Cryptic have put out the fourth of their their ‘Path to 2409’ summaries which tell the story between the events of Nemesis and the beginning of the massive multiplayer game Star Trek Online. Like the third installment, Cryptic is now charting its own course, going beyond the time of the Star Trek novels towards setting up the galactic war between the Federation and the Klingons.
The Path to 2409: 2383
Starfleet Intelligence continues to gather reports of unrest on Romulus. Praetor Tal’aura enacts food rationing and strict limits on replicator use on the homeworld, saying that the empire’s resources must be reserved to support the military’s campaign against Donatra and the breakaway Imperial Romulan State.
The shortages spark rioting in the capitol of Ki Baratan, and the struggle goes on for two days before the praetor orders troops to intervene. Observers on Romulus suggest that as many as 2,000 people could have died either in the initial riots or at the hands of Romulan troops.
The civil unrest and resistance from Romulan nobles strain Tal’aura’s command of the empire. She calls upon her allies in the Senate to help in stabilizing the government, and they respond by voting to expand the praetor’s powers, giving Tal’aura the power to grant or remove noble titles, which previously was a privilege that only the emperor enjoyed. She also is granted the ability to declare war without Senate approval.
Ambassador Spock returns to Romulus to take his place with the Unificationists. Leaders of the movement say that although they could not win the support of the Federation, they will continue to “wage peace” on Romulus.
On Stardate 60900.31, Fleet Commander Tomalak attacks Donatra’s fleet at Xanitla. Tomalak’s forces are soundly defeated in the battle, and he is dealt a further blow when Admiral Taris and the twelve ships under her command defect to the Imperial side.
The Cardassians make some gains in their efforts to rebuild their war-ravaged planet, signing a new agreement for aid from the Federation and beginning reconstruction of Lakarian City. Excavation of several sites on the planet reveals Hebitian relics, and the publication of these finds sparks a resurgence of interest among Cardassians in ancient religious and cultural practices.
The Oralians, a religious group dating back to the Hebitian civilization that was outlawed by the Cardassian Union, begin openly holding services and seeking adherents among the Cardassian population. The rise of this spiritual movement is opposed by the followers of the True Way, which continues to call for a return to the totalitarian practices of the Union.
The Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets are at odds over the Klingon takeover of Khitomer. In a narrow vote, the Federation Council decides not to formally censure the empire for its military action. However, the fact that the matter went to the full Council for a vote is enough of an affront for Qo’noS to temporarily recall its ambassador to the Federation.
Hardliners on the Klingon High Council demand that Martok eject Federation ambassadors from Klingon space. Martok refuses to do so, and then defeats Councilor Qolka in a duel of honor after he accuses Martok of being a “pet desperate for the approval of his Starfleet masters.”
In legal matters, Rear Admiral James Bennett of the Starfleet Judge Advocate General’s office rules that the “Data Decision,” referenced in The Doctor’s legal arguments to keep the mobile emitter, is too narrow to be used in this case. Bennett rules that the precedent can only be applied to prove that The Doctor is not the property of Starfleet, and not to decide whether or not he is a sentient being. The Doctor’s counsel appeals the decision, and analysts predict that the case will continue for some time.
The Soong Foundation, a group affiliated with the Daystrom Institute and dedicated to promoting the rights of artificial life forms, announces that it is beginning research to create a mobile holographic emitter of its own design, with the hopes that the technology can be adapted for civilian use.
Will they tie in to the movie?
Spock’s name has shown up so far, but that was back when they were just using material from the books, but even though there is a lot of talk about Romulans, one name that has yet to show up for Cryptic’s background to STO is: Nero. In his recent interview with TrekMovie.com, STO exec. producer Craig Zinkievich stated:
We’ve been in contact with Bad Robot [JJ Abrams production company] and IDW [publishers of Trek comics], but I’m not at liberty to talk about any possible crossovers or tie-ins at this time.
The IDW Countdown comics begin arriving next month, so maybe in one of the upcoming updates we will see why Cyrptic and IDW and Bad Robot are ‘in contact’
New image?
