Greetings, Captains! You’re listening to Episode 171 of Priority One Podcast, the premier Star Trek Online podcast! This episode was recorded on Thursday, April 24th, 2014 and published on Monday, April 28th at PriorityOnePodcast.com!
This week, we conclude our interview with Star Trek Online’s Lead Designer, Al “CaptainGeko” Rivera as he discusses the latest featured episode “Surface Tension.” So Captains, we present you with yet another !!SPOILER ALERT!! If you have not yet played the mission, you may want to hold off listening to this episode until you do!
In Trek It Out this week, a recent article from The Warp gets Elijah all riled up about the real problem keeping Star Trek from reaching its fullest potential in mass-media. In STO News, Cookie, Jayce, and Elijah review some of the amazing content to hit STO in Season 9; including some controversy surrounding the latest Undine Lock Box. And of course as always, we’ll open hailing frequencies and see what’s incoming from you — our listeners.
Be sure to check out the newest show in the Priority One Productions lineup,
Ctrl+click or tap to follow link” href=”https://robertsspaceindustries.com/”>Star Citizen. If you like Priority One, head on over to
Ctrl+click or tap to follow link” href=”https://robertsspaceindustries.com/”>Star Citizen!
Topics Discussed
This week’s Community Question
Let us know YOUR thoughts by commenting below!
We are Live on TrekRadio.net every Thursday around 10:30pm ET / 7:30pm PT! If you’d like to join us live, during the show, Trek Radio has a built in IRC Chat client. Just click on the Community menu tab and select IRC Chat – input your desired screen name and enter!
The Priority One Productions is always looking for new team members that have a passion for Star Trek. Please know that all of our positions are volunteer, but we do offer a well known outlet for your work. If you have a particular skill that you believe could enhance our content, then send your contact information and experience along with a few writing samples to incoming@priorityonepodcast.com
Did you miss any of our great Blogs last week? Stop by this link and see for yourself! How about our latest Video Release? You can also follow us on the social media sites! We’re on Facebook! Head over to www.facebook.com/PriorityOnePodcast and say, “Hi!” Or, Check us out on Twitter via @stopriorityone for show times and other cool stuff.
Liked this episode? Totally hated it? Leave a comment below, Contact Us using our handy web form! Enjoy the show!
Elio is a Northern New Jersey Cuban-American and graduate of Kean University, having earned his Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Performance in 2011. He has performed in internationally renowned performance halls such as Avery Fisher Hall with the New York Philharmonic, as a member of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, and in Beijing, China as a representative for Kean University. Since 2012, he has had the wonderful opportunity to Executive Produce Priority One – the premiere Star Trek Online podcast. Whether recruiting, managing the global team of talented volunteers, arranging interviews with special guests, editing, web-development, finding sponsors, managing crowd funding, or writing content for the podcast, Elio has a hand in it all. A long-time Trekkie, Elio has been watching the series since he was a child and sneaking in late night, back-to-back, episodes of TNG reruns. He finally embraced the Trekdom in college and spent many hours catching up on the entire multiverse…. instead of studying.
Greetings, Captains! You’re listening to Episode 170 of Priority One Podcast, the premier Star Trek Online podcast! This episode was recorded on Thursday, April 17th, 2014 and published for download on […]
Jason Vesuvia on 2014-05-01
I’m a fan of the new kit modules from the lockbox as well as the overall modular change to kits. I find the new Biotech Siphon to interact with Sweeping Swipes really well, which gives tactical captains a flavorful way to stay alive longer in ground combat
rtk142 on 2014-05-01
I think the split is definitely a bad thing. For one thing, you’ve got two timelines going and people have to pick and choose which one to follow. You’ve got the prime Rodenberryverse that most of us are fans of, and you’ve got the Back to the Future 2-esque timeline spur that’s the JJverse. The state of flux does seem to be keeping things from progressing. But on the flipside, look what just happened with the decree that the only things of the Star Wars Expanded Universe that exist is what might be seen in the movies. This sounds exactly like what JJ wanted to happen in Trek. Tell a story that exists with everything else? NO! I want to play with my own toys and to hell with what’s come before. But yes, there will be a lot more tie-in stuff no doubt, to an extent we can’t currently get with Trek. Start a petition, I’ll sign my name
Jason Vesuvia on 2019-01-30
I’m a fan of the new kit modules from the lockbox as well as the overall modular change to kits. I find the new Biotech Siphon to interact with Sweeping Swipes really well, which gives tactical captains a flavorful way to stay alive longer in ground combat
rtk142 on 2019-01-30
I think the split is definitely a bad thing. For one thing, you’ve got two timelines going and people have to pick and choose which one to follow. You’ve got the prime Rodenberryverse that most of us are fans of, and you’ve got the Back to the Future 2-esque timeline spur that’s the JJverse. The state of flux does seem to be keeping things from progressing. But on the flipside, look what just happened with the decree that the only things of the Star Wars Expanded Universe that exist is what might be seen in the movies. This sounds exactly like what JJ wanted to happen in Trek. Tell a story that exists with everything else? NO! I want to play with my own toys and to hell with what’s come before. But yes, there will be a lot more tie-in stuff no doubt, to an extent we can’t currently get with Trek. Start a petition, I’ll sign my name
Aleantu the Alien on 2014-04-30
I think starwars is going to die for the same reason you think it will be more successful. Disney can do whatever they want with it and will. Starwars will be less and less like starwars until it isnt starwars anymore. Startrek on the other hand will always be startrek because the two owners have to be in agreement about everything that happens.
Al "Captain Geko" Rivera on 2014-04-30
“Thank you for having me on the show. I can’t believe you got 3 shows out of my interview. I look forward to returning.
