Actually I liked ds9, because ok yes it was based on a war theme by the end of it, still, even in the most peaceful places there is still going to be the threat of war from somewhere. Even if earth never actually felt the apressions of war, someone has to. There will always be someone who wants what you have or is afraid enough of you to try and get rid of you 1 way or other. The founders fear of solids because of how they were treated by the solids in their part of space, etc etc there's a lot of things you could take from ds9. personally I think it was very well written.
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Thomas Ward Sent: 17 April 2008 01:05 To: Gamers Discussion list Subject: Re: [Audyssey] STFC 2. Hi Dark, Well, technically both the Enterprise, NCC-1701-E, and the Defiant were created for more military type adventures. This is in large part do to the drastic changes in story line between Star Trek Next Generation and Deep Space 9. The Star Trek producers gave Star Trek a more violent and war-like story line which nearly killed Star Trek for most long-time viewers. The story focussed less on space exploration and more about the Dominion War and conflicts in the galaxy. With the introduction of Star Trek Voyager the producers realized long-time Trek fans, such as myself, enjoyed deep space exploration more than war, and Voyager saved what was good about classic Star Trek by focusing the entire series on deep space exploration and moroal issues that applies to us today. With the original Star Trek series, released in the 60's, the concepts behind the stories are definitely a product of the times. Most people were worried about the war in Vietnam, and the Star Trek producers dreamed of a brighter happier future for mankind. One where mankind reaches for peace, love, and searched for knowledge. While there were certainly military conflicts in the original series such as the Tholian Web, the Dooms Day Machine, and battles with the Romulans, etc most of the stories were about time travel and exploration. The City On the Edge Of Forever, where Kirk, Spock, and McCoy travel back to 1930's America, tries to show us that we will have to suffer much before we can learn to live peacefully as one race. Other shows like Space Seed, where the Enterprise rescues a lost shuttle and discovers it is full of genetically engineered outlaws from 21st century Earth, shows what greed, hate, and the desire for power will do to mankind if it is not curved. While the shows were created with a Sci-fi bent there are some deep messages behind the stories. When Star Trek Next Generation was released in the late 1980's it tried to carry on moral lessons as well as an exploration/Sci-fi theme. Sure there are some really cool war-like battles such as the fight against the Borg at the Battle of Wolf-359, the Klingon civil war, etc. However, like the classic Star Trek the Next Generation series was really about people and their personal problems with a Sci-Fi theme. In the show Sin's Of The Father they introduce Warf's x-wife, her desire to reunite with Warf, their unrequited love for each other, and then in an act of greed and hate Duras murders her before Warf and his x can come to a resolution of their personal problems. In a lot of TNG shows they get into deep moral and theological debates about Data. Even though he is an android is he a new type of life form, should he have all the rights as a human being, at what point does machines become like humans, Data's desire to be human, Data's desire for a family of his own, etc. One of the deepest and saddest lessons TNG offers is in Star Trek 10. I find it interesting that Data, aanandroid, he who wanted to be human, was able to be most human of all at the end of his life. He was able to show true heroism and self-sacrifice that is legendary. Knowing Picard was going to be killed Data rescued Picard, and died in Picard's place. There is a saying that there is no greater love than this than lay down your life for a friend. If so it is the mark of a true hero, and even though these are only made up characters we should not take such heroes in real life for granted. I can clearly remember sitting at the theater when Star Trek 10 was still playing at the movies, and my momentary shock, sorrow, and emotional attachment to that seen. I really thought Deanna Troi's performence carried the moment really well. The grief stricken look she gives as she stairs out into space in an instant of shock and grief knowing one of her life-long friends was gone. That is not the first time the STNG series had been able to get an emotional responce out of its audience. I can remember beeing around 10 or 11 years old when the TNG show, Skin of Evil, was first broadcast on TV. At first the show seamed like an ordinary weekly epasode. Troi's shuttle crashes, the Enterprise shows up to rescue her, but the show ends extremely sad. I remember crying my eyes out when Tosha Yar was killed by that creature that had taken Deanna Troi captive, and it was a senseless and pointless death as most deaths often are. Here was a young woman, in good health, who had escaped a slave world to become chief security officer for a Federation starship, was well liked by her fans, and she died in the line of duty. At the time I had a bit of a crush on Tosha Yar so I probably took the news of her death on the TV show harder than if it had been one of the other main characters. Anyway, with Deep Space 9 I liked the shows, but not as well as TNG or the original series. From season 3 onward the shows took on a more military bent to them. The Defiant was usually involved with some kind of military style adventure. When the Dominion War broke out the DS9 shows fell into a weekly occurrence of battle, violence, and military conflict. The spirit of exploration that was Star Trek's main feature fell out of fassion. Even people like my dad who liked Star Trek from the 60's onward said they killed the shows by making the show too war-like. So he didn't watch DS9 much. Realising their mistake the Star Trek producers put out Star Trek Voyager. What I liked about Voyager is it returned to the original Trek's theme of space exploration, comparing morality with reality, and people and their problems in space. Dealing with issues that apply to you and me. For example, one show really comes to mind. In one Voyager epasode Torres refuses a medical treatement from the ship's doctor because this particular treatment was designed by a Cardassian who discovered the treatment by experimenting on Bajorans in prisoner of war camps. That entire epasode explored the morality and immorality of using medical treatments that were based on people who were prisoners of war. Even today such a debate still continues in our modern world. In another Voyager epasode the Doctor's program was captured by some aliens and they set him to work on treating their highr class citizens. That epasode did a pretty good job of exploring the what ifs. What if you can't afford good medical care, do you turn them away, do you refuse to treat them, do you treat them without payment, is there such a thing as higher and lower class citizens, when it comes to giving out quality medical care, etc. That is a complicated issue which is very true in the United States right now. Since the U.S. doesn't have a national health care plan like Canada and the U.K. hospitals expect you to have some kind of health care insurance paid out of pocket or by your employer. For the most part most citizens have insurance of some kind, but what about those who don't. What about the millions of undocumented workers who have fled places like Mexico, got a job, and require mmedical care. Is it immoral to refuse to treat them, or does the financial situation of that kind of free care out weigh the need for basic humanitarianism. Does the fact that undocumented workers, are illegally heare, give us the right to refuse them any medical services. Such a case happened here in the U.S. a couple of months back. It made nation wide news. A Mexican woman was rushed to an emergency room. As soon as the E.R. doctors and nurses discovered she was in the U.S. illegally they flat out refused to offer her treatment. Before the matter could be resolved the woman died right in the emergency room untreated. Now, there are people interested in looking into the matter. Dark wrote: > okay tom, fair enough. well if that's the way it's got to go, I'd > personally > go for the enterprise E, sinse it could be involved in either combat > missions surrounding the dominion war, or exploration and investigation > missions, and could possibly imho therefore make for some varied gameplay. > > cool as the defiant is, I got the impression that it was a bit of a > combat > specialized ship, and while starship combat is fun, as we see on startrek, > starfleet have lots of other duties for their ships as well. > > Beware the Grue! > --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]