Month August 2020

How To Not Fail At Gacha

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I’ve been playing mobile gacha games for a few years now. I’ve been paying attention to the various trends and what’a popular and whatnot for that time. Some of my most-played games fall into this category after all, and I think watching them in general is just a good idea. Over that time, I think I’ve seen a lot of what tends to work. And I’ve seen a few things that don’t work. So, in case any of those big game producers making a new game are reading this blog today, I’ll spell it out for you, and solve all your problems.

The first part is to know your audience. This might seem like a simple thing, but a lot of games go out there thinking their audience is EVERYONE! Sure, that’d be nice to have, but the reality is, not everyone will want to play your game, at least at first. “Everyone” is quite the accomplishment. But you should know that the typical audience for these sorts of games are adult males with jobs, especially those over 30, at least for new IP’s. If you’re one of the lucky ones with a licensed property, you’ll have your audience – though it will still be somewhat older, because you’re going whaling, and whales need money, serious cash. Like, hundreds of spare dollars a month to throw at your gacha. Kids don’t have that (and it’s also kinda scummy to market this sort of thing to kids, but that’s a secondary concern).

Once you know your audience, you know how to cater to them. If it’s adult males, as it most likely is, it’s pretty girls. Waifus, if you’ll pardon my misuse of weeb parlance. But, but what about cool guys?! Everyone loves cool guys, that’s why they’re the protagonists of so many games! Sure, they’re the protagonists. You can even make the protagonist of your game a cool dude. But you don’t draw protagonists from the gacha, typically. That’s a bad plan. Most dudes don’t want to spend money on dudes (unless it’s their birthday). They’ll spend money on women, though, even women they have no chance on being with (in this case, because the women aren’t even real). The gacha doesn’t have to be ALL girls, but it should heavily weigh that way. Remember, every time a guy draws a male character, unless that character is quite overpowered, there will be disappointment.

There, that’s it. That’s all you’ll need. Oh, and marketing. Lots and lots of marketing. No matter how awesome your game is, not matter how appealing your characters are, it won’t matter one little bit if no one knows about it. Word-of-mouth works, but those people have to get into the game first, in order to tell others about it. Fan artists are especially useful here. But again, if they don’t see your characters in the first place, they can’t make art of them and spread your message on Twitter for free. Even a big-name publisher won’t mean anything, if there’s no marketing. Mobile games are a dime a few dozen, and essentially disposable – getting your name, and art, out there will make you stand out from the competition.

The Physical Blogspace

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Today’s Blaugust prompt is from Krikket of Nerd Girl Thoughts:

Tell us about your physical creative space, and how it influences your content creation.

My physical “creative” space is pretty simple. I do most of my blogging during breaks at work. In my office. Because of course I have my own office; “janitorial shift manager” is a very prestigious position. I’m not going to post any pictures, because it’s very simple really. I’ve got my chromebook here, my work pc that I only use if I need to print something (as the chromebook only has ONE usb port), and various office supplies all around.

The office itself is small (a couple years ago I traded size for air conditioning; a fair trade if I do say so), about 8.5’x10.5′. The computers face one corner. I’ve got on-wall bookshelves above the desk, which takes up most of two walls. The bookshelf directly in my sight has my diploma and various books (this would be where relevant people have their Important Reference Books; I just have some old college textbooks, and Japanese learning aids).

That’s how it is. Not terribly inspiring. Maybe if I had somewhere more “creative,” my posts might be better. Probably not, though, since the posts I do at home on the weekends aren’t any better. If this setting inspires me at all, it’s to work fast. Because they are work breaks. Sure, I have more time now, seeing as how we have no one in the dorms. But normal times, not so much. I’ve got to be quick. No time for proofreading or editing. (Not that I’d do anything like that anyhow; I never did for papers at for school, either.)

Destroy All Humans: A Review

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The short version: this is a good game. You should go play it. Well-worth paying full price ($30).

The long version: if you liked the original, you will like this. It’s basically the same game. Sure, the graphics are modernized, it’s got keyboard+mouse support, and even has a new mission (it’s a cut mission from the original files that’s been restored), but it’s the same game. They even used the same audio, so it keeps the humor that’s not allowed anymore (there is one line that’s taken out).

