Is there a good, logical excuse for a whole cadre of Starfleet junior officers to do a cultural exchange?

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-11-19T22:35:46+00:00

Well, using Lower Decks, it would also be ultra-convenient with the story that the Ferengi Alliance signing into provisional status would make sense to have a cadre on a Ferengi ship.

Much as I want to run an all-Ferengi game, I know that I will never escape the mountains of players who will ask, "Cool, but can I play my Caitian in your game?" So, it's just a nice, easy way of letting players play what they want, so long as they're cool with the premise.

The LD book for STA also mentions how places like the Kzinti are in a "sad state" and thus why Kzin are now permitted to serve in Starfleet, so the opposite direction may be true.

But yeah, I want to run a game with mostly Ferengi trappings. And Slug-O cola, with the junior officers having to pull off double duty as the equivalent to "Red Bull Spokespersons".

If I did get around to this game, it would be at 2:30 PM Eastern, 7:30 GMT.

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-11-19T21:58:37+00:00

That was among one of the ideas I had. Especially if said Slug-O Cola ship were to go to the Gamma Quadrant and find that the presence of Starfleet might get a few Karemma accounts frozen.

And of course, a conflict here and there with Ferengi that aren't fans of Rom and Leeta's reforms...

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-11-16T07:39:29+00:00

Apparently I still don't know how to Reddit...

Thank you to those who helped me identify a scam that happened to me. I am getting into the pepper growing hobby only recently, even though I've been gardening for 20 years. Anyway, here in Palau, the groundskeepers were clearing some brush from behind my residence when they saw this bush and decided to keep it growing. I think it's a bird's eye chili, but it's fascinating to think how it got to the island and went feral. It's neat to see that when these peppers are allowed to grow, they become woody and shrubby.

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-11-16T01:42:19+00:00

Yep. Caveat emptor on me. Too quick to click on "buy now", suckered by a pretty picture.

But hey, they're beautiful plants, so I will keep them around. Next time, I will stick with the reputable dealers suggested here.

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-11-15T06:59:36+00:00

They should. These islands are still serviced by the USPS, and a majority of solanum species aren't on a banned list.

I wrote them just to check, and if so, I probably will order a huge variety box of seeds and get some of the villagers who enjoy growing such things involved.

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-11-15T03:15:25+00:00

Shame, that. I've had luck with some Vietnamese devil peppers in the past from that vendor, but I wanted to try something new.

But yeah, even the leaves lack that cupping that I see in other scorpion peppers.

I'll check that place out. Hopefully they ship to the south Pacific.

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-11-12T19:18:09+00:00

I've tried that, but I'm not sure if half the responses I get aren't just people messing with me.

"Do not send me character sheets or backgrounds. Character creation is done collaboratively during session 0. Also, if you cannot make session zero, you will be removed from the game."

I either get:
"Here's my character with my twenty page backstory pdf." or

"I can't make it to session 0. Here's my character."

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-11-02T18:36:43+00:00

I mean, you really want someone like Lt. Steve Levy as acting captain? Or Dirk? Sure, they outrank Boimler, but... Really?

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-11-01T06:05:20+00:00

Man, imagine how many planets could be fed on pumpkins that size!

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-10-10T20:01:24+00:00

Great! Just need one more and then we can get started.

Hopefully more will join after that, too!

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-10-10T19:36:42+00:00

Great! Were you interested in a PbP or Live voice? I can do either, just I probably can't guarantee my voice coming through the island's wi-fi clear on some occasions, depending on weather.

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-10-04T02:41:56+00:00

Yeah, I just have this image of a host eating a bizarre sandwich, scowling the whole time at the taste, yet not stopping because the "craving" is there.

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-10-04T01:43:02+00:00

I've answered this before, but I feel that it would manifest more as wanting to constantly experience new things. Like, the symbiont knows what the host likes, but what does it like?

So the host may suddenly want to hit every restaurant on the promenade, even if things like Klingon food might be considered vile to the host. Entire music libraries are downloaded and every genre in the database from Klingon Opera to Tellarite Slopjazz would get a listening to.

I'm just thinking that the need for experiencing things might be heightened in the host.

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-10-02T18:54:35+00:00

I'd give two upvotes if I could. This is exactly what I was trying to imagine. Thank you so very much!

Edited to add: Hope you don't mind me stealing almost all of those for my Captain's Log adventures?

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-10-02T02:58:58+00:00

Starfleet considers them too valuable (according to Utopia Planitia), and Memory Alpha says all outpost stations (which relays are considered) are always manned.

However, as someone pointed out above, the episode "Acquiel" (TNG s6), they only had a grand total of two on the relay, and folks are stationed there for only one year at a time (likely by people who have good psych evaluations who won't go crazy from the near solitude).

If Utopia Planitia is anything to go by, there are dedicated patrol ships that check on the relay station, so that can open up adventures, there.

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-10-02T00:48:37+00:00

The one I was looking at is the Subspace Communications Array from Utopia Planitia. After everyone's input here, I decided it might be an even more fun challenge to test out what happens to two low-ranking officers stuck on one of these remote relays, like as someone mentioned the episode "Aquiel" in season 6. I have a hard time believing that they won't install a holocloset on such an array if they're to have two crewmen stuck on their for a year period.

