Being a look back at cards from the Star Trek CCG, and what I thought of them back when they were fresh and new... in EPISODE order. Back to some Q-Continuum cards...
PICTURE: Another beige offering from that scene in "Encounter at Farpoint", it at least has a couple of things going for it. First, it's quite bizarre. Second, all the elements, from the costume to the background, are somewhat blocky. That cohesiveness of composition should be worth at least a 3.4.
LORE: First, let's talk about the title. I appreciate the pun based on that other card, The Higher... The Fewer, but its relationship to "getting high" (on drugs) is more than a little disturbing to me. (What can I say, some people don't like the naked Trois, others Mirror Kirk's salute, me, it's "comical" references to drugs.) The Q-uote makes that relationship plain, putting the pic into context, certainly, but helping Trek Sense very little. I'd have to say this is more unfunny than it is funny, so just a 2.5.
TREK SENSE: Aside from a play on words, there's very little relationship with the pic and lore to the concept delineated here. While the basic concept of Q deciding to stick around longer (more Q-cards to the Flash) is sensible enough, I don't see it having any basis in the presence of Civilians or not. Conceptually, the "military" is the Command icon personnel that dictate how many Q-cards to add to the Flash (they decide who gets drugged). Civilians are not in the military, so they become the requirement to avoid the penalty. But let's face it: that whole scheme has nothing to do with anything happening in realty (even Q's warped sense of it) or with the effect, not unless the Civilian in question is Guinan (which may be what they were thinking. Or Vash?). It was probably rather inspired as much by the title as by the concept. At least the Q variable is a cute touch. A dull 1.2.
STOCKABILITY: CIVILIANs being the least useful classification (aside from ANIMAL, of course), this card has a fair chance of hitting. The prize isn't bad either: more Q-cards to a Flash. For smaller Away Teams and crews, this addition may be worth it since you want the group to be hit by every different Q-card you stocked in your Continuum each time it is hit. The number of additional cards encountered is tied to the rather common Command icon, so no worries there. Usually, you'll get at least one extra Q-card (of course in that case, it's just replacing The Higher). Focused side-decks have fewer different Q-cards so The Higher may be less useful there, but think of it this way: if you have fewer different cards, you might be forced to discard a number of them as duplicates. The extra cards might get you to that more important Q-dilemma that sits just under the last card encountered. Let me go with 3.5, which is high seeing as it has no direct effect on the Away Team or crew.
TOTAL: 10.6 (53%) A score as drab as its color palette.
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