If you’re coming late to this news, Trendy made a very cool announcement earlier today.   On the surface, the Federation is finally getting a full carrier. We can assume based on previous ships that it will be a science ship, and that is pretty cool in it’s own right.

We’ve wanted a true Federation carrier since the introduction of carriers.

What stands out – and it’s something that if it works well (and we think it will) it will mean KDF and Romulan opportunities – is that Cryptic is inviting the community to choose the design. While my upcoming blog series with Thomas Marrone about ship design gives you a peek behind the curtain, this promotion for only the second time in the games history allows you can be involved in the process.

Every three days in a row – you can vote in a design match-up between two of the eight proposed designed. Alpha and Beta are up first this weekend. How and where to vote will be announced on Thursday.  The eight ships will be matched up in brackets.  Your vote – through social media – will help determine the success or failure of this project.

So, what am I looking to support?  Let’s go through the designs:

Alpha (WINNER, Round One) has elements of Voyager, but for some reason I didn’t like the side view (sorry for not posting the sides).  It looked a little thin for a ship that going to support fighters, and the secondary nacelles are a little light for their role.  Yes, that’s nitpicking.

Beta (Defeated, Round One) is an interesting diversion from the current design trends.  The ‘hammerhead’ style reminds me more of a KDF ship more than a Fed ship.  What spoils it for me is the Miranda support section above the warp nacelles.  While I like this addition on the Miranda, or to the same extent the Nebula and Reconnaissance Science Vessel, it doesn’t seem viable for slower carrier.

The Gamma would be my second choice.  A nice balance between nacelle length, and primary hull.  It feels like a Star Trek ship.  My only down-vote comes from the nacelles – the larger primaries should be on top, not the bottom (which YES is irrelevant in space).

Delta seems a step back in time, more than a step forward,  her top side seems overly heavy, and the circular primary is very dated considering the direction the game has gone.  Chalk this up to being my least liked version.

Epsilon is quite cool, in fact it’s my third choice over all.  Tight configuration between the primary hull and nacelles, it seems better suited as a replacement for the Typhoon class, or as a T7 upgrade to existing Command Cruisers.  I hope this shows up as an NPC ship.

Theta is a hard-sell for me.  It’s the most ‘Star Trek’ design of the bunch, but it’s in that designation that I find it’s not suitable for a true carrier.  Too much is exposed (yeah, that excuse is weak considering what I do like).  It looks better suited to a diplomatic role.

Sigma is sexy for sure, and I know that Oden Knight has a persuasive argument for her.  She’s ‘toight’ – tight in all the right places, something you’d expect from a carrier.  Elements of BSG if you excuse the engineers parlance.  And that’s why she fails – it can’t be BSG no matter how much we like it.

Which leaves us with OMEGA.  A dual saucer design, with sufficient launch space for multiple hangers, top-aligned primary warp coils, and an adapted shovel style primary hull configuration that screams ‘I’m one tough MOTHER’.  I’d marry this design 😉  In fact, if you turn your head, she looks a Tholian looking for a fight.  OK OK – it looks like the Jupiter, which while UGLY, is a ship I still WANT!

Starting tomorrow, it’s your opportunity to vote to determine what this ship will looks like.

What will you VOTE for?