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[SuperginraiX]

I vividly remember seeing Star Wars when in 1979 when I was six during it's theatrical re-release.

I remember walking out of the theater thinking the world had changed.

Hab

I wish I had an experience with the movie like that. I mean, I had fun seeing it. I was with friends who had definitely seen in a million times before it was released on VHS a year or so before the Special Editions hit the theater. It got me very excited about the franchise and Empire Strikes Back is still a fantastic movie.

But what I have in my childhood is a best friend who got all excited about the show and made me watch it back in third or fourth grade. On one of those stations that only came in if you got the special antenae from Tom Thumb or something. We used to pretend we were characters from the show and visit alien worlds. And shoot imaginary phasers. Stuff like that makes me a life-long fan.

It doesn't hurt that my wife digs Star Trek, too.

I'm sure if I had watched more than Jedi growing up, I would have gotten in more lightsaber battles but the thing I remember most about going the Jedi? Buying a Crimson Guard soldier afterward with the money I had saved from not buying any snacks. G.I. Joe had already swallowed my soul.




I know you weren't trying to tell me Star Wars was a better franchise but I liked the lead in to go down memory lane.

[Herald]

Gotta go with Trek.
It's provided a LOT more quality entertainment for me -- in TV, movies, and books (comic and otherwise) -- than Wars.

[False Prophet]

I wish Trek's video games were as good as Star Wars', though.

[The Shadow]

Both Shatner and Fisher are clearly having fun with this "debate", and I think it's funny.

But to be honest, I've never understood how any fan of science fiction could love one franchise and hate the other. As a kid, I liked both. As an adult, I've come to believe that maybe they each have differing appeals. But I still don't understand how that translates to selective hatred. I mean, if you dig sci-fi, I don't understand how you could utterly love one type but utterly hate others. One type of sci-fi might not float your Speeder...okay. I get that. That all depends on your point of view. But hatred seems illogical.

So, I've determined this; if you hate one and love the other, you are fucktarded. Clearly, you must learn to govern your emotions, because hatred leads to suffering.

This 100%

Some of my earliest memories are of watching TOS with my mom on Sunday afternoons.

I use to take a picture of Kirk to my barber and get my hair styled like his! LOL

Regarding Star Wars, I think it was aimed more at the young and caught on and stayed with people whereas Trek was aimed at an older, more sophisticated viewer (for the time).

I love em both for different reasons.

I also just met William Shatner at the Regina airport after his show in town and got his autograph. He was very nice and signed his new book for me.

[PDH]

I wish Trek's video games were as good as Star Wars', though.

I completely agree. There are so many fantastic Star Wars games that I loved growing up.

There are the rock solid games from the 8-bit and 16-bit era. The first one I played was Star Wars on the NES. It kicked my arse but I would play it all the time. If you can beat that game you are a freak and I hate you.

Then you've got the brilliant Dark Forces series. Jedi Knight was just exactly what I wanted at the time because I was a total FPS nut. JK2 is awesome, as well. And, I didn't play them that much, but the X-Wing/Tie Fighter games were really well regarded and one of my friends used to be obsessed with them.

And KOTOR, which goes without saying. And about a million others that I haven't mentioned.

I mean, there are some shit games, too, but the tons of absolute classics more than make up for it.

But when you look at Trek games, there are a few that are just all right and that's basically it.

[Strict31]

I completely agree. There are so many fantastic Star Wars games that I loved growing up.

There are the rock solid games from the 8-bit and 16-bit era. The first one I played was Star Wars on the NES. It kicked my arse but I would play it all the time. If you can beat that game you are a freak and I hate you.

Then you've got the brilliant Dark Forces series. Jedi Knight was just exactly what I wanted at the time because I was a total FPS nut. JK2 is awesome, as well. And, I didn't play them that much, but the X-Wing/Tie Fighter games were really well regarded and one of my friends used to be obsessed with them.

And KOTOR, which goes without saying. And about a million others that I haven't mentioned.

I mean, there are some shit games, too, but the tons of absolute classics more than make up for it.

But when you look at Trek games, there are a few that are just all right and that's basically it.

When I was younger, my buddy and I got into the SW RPG released by West End Games. That was some old school, pen and paper type shit. Years and years and years before the Prequels ever saw the light of day. It was a pretty fun game, even though it limited you to playing during the timeframe of the Rebellion era.

Conversely, when we tried playing the FASA Star Trek games, the rules were very...detail oriented, let's say. And we had come up playing AD&D, so rules-heavy games weren't an obstacle, even though we were kids. But it never caught on for us. SW had this carefree, loose style of rules that focused more on recreating the action from the movies. Trek was more like figuring out each point of armor your ship had or some goddamn shit.

Years later, the licenses for both games shifted to new holders. Trek passed to a bunch called Last Unicorn Games, and they released a fuckton of supplements immediately, almost as if they knew they wouldn't have the license long. But the rules, while still overly complex, were digestible. So we played.

And what we found was something that I think inherently plagues any Trek game, whether pen-n-paper or videogame.

