Oct 11, 2019
This week on Priority One, we Trek Out Star Trek’s New York Comic con offerings, before heading to the Paley Center Red Carpet for interviews with the cast of Star Trek: Discovery! In Star Trek Gaming, #TrekOut the in-game events for Star Trek Online and the latest updated to Star Trek Fleet Command. Then, we look On Screen for our review of the latest Short Trek, "Q&A." Later, we hear from you in feedback!
Of course, as always, before we wrap up the show, we’ll open hailing frequencies for your incoming messages
Let us know on social media like Facebook, Twitter, or by visiting our website!
This Weeks Community Questions Are:
What was your favorite piece of Star Trek news from New York? Was it the trailers, the release dates, the newest Short Trek?
AND
Now that the new STO Patrol UI has had a little time to settle in, how do you feel about the new system and the new Patrols?
by Jake Morgan
If you wanna wake up in a city that doesn't sleep - then you go to New York City. BUT if you want to start spreading the news - well - you ALSO go to New York City. That’s exactly what Star Trek’s Discovery and Picard teams did for the Star Trek Universe panel, hitting Madison Square Garden on Saturday October 5th.
At 1PM Eastern, Discovery’s producers and stars, including Michelle Paradise, Heather Kadin, Alex Kurtzman, Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Mary Wiseman, Anthony Rapp, Wilson Cruz, and David Ajala, took over the Hulu theater at Madison Square Garden. While the team was - predictably - tight-lipped, they did shed a little light on Discovery’s romp 930 years into the future.
Series lead Sonequa Martin-Greene gave insight into the direction of the season, saying “That’s what so exciting about season 3 is that when we jump to this future that is full of uncertainty, like we’ve all been saying. We have to grapple with how that’s going to affect how we see ourselves, and then how we’re going to navigate this. And sometimes it’s ugly, and uncomfortable, and inconvenient, and hurtful - but duty calls.”
Trek rookie, David Ajala, told the Madison Square Garden audience that we’ll meet his character, Book, straight away ”Cleveland Booker, you’ll meet in the first episode. You’ll see early interactions between Cleveland Booker and Michael Burnham. It’s slightly unorthodox but very exciting”
But that’s not all! The Discovery team brought a goodie for the NYCC crowd - Discovery’s FIRST Season 3 Teaser Trailer!
The one minute and ten second video, which ends by promising the new season in 2020, can be found in our show notes!
We caught up with several of these Trek Stars at PaleyFest NY during a Red Carpet event! Let’s TrekOut our follow-up questions for Doug Jones, Sonequa Martin-Green, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, and Wilson Cruz!
A huge thanks to Sue from Women At Warp for rushing to the Paley Center after a panel at the Javits Center to back me up on these interviews!! Be sure to #TrekOut their latest episode featuring an interview with Kate Mulgrew!
But that’s STILL not all! Kurtzman referenced short treks, then said “Last season, obviously we had Captain Pike and Spock and Number One, and that was an incredible - I think - journey for everybody. And we heard you loud and clear how beloved those characters were and are, and so we did a bunch of Short Treks with them. The first one is actually dropping this very moment. It’s LIVE right NOW.”
And it did. But we’ll discuss that in ON SCREEN!
A schedule was also released for the remaining five Short Treks. Following the already released episode titled “Q&A”, … and will continue on October 10th with “The Trouble with Edward", November 14th with “Ask Not”, December 12th with “The Girl Who Made the Stars" and "Ephraim and Dot”, and will end on January 9th with “Children of Mars”.
At the end of the trailer for “Q&A”, fans cheered and, as seems to be the case EVERY time Spock, Pike, and Number One are referenced, there were calls for a Pike-led series with a response from kurtzman saying “Yeah. I love that idea. We’ll bring it to the board”
About 45 minutes into the panel, the Discovery team was tagged out by the Picard cast and crew.
Kirsten Beyer, Hanelle Culpepper, Heather Kadin, Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Alex Kurtzman, Sir Patrick Stewart, Isa Briones, Santiago Cabrera, Michelle Hurd, Allison Pill, Harry Treadway, and Evan Evagora took the stage - and said less about what’s to come in “Star Trek: Picard” than the Discovery team did of their show. The plot and characters of the highly anticipated series are under lock-and-key, but Sir Patrick brought goodies of his own - “Star Trek: Picard’s” SECOND trailer!
The team did spend a good deal of time sharing their memories of the show’s genesis. Originally, brainstormed to be a #ShortTrek featuring Picard, it immediately grew into something bigger. But, according to Akiva Goldsman it was a hard no from Stewart.
Alex Kurtzman: “Patrick walked in the room and was very reserved and gracious, as always, but very unsure.”
Akiva Goldsman: “Wait No No. He wasn’t unsure. He was sure. He said no.”