I got to say I am a little disappointed on how you handled the coverage on the Undine Lock Box. I encourage you and everyone to express your dislike of any feature or content or feature. But I do encourage any such expression to be constructive, researched, and to offer suggestions for alternatives. I felt you coverage of the Undine lock box didn’t cover all the great features and items, and instead focused too much on the your dislike of your perceived lack of fiction surrounding the box. In fact, many of the facts you discussed were inaccurate and misrepresented the content of the lock box.
My biggest concern was that you claimed the box was just “hyper focuses” against the undine and there wasn’t anything in it that would be useful to the average player. That is just not accurate. Nothing in the Lock Box is hyper specialized or designed to use against the Undine. The general theme of Reputation rewards is that they are designed to fight the group, while the lock box is about emulating what they do. So nothing in the lock box is situational.
There are so many new and interesting items in the lock box. I don’t feel you gave a fair and balanced review of what it has to offer. It is the first lock box to have new unique kit modules and unique Kit Frames – each with brand new powers. This is a big deal and really should be looked at. The traits are all new and powerful and none of them are designed to fight the Undine. Half of them are activatable, which in itself is rare.
The guns are mazing in this box. They have an all new look and all new firing modes. And the new items in the Lobi store are over the top, including a sick Undine Biotech Armor. The Fluid Antiproton Wrist Lance is probably the nastiest ground weapon in the game. Its STOs BFG.
Then there are the ships. I know you are not a fan of STO players flying Undine ships, and I can respect that. But I am not sure why you picked Undine as the one that is most offensive. We have had Tholian, Elachi, Jem Hadar, Hirogen and Voth, to name a few. If it’s a matter of fiction, I think that’s picking nits. If a few lines of text in the description is what would seal it for you, that’s easily addressed. The general idea is that these are all salvaged items from the war with the Undine (that’s the general idea with all the alien lock boxes). I have heard that it’s not realistic because it’s all biotech, and that in Star Trek, the ship is a character. Well what ship would be more of a character than a bioship that is alive. I’ve heard the ship couldn’t be controlled because it’s a bioship. That’s nonsense because in the show, the ships have definite control panels and monitors. In fact, the monitors on the show were so jenky and obviously just bolted on, that we had to make them look more integrated when we made the bridge.
But even if just doesn’t site right with you, I still think you are not doing it justice. The ships are amazing and the consoles they come with – the Fluidic Energy Focusing Array (Planet Killer) Console, and the Fluidic Conduit Projector, are awesome and game changing. To not cover what these ships can do is really not fair and balanced.
Here is a link to the contents of the lock box. I hope you give them a good review:
http://community.arcgames.com/en/news/star-trek-online/detail/3042873-season-9-dev-blog-%2319
As for Reputation items being “Hyper Focused”, yes items in Reps are designed to be better against the intended foe. But the gear is not useless against other targets. All the gear in Reps are really good all around. They just offer bonuses against the intended targets. They are still unique and powerful on their own and are great against any foe – they are not hyper specialized. Even if they were only good against a certain foe, the whole point of the Loadout system is to allow you to easily swap between gear-sets. So keep your main gear, but swap to your specialized gear when needed.
And one last thing. You called the Undine evil. They are not evil. They are relentless, frightening, and they are ridiculously xenophobic. They have been threatened by the borg and duped by the Iconians (play the new remastered Borg/Undine arc for full details). They don’t understand the difference between all the non-fluidic space species – they think they all the same and all a threat. Just wanted to clear that up.
Now I don’t mean to get all uppity. No harm no foul. Priority One does an amazing job covering STO and all its content and I always look forward to what you have to say every week. I just felt like some really important features were overlooked and misrepresented, and needed some more coverage. I still want to encourage Priority One to continue to express their opinion on anything we do – to keep us honest and on our toes. If you would like, I would be happy to come on and review and debate the details.
Your very truly,
Al “Captain Geko” Rivera
Vivienne Anthony on 2014-05-01
I am glad to see some response but frankly. I feel it’s my rubbish. The reputation system was handled badly screwing veteran players, Cryptic is doing stealth nerfing, Vicious Cycle is overkill on Elite. I don’t think you and any of the other developers realize how outrageous is your Elite mode new contentt. Additionally, the reward does not account for time and effort. Klingon lacks a lot of customization
Oh yeah. The biggest thing game bugs and lack of expanding STO universe.
Love your opinion but I think Cryptic lost the sense of reality. By the way, isn’t the Federation as bad as the Undine using bioships now. Why not slave a animal to build a Federation ship using it.
Vivienne Anthony on 2014-05-01
As for the reputation store, that’s a complete waste. Although they are hyper-focused now and offer some non-hyperfocused benefit. Someone can get regular weapons and do more damage that applies to everyone.
As to the reputation benefit, it as nerfed with the new reputation system limit (4/4/4). Doing anything above Dyson, Romulan, Borg, and Nukara reputation system is a waste. That’s what I am telling others and I’ve noticed many others doing the same thing. Don’t do the reputation system, do not use the undine lock boxe (some still), and don’t waste time on the elite new content.
bareel on 2014-05-01
I do agree that the lockbox coverage was a bit, one dimensional. But this happens every single lockbox.
First off the ships are very strong especially the Nicor which gives the Scimmy a run for the OP money even if that has less to do with the ship’s base stats and more with the desirability of some things over others (tactical boff seats/consoles).
Secondly the items contained in the box/lobi store are as Geko stated not focused at all on one enemy. Reputation yes to a point, not really the lockbox stuff. My larger disappointment with the kit modules is it gives the appearance the primary purpose of the system revamp was to create a new category of shiny for lockboxes just like the old captain trait revamp. Fortunately there are now a whooping 2 new traits found as a mission reward…
The thing is though that among many players of STO lockboxes just come with a massively negative stigma attached to them for a variety of reasons. We understand why they are required but I think it really would help with the perception if Cryptic would go a little bit further on the PR front to reduce that stigma. Some progress has been made but more could be done.
– Create a bit more story behind them for those who really enjoy that aspect. Not just in the dev blog, make a doff chain, a few dialog trees on an NPC, something in game.
