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Updating STO for the Post-Picard Era
mike03uc
Member Posts: 227 Arc User
Given the recent changes to Trek canon in Star Trek: Picard, it looks more and more like STO is in need of a major revamp. I know it’s been a long time since it’s happened, but given recent events in both Picard and Star Trek: Prodigy, it’s getting harder and harder to believe the events of STO occur shortly after the events of Picard. And given the reality that any subsequent Trek installments will occur close to or sometime after the events of Picard, the problem will only get worse.
Mind you, I doubt the devs themselves will read this and feel the need to act on any of it, nor should they. In fact, I’m pretty sure much of this is either being discussed or already in the works. STO’s dev team has, much to their credit, been right on top of the breakneck-pace of Trek canon changes. I’m posting this mainly to start a discussion or debate, and see how everyone else feels about changes I truly believe are inevitable.
To wit, I think a variety of changes are necessary to the overall look and feel of STO, as follows:
Ships
This is the most obvious, and probably easiest to deal with. Picard changed the overall look and feel of Trek’s 25th century starships. Luckily, this would be an easy fix, as much to their credit Picard’s designers worked closely with STO to create their ship models, which has had the fortunate consequence of bringing many of STO’s best (and most recognizable) models into Trek canon. But that alone likely won’t be enough. STO’s standard ship models need to be modified to align with the new look and feel: older ship models, like the Galaxy and Intrepid classes, should be relegated to the background, if not phased out entirely.
Some specific changes:
-Update the models for the U.S.S. Voyager and U.S.S. Challenger from Intrepid-class and Galaxy-class to Pathfinder-class and Andromeda-class, respectively. Interiors for both can (and I would say should) remain as they are, as it stands to reason Starfleet wouldn’t necessarily feel the need to completely alter the interiors of said ships, especially given their iconic statuses.
-Furthermore, ship registries should be updated to conform to the new Starfleet custom first introduced on Star Trek: Discovery, by which ships undergoing a comprehensive refit (one that effectively upgrades them to a new class) are given a new registration. The Challenger should be updated to NCC-71099-A, the Voyager to NCC-74656-B, the Enterprise to NCC-1701-G, etc.
-While it has nothing to do with Picard, the new bridge set of the Enterprise should be made the default bridge set of Odyssey-class starships, or at least an option for said.
Character Models and Equipment
It stands to reason that Starfleet is always updating their technology. Notably, Picard’s use of the hollow-delta combadge suggests advancements in said tech, making STO’s standard combadge appear antiquated. STO does, of course, already have a suitable replacement: the “Odyssey 1” combadge. That combadge should become the standard combadge for Starfleet NPCs, and the default for PCs.
Furthermore, the current standard-issue phaser model is based on the phasers last seen in Star Trek: Nemesis. The phasers on Picard, including those shown in use in the 2380s, all conform to a newer model. That model should become the standard model for STO’s phasers.
Another small change that would be beneficial would be updating both the animation and sound effects for Starfleet transporters. The current version is based on the version first used on Star Trek: Voyager.
Characters
This will likely be the most difficult aspect of the game to update. The events of Star Trek: Picard have substantially changed the character stories and personalities of several Trek characters currently in-game, in ways that make their current in-game characters appear dated.
Specifically:
-Seven of Nine: while her character has already been updated for “Measure of Morality: Pts. 1 and 2”, as it stands currently her characterization, storyline, and model for the Delta Quadrant arc are based on Jeri Ryan’s portrayal on Voyager. Jeri Ryan needs to be brought in to record new dialogue for the Delta arc, to better reflect the changes her character undergoes during Picard.
-Geordi La Forge: in the game as it stands currently, as of 2410 Geordi is still a captain, commanding the Galaxy-class U.S.S. Challenger. As of Picard, however, which takes place years prior, Geordi is already a commodore, commanding a new ship (as-yet unnamed as of the latest episode). Geordi’s character should be redesigned to make him, at least, a commodore (more likely an admiral by this point). And while he could remain in command of the Challenger, ideally the model should be updated to an Andromeda-class Challenger-A. Luckily, his lines would require only minimal voice work to modify (replacing “captain” with “commodore” or “admiral” wherever necessary).
-Worf: while strictly-speaking Worf likely would not require significant modification, it might be good to update his character model to better conform to his new look on Star Trek: Picard.