This above text for the ‘Path to 2409’ originated on the Star Trek Online website, which includes a different background image than previous posts (although this image may have been used before, it isn’t part of the official set of screenshots on the site). TrekMovie decided to monkey with the brightness and contrast to see what was going on…still not sure but here it is.
What is going on here?
Hmmm….cool.
It looks like, left to right, a Cardassian, Ferengi, Vulcan, Klingon and Bajoran.
The klingon is not wearing a starfleet uniform
Thanks vor stating the obvious, svavar
Well, they all appear to be wearing their race’s respective uniform.
Oralians :D :D :D
…wonder what they do at night.
That picture looks like a mix crew of independent operators on a Klingon vessel (or facility?) of some kind. It would appear everyone is at their stations and the Klingon is in command.
Maybe this is a concept shot of how groups of players will form loose associations to work together on independent ships. Perhaps these five are pirates (or ‘Privateers’) and are plying the space lanes somewhere out on the edge of the galaxy?
That looks interesting and I’m enjoying the quality of writing I’ve seen so far (and attention to detail in said writing) from STO. I also dig that shorthand abbreviation for the game.
Anyone else notice that the target date for the fiction – 2409 – WOULD HAVE been 400 years in the future from their release date if they stuck with 2009. But since it looks like Atari’s move to purchase Cryptic has pushed some things around, the fiction will be 401 years ahead of actual release, LOL!
I’m still cautiously optimistic about this project.
Oh how frakkin’ lame. Can’t we have a big story in the Trek universe that DOESN’T rely on war to be the framework? Eugenics War. Romulan War. Dominion War. Expanse War. Maquis War. Borg War. Cardassian War. Tek War. (oops.)Tribble War…(you know David Gerrold has this one in the works) I’ve not read any of this new material, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to eventually.
War between the Klingons and Federation. Pfeh. That builds no anticipation or “just can’t wait” feelings in me. The best Trek stories revolved around avoiding war, now it just seems to be the fallback plot of all Trek. No wonder people are becoming tired of the franchise.
Isn’t this Star TREK, not Star WARS??
arg. sorry about the venting, but I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. BRING BACK THE ORGANIANS! ;-)
That is one multi-cultural crew, A Klingon captain, Human,Ferengi, Cardassian and Vulcan… Would one hell of a crew!! I want to know more.
I really like to read that stuff . It’s really, really interesting. I wonder want is going on with th Dominion and specially with the Jem’hadar.
STO will probalby be the first MMO I’ll get into.
How can you have a game that doesnt revolve around a war? What central theme could you use that would provide enough missions? Dont most games like WoW ect have one conflict that is central to the story and side quests etc?
what are people gonna do in the game, talk to each other endlessly about ‘canon’
Well at the moment it all seems a bit dull to me. Some really boring internal politics contrived to bring us back to an original series status quo. Nothing really captured me there. It’s like watching Redemption without Denise Crosby turning up. Hopefully this is building to something greater.
Like Risa being blown up.
I agree with #7, this pic doesn’t look like anything specific is ‘going on’, more likely it shows an example of the type of diverse crews you can assemble in gameplay.
#8 “Isn’t this Star TREK, not Star WARS??”
That’s why “Star Trek” and “MMO” are incompatible words. Trek is about humans feelings, space exploration and misteries. How can you bring these basic Trek concepts in a videogame where players want to fire phasers and photon torpedoes? Totally pointless.
12.
Funny you mention Risa getting blown up. It”s just what happend in the the last book of the destiny trillogy.
Like WoW, the backstory will be of little importance to gameplay, I reckon.
This one looks like they threw a bunch of “Trek” generalities into a Bingo ball machine and pieced together the ones that came out into a string of random events.
Then, they threw in things like the “famine on Romulus” and limited replicator use.” For a society that has had the ability to harness the power of a quantum singularity for years, this is unlikely.
Also, in order to make gameplay interesting, the major races are all in conflict again, which sort of ignores the whole message of TNG
I was hoping that through some freak temporal accident or time incursion that we would get an early Christmas present in the form of the next big movie reveal today.