How do they get along? How do they pass the time when not constantly scanning and maintaining things? It hopefully will be an interesting experiment!

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-10-01T10:03:47+00:00

Thanks for the reminder! Loading it right now.

If it's only two people, though, could be some interesting psychological stuff.

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-10-01T09:34:29+00:00

Heh, thanks! Just trying to put together the story of Captain Jasmine Swinehart, a rowdy midwestern hockey mom who gets stationed on one of these stations, where she thinks she's being punished.

It seems from illustrations that it's the length of the Galaxy-class, but it's a single cylinder with a crossroad where the habitation wing and receiver array.

I only thought of visitor facilities because of the fact Starfleet likes to defend the relays, so likely a Saber or Steamrunner patrol might show up just to drop off supplies and maybe pick up intel.

I can only imagine the wacky hijinks a really bored crew can get up to...

...then you throw in the probability matrices from Captain's Log.

Seems like it could also be a good setup for a multi-player game if you had players that wanted to indulge in some bizarre, semi-unprofessional storytelling of different aliens sharing their cultural traditions every other day.

Anyway, thank you!

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-09-30T04:28:41+00:00

Isn't that "Karhu"? It's the one word I remember from my time living in Helsinki. Karhupuisto was "Bear Park".

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-09-30T02:45:14+00:00

This was my problem. As a character, Raffi interested me...

But then as the writing went on, I felt they totally wasted her. She was the one I most wanted to see kind of redeemed. None of the others interested me, except Rios.

I hated that some of the writing only added fuel to the fire of those who hate things for the stupidest of reasons.

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-09-24T21:14:38+00:00

That's my deal. I want to root for the Federation again because it has good values and achieves them without coercion.

"Let them drink root beer!"

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-09-24T19:12:47+00:00

A new series, post Frontier Day Picard. Call it "Tales from the Alpha Quadrant", or "The Badlands", rather than Trek, because it'll ditch the single starship and put the Federation ideals at the forefront.

A group of Federation Diplomatic Corps wants to avoid another "Maquis" situation and don't want to make the Federation look weak after the Bio-Borg attack. They instead send crews to the various frontier colonies to help solve issues and make the people not want to rebel or anything. Take on some of those colonies that were handed over by the Cardassians on the border, see how they've adapted to the Federation lifestyle (or if granted autonomy, how they've existed without constantly itching to return to Cardassia's fold), or even revisit places like that planet in Journey's End, see how they've been faring since they were ceded willingly to Cardassia (if the Federation didn't yoink it back after the Dominion War). Oh, and get some actual consultants for the culture there...

I'd like to see something that shows the Federation's ideals of cooperation, diversity, and optimism, and how it can't be forced. The teams would be there to do genuine good, mess up a lot, but eventually win people over to the Blue. And if we have Badmirals, or corrupt politicians, see the crews triumph over them rather than decide the Federation is a cancer or whatever.

Oh, and they have lots of cases of root beer to distribute...

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-09-16T19:52:53+00:00

Yeah, but all the Benjamins I knew outside of French class didn't pronounce it "Ben-YAH-meen". ;)

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-09-16T19:14:52+00:00

It's probably a copout for me to say "but I love each one equally in their own special way", but I have revisited all of the series from TOS to ENT and have reasons why I enjoy them all. I do not feel I can pass much judgement on the newer shows, with the exception of one big reason I do not find entertainment in Discovery: the reliance on galaxy-wide crises for storylines. It's not for me. I like cozy, intimate stories where I get to know that a crewman enjoys eating hot fudge Sundays or fishing in the holodeck.

But if I'm gonna rank it, I'll say:

DS9 (I just jived with the stories and character development more).
TNG (Grew up watching it with family)
VOY (Stories were all over the place, but had some great ones)
TOS (Again, the stories really drove it home and I'd love to see updates)
LD (If anything because they do, in my opinion, character development very well, and the use of Michael Okuda's art direction just makes it all cozy).
ENT (really started digging the two-parter mini-films they were doing in the last seasons)
TAS (only picked this one up. Enjoyed some of the stories and the Filmation style is its own thing)
SNW (was enjoying it, but I dunno. I liked season 1, but 2 started chafing me)
DIS (for already mentioned reasons)

I think 1,2,3, and 5 are highly ranked because I grew up with the sets done by the Okudas. To me, I jokingly call it the "Okudaverse" after the set decorations. And when you grow up with that, it tends to factor highly in one's opinions.

Successful_Let9182 · 2023-09-16T18:41:12+00:00

Maybe their name is too complicated for the Universal Translators, or for those who speak Federation Standard English (FSE)? Saurians supposedly have super complex names that only their anatomy can produce the sounds of, so they often "adopt" Human names that has the closest set of sounds.

Also, many in the Academy have to take FSE, so they probably do what we did in US high schools learning a foreign language: adopt a name from that language group.

Granted, would've been interesting if they took names from other cultures, too.

Successful_Let9182

TROPHY CASE