Star Trek (General Discussion)

[Mr Man]

A 3-episode sampler was already released. It looks amazing! TrekCore has been following for a while now, and they have a lot of awesome comparison screenshots: http://tng.trekcore.com/bluray/

That was the link, thanks . The Bird of Prey is still too big, they should have replaced it with a K'Tinga or D-7 .

[Thea Neotera]

That was the link, thanks . The Bird of Prey is still too big, they should have replaced it with a K'Tinga or D-7 .

LoL, I know nothing of Klingon ships. I only watched the Klingon episodes of TNG once when I watched the series all the way through, and then skipped them upon each successive viewing. Thankfully, Voyager's Klingon episodes are pretty good, especially Barge of the Dead, but they don't deal too much with technology.

So Mr. Man, since you are such a fan of TNG, let me ask you something. Are you a fan of Dr. Pulaski? It seems like anyone I know who likes TNG never really cared for her, but I absolutely love her. Season 2 is probably my favorite for that very reason. I thought she was a LOT better than Season 1 Crusher. I didn't really like any of Crusher's episodes until "Remember Me." It was a shame that they both couldn't stay on the ship... I believe it would have made for an interesting dynamic.

[Mr Man]

LoL, I know nothing of Klingon ships. I only watched the Klingon episodes of TNG once when I watched the series all the way through, and then skipped them upon each successive viewing. Thankfully, Voyager's Klingon episodes are pretty good, especially Barge of the Dead, but they don't deal too much with technology.

So Mr. Man, since you are such a fan of TNG, let me ask you something. Are you a fan of Dr. Pulaski? It seems like anyone I know who likes TNG never really cared for her, but I absolutely love her. Season 2 is probably my favorite for that very reason. I thought she was a LOT better than Season 1 Crusher. I didn't really like any of Crusher's episodes until "Remember Me." It was a shame that they both couldn't stay on the ship... I believe it would have made for an interesting dynamic.

My first reaction to her was 'go die in a fire demon' , then she grew on me a bit, most probably because of her differences to Crusher, and I agree a storyline (or a permanent basis) with two CMO on the Ent D would have been great (but why should Ent D have 2 CMO when 150 crewed Voyager has 1 MO ). I must admit I didn't particularly love her even when she settled down, but I only really liked, Data, O'Brien, Barclay, Yar (big mistake killing her off ), and Picard as great characters.

The K'T'inga is a slightly smaller more powerful refit/successor to the original D-7 Battle cruiser, it was in the VOY episode Kuvamoc or something (B'Lanas daughter is a Klingon god or something).

[The Legonater]

So Mr. Man, since you are such a fan of TNG, let me ask you something. Are you a fan of Dr. Pulaski? It seems like anyone I know who likes TNG never really cared for her, but I absolutely love her. Season 2 is probably my favorite for that very reason. I thought she was a LOT better than Season 1 Crusher. I didn't really like any of Crusher's episodes until "Remember Me." It was a shame that they both couldn't stay on the ship... I believe it would have made for an interesting dynamic.

I'm a big TNG fan, and I share Mr. Man's sentiments as towards Pulaski. I've always found she had a more unique angle on everything than Crusher, and she just seemed a better charecter in general. It took a long time for Crusher to have a likeable charecter, IMO, where as Pulaski kind of fit in rather quickly.

[Thea Neotera]

It took a long time for Crusher to have a likeable charecter, IMO, where as Pulaski kind of fit in rather quickly.

My thoughts exactly I knew Pulaski would be a blast when she cut off Picard during their first conversation. (I didn't care for Picard in the beginning of the show. I thought he had a stick up his butt, especially when compared with Janeway.)

[Mr Man]

I didn't care for Picard in the beginning of the show. I thought he had a stick up his butt.

An ideal metaphor for TNG as a whole at first, an idealised 'modern' version of TOS sometimes with whole episodes replanted in the new setting. Then by series 3-4 it started to get more 'realistic' and Picard more awesome . I agree to start with his was, like the federation as a whole, to idealistic, by the book, and smug, but, like the federation, changed for the better into a more rounded and relatable character.

[Bob]

You all haven't lived until you've seen the original Star Trek from the 60's.

[Mr Man]

You all haven't lived until you've seen the original Star Trek from the 60's.

I've seen a few episodes, The Cage, Trouble with Tribbles, Mirror Mirror, All Our Yesterdays, Where No Man Has Gone Before, all in remastered HD . They are good but not as good as what builds on them.

[Thea Neotera]

I've seen a few episodes, The Cage, Trouble with Tribbles, Mirror Mirror, All Our Yesterdays, Where No Man Has Gone Before, all in remastered HD . They are good but not as good as what builds on them.

I have to agree. I've seen a handful of the original episodes on Netflix, but I usually had to watch them in installments, since I got bored fairly quickly. I can see why they were iconic, but they just weren't for me.

