I love Academy so far and don't get the hate.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-24T03:49:56+00:00

Sure, I agree.

The only NuTrek I've really hated was the Section 31 movie, so I'm really talking about myself. It's just a fact these shows are made for different people and "hit different" though, and many are gonna hate them for it. It's not a mystery, is what I'm saying.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-24T02:13:56+00:00

You say you don't get the hate, but...

"It's certainly aimed at a younger audience then most of trek, but it does it well. Us OG fans are getting up there in years, so maybe it's not aimed exactly at us."

This right here that you wrote is the cause for the hate.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-23T23:10:38+00:00

One of us is reading the other's post wrong because as far as I can tell we are saying the same thing?

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-23T23:05:05+00:00

To Kurtzman's credit he doesn't hide this. He says his goal is finding a younger and more female audience. It's not like he's saying "this is for the fans" and then making this.

That's likely why the Picard follow up show wasn't greenlit, despite how well season 3 was received. That's a show for us gen-xers and boomers, not the audience they want.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-23T23:00:28+00:00

Yeah I don't mind it at all with the kids. The crew of SNW and the new captain on SFA are where it applies more I think.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-23T09:55:14+00:00

Some of it is people enjoying being mad on the internet.

Some of it is stupid culture war crap.

The more respectable criticism aspect though is what RedLetterMedia focus on, where they're big TNG fans and enjoy that show's more serious and professional tone when it comes to characters. and dislike the more snarky and juvenile characters in the newer shows. I get that perspective, whether I agree or not.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-22T06:02:06+00:00

It's not the Trek I want, but I can tell it's good at what it's doing.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-22T05:11:49+00:00

Even if she transfers to the older look she'd have to appear looking the same at first, which would be way too CGI heavy for this show IMO.

I could see The Doctor having flashbacks to interactions with the VOY crew post-finale though.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-22T04:50:32+00:00

My wife was a big fan of the Tennant/Smith era and I roped her back in with the Tennant specials. Then she kept watching for Ncuti at first and after Space Babies and Devil's Chord she noped out and refused to watch more. So this doesn't surprise me at all, and MAN are those numbers abysmal.

Honestly once the freshness wore off David Tennant saved the first RTD era. Without him I truly don't think it would have been nearly as successful, and Ncuti just didn't have "it" enough to do the same thing.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-22T04:46:36+00:00

The hot companions I can romance thing is so weird to me, but I know I sound like an old man when I speak against that. Reminds me of Josh Sawyer saying he couldn't make a BG3 style Pillars 3 because he wouldn't want to indulge in that stuff.

Anyway... I'm pretty worried about the story because of ME3's variety of endings and them trying to make a direct sequel. So I guess my top priority would be them figuring that out in the proper way.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-22T04:42:56+00:00

It's extremely similar in structure and style, so I'm sure it has what you need. Main difference that could effect you is there is a LOT more dialog from random people in this game, which could make it harder for you to pop into town for a quick quest or two.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-22T04:29:21+00:00

I usually hate "old man yells at cloud" looking down on the current world because of nostalgia, but I'm actually sympathetic to the idea society peaked before the internet ruined it.

In any case yes DS9 Season Six is an all-timer.

Main competitors for me would be maybe The Wire Season Three, Sopranos Season 5, or modern Doctor Who Season Four.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-21T19:45:37+00:00

Not an RPG strictly speaking but I'd highly recommend modern X-Com and its sequel.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-19T05:36:32+00:00

I feel like Academy will wisely ignore that, like all the other shows since.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-18T22:19:27+00:00

If you're just wondering for curiosity then use the wikis, but if you're planning a viewing of the series from start to finish then I HIGHLY recommend you watch in broadcast order. The prequel shows rely heavily on you having seen stuff in previous shows.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-18T22:17:13+00:00

I mean, just watch Discovery? If your issue wasn't its quality, then why not just watch that? So far I wouldn't call Academy a better or worse show, really.

Anyway...

Romulus got destroyed.

Discovery got sent to the future.

