G
Gonzo
Guest
There is talk that Chabon has confirmed Rikers ship to be the Curiosity class I (I haven't seen the message myself yet) but we may not have seen that particular ship in the episode even though we saw Riker on its bridge, I counted three distinctly different ship designs based on impulse engine and nacelle differences so even if one of them is the Curiosity class there are still at least two others, the other two could be modified sub designs of the class that Riker is commanding.It's not Avenger-class? https://sto.gamepedia.com/Avenger_Battlecruiser
Think of it like this, if they are just placeholders then we will never see or hear of them again so it doesn't matter, otherwise we should get some details about them sooner or later.
The Starfleet ships all looked to be about the same size (300-400m at most) based on bridge dome locations and number of decks, I looked to see if there was a ship that seemed larger than the rest (Rikers ship) but couldn't see one, all of them seem to be without a neck of any kind between the engineering section and saucer with no visible deflector dish which limits the decks to about 10 in total (maybe less), about the same length as the Intrepid class but with a much smaller target silhouette if attacked from the front or side.
In the big reverse panning shot we see both fleets opposite each other with La Sirena at the front, it makes it look like La Sirena is the same size as the other Starfleet ships which can't be correct as La Sirena is only about 50m long, which means we can't use the scene as a guide at all due to not being able to judge relative distances.
Riker's comments about him being on board one of the most powerful ships could be due to them being out and out warships, which would explain why they all seem to be so similar as they would be quicker to build and require smaller crews to operate than a big Explorer.
It makes sense as it frees up the actual Explorer ships to go out and explore.
Either way I like the new ships and as they become more advanced they seem to look more organic, they also seem to be moving towards having a much lower profile due to the removal of the neck between the engineering hull and the saucer and lack of deflector dish, this I suspect is one of the major reasons why some forum members are not keen on the ships at all.
Larger Explorer ships may still have the neck and deflectors but we won't know until they show us one.