So I picked this series up- the first Star Trek novels I've read in decades- and am really dissapointed in the evolution of the Borg as portrayed in that series. Regardless of that though, it left me wondering, since I'm a newb to STO really, how much does STO stick to the EU fluff?
I know that the events in Destiny predate the events in STO by a few decades, so the whole Borg invasion that wiped out several worlds, and killed billions, technically already happened in the timeline, but is there any mention of it? I'm just curious, I know the books came out in '08 and the game in '10, so if the Devs were sticking with any of the literary material, it was available to them.
Just curious more than anything... And who else thought they were kind of horrible books? I'm not 100% finished. I have a bit in the last one to go, but man some of the directions they are taking the characters and the Races are just a bit ridiculous.
Star Trek Destiny is not part of STO's background. They took the Vesta and the Luna from the novel series (not sure if Luna is also Star Trek Destiny, or its own line), but that was more due to fan interest in the ships specifically (at least the Vesta, the Luna was in since launch.)
I haven't read the novels, just the Memory Beta synopsis, but yeah, the Borg origin there seems to be a terrible idea. I am glad it's not part of STO's "canon" (not that I like everything about STO's storyline either.)
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
The events in the Destiny trilogy did not occur in the STO timeline. As mentioned, the Luna class and Vesta both were taken from the novels for STO. I think somewhere in STO it is mentioned that Ezri Dax ended up commanding the Aventine as well, so she still somehow got that command in the STO universe in spite of the events in the Destiny Trilogy never happening. In general i'd say the bulk of the Star Trek novels have no place in STO's timeline. A few of the Titan novels would probably fit, but outside of that, most of the novels just don't fit. The Countdown Comic series however is basically a part of the STO timeline.
At the time that I read them, I thought the Destiny Trilogy was alright. Looking back at it though, there were some awfully ridiculous explanations in that trilogy. I thought the Borg was portrayed fine in that trilogy, as for a brief time, they regained the intimidating and terrifying presence they had back in TNG. The explanation for the Borg's creation though is quite a bizarre mess though. Some of the strange character direction could also be blamed on previous TNG and Titan novels as well depending on what bothered you.
I thought Destiny was a good idea that was poorly executed. The good idea being a series that dealt with a borg invasion, something which I think would be a compelling narrative but nobody was brave enough to tackle it in TNG or Voyager (DS9 had it's own thing going on). The borg origin was an example of poor execution. It contradicts a throwaway line told in the Voyager episode with the vaadwuar about how the borg were around when they were active, but the timing doesn't match for the Destiny origin story. But I didn't care for other aspects of the origin story, like how it was all the fault of the deus ex machina people.
I didn't much care for those guys, or the plot revolving around Hernandez and spending centuries forced to live with those people against her will, and them acting all self-righteous about it too. Those guys were just begging to have a photon torpedo volley or two hit their precious seclusion. Similarly the USS Titan being forced to spend any amount of time fooling around with those guys detracted from the stakes of the main plot.
The actual war against the borg was pretty cool though, and I wish the narrative had focused on that instead. But I didn't like how the borg were all about annihilation instead of assimilation, and found the way that David Mack characterised the borg asinine. The true horror of the borg has always been that they DON'T annihilate people, they assimilate them and turn them into cybernetic monstrosities. It felt like Mack was trying to make the borg 'edgier' by having them go on a killing spree but it just came across as lame and inconsistent.
Best parts of the series were the little scenes that showed Starfleet getting their arses kicked and having moments of heroism, cowardice and everything in-between, with the futility of the conflict being hammered home again and again.
Destiny in fact was on the drawing boards roughly the same time STO was and is in fact, the divergence point between STO and the novel-prime universe. Destiny still has ramifications in the novelverse to this day, for STO, not a whole lot in the least.
The idea of Destiny was a good one. However, I felt this explanation of the Borg's origins was inconsistent and it was another version of their origin. I can see why a lot of people gush over the trilogy.
Well, there are multiple stories of the origin of borg. I for one still think it was a medical or military experiment which went awry.
There is also a novel despicting it similar to the reapers, as a cycle of assimilated and inactivaty. With the doomsday device being similar to the crucible in being the ultimate weapon of the preservers in the fight against the borg, which was deployed to late.
So I picked this series up- the first Star Trek novels I've read in decades- and am really dissapointed in the evolution of the Borg as portrayed in that series. Regardless of that though, it left me wondering, since I'm a newb to STO really, how much does STO stick to the EU fluff?
I know that the events in Destiny predate the events in STO by a few decades, so the whole Borg invasion that wiped out several worlds, and killed billions, technically already happened in the timeline, but is there any mention of it? I'm just curious, I know the books came out in '08 and the game in '10, so if the Devs were sticking with any of the literary material, it was available to them.
Just curious more than anything... And who else thought they were kind of horrible books? I'm not 100% finished. I have a bit in the last one to go, but man some of the directions they are taking the characters and the Races are just a bit ridiculous.
STO follows no canon or EU
The have made there own timeline / universe and only a few ships look like the canon ships from star trek
So STO can make up their rules for their game as they see fit to do so and are not limited by any Canon or Eu
Jellico....Engineer ground.....Da'val Romulan space Sci
Saphire.. Science ground......Ko'el Romulan space Tac
Leva........Tactical ground.....Koj Romulan space Eng
JJ-Verse will never be Canon or considered Lore...It will always be JJ-Verse
As for how that impacts STO, I consider the novels to be the main universe and STO to be an alternate universe, a bit like the Abramsverse.
Surely it's the other way around? After all, the Hobus supernova and destruction of Romulus, the disappearance of Ambassador Spock, and the resurrection of Data are all elements from the canon prime universe.
