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Forums > Home› Star Trek Online General Discussion

CBS Invovlment in STO stories?

jadenmiajadenmia Member Posts: 148 Arc User
in Star Trek Online General Discussion
Though there are a lot of people who play STO there is still a lot more who know the shows but never played the game. Thinking about that and knowing CBS owns the rights, I was left wondering, how much of STO would be considered 'Cannon' if any at all. If it was, then that would require CBS to actually be actively involved in the story line development of the STO seasons.

So now to the question:
What is CBS's involvement in the creation of STO story lines?
Do they simply own the rights and are uninvolved?
Do they drop wants and guide lines to the Cryptic staff on what they want and don't want while leaving the rest up to the cryptic staff?
Does CBS actually have direct involvement in the creation of STO seasons?
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Comments

  • darakossdarakoss Member Posts: 850 Arc User
    CBS is not involved in the stories. There are certain guidlines and things Cryptic has to run by CBS first but thats about it. No, STO is not canon.
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  • jaguarskxjaguarskx Member Posts: 5,945 Arc User
    Nothing in STO is considered canon and CBS does not have any involvement in STO's storyline.

    Star Trek material is not considered canon unless it is a TV series released by CBS or a movie released by Paramount.

    Cryptic purchased a license (valid for a specific number of years before it needs to be renewed) from CBS to develop a non-canon game based on Star Trek.

    Cryptic can do what they want as long as they stay within the limitations set forth by the guideline contained within the signed legal contract between Cryptic and CBS which gives Cryptic temporary use of the Star Trek IP.
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  • alonaralonar Member Posts: 280 Arc User
    I wouldn't consider ANYTHING in Star Trek cannon for the simple reason that the majority of it was written as episodic stories and not a series that would lend itself to any real continuity.
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  • jorantomalakjorantomalak Member Posts: 7,133 Arc User
    darakoss wrote: »
    CBS is not involved in the stories. There are certain guidlines and things Cryptic has to run by CBS first but thats about it. No, STO is not canon.

    If anything STO would be soft canon like comic books and fanfic novels.

    But i agree CBS is not involved in the stories on STO.
  • tacofangstacofangs Member Posts: 2,951 Cryptic Developer
    CBS has to approve everything we do. They don't generally tell us stories they want to tell, it goes the other way. We come up with what we want to do, tell CBS, and they decide if that's cool or not, or offer some changes that fit more with what they want to see.
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  • jaguarskxjaguarskx Member Posts: 5,945 Arc User
    jorantomalak wrote: »
    If anything STO would be soft canon like comic books and fanfic novels.

    STO would not even be considered soft canon. Fanfic... soft canon? Definitely not. The comic books (primarily DC and Marvel)? No. Star Trek: The Manga published by ToykoPop? No.

    The only soft canon would be the Star Trek novels.
  • gaevsmangaevsman Member Posts: 3,190 Arc User
    I wish they put the canon/non canon thing in the FCT, so we can discuss more game related issues..
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  • silverlobes#2676 silverlobes
    silverlobes#2676
         Member Posts: 1,953 Arc User
    jaguarskx wrote: »
    jorantomalak wrote: »
    If anything STO would be soft canon like comic books and fanfic novels.

    STO would not even be considered soft canon. Fanfic... soft canon? Definitely not. The comic books (primarily DC and Marvel)? No. Star Trek: The Manga published by ToykoPop? No.

    The only soft canon would be the Star Trek novels.
    I'd say soft canon, because the content is still officially released, rather than fan-produced. Fanfic is what individuals write and post, but the game's plot, is an officially sanctioned release :)
    spielman1 wrote: »
    tacofangs wrote: »
    CBS has to approve everything we do. They don't generally tell us stories they want to tell, it goes the other way. We come up with what we want to do, tell CBS, and they decide if that's cool or not, or offer some changes that fit more with what they want to see.

