SkilTao's Gaming Blog

Sunday, March 29, 2020

I think I found this via Popfiend, years ago

In a perfect world, I could dissect all seven or eight hundred episodes to find the Star Trekkiest distribution of Starfleet missions, antagonists, motivations and NPC strategies. Such volume and detail is a sure recipe for burnout, though.

Each new Trek series self-selects what its writers thought was Trekkiest about the previous series, right? So maybe I can approximate the results of all that research by sampling episodes at random and taking different elements from each?

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There's a few other series I could mix in. Babylon 5, Farscape, Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, Shakespeare... and heck, if even Doctor Who borrows from Battlestar Galactica...

But at some point we stray from the themes and structures essential to Star Trek. Like, your average episode of Firefly has a fistfight, a gunfight, a word fight, some kind of spaceship thing, and involves a moral or ethical dilemma. Not too different from Star Trek TOS. Except TOS also adds a good dose of scientific method to everything - whether the problem at hand is mechanical, social or philosophical, the crew feels it out systematically.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

The Orville Episode 12 - Fools Rush In

We still rely on the magic of editing; still start each episode a little stilted; and my delivery is still a little disjointed; but not as much as when we started. On a good day - like I think we had for this recording - we cover everything we wanted to say without having to hold too closely to our prepared agenda. We could undoubtedly polish the product more with scripted repartee and rehearsed personalities; but for me, the point (when feasible) is to engage with the ideas as we're recording and choose my words as I go. When I can do that well then everything else follows naturally.

...before decrying Ready Player One, I should probably consider what (if anything) distinguishes it from "The Ultimate Showdown" and "We Come Together."

...and closing with "faithful listeners?" Yeesh. This is why we need a formal sign off.

I can't find that map of the east coast and I don't remember what it was measuring. Not simple poverty, teen birth rates, brain drain or gun violence - these aren't great for South Carolina, but they're more in line with regional trends than whatever I'm remembering.

Kelly Grayson (Adrianne Palicki) has so much empathy it's a crime, and the crew ignore a thousand years of sociological studies.

Available in podcast form at anchor.fm.

Thursday, February 27, 2020

The Orville Episode 11 - These Dimensions

Kirk-era Star Trek carried an almost Darwinian imperative for humanity to test itself against the greatest challenges available. The Next Generation refined that philosophy from a cosmic manifest destiny into a constant personal improvement. The Orville primarily casts such striving as a source of social capital.

It's an interesting inversion of the Next Generation episode "Tapestry." Star Trek doesn't often address career issues or office politics, and I'm glad we get some depth to Yaphit's perspective and get to see how the Captain and Executive Officer handle disagreement.

John Lamar (J Lee) and Ed Mercer (Seth McFarlane) prove themselves as leaders as they explore a piece of two-dimensional sci-fi. Hosts VanVelding and SkilTao discuss the comedic dimensions of the cast.

Available in podcast form at anchor.fm.

Sunday, February 23, 2020

Third look at 3025 Lyran 'Mech Production

[TL;DR: Hesperus builds a heavy 100 'Mechs, Coventry builds a light 139 'Mechs, Furillo builds 39, Carlisle and Sudeten make a combined 55, Tharkad makes 55, Twycross makes a heavy 53, Pandora makes 18, and there's another 41 I have yet to account for.]

Basics: The Lyrans build 500 'Mechs/yr, of which 230 are uncommon, including 109 Commandos, 33 Zeuses and 5 Firestarters.

Defiance Industries and Coventry Metal Works - being the Commonwealth's first (HS:LC p122) and second (p165) biggest manufacturers, and each listing their primary products (p136) first - set a precedent for HS:LC's manufacturing page listing everything from biggest to smallest.

Key insight this time around is that many of HS:LC's manufacturers are new, that P1e's manufacturing pages look like they were cut from an early draft of HS:LC, and that the Periphery states build 167 'Mechs/yr.

The Orville Episode 10 - Circ du Fear

This was a fun discussion. "Firestorm" is jam packed with Star Trek references, and it may be the first time the Orville centers an episode on a single character instead of a team-up or ensemble.

Kelly telling Alara that "she made the responsible command decision" is a nice callback (and ironic foreshadowing) that helps distinguish this conflict from her previous one. Alara's self-confidence is hard-won and I'm sure we will never again question it.

The "plasma storm" is an interesting choice. Sure, the Orville has run into other occasional bits of strange space weather, but for the most part the show seems to favor more realistic astronomy.

Alara (Halston Sage) triumphs over a nightmare of her own making. Hosts SkilTao and VanVelding discuss Halloween episodes, the mystery of rewatchability, and what to do when it's all a dream.

Available in podcast form at anchor.fm.

Sunday, February 16, 2020

Second Look at Federated Suns 3025 'Mech Production

[TL;DR?
157 Wolverines and Griffins;
130 Valkyries;
122 Enforcers;
88 Locusts, Phoenix Hawks and Wasps;
64 JagerMechs;
29 Dervishes;
28 Blackjacks;
20 Marauders;
20 Victors;
14 Ostsols;
11 Ostscouts;
7 Javelins;
5 Atlases; and
5 Riflemen.]

This calls up memories and shadows of memories from fourteen or fifteen years ago. I'm sure people were trying to work it out fourteen or fifteen years before that, too.

29 Phoenix Hawks would put the Suns 830 tons shy of a 49 ton national average. That's 17 'Mechs' worth - maybe to make up for saddling Liao and Kurita with 17 Chargers.

Interestingly, when HD:FS (p125) talks about which 'Mechs are most common in lances of different weight, it mentions Shadow Hawks instead of Wolverines. Wonder if that's an error (like the Centurions on Panpour) or deliberate.

The Orville Episode 9 - Sweet Muzak

I like this one despite my staccato delivery.

Mercer's pitch for an informal talk between the two sides was pretty good. I love those little moments in this show.

Somehow missed the Israel/Palestine allegory here, that the way to end the conflict is for people to start intermarrying. I think I saw a New York Times article proposing much the same thing a decade ago.

Darulio (Rob Lowe) learns an important lesson about making everyone around him lose their heads. Hosts VanVelding and SkilTao praise Yaphit and the supporting cast.

Available in podcast form at anchor.fm.