Fascinating

So I see at Gen Con this year someone is running a Far Trek session! If you are going and get to attend, I'd love to hear about it!  The revised Far Trek rules are still under construction...

Into...what exactly?

This is in no means a "get off my lawn you damn kids" kind of post.  All versions of Trek franchise from the original series through Next Gen, Voyager, etc. have had their own take on Trek.  Their own voice and their own vibe.  I think what bugs me is relaunching the original series, with the original character, but in a new "now with 70% more phasers and chases" set-up.  I am sure it will be good, but I really won;t think of it as Trek.  Why? Well read below...(article source)

Ditch Spock's ears. Lose the wacky costumes. Don't have characters spend so much time yakking on the bridge of the Enterprise.

That's the sort of advice Paramount is heeding as it prepares to open its sci-fi epic "Star Trek Into Darkness" on Thursday in the U.K., Australia and five other countries. Determined to make its sci-fi epic sequel a global hit -- unlike any of the preceding "Star Trek" movies -- the studio has gone to great lengths to make it more appealing to foreign audiences.

"I guess less Trekkie, more action might be the short story," Paramount's head of international distribution Anthony Marcoly told TheWrap Tuesday. "But since I arrived here 18 months ago, a primary part of my mission has been to make sure this movie succeeds at the overseas box office the way it will domestically, and our team has done a great deal to make sure that happens." 

Also read: 'Star Trek Into Darkness' Beams Up One-Day-Earlier Debut 

The film opens in the United States in Imax theaters on Wednesday, May 15, and wide a day later. Pre-release projections show it debuting north of $90 million domestically.

Extensive research, marketing tailored to individual markets, casting designed to resonate with international audiences and extensive ground campaigns by the movie's creators and talent like Chris Pine have all preceded the international debut. Over the past couple of months, director J.J. Abrams and producer Bryan Burk have barnstormed through Asia, Europe and Latin America, screening extensive clips.
"We did a lot of focus groups in a lot of countries, and asked what they liked and didn't like and we listened," Marcoly said. "Basically, it was more action, more of the adventure elements and less of the real Trekkie stuff." The stuff, in other words, that turned the 1960s TV show into a cultural phenomenon in America and launched the film franchise.

Paramount didn't have much choice. With a $195 million production budget, Abrams' follow-up to his 2009 "Star Trek" reboot will have to score big overseas to be a success. And that's a feat none of the previous films – including the last one – have been able to achieve.

Also read: 'Star Trek Into Darkness' Early Reviews are Mixed

Since "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" launched the film franchise back in 1979, the 11 movies in the series have taken in more than $1.8 billion, but just $312 million from abroad. Indeed, the franchise's appeal and cast of characters was seen as so U.S.-centric, that Paramount didn't bother to release several of the earlier films abroad.

The 2009 "Star Trek" easily became the franchise's biggest box office hit by taking in $387 million worldwide, but didn't make much of a dent in the overseas market with just $128 million. That's not terrible, but it meant foreign accounted for less than a third of the total grosses. That won't cut it in today's box office world, where pricey tent poles often double their domestic hauls overseas.
Warner Bros. faced  the same sort of challenge last year with "Dark Knight Rises," since the similarly all-American Batman franchise had never been able to match its domestic popularity at the foreign box office.

The studio went out of its way to reverse that trend, but may have benefited most from the explosive growth in the number foreign theaters and the emergence of markets like China, Russia and Mexico. "Dark Knight Rises" was the first Batman movie to make more abroad than in the U.S. ($636 million to $448 million) on its way to $1.08 billion globally.

"Into Darkness" should be the first of the "Star Trek" movies to pull that off, according to Exhibitor Relations vice-president and senior analyst Jeff Bock.

"With the last movie, I think they essentially launched a whole new franchise," he told TheWrap. "Most of the people who will be seeing this film will know who Chris Pine is, and have no idea who William Shatner is."

Into Darkness

Note Klingons will also be appearing in this film...

TREKMAS

Okay Far Trekkers, if you are like me, and woe to you for being so, you WANT miniatures from TOS.  Sure there are overly expensive FASA figs you might find...but certainly not enough to actually play with.

You have $30? Sure you do, or you know how to get it by selling of some of the game books you will never use again.  Got your $30?  Cool...now go here...seriously GO!

 Beam your punk ass over at warp factor 5 and get the coolest and best holiday gift that no one else will think of for you, nor will they ever find it.

I personally own them and can attest to their goodness. YES they are 15mm and they are small and that means they are quick and easy to paint! Lots of them on the table and you can still game! Your Far Trek game will never be the same!