This was not it.
=A=
I totally agraa with Jorg – its enough war things crap there.
Don´t you remember the “old days”?
Do you really think steady war was the vision of Gene Roddenberry?
Sure in this time kiddys only want to see more boom and bang.
But for this they can watch Terminator or the Chainsaw massacre or the hell other crap.
Star Trek always had a message – to show people a brighter future, a future where humans go beond there capabilities. To live and work with various species together and to evolve. It inspired people all ofer the world over the last 40 years to improve themselves and the rest of the world. Ill soon graduate as a scientist – and Star Trek played a major role in choosing this path in my life.
Sure conflicts are not always to avoid. But always war war war war war wa war … ??? Sorry but this guys who thought about bringing another useless war into this universe shold be thrown out of an airlock.
Or perhaps stick their toungs into a ESP power grid.
No offence :P
Greetings
I hope that the game’s plot ties into the movie and prequel comic. That would make the game canon IMO.
I will add my voice to those that say that this game should be about something other than war. To the poster who asked what else could a game like this be about, I say ‘what!!!???’
How about putting your thinking cap on and listing all the things Trek has done episodes about, many of which are not war related. Science, discovery, new life, strange civilizations. Make a game about how war ISN”T the answer most of the time and NEVER a preferable one. That is Star Trek’s message
that’s one bizard mix
Star Trek is different things to different people. Assembling your own crew and partaking in grand galactic events, wars, exploration, etc. is to me exactly what Trek is about this game is looking phenomenal. And as for canon… get over it and yourselves. No one here has any right to say what should or shouldn’t happen after TNG era. To think you have some sort of say is ridiculous. The only people who have a say are the people who own the creative rights and guess what!!! That is Cryptic baby and they are doing great!!!
The game brings to mind the aesthetics and storylines of 24th century Trek…the version of Trek that has worn out it’s welcome with the masses and (many) fans. It’s a darn shame this company isn’t treading new ground but, rather, dishing out more of the same o same o.
I have a gut feeling this game is destined to fail….wrong idea, wrong time.
That picture looks more like a collage. Not a scene on a bridge or anything.
Conflict is at the base of any kind of drama. Small conflicts (two people not getting along) or large ones (galactic wars). This is because it is also at the base of the drama we call “life”.
Look at Trek. There’s always a “battle”, be it against a crewmember’s inner demons, a Dominion fleet, a crippling disease or the toxic environment of an alien planet. There’s always a problem that needs to be fixed.
About Roddenberry’s utopian vision, my opinion is that of the major players (Klingons, Romulans, Borg, etc.) it is only the Federation that is the utopian society that Roddenberry envisioned (even it is only utopian to a certain degree, since human[oids] are not perfect). All other alien powers are even more imperfect with a tendency to violence or deceit. This is part because TOS was TV show that needed an exciting plot every episode and that requires problems/conflicts like any other TV show in the world needs that too be entertaining.
Also it could be because of the time that Roddenberry lived in. It was the Cold War and everything except for the Western countries were described as bad. Gene could not have gotten around this as he is also a product of his time (living in the era of wars, WWII and Cold War). There’s a reason why the Klingons resembled the Soviets instead of the Canadians.
While I do agree that the ‘war’ card has been played a bit too much in the latest entries into Star Trek lore (the series and movies + the uncanon stuff) it is very logical from a historical standpoint. There are always times of war and of peace. Think of the Pax Romana, followed by the Middle Ages or the relatively peaceful 19th century followed by two world wars with a third world war that almost happened.
Even the most advanced cultures like the Roman Empire or the Western world today has always had internal or external problems. The Federation’s society has gotten rid of most internal problems but that still leaves the external problems (aliens that want the stuff the Federation has).
From a game standpoint it is only logical to have a war in either the background or foreground. It allows for diversity in gameplay and stories. What MMO doesn’t have two warring factions. I can only remember a few MMOs like Tale in the Desert and Seed that did not have that. But they only had a select audience and either failed or never became mainstream. STO wants/needs to be mainstream.
