Nolgroth

When Harley Quinn is portrayed as more heroic than WW or Superman, there is a problem.

You're doing that now! You're on the Internet, aren't you?

That's truly horrific. I am also an evil person because the very first thing that sprang into my mind was Grandma Got Eaten by a Gator sung to the tune of Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer
 
I am so going to Hell.

Probe?  What kind of tac officer are you?  Arm photon torpedoes!
 
 

Maybe it's down the street from One-Eyed Willie's

After seeing various pics and videos plus reading on forums and comment sections, here is my take.
 
On the paywall. 
For me it just won’t happen.   CBS literally does not have enough of interest for me to be nickeled and dimed yet again.  Game of Thrones is one of my favorite shows in not just years, but decades and I do not subscribe to HBO. 
 
As a note.  Everything is affected by “Form follows function”, even rubber science.   Once you define something such as ship design, you need to follow those restrictions or you destroy the audience’s ability to suspend belief.
 
On the uniforms.
 
Enterprise was Starfleet in its infancy and straddled the formation of the Federation.  And yet their uniforms display the Departmental colors in the piping.  
TOS uses the same colors in its shirt colors.
TNG, DS9 and VOY all use the same colors with a minor color switch. 
I made a career in the Navy and the uniform progression and changes are all plausible and are believable. 
 
Now we have STD which is advertised as being in the same universe timeline as ENT/TOS/TNG/DS9/VOY, occurring after ENT and before TOS.   But where are the solidly established Departmental designation colors?   Military and Semi-Military organizations, especially naval analogs where Captains will operate in environments where the communication lag is measured in months if not years, depends on firm customs and traditions.  No organization is going to completely abandon a core organizational doctrine and then magically readopt it.   Just not plausible.  Just not believable.   Major crack in the ability to suspend belief.   If you are going to reboot the ST universe, just say so.
 
On the “new realistic gritty outlook”. 
 
The fact that Starfleet personnel acted as they did despite the dark gritty universe they lived it is what made the Star Trek Universe, Star Trek.    The shipboard Treks all showed this as the crews adhered to the principles.  DS9 was great because it showed the difficulty of remaining true to Starfleet principles when you lack the insulating distance of being shipboard.   Remove the Starfleet Ideals from Starfleet and you have what?
 
On the new ship.
 
Form follows function.
 
Enterprise = saucer plus two balance nacelles.
TOS/TNG/VOY = saucer plus engineering hull plus two balanced nacelles
DS9 = introduction of radical new ship design that integrates all these into a single tight hull that also encloses the warp nacelles.
 
All through the series it is noted that Starfleet technology and ships maintain an overall superiority over other designs that do thing like integrate nacelles into the hull and so on.   Such as Romulan and Klingon designs.  While they have advantages they also have drawbacks. 
 
And now here comes STD.  It looks like a stretched old Romulan warbird flattened and stretched to a point with a saucer slapped on it.  But that is not the major issue. 
 
Form follows function. Enterprise (ENT) to Discovery (STD) to Enterprise (TOS) to Enterprise (TNG) to Voyager (VOY) just doesn’t track as a natural progression of Starfleet technology. 
 
As for the really stupid arguments desperately trying to say people who do like what they see also want 1960’s sets on STD.  They are just...stupid.  What people want is something that could fit in the already depicted designs.   ENT did a fine job of a plausible setup that was ahead of the present technology, but less developed the TNG and on.   STD looks like they may be going down the same road, which if true is a plus.
 
On the Klingons
 
I don’t know why they need to make yet another change, which is going to be hard to fit into the professed timeline.   How do they explain the normal Klingons (ENT) morphing into these Klingons (STD) and morphing back to Klingons (TNG/DS9/VOY)?   I understand they are near the early movie designs.  But the TOS and early movie designs were liek that because of the technology.  ENT through VOY established what Klingon's had always looked like now that we have good makeup tech.
 
 
On the whole, I am fully onboard with changes prompted by better industry technology and methods.  I am fully onboard with pushing the boundaries of entertainment.  But from what little I have gathered, there are too many changes for the sake of making changes and little to no effort to add to the Star Trek concept as a whole.  If you want to make a new scifi show, do that.  But don’t slap a recognized name on something and then go off on a  tangent with a few shallow nods.   It amazes me seeing people who attack critics of the new ship interiors and ramble about 1960's TV Tech are also the people that seem to think regressing to 80's makeup for the Klingon's is somehow great? 
 
For Star Trek Discovery?  My contact will be via Disc or maybe Netflix some year down the line.   I predict it will struggle through the first year, be renewed for a second season out of shear stubbornness by CBS.  But without a radical restructuring and a miracle it will end there and fade into obscurity as a minor cult show that cannot actually pull a true fan following.  

