[Slayer07]

The one thing I can say is that matching commanders do serve game purposes. So far romantic and familial links have only been for flavor, no other card takes advantage of that.

There is indeed one card that makes use of romantic links...

Okay so I stand corrected on that one card...compared to the dozens that go into matching commanders or Captain's Orders for example. It doesn't change my belief there should be more for romantic links to do since they are prominent on many cards that aren't Borg.

[Maelwys]

Okay so I stand corrected on that one card...compared to the dozens that go into matching commanders or Captain's Orders for example. It doesn't change my belief there should be more for romantic links to do since they are prominent on many cards that aren't Borg.

Oh, I definitely agree with you there! I was the one that designed Cafe Des Artistes, as a proof of concept essentially. It cemented romantic interests/couples as a thing in the rules, and opened up that design space so that hopefully other designers can now step forward and find other new ways to play in that area. I've noticed a few related cards go through the design files occasionally, but so far nothing has stuck. But it's definitely still there as an option, and if there ever is a Valentine's boutique set, that would definitely work off those rules.

[AllenGould]

Which is why it's my opinion that any noun or adjective is technically a broken link, because at any moment some crazy designer can make it relevant.

[Boffo97]

Don't forget that

Temporal Benefactor

will key off of any mentions of anyone else's name.

Even for cases where neither personnel involved is , there's still The Mask of Korgano.

[Rachmaninoff]

Dramatis Personae also keys off of any name in lore... but counting those as broken links leads to madness pretty quickly, there are a LOT of mentions of mains by first name only (Kirk, Picard, Riker, etc.) or with titles included (Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Lieutenant Worf).

A few others to consider:

You can pass Executive Authorization with an Intendant, but The Intendant is the only personnel with that characteristic.

Cravic Warship makes references to generic Cravic Units; Cravic Unit 122 is the only one.

Breen Disruptor Burst refers to Breen ships; Breen Warship is the only one.

Cybernetics Expertise refers to personnel with Cybernetics x2; Dr. Soong is the only one.

[jrch5618]

Dramatis Personae also keys off of any name in lore... but counting those as broken links leads to madness pretty quickly, there are a LOT of mentions of mains by first name only (Kirk, Picard, Riker, etc.) or with titles included (Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Lieutenant Worf).

A few others to consider:

You can pass Executive Authorization with an Intendant, but The Intendant is the only personnel with that characteristic.

Cravic Warship makes references to generic Cravic Units; Cravic Unit 122 is the only one.

Breen Disruptor Burst refers to Breen ships; Breen Warship is the only one.

Cybernetics Expertise refers to personnel with Cybernetics x2; Dr. Soong is the only one.

Sigh, just making more work for me, huh? I accept these and added to the list.

Anyway, back to Temporal Benefactor. Can anyone think of such a linking that would count as a broken link (disregarding Mask of Korgano)? That, as printed, would be a broken-link as benefactor or benfactee.

[AllenGould]

but counting those as broken links leads to madness pretty quickly

[frakkingoff]

Cybernetics Expertise refers to personnel with Cybernetics x2; Dr. Soong is the only one.

I disagree, this is not a broken link - it also refers to people who have been given Cybernetics x2 via external methods (Vulcan mindmelds, Reflection Therapy, etc.). It would be a broken link if it specifically said they needed a printed skill of Cybernetics x2.

By the same token, "Cantankerousness" is not a broken link on Reunion simply because only one character has that skill printed.

[jrch5618]

Cybernetics Expertise refers to personnel with Cybernetics x2; Dr. Soong is the only one.

I disagree, this is not a broken link - it also refers to people who have been given Cybernetics x2 via external methods (Vulcan mindmelds, Reflection Therapy, etc.). It would be a broken link if it specifically said they needed a printed skill of Cybernetics x2.

By the same token, "Cantankerousness" is not a broken link on Reunion simply because only one character has that skill printed.

Good point. Removed from list. The only 'benefactor' broken link I've found so far is 'Gorkon' on Ambassador Sarek (HF2) and Chang. I'll keep researching.

[Rachmaninoff]

Cybernetics Expertise refers to personnel with Cybernetics x2; Dr. Soong is the only one.

I disagree, this is not a broken link - it also refers to people who have been given Cybernetics x2 via external methods (Vulcan mindmelds, Reflection Therapy, etc.). It would be a broken link if it specifically said they needed a printed skill of Cybernetics x2.

By the same token, "Cantankerousness" is not a broken link on Reunion simply because only one character has that skill printed.

Good point. Removed from list. The only 'benefactor' broken link I've found so far is 'Gorkon' on Ambassador Sarek (HF2) and Chang. I'll keep researching.

