significant element at play is that many of these concerns could have been easily avoided by simply not setting shows in the IP's past. This was a mistake from the conception of Enterprise and it hasn't gotten any better when tried again. And again.
At least when shows are set going forward you can excuse a mistake by saying that Character X is bad at history, or Technology X was held in reserve and/or classified.
(My Quote-Fu is garbage)