– Even out the distribution a bit of new systems content (traits and kit modules are the big offenders right now) between the boxes and in game rewards. Ships have a really good balance right now between Cstore/Boxes.
But really I think the boxes are much more of a PR perception issue than anything else and that does need addressed. Like Geko currently is trying to do.
bareel on 2014-05-01
*wanted to add.
A perfect chance for the new bio ships for a story could have been they are living ships, and went rogue. Six part doff chain in the new battlezone for the story with a new trait option for reward.
Bam everyone is happy. As for the development cost of doing such should be taken from marketing explained as a method to improve public perception of the bio ships.
Jing on 2014-05-01
A Gift:
On Getting Criticism by Raph Koster
http://www.raphkoster.com/2013/10/14/on-getting-criticism/
Towani on 2014-05-02
Al,
Let me throw out an idea for you.
As a STO fan and someone who loves space, I absolutely dislike the ground combat. With regards to lockboxes, it would be great if they were divided up into space and ground lockboxes. Nothing is worse than opening a lockbox and getting something for the ground. I don’t play the ground, so instantly it comes to having to sell whatever it was. Would be nice if I could open space only lockbox. I think that would help with some of the issues / complaints.
Just an idea 🙂
Aleantu the Alien on 2019-01-30
I think starwars is going to die for the same reason you think it will be more successful. Disney can do whatever they want with it and will. Starwars will be less and less like starwars until it isnt starwars anymore. Startrek on the other hand will always be startrek because the two owners have to be in agreement about everything that happens.
Al "Captain Geko" Rivera on 2019-01-30
“Thank you for having me on the show. I can’t believe you got 3 shows out of my interview. I look forward to returning.
I got to say I am a little disappointed on how you handled the coverage on the Undine Lock Box. I encourage you and everyone to express your dislike of any feature or content or feature. But I do encourage any such expression to be constructive, researched, and to offer suggestions for alternatives. I felt you coverage of the Undine lock box didn’t cover all the great features and items, and instead focused too much on the your dislike of your perceived lack of fiction surrounding the box. In fact, many of the facts you discussed were inaccurate and misrepresented the content of the lock box.
My biggest concern was that you claimed the box was just “hyper focuses” against the undine and there wasn’t anything in it that would be useful to the average player. That is just not accurate. Nothing in the Lock Box is hyper specialized or designed to use against the Undine. The general theme of Reputation rewards is that they are designed to fight the group, while the lock box is about emulating what they do. So nothing in the lock box is situational.
There are so many new and interesting items in the lock box. I don’t feel you gave a fair and balanced review of what it has to offer. It is the first lock box to have new unique kit modules and unique Kit Frames – each with brand new powers. This is a big deal and really should be looked at. The traits are all new and powerful and none of them are designed to fight the Undine. Half of them are activatable, which in itself is rare.
The guns are mazing in this box. They have an all new look and all new firing modes. And the new items in the Lobi store are over the top, including a sick Undine Biotech Armor. The Fluid Antiproton Wrist Lance is probably the nastiest ground weapon in the game. Its STOs BFG.
Then there are the ships. I know you are not a fan of STO players flying Undine ships, and I can respect that. But I am not sure why you picked Undine as the one that is most offensive. We have had Tholian, Elachi, Jem Hadar, Hirogen and Voth, to name a few. If it’s a matter of fiction, I think that’s picking nits. If a few lines of text in the description is what would seal it for you, that’s easily addressed. The general idea is that these are all salvaged items from the war with the Undine (that’s the general idea with all the alien lock boxes). I have heard that it’s not realistic because it’s all biotech, and that in Star Trek, the ship is a character. Well what ship would be more of a character than a bioship that is alive. I’ve heard the ship couldn’t be controlled because it’s a bioship. That’s nonsense because in the show, the ships have definite control panels and monitors. In fact, the monitors on the show were so jenky and obviously just bolted on, that we had to make them look more integrated when we made the bridge.
But even if just doesn’t site right with you, I still think you are not doing it justice. The ships are amazing and the consoles they come with – the Fluidic Energy Focusing Array (Planet Killer) Console, and the Fluidic Conduit Projector, are awesome and game changing. To not cover what these ships can do is really not fair and balanced.
Here is a link to the contents of the lock box. I hope you give them a good review:
http://community.arcgames.com/en/news/star-trek-online/detail/3042873-season-9-dev-blog-%2319
As for Reputation items being “Hyper Focused”, yes items in Reps are designed to be better against the intended foe. But the gear is not useless against other targets. All the gear in Reps are really good all around. They just offer bonuses against the intended targets. They are still unique and powerful on their own and are great against any foe – they are not hyper specialized. Even if they were only good against a certain foe, the whole point of the Loadout system is to allow you to easily swap between gear-sets. So keep your main gear, but swap to your specialized gear when needed.
And one last thing. You called the Undine evil. They are not evil. They are relentless, frightening, and they are ridiculously xenophobic. They have been threatened by the borg and duped by the Iconians (play the new remastered Borg/Undine arc for full details). They don’t understand the difference between all the non-fluidic space species – they think they all the same and all a threat. Just wanted to clear that up.
Now I don’t mean to get all uppity. No harm no foul. Priority One does an amazing job covering STO and all its content and I always look forward to what you have to say every week. I just felt like some really important features were overlooked and misrepresented, and needed some more coverage. I still want to encourage Priority One to continue to express their opinion on anything we do – to keep us honest and on our toes. If you would like, I would be happy to come on and review and debate the details.
Your very truly,
Al “Captain Geko” Rivera
Vivienne Anthony on 2019-01-30
I am glad to see some response but frankly. I feel it’s my rubbish. The reputation system was handled badly screwing veteran players, Cryptic is doing stealth nerfing, Vicious Cycle is overkill on Elite. I don’t think you and any of the other developers realize how outrageous is your Elite mode new contentt. Additionally, the reward does not account for time and effort. Klingon lacks a lot of customization
Oh yeah. The biggest thing game bugs and lack of expanding STO universe.
