451 – Chabon's Instagram, Kenneth Mitchell, & Section 31 Battlecruiser | Priority One: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast

This week on Priority One --- Michael Chabon answers another round of fan questions, Shatner tweets, Simon Pegg talks Kelvin 4, and we send our support to Kenneth Mitchell. In Gaming news, we trek out the newest Promo ship, the Section 31 Command Heavy Battlecruiser …. Then, we look On Screen to episode 6 of Star Trek Picard - The Impossible Box

Of course, as always, before we wrap up the show, we’ll open hailing frequencies for your incoming messages

Let us know on social media like Facebook, Twitter, or by visiting our website!

This Weeks Community Questions Are:

CQ: Should William Shatner Reprise His Role As Captain Kirk, Either as a Cameo or in a Title Role A La Picard?

AND

CQ: Are you more likely to pick up the MACO or Wrath of Khan costumes now that they’ve moved to the Lobi Store?

TREK IT OUT

by Jake Morgan

Michael Chabon Hits Instagram...Again

Star Trek: Picard showrunner Michael Chabon chatting trek on Instagram is becoming a thing - and we couldn’t be happier! On February 26th and 27th, the showrunner, writer, author, and creator took to Instagram “Story” to answer some of the fans most burning Star Trek questions. While some answers were entertaining - like Chabon proclaiming Agnes his favorite Star Trek: Picard character or his pointing out Gorn easter eggs from previous episodes - others were more informative.

In regards to the perceived dystopian nature of the newest Star Trek offerings, Chabon was asked ”Is there a link between [Star Trek: Picard] (Federation downfall and [Discovery Season 3] (Federation gone)?”, to which he replied in part ”What Federation downfall? The Federation is still very much alive and well and home to trillions (quadrillions?) of safe, housed, fed, educated citizens with the potential to lead fulfilling lives. There was a crisis 15 years ago,in the wake of the costly Dominion War and Romulan emergency, which had a negative impact on the lives of many people, including most of our principal characters [...] From Admiral Clancy’s viewpoint,which is likely the mainstream view, Picard’s attitude was unrealistic, quixotic,and even dangerous. She may be right! They may both be right, and both wrong. But  that was fifteen years ago,and the Federation is still going strong. Perhaps in the eyes of some it lost its luster, its air of invulnerability, its claim to the moral high ground, a process that began during the DS9 times. That is hardly a “downfall”,though”

William Shatner...DONE With Kirk

Prolific tweeter and Star Trek star William Shatner did something shocking this week while prolifically tweeting - he said he was done playing Star Trek’s Captain Kirk. On March 1st, Shatner answered a tweet that asked ”Now that they have the series #Picard do you think they’ll consider a series “Kirk” for you? That would be pretty cool.” with the response ”No. I think Kirk’s story is pretty well played out at this point.”. The 88 year old Shatner continued in - you guessed it - more tweets saying “They could also do adventures in the ribbon...Yawning face emoji Sleeping face emoji [...] I don’t do cameos.It’s a throwaway part to sell DVDs”.

What do you think?

Simon Pegg on The Future of The Kelvin Crew

Simon Pegg sat down this week with gamesradar to talk about his latest project, “Lost Transmission”. While the down-to-earth indy film about mental health, which is due to hit US theaters this month, sounds intriguing... We really want to know about Pegg’s reprisal as Scotty in the JJ reboot Kelvin timeline Star Trek films! Well, it sounds like we may need a miracle worker to get that project off the ground.

Pegg told gamesradar ”The fact is, Star Trek movies don’t make Marvel money. They make maybe $500m at the most, and to make one now, on the scale they’ve set themselves, is $200m. You have to make three times that to make a profit.”.  Pegg went on to explain HIS thoughts on Beyond’s less-than-stellar box office numbers, saying ”I don’t feel like the last one… They didn’t really take advantage of the 50th anniversary. The regimen at the time dropped the ball on the promo of the film. And we’ve lost momentum.”. But it doesn’t sound like it’s only the studio that has lost the Star Trek fire ”I think losing Anton [Yelchin] was a huge blow to our little family, and our enthusiasm to do another one might have been affected by that. So I don’t know.”

Kenneth Mitchell’s ALS Diagnosis

In sad news, Star Trek: Discovery star and fan-favorite Kenneth Mitchell announced this week that he is battling ALS. According to the ALS Association, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease - is ”an always fatal neurodegenerative disease in which the person's brain loses connection with the muscles.”

The 45 year old Mitchell, who has played three separate Klingons in the first two seasons of Star Trek: Discovery, broke the news exclusively to PEOPLE, saying “The moment that they told us it was [ALS], it was like I was in my own movie. That’s what it felt like, like I was watching that scene where someone is being told that they have a terminal illness. It was just a complete disbelief, a shock.”

Mitchell went on to say ”I think it, over time, became the theme of us accepting this with grace. Trying to see the beauty in it, in a way. I’ll never forget, one of my Star Trek costars told me, because they had dealt with some trying times with illnesses and stuff, and I remember them communicating to me, saying, ‘You have a choice. You can look at this in many different ways, but maybe try to look at this like a gift where you get to experience life in a way that most people don’t.'”

We ask that you join us in sending support to Kenneth Mitchell, his wife, two children, family, friends,and loved ones.