You might notice that it doesn’t quite look the same as before, besides the improved graphics and textures. The devs for the remake thought that these cartoony characters worked better for the tone of the game than the original’s more idealized depictions. I don’t really agree, but it’s a minor thing.

For those of you who haven’t played the original, this is a third-person shooter in the classic style. Meaning, this isn’t a cover shooter, there are no real stealth elements, you just go around shooting things. Well, you do more than that – since you have no stealth, you do your non-shooty bits by taking the holographic form of various humans. You can read their minds, which can give mission hints, but mostly they’re just fun (this also recharges your holographic disguise). You can pick up and throw things with your mind. You have a few different weapons (including an anal probe that causes heads to explode). You have a jet pack to do jet pack things. You also have a flying saucer to do more enhanced destruction.

Between missions you can upgrade all this stuff with the DNA currency that you collect. Which you mostly get by stealing people’s brains (thus the anal probe causing exploding heads). There are also hidden alien probes around the maps that also give you DNA. Every map can be revisited after/between missions to gather all the collectibles and do minigames so you can upgrade your stuff. (You can also just plain replay missions, to get optional objectives or whatever.) The game is pretty easy overall, but it’s the upgrades that make it so. (And you’re going to really want those upgrades for the few difficult parts of the game.)

I personally have played a bit over 13 hours to this point. In this time I did all the main missions, and have replayed several of the maps. I haven’t 100% any of them though. I’d really have to get a guide to find the last of the probes on some of those maps. But for now, I’m satisfied. The replayability is a major part of this game – sometimes you just have a need to destroy a town, and you can do that as many times as you want. I really hope this game is such a success that THQ decides to remake the sequel, which is an even better game than this one.

Star Trek Lower Decks Ep 1: Review

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It wasn’t terrible. It’s got that going for it. Of course, Picard also wasn’t terrible in the first episode, and showed some promise.

I went into this thinking it’d be quite terrible. Not only was the art completely uninspiring of confidence in quality (generic calarts garbage), but the trailer was quite attrocious. About 90% of that was in this first episode, but fortunately the worst parts of the trailer weren’t here, and the trailer didn’t deliver the top jokes (though obviously it thought it would). And it seemed like it would be the generic modern comedy cartoon, which is something I don’t want in a Trek show.

It actually was that last thing. I still don’t want that in a Trek show. This didn’t feel like a Trek comedy show, but rather a parody of Trek, like you’d see on Family Guy or Robot Chicken (the similarities to Rick and Morty aren’t just in the art). I don’t like that sort of manic, frantic, silly humor (that still somehow manages to stretch a joke too long much of the time) generally, and I don’t think it fits with the Star Trek aesthetic. Trek has done comedy, sometimes even being funny, so it’s not like Trek has to be serious. But this isn’t it.

All that I could tolerate, though, if it weren’t for the main character. Mariner is by far the most annoying character on the show, but she’s obviously supposed to be sympathetic, at least as far as a modern comedy lead is allowed to be. She’s made out to be a Michael Burnham, but “funny”. But Burnham was a big part of what makes STD bad, and Mariner follows that trend. She’s a headstrong, manic, stubborn woman who’s nevertheless always in the right – she’s only rebelling against the stuffy regulations, after all. She’s contrasted with, and in conflict with, the senior staff, who are all jerkoffs, so you know she’s in the right, even if you’d rather she disappeared from your screen forever. This show might even be decent, if it weren’t for her. I don’t see her get any better.

Since it didn’t completely put me off in the first episode, I’ll give it at least a couple more, see if it turns out. I always hope that these new shows will turn out ok – that they’ve learned from their mistakes, and improved and made something better. My hopes are constantly dashed, but Trek is about hope for a better future. So here I am.

Social Combat? An Easy Stat Set For a Non-Combat Game

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Most everyone (at least anyone who’d be reading this) is familiar with a basic stat set, as seen in games. I think the idea might have been initially popularized with D&D, but it has spread out to lots of other forms of games, even besides RPG’s. It’s just a convenient and concise way to describe a thing in comparison with others of a similar nature. They’re especially useful when the things in question are combat units, for combat games.

