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Star Trek Online Interviews: Lore Interview
MMORPG.com's Jon Wood recently spoke to STO's Christine Thompson about the lore in the upcoming game.
By Jon Wood on December 29, 2009
Star Trek Online's Christine Thompson answer Jon Wood's questions about the lore in Star Trek Online and how the STO team managed to keep up with so many different sources of information.
| MMORPG.com: | We know that your writing and lore staff is familiar with all of the "official canon" from the Trek license, including films and TV series, but how do you handle incorporating non-canon aspects of the franchise like novels and comic books into your stories? |
| Christine Thompson: | We look at the soft canon like novels and comics, but we don't feel compelled to use everything from them. Some things, like the "Countdown" comic series, fit perfectly, so we incorporated it. Other things don't work as well. Also, since our game is set in 2409, we're decades ahead of the novels and the comics. We were always prepared to go our own way storywise because of that, and I think what we've done has worked. |
| MMORPG.com: | There is still some confusion for people regarding the current reality of STO. Why, in your version of the universe, does Vulcan still exist while Romulus was destroyed? |
| Christine Thompson: | Romulus was destroyed in what we call the "Prime Universe" - it's the universe that the shows and the series are set in. That event was what prompted Nero to what he did, and also why Spock used red matter to create an artificial singularity - he was trying to stop the chain reaction that destroyed Romulus. Spock and Nero were sent to the "Abramsverse" through that singularity, and that's where the events of the movie (including the destruction of Vulcan) occurred. For a full explanation, check out http://www.startrekonline.com/startrek_xi. |
| MMORPG.com: | What advantages are present in setting the game 30 years after the last movie? |
| Christine Thompson: | We picked 2409 for a few reasons. It's in the future of the timeline, so we get a chance to add new stories, new technology, new looks for some of the ships, etc. But it's close enough that we can have a lot of things that are familiar to fans of the shows and movies. Also, Star Trek Online is the story of the players. They're the heroes in this time. Moving forward means that Starfleet isn't always looking to Jean-Luc Picard or Benjamin Sisko to fix things. They're asking YOU to save the galaxy. |
| MMORPG.com: | What disadvantages present themselves in setting the game so far removed from any known Trek series or movie? |
| Christine Thompson: | I think the biggest disadvantage of moving ahead is the universe isn't exactly like fans of the show remember it. A lot of the personalities have retired or moved on. Earth Spacedock has been rebuilt. Some of the ship designs have been revised. That could be a problem, but it's also an opportunity. Any universe, whether it's Trek or the Champions Universe or even something set in the "real world," needs to grow and change or it will stagnate creatively. When TNG first launched, it was so different from TOS! A Klingon was on the bridge! The captain was bald! What was up with that? Ultimately, moving the timeline forward re-energized the Trek universe, and we got three amazing series in that time period. I can only hope that we'll have the same experience in STO. |
| MMORPG.com: | In the grander scheme of Star Trek lore, do you believe that the events of Star Trek Online will become official canon, or will it sit on the fringes in much the same way that many of the novels do? |
| Christine Thompson: | I think that's up to the fans. They're the ultimate judge of what they accept and don't accept in the Trek Universe. CBS has been great about working with us and we've tried to craft a story that fits in well with what's already there. As to what happens in the future ... being accepted as "canon" would be great, but being able to tell good stories and make a fun game for the players is more important to me. |
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| MMORPG.com: | Your "Road to 2409" lore series contains a great deal of political exposition. How will you make all of these subtle nuances obvious and known to players when they pick up the game? |
| Christine Thompson: | That's tricky. It's an MMO, so we don't have the sheer mass of text that a novel or TV series does. Some episodes of the different series are 47-48 minutes of solid dialogue, and you just can't do that in a videogame. We're trying different ways of storytelling to get the nuances across, and we have ideas about how to supplement what's in game with web content or additional stories. Fans of the Path to 2409 should be looking out for "Needs of the Many" by Michael A. Martin, which is the first novel set in the STO timeline. |
| MMORPG.com: | Why the decision to pitt the Federation against the Klingon Empire again? Surely there were other opposing factions that could have been considered? |
| Christine Thompson: | We considered a lot of different factions, or even creating a new one. But the Federation-Klingon conflict is classic Trek, and it's also a whole lot of fun. In addition, when we looked back at the end of DS9, we could see the cracks forming. The Federation and the Klingon Empire are different. They think differently, they react differently to stress, they respond differently when being challenged. Take the end of the fighting on Cardassia Prime as an example - Martok and Sisko had very different reactions to it. I think we took what was there and followed it to a logical place. That's not to say that Klingons are space orcs. They're not "evil," and we don't want to portray them that way. There's no right or wrong side in the Klingon-Federation conflict, and that's what makes it really interesting to me as a writer. |
| MMORPG.com: | What, in your opinion, are the basic elements and over arcing themes of Star Trek that you have tried to incorporate into your lore? |
| Christine Thompson: | When you look at more than 700 hours of Trek, you start to see a lot of themes and commonalities emerge. We've tried to use as many of those as possible to create a Trek experience for the players. Because this is an MMO, we're telling more than one story. Some stories blend into others. Others stand alone. This has given us the change to hit on a lot of different themes, rather than "this is about diversity" or "this is about humanity." |
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Overall, I think it was a good interview (thanks Jon). I am very glad to see that Christine (and the rest of the writing team at Cryptic) are really taking the lore of Star Trek seriously, but also finding freedom in creating brand new adventures and stories set in the future.
