The writing within the episode would seem to imply as much, though comments Matalas has made online seem to suggest otherwise. The impression I get is someone stepped in late in the game and reminded everyone about the Titan being on Lower Decks and there was a mad scramble to try to smooth everything out with limited time. Actually, not the Luna class but apparently some other Titan, from the early 24th century which was apparently commanded by Saavik.
It does feel like they’ve just show horned in this new design of a ship that was used 80 years before this crew was put together. A Luna Class would’ve been so much better imo.
It isn't a redesign of the Connie, it's a minor redesign of the contemporary fan design of the Connie.
No they used the STO game model. Which was also built by Tobias, that might be where the confusion comes from. Late 23rd. It was launched 2290. Though it could have served into the early 24th.
That doesn’t really change my point though. It makes little sense to have this design for a show focusing on the TNG cast imo. It would be like bringing back Avery Brooks and putting him in command of a Crossfield Class ship.
Makes sense to me. Starfleet wanted to harken back to a nostalgic era of starfleet exploration. The Luna Class would also mean nothing to people who never read the books or watched Lower Decks.
Indeed. This season is a reflection upon the history of Starfleet with Pioneer Days, The Neo-Constitution class, as well as the past issues coming back, i.e. whatever Vadic's raison d'etre is, among others. It's an historical look.
A Pathfinder Class would have made more sense. Voyager did more exploring than anyone and Seven served aboard her. Would’ve been a tie to someone in the cast at least.
Which would mean nothing to people who never played STO. Your reasoning for not wanting to Connie-III can be applied to any other design not from TNG.
It’s a refit of the Intrepid Class. Pretty easy to throw in a line about that, like they did with the comments about the Titan refit. Job done.
Connie-III is probably my preferred happy medium between 24th/25th century designs and the TMP refit. The Excelsior and Intrepid were close enough, but this new ship hits the right buttons for me.
The comments from him that I've seen are consistent with the dialogue and visuals - notably the gold models from Shaw's ready room that include the Luna class and the 'original' Shangri-La class Titan. It makes very little sense, but the intent is that Riker's Luna-class ship was rebuilt into this new "Neo-Constitution" class "refit"; "It is the Titan-A, yes. You’ll see in the season, that in the observation room we honor the previous Titans that have come before. You’ll see a gold model of the Luna class USS Titan as seen in Lower Decks, which was designed by Sean Tourangeau. And we even see a previous incarnation from the TOS movie era. We’ll see that there was a Titan that was a bit of a Constitution class as well, the original Shangri-La class [designed by Bill Krause]. So, the idea was that after the Luna class’s legacy run with Riker, that ship was damaged and retired. Some of the systems were refit and put into this new Titan, the Titan-A." https://trekmovie.com/2022/09/14/in...-rikers-roles-more-star-trek-picard-season-3/
And the Neo_connie is brand new, Atleast the Luna class has some past appearances and fans, where the Neo Connie has none. ( previious fans, I know people like it)
It's fine, but I wish they had given it less of an on-the-nose 23rd century saucer. They changed all other details to update the ship but unlike the saucer on the new Stargazer, kept the almost identical Connie/Miranda saucer. I also think the class name is needless fanwanking from Matalas to be honest. It's Neo-Shangri-La class, there's nothing Constitution about it except that (part) saucer, which of course was used on other classes too.
All fanwank is needless. At least this is a minor fan wank in a season of fan wank that appeals to my sensibilities.
I'll meet you all half-way. For decades, I've wondered what a 24th Century Constitution Class Starship would look like. Well, 25th Century now, but you get the point. I just didn't think we'd see it in Picard. But, since it's the only live-action series that takes place in this timeframe, and Terry Matalas wants to evoke the (good) movies, I'll take it. Technically, Picard and Riker are on a ship that isn't theirs. They're "borrowing" it. It's not theirs. So I see the argument of the TNG characters having no connection to the ship (other than it's called "the Titan") as a non-starter. The fact that it's not their ship and not what we associate with their ship is the whole point.
Oh yes, it's fanwank all the way down this season, and for as much as that improves the show (for me), I'll gladly take Starfleet having a midlife crisis.