Having been in the military USARMY, sometimes I watch the episodes and I notice that all of the action, for the most part, is on the bridge and or only involves the main few characters. My questions are, what are all the other people on the ship doing while say Q is up to no good, or while the main crew people are back in time in San Francisco? We always See Picard call down to the Transporter room and poor Miles O'brien is just standing there awaiting the call(?) as much as I would love to be on the enterprise, I think it might be a little dull all in all. What do ya all think? Dull or not dull? And why?
It could be boring while you're on duty, many jobs are boring... But when you're not on duty there is the holodeck, hard to get bored?
They are just doing their regular jobs, O'Brien really got the short end of the stick but everyone else should lots of things to do, it's a scientific and exploration vessels after all (and sometimes a giant shuttle for annoying diplomats), it's not like everyone's just sitting in their butt until the borg show up. When they're off duty there are lots of things to do, the ship has bars, a mall, holodecks, many people to hang out with, people have hobbies, they can draw, sculpt, listen to music and Thursday is Cheers night in Ten Forward (Guinan became a fan when she was on earth in the early 21st century and discovered binge watching).
Yea, I guess the Holodeck is the boob-tube of the 24th century! On the other hand, it's sort of annoying that when the Main people want the Holodeck it's just there, waiting for them. It would seem like since there are only a few of them( yep, I don't know how many, I'm such a bad nerd) it seems like you'd have to reserve it a month in advance.
The holodeck isn't always there, though. I shouldn't think that just anybody can use it whenever they want. There must be some sort of roster and quota in which officers get first priority, down to the civilians, who would have more restrictions on how often they can use it and for how long. He'd also have Keiko to be with. She didn't become as much of a whiny shrew until they moved to Deep Space Nine. Why would a starship have a mall when nobody has any money to spend? Or maybe it's just Beverly's personal shopping space since she's the only one with money? They did that on Voyager. The crew developed their own ship's economy that was based on replicator rations and blocs of holodeck time.
Just don't book it straight after Riker's been in there. See above. There's lots to do - a gym, ten forward, an arboretum, a bit of corridor to stand in and stretch while wearing a leotard, the dolphins... Personally I'd like a go at Shuttlecraft Jousting.
Okay no stretching in leotards in the hallways! Yeech I'm writing a Fanfiction and I'm going to have the dolphins in it. But really, does anyone know why the Dolphins are there anyway? It seems a little tiny bit stupid.
Inclusiveness before pragmatism. Plenty to do. 42 decks on this ship. There has to be a subculture for every hobby. Board game enthusiasts, holo-roleplaying, a half millennium of movies, millennia of music, sports leagues. Imagine D&D in this century.
Well they all have jobs. Hopefully those jobs interest them and aren't dull. Off duty, well with holo-tech the sky's the limit.
I guess it wouldn't be played the traditional way, with graph paper, character sheets, pencils, and polyhedral dice.
I like to think there's a dedicated group of purists that DO play it exactly that way while most everyone else is LARPing on the Holodeck.
I would imagine that most of the time, 'transporter room duty' wouldn't be a full time shift, only at those times they're orbiting a planet or some such things and dozens of people are transporting back and forth. Or would they really have 100% presence there, even during weeks of deep-space travel in which nothing really happens, only to have someone there for that possible emergency transport? Even those aren't usually entirely unexpected... perhaps there's a protocol that sends someone to a transporter room as soon as a ship-in-distress or some such thing is detected ?
Perhaps the computers are programmed to transport O'Brien to the transporter room as soon as Picard says "Picard to O'Brien." Also, the transporter cycle puts on a yellow uniform for Miles in case he's going commando.
Why would you think it's anything more than first come first served. Why should officers get preferential treatment when it comes to holodeck usage? I can understand length restrictions for everyone because otherwise some people could spend all their off duty time there but otherwise, I wouldn't expect any kind of preference structure based on hierarchy.
The crew compliment of each ship is figured on the number of people it tales across x number of ships to man it in various levels of operation. So, it's finely balanced to ensure that everyone has a role. A ship as large get and complex as the Galaxy-class probably has endless maintenance and upkeep needs. My guess is that mission specialists (like senior geologist or whatever) get assigned to other shipboard tasks as part of their shifts when they are not actively engaged in a project. Also, this is a ship filled with largely technical people and scientists, so I'd wager that a fair amount of their time is advancing their knowledge through some form of continuing education and training. Same for security and tactical people. The medical staff probably keeps plenty busy with scheduled checkups, basic first aid, etc. especially with over 1000 people aboard. During off-hours, the Enterprise has been surprisingly well depicted as a true community in space. Families spend time together. There are exercise classes, acting classes and plays, music concerts, art classes, various social centers (like Ten Forward), a low-gravity gymnasium, observation lounges, holodecks, arboretums. There's a shipboard school for the children, which likely means homework and projects. The crew quarters have viewing screens and holographic projectors to view entertainment. The computer engages in games. Damn, it actually sound pretty fun.
I would take all those old TSR adventure modules and convert them into holodeck programs. Live action D&D. How awesome would that be?
I agree. With families aboard, it may be JUST as important to allow the civilians to use the holodeck as the crew. The exception would be if the holodeck is needed for a mission-specific function or investigation (see Schisms or Booby Trap, for example).
I guess it would make sense to have one or two holo decks simply for different missions, just if it's needed there is one free at all times. Example: 'The Nth Degree'