Storyline:
There have been many things, great and small, that have cropped up on Picard that directly or at least possibly contradict STO’s current storylines and lore. If these changes are not addressed, the only other option would be to establish that STO takes place in some form of alternate universe. While that approach may work best for STO’s storytelling, it may be rejected by many players and fans. To wit, a few changes may be necessary.
Notably:
-The Klingon War: while nothing concrete has been mentioned yet in Picard, STO’s current lore suggests that tensions between the Federation and Klingon Empire were already rising in the 2390s. As of Picard, that doesn’t appear to be the case. While it may simply have gone unmentioned, or hasn’t been mentioned yet, STO has already been minimizing the overarching Klingon War arc for years. It may be time to scrap it altogether, perhaps having the STO story arc begin with either a sort of cold war with the Klingons, or simply having the story begin with the Romulan arc. It’s also worth noting that, in the latest episode of Picard, a “chancellor” is mentioned as someone the crew of the Titan might contact. If that individual is in fact the Klingon chancellor, it would mean that A) Martok’s immediate successor was not J’mpok, and
relations between the Klingon Empire and the Federation are at least civil enough to warrant contacting the Klingon leader regarding Changeling infiltration of Starfleet.
-The Enterprise: in the current STO storyline, it’s established that the Odyssey-class Enterprise-F was launched in 2410, with Captain Shon as its first captain. Shon is an excellent character, easily one of the best STO original characters to date. However, lore should be modified to make it clear that he is NOT, in fact, the first captain of the Enterprise-F. The storyline could be retconned to suggest that he took command after the Enterprise underwent a refit (meaning the Enterprise model would be Yorktown-class from its first appearance). It’s worth noting that the Enterprise-F’s first appearance in STO occurs in the original Cardassian story arc, which has now been removed from the game progression and has yet to be revamped. If that storyline is not, in fact, to be revamped, it may be best to remove it entirely.
-The Romulan Arc: thankfully, most of the current Romulan arc appears to make sense with the events of Picard. It’s worth noting, however, the brief mention of a “Romulan Free State” in Picard’s first season. As the Romulan arc is clearly being prepped for a revamp, changes regarding Picard may already be in the works.
-The Undine: the Undine have become increasingly problematic in STO. While the involvement in the Borg, Dyson, and subsequent Delta arcs works very well, their involvement in earlier episodes during the Klingon War arc increasingly feels hokey. What’s more, as of the latest episode of Picard, no one has mentioned a word about them. In fact, I’m fairly certain “Species 8472” has been mentioned at least once in either Picard or Prodigy, suggesting that as of the 2400s no one even knows the true name of their species. This poses a problem, as paranoia regarding Undine infiltration is referenced in STO lore as the primary catalyst (or at least pretext) for rising tensions between the Klingons and the Federation as early as the 2390s. Given the events of Picard, it may be best to simply phase out mentions of the Undine in early story arcs altogether, perhaps replacing them with the rogue Changelings introduced in Picard.
-Worf’s story progression: STO’s lore deals extensively with the story of Worf following the events of Star Trek: Nemesis. While no doubt the full final season of Picard will provide more information on him, even the episodes shown thus far seem to have dramatically altered not only his character but also his backstory. What’s more, the off-screen lore put out by Picard’s writers suggests a dramatic deviation from STO’s established lore. It has now been largely established that Worf ultimately returned not only to Starfleet but to the Enterprise, with writers at least suggesting that he eventually assumed command of the ship himself. It is believable that ultimately Worf returned to Qo’nos, becoming an official with the Klingon government. But his backstory should be updated with the new information.
-Data: following the first season of Picard, Brent Spiner went on record making it clear he would never again play the role of Data. While the writers of Picard’s subsequent seasons have done a masterful job finding ways to incorporate Spiner without bringing Data back, I have no doubt his refusal to return to the role of Data will extend to STO as well. It is possible, as of this writing, that Picard’s writers will find some way to use Lore to bring Data back, but given Spiner’s reasoning on refusing to play Data, I find that unlikely. As it’s already been established that B4’s neural net could not handle Data’s personality, mentions of Data in STO’s existing lore, and the brief tease of his return at the end of the episode “Survivor”, should simply be omitted.
-Jean-Luc Picard: this is one of several small issues: Picard’s backstory in STO’s lore, suggesting he served as ambassador to Vulcan, is clearly out of date. Everyone on Picard refers to him as “Admiral Picard”. Had he served at some point as an ambassador, that superior title would surely be used.
