Any mixed feelings about the transporter?

Discussion in 'Star Trek - The Original & Animated Series' started by Grant, Aug 27, 2013.

  1. Nine of Four

    Nine of Four Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2013
    Location:
    On a Borg Cube in the Delta Quadrant
    I try not to watch TNG with my father anymore, because every time they use sit-to-site beaming, he goes on a huge rant on why they even need transporter rooms, and I can't hear what's going on in the episode.....:rolleyes:
     
  2. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2002
    Location:
    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    I wish they'd left it out of ENT entirely, but the transporter was just fine as used on TOS.

    The Enterprise carried tank divisions...? :vulcan:
     
  3. Grant

    Grant Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Dec 16, 2006
    Well not a full division--closer to a tank battalion.
     
  4. jpv2000

    jpv2000 Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2012
    Location:
    Georgia, United States
    I did not know that, but I missed a lot of the Enterprise series.
     
  5. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2002
    Location:
    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    ^I thought we were talking TOS, and I think Timo was pulling tank divisions out of his...stern section.
     
  6. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 26, 2003
  7. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2002
    Location:
    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    ^I think you might be overestimating the size of those holds, though maybe if they had some kind of rack system for stacking them vertically.

    But my point is that I don't think we've ever seen anything regarding Federation starships being used as armored cavalry carriers...we don't even know that such war machines are typically employed by starfaring races in Trek. It's all a bit out of left field.
     
  8. austen_pierce

    austen_pierce Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2013
    Location:
    Virginia Beach, VA
    :rofl: Sounds like a good time!

    Transporters among other things, make Trek unique.
     
  9. Grant

    Grant Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Dec 16, 2006
    I certainly wasn't suggesting eliminating the transporter as a plot device.

    I was suggesting alternating times when it and the shuttle would be used.

    Use the transporter to beam into the tunnels of Janus VI and the tunnels of Exo III and when covertly entering into Vanna's cell in "Cloud..." and when beaming to a pre-warp culture and not wanting to have a 24 foot piece of evidence for the natives to find.....

    But use the shuttle more often when doing a survey of an uncharted vacant planet or when you might have to leave the crew behind or when you want the landing party to have a base with a lot of supplies.

    Or course you could beam down supplies, but this is drama and having shuttle base of operations breaks the pattern of every episode just having 3-5 people in t-shirts and phasers bean down to explore a world.

    The transporter was so ubiquitous it seemed more safe than an elevator ride and more common than the cool tech is should have been.

    By the end of the series they didn't even show the big 3 on the bridge discussing the mission they just had a Kirk V.O. and them beaming down. That's okay for some situations but sometimes the set-up/trip is in itself a chance for interesting drama.
     
  10. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

    Joined:
    Nov 22, 2012
    Location:
    Melakon's grave
    Also known as, aft torpedo bay.
     
  11. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2002
    Location:
    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    I was thinking hangar deck....
     
  12. Mario de Monti

    Mario de Monti Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Jun 10, 2013
    Location:
    Heidelberg, Germany
    My thoughts exactly. The initial question of this thread was not "transporters: yes or no?" The question was, if using the transporter less and the shuttlecraft more, might have provided the means for more interesting/diverse stories and also made more sense in-universe. Which it definitely would have, IMHO.

    Mario
     
  13. Grant

    Grant Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Dec 16, 2006
    Yeah, that's basically all I was trying to get at.

    You have 79 episodes--maybe 65 of them they use the transporter.

    I just think it would have made for more variety, both visually and story-wise to, say, use the shuttle in say 15 of those landing party situations.

    I'm just wishing there had been more variety all around.

    A couple more uses of the phaser rifle (perhaps a redesigned one), I love those landing jackets, a couple more situations where they used EVA suits, one or two brief attempts to show loss of gravity--even for a moment.

    It seems after season 1, everything became so pat, less crewmen in jumpsuits and protective garments, never once going back to the portal seen in "Conscience..."

    I mean a few things to keep things from becoming so pat.

    For example, even in a terrible episode like "Alternative Factor" they have a never seen before or after shot of the Ent firing from a behind looking forward camera angle. That always got my attention as something visually new.

    Seeing the number of crew in the corridors dwindle and less and less variety in what they were wearing. They never showed the crew in off duty wear. You mean when you get off duty and meet your friend in the rec room you wear your uniform.

    It seems a little silly but seeing Pike passing the couple in tennis gear seemed a really nice touch.

    Hell even as the series went on they used less and less minority actors.

    It just became formula--still entertaining but a little too much of the same thing all the time.