Comments on: STO Developer Diary: Evolving the Borg + New Trailer

By: Olley Olley Olley

Olley Olley Olley — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:13:52 +0000

as a Brit,
If I cannot get a connie pack, I wont be playing.

simple as

By: Dunsel Report

Dunsel Report — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:51:25 +0000

I miss Simon & Schuster’s Apple II game “The Kobayashi Alternative.”

By: Alex Rosenzweig

Alex Rosenzweig — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 16:28:41 +0000

I’ve got a few reservations when it comes to the Borg. First, I certainly don’t think we need *another* spinoff/splinter universe for Trek (I don’t even like the Abrams one!), though to be fair, with the game and the “Destiny” trilogy being developed in parallel for over a year, coordinating it might not have ben easy. OTOH, I was also very happy with the idea that, in the wake of “Destiny”, the Borg would be no more, ’cause if I don’t see them for the next ten years, it’ll be too soon. OTOH, if for some reason, the Caeliar-driven transformation missed a few, it would be possible to have them come back.

I also largely agree with GraniteTrek, though my understanding is that the game allows for exploration as part of its overall storyline. I also wonder, though, if the game arc is intended at all to provide a path for leading the major powers back out of the period of hostilities and into a period of “friendly competition” for resources, knowledge, and influence in the galaxy, which might be more Trek-like.

By: GraniteTrek

GraniteTrek — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:15:48 +0000

I’m not interested in the game because it all seems to revolve around combat – that’s a Star Wars approach, not Star Trek, which was supposed to be mostly about EXPLORING, not shooting. And I like the approach the Destiny trilogy of novels took – that the Borg finally gave up on constantly fighting with one hand behind its back, and launched an inevitable all-out assault that the Federation couldn’t stop, because it always seemed silly that a race with thousands upon thousands of cubes, willing to use thousands against races like Species 8472, would only launch one cube at a time at the Federation.

But mostly, I don’t like the idea that as time passes the galaxy is degrading back to what it was like at the time of the Romulan War, with everyone shooting at each other? Where’s the positive message in that?

By: The Lensman

The Lensman — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 06:55:52 +0000

Ok, enough with the combat trailers Cryptic! I’m already sold on the starship combat, it looks gorgeous. I wanna see more of the “episodes”….how do they play out beyond combat? So far I’m just seeing a Quake 3 style, nothing but shoot em up game with no story at all.

Change the pace and show us more than just more ships and people shooting at each other.

By: Nerdiest thing I've ever posted

Nerdiest thing I've ever posted — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:51:33 +0000

I share everyones reservations about Borg nerfing, particularly during VOY, but I think the problem with the Borg from day 1 has been that they are just too powerful for the Federation to realistically contend with. This is the point that’s driven home in” Q Who?” and “The Best of Both Worlds”. Only creative deus ex machina allow our characters to even survive. But you can only tell that story so many times.

The Borg are so powerful and have so many ships (not to mention transwarp corridors and whatnot) that it really makes no sense for them not to just destroy the Federation outright if they’re inclined to do so at all. Guinans world was swarmed, as are most if not all others depicted as having been. Granted, they are closer, but this undermines a key characteristic of what made the Borg really terrifying, their utter implacability and their brutal efficiency. “When they come after you they’re gonna come in force, they don’t do anything piecemeal.”

The coolest parts of the Borg have to be compromised even for a story to occur, but really, the Borg are ridiculously over powered. Not only are they bigger and stronger, they’re smarter, there’s lots of them, they systematically assimilate individuals, societies and their technology to learn and to grow their numbers (which one would think would mean acquiring a truly staggering wealth of knowledge which would be made obvious by the Borg’s rapid incorporation of new technology and even behaviours, yet this is never well explored), they can regenerate themselves and even adapt to to whatever feeble means of defence against them might exist. On top of that, they won’t stop chasing you until they get you, they’re faster than you, and they shoot green things that turn off your special effects.

Bottom line, the Borg can’t really be the bad guys they should be, the one that was promised in the beginning, because by their own rules, they’d annihilate the entire star trek universe.

By: ryanhuyton

ryanhuyton — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:33:09 +0000

The “mythology’ of the Borg resonates so well me and a lot of others because of their obsession with technology and instant knowledge.
People today are so tech savvy that a few years down the road, we may see “cranial devices” that replace the need for laptop computers. This could allow for a form of “telepathic” communication like the Borg use.
People today are obsessed with near instantaneos information and internet access. The internet has made the world a smaller space and news travels much quicker than it did a decade ago. And portable devices such as cellphones and gaming devices are constantly becoming smaller and more powerful. And scientist are continuing to work on nano technology for medical and scientific purposes. In fact, this is possibly how the Borg Collective began…..

By: Trekkie

Trekkie — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:02:36 +0000

@2
That’s probably possible, but could you imagine how painful that’d be for the patient? eek.

@5
The Borg are not stupid, to me, they seem like a representation of how society is assimilating young people to fit a certain image. In the Borg’s case, they are a superior force that assimilates all who do not conform to their orders. They say resistance is futile because even if others resist at first, the Borg know that they will give in or be defeated eventually.

By: nuSpock

nuSpock — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:56:00 +0000

actually #2 that isnt the only way to reverse all the damage assimilation might inflict on a person: the Borg’s own nanoprobes could be reprogrammed to turn the mechanical elements into organic tissue and organs…kinda a reverse assimilation

By: Irishtrekkie

Irishtrekkie — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:47:49 +0000

@ 22
the game is being launched 3 days later in the EU , February 5 is Cryptic proper EU launch and i would think localized servers and proper support should be in place at that date (if not whats the point in launching ?). and i am fine with that (in fact 3 days is a lot better then the months some mmorpgs make you wait here).

My problem is them taking so long to announce if there will be a collectors edition in Europe.
I am not asking for it to be on every self just for them to confirm it and hopefully offer it on a few online retailers.

I would not risk importing it in , in cause the extra content is region locked to NA servers or something.

And to be fair Trek is very big in some places in Europe (e.g. FEDCON) , plus i don’t think this games is being aimed at purely star trek fans, lots of gamers i know who have only a decent or small interest in star trek are looking forward to this.

A quick look at the official Star trek online forums proves that there is quite a number of people who feel the same as i do .