this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2023
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You mean like the Klingon warbird that could fire torpedoes while cloaked and that tech just got hand waved away in all Star Trek after that?
Also, and maybe this is just me, but wouldn’t it be relatively easy to just “drop” torpedoes while cloaked and have them do a delayed launch thing? And nobody thought to cloak a torpedo, or at least give it some stealthy coatings? Complete amateur hour.
I guess you could assume that any substantial piece of matter will disrupt the cloaking field, but if you're thinking about autonomous weapons there's all kinds of other plot holes, too. It's pretty rare anyone has to deal with drones or mines of any kind in Star Trek, even though you'd think it would be super convenient with mostly-unblockable communications over subspace.
I think they ran into the real problem with writer’s rooms in general, they suffer from a lack of knowledge in many areas. It’s why so many shows have “hammer noises” for Glocks, or the racking of a shotgun when people are about to kick in a door. They don’t know anything about weapons, and their ignorance is so complete they don’t even think to ask actual experts.
I think there's a degree of "the audience loves it", too. A realistic sword fight is rare in media because it's not as fun to watch as twirls and beating multiple enemies at once.
I too watched Rey not get stabbed in the back.
There were cloaked mines in DS9 and in ENT. But, like the transporter, they are as burdensome to the writers' room as they are useful.
Yeah, at this point, with Star Trek I pretty much just treat the "science" like magic. It would be a tall order to have consistent rules with no exceptions over decades, I get that. I don't think it's too much to ask the characters to have consistent motivations and abilities, though.
That's the thing about fiction. Unlike in reality, the characters have to be believable.
No, they didn't figure out how to do this until Star Trek: The Expanse
Star Trek wishes it was as scientific as The Expanse, and I say that as a fan of both franchises.
Yes. But the idea is that the limitations of the technology enhance the story which is the whole point of Sci-fi that many people forget. The only requirement for technology (or magic) is that it has defined limits. torpedo's have to be launched. The ship that could fire while cloaked was a plot point prototype, you don't need to revisit it, or explain it beyond that.