-Seven of Nine: the three seasons of Star Trek: Picard have significantly altered the character Seven of Nine, making not only her characterization and model but also her overall story on STO outdated. This is one of several notable problems with the current Delta Quadrant arc, and likely the most extensive. In fact, the most recent season likely makes her portrayal in Measure of Morality outdated as well (unless the current season somehow ends with her leaving Starfleet). Thus, her STO character should be rewritten as a Starfleet officer, either working for Starfleet Intelligence or commanding a ship of her own (as she is both a commander and first officer in season 3 of Picard).
If completed, this update would surely be the biggest top-to-bottom facelift STO has had since the Odyssey introduction. However, I think it would be in STO’s best interest to embrace the changes to Trek canon, rather than lean on nostalgia for TV series most current STO players likely have no sentimental attachment to. I myself have already been preparing for this update, which I believe is likely in the works and inevitable: I’ve long used the Odyssey 1 combadge, have now switched from the current STO phaser rifles to the new 2399 rifles, and have updated the model for my version of the U.S.S. Challenger to Andromeda-class, NCC-71099-A.
Mind you, I doubt the devs themselves will read this and feel the need to act on any of it, nor should they. In fact, I’m pretty sure much of this is either being discussed or already in the works. STO’s dev team has, much to their credit, been right on top of the breakneck-pace of Trek canon changes. I’m posting this mainly to start a discussion or debate, and see how everyone else feels about changes I truly believe are inevitable.
To wit, I think a variety of changes are necessary to the overall look and feel of STO, as follows:
Ships
This is the most obvious, and probably easiest to deal with. Picard changed the overall look and feel of Trek’s 25th century starships. Luckily, this would be an easy fix, as much to their credit Picard’s designers worked closely with STO to create their ship models, which has had the fortunate consequence of bringing many of STO’s best (and most recognizable) models into Trek canon. But that alone likely won’t be enough. STO’s standard ship models need to be modified to align with the new look and feel: older ship models, like the Galaxy and Intrepid classes, should be relegated to the background, if not phased out entirely.
Some specific changes:
-Update the models for the U.S.S. Voyager and U.S.S. Challenger from Intrepid-class and Galaxy-class to Pathfinder-class and Andromeda-class, respectively. Interiors for both can (and I would say should) remain as they are, as it stands to reason Starfleet wouldn’t necessarily feel the need to completely alter the interiors of said ships, especially given their iconic statuses.
-Furthermore, ship registries should be updated to conform to the new Starfleet custom first introduced on Star Trek: Discovery, by which ships undergoing a comprehensive refit (one that effectively upgrades them to a new class) are given a new registration. The Challenger should be updated to NCC-71099-A, the Voyager to NCC-74656-B, the Enterprise to NCC-1701-G, etc.
-While it has nothing to do with Picard, the new bridge set of the Enterprise should be made the default bridge set of Odyssey-class starships, or at least an option for said.
Character Models and Equipment
It stands to reason that Starfleet is always updating their technology. Notably, Picard’s use of the hollow-delta combadge suggests advancements in said tech, making STO’s standard combadge appear antiquated. STO does, of course, already have a suitable replacement: the “Odyssey 1” combadge. That combadge should become the standard combadge for Starfleet NPCs, and the default for PCs.
Furthermore, the current standard-issue phaser model is based on the phasers last seen in Star Trek: Nemesis. The phasers on Picard, including those shown in use in the 2380s, all conform to a newer model. That model should become the standard model for STO’s phasers.
Another small change that would be beneficial would be updating both the animation and sound effects for Starfleet transporters. The current version is based on the version first used on Star Trek: Voyager.
Characters
This will likely be the most difficult aspect of the game to update. The events of Star Trek: Picard have substantially changed the character stories and personalities of several Trek characters currently in-game, in ways that make their current in-game characters appear dated.
Specifically:
-Seven of Nine: while her character has already been updated for “Measure of Morality: Pts. 1 and 2”, as it stands currently her characterization, storyline, and model for the Delta Quadrant arc are based on Jeri Ryan’s portrayal on Voyager. Jeri Ryan needs to be brought in to record new dialogue for the Delta arc, to better reflect the changes her character undergoes during Picard.