I agree with her when she says setting too many stories in one time period can get a little stagnant (yes, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, I'm looking at you - although I do like the animated stuff a bit haha).
Again, I'm hoping that this will be a really cool game - and if well received by fans, I think it would be awesome for the people at Cryptic to discover their new stories will in fact become "canon." I think that would be a great congratulations for all of their hard work.
Her comments on the Prime universe mirror my own feelings. I'm really looking forward to seeing more stories told in the established universe. The more I hear about this game, the more I look forward to playing it. January 12th cannot get here soon enough.
I am glad were not giving the Abrams move any foothold.
No. I believe STO takes place in the Universe where Romulus was destroyed
No. I believe STO takes place in the Universe where Romulus was destroyed
Yea I went back and reread that, and I am happy. The entire Abrams movie was bad news for the franchise.
How does a movie that pretty much revitalized Star Trek spell bad news for the franchise???
As a trekkie I have to admit I enjoyed Abrams Re-boot of the Franchise, not quite 'A Mirror Darkly' but still good to create 'Abramsverse' to allow himself to tell the story in a different way.
having said that, I am glad STO is in the Prime Universe, god knows what the future is like in Abramsverse
I for one, am GLAD they did the new movie. I am GLAD they did it how they did. There was -zero- way to -accurately- represent TOS characters with different actors. It just couldn't be done. This way, it's a whole new story, and we get to watch them grow again. It breathes new life into the story as things are different. If I wanted to watch the absolute original... I'd watch the original...
As for this game, I am also glad it's set in the Prime universe and timeline. It gives us more to be familiar with and doesn't interfere with the other timeline at all. No movies to come out to invalidate the story of the game. That was a major problem with SWG. It was in the middle of the story, we already KNEW how it was going to end.
This I feel is the much better choice, just as I always felt SWG would have done much better if it were set after the Episode 6, I think this is a strength of STO. Sure, there are naysayers who come in and try to say it's going to fail and whatnot, because manning communications would be fun! Getting destroyed because your engineer had to take a leak would be fun! Not.
People will always find something to complain about, no such thing as a perfect game for everyone. Never will be. Will STO be perfect? Nope. But it certainly looks to be fun and worth the price of a movie and a coke every month to me.
Wow... good post. I found myself amazed that I had been thinking similar things and agreed with absolutely everything you just said.
People... it's a game. Yes, it's based on Star Trek which we all know and love, but for goodness sake give Cryptic a chance to explore a little (that is one of the major themes in Star Trek, right?). As Pantheos said, the game will not be perfect - no game is - but it seems at least that Cryptic is willing to listen to the players.
There are some things I love that Cryptic is doing, others that I'm a little concerned about. But at the end of the day, it's up to us to try it out, highlight the strong points, recommend changes if needed, and then await Cryptic's response. If they would like a long running and successful game - I'm sure they will at least try to respond to the community of players.
And if the game really does stink - just stop subbing. At the end of the day, a game is about having fun - and that's really up to the individual player if they are having that or not. Just my 2 cents.
As an old Trekker I have to say that I love the "reboot" of the Franchise. I thought it was a great movie and I am glad JJ did it the way he did it.. I will NEVER understand all the hate over it... as to the article.. good stuff there Jon good stuff!!
I watched the new movie and enjoyed it for what it was: a "One Off"....all the movies will be. "Abramsverse" will never have the established lore we have in the Prime Universe and I am THRILLED to hear that the Prime Universe is the one we get to play in.
I cannot wait for this game to launch.
First off a big Brownie Point to Cryptic for NOT following that horrible Star Trek movie that came out last year. Gold ol' J.J. Abrams need to actually watch at least 1 star trek episode before taking the helm of a movie he obviously knew little about.
On the other hand Cryptic seems to be doing "we'll follow the lore if we feel like it" mentality.
They said they can't do Klingon language in the game, since there is no klingon linguists. Umm, they published an encyclopedia of english to klingon language about 20 years ago. It's pretty much standard fare for sale at any scifi convention.
Orions giving up their neutrality makes no sense. They were neutral throughout the original series, movies, Next Gen and Next Gen movies. Now, suddenly, after 200 years they are like "we're joining the Klingons, woot!". They valued neutrality since they could buy/sell to both sides.
Gorns wouldn't join Klingons either. They are terratorial, but rarely venture from their territory. They wouldn't care if the galaxy burns to a cinder as long as their backyard is left untouched.
I understand a pvp concept, but why not Dominion vs Alliance vs Borg? Kinda like the pvpve in Aion and would follow the trek lore better than what they're doing.
Hopefully I can get in the beta, as it stands now the idea of starship combat (good) is being countered by lore-errors (bad).