I did, however, enjoy the new Star Trek movie, and am very much looking forward to the sequel

[The Legonater]

An ideal metaphor for TNG as a whole at first, an idealised 'modern' version of TOS sometimes with whole episodes replanted in the new setting. Then by series 3-4 it started to get more 'realistic' and Picard more awesome . I agree to start with his was, like the federation as a whole, to idealistic, by the book, and smug, but, like the federation, changed for the better into a more rounded and relatable character.

Ditto all the way. TNG took a while, but in the middle it defintiely hit it's best spot. A lot of my favorite episodes are from 4, including Rascals and a Fistfull of Datas. Then, as it kind of spiralled down to it's doom. Season 7 was arguably one of the weirder ones, IMO.

[Thea Neotera]

So who is everyone's favorite Trek villain?

As a group, I definitely have to say the Borg. I loved them in both TNG as well as First Contact. The First Contact version then went on to be used on Voyager, so we definitely got to see more of them. But the early Borg were equally creepy in their silent and almost catatonic state.

As for individual villains, I don't think anyone can hold a candle to Seska. She was so easy to hate, but so determined and clever that you almost found yourself rooting for her... the perfect characteristics of a great villain, in my opinion.

(On an unrelated note, I just added a Trek MOC to the Sci-Fi pages!)

[Nebsirob]

So who is everyone's favorite Trek villain?

...a group ...individual villains

As a group prefered the Dominion, with the Romulans (especially their cameo in Enterprise).

I liked the Borg during their TNG-episodes, and in first contact, but after that, they just got too watered down.

My favorite individual villain is Khan Noonien Singh (with Gul Dukat, Dr. Arik Soong, and General Chang as follow-ups).

As for the other questions:

What is your favorite Series: DS9 (with Enterprise close behind)

Your favorite film of the series: Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country (The first Star Trek movie I watched at the cinema)

Your favorite character from the shows: Now here's a tie between Chief O'Brien, Gul Dukat and various characters played by Jeffrey Combs (Weyoun, Brunt, and Shran)

And your favorite epsiode: "Trials and Tribble-ations" from DS9. I can watch this one over, and over again.

[Mr Man]

Favourite Villain well I'll have to split it:

As a race:

ENT: Romulans ('cos they're Romulans they're great ). Not the Xindi or the Sulabon, they where just too generic as villains.

TOS: Tribbles!! , nope Romulans again.

TAS: Romulans

TOS Films: General Chang, KHANNN!!!!! (Not Romulans this time)

TNG: Back to Romulans again

DS9: The Brean the new mysterious enigmatic deadly race (even more so than the Romulans)

VOY: Janeway (She super powered the Borg to kill the Undine)

TNG Films: Romulans again .

They're probably a pattern here see if you can guess it.

As a character:

ENT: Shran at first befor he became a good guy, then probably future guy.

TOS: Khan or Kor/Kang/Koloth/Kax or any of the Klingons

TAS: None

TOS Films: Probably Chang (Sorry Khan)

TNG: No stand outer really from what I can remember)

DS9: Dukat. Hands down the most well developed 'villain' in ST's history, a hugely well rounded character and a very 3 dimensional enemy. But also any of the Vorta, or Dammar, or Preneck, or the J'Hem Hadar especialy Granagar, or Edington and Hudson, or well lots of them .

VOY: Seska until she slipped and broke her head and died or something (yeah of all the evil deaths this was up there ).

TNG Films: No stand out villains here (I dislike the idea of a borg queen).

Edit: 1942^nd Post .

Edited February 8, 2012 by Mr Man

[Thea Neotera]

VOY: Seska until she slipped and broke her head and died or something (yeah of all the evil deaths this was up there ).

LoL. She died when her console overloaded because the Doctor turned off the backup safety systems on the phaser array. You can see her get hit with the blast.

She was my favorite because she "came back from the dead" via the holodeck. That episode (Worst Case Scenario) was SOOO good!

[The Legonater]

Meh, I never liked the Seska plot, nor Seska as a charecter. She never really seemed like an antagonist to me, only an irritating charecter that should just shut up and die already.

[Thea Neotera]

I guess she's not for everyone; my friends were never too fond of her either.

Unfortunately, Star Trek seems to be full of those "shut up and die" characters... TNG in particular. I especially disliked the Duras sisters (and most of the Klingons, actually), Q throughout TNG, Dr. Soran, Wesley Crusher, etc.

[The Legonater]

I guess she's not for everyone; my friends were never too fond of her either.

Unfortunately, Star Trek seems to be full of those "shut up and die" characters... TNG in particular. I especially disliked the Duras sisters (and most of the Klingons, actually), Q throughout TNG, Dr. Soran, Wesley Crusher, etc.

See, I've always enjoyed Q. Well, after the first season of TNG or so, anyways, but those were generally odd seasons to begin with. Something about John De Lance's performance, and/or the writing, let his appearance make an otherwize unbearable episode enjoyable. I don't know.