I could see it both ways -- it is indeed possible to get Cybernetics x2 in another way besides Dr. Soong. However, Decipher chose to include Raimus in All Good Things because the only other personnel with a printed Orion Syndicate skill was Liam Bilby. It was possible to get another Orion Syndicate personnel through Frame of Mind, Reflection Therapy, etc. but it fell under Decipher's definition of a broken link. The same precedent could apply to Soong's Cybernetics x2.

A weirder case: Klaestron Outpost can be built where there is a Klaestron ENGINEER. But all Klaestron personnel currently in the game have ENGINEER. So "Klaestron ENGINEER" is redundant unless one day there would be a Klaestron personnel without ENGINEER. Is this a broken link? This is the converse of the Cantankerousness/Orion Syndicate/Cybernetics x2 cases.

[frakkingoff]

I think Designer Intent should be a consideration for broken links. After all, that's where the whole fun of the concept comes from - a sneaky little tease deliberately left in by designers to give us a hint of what's to come. Without that intent, some of these "broken links" aren't really "links" to begin with (and thus can't be "broken links"), they're just quirks of the rules and language the game is written in.

I always believed Decipher meant to include more Orion Syndicate personnel, since they are a recurring part of the Star Trek universe - they just never got around to it. It wasn't a Cantakerousness/Reunion situation, where it was always meant to be one man.

[jrch5618]

Yeah - and 'intendant' is _only_ used for officials of the - and Kira is the only one we'll ever see unless this game goes into 'book world'.

Anyway, just before Cold Front fully drops, I found one more thing. Tavek is the commander of the Nyran which doesn't exist yet.

[frakkingoff]

Yeah - and 'intendant' is _only_ used for officials of the - and Kira is the only one we'll ever see unless this game goes into 'book world'.

There could also theoretically be a card that one day plays on a personnel to make than an Intendant.

[jrch5618]

Cold Front Update

This update has 2 additions, 12 reductions (yes, 12), and one missed opportunity.

New links:
Cold Station 12 is a biolab needed by Pawns of the Military - it's the only one for now. We can all get infected later.
Tellarite Trading Post, a universal facility, can only play to 2154 locations - which as of now is one and only one location. Shame - the final frontier isn't quite open yet.

Closed Links:
Comfort Women exists, which should bring Kira Meru ... ummm... comfort.
Ferengi Gas Trap exists, which... *sniff* *sniff* *cough* ... eeewwww, who cut the Questivoo?
Holographic Camouflage exists, giving the now-two Drone-class ships ways to terrorize the spaceline with Holographic Sskin.
One With the Borg exists. We will all be one... with the Borg... with Four of Fifty as our guide.
Hinder Progress exists. Even mirror Vulcans lke Commander T'Pol can be a pain. (Where's that shotgun?)
Boshar exists, much to Antaak's delight. Who's a good boy?
Lissan exists, being the second Aenar for Locate Telepaths. (Hey, I found another one! Now to find Shran... guess not today.)
Raakin exists, happy to captain the I.K.S. Nguq'Yab and rocking Persis's socks off (till she killed him).
Sarin exists... but she's not welcome at Study Xenophobic Tendencies any more than Silik.
Admiral Mendak exists now, making the Devoras happy that it finally has its real captain, not a fake non-admiral.
Devna-Lev exists, so Harrad-Sar no longer has to make stories up about his imaginary ship.
Raptor Two exists, joining its partner in crime Raptor One in all sorts of shenanigans.

Missed Opportunity

Yes, I've heard the reasoning why the new Data wasn't named Lt. Commander Data to fix the U.S.S. Sutherland link. Doesn't change that it doesn't solve this link and may make it permanently broken. Beside, the 'romances' with Tasha and Jenna didn't really exist till now - the wordings on his 'trail of lovers' don't correspond to the proper romance qualities. (Now we just need a Borg Queen and Data of Borg to be a couple...)

[Davey1983]

A weirder case: Klaestron Outpost can be built where there is a Klaestron ENGINEER. But all Klaestron personnel currently in the game have ENGINEER. So "Klaestron ENGINEER" is redundant unless one day there would be a Klaestron personnel without ENGINEER. Is this a broken link?

In short-- no. The card is looking for a group, in this case the group of Klaestron Engineers. There are multiple Klaestron engineers, so the card has a group it can target.

Being redundant doesn't mean it is a broken link. A broken link (as this topic defines them-- I actually disagree a little with this definition) is whatever group is called out by another card. No card calls out non-engineering Klaestrons. (For the record, I believe a broken link should only be a card that is specifically named, but it appears most people disagree with me on that point)

Finally, it is not redundant. While all Klaestrons (currently) are engineers, not all engineers are Klaestrons.