Love your opinion but I think Cryptic lost the sense of reality. By the way, isn’t the Federation as bad as the Undine using bioships now. Why not slave a animal to build a Federation ship using it.
Vivienne Anthony on 2019-01-30
As for the reputation store, that’s a complete waste. Although they are hyper-focused now and offer some non-hyperfocused benefit. Someone can get regular weapons and do more damage that applies to everyone.
As to the reputation benefit, it as nerfed with the new reputation system limit (4/4/4). Doing anything above Dyson, Romulan, Borg, and Nukara reputation system is a waste. That’s what I am telling others and I’ve noticed many others doing the same thing. Don’t do the reputation system, do not use the undine lock boxe (some still), and don’t waste time on the elite new content.
bareel on 2019-01-30
I do agree that the lockbox coverage was a bit, one dimensional. But this happens every single lockbox.
First off the ships are very strong especially the Nicor which gives the Scimmy a run for the OP money even if that has less to do with the ship’s base stats and more with the desirability of some things over others (tactical boff seats/consoles).
Secondly the items contained in the box/lobi store are as Geko stated not focused at all on one enemy. Reputation yes to a point, not really the lockbox stuff. My larger disappointment with the kit modules is it gives the appearance the primary purpose of the system revamp was to create a new category of shiny for lockboxes just like the old captain trait revamp. Fortunately there are now a whooping 2 new traits found as a mission reward…
The thing is though that among many players of STO lockboxes just come with a massively negative stigma attached to them for a variety of reasons. We understand why they are required but I think it really would help with the perception if Cryptic would go a little bit further on the PR front to reduce that stigma. Some progress has been made but more could be done.
– Create a bit more story behind them for those who really enjoy that aspect. Not just in the dev blog, make a doff chain, a few dialog trees on an NPC, something in game.
– Even out the distribution a bit of new systems content (traits and kit modules are the big offenders right now) between the boxes and in game rewards. Ships have a really good balance right now between Cstore/Boxes.
But really I think the boxes are much more of a PR perception issue than anything else and that does need addressed. Like Geko currently is trying to do.
bareel on 2019-01-30
*wanted to add.
A perfect chance for the new bio ships for a story could have been they are living ships, and went rogue. Six part doff chain in the new battlezone for the story with a new trait option for reward.
Bam everyone is happy. As for the development cost of doing such should be taken from marketing explained as a method to improve public perception of the bio ships.
Jing on 2019-01-30
A Gift:
On Getting Criticism by Raph Koster
http://www.raphkoster.com/2013/10/14/on-getting-criticism/
Towani on 2019-01-30
Al,
Let me throw out an idea for you.
As a STO fan and someone who loves space, I absolutely dislike the ground combat. With regards to lockboxes, it would be great if they were divided up into space and ground lockboxes. Nothing is worse than opening a lockbox and getting something for the ground. I don’t play the ground, so instantly it comes to having to sell whatever it was. Would be nice if I could open space only lockbox. I think that would help with some of the issues / complaints.
Just an idea 🙂
STO_Captain on 2014-04-30
I was thinking about the Fluidic Space specific remarks made about the sets that you get with the 8472 reputation. Sure, these may be Fluidic Space specific items, but this may just be our initial foray into the Fluidic Space universe. The Undine may not be the only species there, and this, then, opens up the possibilities of exploration, new races, new civilizations, and of course new battles against the Undine (and others) where this weaponry can be useful. – Just a thought.
Thomas Valentine Townley on 2014-04-30
So Elijah, are you saying you’d rather have a third rate Star Trek series on tv JUST to have a new Star Trek series on tv. You would rather have a half assed watered down product then a good first rate series, because that is what I’m hearing. Having a Star Trek series just to have a Star Trek series is how we got Enterprise, and we all know what happened there. I would rather see a quality series based around a quality concept, not a third rate show based around a second rate rehash.
As for what Abrams is doing for Star Wars, the proof that it’s a good thing has yet to be delivered, Star Wars Ep. 7 could be the worst thing to ever hit the big screen. Time will tell.
Elijah on 2014-04-30
WHAT?! When on Kahless’s Sword did I say I would rather have a “half-assed, watered down product?” Are you sure you listened to Priority One Podcast? Are you sure you’re referring to me?! What I said was that the split licensing is hurting and stymying growth and development. The fact that two major conglomerates hold the keys means we get little or nothing — unless it is financially beneficial for both parties involved.
Again — the debate is NOT whether or not you think JJ Trek sucked or was the next best thing since sliced bread. The discussion was whether or not having a franchise as large as Star Trek split between two companies was beneficial or detrimental.
thomas townley on 2014-04-30
Hey Elijah, you have a point, but it’s not how you came off on the episode. You came off sounding like you wanted any Trek on tv, no matter what it was.
BTW, All Trek sits with CBS, it licenses Star Trek to Paramount for movies. All Paramount owns is Star Trek 1 through 9.
RogueJawa on 2014-04-30
Hey guys,
Another great episode. I want to touch on the first community question. Honestly, I think it’s been this way for a while. I collect all things sci-fi and the quality of Star Wars merchandise has been far better than Trek merchanise for a while now.
Until very recently CBS seemed to focus exclusively on TOS merchandise, which doesn’t interest me in the least because I didn’t grow up with TOS. Now they’ve started adding some TNG, DS9, and Voyager stuff to the mix but it’s still not a lot and it isn’t very good. Like Jayce said, KRE-O? Honestly?
When Disney is ready they’ll begin ramping up merchdandising for Star Wars. Like Elijah said, it will be everywhere. Disney will do the same amazing job with Star Wars that they’ve done with Marvel and Star Trek will be left to flounder because CBS and Paramount can’t pull their heads out of their behinds.