Alex Kurtzman: “He was sure about saying no. He was positively negative about the whole thing.”
Akiva Goldsman: “Yeah that was a No. I know a no.”
Later, Stewart spoke about the importance of ensemble --- and how, this cast truly came together … saying “Well, you have used the word that has been most important to me since an April day in 1987. I looked on every aspect of Next Generation as being ensemble based. And in fact that has been very much an indicator of where I was in my career. That the ensembles that I’ve worked with whether they were in the theater, or film, or television have always been, to me, like another character. What the ensemble actually amounts to. And so I think when we first met and talked in those early discussions it was my use of that word as the ensemble and the uniting of the group. Because here we sit. Well I can only speak personally, kind of in love with these people on my left...and of course the people on the right too. And that’s where the ensemble element comes from and it’s very important.”
Perhaps the most telling piece of the creative process they shared was about how they did not want this to be a TNG reunion show. Every character, every choice they made, had to influence and propel the story forward. “A big concern was we did not want it to be, and especially Patrick did not want it to be a TNG reunion show. And I think what you can even tell from the trailer, and what you’ll definitely tell when you watch the series is, we only brought people back if their story really mattered to the story we were telling. We didn’t want it to be like ‘Whoop, and then over here is Riker’, you know, because I don’t think the fans would have appreciated that either. And it was really important to Patrick, who obviously has long-standing, deep relationships with these people, that also if we’re going to go to them and say ‘join a show that’s called Picard’ that we give them something significant to do. And I think that you’ll see that each one of them has a pivotal emotional story to tell in our ten episodes.”
by Shane Hoover
Star Trek Online: Awakening, along with the new Event UI, Patrol UI, and new Patrols launches on Consoles October 15th. The Mycelial Crisis Event brings with it all of the rewards we’ve discussed on the show previously, like the T6 Elachi Qulash Frigate, 8 Elachi Crescent Wave Disruptor weapon packs, daily scaling Bonus Dilithium, and more.
The Kobayashi Maru is stranded and in danger… again! From October 17th through November 7th, Captains above level 50 on PC can participate in this Featured TFO Event. Working with a team of 5 players, complete at least three levels per day of this TFO to earn daily progress. Complete 14 days of progress to unlock the Event prize - a Kobayashi Maru Resupply Beacon Device. Details of the device have yet to be announced.
This week in Armada news - a couple more fleets, Alpha and Gamma are getting close to finalizing their Tier V upgrades to their colony holdings. Congrats to those fleets! Also, we have regular events, like TFO Tuesday and special events - like the Halloween Costume Contest - where we are giving away some pretty cool prizes
Today’s tip can help take some frustration out of a TFO that can be difficult for newer players or uncoordinated teams, specifically the Tzenkethi Front TFO. The initial objective of the TFO is straightforward: destroy some Tzenkethi battleships to steal their Protomatter bomb devices. Next, you must carry the bomb to within range of one of five Tzenkethi mobile bases and activate the device without being interrupted. This is where the object can become frustrating if you’re not prepared to work as a team. Even a single hit from a Tzenkethi enemy will interrupt your activation of the bomb device, making it a long and difficult slog to clear all five bases. But here’s how you can be a hero to your next Tzenkethi Front team. Before entering the TFO, equip one of these to your build: the Tethered Non-Baryonic Asteroid ship trait, the Graviton Displacer universal console, or the Tractor Beam Repulsor power with a Graga Mal duty officer to change the repulsor into a pull effect.
When your teammate picks up the bomb device, just escort them to the mobile base, trigger your equipped power of choice, and drag the enemy ships a safe distance away until the base is destroyed. You’ll want to ensure that you’ve built your ship with enough toughness to handle any concentrated fire thrown by pulling a group of enemies close to you, of course.
Step three, bask in the gratitude of teammates who appreciate your strategic thinking!
As a bonus, similar tactics can prove useful in other TFOs like Gravity Kills or Operation Riposte. Give it a try!
Early this week, the Star Trek Fleet Command social media outlets dropped a new video teasing the release of the Armada feature in the month of October. And within the game itself, details of the new system were outlined in patch 8.0 release notes. According to the patch notes, “Players use an Armada to band together with members of their Alliance to form a greater force that is capable of taking on tougher enemies.” These new enemies appear as Armada Targets within level 20 and higher star systems. They can only be attacked by Armadas, not solo players, and are immune to many combat bonuses and abilities. Defeat these Armada Hostiles to earn Armada Credits and upgrade your Armada Control Center. Leveling up the Control Center will unlock improved rewards in the Alliance store. Beware, though, because as you gather your Armada forces to attack the Armada Target, another Armada could arrive to attack you and take the Target for themselves. For full details, check the release notes in the in-game news system.