Data's resurrection? When is that mentioned in Star Trek (2009)?
At present the novelverse timeline is just about to hit the Hobus Supernova and Spock's disappearance. I stand by the sentence you have quoted.
Data's resurrection is done in the Countdown series, which was Abram's prelude to the movie - it lays out what has been going on in Starfleet, what Spock was up to, Nero, the Narada, etc.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
Surely it's the other way around? After all, the Hobus supernova and destruction of Romulus, the disappearance of Ambassador Spock, and the resurrection of Data are all elements from the canon prime universe.
Hobus was part of the prime timeline, even if it led to the alternate timeline that's not part of STO.
Data's return was somewhat set up in Nemesis itself, thanks to the Data-To-B4 memory dump and the final scene with B4 in the movie.
STO takes from the official movie and TV material and expands from it. And then steals some of it of the novel and other materials, but it is establishing its own "canon" (for purposes of the game), that diverges from the novels and will also probably diverge should CBS ever decide to make a new Trek series or movie set in the prime line ever again. (Which currently seems to be shortly after hell froze over?)
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
After some of the crazy stuff I've read about in some of these books...I really hope they're not part of Canon...Borg are many things but they aren't mindless murdering psychopaths...
I really liked the Destiny books and think they would have made a great movie trilogy. My biggest complaint about them was I didn't care for how they portrayed Picard. A lot of what he did and said felt out of character for him.
After some of the crazy stuff I've read about in some of these books...I really hope they're not part of Canon...Borg are many things but they aren't mindless murdering psychopaths...
No Novels are canon. They are all fanfiction. This isnt Star Wars after all.
I liked the Destiny series (as well as the Typhon Pact and Fall series' that follow it), but I like that Destiny does its own thing. As they're all as canon as each other, it makes it easier to make a headcanon that I like more.
"On April 25, 2014, Lucasfilm announced that the Expanded Universe was being reorganized under the new non-canon "Star Wars Legends" banner to make way for a new line of continuity, led by principle projects Star Wars Rebels and the Star Wars sequel trilogy, to take shape."
The Prime Universe, STO Universe, Novel Universe, and JJ Universe all happen in their own universe and have no interaction with each other. Cryptic might obtain inspiration from these other sources, but that is it.
Comments
I haven't read the novels, just the Memory Beta synopsis, but yeah, the Borg origin there seems to be a terrible idea. I am glad it's not part of STO's "canon" (not that I like everything about STO's storyline either.)
As for how that impacts STO, I consider the novels to be the main universe and STO to be an alternate universe, a bit like the Abramsverse.
At the time that I read them, I thought the Destiny Trilogy was alright. Looking back at it though, there were some awfully ridiculous explanations in that trilogy. I thought the Borg was portrayed fine in that trilogy, as for a brief time, they regained the intimidating and terrifying presence they had back in TNG. The explanation for the Borg's creation though is quite a bizarre mess though. Some of the strange character direction could also be blamed on previous TNG and Titan novels as well depending on what bothered you.
I didn't much care for those guys, or the plot revolving around Hernandez and spending centuries forced to live with those people against her will, and them acting all self-righteous about it too. Those guys were just begging to have a photon torpedo volley or two hit their precious seclusion. Similarly the USS Titan being forced to spend any amount of time fooling around with those guys detracted from the stakes of the main plot.
The actual war against the borg was pretty cool though, and I wish the narrative had focused on that instead. But I didn't like how the borg were all about annihilation instead of assimilation, and found the way that David Mack characterised the borg asinine. The true horror of the borg has always been that they DON'T annihilate people, they assimilate them and turn them into cybernetic monstrosities. It felt like Mack was trying to make the borg 'edgier' by having them go on a killing spree but it just came across as lame and inconsistent.
Best parts of the series were the little scenes that showed Starfleet getting their arses kicked and having moments of heroism, cowardice and everything in-between, with the futility of the conflict being hammered home again and again.
There is also a novel despicting it similar to the reapers, as a cycle of assimilated and inactivaty. With the doomsday device being similar to the crucible in being the ultimate weapon of the preservers in the fight against the borg, which was deployed to late.
STO follows no canon or EU
The have made there own timeline / universe and only a few ships look like the canon ships from star trek
So STO can make up their rules for their game as they see fit to do so and are not limited by any Canon or Eu
Saphire.. Science ground......Ko'el Romulan space Tac
Leva........Tactical ground.....Koj Romulan space Eng
JJ-Verse will never be Canon or considered Lore...It will always be JJ-Verse
Surely it's the other way around? After all, the Hobus supernova and destruction of Romulus, the disappearance of Ambassador Spock, and the resurrection of Data are all elements from the canon prime universe.
Data's resurrection? When is that mentioned in Star Trek (2009)?
At present the novelverse timeline is just about to hit the Hobus Supernova and Spock's disappearance. I stand by the sentence you have quoted.
Data's return was somewhat set up in Nemesis itself, thanks to the Data-To-B4 memory dump and the final scene with B4 in the movie.
STO takes from the official movie and TV material and expands from it. And then steals some of it of the novel and other materials, but it is establishing its own "canon" (for purposes of the game), that diverges from the novels and will also probably diverge should CBS ever decide to make a new Trek series or movie set in the prime line ever again. (Which currently seems to be shortly after hell froze over?)
No Novels are canon. They are all fanfiction. This isnt Star Wars after all.
Actually all Star Wars novels are considered non-canon for about a year now.;)
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars_Legends
"On April 25, 2014, Lucasfilm announced that the Expanded Universe was being reorganized under the new non-canon "Star Wars Legends" banner to make way for a new line of continuity, led by principle projects Star Wars Rebels and the Star Wars sequel trilogy, to take shape."