[Major Tom]

I think that Star Trek suffers from a lot of 'racial generalization'. The most 'realistic' interpretation of the Star Trek 'races' are in TOS, in my opionion. TNG, DS9, VOY really seemed to polarize the different cultures in Star Trek, making them all being irrationally 2 dimensional with only OCCASIONAL divergents from the path (i.e., when that Starfleet officer tried a military coup in DS9).

In TOS, the Klingons were much more reasonable people then in the 1990's Star Trek universe. They were 'warmongerish', but accepted peace, and were more 'realistic' (i.e., not TOTALLY warmongering) as they appear later.

The Romulans in TOS were a lot like the Klingons in TNG+. They were honourable, and had to rely a lot on discipline and bravery to make up for technological disparity.

I never liked how the later Star Trek series dictated an almost absolute description for each empire. They became almost too predictable in later series.

One voyager episode (one of the few that I have seen) comes to mind. It had to do with accessing a Cardassian medical individual's information by the hologram doctor. Many people said that he was a war criminal, and others defended him. However, of course he WAS a war criminal, primarily because he was a CARDASSIAN! It would have made for a much better episode had this doctor been unfairly 'erased' by an irrate Bajoran crewman for things that he did not do, but it was much easier to make him fit the Cardassian mold.

It was only at the end of DS9 when some of these 'races' broke their mould. Cardassians proved they were honourable, Klingons became rational, Romulans became more open and less Vulcan-like.

In a way, Star Trek 'races' accurately match our PERCEPTION of other cultures (i.e., how we PERCIEVE the USSR, Communist China, and even the United States). However, the reality is, is that none of these perceptions are/were real. Russians were not like the Klingons, Chinese not like the Romulans, and Americans not like the Federation. It is a falacy to believe that cultures are reflective of a singular perception.

TOS had more realistic cultures.

Federation = Generally peaceful, but will engage in occasional Wars of Agression and a history and present blotted with problems.

Klingons = Generally warlike, but will not go to war if it is irrational (i.e., making peace in Star Trek VI, the one TOS episode where Klingons and Federation were controlled by a being and made to fight eachother with swords where they made peace, the Tribble episode where Klingons and Federation can actually sit in the same bar and not KILL eachoter)

Romulans = Honourable, emotional yet intelligent. Due to technology disparities they had to rely on high discipline and sneaky tactics, hence the development of a cloaking device.

So, I see 'real' Star Trek 'races' to be ALL based off of a similar model (like all cultures) but with different 'cliques'. Some are more geared toward one aspect then others, but this did not consume them completely. However, they are not TOTALLY diriven toward that goal (i.e., Klingons only think of war, Ferrengi only of money, Federation only of peace, Cardassians only of cruelty, etc...,).

This mod will be based off of the TNG universe, but I really don't believe that it is necessarily a FAIR universe. TNG is VERY biased toward the Federation being everything to emulate, while all of the other races are extremely corrupt in some aspect. I think in order to get a Star Trek feel to the game, as well as a well balanced game, is to use TOS-like cultures and 'races' over that of TNG/DS9/VOY cultures.

Otherwise, the predictability becomes ovewhelming, knowing that the Federation will almost never get into a friendly posture with the Romulans.