Seekers #1 -- What a disappointment!

[Idran]

Idran, you say they are out for 2 weeks, a month best. If they only have a range of 2 weeks -- even at top warp, not much they can explore since the ship is "tethered" to the space station as it can only has "2 weeks worth of gas/supplies" as it needs 2 weeks to get back, and probably less as that would be cutting is close.

Yeah, but keep in mind, they cruise at TNG Warp 9.4 according to Mack, which an earlier poster in the thread said was the equivalent of TOS Warp 12-ish, compared to the Constitution's cruising at warp 6.

Also, they aren't meant for exploration, they're meant to go to specific locations to check them out. They don't go out unless they have a specific destination in mind.

 

[Nathan]

Two weeks out...two weeks back, that's assuming they at the location for a day AND they hauling @$$ at full throttle the ENTIRE time. Ain't much to "check out" with having such a short tether.

in Seekers #1, it sorta a "first contact" story, and there weren't any "First Contact Specialists" or what Ming Xiong was on Vanguard - the A&A dude -- Archeology & Anthropology dude -- if I have the A's right. oh yeah, everyone is qualified in several disciplines. Forgot that part.

 

[Idran]

Oh, was it a two week travel time in Seekers #1? I actually didn't remember that part if so; my mistake there, then. Maybe I do have the wrong impression of their mission setup.

 

[Nathan]

Idran, I thought you said the Archer class designed for 1 month long missions. That would mean at max it can only travel a distance at max warp for only 2 weeks before it has to turn around again. Not much excitement if you only have a 2 week radius to travel back and forth.

 

[Idran]

Idran, I thought you said the Archer class designed for 1 month long missions. That would mean at max it can only travel a distance at max warp for only 2 weeks before it has to turn around again. Not much excitement if you only have a 2 week radius to travel back and forth.

Oh, wait, I see what you mean. Yeah, but an Archer class can cover in one week what it'd take the Enterprise 8 weeks. Having a cruising speed of twice the warp factor of a Constitution class means that it's 8 times faster than a Constitution class at cruising velocity (because speed is proportional to the cube of warp factor in the TOS scale).

 

[Nathan]

What?!?!?!!? The Archer class is 8x faster than Jim Kirk's Enterprise? I find that suspect. If that is the case, load the ship with some photon torpedoes then. 8x faster?!?!?! I'm still wrapping my head around that one.

If they put a few photon torpedoes on the ship, it be like a sports cars with a some dude hold a shoulder mounted missiles (i.e. Stinger missiles that the Afghanis used against the Russkies in the late 80s) going against a slow moving tank. And the sportscar already has some shields on it for defense.

Every time it comes across a Klingon ship, tell the helmsman to put the "pedal to the metal"....I don't recall Klingon ships (or for that matter Romulan) ships being that much faster than the Enterprise.

As you pointed out, I "suspend belief" at times, but the Archer class 8x faster than the Enterprise is a HUGE pill to swallow. Also, if true, I wonder how long it can sustain that speed.

 

[Idran]

Yeah, Mack quoted the Archer-class cruising speed as TNG warp 9.4, which is around TOS warp 12-ish. I linked Mack's post earlier, but you might've missed it: http://www.trekbbs.com/showpost.php?p=9782773&postcount=19

Thing is, I believe it can only achieve that because it's basically all engine and nothing else, and because it's so small and so bare-bones. From the descriptions, it sounds like it's about 95% devoted to "gotta go fast".

 

[Nathan]

Thanks for the link Idran. I am almost disgusted by Mack's link. if it just basically, long range recon missions...which I'm cool with (and no need to "suspend belief", then WTF is it doing first contact missions? At the first sight of Klingons...or anybody, the ship should be gettin' the hell outta there.

I may have missed it in the first book, but why didn't the ship just land on the planet (I do believe it is able to land)....I suppose there was some tech-reason it couldn't in order for the landing party.

If it is scouting operations, it doing a shitty job since the Klingons found them....and if they got caught with their pants down by having a landing party on the surface, it ain't really the type of job they should be doing then.

Ugggh...I am getting more disgusted with this ship by the minute, the ship is more suited for intel gathering/spy ship than doing first contact stuff (WITHOUT THE A&A officer or the first contact specialists!