-Geordi La Forge: in the game as it stands currently, as of 2410 Geordi is still a captain, commanding the Galaxy-class U.S.S. Challenger. As of Picard, however, which takes place years prior, Geordi is already a commodore, commanding a new ship (as-yet unnamed as of the latest episode). Geordi’s character should be redesigned to make him, at least, a commodore (more likely an admiral by this point). And while he could remain in command of the Challenger, ideally the model should be updated to an Andromeda-class Challenger-A. Luckily, his lines would require only minimal voice work to modify (replacing “captain” with “commodore” or “admiral” wherever necessary).
-Worf: while strictly-speaking Worf likely would not require significant modification, it might be good to update his character model to better conform to his new look on Star Trek: Picard.
Storyline:
There have been many things, great and small, that have cropped up on Picard that directly or at least possibly contradict STO’s current storylines and lore. If these changes are not addressed, the only other option would be to establish that STO takes place in some form of alternate universe. While that approach may work best for STO’s storytelling, it may be rejected by many players and fans. To wit, a few changes may be necessary.
Notably:
-The Klingon War: while nothing concrete has been mentioned yet in Picard, STO’s current lore suggests that tensions between the Federation and Klingon Empire were already rising in the 2390s. As of Picard, that doesn’t appear to be the case. While it may simply have gone unmentioned, or hasn’t been mentioned yet, STO has already been minimizing the overarching Klingon War arc for years. It may be time to scrap it altogether, perhaps having the STO story arc begin with either a sort of cold war with the Klingons, or simply having the story begin with the Romulan arc. It’s also worth noting that, in the latest episode of Picard, a “chancellor” is mentioned as someone the crew of the Titan might contact. If that individual is in fact the Klingon chancellor, it would mean that A) Martok’s immediate successor was not J’mpok, and
relations between the Klingon Empire and the Federation are at least civil enough to warrant contacting the Klingon leader regarding Changeling infiltration of Starfleet.-The Enterprise: in the current STO storyline, it’s established that the Odyssey-class Enterprise-F was launched in 2410, with Captain Shon as its first captain. Shon is an excellent character, easily one of the best STO original characters to date. However, lore should be modified to make it clear that he is NOT, in fact, the first captain of the Enterprise-F. The storyline could be retconned to suggest that he took command after the Enterprise underwent a refit (meaning the Enterprise model would be Yorktown-class from its first appearance). It’s worth noting that the Enterprise-F’s first appearance in STO occurs in the original Cardassian story arc, which has now been removed from the game progression and has yet to be revamped. If that storyline is not, in fact, to be revamped, it may be best to remove it entirely.
-The Romulan Arc: thankfully, most of the current Romulan arc appears to make sense with the events of Picard. It’s worth noting, however, the brief mention of a “Romulan Free State” in Picard’s first season. As the Romulan arc is clearly being prepped for a revamp, changes regarding Picard may already be in the works.
-The Undine: the Undine have become increasingly problematic in STO. While the involvement in the Borg, Dyson, and subsequent Delta arcs works very well, their involvement in earlier episodes during the Klingon War arc increasingly feels hokey. What’s more, as of the latest episode of Picard, no one has mentioned a word about them. In fact, I’m fairly certain “Species 8472” has been mentioned at least once in either Picard or Prodigy, suggesting that as of the 2400s no one even knows the true name of their species. This poses a problem, as paranoia regarding Undine infiltration is referenced in STO lore as the primary catalyst (or at least pretext) for rising tensions between the Klingons and the Federation as early as the 2390s. Given the events of Picard, it may be best to simply phase out mentions of the Undine in early story arcs altogether, perhaps replacing them with the rogue Changelings introduced in Picard.
-Worf’s story progression: STO’s lore deals extensively with the story of Worf following the events of Star Trek: Nemesis. While no doubt the full final season of Picard will provide more information on him, even the episodes shown thus far seem to have dramatically altered not only his character but also his backstory. What’s more, the off-screen lore put out by Picard’s writers suggests a dramatic deviation from STO’s established lore. It has now been largely established that Worf ultimately returned not only to Starfleet but to the Enterprise, with writers at least suggesting that he eventually assumed command of the ship himself. It is believable that ultimately Worf returned to Qo’nos, becoming an official with the Klingon government. But his backstory should be updated with the new information.
-Data: following the first season of Picard, Brent Spiner went on record making it clear he would never again play the role of Data. While the writers of Picard’s subsequent seasons have done a masterful job finding ways to incorporate Spiner without bringing Data back, I have no doubt his refusal to return to the role of Data will extend to STO as well. It is possible, as of this writing, that Picard’s writers will find some way to use Lore to bring Data back, but given Spiner’s reasoning on refusing to play Data, I find that unlikely. As it’s already been established that B4’s neural net could not handle Data’s personality, mentions of Data in STO’s existing lore, and the brief tease of his return at the end of the episode “Survivor”, should simply be omitted.