When I got home from work, my dog kept "hugging" me (leaning with all of her might into my legs). She's such a sweet, loving animal that adores me. Very few things in this world bring me that sense of joy.

Congrats! 

I also have to say I'm disappointed by the comments from Democratic party officials in the aftermath of their loss in the Georgia special election. Their emphasis sounds to me very much like, "What strategy do we use to beat the Republicans and regain power?" I don't get any sense that they're thinking, "How do we regain the support and trust of our voters that we've obviously lost?" No consideration of their past and present conduct, or their obligation to good governance and serving the public, whether or not they're the governing party.
 
I don't know how to make both parties understand that responsibly representing their constituents and executing the functions of their offices are the surest routes to becoming the party in charge. That's what we cast our ballots expecting to see. Nobody's voting for them to watch them play their power games in a Washington vacuum.

You left out the "with knife" part there. Two, according to the article.
 
Seattle needs to look at its requirements for less lethal force. According to local radio, Seattle PD officers have a choice of carrying (at least, I assume, since I've seen cops carrying all three in Seattle) one of three less lethal options (Taser, pepper spray, baton). Both officers appear to have chosen baton. A reason given by several officers interviewed by the local talk radio guy is legal complications for Taser (stats showing more likely to be sued), and pepper spray blowback. IMO, both of those reasons are BS, but they seem to be the prevailing reasoning of officers in Seattle given the choice of what to carry.
 
IMO, police should be required to carry either the pepper spray or Taser in addition to the baton. You don't fight a knife with a baton. In this case, I probably would have myself, but it's unreasonable to ask officers to risk getting knifed by going into melee with a knife. That only left these officers with their sidearms as a response. I think had they had pepper spray or a Taser, they could have settled it with no loss of life.

Well yeah, and despite my own distaste for Seth MacFarlane, his work seems to be immensely popular with the general mass audience. So yeah, good luck competing with all that CBS. We'll see just how far that new Star Trek goes once it fades to obscurity.
 
As to Orville, I won't be joining the inevitable legion of fans this show is going to amass. The trailer screamed "I want to be cool like Galaxy Quest" while missing everything that made Galaxy Quest awesome. So, two science fiction shows that are wasted on me. That's kinda sad. Sometimes it sucks being so persnickety.

Feeling rather out of sorts today. 
 
Not motivated at work.  Luckily, I don't have anything with an urgent deadline, but even so I'm pushing myself do to anything useful.
 
Not too motivated at home, either.  Maybe I'll copy my wife and daughters, and just wait for household chores to magically do themselves.  (And since I'm typically the one who "magically" does them, I bet I'll be waiting a long damn time.)
 
Not even motivated at gaming.  Can't seem to decide what the next Champions adventure is going to be.  Also a tad irritated -- one of the players wanted to run a D&D 5th edition game, but we were already alternating between my Champions and another guy's D&D 4th edition game.  I said okay as long as either my game or the D&D 4th game ends, and the guy running the D&D 4th game offered to end his.  But that hasn't happened yet, not sure how long that's going to be either, so we have now three games alternating.  Good thing I don't have an idea of what to run, because it's looking like I won't run again until mid-July -- and my last time running was in May.  Grrrrr....
 
Irritated with people at church being stupid - it's turning from a church into a glorified book club with one really good book that too many people act like they've never read.
 
On the way in to work, I mentioned to my wife that I'm feeling out of sorts, and she immediately said, "I know what you're talking about" and then launched into everything about her.  Got news for you, honey.  Misery doesn't love company.  Misery would love for you to shut the **** up.
 
And like Nolgroth, I'm sick of people all over this world being too damn stupid.  I swear to God, if alien invaders came to wipe humanity off the face of the earth, I might just cheer them on.

Unfortunate is a good word. The economic downturn was pretty horrific, especially to small press games like Hero. Equally unfortunate was the decision, on Hero Games part, to just give up. E-publishing is a much less desirable alternative to traditional methods, but it was something that may have kept Hero Games a little healthier than it currently is.
 
Of course, this is "Monday morning quarterbacking" at its finest.

Unfortunate is a good word. The economic downturn was pretty horrific, especially to small press games like Hero. Equally unfortunate was the decision, on Hero Games part, to just give up. E-publishing is a much less desirable alternative to traditional methods, but it was something that may have kept Hero Games a little healthier than it currently is.
 
Of course, this is "Monday morning quarterbacking" at its finest.

I want Hero to make a fully realized fully built out Fantasy World. Including Spells, Fighting styles, History, Full color maps, Hero System rules. Everything but power building rules. Everything that a GM needs to run games in that fantasy world. It could be a Rulebook and a Gazetteer style book (ie Pathfinder Core and Inner Sea World Guide). I would also like to see the same thing done to Superheroes. the idea would be for the writeup to be minimal nothing extra and to keep things very simple. Self contained would be the watchword. GM's wanting more customization would be pointed at Champions Complete and Fantasy Hero Complete. Writeups of all equipment, spells etc with all of the costs in them would be available using Bits & Mortar service.

