Galaxy class waste or not?

[Tyler]

posted on July 26th, 2011, 6:03 pm

Last edited by Tyler on July 26th, 2011, 6:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

At least critics here are actually nicer than some others... the ship gets worse from some Trek fans who compare it to ships like the warlike Defiant and Sovereign.

At least STO treats it with some respect... if not much.

But the fact is, the Galaxy IS an explorer and other ships may have had families but the Galaxy class was the only one specifically designed to have civilians onboard. The whole purpose of the Galaxy class was to explore things, and even if there were scouts that were in an area before hand they still cant assume an area to be safe, but often times the Galaxy seemed to be going into the unknown. And in that situation it makes no real sense to have civilians on the ship, its just too big a liability.

Having families onboard is for the crew, families wouldn't be possible if you were forced to spend decades apart and never see them. The Galaxy wasn't designed to have families, it was designed to support them just as a planet would.

As I said before, whatever 'blame' there may be belongs with the crew themselves, they and their families decided to take the risk for the sake of keeping a functional family. The Galaxy was only designed so they could continue a proper life and education on the road, the ship itself is entirely blameless.

posted on July 26th, 2011, 6:06 pm

other ships may have had families but the Galaxy class was the only one specifically designed to have civilians onboard

Nah... like any other federation starship the Galaxy was primarily designed to explore space.

The size made sure families can travel with their serving wives, husbands and even children or even just serving friends. Or to give serving (petty-)officers the option to start a family while on the way (O'Brien proved it).

Out of Trek though, this decision was made to make the show more appealing to more general audiences than for example TOS did... I think. On a ship that feels like a city with a daily life of all kind, more people who watch the show could find things to identify themselves with so the general appeal (and success) of the show would be bigger. Especially families watching TV enjoyed TNG more than TOS... because of the more family-friendly look of the show.

In-Trek it wasn't too stupid to have a ship-class that's usually having loads of civilians aboard.. take it from a different perspective: What about astro-metrics and medical science or even technology research in the field? The Galaxy-class is equipped with so many scientific laboratories and equipment that starfleet-science-officers AND civil genius could work together on one ship, and some episodes played this out.

posted on July 26th, 2011, 7:09 pm

Remember, discovering new worlds means specialised people. Doesn't necessarily mean just starfleet.
Also the Galaxy is a colony ship. you need civs for that. Its not SF job to build colonies, just protect them.

posted on July 26th, 2011, 7:12 pm

Colony ship? I have no doubt the Galaxy could be a great colony ship (or even a generational ship), I don't think it was ever mentioned that they're used that way. Planetary colonization is likely done by a civilian ship, with Starfleet ones only taking specialists for planning and development.

posted on July 26th, 2011, 7:19 pm

Out of Trek though, this decision was made to make the show more appealing to more general audiences than for example TOS did... I think. On a ship that feels like a city with a daily life of all kind, more people who watch the show could find things to identify themselves with so the general appeal (and success) of the show would be bigger. Especially families watching TV enjoyed TNG more than TOS... because of the more family-friendly look of the show.

  This is spot-on.  All conjecture (Trek-Wise) about why the Galaxy has familes and such aside, the show was pitched as the kind of show American families could all watch together and enjoy.  TOS had a bit of an edge to it that kids couldn't quite get on board with, but TNG was envisioned as the kind of show that would attract young, old, and everyone in the middle.

  Older audiences identify with Picard's very regulated and poised habits, the adult audience identifies with the "Maverick" type that Riker was billed as, while women are given ladies in positions of power like Yar, Troi, and later on Dr. Crusher, while kids are given the obsequious Wesley Crusher to let them fantasize that they too are learning about Starfleet aboard the Federation Flagship.

  Fit Geordie, Worf, and Data in wherever you like in that regard, but the main point of TNG was to be as broad as possible and get sci-fi into average American homes.

posted on July 26th, 2011, 11:41 pm

Nah... like any other federation starship the Galaxy was primarily designed to explore space.

The size made sure families can travel with their serving wives, husbands and even children or even just serving friends. Or to give serving (petty-)officers the option to start a family while on the way (O'Brien proved it).

Out of Trek though, this decision was made to make the show more appealing to more general audiences than for example TOS did... I think. On a ship that feels like a city with a daily life of all kind, more people who watch the show could find things to identify themselves with so the general appeal (and success) of the show would be bigger. Especially families watching TV enjoyed TNG more than TOS... because of the more family-friendly look of the show.

