Is Deanna always actually there?

[Ottens]

I love the dark take on Troi in this thread

Seriously, though, even the writers struggled with her character in the beginning. It's why Troi is underutilized in the first season or two. They figured that if she can just read everyone's mind (or sense their feelings/intentions), where's the drama? You may remember in "Encounter at Farpoint" she communicated telepathically with Riker. That wasn't done again, with Troi only receiving telepathic communications in later episodes (including from her, full-Betazoid, mother).

More background on how the character was developed here.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Peter David's novel Imzadi said that they were imprinted on one another, from years ago when they committed.

But that would have been useful when Riker was captured by those prewarp beggars, and screwed Dr Lillith Crane to escape.

 

[Qonundrum]

Why on earth would she screw holo Riker?

To make up for Wil/Bill/Imzadi's getting it on with Minuet?

I'm certain more people prefer the real thing, but all those force fields and other bits of technology used to create those "as real as you need me to be" simulations must surely be just as good... Also:

 

[Qonundrum]

I love the dark take on Troi in this thread

Seriously, though, even the writers struggled with her character in the beginning. It's why Troi is underutilized in the first season or two. They figured that if she can just read everyone's mind (or sense their feelings/intentions), where's the drama? You may remember in "Encounter at Farpoint" she communicated telepathically with Riker. That wasn't done again, with Troi only receiving telepathic communications in later episodes (including from her, full-Betazoid, mother).

More background on how the character was developed here.

I loved how, in "Encounter at Farpoint", she saved the day because she was the only one who actually could figure out the missing piece to the Farpoint mystery - by sensing the emotions of the alien entity they were all walking inside without otherwise knowing it. Q would have won if Troi wasn't there. They still had drama and suspense and adventure going. It's a shame they didn't keep doing that...

...the unfortunate part is that they couldn't do the same thing every week as it would get too stale, which goes right back into your point of the loss of drama.

Expensive too when having to create big mystery nonhumanoid aliens to have to try to deal with. And having to contrive characters to come across genuinely mysteriously to keep the audience guessing never happens (not unlike Colombo where the guest star is always the baddie), hence the refrain of "Captain, I'm sensing the obvious". And that sadly stuck far too often.

If Guinan didn't get added into the show, I suspect Troi would have gone more down that route - though Guinan wasn't always there and there's no reason for Troi to not give out advice either. Guinan had enough of a unique take and cosmic background that Troi lacked (and vice-versa), so there could have been an option to have been on equal footing depending on surrounding circumstances. (e.g. Q - Troi can only sense something vaguely wonky. Guinan's far more in tune and has had direct experience in the past (which was never touched upon after their one-time meeting too)... Guinan also could do what Troi could not in "Yesterday's Enterprise".)

 

[Guy Gardener]

To make up for Wil/Bill/Imzadi's getting it on with Minuet?

I'm certain more people prefer the real thing, but all those force fields and other bits of technology used to create those "as real as you need me to be" simulations must surely be just as good... Also:

Can a hologram be sexually unsatisfied and disappointed?

Imagine if 30 percent of the time holograms didn't (pretend to) cum, and then whined about it, and gave you a book to read about how to #uck better.

Imagine you dial up a sex program with some oiled up stud, but he's got impotency issues, so he just wants to talk about his feelings, or when is he going to meet your parents?

When Picard and Riker almost had a threesome with Minuet, but she paired off with Riker, and left Jean Luc to cry about balding his way into un#uckability...

Why didn't he just "create" his own minute?

Maybe a blonde Minuet?

P.S.

MInuet was a Bynar.

Either they upgraded the holodeck to make more realistic people, and then downgraded the holodeck after they left, or there was a genderless Bynar remote controlling Minuet withe responses of a real person who was not female and not human.

 

[The Old Mixer]

So after the best of both worlds, we head into Family where Deanna is hanging out with a sleepy Picard in his pajamas

Firstly it's inappropriate to be in Picard's room while he is getting ready for bed, if she isn't going to get into bed with him,

Picard's in his civvies, packing his little duffel case for his trip down to Earth. Granted the top looks like jammies, but the scene ends with him walking out of his quarters with the case hanging from his shoulder.

 

[dupersuper]

Can a hologram be sexually unsatisfied and disappointed?

I'd imagine it would depend on how you program them...

 

[Guy Gardener]

I'd imagine it would depend on how you program them...

No one programs their own holograms.

Even if you can, if you have an aptitude for that sort of thing, you'd program holograms for your friends and they would program yours, or there's a common domain where porn is dumped anomously like take a penny, leave a penny.

Inventing a story and writing a script, and then have your sexual partner reading back sexy lines to you, that you wrote?

There is a time and a place to compliment your member, but its usually not in the company of others, unless you're Todd from Scrubs.

 

[dupersuper]

No one programs their own holograms.

Tell that to Barclay.

 

[Guy Gardener]

We are to believe that he invented Holodeck porn.

There were no rules for holodeck porn before then.

Even so, we are supposed to believe that what we saw in Holo Pursuits was not Holodeck porn.

On TNG it's never holodeck porn.

 

[ChallengerHK]

there's a common domain where porn is dumped anomously like take a penny, leave a penny.

Sounds a lot like shipper fanfic.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Is she spying on everyone, all the time?

She almost certainly knows when you are getting laid or masturbating.

And imagine hating your boss. And your boss is one of the main cast. She would know that too.

 

[ThankQ]

Why on earth would she screw holo Riker?

A booty call to an ex without all the drama? Why, I can't imagine that any would possibly take that up, ever.