-Jean-Luc Picard: this is one of several small issues: Picard’s backstory in STO’s lore, suggesting he served as ambassador to Vulcan, is clearly out of date. Everyone on Picard refers to him as “Admiral Picard”. Had he served at some point as an ambassador, that superior title would surely be used.
-Seven of Nine: the three seasons of Star Trek: Picard have significantly altered the character Seven of Nine, making not only her characterization and model but also her overall story on STO outdated. This is one of several notable problems with the current Delta Quadrant arc, and likely the most extensive. In fact, the most recent season likely makes her portrayal in Measure of Morality outdated as well (unless the current season somehow ends with her leaving Starfleet). Thus, her STO character should be rewritten as a Starfleet officer, either working for Starfleet Intelligence or commanding a ship of her own (as she is both a commander and first officer in season 3 of Picard).
If completed, this update would surely be the biggest top-to-bottom facelift STO has had since the Odyssey introduction. However, I think it would be in STO’s best interest to embrace the changes to Trek canon, rather than lean on nostalgia for TV series most current STO players likely have no sentimental attachment to. I myself have already been preparing for this update, which I believe is likely in the works and inevitable: I’ve long used the Odyssey 1 combadge, have now switched from the current STO phaser rifles to the new 2399 rifles, and have updated the model for my version of the U.S.S. Challenger to Andromeda-class, NCC-71099-A.
Post edited by baddmoonrizin on
0
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
Honestly, I think the devs have discussed this before that if it comes down to it that there are too many changes made to the late 24th & early 25th century, then they'd just say that STO is an alternate universe & pick what they want to incorporate. We know that they also have changed things when they need to in order to conform to whatever they know of the current canon.
As far as these changes go, I'd say just leave Voyager the way she is. We can say that Tuvok and/or Janeway convinced Starfleet to let them take out the original USS Voyager from the fleet museum as their primary vessel. As far as the Challenger goes, I'm not sure how I feel about changing it.
Ship registries in particular in Star Trek has always been something of a continuity problem. Ships that have the same name but different registries have been seen throughout Star Trek, like the Constitution-class ships Defiant, Lexington & Constellation getting newer ships but completely using a new registry etc. Also the Stargazer from Season 2 of Picard.
Star Trek: Picard is actually trying to use the retcon as a means of establishing continuity with Discovery at least. I just don't expect STO to do the same.
As far as transporter effects go, I don't think it's an easy change as you might think. They'd have to spend time trying to get it to animate correctly with respect to how it looks in the show. We've also never really had to change the transporter effects either so I don't know how big of a job that will be.
I agree that it is quite jarring with Seven's varying demeanor between her Delta Quadrant appearance & her later appearances, especially given her latest change of career. I imagine though we should wait to see what happens with Picard before we jump to any conclusions for her.
Geordi I also agree on. The problem with doing these kinds of updates requires them to go back & get the actors to record lines. Lately, I believe that they try to get the actors to come in and do a whole bunch of lines all at once, so I don't think they'll bring him back anytime soon.
Worf is one I would say needs the most updating for in regards to where he has ended up in Picard compared to where he is in STO. There are story changes to that are associated with this, but I'll get to those below.
I decided to break up the story & character stories up to talk about them differently.
I do agree that the fact that the Klingon War stuff is impacted by the events we know of in Picard. However, unless we know more, I think we leave things alone for now.
As far as the problems with Picard S3 making the Enterpise-F canon & it's decommissioning, we could have it get retconned instead that they're refitting it to be the Yorktown variant of the Odyssey line. They could still have it that Shon becomes the Captain of the newly refit Enterprise-F & it doesn't break things that much.
The Romulan story arc has been in big contention for some time with the events of Picard S1. However as far as any revamps to it, I don't think we're going to see anything right now. The devs really don't seem like they're much in the way of wanting to make changes every time something changes in the new shows.
The undine arc for sure is a point of contention since it's a major chunk of STO's backstory, but this can be retconned to happen later on after the events of Picard S3 still. In fact, it could easily tie into the Klingon story since the whole point was that the Klingons eneded peace when the Federation refused to believe anything about the Undine in the first place.