You're essentially playing US Navy: The RPG. You're a normal member of a military organization, who is expected to take order from his superiors and do mundane daily tasks when you're not having an encounter with a carnivorous space hooker. Starting off, you're probably not gonna be the guy controlling the ship; you're likely gonna be the "Wesley" of the crew, rolling dice to see if you can successfully turn starboard.

And if you think about it, of course it's like that. Even in an episode where shit is going down, most of the characters are filling out reports in their "not being assimilated" down-time. Therte's too much structure for a Trek game to fit the standard mold of an adventure RPG.

Star Wars is designed perfectly for the mold, however.

I remember whne KotOR came out, I was hoping for someone with the same talent and vision to put out a Trek RPG. But it would have been too structured. Trek is the story of normal people doing shit that is considered normal for their time. If Trek was set in the present day, it would be the US Navy. In a Wars game, a farmer can conceivably become a great hero and fight dark sorcerers with a laser sword. In a Trek game, a farmer can become an Ensign who presses some buttons when he's ordered to.

As much as I love Trek, that's just the way of it. Trek and Wars simply have different appeal, and there's not much crossover in terms of the action.

[Cat-Scratch]

That is infinitely debatable. Star Wars' dialogue is part of everyday language, surpassing even pop culture references.

Whomever said Coke vs. Pepsi was correct.


(Star Wars is Coke, imo.)

[Cat-Scratch]

She topped at 180 pounds and is now at 130.

Royce is correct. She's had some bad work done on her face, but is still fairly attractive.

No. She looks like she's Joan River's sister.

[Cat-Scratch]

Apparently you prefer this:

No, I just don't want some crazy fat woman.

[False Prophet]

When I was younger, my buddy and I got into the SW RPG released by West End Games. That was some old school, pen and paper type shit. Years and years and years before the Prequels ever saw the light of day. It was a pretty fun game, even though it limited you to playing during the timeframe of the Rebellion era.

Conversely, when we tried playing the FASA Star Trek games, the rules were very...detail oriented, let's say. And we had come up playing AD&D, so rules-heavy games weren't an obstacle, even though we were kids. But it never caught on for us. SW had this carefree, loose style of rules that focused more on recreating the action from the movies. Trek was more like figuring out each point of armor your ship had or some goddamn shit.

Years later, the licenses for both games shifted to new holders. Trek passed to a bunch called Last Unicorn Games, and they released a fuckton of supplements immediately, almost as if they knew they wouldn't have the license long. But the rules, while still overly complex, were digestible. So we played.

And what we found was something that I think inherently plagues any Trek game, whether pen-n-paper or videogame.

You're essentially playing US Navy: The RPG. You're a normal member of a military organization, who is expected to take order from his superiors and do mundane daily tasks when you're not having an encounter with a carnivorous space hooker. Starting off, you're probably not gonna be the guy controlling the ship; you're likely gonna be the "Wesley" of the crew, rolling dice to see if you can successfully turn starboard.

And if you think about it, of course it's like that. Even in an episode where shit is going down, most of the characters are filling out reports in their "not being assimilated" down-time. Therte's too much structure for a Trek game to fit the standard mold of an adventure RPG.

Star Wars is designed perfectly for the mold, however.

I remember whne KotOR came out, I was hoping for someone with the same talent and vision to put out a Trek RPG. But it would have been too structured. Trek is the story of normal people doing shit that is considered normal for their time. If Trek was set in the present day, it would be the US Navy. In a Wars game, a farmer can conceivably become a great hero and fight dark sorcerers with a laser sword. In a Trek game, a farmer can become an Ensign who presses some buttons when he's ordered to.

As much as I love Trek, that's just the way of it. Trek and Wars simply have different appeal, and there's not much crossover in terms of the action.

Yeah, Trek gaming is so damn procedural at times, instead of trying to be military sci-fi. Maybe a Trek game in an earlier (or far later) era of the Federation?

[Thunderstorm]

I like both Star Wars and Star Trek. They are both very different.

[Strict31]

Yeah, Trek gaming is so damn procedural at times, instead of trying to be military sci-fi. Maybe a Trek game in an earlier (or far later) era of the Federation?

Decipher Games got the license after Last Unicorn Games lost it. Decipher tried to build a game where you could play any type of character, from a Klingon renegade to a smuggler.

Unfortunately, that just doesn't feel very Star Trek.

Some eras might be more conducive to non-Starfleet characters. A Harry Mudd type of campaign in the TOS or Enterprise era, perhaps. But my opinion is that it would still feel like playing Han Solo in the Federation.

When one of the most significant societies in the setting has absolutely no use for money, playing a smuggler seems dumb. Being part of a Klingon crew might be interesting, I suppose. And several novels were written about that very thing. Playing a spy might be cool. Or doing Section 31 black-bag ops. Or having a campaign set entirely against the backdrop of a long term war, like the Dominion War.

But again, ultimately the world of Star Trek is the normal world, simply set in the future. Star Wars, conversely, is like D&D, but with lasers.