Also something that crosses Savage Worlds Plot point campaigns with Paizo's Adventure path. ie Something that has a strong plotline, but also has some side adventures/quests for variety. Because adventures actually drives sales of other books. GM's need adventures and campaigns. Making it easy for the GM to run will generate sales of the books because they will want to run the game.

I would also love to see more Champions Miniatures. Perhaps WizKids can do some HeroClix of the Champions Universe characters.

 

No it is not. What adventures can do is tie all of that background material into a presentation that makes all of that information into something relevant to the player, especially the player who is not the kind to get absorbed into the lush background information provided elsewhere. I personally agree with you that a setting is more than any one of the components that comprise it. It is the whole enchilada and lacking one or more ingredients deprives the setting of the vital essence that makes it resonate.

A setting developed with full support like Forgotten Realms or Golaron. Not just the monolithic setting product, but Gazetteers, Grimoires, Bestaries, Treasures, NPCs and, most of all, prefabricated adventures to tie it all together. If I am dreaming big, I want poster maps, high production quality and extras like miniatures and reusable map assets. Take a look at Paizo. Now rip out Pathfinder and stick Hero in there. Not necessarily the same setting, but certainly the same benchmark.

A Pathfinder-style Adventure Path (obviously named something else) is almost paramount for any genre or setting. Champions, being based on comic book heroes, absolutely lends itself to that sort of thing. We have them all the time in our comic books.  Flashpoint, Civil War, Fall of the Mutants, Secret Wars, and the list goes on and on. Each of those concepts would translate pretty damn well into a series of interlinked encounters and events. Of all the settings that Hero Games has, Champions is probably the most natural to use that style of adventure.
 
For smaller adventures, those two or three issue story arcs would also work out real well.

More like the age of far-<fill-in-the-blank> terrorism, but sad regardless. We deserve better from our society.

FH Campaign Setting as detailed and interesting as Harn.  Fully detailed out history for multiple kingdoms, cultures, travel, food, economics, cities, magic and lore.  A campaign setting is not a series of adventures, it is a place with a history and feel that makes it come alive.  The best campaigns I have played in and run have come from a campaign setting with a solid foundation to build upon.  Once that is done then encourage the writing of adventures (single shot or series) that are played in the setting.  There might be some 'rules' around how much an adventure can change the setting or history.
 
And if you really want to go hog wild make it possible to use the setting and adventures with Realm Works
 
Miniatures would be awesome - especially female miniatures that don't look and dress like strippers.

Yes. But Hero actually has some good Campaign Settings. They just stopped at the initial reference/world boiks and never actually put out any actual campaigns.
 
D&D rules (the rules)
Adventures on the Sword Coast. (Campaign Setting)
Storm King's Thunder (Playable Campaign)
 
Fantasy Hero (the rules)
Tuala Morn (Campaign Setting)
?????? (playable campaign)
 
Unless you learn Hero from another experienced Hero player/GM, it is a difficult system to conceptualize compared to pretty much anything else out there. Easy once it clicks. But not so much without a fully realized example.

A true multi-genre/cross-genre campaign and campaign setting supplement.  This would likely mean some sort of cross-worlds overarching setting and campaign framework, with sub-settings (other planets, other dimensions, other time periods, etc.; whatever fits the overarching setting) that are more genre-specific.  The intent would be that gamers could either play groups of characters from the same genre, groups made up of characters from assorted genres, or some mix of both.  I think the Special Effect-driven nature of the Hero System (where very different-seeming characters can interact mechanically very easily) would really shine in this sort of setting.  

A setting developed with full support like Forgotten Realms or Golaron. Not just the monolithic setting product, but Gazetteers, Grimoires, Bestaries, Treasures, NPCs and, most of all, prefabricated adventures to tie it all together. If I am dreaming big, I want poster maps, high production quality and extras like miniatures and reusable map assets. Take a look at Paizo. Now rip out Pathfinder and stick Hero in there. Not necessarily the same setting, but certainly the same benchmark.

A Pathfinder-style Adventure Path (obviously named something else) is almost paramount for any genre or setting. Champions, being based on comic book heroes, absolutely lends itself to that sort of thing. We have them all the time in our comic books.  Flashpoint, Civil War, Fall of the Mutants, Secret Wars, and the list goes on and on. Each of those concepts would translate pretty damn well into a series of interlinked encounters and events. Of all the settings that Hero Games has, Champions is probably the most natural to use that style of adventure.
 
For smaller adventures, those two or three issue story arcs would also work out real well.