Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 3x10 - "The Last Generation"

[Citiprime]

This.
The fleet at Earth would have (in-universe at least) been a fairly small one... something you might expect to see closest to any UFP member planet at any given time.

In short, it was arelatively small contingent of vessels that was able to attend Frontier Day.
Otherwise, it makes no sense this was the whole SF from the entire Federation because they have diplomatic missions, deep space explorations, border patrol, etc. happening at any given time.

Over 150 member planets spread across 8000 ly's (and 1 Trillion lifeforms in the Federation) and this is supposed to be their entire SF armada?

I tend to think we were only seeing the "Home Fleet" attacking Earth and Sol Station (or the Third Fleet that's said to be defending Earth in Deep Space Nine) . However, one thing to keep in mind is that the fleet numbers in the hundreds being thrown around in comments from Deep Space Nine was when the Federation was in a war footing. Presumably, there was a build-up during the run up to the Dominion War.

However, it's conceivable that after the Dominion War Starfleet downsized as a "peace dividend."

After World War II, the US downsized the US Navy, including decommissioning and scrapping the USS Enterprise (CV-6). Maybe in a post-scarcity society where you don't have to worry about resources in the same way, things might have been different.

Also, when Starfleet was more in a pre-Borg attack peace era, the loss of 40 ships at Wolf 359 was considered a significant loss. So there might be some fluidity to Starfleet's numbers and how many times have we seen episodes/movie plots that revolve around the Enterprise being the "only ship" within interception range?

 

[XCV330]

And what about that cloned Zhan He fleet that Riker used in season 1?

 

[Bea Jonas]

As I wrote much earlier in this thread, I loved seeing the TNG crew back together on the Enterprise-D bridge. Other elements of Picard: Season Three didn't thrill me as much but after watching the latest episode of The Ready Room, I think I finally understand why.

At one point during his sit-down interview with Wil Wheaton, Matalas described the ten episodes as basically a TNG movie and—although he didn't explicitly say so—a movie meant to make up for the letdown fans felt after Star Trek: Nemesis. Suddenly, everything made total sense.

The TNG movies are very different in tone than the series—much more action oriented, lots of phaser fire, torpedoes-away kind-of-stuff. Since I was watching Picard on my TV at home at not on a big screen at the theater, I suppose I had been expecting more of a TNG series vibe, and so in that respect I was disappointed.

What I loved about the TNG series was that so many episodes were similar to the science-fiction novels and short stories I'd read and loved, stories that dealt with big ideas, full of mystery and wonder about the universe and our place in it. My favorite TNG episodes—The Measure of a Man, Who Watches the Watchers, Darmok, The Inner Light—always reminded me of those kinds of stories.

When the series ended in 1994 and moved to the big screen, I recognized that those kinds of stories weren't going to be told (I'd already seen the TOS films pivot toward action flick mode) and so I was able to enjoy them for what they were, and it was always great to see the cast reunite every few years for some new big-screen adventure.

Now when I think of Season Three of Picard, I'll think of it as the fifth TNG film and be perfectly fine with that. Thoughtful Picard, explorer Picard, peacemaker Picard will always be there in the seven seasons of TNG for me to revisit, while action-hero Picard will be there in the movies (and Picard: Season Three), too.

Just my 2¢ after a little reflection.
Postscript: sorry if I interrupted a conversion in progress—just wanted to express how I was feeling as I was feeling it.

 

[Belz...]

Age of a ship doesn't matter if you refresh its infrastructure every few decades and keep it up to date with technological upgrades...

You're missing the point, which was very clear in my post: a case could be made for the E's retirement due to age or accumulated stress and damage, which is less believable with the F. I didn't say that the E was old.

What I'm saying is very simple: they had the opportunity to showcase the F as the brand new Enterprise for years to come, and instead they gave us a peek and threw it away, and I find it disappointing.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Starfleet seems to be very wasteful as of late. Ships used to be kept around for decades, and now they're throwing them away after only a few years?

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Starfleet seems to be very wasteful as of late. Ships used to be kept around for decades, and now they're throwing them away after only a few years?

SF got parts from Quark. Maybe.

 

[Farscape One]

Starfleet seems to be very wasteful as of late. Ships used to be kept around for decades, and now they're throwing them away after only a few years?

Sounds like cars and trucks these days.

My truck is on its last legs, but it's a 2001 Silverado with 320,000 miles on it, all mine. You won't find a vehicle made in the last decade that will last as long, or as well before needing big repairs.

 

[fireproof78]

Maybe in a post-scarcity society where you don't have to worry about resources in the same way, things might have been different.

That's similar to my thinking,

 

[Farscape One]

Still seems incredibly wasteful.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Still seems incredibly wasteful.

It's all made of poop.

 

[Racefuel]

I tend to think we were only seeing the "Home Fleet" attacking Earth and Sol Station (or the Third Fleet that's said to be defending Earth in Deep Space Nine) . However, one thing to keep in mind is that the fleet numbers in the hundreds being thrown around in comments from Deep Space Nine was when the Federation was in a war footing. Presumably, there was a build-up during the run up to the Dominion War.

However, it's conceivable that after the Dominion War Starfleet downsized as a "peace dividend."

After World War II, the US downsized the US Navy, including decommissioning and scrapping the USS Enterprise (CV-6). Maybe in a post-scarcity society where you don't have to worry about resources in the same way, things might have been different.

Also, when Starfleet was more in a pre-Borg attack peace era, the loss of 40 ships at Wolf 359 was considered a significant loss. So there might be some fluidity to Starfleet's numbers and how many times have we seen episodes/movie plots that revolve around the Enterprise being the "only ship" within interception range?

fleet size is scaled by plot, same as warp speed lol

 

[thribs]

Starfleet seems to be very wasteful as of late. Ships used to be kept around for decades, and now they're throwing them away after only a few years?

Model era compared to the cgi era. It’s easier and cheaper now to make new ships and so they do.

 

[Farscape One]

It's all made of poop.

I see what you did there, and it was funny.

 

[cooleddie74]

It's all made of poop.

But enough about Waffle House's menu.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Model era compared to the cgi era. It’s easier and cheaper now to make new ships and so they do.

Why would it be easier OR cheaper to use a completely new CGi model vs. one that they already have?

But enough about Waffle House's menu.

I'm not gonna lie, Waffle House is one of my favorite restaurants of all time. I freaking LOVE 24-hour diners.

 

[fireproof78]

Still seems incredibly wasteful.

I genuinely do not think they care.

 

[XCV330]

By post-burn they go back to reusing ships for ages out of necessity.

 

[Racefuel]

Why would it be easier OR cheaper to use a completely new CGi model vs. one that they already have?



I'm not gonna lie, Waffle House is one of my favorite restaurants of all time. I freaking LOVE 24-hour diners.

A lot of the models they’ve been using are cleaned up STO models

they’re cheap as hell

 

[CorporalCaptain]

It's all made of poop.

A starship chef has some serious skills.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I'm not gonna lie, Waffle House is one of my favorite restaurants of all time. I freaking LOVE 24-hour diners.

They let you eat for 24 hours? Cool
Oh, wait. You said "diner".