Because otherwise, I'd be spamming up the chatbox even more. For this first issue, there is starfleet itself, which is pretty much the core of the series. Starfleet is the organization that builds and manages every major ship or base in the federation, including the three enterprises, voyager and deep space nine. Starfleet is an exploratory organization, sending ships out into other quadrants to go where no man has gone before, to discover new civilizations, research negative space wedgies, etc, etc, yada, yada. Because a ship is supposed to be in outer space for prolonged lengths of time, there is a strict hierarchy on board to keep order. Because Starfleet vessels are the most likely for a first contact situation, only the best and brightest are allowed to join, to give the best image of humanity that is possible. The problem is that starfleet vessels are the only ships capable of military duty as well. Because star fleet is exploratory in nature, none of the ships are capable of war. Their shields and weaponry are sub-par (It has been seen that a ship only one-twentieth as large as voyager can outmatch it militarily), because otherwise it wouldn't be an exploratory vessel. The FTL engines no longer function if the ships shields are hit. Because the federation is in quite a lot of wars (klingon, romulan, cardassian and most horrifically, the borg), they need ships on stand-by, to patrol borders, to liberate captured facilities, etcetera. Starfleet vessels are the only armed ships available and thus are used for this. But because of starfleets recruitment policies and its high status in society, this basically means that most prodigies, whether military, medical or scientific, in the federation are stuck on border patrol. On the other hand, because starfleet vessels usually serve as border patrol, certain alterations within parameters have been made. Usually at the cost of exploratory needs. But because it is against starfleet policy to differentiate between military and exploratory vessels, the ships sent into outer space get these alterations as well. This, for an example, results in the ships containment fields either being located next to the warp-core (one crack and the ship goes boom), or in medbay, next to all the patients needing rest. Basically, because of starfleet policies, scientific geniuses get stuck on border duty, the federation doesn't have the military it could be capable of and ships aren't built properly for either exploratory or military applications. for the tl;dr among you: Starfleet ships suck because starfleet refuses to choose between being a military and being explorers.
The ships of the imperium do not have this problem, they're only made for war. Every signle one,even the damn supply ships.
My biggest complains about StarTrek are: 1. They don't fly the ships in manual control with joysticks! At least a mouse and keyboard come on! 2. How come the Enterprise (Prototype) only gets seat belts (So to speak) after its remodeled?! and why does it only appear to be the Captain who gets one? Screw the new guy of the week, the 2nd in command should be new every week from getting tossed around the ship. 3. I think the ship design is poor. I rather like Star Wars, or even Battlestar Galactica in ship design. I think these kinds of ships are more realistic in nature. 4. Why on earth would Enterprise D be a such a huge freakn' ship when all the past ships were configured so different?! Is it because its a general exploration ship?
Nah, it's because its a general everything ship. Basically, the dreadnought, HMS beagle and the HMS daring of the 24th century rolled into one.
