Spoilers Starship Design in Star Trek: Picard

[Datasbeard]

Yes, the big ships here must be the "warp-capable ferries". The shuttle on the right does bear a striking resemblance to the Argo. Some variant thereof would certainly be appropriate. But I agree with Timo, that even a reuse or slight modification of the 2009 shuttles here would work. They are quite utilitarian and not tied to any specific era in terms of look, though I would get rid of the ugly jet engines on top. The Discovery shuttles throughout don't bother me, nor does the appearance of the Magee in CoM. The only thing that would bother me is if Discovery-era ships were all we ever saw, and that doesn't look like it will be the case. Just as I love that we are seeing (and will see!) a variety of different Romulans, I want a variety of different ships. That makes the universe seem rich and believable.

 

[Datasbeard]

Although, changing topics slightly—I wonder why this new iteration of Star Trek seems averse to reusing previous designs. I know Abrams was after a hard reboot, and perhaps also Fuller. There was also the licensing kerfuffle between Paramount and CBS, though who knows what to believe about all that. But at least for Picard, I'm puzzled why we didn't see lots of existing designs, along with designs from Discovery. Compare that with Star Wars or Stargate or other franchises, where even after long interruptions there seemingly wasn't a need to drastically alter previous designs, merely to add to them. I simply don't understand this at all. Of course, don't put the plastic-looking Enterprise from TOS into Discovery, but texture it and light it in a modern way, add detail, change it subtly. Similarly for the D7—the new D7 in S2—why not just upscale a K'Tinga? It's a very strange mentality, particularly because it doesn't seem to be shared by the industry as a whole.

 

[cooleddie74]

You're speaking to the choir here, or at least me. I feel you.

 

[Tuskin38]

Because money

 

[Datasbeard]

Because money

Must be more than that. Star Wars is no stranger to money…

 

[Tuskin38]

Must be more than that. Star Wars is no stranger to money…

I don’t mean cost, I mean merchandising. If the design is different they can sell more under different branding.

 

[Datasbeard]

I don’t mean cost, I mean merchandising. If the design is different they can sell more under different branding.

That makes sense, but my point stands: doesn't Star Wars benefit in exactly the same way? The key here is what I wrote above, about adding to instead of replacing. For example, keeping the TOS design for the Enterprise in Discovery would have had no effect on all the other cool new designs they introduced. Plus, it isn't like sales of toys and models are only fueled by the novelty of their design. For example, I'm sure the new Star Wars trilogy has seen plenty of Millennium Falcon reissues of various kinds, even though versions have been sold for over 40 years. And the current re-issues did not require any new slits, new glows, or new windows in the new movies.

 

[thribs]

If they put a bloody bridge window on the E I’m rioting.

 

[Dukhat]

I don’t mean cost, I mean merchandising. If the design is different they can sell more under different branding.

Which is probably why, if we end up seeing the Enterprise in STP, it will not be the E and it will not be the Odyssey class F from STO. It will be a new design they can market the hell out of with toys, model kits, etc.

 

[fireproof78]

If they put a bloody bridge window on the E I’m rioting.

Not that I want a riot but I do love my windows on bridges.

 

[Gonzo]

Which is probably why, if we end up seeing the Enterprise in STP, it will not be the E and it will not be the Odyssey class F from STO. It will be a new design they can market the hell out of with toys, model kits, etc.

Would love to see the F but its a decade too early if they stick with the STO timeline, the E is an option but not nearly as much merchandising options available unless it has been heavily modified.

They could go with a new F but I do like the Odyssey class, shame its too early.

Hopefully we will know soon enough if they are going to stick with the STO timeline or ignore it completely.

 

[Tuskin38]

Hopefully we will know soon enough if they are going to stick with the STO timeline or ignore it completely.

STO uses the ST09 Countdown comic in their backstory, so they're already ignoring STO in that way.

Among other things, Picard in STO's timeline retired as a Captain, not Admiral, and became the Ambassador to Vulcan. Data (in B4s body) became Captain of the Enterprise-E, like in ST09 Countdown.

Data also shows up in a cutscene in a 2410 mission. Mind you, you can't see his face since they didn't have the rights to use Brent's look, but it's clearly meant to be him based on the context given in the scene.

 

[Noname Given]

Data also shows up in a cutscene in a 2410 mission. Mind you, you can't see his face since they didn't have the rights to use Brent's look, but it's clearly meant to be him based on the context given in the scene.

^^^
It's Lore. (Hey, who else would visit Sela?)

 

[Gonzo]

STO uses the ST09 Countdown comic in their backstory, so they're already ignoring STO in that way.

Among other things, Picard in STO's timeline retired as a Captain, not Admiral, and became the Ambassador to Vulcan. Data (in B4s body) became Captain of the Enterprise-E, like in ST09 Countdown.

Data also shows up in a cutscene in a 2410 mission. Mind you, you can't see his face since they didn't have the rights to use Brent's look, but it's clearly meant to be him based on the context given in the scene.

I am fine if they go in a completely different direction, I never played STO and find it a bit hard to believe that the Klingons and Romulans would be so quick to throw away what was gained from the fight with the Dominion, especially so quickly but that could easily explain why the Star was triggered anyway, someone wanted to make sure they didnt get too friendly.

Would explain the attack on the fleet at Mars to ensure the Federation does not come to the Romulans rescue, if you think about it the whole situation is very similar to what happened with Praxis, it stopped a war and forced the Klingon Empire into a period of relative peace as they dealt with the after effects although I appreciate a Supernova is much more final.

It all feels very Temporal Cold War to me, someone is pulling the strings and has the ability to cause Stars to die prematurely which is not something to be taken lightly, certain races that have been hinted at over the years could maybe do it, the Q definitely could but why would they, if Picard works out the why it will lead him to the who or vice versa.

Hopefully we see some interesting new ships or some classic favourites as the series continues.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Romulans reverse-engineering Borg tech is right out of the early days of STO. So there's that.

 

[DEWLine]

We don't know all of what happened because of the Temporal Cold War.

 

[Dukhat]

We don't know all of what happened because of the Temporal Cold War.

The Temporal Cold War was reset and now everything’s back to normal.

 

[dantini]

If they put a bloody bridge window on the E I’m rioting.

Don't worry, they'll only give it square nacelles and make it twice as big.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Enterprises D and E look exactly the same in PIC as they did on TNG.

(We see the D during Picard's dream, and there's a model of the E in his digital archives.)

 

[dantini]

Enterprises D and E look exactly the same in PIC as they did on TNG (We see the D during Picard's dream, and there's a model of the E in his digital archives.)

The E is missing the thrusters on the saucer edge, and the shape of the nacelles doesn't seem to be accurate. But they didn't deliberately redesign it, I think they just based it on the same non-screen-used CG model as Eaglemoss.