Star Trek Online and Trek Lit

[JoeZhang]

The first backstory article has been posted at the STO website. Some references to Death in Winter, Taking Wing, and a bit of the DS9-R but it looks like they're cherrypicking details as they see fit.

Interesting - surely this is going to diverge pretty quickly? (which is not a problem - well for me at least )

:: EDIT: wait a minute - it's already diverged - in this timeline, the DS9 books happened 4 years later - Dax is for a hell of a quick promotion!

 

[David Mack]

:: EDIT: wait a minute - it's already diverged - in this timeline, the DS9 books happened 4 years later - Dax is for a hell of a quick promotion!

I suspect that STO will probably not acknowledge the events of Destiny at all, so expect 2380 to be its last point of concurrence/shared continuity with the books.

 

[Rat Boy]

:: EDIT: wait a minute - it's already diverged - in this timeline, the DS9 books happened 4 years later - Dax is for a hell of a quick promotion!

I suspect that STO will probably not acknowledge the events of Destiny at all, so expect 2380 to be its last point of concurrence/shared continuity with the books.

Well, seeing how it isn't out yet and they haven't read it, I don't see how they could unless they don't publish the next installment until January.

 

[ronny]

Interesting - surely this is going to diverge pretty quickly? (which is not a problem - well for me at least )

Not a problem for me either. The game needs to be freaking FUN to play. I'm not well steeped in Star Wars continuity but one thing I can say is that game was crap to play so it really didn't matter if it matched up or not. The last thing on my mind when I'm trying this out is if it's matching the book continuity.

 

[Rowan Sjet]

wait a minute - it's already diverged - in this timeline, the DS9 books happened 4 years later

That is weird, but not very surprsing. The author probably just picked bits and pieces from recent(ish) Trek novels without putting any thought into whether or not they were actually from the same time period.

What I find most odd though is the mention of Ro Laren being sent to a Federation penal colony, instead of going to DS9. Ignoring proper time periods, that's the only big plot point that directly contradicts the novels, and I'm not sure why it would. Why even mention Ro?

 

[JoeZhang]

Interesting - surely this is going to diverge pretty quickly? (which is not a problem - well for me at least )

Not a problem for me either. The game needs to be freaking FUN to play. I'm not well steeped in Star Wars continuity but one thing I can say is that game was crap to play so it really didn't matter if it matched up or not. The last thing on my mind when I'm trying this out is if it's matching the book continuity.

Indeed, I don't give a crap beyond discussing it here - I just want to be standing on the bridge* shouting "Red Alert - target the lead warbird"




* in my computer room with my headset.

 

[JD]

Interesting - surely this is going to diverge pretty quickly? (which is not a problem - well for me at least )

Not a problem for me either. The game needs to be freaking FUN to play. I'm not well steeped in Star Wars continuity but one thing I can say is that game was crap to play so it really didn't matter if it matched up or not. The last thing on my mind when I'm trying this out is if it's matching the book continuity.

Yeah, gameplay definitely needs to come first. I think sometimes games get so carried away with the story that they forget about the game itself. Hopefully since these are just background stories, we can get the majority of this kind of stuff set up before the games comes out, so that when it does we can just play it without having to worry about what is and isn't consistant with the books.

 

[Deano2099]

wait a minute - it's already diverged - in this timeline, the DS9 books happened 4 years later

That is weird, but not very surprsing. The author probably just picked bits and pieces from recent(ish) Trek novels without putting any thought into whether or not they were actually from the same time period.

What I find most odd though is the mention of Ro Laren being sent to a Federation penal colony, instead of going to DS9. Ignoring proper time periods, that's the only big plot point that directly contradicts the novels, and I'm not sure why it would. Why even mention Ro?

Maybe they have a mission or something set up on said penal colony designed to feature Laren?

It should be pretty interesting - I really don't mind that it doesn't follow the book continuity (it'd be impossible to stay consistent post-launch) and will still find it cool to see familiar lit characters in the game.

 

[Broccoli]

It sounds like they are just taking cues from TrekLit, but are not going to be slaved by it, which is probably a good thing as it would allow more creative flexibility for the game designers.

 

[Trent Roman]

^ To say nothing for the fact that the TrekLit universe is a work in continous progress, whereas you can't really go changing the background and chronology for your game setting every time a new novel comes out. I think it's best that the game and the book line be considered seperate entities.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[ronny]

Maybe they have a mission or something set up on said penal colony designed to feature Laren?

Like maybe you break her out and she is grateful. Very grateful.

Where do sign up?

 

[Technobuilder]

Thanks to Rat Boy for posting that Back-story link.

Ever since they "re-announced" this game, I've been looking forward to checking it out.

 

[Rat Boy]

What I find most odd though is the mention of Ro Laren being sent to a Federation penal colony, instead of going to DS9. Ignoring proper time periods, that's the only big plot point that directly contradicts the novels, and I'm not sure why it would. Why even mention Ro?

If the stardate of 58370.4 isn't a typo, it works out to May of 2381, well after the current date of DS9-R.

 

[Rowan Sjet]

If the stardate of 58370.4 isn't a typo, it works out to May of 2381, well after the current date of DS9-R.

Yes. And?

Ignoring proper time periods

 

[BrotherBenny]

I just wish Memory Beta would separate out the book/game continuities. Half the time I click on a character, considering his/her use in my fanfic and I find it's a game character lumped in with the definitive ship personnel.

Aggravates the hell outta me. I never play online RPGs so I really couldn't give two hoots about what elements they take from the novels. As others have said, they should not dwell too long on the story and make sure the game play is good, otherwise all they've got is a very expensive piece of crap.

They should be considered as two separate entities.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I just wish Memory Beta would separate out the book/game continuities.

But there's not necessarily one book continuity. There are numerous comic continuities, too. So separating games would not resolve your dilemmas.

The key would be to ensure each factoid is correctly referenced as to appearance.

 

[BrotherBenny]

I just wish Memory Beta would separate out the book/game continuities.

But there's not necessarily one book continuity. There are numerous comic continuities, too. So separating games would not resolve your dilemmas.

The key would be to ensure each factoid is correctly referenced as to appearance.

I'm quite happy to use comic book characters in my fanfic, just not gaming characters. But yes, I agree, the gaming ones should be clearly labelled, like which security personnel on the Big E are from the games or novels, especially the ones which don't have pages.

 

[fleetcaptain]

Did anyone notice who the poster was? From what I saw it said Kestrel and if I remember correctly, isn't that a member name on here too?

 

[Therin of Andor]

I'm quite happy to use comic book characters in my fanfic, just not gaming characters.

Yeah, but you're not the only one Memory Beta is created for. I assume many RPG players utilize it often.

 

[BrotherBenny]

I'm quite happy to use comic book characters in my fanfic, just not gaming characters.

Yeah, but you're not the only one Memory Beta is created for. I assume many RPG players utilize it often.

And it would be easier for them to have a clearly defined section for the gaming characters, wouldn't it?