STO_Captain on 2019-01-30
I was thinking about the Fluidic Space specific remarks made about the sets that you get with the 8472 reputation. Sure, these may be Fluidic Space specific items, but this may just be our initial foray into the Fluidic Space universe. The Undine may not be the only species there, and this, then, opens up the possibilities of exploration, new races, new civilizations, and of course new battles against the Undine (and others) where this weaponry can be useful. – Just a thought.
Thomas Valentine Townley on 2019-01-30
So Elijah, are you saying you’d rather have a third rate Star Trek series on tv JUST to have a new Star Trek series on tv. You would rather have a half assed watered down product then a good first rate series, because that is what I’m hearing. Having a Star Trek series just to have a Star Trek series is how we got Enterprise, and we all know what happened there. I would rather see a quality series based around a quality concept, not a third rate show based around a second rate rehash.
As for what Abrams is doing for Star Wars, the proof that it’s a good thing has yet to be delivered, Star Wars Ep. 7 could be the worst thing to ever hit the big screen. Time will tell.
Elijah on 2019-01-30
WHAT?! When on Kahless’s Sword did I say I would rather have a “half-assed, watered down product?” Are you sure you listened to Priority One Podcast? Are you sure you’re referring to me?! What I said was that the split licensing is hurting and stymying growth and development. The fact that two major conglomerates hold the keys means we get little or nothing — unless it is financially beneficial for both parties involved.
Again — the debate is NOT whether or not you think JJ Trek sucked or was the next best thing since sliced bread. The discussion was whether or not having a franchise as large as Star Trek split between two companies was beneficial or detrimental.
thomas townley on 2019-01-30
Hey Elijah, you have a point, but it’s not how you came off on the episode. You came off sounding like you wanted any Trek on tv, no matter what it was.
BTW, All Trek sits with CBS, it licenses Star Trek to Paramount for movies. All Paramount owns is Star Trek 1 through 9.
RogueJawa on 2019-01-30
Hey guys,
Another great episode. I want to touch on the first community question. Honestly, I think it’s been this way for a while. I collect all things sci-fi and the quality of Star Wars merchandise has been far better than Trek merchanise for a while now.
Until very recently CBS seemed to focus exclusively on TOS merchandise, which doesn’t interest me in the least because I didn’t grow up with TOS. Now they’ve started adding some TNG, DS9, and Voyager stuff to the mix but it’s still not a lot and it isn’t very good. Like Jayce said, KRE-O? Honestly?
When Disney is ready they’ll begin ramping up merchdandising for Star Wars. Like Elijah said, it will be everywhere. Disney will do the same amazing job with Star Wars that they’ve done with Marvel and Star Trek will be left to flounder because CBS and Paramount can’t pull their heads out of their behinds.
Shabingly on 2014-04-30
Re: exploration or the lack thereof nowadays,
It’d be a good thing if they could somehow tag planets/stuff in sector with foundry missions.
What I mean is, you’re flying about in Psi Velorum, go past a planet, and you get a pop-up to enter the system, if you do it starts the top-rated foundry mission thats been tagged for that system.
Just a quick idea listening to podcast.
Cheers!
Shabingly on 2019-01-30
Re: exploration or the lack thereof nowadays,
It’d be a good thing if they could somehow tag planets/stuff in sector with foundry missions.
What I mean is, you’re flying about in Psi Velorum, go past a planet, and you get a pop-up to enter the system, if you do it starts the top-rated foundry mission thats been tagged for that system.
Just a quick idea listening to podcast.
Cheers!
Adam LaJuene on 2014-04-29
Excellent point, Elijah on thinking of your ship as a character, I do that with my ship and the crew is fiercely loyal to her. As my first officer put it, “She’s a beautiful lady, and we love her!”
PS: Hearing Cookie read my comments always brightens my day.
Adam LaJuene on 2019-01-30
Excellent point, Elijah on thinking of your ship as a character, I do that with my ship and the crew is fiercely loyal to her. As my first officer put it, “She’s a beautiful lady, and we love her!”
PS: Hearing Cookie read my comments always brightens my day.
Dan Kochheiser on 2014-04-29
Hi Cookie, Elijah and Jayce.
As for JJ Abrams and Star Trek, good or bad, you said one thing that was important. HJe exposed Star Trek to more people. The licensing issue only affected JJ’s desire to make the brand more accessable to more people. CBS and Paramount is like Mom and Dad fighting about about how to raise thier child, Star Trek. Either they will find a way to work out thier difference and support the growth of Star Trek, or they will stunt the it’s growth. Hopefully they will find a way to work together and raise Star Trek to the level it should be at.
Season 9 is great so far. The Continuation of the story, and how they did it, was very STar Trek like in my opinion. The new and remastered content is challanging. Between the 5 characters that I have tried, I find it hardest to do on my Tactical Captain and my Science guys seem to do much better against the Undine and Borg. I think they set a very respectable bar to reach for future Seasona nd expansions to be compared to. The only thing I haven’t liked was how many passive abilities from Reps you can have. But with so many other good hits, one miss is acceptable to me.
You guys delivering good content in your show. And this is the only STO podcast that I listen too. Keep up the good work!
Joe on 2014-04-29
I think that not giving Abrams his way was the best thing CBS could have done. If he was given the green light, we would have gotten a ton of Star Trek multimedia, but it would have been only the JJ universe. The prime universe would have been sidelined. The argument that any Trek is good for the franchise doesn’t hold water if the outcome means that the only Trek we get is JJ’s. CBS and Paramount are like the US Senate and House. An imperfect system, but one that keeps each from passing whatever laws they please. Frankly, as a Trek purest, I don’t want Paramount shelving the prime franchise to give JJ complete control. It’s better to have JJ’s universe bring in new blood so we can have new prime universe stuff as well. Under JJ, that would not be possible.
Chiyo Umiku on 2014-04-29
Season 9’s FE was amazing, it was almost on par with DS9’s dominion war. It was absolutely Fantastic.
