Living my Fantasy in the Star Trek Universe
.JPG)
By day I am a paediatrician and a theologian. I captain a
spaceship by night. The name of my spaceship
is USS Alexander. It is a Constitution class cruiser. I have since upgraded to USS Alexander H, and it is a Galaxy Dreadnought. I have a beautiful female
human first officer called Number One, a Vulcan science officer and an Andorian
engineering officer. Every night I undertake missions given to me by Star Fleet
Command. Have I gone crazy as John Nash in the movie A Beautiful Mind (2001) or Sam Lowry in Brazil (1985)? Hardly. I am enjoying the simulated Star Trek Online
(STO) game. For years I have waited for the Internet in my home to improve both
in speed and bandwidth. Finally this year, it has allowed me to join thousands
of Trekkies or Trekkers in this total immersion experience. Star Trek Online
draws on almost all background materials from the television series; Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek:
The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Enterprise,
and the movies up to Star Trek: Nemesis. It does not include J. J. Abrams’
two recent reboot movies. In other words it remain in the original timeline
where Vulcan was not destroyed. It continues about 30 years after the events of
the movie Nemesis in the 25th
Century. Star Trek Online is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game
(MMORPG) developed by Cryptic Studios which went live in February 2010.
The game is a gradually virtual expanding universe as every few months a ‘season’ was added to it. Each season is made up of a series of
missions. The missions are developed by the game designers (who I suspect are all Trekkies) as if each mission is an episode of a Star
Trek television series. The screen writing is so good that at times I have a
sense of déjà vu. I feel I am actually living through an episode of Star Trek! It
is that good. So far nine seasons had been released. These seasons are in
order (1) Common ground; (2) Ancient enemies; (3) Genesis; (4) Crossfire; (5)
Call to Arms; (6) Under siege; (7) New Romulus; (8) The sphere; and (9) A New
Accord. All these are accessible for me to play free. Legacy of Romulus is the
only season so far that one has to pay to play. It is sited between seasons
seven and eight. Each season is located in one area of space so that I get to
enjoy each television series accordingly. One season involves the Cardassians
and the Dominion and I get to hang around Deep Space Nine. I can actually walk
around the promenade and hang out in Quark’s Bar. One involves the Klingon
while the Borg invasion is featured in another. The player acquire skills and
is promoted. With promotion comes a new starship. The maximum rank in Federation
is Vice-Admiral. I can play as one of the three sects: Federation,
Klingon, and Romulan.
Fandom of Star Trek is huge. Fans come in various shape,
sizes, ages and colours, yet they are united in their love of a concept of the
adventures of a future spaceship or ‘wagon train to the stars’ created by Gene
Rodenberry and subsequent writers and directors. Star Trek is a rich imaginary
universe that has a consistency and continuity. With the premature cancellation
of the television series Enterprise
in 2005, there has not been any new television series. The timeline continues
on in the Star Trek novels by Pocket books and the IDW comics. The two movies
by J. J. Abrams Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek into Darkness (2013) is
basically a reboot of the franchise which develops in a separate timeline. Fans
themselves have not been idle. The fans created stories, novels, videos and
mechanizing is enormous. Among the fans themselves, there are efforts to reach
out to one another. This is especially capitalized by Star Trek convocations
which are huge events and yearly highlights around the world. When a trekkie
meet another trekkie, there is a special bond that comes from a shared
‘heritage’. That is something that is difficult to find in this postmodern
world where the bonds of friendship, family and community are being dissolved
in a daily basis.
There are good guys and villains in this universe. However
they act in predictable fashion according to Star Trek rules. There are gun
(phaser) battles on land (away team) and space battles. Yet there is no gore
nor glorification of violence. One feels that one need to fight either for the
sect one belongs to (Federation, Klingon, or Romulan), loyalty to friends, and honor.
There is no senseless violence as in the world outside the virtual universe. In
this sense in this construct of electrons there is still honor, decency and
hope.
Hope was something that Star Trek offers in the decades of
the 1960s. That period was a period of upheaval with the Vietnam War, the
hippies, and drug abuse. Star Trek shows that people from different races can get
along with each other; and achieve something together as a team. Each episode
was a commentary on the sociopolitical situation but each episode ends with
hope. Star Trek reminds us that we are better than we are. By pointing to the stars
and boldly going where no man (and woman) has gone before, we can build a future
for our children and our children’s children. The message that Star Trek brings
is still relevant today. Maybe that is why I enjoy Star Trek Online so much. It
reminds me of the ideals of Star Trek. It reassure me that there is always
hope. And hope is what I need the most now.
Soli Deo Gloria
6 June 2014
Labels: Computer games, Internet, Star Trek
posted by Alex Tang at 8:49 PM
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