I think the war will not dominate the gameplay. Think of it as the current situation with Iraq. Only the ones on the frontline (in STOs case the people that want to kill NPCs or other players) will be actively involved in the war. The people at home do hear about the war and might affect their actions (quests that have to do with the war but not with the fighting) but they’re not an active part. They trade and craft.
How many Star Trek episodes have dealt not just with war but with some sort of conflict that resulted in ships trying to blow each other up? Quite a few of them. So of course Cryptic is setting things up for there to be a lot of conflict in this game. There may not be an out and out war, but still plenty of chances for skirmishes like we saw in all the series.
22: People can consider whatever they want to be canon. Orci considers some of the novels to be canon and most people don’t…so calm down!
Nah, I agree with #8 and others…
They need to reinvent the game scenarios to suit Star Trek. ST games have universally sucked from day one because they have failed to own themselves. Another war game is garbage. This should be more like a point-and-click adventure game like Space Quest, than like Diablo!
You should gain levels through discovery. Each planet you go to should have it’s own puzzle, it’s own quest. The early planets should be the lower levels. Sure, some would require blasting your way out. But others, the majority, should be about solving the motivations of the aliens and discovering your foes. Knowledge should be your power-ups.
This game better start acting like Star Trek or it’s destined to fail.
I find the subplot about the Doctor and the mobile emitter pretty interesting. As an attorney, I always enjoy the few glimpses we get into the legal systems present in the Trek universe.
I may be in the minority, but I have always thought that a Trek TV series focused on Starfleet JAG could be great.
12 – Risa blown up? Wonderful news. Nothing good’s ever come out of there.
The Federation and The Klingon Empire at WAR sorry that’s put me right off after all that happened in TNG & DS9 it just doesn’t feel right.
I’m actually quite pleased at how bad this sounds. I wasn’t happy about a computer game being the first to define Star Trek in the 25th century and now that it sounds so dire as to be easily discarded when the next television series comes round, I’m very happy.
8. Jorg Sacul – December 19, 2008
I totally agree about the Klingons. They’ve been way over-used in both films and tv series’. We need to move on and find a new and interesting foe, as TNG did with the Borg (who also have been over-used!) and TOS did with the Romulans in Balance of Terror. It’s hard to get up any enthusiasm for yet another round of wars with the Klingons.
so did they get permission to use the stuff from the Titan book and Articles of the Federation and Mere Mortals books ?
It doesn’t matter. If you ever read the WoW materials, and I know some here have, the backstory is as convoluted as this one.
All I know, is if this guy wants 20 troll tusks, and the head of some Boss, and that if I get them, I’ll get money and some good gear along the way, and ramp up my XP as well. And have a great time. I never care why i am doing it because I cannot affect world events in the MMORPG.
In STO, it may be “Find the artifacts” or “transport grain to Romulus and get through the blockade” but the plot will be quickly forgotten.
I dislike intensely the way they’ve taken some of their story material directly from the recent novels, and completely ignored other aspects of it in favour of inventing their own material, which, frankly, sounds absurdly convoluted and has none of the depth that what’s already been written has achieved. The whole thing just seems… piecemeal.
I’m just remembering that South Park episode that so brilliantly parodied World of Warcraft and its players…
Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could wander into forests and level up by killing countless Bajorans?
God I hate those people…. Bajorans are so boring.
Rath’s sentiments are dead on target. They’ve taken bits and pieces from the DS9 and post-Nemesis novels and patched them together, yet also ignored large parts of those same novels. The result is a patchwork design which is rather unappealing.
after Risa blew up…the Federation pissed off the Ba’Ku AGAIN and made their planet the new predominant resort….forget Khitomer…thats the REAL reason the Klingons declare war on The Federation XD (remember, Arik Soong referred to the Briar Patch as the area near Klingon space called K’lahk T’Kel Bra’hkt in Star Trek: Enterprise)
#37
“Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could wander into forests and level up by killing countless Bajorans?