[Thea Neotera]

I think the best Q episode is definitely "Q Who." But that has nothing to do with the character for me, just the subject matter. I generally tend to dislike the over-the-top performance that Q requires. If I had to base a Q episode solely on the characters/performance, my favorite would be "Death Wish."

[Mr Man]

Fun fact Dr. Soran is the uncle of Dr Bashir (Well the actors anyway).

Seska was, for me, a good character because she continued the Marquis theme from TNG and DS9 (a theme written for VOY but used almost 0 times in the show ), the second to last TNG episode and some of the great series 2-3 episodes of DS9 involved the Marques and characters like Ro Laren or Michael Eddington or Carl Hudson as starfleet officers actually leaving the Federation, was an interesting dynamic.

I just got promoted on STO, I'm now Lieutenant Commander .

[Thea Neotera]

I just got promoted on STO, I'm now Lieutenant Commander .

Ah! I can't wait to play. I'm moving tomorrow, so I hope to have my new comp. set up sometime this weekend.

I really liked the set-up for Voyager in TNG too, especially with the native Americans. It helped establish Chakotay's background, because we did not get the details until Season 2.

[Mr Man]

Ah! I can't wait to play. I'm moving tomorrow, so I hope to have my new comp. set up sometime this weekend.

I really liked the set-up for Voyager in TNG too, especially with the native Americans. It helped establish Chakotay's background, because we did not get the details until Season 2.

Well what TNG and DS9 set up for VOY in terms of the Marquis, was forgotten by the end of series 2 of VOY , The exs wanted no internal conflict on the ship between characters (reminiscent of TOS and early TNG) but the writers had the wonderful marquis terrorists and Starfleet officers stuck together each with different styles of command trying to work together, the tension lasts a whole er 4 episodes then that it, they might as well all be Starfleet after that .

[Thea Neotera]

the tension lasts a whole er 4 episodes then that it, they might as well all be Starfleet after that .

Now there I must disagree. The tension lasts throughout Season 2 and only fully dissipates after the first episode of Season 3 (Minus a few episodes where time travel or repressed memories are concerned). Only among Chakotay and Torres does the tension seem to disappear somewhat quickly (and both of those were formerly in Starfleet, so maybe it makes sense).

Almost all the tension is in some way related to the Seska storyline. Aside from Seska herself, Michael Jonas is leaking information throughout Season 2. Lt. Hogan openly criticizes the Captain on 2 occasions that I can recall. And a number of episodes in Seasons 1 and 2 are based around the Maquis tension, either directly or indirectly:

Parallax

Prime Factors

State of Flux

Learning Curve

Maneuvers

Alliances

Meld (To a lesser degree)

Investigations

Basics Part 1 and 2

There are more, but those are the episodes in which the tension is a prevalent part of the story. I thought they did a great job of exploring the issue without going overboard (Thank goodness they didn't do a mutiny episode. That would have ruined half the stories in the later seasons since all those involved would not have been very trustworthy. I'm glad they were able to work a mutiny into the series through the use of the holodeck though).

Edited February 8, 2012 by Thea Neotera

[The Legonater]

(Thank goodness they didn't do a mutiny episode. That would have ruined half the stories in the later seasons since all those involved would not have been very trustworthy. I'm glad they were able to work a mutiny into the series through the use of the holodeck though).

Ditto. I've always loved the fact that Star Trek has managed to go back to earlier plots, without totally disrupting things. And that episode in itself was pretty well done.

Edited February 9, 2012 by The Legonater

[Flipz]

So, what do y'all think about Star Trek fan-fic/LEGO RPGs?

OK, now that I've got your attention, let me explain. I am a Council Member of a large (well, formerly large) Star Trek builders group that operates on the old LEGO Universe Creation Lab, known as the Phoenix Command Group (PCG). We've sort of created our own expansion to the storyline, set over 100 years after the end of TNG, and we have a number of new races and factions (which fit well with the "Massively Multiplayer Crossover" effect of LEGO). Now, since LU is closed, the Creation Lab will only last for a bit longer. What I'd like to ask you all is this: do you think the PCG would do well on EuroBricks and/or other online brick communities? I already have an RPG in the works, I'd like to know if the building side would work well on EB as well.

Oh, I suppose I should explain my personal greatest ST influences. I'm a big TNG fan, I really liked Picard ever since I first saw a TNG episode, but I also like Voyager as well. I hadn't seen actual episodes of TOS until recently, the same goes for DS9. My favorite character of all time is a tie between Seven of Nine and Guinan, with Geordi in a close third. My favorite movie has to be The Voyage Home, I always love time travel stories (even though they make my brain hurt ) , my favorite villian is Khan.

[Thea Neotera]

I'm intrigued by your post, Flipz, but I don't really know what it means. I was actually part of a Trek RPG set about 100 years after TNG before, but it was not LEGO related. How would that fit in?