According to STO, Worf resigned his Starfleet commission in 2385 to focus entirely on diplomatic tensions with the Klingon Empire. By 2400, Worf cuts all ties to the Federation because of the Undine conflict after they refuse to help the Klingons.
Yet in Picard, Worf is not ONLY still firmly with the Federation, but he is an intelligence officer. It's been shown from teaser trailers that he holds the rank of Captain. So, unless his falling out happens 8 years later, this would have to be the biggest change by far.
I'm not really going to comment too much on Data considering that we have actually yet to see Lore in Picard as of yet. We know that the whole B-4 being the rebirth of Data is now out the window for the moment. Lore maybe could be used, but we have to see what it is they do with him.
Picard really doesn't matter to much within STO's story right now since we do not interact with him in anyway. If & when he DOES find his way into the game, I'm sure they'll update things as needed.
Seven of Nine's changes with her story will need to be explained, but I think it's best left until we know exactly what it is that she's is going through with the rest of S3 of Picard.
I think it's good to talk about what changes COULD happen, but we won't see anything major in the near future right now.
#LegalizeAwoo
A normie goes "Oh, what's this?"
An otaku goes "UwU, what's this?"
A furry goes "OwO, what's this?"
A werewolf goes "Awoo, what's this?"
"It's nothing personal, I just don't feel like I've gotten to know a person until I've sniffed their crotch."
"We said 'no' to Mr. Curiosity. We're not home. Curiosity is not welcome, it is not to be invited in. Curiosity...is bad. It gets you in trouble, it gets you killed, and more importantly...it makes you poor!"
The Enterprise does not get the refit until after the Iconian War, so Shon commands her in her original state in game before then.
To the OP....
The game is basically 'soft-canon'. It does follow the prime time line in a number of things, but in-game canon has been changed before, however, claiming fans may reject game canon is a tad pretentious. To wit, in 12+years, I don't think I've seen any mass complaints against game canon....like, ever.
Butterfly.
We didn't QUITE return everything to the way it was. So instead of the more Voyager like Seven we saw in the Delta Arc, we have the Picard Fenris Ranger Seven. In light of the events we see so far in Picard, its possible that Seven went into Intel and is basically a liasion officer with the Fenris Rangers now, hence why she's in civilian clothes rather than a uniform. (I know its a stretch considering Measure of Morality came out before season 3, but it would still make sense in terms of the game.)
But I do not see a massive rework of the game to conform as that would be basically rebuilding the game from the ground up story wise.
Are you referring to the Battle of Deep Space Nine in the Tzenkethi arc, or the original battle against the returned Jem'Hadar? With the original DS9 arc having been removed from the standard game progression, I'd say it's now sort of a gray area in STO's canon. But originally, the new Enterprise first appeared in "Boldly They Rode" as Odyssey class. I haven't played that episode in a while, so I'm asking if you have and they changed it.
I actually liked a lot of aspects of the original DS9 arc. I was disappointed when they sort of put it off to the side rather than updating it, and was hoping they'd done so with the intent of an eventual revamp. As I'd suggested in the original post, if they choose to conform to the new Trek canon, that's probably it for "Boldly They Rode" et al. Which would be sad.
I'd say much has already been done to alter the game's continuity to conform to the new Trek canon post-Picard. The only real leftovers of the original STO backstory are in the lore files found at Starfleet Academy. And while it probably wouldn't be too difficult to rewrite them (or just remove them, which would be less time-consuming), honestly given how little attention is paid to them I'm not sure it would even be worth the effort.
But that suggestion regarding "Butterfly"...wow. I hadn't even thought of that, and damn do I love it. It would be an easy way for Trek to use a tried and tested sci-fi trope to both embrace the new canon and keep STO's existing backstory intact.
If I came across as pretentious, I do apologize. I was looking at this from what I've seen to be the main perspective by which STO's creators view most things: the business perspective. I was looking at it not from the perspective of long-running players, but rather attracting new ones, like those perhaps drawn in by the new Trek shows (Picard, for instance). For a long time it made good business sense to keep the look and feel of the '90s Trek shows. But now that there's a clear picture of what Starfleet looks like in the 25th century, STO may be in need of a facelift. And I'd say most of the changes I mentioned would be cosmetic. For me, the '90s Trek shows were my childhood; I was in early elementary school when TNG was at the height of its popularity. So when Picard debuted, I was more aghast than appreciative of the clear departures from STO. But the more I've watched Picard, the more I've loved the new look and feel of Star Trek. And, perhaps reluctantly, I've begun to embrace the changes myself.