God I hate those people…. Bajorans are so boring.”
Helzz yeah! The Bajorans aren’t just boring….they are the single dullest race ever created in Star Trek and I honestly never gave a damn anytime Bajor or the Bajoran people were in danger. I honestly was rooting for someone to just obliterate them. They were the living equivalent of the color “Beige”.
Being able to kill limitless amounts of them in creative ways would be a tad more fun than being able to do the same to a world full of Jar Jar Binks.
37:
LOL!
QUEST:
LEVEL THE BAJORAN POPULATION
Welcome, Intrepid Hunter!
The Bajorans continue to pillage Southshore of its much needed supplies for the war against the Horde! The raids occur almost daily, and the Alliance has promised troops, but alas, they are all at war.
Scouts have found a Bajoran encampment near the entrance to the Silverpine Forest to the West. They are protected by powerful shamans known as Kais, who get their powers from special orbs located in the encampment. An evil Sorceress, Winn, protects the Orbs.
The mission:
Kill 20 Bajoran Soldiers
Kill 10 Bajoran Kais
Retrieve 5 Bajoran Orbs
Kill Kai Winn, and retrieve her skull
Bring these to General Jones at the Inn in Southshore, and you shall receive
g1.s85
and a choice of
1) Chain Epaulets of the Donkey 3) Aerie Peak Eagle Dung Sneakers
2) Screaming Owl Jockstrap 4) Undead Underpants of Andorahl
Accept/Refuse
Can STO rise above that?
#8: Well David Gerrold already wrote it. It’s called “The War Against the Chtorr” and tribbles are a part of invading alien ecology. :-)
Man, another war with the Klingons? Really? Is there no new idea out there for the Star Trek universe? How about some of the other races go at it for awhile, and leave the Federation the hell alone?
I’m just tired of the Klingons I think. Tired of wars involving them. It’s dull and overdone.
# 28 “You should gain levels through discovery. Each planet you go to should have it’s own puzzle, it’s own quest. The early planets should be the lower levels. Sure, some would require blasting your way out. But others, the majority, should be about solving the motivations of the aliens and discovering your foes. Knowledge should be your power-ups.”
Now THERE is a game I would be interested in. Actually exploring strange new worlds and new civilations. Imagine that…what a novel idea for a game based off of Star Trek…too bad the gamer programmers didn’t think of it.
Klingon war indeed…blech!
What about fighting to prevent a fight? A la ‘Balance of Terror’? Or Kirk versus the Gorn Captain in ‘Arena’? Or the land based fighting Kirk and Spock did on Organia to avoid war with the Klingons in ‘Errand of Mercy’? To say one must have a war to have opportunities for fighting in a video game are unimaginative and narrow-minded.
I am still waiting for the ultimate Trek game, in which players create their own person, choose a field (command, Engineering, Science, Security), go to the academy and then start out as a lowly Ensign, working your way up to Captain. Exploring strange new worlds, negotiating treaties, all in the TOS universe.
When it’s all about warfare it ceases to be Star TREK and becomes Star WARS.
“When it’s all about warfare it ceases to be Star TREK and becomes Star WARS.”
You people can keep saying things like this, but still no one is suggesting PLAUSIBLE alternatives for a video game! I’m sorry, but most episodes of TOS would make lame video games.
Besides, you’re all jumping to hasty conclusions and failing to see the whole picture (like hard-line Trek “purists” always do). Comment #46 makes a very good point. All the best episodes about stopping or avoiding a war had FIGHTING in them. What makes you all think that the main plot running through the game won’t be trying to find a way to END the war?
Don’t you people know anything about the game itself? It is about being a capatin of your own ship and the exploration of planets, seeking new life in distant parts of the galaxy. That is the game itself. Yes, there will be conflicts, battles in space, quests, pusszles etc, just like in any game. And, just like history: enemies become friends, friends become enemies. Just give it a damn chance people. Deal with it! (That is why I don’t like hardcore star treks fans) I can’t wait to play it because I know it will be great!
OMG!!!!
Nice!