Feb 28, 2020
This week on Priority One --- ViacomCBS tease more Star Trek in development and some changes to how we’ll consume them; Frakes talks about Directing Star Trek Picard; and a deep fake video emerges with Star Trek flare. In Gaming news, we go deeper down the rabbit whole and focus on a handful of Legendary Starships in Star Trek Online…. Then, we look On Screen to episode 5 of Star Trek Picard - Stardust City Rag
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:
CQ: How do you feel the new Legendary ships perform, compared to their existing T6 variants? Has your favorite STO ship changed?
AND
CQ: What do YOU want Star Trek’s next two shows to be?
TREK IT OUT
by Jake Morgan
Bob Bakish Hints at 2 New Trek Shows in the Works
ViacomCBS has big plans for streaming. But we’ll get to that in a minute, because they ALSO have big plans for Star Trek! In a live-tweeted earnings call held on Thursday February 20th, ViacomCBS Captain - Bob Bakish - said of the IP ”Take Star Trek as an example – a globally enduring franchise that we'll make even bigger. [...] On the heels of Star Trek: Picard on CBS All Access– which broke our records for total streams & subscriber sign-ups – we’re now taking the Star Trek franchise & extending it across the house. [...] Building on Discovery & Picard, we now have 2 additional series in production at CBS All Access & Nickelodeon, & 2 more series in development; plus, a series of Picard novels being rolled out at simon and schuster, & a highly anticipated new StarTrek film at Paramount Pictures”
Woah. Okay, let’s parse this. The series’ in production are likely Michelle Yeoh’s “Section 31”, Mike McMahon’s animated comedy “Lower Decks” and the Hageman Brothers’ animated Nickelodeon series, rumored to be named “Star Trek:Prodigy”. But what about the 2 series that are “in developement”? Well, rumors continue to swirl that Anson Mount will take the center seat for a Pike-led series...and evidence continues to...mount? When asked earlier this month what she has been up to, Pike’s number One - Rebecca Romijn - let slip to the Daily Front Row ”I’ve also been working on Star Trek here and there, but I can’t really talk about that.”. Then this week, gossip site Giant Freakin Robot reported that the Pike rumor was confirmed by 2 different sources - but you’ll need to take that report with a side of salt.
So even if Pike IS one of the two series, what is the other? Starfleet Academy? Khan? Something else entirely? And the movie - is this Trekantino or the Noah Hawley led maybe-reboot-maybe-Kelvin Star Trek IV? So. Many. Questions.
ViacomCBS “House of Brands”
ViacomCBS’ Bob Bakish announced the company’s newest streaming initiative, its three-pronged “House of Brands”. The company will leverage its ad-supported VOD service PlutoTV, along with its “broad pay” CBS All Access and premium Showtime offerings to bolster its streaming offerings. From the previously mentioned earnings call ”We will add significant content from Nickelodeon, ComedyCentral, MTV, BET, and the Smithsonian Channel – in addition to popular films from the Paramount Pictures library. And we will do this at scale -- to the tune of approximately 30,000 episodes of TV & up to 1,000 movies. [...] This differentiated offering will provide the powerful combination of live linear via over 200 local CBS stations, plus on-demand content spanning news, sports, films, dramas, reality, kids, & more.”
So what does that mean? Well, it means that ViacomCBS has the ability, and the interest, in leveraging all of its combined properties to bolster its All Access, PlutoTV, and Showtime streaming services. Now, the question - what will it cost US. We don’t know yet, but rest assured we’ll be watching for details.
Frakes on the Scene Roddenberry WOULDN’T Have Approved Of
This week on Star Trek: Picard’s fifth episode, “Stardust City Rag”, there was torture, murder, and revenge. But Star Trek royalty - and the director of the episode - Jonathan Frakes thinks that the late Gene Roddenberry would have had a problem with something else altogether - Interpersonal Conflict
Frakes spoke with the Hollywood Reporter about the episode, and in particular the scene in which Picard and Seven discuss how they never fully regained their humanity after assimilation. ”We never could have done [a scene like] this on our show”
Frakes clarified that he felt Picard honors “Gene’s Vision” [UGH], saying ”In this new version of Star Trek, which honors what Roddenberry laid out — in terms of the optimism and respect toward themes like racism — all of those elements are sort of strongly rooted in this show, but the notion of self-doubt, the vulnerability — especially for a [character] like Picard — the damage of past experiences, are so much more compelling to watch … It's a denser show than Next Gen, I think that's fair to say. Pushing Picard to these places, watching Patrick act that out -- and he was in the writer's room as they developed this story — it's all so rewarding to see”
Star Trek Online and Gaming News
by Shane Hoover
STO Legendary Ship Side-By-Side Comparisons
Captains, it’s a remarkably quiet week in gaming news. So let’s spend a little time looking at just how Star Trek Online’s new Legendary starships compare to their other T6 C-Store counterparts. This week, we’re going to look at two of them, so let’s dive in.