The Devs have said, though and as mentioned earlier, that if Alpha Canon deviates too much from what STO established for its backstory, they'll adapt what they can but branch STO off into its own timeline. There's a difference between tweaking story and basically having to redo the whole thing from the ground up. As of right now there's no mention of a Fed/Klingon War in Picard, and Worf is not an Ambassador. That would pretty much invalidate quite a bit of STO story missions, both Fed and KDF side.
So for now I think the Cryptic team is doing a pretty good job where they can to line up, but at this point... STO can't be Alpha Canon. Its soft Beta Canon, with some elements actually being adopted into Alpha Canon like several ship classes.
Phew...this is the kind of detailed response I both hoped for and wasn't sure I could expect. Thank you.
I would argue many of the changes I suggested are largely or solely cosmetic, which in my mind makes it more likely they'll be implemented. The changes in ship models (Voyager, Challenger, Enterprise...Titan?) in particular could be viewed as a way to drum up sales of the corresponding T6 ships. As for the transporter effect, I suggested it was a relatively small change based on what I've seen over the years playing STO. The introduction of new transporter effects for TOS and Disco characters, the more recent changes (first the captain being the only one to tap a combadge, and very recently having the captain look down at his combadge). The frequency of the changes suggests to me they're probably minor, though not being a dev myself obviously I cannot say for certain.
As I said, I would hardly be so presumptuous as to think the devs will read this post and take my suggestions into consideration. However, I do think many of these changes, at least in the fullness of time, are inevitable. I base this on the speed by which STO has capitalized on the changes to Trek canon, often in small ways, since Picard began. And I like all of it.
I'm a science fiction writer myself, though I usually write hard sci-fi, so I don't often venture into the timey-wimey stuff. I'd say my brain just isn't wired properly to come up with it, which is why I find your suggestion both impressive and appealing.
I will say this: I mentioned the Klingon Arc partially because, while yes it originally formed a major part of the initial STO backstory, it feels like it's been increasingly backburnered. And for good reason: while the revamp of the missions on the Klingon side was great, on the Fed side a lot of it feels pretty dated at this point. And frankly most of the arc on both sides now doesn't really feel like a "war"...more like a sort of simmering tension or cold war. Most of the Fed episodes deal entirely with a rogue Klingon ambassador, not invasions or space battles between huge fleets. And most of the early Klingon episodes now deal primarily with factional infighting between Klingon houses. Regardless of what happened with the Disco Klingons, by this point (having seen the TNG Klingon civil war, the Federation-Klingon War on DS9, and the Dominion War), it's hard to believe the Klingons would be taking breaks from an all-out war against such a powerful enemy as the Federation to engage in petty infighting involving entire fleets.
In short, while yes it appears as though it would take a lot of reworking to make STO's backstory conform to Picard, it feels like they're already sort of pulling away from the Klingon War arc.
Picard badge (colors changed to make the back part more obvious, correct colors are silver for the delta and dark grey for the back part).
STO Badge, note that Delta is more or less the same size (yes I know that's technically the command branch badge but the generic combadge is essentially identical).
Sorry for the blurry images I had to zoom in quite a lot.
Yeah Worf throws the biggest wrench into STO timeline, Worf is also still part of House Martok but apparently House Martok is cool with Worf being in Starfleet Intelligence, this is the kind of thing that Klingons would consider dishonorable and would actually cause J'mpok and the Other Great Houses to support Torg's claims instead of Worf and K'mtar, like all Torg would have to do is bring up Worf's history as a Federation Spy and the whole Klingon arc would've then turn out differently.
Worf seems to work for counter-intelligence/internal security section of Starfleet Intelligence though, so he isn't really a spy in the traditional way, but rather his job would to tract down spies and intelligence leaks or in more simpler terms expose spies and traitors, making his line of work honorable again.
EDIT: Klingons are not stupid they know perfectly well that sometimes you have go yourself into the shadows to drag into the light someone who hides always in the shadows, as long as none of the spies Worf exposes are sent by Klingon Intelligence J'mpok or Torg really have nothing to go by.
I'd like a Connie III. And the uniforms (2385, the ones in the current season, and the Confederation uniform). And I wouldn't mind those phaser pistols.
And the Connie III would probably come with Shangri-La parts, which would add some love for the TMP era.