Also how about “Deep Space Field Notes?” I know that’s horrible. i just had to.
Celestiaseven on 2014-04-29
Good Show as always! Love it!
Regarding the article about JJ? I think I need to go find the article and have a read about it, so pretty much I can’t comment much about it.
But, regarding Season 9 Content, I would say, it was thrilling for me. The Feature Episode was amazing, the voice over was good, and the storyline was amazing, which gave me the feeling to make multiple re-runs of the episode. And what I didn’t expect is, to see Earth Spacedock under attack, that shock me the most.
As for the PvE content, I like Undine Infiltration the most, though, I was a bit sad that there are some people didn’t bother to read, and quarantine people just to finish the game. Undine Assault was alright, Viscous Cycle was okay, though most probably I’ll play that when I reach a higher tier for my reputation. Having a cruiser and skidding all over the place, is like controlling a car over an oil slick.
Dan Kochheiser on 2019-01-30
Hi Cookie, Elijah and Jayce.
As for JJ Abrams and Star Trek, good or bad, you said one thing that was important. HJe exposed Star Trek to more people. The licensing issue only affected JJ’s desire to make the brand more accessable to more people. CBS and Paramount is like Mom and Dad fighting about about how to raise thier child, Star Trek. Either they will find a way to work out thier difference and support the growth of Star Trek, or they will stunt the it’s growth. Hopefully they will find a way to work together and raise Star Trek to the level it should be at.
Season 9 is great so far. The Continuation of the story, and how they did it, was very STar Trek like in my opinion. The new and remastered content is challanging. Between the 5 characters that I have tried, I find it hardest to do on my Tactical Captain and my Science guys seem to do much better against the Undine and Borg. I think they set a very respectable bar to reach for future Seasona nd expansions to be compared to. The only thing I haven’t liked was how many passive abilities from Reps you can have. But with so many other good hits, one miss is acceptable to me.
You guys delivering good content in your show. And this is the only STO podcast that I listen too. Keep up the good work!
Joe on 2019-01-30
I think that not giving Abrams his way was the best thing CBS could have done. If he was given the green light, we would have gotten a ton of Star Trek multimedia, but it would have been only the JJ universe. The prime universe would have been sidelined. The argument that any Trek is good for the franchise doesn’t hold water if the outcome means that the only Trek we get is JJ’s. CBS and Paramount are like the US Senate and House. An imperfect system, but one that keeps each from passing whatever laws they please. Frankly, as a Trek purest, I don’t want Paramount shelving the prime franchise to give JJ complete control. It’s better to have JJ’s universe bring in new blood so we can have new prime universe stuff as well. Under JJ, that would not be possible.
Chiyo Umiku on 2019-01-30
Season 9’s FE was amazing, it was almost on par with DS9’s dominion war. It was absolutely Fantastic.
Also how about “Deep Space Field Notes?” I know that’s horrible. i just had to.
sanokskyrat on 2014-04-29
Ok guys, we have had some Cryptic staff on P1 and even touch on this. NOT ONLY DID THEY TRY TO KILL TOS BUT EVERYTHING! If you remember Romulus being destroyed was the END agreement. IF THE DEVIL GOT HIS WAY that would have mean TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY AND THE MOVIE NEVER HAPPENED! WTF! I am soooooo not ok with this.
Using marvel licensing as an example. They what the right back X-men are ok hands and they got a good relationship with Marvel (twins aside) But the rest Marvel has made no secret that they feel that some parts lack integrity on their IP. Disney has already made waves but saying that the expanded universe didn’t happen – Raging some fans already.
I think its fine to want all the stuff in one place BUT integrity is important. Tell a good story and making an enjoyable movie is important within the universe your already in. JJ was never a Trekkie, but every interview for Star trek said he was star wars fan and tried at ever turn to put it in. He never liked trek.
Personally I thank CBS. For without them there would be no STO, were as Paramount would have canned the whole thing.
Films and TV are show business but not everyone in show business cares about fans or IP but rather getting paid, its just a gig.
sanokskyrat on 2014-04-29
As for ships. A B’rel did have its only movie with the logic and even save earth. If its a character.
Chakotay and Tuvok also walked in the bridge of Voyager so humans CAN be on those ships. They showed the Interface and computers that it had on it. The hirogen even hunted the 8472 in “pray”. We know they can be captured, hunt and killed. Just like anything else.
sanokskyrat on 2014-04-30
But all that a side. Thanks guys for a great show and i look forward to those videos.:)
I did got to film school, got skillz and lots of time BUT….! I have no idea how to record STO in game. If you could suggest some good sites for recordings for Youtube or anything else. That would be great!
I am sure i am not the only one who wants to make videos of STO.
Celestiaseven on 2019-01-30
Good Show as always! Love it!
Regarding the article about JJ? I think I need to go find the article and have a read about it, so pretty much I can’t comment much about it.
But, regarding Season 9 Content, I would say, it was thrilling for me. The Feature Episode was amazing, the voice over was good, and the storyline was amazing, which gave me the feeling to make multiple re-runs of the episode. And what I didn’t expect is, to see Earth Spacedock under attack, that shock me the most.
As for the PvE content, I like Undine Infiltration the most, though, I was a bit sad that there are some people didn’t bother to read, and quarantine people just to finish the game. Undine Assault was alright, Viscous Cycle was okay, though most probably I’ll play that when I reach a higher tier for my reputation. Having a cruiser and skidding all over the place, is like controlling a car over an oil slick.
seannewboy on 2014-04-29
1) JJ trek is just so wrong. Hopefully his SW’s is more accurate to the source.
2) Im enjoying the new season, but i do agree that the rep gear is tending to be too oriented the enemy of the rep.
Wonderful show everyone.
Woody_Valley on 2014-04-29
Glad you agree Tony, but I just want to add some things to what you have said.
I certainly feel that STO’s foundry is in a bit of a mess state of affairs.
