System that (almost) never works

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Why is it even possible to disengage the safety protocols ever, under any circumstances? I mean, it definitely adds to the plot, but in real life I think it would be impossible to disengage that protocol. For god's sake, kids use the holodeck.

Some "power users" just don't like programs where they can't lose, can't be hurt (or even killed), or can't fail. Being able to turn off the protocols makes it more exciting and dangerous. Why shouldn't users who know the risks, have the right to do so?

If kids use the holodeck, then they can leave the damn safety protocols on.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

It should take high level override codes to shut off holodeck safety protocols.

More importantly, there should be a continuous diagnostic of the holodeck systems to immediately cut all power to the holodeck at the slightest malfunction.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Yes on the second, no on the first.

I mean, it's not like somebody can accidentally turn off the protocols, can they? They have to make a conscious effort to do it.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

^ Yes on the second, no on the first.

I mean, it's not like somebody can accidentally turn off the protocols, can they? They have to make a conscious effort to do it.

Yeah, I understand people like Worf would want free reign of the holodeck's capabilities, and a higher level of "real" danger to enhance the experience. But surely it should require a series of confirmations or an "adults of sound mind and body" access code to disengage safety protocols. Like setting limits on how violent parisi squares can get for children.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I think we're getting needlessly legalistic here. I would hope that users of the holodeck could be trusted to make informed decisions as to how to run their own programs, without being forced to jump through hoops.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

I think we're getting needlessly legalistic here. I would hope that users of the holodeck could be trusted to make informed decisions as to how to run their own programs, without being forced to jump through hoops.

Well, theoretically only authorized users (adults?) would be allowed to disengage those protocols at their convenience. We wouldn't want Wesley being gored by a Mugato.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I'm just going to hazard a guess that all users of a holodeck are, by definition, authorized. On Starfleet vessels, holodeck use would be clearly logged - a crewman can't just wander in whenever they feel like it. And on DS9, Quark charges for the use of his holosuites. So we can be reasonably assured that nobody can use a holodeck/suite if they're not authorized to do so.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

I'm just going to hazard a guess that all users of a holodeck are, by definition, authorized. On Starfleet vessels, holodeck use would be clearly logged - a crewman can't just wander in whenever they feel like it. And on DS9, Quark charges for the use of his holosuites. So we can be reasonably assured that nobody can use a holodeck/suite if they're not authorized to do so.

We've seen children use the holodeck unaccompanied before. That's how Picard wound up with a snowball to the face. I'm just saying there should be a different level of danger access between your Worfs and your Wesleys.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Perhaps the computer recognizes who is using the holodeck (via voice print analysis) and adjusts the options accordingly. Meaning, young children wouldn't be able to disable the safety protocols - because the computer would already know who they are.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

Perhaps the computer recognizes who is using the holodeck (via voice print analysis) and adjusts the options accordingly. Meaning, young children wouldn't be able to disable the safety protocols - because the computer would already know who they are.

Yeah, something like that. As you pointed out, the holodeck makes a log of everyone who uses it. So if Wesley goes in, he's not allowed to disengage the safety protocols. The computer would just reject his request. When Worf goes in, all bets are off.

 

[Tallguy]

Holodecks. Holodecks holodecks AND holodecks.

It should be Starfleet protocol that if the ship is so much as sending an email to another government that all holodecks should be shut down.

How many times did the holodeck not only almost kill its users but also threatened the lives of all on board? They're a MENACE.

From an out of universe perspective any writer that is introducing jeopardy using a recreational device should go home and come back the next day and write another story.

 

[The Old Mixer]

That would have been an interesting story idea...a murder mystery in which a holodeck user was killed because somebody outside hacked in and turned off the safety protocols.

We wouldn't want Wesley being gored by a Mugato.

I'm sure we could round up a few people in these parts who would.

 

[Jetboogieman]

Should you need to incapacitate an enemy and aren't armed, luring them to the holodeck with the safeties deactivated sure does come in handy, like it did in First Contact when Picard needed to take out those two Borg drones who had adapted to the latest phaser settings.

And how many times, in the entire history of Starfleet, has the circumstance ever presented itself to lure an enemy onto the holodeck to be consequently mowed down by a Tommy Gun?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The Borg would probably have adapted to the machine gun fire, as well. They just didn't get the chance.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

^ Yes on the second, no on the first.

I mean, it's not like somebody can accidentally turn off the protocols, can they? They have to make a conscious effort to do it.

For the same reason you need a certain number of jumps under your belt until you can skydive alone. People overestimate their personal ability not to die.

Though I suppose in the utopian future we have evolved beyond the need to be afraid of lawsuits, I would assume they'd at least make you sign a waiver.

 

[The Wormhole]

And how many times, in the entire history of Starfleet, has the circumstance ever presented itself to lure an enemy onto the holodeck to be consequently mowed down by a Tommy Gun?

There was also at least two examples on Voyager where alien intruders ended up on the holodeck when Tom Paris's Captain Proton program was active. The first time it happened, Seven of Nine deactivated the safeties to stun the alien with a Captain Proton ray gun.

 

[FormerLurker]

As many have said, Holodeck safeties.

At no point should it ever be necessary to disengage the safety protocols which means it should never, ever be an option anyway.

Exactly this. Why is it even possible to disengage the safety protocols ever, under any circumstances? I mean, it definitely adds to the plot, but in real life I think it would be impossible to disengage that protocol. For god's sake, kids use the holodeck.

See below.

Perhaps the computer recognizes who is using the holodeck (via voice print analysis) and adjusts the options accordingly. Meaning, young children wouldn't be able to disable the safety protocols - because the computer would already know who they are.

This would be exactly why they both can be disengaged, and why they can't be. Authorized users (Worf, any officer wanting a more real experience, etc.) can disengage the safety protocols as much as they want. Remember the girl the kept going to sickbay because she kept spraining her shoulder cliff-diving? She had to have turned off the safeties below some level, or she wouldn't have gotten hurt*. But she was an officer on board. The kids would never be allowed to disengage the safeties at all, unless and until a responsible adult authorized them to.



*She had the best line in that episode. "What am I doing in sickbay, on a starship, wearing a swimsuit?"

 

[Spot261]

Not a system that fails, so much as a system that daesn't exist - absolutely anyone can seemingly walk onto the bridge, even during a red alert, be they crew, civilian advisors, random guests or small children. You'd think some kind of restricted access protocols would be in place, or at least a gaurd.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

Not a system that fails, so much as a system that daesn't exist - absolutely anyone can seemingly walk onto the bridge, even during a red alert, be they crew, civilian advisors, random guests or small children. You'd think some kind of restricted access protocols would be in place, or at least a gaurd.

The bridge in Star Trek is like Jerry's apartment in Seinfeld.

 

[fireproof78]

See below.



This would be exactly why they both can be disengaged, and why they can't be. Authorized users (Worf, any officer wanting a more real experience, etc.) can disengage the safety protocols as much as they want. Remember the girl the kept going to sickbay because she kept spraining her shoulder cliff-diving? She had to have turned off the safeties below some level, or she wouldn't have gotten hurt*. But she was an officer on board. The kids would never be allowed to disengage the safeties at all, unless and until a responsible adult authorized them to.



*She had the best line in that episode. "What am I doing in sickbay, on a starship, wearing a swimsuit?"

What's interesting about the holodeck safeties is that I thought that in the episode "Descent" it required two officers to disable them? I suppose the captain and the security chief might get special clearance to turn them off whenever but it still struck me as odd later on.