Knights & Knaves Alehouse

fingolwyn wrote:Star Trek, as with Star Wars and Dr Who, is dead. Oh, the franchise is still alive and kicking, though few would say (as they would of SW and DW) that it is doing well, but the heart and soul of what we used to know as Star Trek (and the others) is dead and gone, historical dust blowing in the wind of an alien planet like the opening scene. What remains is a product name, some artificially-flavored ingredients that sometimes taste kinda like Trek (but with frequently off-putting peculiarities, like the shredded carrot they used to put in the orange jello in grade school), lots of modern interpretation of what Trek was/is, the occasional salty peanut of meaningless genuine Trek (like the few-second long motif from the TOS Movies in the opening credits) they throw us to keep us buying the beer, and a typical modern Hollywood agenda.

Though I would never pay for it, even if it was good, I had hope for it since Star Wars and Dr Who are dead and rebooted. But this train isn't going anywhere I want to go, and I can't even say I would enjoy the ride.

I feel exactly the same way about Marvel Comics these days, fingolwyn. Exactly the same way.

They're created/written by people who don't care about a fifty year legacy, stories woven over decades, etc.

I've got less of a problem with the MCU than with Marvel Comics these days.

fingolwyn wrote:Star Trek, as with Star Wars and Dr Who, is dead. Oh, the franchise is still alive and kicking, though few would say (as they would of SW and DW) that it is doing well, but the heart and soul of what we used to know as Star Trek (and the others) is dead and gone, historical dust blowing in the wind of an alien planet like the opening scene. What remains is a product name, some artificially-flavored ingredients that sometimes taste kinda like Trek (but with frequently off-putting peculiarities, like the shredded carrot they used to put in the orange jello in grade school), lots of modern interpretation of what Trek was/is, the occasional salty peanut of meaningless genuine Trek (like the few-second long motif from the TOS Movies in the opening credits) they throw us to keep us buying the beer, and a typical modern Hollywood agenda.

Though I would never pay for it, even if it was good, I had hope for it since Star Wars and Dr Who are dead and rebooted. But this train isn't going anywhere I want to go, and I can't even say I would enjoy the ride.

Pretty much feel the same way about Western civilization.

I do believe that is called "getting old".

Matthew wrote:I do believe that is called "getting old".

It's living at the end of a historical cycle combined with massive overpopulation. Interesting times.

I suppose it would be possible to wait until all of the episodes (10? 13?) are available, and join the CBS thing for a single month to watch the entire show. It may be worth ten bucks to get the whole shit show.

TRP wrote:I suppose it would be possible to wait until all of the episodes (10? 13?) are available, and join the CBS thing for a single month to watch the entire show. It may be worth ten bucks to get the whole shit show.

Alternately if you wait for a Bit I'm sure a Torrent of options for viewing the show will become available.

thedungeondelver wrote:

TRP wrote:I suppose it would be possible to wait until all of the episodes (10? 13?) are available, and join the CBS thing for a single month to watch the entire show. It may be worth ten bucks to get the whole shit show.

Alternately if you wait for a Bit I'm sure a Torrent of options for viewing the show will become available.

I'll probably do something like that myself. Thinking of subscribing to Starz for American Gods

JasonZavoda wrote:

thedungeondelver wrote: Alternately if you wait for a Bit I'm sure a Torrent of options for viewing the show will become available.

I'll probably do something like that myself. Thinking of subscribing to Starz for American Gods

Uhm...yeah...that is what he was referring to.

Wizardawn wrote:

JasonZavoda wrote:
I'll probably do something like that myself. Thinking of subscribing to Starz for American Gods

Uhm...yeah...that is what he was referring to.

Which he?

First senitence dungeondelver. Second sentence TRP.

JasonZavoda wrote:Which he?

You are correct...that was confusing. I fixed the post.

I shouldn't have ILLEGALLY formatted my response until the DOWNLOAD of the text was complete about this STAR TREK topic on the latest EPISODES.

Wizardawn wrote:

JasonZavoda wrote:Which he?

You are correct...that was confusing. I fixed the post.

I shouldn't have ILLEGALLY formatted my response until the DOWNLOAD of the text was complete about this STAR TREK topic on the latest EPISODES.

Subtle.

All joking aside, thedungeondelver is onto something. Let's take the Walking Dead as a comparison. You can watch it on cable TV, AMC online, Sling, or Amazon. You have these 4 choices where Discovery only has CBS All Access (if you live in America). Due to this, it will probably be a highly pirated show. I have been doing some research on piracy for an IT Ethics paper I need to write, and some of the research showed that people will pay for content if it is priced right and easy to obtain. Easy to obtain meaning you can move an MP3 to any of your devices or putting an ebook on another device without subjecting yourself to a cavity search.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones

Well, yes. We're born entitled to watch whatever we want however we want to watch. Right? How unfair that content providers dare determine how their content is accessed. We're *entitled*!

Not much different from beer. Society said teenagers can’t have it but we found ways to get it. Any method used was illegal.

This wasn't meant to be a debate on the right or wrong of the practice. I was just pointing out the psychological factors involved.

To have a more D&D appropriate example, WotC owns the TSR product line so they can distribute it as they see fit...or not at all. This led to others trading PDF's behind the scenes so they can get the content they want since WotC wasn't providing it. When they started putting the catalog on DriveThruRPG, many people rejoiced because they now legally provided it at a reasonable cost. I don't have statistics, but I think this reduced piracy of D&D stuff and WotC makes some money at the same time. You can also use the PDF's wherever you want. I think they watermark them, but so what? You can still use it on any PDF reading device you choose without DRM getting in the way.

Now to defend Discovery, it only costs 6$ to get CBS All Access. If they show an episode 4 times a month, that is $1.50 per episode. That is very reasonable (if you like the show enough) to pay that amount. If you had Amazon Prime, I think you pay $2 per Walking Dead episode.

I think the part that stings for some is that non-US folks can watch it on Netflix. I quickly tried to Google search on "why"? I failed to find the reason other than some "landmark deal". So because of this fact, Netflix users are wondering why they have to shell out another 6$ on top of their Netflix cost to watch the show when someone in Pooristan can watch it on Netflix.

Just watched episode 3, and here's a few thoughts... [SPOILERS]:

1.) It's not the dumbest ST ep I've ever seen, but it's close.
2.) In this time period, each command has its own insignia. This bunch is flying the Enterprise insignia... indeed everyone is.
3.) They're not supposed to have such advanced holographic tech.
4.) The ship looks like a 5 year old drew it.
5.) Klingons. Really? Fish people who mutter "cock...cock...o'clock." ?
6.) Instawarp. Like any tech, it's never going to go away, and they've just introduced it to the ST universe.

I won't be watching ep 4... I've seen enough.