User blog comment:Hawki/Nova Covert Ops, part 2 - Reflections/@comment-250398-20160824161552/@comment-58609-20160831234959

I meant to reply to this awhile ago, but something went wrong and Wikia jizzed by entry. Anyway, concerning the above points:

-I know what you mean about Reigel, and he does add to the narrative. It's a nice return to form with WoL, of the sense of comraderie that existed between the terran characters. Nova and Reigel don't quite have that, in part due to the lack of a story-mode space, but Reigel does come off as having some depth, given that he sounds arrogant most of the time, but is clearly distressed about Tyrador IX for instance.

-Heh, I actually like Ji'nara. I have a feeling they're building up to something with her. She outright states in Rak'Shir (the mission) that she intends to challenge Alarak some day, and in NCO, we see that she doesn't agree with his actions - not completely at least. If Alarak does become the focus of a second mission pack, I'd expect Ji'nara to play a role.

-Grayson does work as a bait and switch, I'll give it that. As for Matt, in one of her flashbacks, Nova is told about "the admiral" sending her to the Defenders. Grayson isn't an admiral, Matt is the only admiral of note in the Dominion right now (character-wise), so, yeah. Could happen. Not sure about his motivations though. Grayson I can understand, but Matt's never had a problem with the protoss, and he seems to get on well with Valerian, so, yeah.

-I wouldn't be surprised if Delta and/or the other Ghosts are given a distinct fate. The optimal playthrough is with them surviving after all, so there's nothing prohibiting said survival. I'm reminded of Warcraft III in a way, how you can complete the last Silvermoon mission without killing Sylvanas. However, Frozen Throne establishes that regardless of your in-game actions, Arthas canonically killed her. Or, even if they survive the mission, they can die off-screen.

-Yeah, the lack of a distinct date is irritating for NCO. It doesn't matter too much from a story sense, but every time I edit an article concerning the events, it's in the knowledge that if a date is given, we'll have to re-visit all said articles. I have a feeling that they don't want to commit to a date yet. Hopefully it'll be in Evolution, if they provide a timeline like they did with other novels.

-Looking at Evolution, the description has changed again (and I'm guessing Psi doesn't like "shadowy creatures" being mentioned, but that's another matter), and I've noticed that they've become ever more vague in the description. We've lost Valerian and Zagara, we've lost the mention of individual soldiers, and the situation seems to be more grim. To which I say, "sigh." Look, I can understand why people might be put off by the lack of conflict between "the big three" (zerg most of all), but it feels more like a return to form rather than a progression, because God damn it, don't you know this is StarCraft? All grit, all dark, all the time! And yes, conflict is the essence of drama, but again, unnecessary sequel.