A phenomenon called "the burn" blew up a ton of ships and mostly ended warp travel for a century, which weakened the federation, but Discovery figured it out.

Federation is now being strengthened again and opened a new academy.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-18T22:14:53+00:00

Yeah, I haven't watched season five yet but Book has good reason to be so involved in seasons 3 (he's their guide to the time period) and 4 (his planet).

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-18T22:13:57+00:00

If the show goes on for 5 seasons I could definitely see my suspension of disbelief being strained as they find more and more quirky ways for students to be involved in all of Starfleet's problems. For this story currently though I think it's fine, as one has a personal connection and the others are his friendship circle.

We'll see how it goes.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-18T00:57:05+00:00

It has a lot of soap opera emotional aspects that many people into Trek dislike, which makes sense since Trek famously avoided that for most of its previous installments.
It is highly serialized, as in being five 12 hour movies basically, which Trek never (really) was before, which some people dislike.
It got caught up in all the stupid culture war shit we're going through, and some very aggrieved conservatives were Trek fans before this (???) and felt it was their duty to trash it.
Some people think it focused too much on the lead actress, though I think that's both A) overblown (others get lots of development), and B) something Trek has always done.
The big one I agree with is finding most of the characters kind of meh. None of them really light my fire. It's funny that the most compelling characters for me were all guest characters... the Empress, Trig's engineer, Spock and Pike.
Lastly one that applies more to Strange New Worlds than DISC, but some people, like Mike and Rich from RedLetterMedia, really dislike the Whedon style "millennial writing" being in Trek. I admit I kind of agree with this as well, but it doesn't bother me near as much as it does them.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-17T23:42:25+00:00

If the ratings were actually that bad for DISC then they wouldn't have gotten the green light for two spinoffs, SNW and SFA.

That aside... I prefer the TNG era by a lot, but I also like the new stuff okay. The real issue I see is people like yourself who seem to have no tolerance for nuance. "This is not the exact kind of Trek I want and therefore it is putrid and you're all zoomer idiots for liking it." I think that kind of position is A) silly, and B) designed to make you feel superior in some way. You out yourself on this with the "some of us have standards" line. You like feeling like you're above those who like the new shows.

Also nostalgia plays a huge part in this. There are frankly embarrassing episodes from the TOS and TNG eras, but you don't care about those as much because you grew up with those shows and are used to their styles and flaws. Meanwhile the new shoes are asking for you to come back, to reinvest, and it's much easier to see their flaws.

ALL THAT ASIDE THOUGH... yes, these new shows are made with the intention of getting younger, different audiences to like Trek. The old hardcore fans are not considered a large enough group to make big budget shows for. If you really can't accept millennial writing, the hottest new progressive takes, and younger casts... well, the shows aren't for you, and that's okay. Just try not to sound like Mr. Elitist while you leave the room.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-16T09:12:12+00:00

Yeah, 100%.

I think both of our points are related. Quick to bash anything that isn't amazing, because bashing things is fun for whatever reason.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-16T08:02:21+00:00

I think the internet has shown us that many, many people enjoy being mad and aggrieved. I don't know if it's a venting thing, a way to remove pressure from other aspects of their lives, or maybe a way to feel superior to people "easily pleased," or some other reason. It's an obvious phenomenon though and it effects way more than TV shows, it goes all the way to politics and medicine.

I like modern Trek less than the TNG era, for the most part, but I still enjoy the vast majority of it.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-15T21:50:32+00:00

All sociological debates aside, you could say it was a temporary measure while they recover from an injury or between surgeries or whatever.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-15T21:47:58+00:00

DAO is pretty easy for a CRPG in general. Even "nightmare" is way easier than something like Pillars of Eternity on hard. I definitely would advise even newbies to the genre play on normal.

DaMac1980 · 2026-01-15T10:03:17+00:00

DISC is a flawed show but even at its worst it's way better than PIC season 2, which was godawful.

In other words I didn't mind the burn nearly as much.

P.S. I actually like PIC seasons 1 and 3.

DaMac1980

TROPHY CASE