The T6 Assault Cruisers
First up, let’s look at Elijah’s favorite Star Trek ship - the Sovereign-class. This was released in the Legendary bundle as the Legendary Miracle Worker Assault Cruiser. And we’re going to compare it to the Tier 6 Fleet Intel Assault Cruiser, which is the highest tier version of the Sovereign you can buy from the C-Store. The weapons layout on both of these is 4 forward and 4 aft, so no difference there. The turn rate of the Legendary Sovereign comes in at 8 to the Fleet Intel’s 7, while both carry an inertia value of 40. So the Legendary ship handles a little more tightly. It’s also a little sturdier, with a slightly greater hull and shield modifier. Both ships have identical console item layouts, but the Legendary ship offers an extra Universal console slot.
Now, we get to the maybe more interesting differences in these ships. To begin with, the Legendary Sovereign comes with a total of +30 bonus subsystems power, split evenly between Weapon and Engine power. The Fleet Intel Sovereign, instead, comes with +20 bonus subsystems power, with +10 to Weapon power, +5 to shields, and +5 to Auxiliary.
Next, let’s look at those Bridge Officer layouts. Both ships' primary slots are Commander level Engineering slots, but the Legendary ship’s slot is also a Miracle-Worker specialized slot. The Legendary ship further carries a Lt. Commander Tactical, Lieutenant Engineer/Pilot, Lieutenant Tactical, and Lieutenant Universal slot. The Fleet Intel Sovereign’s other Bridge Officer slots are Lieutenant Commander Universal/Intelligence, Lieutenant Commander Tactical, Lieutenant Engineering, and Ensign Tactical. So, besides the specialization changes, the Legendary ship swaps a Lieutenant Commander slot down to Lieutenant in order to upgrade the Ensign slot to Lieutenant.
And, of course, the Legendary Miracle Worker Assault Cruiser comes with the Miracle Worker “Innovation” mechanic.
The T6 Defiants
For our next comparison, we’ll look at a favorite for all of our Captains out there who are Niners. Let’s compare the T6 Legendary Pilot Warship to the T6 Fleet Defiant Tactical Escort. This might be the biggest rework of a ship in the Legendary Bundle, because they’ve changed the entire type of the ship. Where the Fleet Defiant is an Escort, the Legendary Defiant is a Warship. That’s most obviously reflected in the weapon layout. The Legendary Warship has a 5 forward, 3 aft layout, compared to the Fleet Defiant’s 4 forward, 3 aft layout plus 1 experimental weapon. The older Fleet Defiant, as an escort, is a bit more nimble when compared to this Legendary Warship. The Warship, though, is a “tougher little ship” with an improved hull modifier; though, you sacrifice on some shielding when compared to the Fleet Escort.
In terms of consoles, the Legendary ship has 5 Tactical slots, 4 Engineering, and 2 Science, compared to the 5 Tactical, 3 Engineering, and 3 Science slots of the Fleet Defiant.
Both ships have Commander Tactical Bridge officer slots, with the Legendary ship’s slot specialized with Pilot skills. Both ships have a single Lieutenant Commander slot - Engineering on the Legendary ship, and Tactical/Pilot on the Fleet Defiant. The remaining three slots on each ship are Lieutenant seats. On the Legendary ship, these are Universal/Pilot, Tactical and Science. On the Fleet Defiant, they are Universal, Engineering, and Science.
The Legendary Warship also (FINALLY) gives the Defiant the Pilot Maneuvers abilities, and several optional bits of cosmetic Nose Art.
EVENTS
PC players can enjoy a Borg Red Alert event this weekend, February 27th through March 2nd.
And if you need to start a new Captain to fly any new ships, then next weekend is a great chance. From March 5th through March 9th, STO will have a Bonus XP weekend, with double payout available for skill points and experience.
PRIORITY ONE ARMADA NEWS
Join us for TFO Tuesday - each Tuesday we team up with other Armada members to earn marks and dilithium.
- We are on Discord! The Armada made the official move to Discord last week. So far it’s been great, there’s been a lot of people joining the server - we’ve even combined the podcast and Armada into one server.
- The House of Martok 3nd Tier V Colony is available - just needs provisions and dilithium.