    True and figured this to be the point basically soft cannon still cannon but not hard stuff. Also why does the company not add more Romulan ships like some found in the Novels like the D'Kazanak class or the earlier Melak Class Variants and Amarcan Class. CBS has stated those where cannon ships due to novels they where in and Gene did want to show theme on screen but was deleted due to money and time restraints of the TNG series. Just curious really.
    Ownership of those names might be the property of the writers of the novel, but it sure would be cool to see a D'Kazanak flying around. Special Console: Re-Start Actuator, aka Playing Possum: Ship appears to powered down, until something gets within 2k, and then POW! Full Power Everything to cripple the opponent :p
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  • jaguarskxjaguarskx Member Posts: 5,945 Arc User
    silverlobes#2676 wrote: »
    I'd say soft canon, because the content is still officially released, rather than fan-produced. Fanfic is what individuals write and post, but the game's plot, is an officially sanctioned release :)

    Then you can argue that games such as Star Trek Trexels is soft canon because it is an "officially sanctioned released".

    CBS allowed Cryptic to use the Star Trek IP to develop a game within the Star Trek universe (after paying a licensing fee), but that does not mean the story is "officially sanctioned".

    If you want to treat it as your own person head canon, then that's fine.
  • gaevsmangaevsman Member Posts: 3,190 Arc User
    spielman1 wrote: »
    gaevsman wrote: »
    I wish they put the canon/non canon thing in the FCT, so we can discuss more game related issues..

    There would be massive arguments and fights if they did that many have tried and many failed due to arguments then the insulting that most gave up

    Thats why, all the insults and flamming could be avoided a little, but i do get your point :smile:
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  • silverlobes#2676 silverlobes
    silverlobes#2676
         Member Posts: 1,953 Arc User
    spielman1 wrote: »
    silverlobes#2676 wrote: »
    jaguarskx wrote: »
    jorantomalak wrote: »
    If anything STO would be soft canon like comic books and fanfic novels.

    STO would not even be considered soft canon. Fanfic... soft canon? Definitely not. The comic books (primarily DC and Marvel)? No. Star Trek: The Manga published by ToykoPop? No.

    The only soft canon would be the Star Trek novels.
    I'd say soft canon, because the content is still officially released, rather than fan-produced. Fanfic is what individuals write and post, but the game's plot, is an officially sanctioned release :)
    spielman1 wrote: »
    tacofangs wrote: »
    CBS has to approve everything we do. They don't generally tell us stories they want to tell, it goes the other way. We come up with what we want to do, tell CBS, and they decide if that's cool or not, or offer some changes that fit more with what they want to see.

    True and figured this to be the point basically soft cannon still cannon but not hard stuff. Also why does the company not add more Romulan ships like some found in the Novels like the D'Kazanak class or the earlier Melak Class Variants and Amarcan Class. CBS has stated those where cannon ships due to novels they where in and Gene did want to show theme on screen but was deleted due to money and time restraints of the TNG series. Just curious really.
    Ownership of those names might be the property of the writers of the novel, but it sure would be cool to see a D'Kazanak flying around. Special Console: Re-Start Actuator, aka Playing Possum: Ship appears to powered down, until something gets within 2k, and then POW! Full Power Everything to cripple the opponent :p

    Yeah or the Melaks and Amarcans also they had some good to em well except the Amarcans they where faulty from the start but Melaks where pretty solid.
    I haven't read the novels with the Melaks in, but I'll try and check them out :)

    jaguarskx wrote: »
    silverlobes#2676 wrote: »
    I'd say soft canon, because the content is still officially released, rather than fan-produced. Fanfic is what individuals write and post, but the game's plot, is an officially sanctioned release :)

    Then you can argue that games such as Star Trek Trexels is soft canon because it is an "officially sanctioned released".

    CBS allowed Cryptic to use the Star Trek IP to develop a game within the Star Trek universe (after paying a licensing fee), but that does not mean the story is "officially sanctioned".

    If you want to treat it as your own person head canon, then that's fine.

    Absolutely. Doesn't have as many glitches as STO does, either ;p I've no problem with any game being considered soft canon, because it still gets superceded by the films and shows. As tacofangs said above, the content they do has to be approved before it goes into the game, which means that it has indeed been officially sanctioned, by CBS ;)
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    "I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
  • angrytargangrytarg Member Posts: 11,008 Arc User
    There is no "hard/soft" differentiation of canon, there is only canon and non canon.