It is certainly disappointing that if all Cryptic has to offer is a team and a budget to only to do enough to deal with exploits and nothing to advance the foundry in STO and slow reaction time. It is also us as authors probably didn’t help either.
I not just single out those who exploit or make grinders for quick loot or rewards, but all of us including myself.
If I use the term ‘Too many Cooks spoil the broth’ with the foundry. In one way another, Authors voice their ideas either by podcasts and comments, blog postings or forum postings and all have different genders and ideas on what needs to be done. A clear sample is on this webpage, Tony’s comments on the podcast in reply to me on last week’s show, to The Grand Negas’ comments above. How is Cryptic going to take this bombardment of everyone’s own personal ideas of what’s need to be done. I did it on the forums and on Tribbles in Ecstasy, which I am a co host on.
Quite frankly, I don’t see winners with the foundry, only all of us missing out all together.
Hope you can give my missions a play please, Tony.
sanokskyrat on 2019-01-30
Ok guys, we have had some Cryptic staff on P1 and even touch on this. NOT ONLY DID THEY TRY TO KILL TOS BUT EVERYTHING! If you remember Romulus being destroyed was the END agreement. IF THE DEVIL GOT HIS WAY that would have mean TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY AND THE MOVIE NEVER HAPPENED! WTF! I am soooooo not ok with this.
Using marvel licensing as an example. They what the right back X-men are ok hands and they got a good relationship with Marvel (twins aside) But the rest Marvel has made no secret that they feel that some parts lack integrity on their IP. Disney has already made waves but saying that the expanded universe didn’t happen – Raging some fans already.
I think its fine to want all the stuff in one place BUT integrity is important. Tell a good story and making an enjoyable movie is important within the universe your already in. JJ was never a Trekkie, but every interview for Star trek said he was star wars fan and tried at ever turn to put it in. He never liked trek.
Personally I thank CBS. For without them there would be no STO, were as Paramount would have canned the whole thing.
Films and TV are show business but not everyone in show business cares about fans or IP but rather getting paid, its just a gig.
sanokskyrat on 2019-01-30
As for ships. A B’rel did have its only movie with the logic and even save earth. If its a character.
Chakotay and Tuvok also walked in the bridge of Voyager so humans CAN be on those ships. They showed the Interface and computers that it had on it. The hirogen even hunted the 8472 in “pray”. We know they can be captured, hunt and killed. Just like anything else.
sanokskyrat on 2019-01-30
But all that a side. Thanks guys for a great show and i look forward to those videos.:)
I did got to film school, got skillz and lots of time BUT….! I have no idea how to record STO in game. If you could suggest some good sites for recordings for Youtube or anything else. That would be great!
I am sure i am not the only one who wants to make videos of STO.
seannewboy on 2019-01-30
1) JJ trek is just so wrong. Hopefully his SW’s is more accurate to the source.
2) Im enjoying the new season, but i do agree that the rep gear is tending to be too oriented the enemy of the rep.
Wonderful show everyone.
Woody_Valley on 2019-01-30
Glad you agree Tony, but I just want to add some things to what you have said.
I certainly feel that STO’s foundry is in a bit of a mess state of affairs.
It is certainly disappointing that if all Cryptic has to offer is a team and a budget to only to do enough to deal with exploits and nothing to advance the foundry in STO and slow reaction time. It is also us as authors probably didn’t help either.
I not just single out those who exploit or make grinders for quick loot or rewards, but all of us including myself.
If I use the term ‘Too many Cooks spoil the broth’ with the foundry. In one way another, Authors voice their ideas either by podcasts and comments, blog postings or forum postings and all have different genders and ideas on what needs to be done. A clear sample is on this webpage, Tony’s comments on the podcast in reply to me on last week’s show, to The Grand Negas’ comments above. How is Cryptic going to take this bombardment of everyone’s own personal ideas of what’s need to be done. I did it on the forums and on Tribbles in Ecstasy, which I am a co host on.
Quite frankly, I don’t see winners with the foundry, only all of us missing out all together.
Hope you can give my missions a play please, Tony.
Robdmc on 2014-04-28
First of all Congratulations on episode 172 next week. Unlike The congratulation for episode 150 with was just a round number response, 172 has a bit more meaning because it marks your episode count to be among the 3 larger Star Trek series. Priority one is now at voyager and in a few week will pass TNG.
As far of the Bad Robot wanting TOS marketing to stop to avoid brand confusion I think one large point missing. If CBS has agreed to that where would that leave games like STO?
Yes STO may have benefited from the release of JJ’s movies but if CBS agreed to pull the plug on TOS marketing and products would STO have to be shut down.
TOS influence in STO goes all the way back to the Gamestop pre-order bonus of the connie. Then you have K-7, missions like “City on the Edge of Never” or “Everything Old is New”, TOS Bundle in the c-store, etc.
What happens if cryptic was forced to remove those c-store items that people paid for? How do you compensate players? Would there be lawsuits?
The issue of canceling TOS merchandising is about more then just a mug. Personally I’m glad Bad Robot didn’t get full merchandising rights.
Elijah on 2014-04-28
Holy Crap! I hadn’t even thought of it that way!!!! Wow!!! Thanks!!
Towani on 2014-04-28
Hello.
I know it can be fun to compare Star Trek and Star Wars, but with JJ in the discussion, you can’t.
JJ took something that already existed and err… changed it in Star Trek. With Star Wars, he is adding on to what is already present. Also, with Star Wars, (hopefully he won’t be changing anything) it’ll all be new, fresh, and after Episode VI. It’s a win win because it’s adding on to what exists! It’s not like he’ll be able to go back and make a new and different Obi Wan or Luke. Possibly we’ll get to see Han/Luke/Leia, etc 30 years later (which will be a great bridge), and then JJ can add on after that… If he were to go back and redo Episode IV, well – you could only imagine what would happen [and yes I said Episode IV because I’m all for anyone going back and redoing Epi 1 – III].