But what about non-combat situations that you still want gamified? That’s easy with a stat set, too. Many games (like the afore-mentioned D&D) use the same stat set for all sorts of situations. Many gamers are familiar with the basic setup here, even if it does differ from game to game. Even the abbreviations will be familiar to many: STR, AGL, PER, DEX, INT, and so on. Many of those can conceivably be used in non-combat, or social, situations. You just have to make up a system to deal with them.

I’m not going to be doing anything original here. I just want a simple stat set that can be used just for social situations. Like, say, a high school setting. You don’t need a Strength stat, or perhaps Endurance stat, in that sort of thing (keeping it realistic, I mean; if you’re going to do a combat high school, you might want those things!). Like I said, simple. And familiar, so folks don’t need a big explanation on what everything is.

Your “social combat” in such settings would, I think, be mostly concerned with persuasion: convincing someone to do something, helping them feel better, convincing them of your position, and so on. So, what sort of stats might we use? Seems like Charisma (CHA) is obvious to start; let’s say it’s a combination of looks, the air about you, how you carry yourself, and so on, that make people like (or dislike) you before interacting, and basically how likable they are in general. Perception (PER) to notice things that are going on. Intelligence (INT) to have knowledge and figure out solutions. Wisdom (WIS) to know what to say, and how to best say it. Stuff like that.

So, how can we apply these? Let’s give an example. Say your character wants to go to the beach this weekend, and is trying to convince their friends. Most people want to go, so that’s easy, but there is one friend that’s quite resistant. A high CHA difference might make this friend more desirous to please the PC. A PER check might spot a shaky hand, or a specific change in tone. INT might remind that there’s a test on Monday, and the friend is not doing so hot in this subject. Success with WIS might use that friend’s specific history to bring up something or another. (I think WIS is probably the best stat in this situation, so something must be done about that.)

My system would, again, be simple. Just a 1-5 scale, with 3 being “normal”. Since all the stats are pretty close to each other, something must be done. So, I’ll have another stat, perhaps a multiplier. We’ll call that Will (WIL). This is the sheer force of personality, stubbornness, leadership skill, etc, that represents how much a character can really get something done. I’m even considering this a multiplier stat, compared to an additive stat for the rest. This can let otherwise low-stat characters actually succeed in many scenarios. (I basically have the genki idiot/airhead from a lot of anime in mind with this., who tend to drive the action over their smarter, wiser peers.)

Of course all this could be ironed out, added to, modified, and completely blown up. It’s just an idea I had, because I like simple things like this. Makes life easier for me.

(This is born from an idea I had for describing the various girls of Bang Dream. I thought this was an easy way of describing their base personalities while simultaneously explaining why things turn out the way they do in those stories. Then I figured one could make an actual game out of just that, and here we are. Might actually use the stats in those blogs about the characters, but might not. We’ll see.)

Improvement

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Today’s Blaugust prompt (original poster is Stingite) is

What skill do you want to improve on the most?

Pretty simple question. And for me, it’s a pretty simple answer. I want to improve my communication skills, and writing in particular.

See, I was always a decent writer. Competent, got good marks on my essays. I can do public speaking relatively well. Relatively. But “relatively well” isn’t good enough, in my eyes. Not when it’s important (important to me, anyhow).

I stated long ago that this was a reason for me to start this blog in the first place – to improve my writing skills. I have no real reason to do this – I’m a glorified janitor, after all. Even moving up to middle management somewhere wouldn’t really necessitate improving my writing (I’ve seen what our management does here), just keeping up my basic literacy. But I still want to improve.

I just don’t see my writing as particularly good. Oh, I know there are good ideas. That’s why I bother writing them down in the first place, whether it’s here on this blog, or somewhere else. (I’ve always been the type to hold my peace when I don’t have anything particular to add to a conversation. Drives some people up the wall.) But actually getting those ideas out, in a satisfactory manner, has always been very difficult for me. Even just explaining myself verbally is a challenge, but writing is definitely much harder. I’ll think about something for a long time, but when the time comes to let someone else know, I almost always falter.

For example, look at yesterday’s post. To me, when I read it, it seems like the barely-literate ramblings of a child. Now, I know they’re not. It’s competently done. I said what I wanted to say. But I didn’t say it how I wanted it said. It’s very simple and perfunctory. There’s no style or voice. I’ve been writing this post in my head for weeks. And yet there it is, looking like something a middle-schooler could dump out. Maybe not today’s middle schoolers, but you get the point. It was all much better in my head, but it’s just slop.

