Writers forgetting common technologies?

[Fateor]

What is up with the way the writers seem to be forgetting common technologies this season?

From forgetting that there are ways to generate power without Dilithium, to forgetting sensor, to forgetting ships have things like shields. It seems like every episode so far has been based around some flawed premise that leaves one wondering "shouldn't that have been easy to solve 800 years ago?".

 

[valkyrie013]

Writting has been pretty good this season, but yes, the Titan fiasco, and now CME's? bit HUH? moments but rolling with it.

 

[fireproof78]

The dilithium is a head scratcher.

But, its Star Trek so par for the course.

 

[The Wormhole]

Yeah, writers forgetting common technologies is pretty much par for the course in Star Trek. I'm sure we'll get a novel to rationalize everything in about five to twenty years.

 

[Kzinti]

first time watching star trek?

 

[fireproof78]

first time watching star trek?

Its the new one so its worse... somehow...

 

[Guy Gardener]

Dilithium isn't for power.

That's why we have deuterium, for a matter antimatter reaction in the intermix chamber.

It's a extra dimensional element that let's you fold space.

 

[The Librarian]

What is up with the way the writers seem to be forgetting common technologies this season?

From forgetting that there are ways to generate power without Dilithium, to forgetting sensor, to forgetting ships have things like shields. It seems like every episode so far has been based around some flawed premise that leaves one wondering "shouldn't that have been easy to solve 800 years ago?".

Could you point out specific where any of this happens? Because they mention shields and sensors a lot, and warp drive has always relied on dilithium for anything beyond a crawl. Even the Romulans use dilithium to do something with those fancy singularities of theirs, given how important dilithium mines are to them.

 

[Guy Gardener]

War birds use singularities.

Advanced top secret warships.

Romulan civilian vessels still need dilithium.

And Dilthium still isn't about power.

 

[alex08060]

Pity all the trans warp ships became useless after the burn, hope the spore drive takes over and they visit another galaxy. Can’t wait to know what happen to the Borg.

 

[ScottJ85]

New thing bad old thing good

 

[anh165]

first time watching star trek?

well only true trek fans know that DIS is not really Star Trek.....

 

[Sci]

First the writers get shit for making the tech on DIS too advanced in the first two seasons. Now they get shit for not making the tech advanced enough! Those poor people just can't win no matter what they do!

Anyway, we know from VOY that faster-than-warp tech (let's just call it all "transwarp") exists, but that doesn't mean that even the 28th Century Federation had the resources to deploy them on a large scale -- or that if they did, that they wouldn't be vulnerable to the Burn as well. It's possible, for instance, that coaxial warp drive, spatial folding transporters, or Borg transwarp coils might still require matter/anti-matter reactions regulated by dilithium to power their components. And we know from "That Hope Is You, Part I" that quantum slipstreams are within the technical capacity of 32nd Century ships, but that the benamite required is extremely rare. So it's plausible that the loss of most dilithium would still have the effects described, even if Starfleet and the UFP had transwarp technologies by the 28th Century.

 

[Fateor]

First the writers get shit for making the tech on DIS too advanced in the first two seasons. Now they get shit for not making the tech advanced enough! Those poor people just can't win no matter what they do!

Hey, they're the one's who choose to kick Discovery nine hundred years into the future without thinking through all the problems that would entail from that.

Anyway, we know from VOY that faster-than-warp tech (let's just call it all "transwarp") exists, but that doesn't mean that even the 28th Century Federation had the resources to deploy them on a large scale -- or that if they did, that they wouldn't be vulnerable to the Burn as well. It's possible, for instance, that coaxial warp drive, spatial folding transporters, or Borg transwarp coils might still require matter/anti-matter reactions regulated by dilithium to power their components. And we know from "That Hope Is You, Part I" that quantum slipstreams are within the technical capacity of 32nd Century ships, but that the benamite required is extremely rare. So it's plausible that the loss of most dilithium would still have the effects described, even if Starfleet and the UFP had transwarp technologies by the 28th Century.

You're falling into the same trap hole that the writers did.