As for S9, ugh. Yes, there is new stuff, but really, nothing that makes me want to log in and play. This game has become stale, which is sad.
The FE was fun, but only 1 mission 🙁 I wanted a 4 or 5 episode FE to keep me playing for a bit.
Now I’ve gotten my upgraded kit (traded in my Fleet kit), played the FE, played each new STF space elite and got all the extras, so what are we left with… more grinding on the rep. Umm, no thanks. I’d just as soon log back into LotRO or SWTOR.
Have a great week and thanks for the top notch podcast!
[sorry for the wall of text}
Robdmc on 2019-01-30
First of all Congratulations on episode 172 next week. Unlike The congratulation for episode 150 with was just a round number response, 172 has a bit more meaning because it marks your episode count to be among the 3 larger Star Trek series. Priority one is now at voyager and in a few week will pass TNG.
As far of the Bad Robot wanting TOS marketing to stop to avoid brand confusion I think one large point missing. If CBS has agreed to that where would that leave games like STO?
Yes STO may have benefited from the release of JJ’s movies but if CBS agreed to pull the plug on TOS marketing and products would STO have to be shut down.
TOS influence in STO goes all the way back to the Gamestop pre-order bonus of the connie. Then you have K-7, missions like “City on the Edge of Never” or “Everything Old is New”, TOS Bundle in the c-store, etc.
What happens if cryptic was forced to remove those c-store items that people paid for? How do you compensate players? Would there be lawsuits?
The issue of canceling TOS merchandising is about more then just a mug. Personally I’m glad Bad Robot didn’t get full merchandising rights.
Elijah on 2019-01-30
Holy Crap! I hadn’t even thought of it that way!!!! Wow!!! Thanks!!
Towani on 2019-01-30
Hello.
I know it can be fun to compare Star Trek and Star Wars, but with JJ in the discussion, you can’t.
JJ took something that already existed and err… changed it in Star Trek. With Star Wars, he is adding on to what is already present. Also, with Star Wars, (hopefully he won’t be changing anything) it’ll all be new, fresh, and after Episode VI. It’s a win win because it’s adding on to what exists! It’s not like he’ll be able to go back and make a new and different Obi Wan or Luke. Possibly we’ll get to see Han/Luke/Leia, etc 30 years later (which will be a great bridge), and then JJ can add on after that… If he were to go back and redo Episode IV, well – you could only imagine what would happen [and yes I said Episode IV because I’m all for anyone going back and redoing Epi 1 – III].
As for S9, ugh. Yes, there is new stuff, but really, nothing that makes me want to log in and play. This game has become stale, which is sad.
The FE was fun, but only 1 mission 🙁 I wanted a 4 or 5 episode FE to keep me playing for a bit.
Now I’ve gotten my upgraded kit (traded in my Fleet kit), played the FE, played each new STF space elite and got all the extras, so what are we left with… more grinding on the rep. Umm, no thanks. I’d just as soon log back into LotRO or SWTOR.
Have a great week and thanks for the top notch podcast!
[sorry for the wall of text}
The_Grand_Nagus on 2014-04-28
Enjoyed the episode. About the foundry, I think Tony’s ideas are over-complicated. You dont need to turn the rewards off to fix the bugs with the editor or add new art assets; those are completely separate issues.
That said, I would like to humbly request that our community manager start spotlighting a mission every week. I also want to give Cryptic some kudos for bringing the “Investigate Officer Reports” mission back, which gives people additional rewards and xp for playing a qualifying mission.
PS: sorry for confusing Jayce and Tony in my previous comments on last week’s episode.
The_Grand_Nagus on 2014-04-28
Just replying to a few things as I listen:
1) About the JJ-Trek/licensing issue…on the one hand, I agree that things being split up really hinders/slows the pace of market saturation, and that kind of sucks. On the other, what if Paramount was the sole IP owner? According to what you guys discussed, that would have meant an end to all TOS merchandise, since they would have probably done what JJ wanted in that regard. So would you rather have slow saturation or huge “mistakes” like that if 1 company had the power to make all decisions?
2) I think Elijah’s entire “argument” about the lockbox can be summed up as, it is the most unrealistic ship to date. Every other ship could have conceivably been captured/converted to our tech. But the bioship isnt normal “tech”, its biology.
3) I thought the new FE was extremely well done. The story, the VO, the cut scenes; Cryptic has finally got all the elements in place to make it feel like you are really playing an episode of Trek.
More to come as I listen.
The_Grand_Nagus on 2019-01-30
Enjoyed the episode. About the foundry, I think Tony’s ideas are over-complicated. You dont need to turn the rewards off to fix the bugs with the editor or add new art assets; those are completely separate issues.
That said, I would like to humbly request that our community manager start spotlighting a mission every week. I also want to give Cryptic some kudos for bringing the “Investigate Officer Reports” mission back, which gives people additional rewards and xp for playing a qualifying mission.
PS: sorry for confusing Jayce and Tony in my previous comments on last week’s episode.
The_Grand_Nagus on 2019-01-30
Just replying to a few things as I listen:
1) About the JJ-Trek/licensing issue…on the one hand, I agree that things being split up really hinders/slows the pace of market saturation, and that kind of sucks. On the other, what if Paramount was the sole IP owner? According to what you guys discussed, that would have meant an end to all TOS merchandise, since they would have probably done what JJ wanted in that regard. So would you rather have slow saturation or huge “mistakes” like that if 1 company had the power to make all decisions?
2) I think Elijah’s entire “argument” about the lockbox can be summed up as, it is the most unrealistic ship to date. Every other ship could have conceivably been captured/converted to our tech. But the bioship isnt normal “tech”, its biology.
3) I thought the new FE was extremely well done. The story, the VO, the cut scenes; Cryptic has finally got all the elements in place to make it feel like you are really playing an episode of Trek.
More to come as I listen.
Comments are closed.