This is why I don’t do too many reviews – what can I say that is worth reading? I made yesterday’s post because I figure most anyone who reads it wouldn’t know about it, so there’s some small value there. But it’s a big part of why I haven’t put up my Picard review yet – people much more eloquent (or at least funnier) than I have said a lot about it. I still have thoughts and feelings about it, which I will post, this month, but still, I doubt it will satisfy me, besides the mere fact of finally expressing myself (to someone other than my brother, who doesn’t even care about Trek).

So yah, I want to improve my communication. I’m a smart guy, if I might toot my own horn a bit, so I shouldn’t sound like an idiot.

I think I want to make this image my header, I use it enough.

Bang Dream! Girls Band Party! The Review!

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This will be the general review of the game Bang Dream! Girls Band Party! (Yes, the exclamation marks are part of the title; it’s all very exciting, after all). I’m going to be doing a summary of the different bands in separate posts, because I think that’s worthwhile. But this is the sort of thing where I tell you stuff, so you can see if you want to try it out.

First thing you should know, this is a rhythm game. If that turns you off, don’t even bother. In terms of gameplay, it’s essentially the same as Guitar Hero or Rock Band, just with a touch screen: notes fall from the top of the screen, and when they hit the target area, you touch them. Or hold, or slide, whatever. You get a score for each note, depending on your difficulty and accuracy, and your combo count. You also have a life meter, which depletes if you mess up. For the most part, points doesn’t matter a whole lot.

Those pink diamonds are the bane of my life.

I wonder if the obvious similarities to Guitar Hero aren’t deliberate. Because, unlike a lot of mobile rhythm games, the music is mostly rock music. There are some different genres represented, depending on the band – I’ll get into that more when I talk about each band later. The different tracks are all free – you start with a large supply, and augment these through events, completing the stories, or using in-game currency. You don’t have to have the song yourself to play them in multiplayer, just to choose them yourself. In multiplayer each player chooses whatever they want, and then it’s decided randomly.

The second thing to know, is that this is a gacha game. The gacha consists of the various characters, each having several variants. I said above that the score mostly doesn’t matter. It doesn’t, except in multiplayer events. Score is dependent on the stats of your band. And of course, higher-rarity units have better stats. While there are in-game items that boost stats, boosts are naturally higher when the stats are higher to begin with. Also, different units have different abilities that are activated at certain times in a song (indicated by a yellow note), and higher-rarity units tend to have better abilities. But, most importantly to most players, each new unit comes with two mini stories, and often a new costume for the song background. The game is pretty generous with gacha currency, so one could easily save a bunch (especially when you’re new) and roll quite a bit. I personally got about 140 rolls in the first 2.5 months of playing – and I’m not good.

As a big part of the draw to the gacha is the appeal of the characters, it’s important to make them appealing. All events and story things are fully-voiced, at least for the main characters. (There are a few characters besides them that are also voiced, but most npc’s aren’t – this isn’t really a problem, since they aren’t a big part of the story, typically.) All of the character portraits are also animated using Live2D, which works really well for the most part. The voice acting is high-quality, and brings a lot of life and emotion to the characters – which is important, because the stories themselves are generally pretty simple.

Technically, I think this is a pretty demanding game. I have a top-tier Chromebook (at least for last year), and there is stuttering and desynching. However, I always have a large amount of Chrome tabs in the background, which probably doesn’t help things. My tablet, which is also pretty good, has no trouble with those sorts of issues. I think it’s probably more designed to play on phones, though – all the good video of people playing are doing it on phones, and it’s certainly easier to hit all the notes with one hand that way. A garbage phone like mine isn’t going to cut it, for sure, but I’m not sure how good your phone will need to be to play this well.

There are several servers to choose from, though you’ll almost certainly want to stay in your region: Japan, Korea, China (HK), Taiwan, and Worldwide. Your region determines the language of the game, and probably also ping, servers, etc. Thus, I figure anyone reading this will probably want to play on the World server, because that’s the English version. Japan was the original version, and it’s exactly one year ahead of the World version, in terms of events, songs, and gacha. I think the other servers are ahead of the World version, if you can do those languages, and care about that. (I don’t know about the Korean version, but the Taiwan version looks to be only five months behind Japan). The English translation sticks pretty close to the Japanese original, but some of the translation choices are odd, considering that. But it’s not nearly as bad as many other games I play, so I can deal with it.

