Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend

by Charlie Plaine, Crossover Lead Designer

16th September 2015

Today, we must say goodbye to an old friend. A friend that, while not abundant in our lives, has been part of our game since Enhanced First Contact in 1999. It is with great sadness that we mark the end of the life of the Star Trek: Customizable Card Game property logo.

The Star Trek: Customizable Card Game property logo first appeared in the game on a quartet of alternate universe counterparts in the above mentioned Enhanced First Contact. Since Bariel of Borg, Dukat of Borg, Gowron of Borg, and Tomalak of Borg were images created by Decipher and had never appeared on any of the series, they made the decision to use the property logo of the game itself on these cards. Decipher would use the property logo two more times, on Q the Referee in 2000's The Trouble With Tribbles, and again later that year in Mirror, Mirror on a fifth Borg counterpart, Weyoun of Borg.

The Continuing Committee would then go on to continue using this property logo in the same situations as Decipher, when the card featured an extrapolated image not featured on screen. A total of four (4) virtual cards were created with the ST: CCG property logo: Captain B'Etor and Brunt of Borg in Life from Lifelessness, Akorem Laan in Straight and Steady, and Shades of Grey's Starbase One. The Star Trek: Customizable Card Game property logo has not been used since 2011, and I can officially confirm that it will not be used again. So long, old friend.

This was not a decision we sought out to make, but rather one that evolved naturally from our work on Crossover. It actually came about from Captain B'Etor, and our desire to include her in decks (particularly because we wanted to reprint her in Crossover: Supplemental. After we posted the first version of the files, our testers were quick to point out that Captain B'Etor would break Reshape the Quadrant. We decided to "hand wave" the issue and instructed the testers to test with her as if she was , knowing that we would eventually have to cycle back and resolve that issue.

It was the decision to make the property logo a gameplay relevant aspect of the card that ultimately doomed the Star Trek: Customizable Card Game property logo. Since Reshape the Quadrant only cared about the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine property logo, it meant that Captain B'Etor would forever be on the wrong side of the line. As would any future personnel we might make, such as her sister, Captain Lursa, who made the cut and appears in Crossover. You can see that she's sporting the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, officially signifying the end of the ST: CCG version. In a game where even the property logo matters, it makes sense to maintain as small of a roster of logos as possible. Given the incredibly small percentage of cards that used the ST: CCG property logo to date, the First Edition team decided that continuing to use it was a liability.

So what does the "death" of the ST: CCG property logo mean for you? In most cases, nothing. As I said before, it's been four years since it was last used, and this decision simply means that it won't be used again. Any card we make that might have once had this property logo, such as Captain Lursa, will instead sport the "most appropriate property logo for the card". That's a bit vague, and intentionally so, but it boils down to the fact we're going to use logic, Trek Sense and the needs of the game to make the decision. Captain Lursa was mentioned in a Deep Space Nine episode, but the image is from either The Next Generation or Generations, meaning any of those choices might be valid. Since the card is obviously meant to work with , the best choice for the card's gameplay is to use the Deep Space Nine property logo; thus, that's what she has. She works with Reshape the Quadrant and all of the new toys you'll find in Crossover.

But where does that leave Captain B'Etor and the rest of the cards sporting the Star Trek: Customizable Card Game property logo. For now, the majority of those cards are remaining untouched. Captain B'Etor, since she is reprinted in Crossover: Supplemental, gets an upgrade in the form of an errata, and now sports the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine property logo. We'll officially be releasing the errata version on Monday, September 28th, but that's just to ensure that all versions of the card are identical. The remainder of the ST: CCG cards will not be errated until there is a reason to do so, but I want everyone to know that 1E Design isn't looking for reasons to change those cards. The Star Trek: Customizable Card Game will remain a part of the game's history, just not a part of the game's future.

Discuss this article in this thread.