Tim Russ is pretty solid--he seemed pretty much like what I remembered from Voyager.
I think Cryptic would have done better to stick just with him and MAYBE Ethan Phillips, and use the rest of their budget on expanding their resources for storyline and above all proper testing and QA.
Yeah, Russ is a capable actor, massive Trekkie, and his role is hard to TRIBBLE up.
Ethan Phillips is heavily undervalued (probably because of Neelix); he's relatively cheap and very talented, so I agree with you there. But I have to say that I LOVE what Cryptic's done with Harry Kim. I LIKE the guy now. I want to HELP him and get him promoted to a nice dreadnought carrier so he can pack some real firepower. I want him to come along with me on my exciting adventures across the quadrant.
ON an unrelated note, to any devs and/or the EP who are watching this thread: Please, talk to us. Give us details. Give us numbers (and slap the "subject to change" button on them if you need to, we don't care). Give us explanations. Tacofangs should NOT be the only dev on the forums.
I, personally, would set aside all current beef with Cryptic and much future beef if the devs would just come on the forums and explain stuff. Even if I didn't like what I heard, if the devs made it clear that they were listening to feedback, aware of bugs, and willing to change disliked aspects of the game, I would be happy.
The only reason Seven is there is because she is not flat. Sorry to Jeri Ryan...the actress is far better than the character she played.
Agreed, and I get that joke. :P
Frankly, though, the character is just as flat (from an emotional and acting standpoint) as she was on the show. Speaking as a Shakespearean-trained amateur actor, there is VERY little to be done with Jeri's lines and Seven's character. Making Seven a developed, emotional character is like trying to turn Helicanus into something more than an emotional dishcloth and walking stick for Pericles.
That's kind of why when I wrote my own Liberated Borg character I went completely the opposite direction with her. If you really pay attention to what's beneath the Borg armor you can see a decent person with a completely intact personality (which is in line with a human who has suffered a severely disfiguring injury as well as personal violation), she uses her own name, etc. She also does not have full access to all Borg memories, or omnipotent nanoprobes.
Similarly, I actually thought Cryptic threw in an awesome touch back in the Wasteland episodes with the Borg barkeep who was deliberately playing with the stereotype so he could ruin people's days. (Notice that I am pointing back to LOR. That's the bar for storywriting, IMO, as well as "Surface Tension." That's the level that I came to expect and have been disappointed so far not to see in Delta Rising.)
As for Neelix...I think they could have played with the annoyance factor to deliberately do a send-up of the Admiral Errand Being missions. Let your character vent some and show some frustration, maybe even rip a quote from forum posters to have as an option for your toon to actually say out loud. They seemed like they were starting to go that way with Neelix and the Doctor. That could've been played up more.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-) Proudly F2P.Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
That's kind of why when I wrote my own Liberated Borg character I went completely the opposite direction with her. If you really pay attention to what's beneath the Borg armor you can see a decent person with a completely intact personality (which is in line with a human who has suffered a severely disfiguring injury as well as personal violation), she uses her own name, etc. She also does not have full access to all Borg memories, or omnipotent nanoprobes.
Similarly, I actually thought Cryptic threw in an awesome touch back in the Wasteland episodes with the Borg barkeep who was deliberately playing with the stereotype so he could ruin people's days. (Notice that I am pointing back to LOR. That's the bar for storywriting, IMO, as well as "Surface Tension." That's the level that I came to expect and have been disappointed so far not to see in Delta Rising.)
As for Neelix...I think they could have played with the annoyance factor to deliberately do a send-up of the Admiral Errand Being missions. Let your character vent some and show some frustration, maybe even rip a quote from forum posters to have as an option for your toon to actually say out loud. They seemed like they were starting to go that way with Neelix and the Doctor. That could've been played up more.
I agree with all of this, and I like Redmond a lot, but I must note that LOR and Surface Tension had a metric buttload of plot holes.
They were still fun and cool, but between Tovan Khev's relationship issues nearly destroying the Republic and killing the PC, and the instadeath torp that Tuvok just so happened to have in the back and didn't use until literally the instant the planet killer showed up, there are a lot of fixit fics that should be written.
Comments
Yeah, Russ is a capable actor, massive Trekkie, and his role is hard to TRIBBLE up.
Ethan Phillips is heavily undervalued (probably because of Neelix); he's relatively cheap and very talented, so I agree with you there. But I have to say that I LOVE what Cryptic's done with Harry Kim. I LIKE the guy now. I want to HELP him and get him promoted to a nice dreadnought carrier so he can pack some real firepower. I want him to come along with me on my exciting adventures across the quadrant.
ON an unrelated note, to any devs and/or the EP who are watching this thread: Please, talk to us. Give us details. Give us numbers (and slap the "subject to change" button on them if you need to, we don't care). Give us explanations. Tacofangs should NOT be the only dev on the forums.
I, personally, would set aside all current beef with Cryptic and much future beef if the devs would just come on the forums and explain stuff. Even if I didn't like what I heard, if the devs made it clear that they were listening to feedback, aware of bugs, and willing to change disliked aspects of the game, I would be happy.
Agreed, and I get that joke.
Frankly, though, the character is just as flat (from an emotional and acting standpoint) as she was on the show. Speaking as a Shakespearean-trained amateur actor, there is VERY little to be done with Jeri's lines and Seven's character. Making Seven a developed, emotional character is like trying to turn Helicanus into something more than an emotional dishcloth and walking stick for Pericles.
Similarly, I actually thought Cryptic threw in an awesome touch back in the Wasteland episodes with the Borg barkeep who was deliberately playing with the stereotype so he could ruin people's days. (Notice that I am pointing back to LOR. That's the bar for storywriting, IMO, as well as "Surface Tension." That's the level that I came to expect and have been disappointed so far not to see in Delta Rising.)
As for Neelix...I think they could have played with the annoyance factor to deliberately do a send-up of the Admiral Errand Being missions. Let your character vent some and show some frustration, maybe even rip a quote from forum posters to have as an option for your toon to actually say out loud. They seemed like they were starting to go that way with Neelix and the Doctor. That could've been played up more.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-)
Proudly F2P. Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
I agree with all of this, and I like Redmond a lot, but I must note that LOR and Surface Tension had a metric buttload of plot holes.
They were still fun and cool, but between Tovan Khev's relationship issues nearly destroying the Republic and killing the PC, and the instadeath torp that Tuvok just so happened to have in the back and didn't use until literally the instant the planet killer showed up, there are a lot of fixit fics that should be written.
Basically the O.P tried to warn us all but no one listened and now were all gonna die, or something like that.