All that being said, what’s most important: Is this game fun? I have to say it is. I quite like the story and characters, and the gameplay is fun as well. I also quite like most of the music, which is good considering that’s part of the gameplay. (I even bought the Rosellia album that came out a few weeks ago.) I don’t regret the little money I’ve put into it, for sure. I do play it quite a lot, and have improved a ton since I started. However, this game is very skill-based, and you need good reaction times and hand-eye coordination, areas in which I am quite lacking. Hard difficulty is actually hard, which is a little embarrassing to admit when I see most other players in my stats range doing Master no problem. But regardless, I do really like this game, which is why I’m going to be talking about it a lot more in the near future.

Rewriting Lanius: Fixing Fallout: New Vegas’ Ending

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A couple of days ago Jon of Many A True Nerd uploaded a video on the trouble with the Speech skill in Fallout. There’s a lot to get into with that, and you should really watch that video, but the gist of it is: it’s either OP, or practically useless. The major illustration is what I’m going to talk about today: the final boss fight in New Vegas, against Legate Lanius. If you have Speech maxed out – and only Speech – you win the fight without even fighting (and thus the game). That’s pretty crazy – again, watch the video – and so Jon puts forth a few ideas that might fix this one particular issue, without going against the point of “winning without combat”:

  • be a sufficiently good warrior that Lanius runs away (especially if you’ve already cleared out the Legion Camp) – this also involves revamping the rep system.
  • have the previous fight for the Hoover Dam go so well for the NCR that Lanius doesn’t see the point of continuing a lost battle, and retreats – this again involves a rework of the rep system.
  • be able to convince the Kahns to attack the Legion interior, which would force Lanius to retreat to take care of that threat – if you choose to tell him.

I thought that’s a pretty fun idea, so I’m going to propose some ideas of my own. As it stands presently in the game, you basically just say that continuing on is pointless, as the Legion can’t handle the logistics of holding the Dam and New Vegas. As pointed out, this is just a Speech check in the game (technically two, but if you can do one you can do the other, and it’s the only option for a peaceful ending here).

  • The easiest option is just to have other checks available. New Vegas already does this a lot – persuasion events are skill checks for all sorts of skills. And not just skill checks, but SPECIAL checks as well. For example, if you had 10 STR you could try to intimidate Lanius with your physical prowess, or perhaps a PER check to let him know you see his limp. It would be best to have to chain these checks, and/or only have certain combinations work. So for the previous example, Lanius wouldn’t be impressed with your 10 STR by itself, but if you point out his limp with the PER check too, he might be convinced that fighting to his own inevitable death isn’t the best option at the present.
  • Perhaps if Lanius could be convinced Caesar isn’t really serious about conquest or the Legion, he might quit the attack in disgust. Maybe you tell him about Caesar’s brain cancer – that Caesar isn’t fit to lead, and this whole action has been the farce of a fool. Or, if you’ve saved Caesar (and yet still fought against him at the end), you could say that Caesar plans to end the conquest here, with Vegas, which would of course annoy a conquerer like Lanius to no end (and what is a warrior without a war?).
  • During the game you learn that the bulk of NCR forces are actually in the south (Baja), especially the Rangers. Perhaps this could be actual intel you could pick up, and you can show Lanius that continuing past the Colorado would be foolishness. Lanius comes of as a musclehead, but he’s actually pretty smart, and he could realize the implications. Especially if Caesar is dead.
  • Actually that brings up a good point: during the whole game Lanius is portrayed as a brutal barbarian. His brains should be brought up too. After all, Caesar effectively made him his heir after getting rid of Joshua Graham), and Caesar wouldn’t give an idiot that position.
  • If you have the DLC’s, any of them, it’d be nice if you could use that knowledge to convince Lanius that going back east would be the better part of valor:
    • Say that Graham is leading a legion of tribals back against the Legion (after giving proof that Graham is still alive), and Lanius would definitely turn back – Graham is the only person that scares Lanius, and removing that ghost would be top priority.
    • Reveal that the Cloud is spilling forth from the Sierra Madre into Legion territory at home, and that you’ll give Lanius a way to combat it (or at least prepare for it) if he leaves.
    • Dazzle him with SCIENCE! from Big MT.
    • Hold that nuke from the Divide over his head (that you totally didn’t launch already, right?).