    Canon is everything we have seen on shows and movies, these are the events of the Star Trek universe that any new licensed work has to accept. For instance, you couldn't make a Star Trek game that it set int he prime universe and tell the story of how the Enterprise got destroyed and Kirk killed during the five-year-mission without going through loops to explain it's a different reality or something. You couldn't publih a licensed novel which exchanges Vulcans and Klingons. Those things are what "canon" is.

    Everything else is not canon as no works have to respect what happens in them. Novels can directly contradict each other and STO doesn't have to respect what Raven Software told in Voyager: Elite Force. Licensed works can choose to incorporate stuff from each other, if both right owners come to an agreement. But nothing what happens in licensed works is relevant for either other licensed works or a new official release.

    There is no "slightly less no canon than that other thing". And this is a cannon: iStock_000004824159SmallCannonCountyYouthDream.jpg.jpeg​​
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  • jbmonroejbmonroe Member Posts: 809 Arc User
    sirsitsalot wrote: »
    Oh... I have also come to accept the truth that Gene Roddenberry did not create Star Trek to usher in a new era for humanity, but so he could sell it to a studio to make enough money to pay his bills.

    Blasphemy! Heresy! Apostasy! Heterodoxy! Calumny! Many other words with more or less the same meaning terminated with exclamation points! :D

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  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,236 Arc User
    And of course all this talk of canon when CBS apparently doesn't care what we think is canon.
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  • jonsillsjonsills Member Posts: 10,471 Arc User
    Starfleet doesn't have dentists, any more than they have toilets.
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  • legendarylycan#5411 legendarylycan
    legendarylycan#5411
         Member Posts: 37,284 Arc User
    jonsills wrote: »
    Starfleet doesn't have dentists, any more than they have toilets.

    actually, they do http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Starfleet_Dental​​
    Like special weapons from other Star Trek games? Wondering if they can be replicated in STO even a little bit? Check this out: https://forum.arcgames.com/startrekonline/discussion/1262277/a-mostly-comprehensive-guide-to-star-trek-videogame-special-weapons-and-their-sto-equivalents

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  • angrytargangrytarg Member Posts: 11,008 Arc User
    They also have http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Toilet - that's a double defeat right here pig-26.gif​​
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    ^ Memory Alpha.org is not canon. It's a open wiki with arbitrary rules. Only what can be cited from an episode is. ^
    "No. Men do not roar. Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects... and claw at you." -Worf, son of Mogh
    "A filthy, mangy beast, but in its bony breast beat the heart of a warrior" - "faithful" (...) "but ever-ready to follow the call of the wild." - Martok, about a Targ
    "That pig smelled horrid. A sweet-sour, extremely pungent odor. I showered and showered, and it took me a week to get rid of it!" - Robert Justman, appreciating Emmy-Lou
    #TASforSTO
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  • artan42artan42 Member Posts: 10,450 Bug Hunter
    If 'soft-canon' is being used as a synonym for licenced material that is not canon the that's what STO is. All works published under the Star Trek IP under the authority of CBS (or Paramount for KT material) is so called 'soft-canon' (except the 7 shows and 13 films) and requires CBS to sign off on the story or content therein. This is the same weather it's a game or a comic or a book or what ever.
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  • nikeixnikeix Member Posts: 3,972 Arc User
    Pretty much exactly what you'd expect from any modern global brand. The value of the whole is connected to the value of the parts, so you don't let the parts tarnish the brand at any level.

    To me, the intriguing part is that the novels are apparently NOT integrated. The notion those authors own ANYTHING not considered work for hire or derivative IP and by default owned by CBS is bizarre and smells like a vestige of badly outdated contracting practices.
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  • ltminnsltminns Member Posts: 12,572 Arc User
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  • ltminnsltminns Member Posts: 12,572 Arc User
    How the once proud subdivision has fallen. :(
    'But to be logical is not to be right', and 'nothing' on God's earth could ever 'make it' right!'
    Judge Dan Haywood
    'As l speak now, the words are forming in my head.
    l don't know.
    l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
    That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
    Lt. Philip J. Minns
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