This is MY Trekmas gift to you, knowledge! To not go would be...illogical.

The ORIGINAL Star Trek Movie

On my way home this afternoon I heard something amazing on the radio straight from the cat who was going to make it happen, Philip Kaufman.  It kills me this did not happen, but hey Mr. Abrams, this SHOULD be your 3rd movie.

Back about 1974-1976, writer/director Philip Kaufman was given the reigns to write and direct a Star Trek movie.  The plot involved a black hole and a battle of animal instinct vs cold logic as played out between Toshiro Mifune as a Klingon Commander and Spock.  This was all to be filmed and released before Star Wars, and they had even picked Pinewood studios in England for filming.  Just as it was all spinning up, some suit at Paramount killed it.  He said Sci-Fi films don't work anymore, and maybe they wanted to do a reboot TV series instead. Then Star Wars happens...and the rest is history

Mr. Abrams, as you have reset the Trek time line...here is a chance to make an original/retro move...the original Trek film that never was! 

Who to play the Klingon Commander now?
Chow Yun Fat, Ken Watanabe are easy choices

What about Michelle Yeoh or Ziyi Zhang?  Add a little sexual tension between Kirk/Klingon Commander on top of of the instinct vs logic tension.

Anyway It is definitely inspiration for a Far Trek adventure.

At the barrier

Well Far Trek has had 1 year of service.  I have had multiple emails regarding fixing some issues, clarifying some vagueness and in general making it better.

I am pleased to say an updated version is in the works.  Note these are evolutionary changes rather than revolutionary. 

One consideration is either adding into the rules, or as a unified supplement rules to allow play as/in the Klingon  and Romulan empries.  I will not be writing epic details or full race/empire books...but there would be enough grist for Far Trek play. 

If you have any comments, issues, or suggestions now is your chance.

I do not have a timeline for completion so I appreciate your patience.

Trek news

Here is some news updates on Star Trek in general.  First regarding the new Movie from ICV2

 Major Spoiler Alert: Speculation that Khan Noonien Singh would once again menace the forces of Starfleet in the as-yet-unnamed Star Trek sequel appears to be unfounded. Actor Karl Urban, who has reprised his role as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the sequel, accidentally let slip what director J.J. Abrams has kept under wraps, the identity of the villain in the film.

When, during an interview with SFX about his lead role in the new Judge Dredd film, Urban was asked about working with Benedict Cumberbatch on the Star Trek sequel, the actor replied: "He’s awesome, he’s a great addition, and I think his Gary Mitchell is going to be exemplary."

Gary Mitchell, as fans of the original series know, was a Star Fleet Academy friend of Kirk’s, who as the result of an encounter with a "galactic barrier," acquired extraordinary telepathic and telekinetic powers along with a serious case of megalomania.  Gary Lockwood played Gary Mitchell in the classic "Where No Man Has Gone Before" episode, which was the second pilot episode ordered by NBC (at the behest of Lucille Ball).  This was the episode that got the series on the air and established the makeup of the original series crew.  It marked the first Star Trek appearances of William Shatner (Kirk), James Doohan (Scottie), and George Takei (Sulu).

Cumberbatch, who is brilliant as the nearly superhuman sleuth in the BBC’s Sherlock, would appear to be an excellent choice to play Mitchell, who doesn’t shy away from referring to himself as "godlike."

Next is news on the Stark Trak version of Settlers of Catan...it is coming out this fall in the states:

 The German publisher of the global hit Die Siedler von Catan released a Star Trek themed version of the game this spring. Today, Mayfair Games—publisher of the English-language version of Catan—announced the completion of negotiations to release the English-language Star Trek: Catan.

Mayfair intends to preview Star Trek: Catan at next month’s Gen Con game fair in Indianapolis.  The game will initially be sold exclusively through U.S. Target stores, starting this autumn.  Hobby exclusive Star Trek: Catan products are also planned.

Designed by Klaus Teuber, this version of The Settlers of Catan replaces the familiar ingredients with Star Trek-themed resources such as dilithium; settlements are replaced with space ports, and the robber becomes a Klingon Bird-of-Prey.

This is a bit more than a mere re-skinning of the now seventeen-year-old Settlers of Catan.  Popular Star Trek characters are introduced to the game through the new "support cards."  Ten characters are featured, including Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Scotty, Uhura, Chekov, Chapel, Rand, and Sarek.  Each character card has two special abilities that the card holder can use on his turn.