I’m sure there’s a lot more that can be done here.

By @HellOnEarthIII

Badfan Bad

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Back on Friday Belghast posted the first of the Blaugust prompts:

If you could change anything about one of your core fandoms, what would it be?

(I’m going to be a bit late with some of these, since I have my own things to post too.) Now, like lots of people, I have to wonder just what exactly my core fandoms are. First, to determine what exactly I might qualify as a “core fan” of; and second, to determine where in that fandom I lie.

But let’s skip all that. Because no matter the answer(s) to that question, my problems with fandom are the same. Now, since the prompt implies only one change, but I have a few problem areas, I’ll use this space to perhaps work out which is the worst, that I would change. I mostly participate with fandom on 4chan, which exacerbates the problems, but they are universal.

First, there are the doomers. For them, no matter what happens, the thing in question is always dying. Doesn’t matter how actually successful it is, it’s ending soon, just you wait. This wouldn’t be so bad, if these people weren’t so persistent. They doompost constantly, everywhere. If the thing isn’t the top of the charts, it’s a failure. If sales were low, the game is dying next month. Even if they get BTFO constantly, they just come back again in an hour with something else. My ‘favorites’ are the people that say ESO, one of the big three top MMO’s currently, is in a death spiral because, just for example, a single streamer stops covering the game. Point out that this is nonsense, and they’ll be on to some other thing. Then when that is shot down, they’ll bring up the streamer again. If this was mere trolling, it’d be understandable, but the obsession puts lie to that.

Next, there are the people that say everything about [thing] is crap. It’s not that they dislike [thing], but that it’s bad. You know, they put hundreds of hours into [thing], and continue to engage in [thing], which makes them experts into everything that’s bad about [thing]. And [thing] should change. Somehow. They very rarely give any actual criticism, let alone potential improvements. Again, this would be bearable if it was mere trolling, but the persistence of these folks shows that these aren’t trolls. They’re just unhappy with whatever, and letting you know it. Always, constantly. They aren’t doomers though, because they don’t think [thing] is dying. Not yet, anyways – but it will if it doesn’t improve.

The third problem group is the opposite of the above. They are the type that say [thing] is great how it is; sure, there can always be improvements, but [thing] is just fine now. No matter how low-quality [thing] is, they’ll praise it. They’re even worse than shills, because they aren’t even being paid to promote [thing]. But worst of all, these are who creators listen to the most. These people are happy, which means there are probably many more like them, so whatever! Forget the complainers! Ignore the valid criticism! Everything is fine with [thing]! And of course these types are the ones who get the most angry at people that don’t have a similar level of enthusiasm for [thing]. Unlike the types above, they actively try to drive people out of the fandom. All the while they’ll eat any slop that the creatives behind [thing] put out. They’re especially bad when [thing] has changed from something to another quite different [thing], and get quite upset that others don’t support the change.

In the end, I guess I have to say that the last type are the worst, to me. The former two are annoying as hell, but that’s all – they’re merely annoying. They don’t try to reform fandom into something it’s not, or it wasn’t. So yah, if I had to change something about my fandoms, I’d get rid of the slop-eaters.

Most (and Least) Rewatchable Treks

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Lorerunner is putting together his end-of-rumination-series videos for TNG and DS9, and asked his viewers to vote for the most-rewatchable and least-rewatchable episodes for those shows. At least that’s how I interpreted the inquiry. Since I wasn’t watching his stuff back when he was doing Voyager, and he hasn’t done TOS or Enterprise yet, I figure I’ll just make my own list for all of the real Trek series that I’ve seen – so everything besides The Animated Series (which only had one season, so I don’t think it’d be worth it to make such a list anyways).