The problem is, Anti-Matter isn't the end all be of all power generation, without getting into exotic theoretical's it's just the best bang you can get for fuel volume because it's a 100% conversion of the two particles. However that one Anti-Matter reactor, could be replaced with say 10 fusion reactors, and generate the exact same amount of power at the cost of 10 times the fuel.

And while it's true for most fuel carry volume would then limit range, the Federation of that time period can make things bigger on the inside, which negates fuel carry volume as a problem.

And also you ignored that Voyager was able to synthesize Benamite crystals.

 

[Vger23]

So.



Very.



Tiresome.

 

[fireproof78]

First the writers get shit for making the tech on DIS too advanced in the first two seasons. Now they get shit for not making the tech advanced enough! Those poor people just can't win no matter what they do!

Actually, what they get shit for is not having encyclopedic knowledge and having a job to do.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Agreed. As long as the story runs intact I'm more than willing to let tech stuff that was dealt with in one episode decades ago slide a bit. I'm a HUGE fan of Trek tech, but all the manuals in the world mean nothing if there isn't a great show to hang it on. Discovery is firing on all cylinders this year, and as such I'm happy to enjoy the ride.

And it's hardly a unique thing. Last week on "The Mandalorian", the main ship was tasked with flying to another star system at SUBLIGHT, and no one bats an eye at the physics fail.

Mark

 

[Lord Garth]

I'm tired of people who think they're Super-Old School Fans when they're really not. Two can play at this game.

In 1987, did TNG writers forget the following?

1. Transwarp Drive
2. Genesis allows them to bring people back from the dead! After 78 years, you'd think they'd perfect it!
3. Phasers can send out a wide-beam that can stun everyone immediately. Why are there phaser fights?
4. An android more advanced than the M-5 can't use contractions?
5. There were no families on starships in TOS! What are the writers of TNG thinking?!
6. Why are they treating the holodeck like something new? Didn't they see the rec deck in TAS?
7. How can it take the Enterprise 300 years to get back home from two galaxies away? Did the writers of "Where No One Has Gone Before" do their homework? Did they even watch the original show?! In "By Any Other Name", it would've only taken the old Enterprise 300 years to reach Andromeda, the galaxy next door! Sure, they modified the engines to travel at Warp 14, but this new Enterprise is supposed to be twice as fast!

See how easy that is?

 

[Sci]

Hey, they're the one's who choose to kick Discovery nine hundred years into the future without thinking through all the problems that would entail from that.

Yes, how dare they put telling a compelling story ahead of remaining consistent with incredibly minor details from mediocre episodes of a TV show that aired 20 years ago!

You're falling into the same trap hole that the writers did.

It's not a "trap." I just value storytelling more than avoiding minor discontinuities.

The problem is, Anti-Matter isn't the end all be of all power generation, without getting into exotic theoretical's it's just the best bang you can get for fuel volume because it's a 100% conversion of the two particles. However that one Anti-Matter reactor, could be replaced with say 10 fusion reactors, and generate the exact same amount of power at the cost of 10 times the fuel.

So you've already identified problems with widespread deployment of at least one alternate technology.

And while it's true for most fuel carry volume would then limit range, the Federation of that time period can make things bigger on the inside, which negates fuel carry volume as a problem.

Who's to say that the Federation of that era will have the ability to create pocket dimensions like that just because the Federation from one possible future timeline did? There's no guarantee the future Federation encountered in one forgettable ENT episode is the "Prime Timeline." And even if it did -- who's to say that that kind of spatial displacement did not itself require dilithium to function?

And also you ignored that Voyager was able to synthesize Benamite crystals.

1) Oh my God who the hell remembers this bullshit? I didn't "ignore" anything, I couldn't remember it, and neither would the overwhelming majority of people.

2) After consulting Memory Alpha, they indicate that Voyager was unable to synthesize it safely. Who's to say there is a way to synthesize it safely?

 

[Sci]

And it's hardly a unique thing. Last week on "The Mandalorian", the main ship was tasked with flying to another star system at SUBLIGHT, and no one bats an eye at the physics fail.

Mark

Yep! Hell, in The Empire Strikes Back, somehow the Millennium Falcon was able to make its way from the Hoth system to the Bespin system without a working hyperdrive! And everyone loves TESB!