Star Trek Online and Gaming News

by Shane Hoover

Section 31 Command Heavy Battlecruiser Promo Ship

Well, Captains, it’s time again to light a few candles on the old shrine to RNGsus, if you’re so inclined. Star Trek Online has announced the latest Duty Officer and R&D Promotion event, and along with it the latest Tier 6 Promotion Pack Ship. Beginning March 5th, players who open a Promotional R&D Pack or Promotional Duty Officer Pack will receive either 10 Lobi Crystals or a Special Requisition - Tier 6 Promotional Ship Choice Pack in addition to their R&D materials or Duty Officers. The newest grand prize ship is the Section 31 Command Heavy Battlecruiser, as seen in Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 finale, “Such Sweet Sorrow, part 2”. If you recall from the episode, this is the sleek quad nacelle ship whose hull peeled away into a swarm of Control drones. According to the announcement blog, “This vessel from Section 31 features a number of unique capabilities, including its Secret Mission tracking, its Forged Turncoat capabilities, Dark Mode, and its daunting Swarm Mode.”

Turning an eye toward the ship’s stats, this is a scaling Tier 6 Federation Battlecruiser with a 5 front / 3 rear weapons layout. The bridge officer stations are Commander Engineering/Command, Lt. Commander Tactical, Lt. Commander Universal, Lt. Universal/Intelligence, and Ensign Engineering. As a Command specialized ship, it also carries the Inspiration Abilities mechanic.

A new Universal console is included, the Forged Turncoat console, which will passively add Crit Severity and Weapon Power to your ship. When activated, the console will override the targeting systems of an enemy, causing it to attack its former allies with significantly buffed damage output. When the effect expires, the target is briefly disabled.

The ship’s Starship Trait, Secret Mission, looks like an interesting addition to the game. While the trait is slotted, every few seconds in combat an enemy will be marked as a “secret mission” target. That foe has lowered resistances to your attacks, and when destroyed, will spawn a swarm of Section 31 Drones to join the fight.

The last noteworthy features of the new ship are Dark Mode and Swarm Mode. Dark Mode, as with the previous Section 31 Science Destroyer, functionally behaves much like a traditional cloaking device. Swarm Mode, when activated, launches hundreds of fighter drones that automatically target nearby enemies. While in Swarm Mode, maneuverability is increased and hull capacity is slightly decreased.

Patch Notables

This past week introduced a number of quality of life improvements in the weekly Patch Notes. First up, a number of updated costume tailor options have been added. Next, to pretty much everyone’s joy, stackable items like Lobi Crystals, R&D items, Upgrades, and so on, have been allowed to stack up to 9,999 per stack. The per-character limit on Fleet Dilithium Vouchers has been raised to 100 million from 10 million.  And, perhaps the most exciting patch news, these hard-to-get costumes have been moved from the Dilithium Store to the Lobi Store:

The 22nd Century MACO Uniform - 300 Lobi

The Wrath of Khan “Scotty” Engineer’s Vest - 200 Lobi

The Wrath of Khan Excursion Jacket - 200 Lobi

The Wrath of Khan Captain’s Vest: 150 Lobi

So if you’ve been dreaming of those great MACO or Wrath of Khan uniforms, maybe they’re a little more in reach now!

EVENTS

Finally, after much waiting, our Console Captains are now into the first week of their 10th Anniversary Event! So, Captains, drop us a note on social media to share your progress or let us know what you’re enjoying about it.

For PC players, a new Featured Event campaign begins on March 5th with a return to The Battle at the Binary Stars. Participating in the Featured TFO daily will earn you Event Campaign progress points, as well as daily event rewards. Where previous Event Campaigns comprised of 3 Featured TFO events, this campaign will take place across 4 events spanning most of this year’s new content releases. Of course, with the longer campaign come higher Campaign Progress requirements. Instead of the previous 2100 progress points for completion, this campaign will require 2800 points. The rewards are revamped a bit, too, with two options available to players. Option 1 provides a C-Store Coupon for 100% off a single Tier-6 starship, plus 200 Lobi Crystals. Option 2 provides no coupon, but 1,000 Lobi Crystals as a reward. Both options are, of course, claimable once per account.

Earning 14 days of daily progress during the Battle at the Binary Stars event will earn captains the following rewards:

Universal Kit Module - DOT-7 Drone Fabrication

DOT-7 Non-Combat Drone Pet

25,000 Dilithium Ore

3 Featured TFO Reward Boxes (each a choice between 1 Spec Point or 1 Enhanced Universal Tech Upgrade)

Additionally, Bonus Dilithium payouts for Daily progress after event completion have been modified from previous events. Instead of tiered bonuses of 2,500 per day, maxing out at 25,000, the bonus begins at 8,000 Dilithium on day 1 and increases by a linear 1,000 Dilithium per day after that, with an unreachable limit. 

For a little reference, 7 days of Bonus Dilithium in the new structure will pay 77,000 Dilithium Ore, where the previous event structure would pay 70,000. For 14 total days of Bonus Dilithium, the previous system would pay out 237,500 Dilithium to the new system’s 203,000.  And for 3 full weeks of Bonus Dilithium payout, the old system would have paid 412,500 Dilithium to the new system’s 378,000.

In short, the new system is an improvement in payouts for players who complete less than 9 days of Bonus progress, or more than 27 days of Bonus progress after buying out the event.

PRIORITY ONE ARMADA NEWS

Join us for TFO Tuesday - each Tuesday we team up with other Armada members to earn marks and dilithium. 

Epsilon Fleet - kicked off it’s first Tier V colony upgrade.

The House of Martok 3rd Tier V Colony is available - just needs provisions and dilithium. 

Other Gaming News

Star Trek Catan Sale

If you’re looking for some tabletop Star Trek gaming fun, Walmart.Com is offering the Star Trek Catan board game for $43, which is $22 discounted from its usual $65 price. Based on the hugely popular Catan board game, Star Trek Catan brings the game into the Federation. As the game’s website describes the game, “On behalf of the Federation, you explore space with your starships and build outposts and starbases near valuable planets. There you extract important resources such as the coveted dilithium. But the Federation has also sent out other expeditions. Therefore, you have to be wary of competitors - and of the Klingons, who want to give the players a hard time.”