I'm in the camp that a MMO starship will never look perfect, however, I believe that each model should have the look and feel of ship it's representing. For the most part everything is correct. The Intrepid looks and feels like an Intrepid, the Defiant looks and feels like a Defiant, and the Sovereign looks and feels like a Sovereign.

But then we get to the Galaxy. It doesn't look or feel like the Six-Foot Model and it doesn't look or feel like the Four-Foot Model either.

It's in this middle-ground where it just doesn't feel right. The neck is probably the biggest culprit, it feels way too straight, removing the small forward-swept feeling of the saucer over the deflector dish, instead it feels like it's just on top of it. I could nit-pick the saucer and secondary hull, but if there's not going to be a new model created I would just really like a new neck.

And lastly there's an issue for the artist to consider. What version of the D do I use as reference? If you're in this thread you probably know that there were three different models of the Enterprise-D used throughout the run of NextGen and the first half of DS9. Of these three, the graceful and curvaceous six-footer, the stocky bulldog that is the four-footer, and the small practical two-footer I think I'd go for the four-footer.

While not quite as graceful as the original sixer, it emanates for me the feel of the TV show. And that's what you want from ships in this game. You want to feel like you're flying that ship you've seen on TV for the last 20 years.

A quick example being (yes I know it's a different game, but the idea is the same) Bridge Commander. Two very very good models for the Galaxy are Wiley Coyote's Six-Foot Based Generations Model and C2X's more four-foot based Galaxy.

Two very different attempts at the same ship. While I'll see the six-foot model and know it's the D, it is the four-foot that instantly brings back memories of TNG. The four-foot looks more aggressive, which also makes sense in the war-torn universe that STO takes place in. The four-foot would also be a great candidate for this new texturing technique Cryptic has used with the Ambassador.

Thanks for reading!