In-Trek it wasn't too stupid to have a ship-class that's usually having loads of civilians aboard.. take it from a different perspective: What about astro-metrics and medical science or even technology research in the field? The Galaxy-class is equipped with so many scientific laboratories and equipment that starfleet-science-officers AND civil genius could work together on one ship, and some episodes played this out.

Yes it was designed to explore space, but it was also the first starfleet ship designed with the idea of having family on board at all times, look it up on MA, and yes the reason for that decision (outside of the trek universe) was to draw in more viewers, and the in universe reason was to not keep people away from their families for extended periods. But you would think for such a posting as the Galaxy class deep space explorer Starfleet officers would know that they were not gonna be around to see their families often, youd think that they wouldnt volunteer for a job if they know the requirement to be in deep space for extended periods. I cant imagine Starfleet cant find people willing to go out into space without their familes tagging along.

We all know the reason why the ship has families from a show standpoint, im just saying it doesnt make all that much sense IN the trek universe no matter how you look at it, putting all those families at risk just doesnt seem to make that much sense.

posted on July 27th, 2011, 12:24 am

and we got split, another thread derailed by the galaxy topic probably the most divisive ship in trek.

Hehehehehe oh I see what you did there 

posted on July 27th, 2011, 1:47 am

Just an interesting excerpt i found on MA,

Regarding the presence of families on starships, Ronald D. Moore commented "Perhaps [still] on some Galaxy-class ships, but I think this was an experiment that failed." (AOL chat, 1997) "I think that the "family friendly" starship notion was an interesting idea, but one that didn't pan out. There was always something awkward about Picard ordering the ship into battle situations with kiddies running through the corridors. And no matter how much lip service we paid to the "our families are part of our strength" concept, it never seemed very smart or very logical to bring the spouse and kids along when you're facing down the Borg, or guarding the Neutral Zone, or plunging the ship into uncharted spatial anomalies." (AOL chat, 1997

I think that about sums it up right there.

posted on July 27th, 2011, 5:21 am

Ok Im too lasy to read all the posts since my last one so correct me if I'm worng but didn't they say in one of the first ones "this is a good colony site we should start sending civs down" (not an exact qoute) and "I'm sorry we went in your space, we will beam up all the colonists we put". I believe its something like this

[Equinox1701e]

posted on July 27th, 2011, 6:04 am

Last edited by Equinox1701e on July 27th, 2011, 6:16 am, edited 1 time in total.

The Galaxy class is NOT a colony ship, they have in the past delivered supplys to colonies but its not really equipped to establish colonies. And yes I vaguely remember that episode but if Im not mistaken the Enterprise didnt establish the colony, they just established the terraforming portion, not a full fledged colony. And terraforming can tame many years but is done by (usually) a fairly small group of individuals.

posted on July 27th, 2011, 7:02 am

There is no buisness for civillians to be on a military ship, call what you will the Enterprise is considered a Battleship, i think it also sum's it up.

posted on July 27th, 2011, 10:56 am

Problem there is Starfleet and its ships aren't considered military by Starfleet or much of the Federation, it's a joint military/civilian deal.

If the families want to live on the ship, they will and won't be much safer on a planet; something with a completely fixed position, incapable of escape and often poorly defended.

posted on July 27th, 2011, 1:42 pm

well... Picard said many times to other aliens "This is not a battleship. this is a ship of peace and exploration.". they were never off fighting warbirds or Vorchas every day. anyway it says in memory alpha that a lot of the civs do research and stuff like that on a galaxy. If it helps, think of a Galaxy class a bit like a smaller and more cramped up DS9; people come & go, Ambassadors board, terraformers leave, scientists research etc...

[Anonymous]

posted on July 27th, 2011, 2:02 pm

Last edited by Anonymous on July 27th, 2011, 2:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I this case though, the galaxy only has 300 crew.  I think we can assume they left the researchers and civies at spacedock when warping into a battle zone.

[Tyler]

posted on July 27th, 2011, 2:11 pm

Last edited by Tyler on July 27th, 2011, 2:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

If the Warp-In Galaxys go through anything like the USS Oddysey did before the meeting with the Jem'Hadar, then the 350 crew in FO wouldn't include the non-essential crewmembers, most of which would also be removed.

Makes me wonder about ships that don't get the chance to off-load non-essentials when the call comes...