So STO is bringing in a lot of events from Star Trek history, and even folding in some events from non-canon novels in order to build up to the events of 2409. In my opinion, however, I would have liked to of seen more non-canon elements of the post-Nemesis novels brought into the game. After reading them, and enjoying the plots and character development of crews of the Enterprise, Titan, and Aventine, and the explanation of some of the political undertones of the Federation, it would have been nice for another non-canon media (in this case, a video game) to accept the events as actually happening. Unfortunately, for those of you who enjoy the Borg, this would mean there’d be no Borg in STO. Fortunately, for some of those TOS folks out there, this would have meant the rise of some TOS-era powers. In Star Trek: A Singular Destiny, a new political power in the Alpha Quadrant emerges, known thus far as The Typhon Pact which includes the almost-defunct Roluman Star Empire, the Tholian Assembly, the Gorn Hegemony, and some TNG races such as the Breen and Tzenkethi, and a TOS-era novel race called the Kinshaya.
Personally, I can’t wait for STO to be released. It will be a great addition to the Trek arsenal of entertainment, and continue a storyline those who haven’t been exposed to the novels will enjoy. However, those who have read the novels will feel a bit awkward with the events that have happened. It won’t seem like a complete universe since, at least in my mind, I’ve already assimilated the events into my Trek timeline. To me, the events of the novel universe happened, and are not at odds even with the new Star Trek movie. It works, put simply. I would hope, and I know Cryptic has a deadline for this game, that perhaps some of the game’s backstory can be rewritten to include more of the events of the novels. Since the game has not yet been published, it should be easy to rewrite some of the story to include things such as the Borg “reassimilation” by the Caeliar (perhaps maybe they missed some, and a new emergence of higher-functioning Borg such as those seen in Before Dishonor can reassert themselves) and the formation of The Typhon Pact as a new political power.
What are your thoughts on the disparity between non-canon events and those described on STO‘s timeline site? Do you think Cryptic should include more non-canon content from the post-Nemesis novels into their storyline since they’ve included some but not all of them? Do you think they should have followed an even stricter adherence to canon by not including events from novels such as the Romulan power struggle and the Bacco administration? Please feel free to discuss these questions in your comments below, and dont forget to subscribe to the RSS feed.
Recommended Reading/Viewing:
- Star Trek: Nemesis (Two-Disc Special Collector’s Edition)
- Star Trek: Articles of the Federation
- Star Trek: Titan: Taking Wing (Book 1)
- Star Trek: Titan: The Red King (Book 2)
- Star Trek: Titan: Orion’s Hounds (Book 3)
- Star Trek: Titan: Sword of Damocles (Book 4)
- Star Trek: TNG: Before Dishonor
- Star Trek: Destiny: Lost Souls
- Star Trek: Destiny: Mere Mortals
- Star Trek: Destiny: Gods of Night
- Star Trek: A Singular Destiny
[...] Star Trek Online: Canon or not canon? – jeffanderson.us|Blog [...]
For awhile,I was afraid Star Trek was a dying franchise. Then JJ Abrams came along. Great touch. The scene with kid Kirk was a tad too quirky in the movie, though it was amazing in the trailer. Star Trek XI breathed new life into this beloved Roddenberry universe. I’d like to see all of this Enterprise cast recurrence for extra outings. I was raised with the first series. Heck, my father got us a color Television just so we could see Star Trek every single Friday afternoon. Right now, I’m stuck on these new famous actors. In MHO, they have absolutely breathed life into their characters and made them their own. I, personally, am awaiting more.