I've grown to like the Neo, but it's 'cheap thrills' to make fans go teary at the TMP vibe it gives off. The OP's suggestion to 'revert' ships to match this season of Picard ignores that there still is a gap between Picard and STO, and design philosophy will change again, and again, and again. I'd like to think that the Neo would have been a natural progression and better fit pre-TNG than Picard.
#LegalizeAwoo
A normie goes "Oh, what's this?"
An otaku goes "UwU, what's this?"
A furry goes "OwO, what's this?"
A werewolf goes "Awoo, what's this?"
"It's nothing personal, I just don't feel like I've gotten to know a person until I've sniffed their crotch."
"We said 'no' to Mr. Curiosity. We're not home. Curiosity is not welcome, it is not to be invited in. Curiosity...is bad. It gets you in trouble, it gets you killed, and more importantly...it makes you poor!"
Welcome to the show, once they realized the power of nostalgia when they saw how people loved Pike and Spock...easter eggs galore ever since
About showing in as many references as they can, even if they don't make since like the Ba'ku reference where it was literally said in the movie it wasn't against the prime directive (But why try when you can make entire episodes make no sense because people get blinded from the rose colored glasses?)
Or what happened after the Battle of Wolf 359. We saw less Galaxy style ships by the time of First Contact. And hell... that was even shorter than 10 years. 2367-2373.
I'd like all of that as well!
Still also falls into the trap that decomissioning=destroyed it doesn't, recomissioning is a thing that does happen. Honestly we can have ENT-F decomissioned in when ever season 3 of Picard is set then recommissioned in 2409 because Starfleet needed the hulls.
As I said in the other thread the IRL USN Iowa-class battleships were recommissioned several times and only (as I was corrected) why its not been done since the 1990s is that main guns are too worn and rebarreling them would be too expensive.
We've seen 3 changes in design philosophy in 3 seasons of Picard. The Inquiry only fleet (1st Season), STO designs and designs inspired by STO in Season 2, then a 100 year reversion to TMP in Season 3. The rumour mill is that the reversion is to remove reliance on Borg inspired tech because of S2, but that would be just lazy writing if it was so, because it doesn't make sense to revert that far back...TNG Era designs would have been just fine.
The Romulan Free State wouldn't affect the Romulan Story at all, unlike D'Tan's Republic, The Free State is backed by the Romulan Government and the Tal Shiar which was stated in the show itself, the Free State would serve as political rivals of the RR rather than be a part of it, got to remember according to Tal Shiar propaganda the Romulan Republic is considered a terrorist organisation and seeing as the Free State is protected by the Tal Shiar, they're more likely to believe the lies Hakeev and Sela fed them, I wouldn't make the Free State enemies but they wouldn't also join the Khitomer Alliance either, they're more like a neutral party.
Well, I'd consider the utter destruction of Star Fleet's main shipyard on Mars a pretty major even that would very much affect the design of Star Fleet ships until the shipyard is restored (which even with late 24th/early 25th century Tech would probably still take decades...)
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..."
Like...they have all these: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Federation_shipyards - I don't see the loss of one, even a major one, being a catastrophic event akin to losing a Founding Member's homeworld. Maybe in conjunction with losing the planet itself, since the attack basically reset terraforming on Mars to year 0...especially when factoring in the impossibility of the atmosphere still being on fire TEN YEARS LATER.
And for the Inquiry fleet, that was just that - a fleet; I seriously doubt the entire Starfleet was comprised of nothing but Inquirys; I've had entire Corvette Deathswarms in Stellaris alongside traditional mixed fleets.
#LegalizeAwoo
A normie goes "Oh, what's this?"
An otaku goes "UwU, what's this?"
A furry goes "OwO, what's this?"
A werewolf goes "Awoo, what's this?"
"It's nothing personal, I just don't feel like I've gotten to know a person until I've sniffed their crotch."
"We said 'no' to Mr. Curiosity. We're not home. Curiosity is not welcome, it is not to be invited in. Curiosity...is bad. It gets you in trouble, it gets you killed, and more importantly...it makes you poor!"
I believe in TNG S7 Parallells Picard stated that the Utopia Planitia was responsible for new Starship development. Hence yes, the other shipyards can build ships (and probably be retooled for new Starship development, but again that takes some time and it's been maybe 1 year since the attack) - thus the Titan refit (and other recently built or refit ships) using older/well known design elements and components makes sense.
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..."