Again, this is a most (or least) rewatchable list, not a list of the best or my most favorite. Sure, there might be some overlap, but some of those episodes are really heavy, or might be part of two-parters where I don’t necessarily want to watch the other part, stuff like that. My thought process is: if I were going to, say, donate platelets, and was stuck watching something for an hour or so, what episodes would I take with me? And what would I absolutely never bring? I’ll start the list of Most Rewatchable, then make the list of Least Rewatchable:

Most Rewatchable

TOS
  • The Enterprise Incident – A fun heist show, and the Romulan Captain is hot.
  • Whom Gods Destroy – Garth is fun to watch every time.
  • Balance of Terror – This is just a great episode, and the drama never gets old.
  • The City on the Edge of Forever – Besides being one of the best episodes in the franchise, I really like the “fish out of water” aspect; this will come up again and again.
  • Patterns of force – The Nazi episode, great fun.
TNG
  • Tapestry – Picard and Q interactions at their best.
  • The Chase – Good lore, and a fun episode about science, with all the major races participating.
  • First Contact – A look from the other side of things; I like when the format is different (this will come up a lot too).
  • Relics – It’s got Scotty, what more do you want?
  • Face of the Enemy – Troi actually gets to do something major? And it’s good? Sign me up!
DS9
  • Duet – This is my favorite episode, and I can rewatch it so much. Great acting, and important lore.
  • In The Pale Moonlight – Again, doing something different. Very snappy pacing, and great payoff in the end.
  • Trials and Tribbleations – This is just great fun.
  • In The Cards – Right before things get serious, a comedy episode that works.
  • Little Green Men – Another time travel episode, this time with Ferengi. The best stuff.
VOY
  • Distant Origin – A VOY episode not primarily about Voyager and its crew? And Chakotay gets to do stuff? Neat!
  • Non Sequitur – Repeat the above, but with Harry.
  • Message in a Bottle – Repeat the above, but with the Doctor, and another doctor, and another ship.
  • False Profits – More Ferengi means more fun.
  • Dragon’s Teeth – Good to see the Voyager crew get what’s coming to them for once. Also a good lore ep for STO.
ENT
  • Carbon Creek – Not really time travel, but may as well be. Vulcans in 50’s America? Nice.
  • First Flight – Again, doing something different and fun, and good lore.
  • The Andorian Incident – Shran is the man, and Vulcans get wrekt.
  • The Catwalk – Different settings like this can be quite fun.
  • Terra Prime – Great episode all around, and one of those rare two-parters where the second part is better than the first (and mostly can stand alone, which is why it’s here).

Least Rewatchable

TOS
  • Miri – Kids in Trek is almost always bad.
  • Assignment: Earth – As a kid I loved this, but it’s just not Trek (almost literally, if you know the background).
  • And the Children Shall Lead – Again, kids.
  • The Galileo Seven – Eh, just hard to watch, and not good.
  • The Omega Glory – Pure cringe.
TNG
  • Sub Rosa – Ghost sex, in my Star Trek? More likely than you might think!
  • Shades of Grey – Hate clip shows.
  • Devil’s Due – Fake supernatural stuff is the worst.
  • Code of Honor – Season 1 is weird and bad, and this is the worst of it.
  • The Outrageous Okona – Intentional comedy rarely works in Trek, and this is the worst.
DS9
  • Meridian – Boring as hell.
  • The Muse – Same
  • Accession – Same
  • Distant Voices – I really don’t like this sort of mind trip episode.
  • Whispers – Worst of the Torture O’Brien episodes.
Voy
  • The Chute – Don’t like the “We’re in jail” episodes, where the point is they’re in jail (as opposed to constant flashbacks as to why they’re in jail).
  • 11:59 – One of those “out of time” episodes that doesn’t work in any way, AND is boring as hell.
  • Tsunkatse – WWF crossover in my Star Trek?
  • Spirit Folk – Boring holodeck bs with boring holodeck malfunction bs. Gross.
  • Shattered – Just don’t care.
ENT
  • A Night in Sickbay – Just absolutely terrible.
  • These Are the Voyages… – Same
  • Cogenitor – Character-breaking propaganda episode, even more cringe than The Omega Glory.
  • Dear Doctor – Prime Directive episodes are usually skips, and this is the worst of them.
  • Observer Effect – I’m a bit of a hypochondriac, and this ep is pure nightmare fuel. Also, not good to make up for that.