Vic Fontaine - why, just why?

[DS9 Gal AZ]

A holodeck serves a purpose because it can take you anywhere. They basically made a holosuite into another bar. Which they already had one downstairs. It would be like someone saying I got a bar but it's not good enough so I'll take the property from the guy above and make a new bar. That's basically what they did.

Nobody "Took" anything from Quark by making another bar in a holosuite because Quark owned the Holosuites, which means anybody using them has to pay Quark, so it's not like they're loop holing Quark out of his profits.

Whatever anybody did in Quark's Holosuites, be that some Orion Slave girl experience, fighting at the Alamo, role playing as a spy or visiting an advanced hologram in his own bar in the 1960's...... Quark still gets the business and the profits and whatever anybody does in his Holosuites isn't really anybody else's business.

I think what he meant is that Vic the character as well as his holo-bar took time/scenes away from Quark and Quark's bar. Sure, the holosuite Vic's was in was technically part of Quark's bar, but we're not talking about in-universe business and profits, we're talking about scene-stealing. At least that's what I think he's saying, I may be wrong though.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Had we not had Vic, there'd now be people complaining, "Why didn't the writers try to stretch the set designers, and stop resting on their laurels, by putting so many scenes in Quark's? I got bored seeing those same sets, and same Dabo girls, week after week."

You know it.

 

[Saquist]

I will say this. You bar looks more empty when people are in the holosuites but it's a give take situation with those holosuites. They probably bring in enough money to not even make it an issue. Then with the gambling...heck...it's like vegas.

 

[Zeppster]

A holodeck serves a purpose because it can take you anywhere. They basically made a holosuite into another bar. Which they already had one downstairs. It would be like someone saying I got a bar but it's not good enough so I'll take the property from the guy above and make a new bar. That's basically what they did.

Nobody "Took" anything from Quark by making another bar in a holosuite because Quark owned the Holosuites, which means anybody using them has to pay Quark, so it's not like they're loop holing Quark out of his profits.

Whatever anybody did in Quark's Holosuites, be that some Orion Slave girl experience, fighting at the Alamo, role playing as a spy or visiting an advanced hologram in his own bar in the 1960's...... Quark still gets the business and the profits and whatever anybody does in his Holosuites isn't really anybody else's business.

I think what he meant is that Vic the character as well as his holo-bar took time/scenes away from Quark and Quark's bar. Sure, the holosuite Vic's was in was technically part of Quark's bar, but we're not talking about in-universe business and profits, we're talking about scene-stealing. At least that's what I think he's saying, I may be wrong though.

It stole scenes from just about everyone.

 

[Kegg]

It stole the raison d'etre of Quark's, though. By the end of the series they hold a big soiree celebrating the end of the war and they hold it at Vic's.

I think that sums that problem up pretty well.

As far as Vic goes, I was always kinda apathetic. He's an alright singer, I wasn't a fan, but I didn't hate him either.

 

[PKTrekGirl]

Had we not had Vic, there'd now be people complaining, "Why didn't the writers try to stretch the set designers, and stop resting on their laurels, by putting so many scenes in Quark's? I got bored seeing those same sets, and same Dabo girls, week after week."

You know it.

Teehee! And here you hit on another reason I liked Vic's - because I could not STAND the sexist crap that was the dabo girls, opening pandering to the 19-29 male demographic. Bleh!

With the exception of the scenes with Bashir and O'Brien playing darts, and the running joke that was Morn, I could easily have lived without Quarks. I just didn't think it was that interesting of a place. And Quark himself had his best moments outside that bar - in episodes like Little Green Men (my favorite Ferengi episode, which takes place on earth in the 1940's or so) or House of Quark (which takes place in large part outside of the bar), or The Magnificent Ferengi (which takes place off-station). Some of the best Ferengi stories also took place on Feringenar - at Moogie's house or whatever. Bottom line: Quark's bar was not necessary for a good Quark or Ferengi story.

I just don't get why anyone would see Vic's 'taking away' from Quarks. Taking away WHAT exactly? It wasn't like much happened there that was all that exciting. With the exception of the running Morn joke, pretty much everything else of interest that happened there could have happened anywhere on that station. Bashir and O'Brien could have played darts and set up the Alamo elsewhere....and character 'heart to hearts' could just as easily have happened in quarters or at the replomat or wherever.

A set is just that - a set. Nothing more. And I thought we saw the Quark's set a LOT. Probably more than any other set, in fact, since a lot of the 'action' scenes moved from Ops to the bridge of the Defiant during the second half of the show. By my estimation, I think Quarks was the most used set on the entire show, in fact! Then maybe the bridge of the Defiant set...then either Sisko's office or quarters. But Quarks was in pretty much every episode - even in the eps during the occupation arc, the 'rebels' all met at Quarks, for the most part.

I really do not see ANY lack of love on the part of the producers and writers for Quarks. I think it got used to death, in fact.

So I am just not seeing how a change of scenery from that was a bad thing.