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Anonymous
#517326
10 months ago
I think Discord looks like Rasmussen and acts like Q
Gezora
#517345
10 months ago
Matt Frewer is really underrated. He needs more work.
OptimusSleepy
#517358
10 months ago
Given how Frewer looked in the tv show Eureka, he just might look like Discord by now.
Anonymous
#517653
10 months ago
Kinda funny coincidence. Matt Frewer voiced a similar Omnipotent "Chaos God" in the Aladdin cartoon series.
Doctor_Whooves
#519432
10 months ago
Decent episode, although it proved that sometimes there's such a thing as making a computer system too easy to use. A primitive from the 22nd century should never have been able to figure out how how to use a Timeship; even a civilian model. Hell, there shouldn't even really be civilian timeships at all. Too many of them end up in screwed up situations.
Nebbie
#519599
10 months ago
^Difficulty of use is a terrible idea for a deterrent (you REALLY think that hiding the controls behind menus or something will stop a determined man with a few hours?), especially when it impairs the ability of the intended operator to use the system. No reason that future tech requires you to be a genius to use.
For a good example (from TNG, even!) of why you should make things easy to use, remember when Worf was shifted to an alternate universe and couldn't figure out the new controls. Alternate Geordi died from that. Extraordinary circumstances sure, but a similar thing happened again when Voyager's doctor ended up having to fight Romulans and was only saved by the easy to use verbal commands.
Security systems exist for a reason. Tho IIRC the security didn't stop the two holo-doctors, that may have been because all the ranking officers were dead and the Romulans overrode the lockout, so it just left whoever is still alive in charge.
Doctor_Whooves
#519654
10 months ago
Not so much difficulty of use; but Trek computers often completely negate the need to understand even the basics of what it is you want to do (which makes the writing seem a bit lazy, and cheapens the story). Like when The Doctor was in control of the Prometheus on "autopilot" during its separation mode, since you've brought it up. Sure, it might be convenient to just randomly blurt out "evasive maneuver... something-or-other" and have the computer do all the work, but it also made the whole thing seem cheap. Romulan warbirds under the control of adaptable, intelligent, organic minds beat out by a ship's computer being directed by an EMH who didn't even know which evasive maneuver he was ordering? Lucky thing that maneuver was so effective against whatever it was the romulans were doing at that time. Too lucky.

When Spock wanted to slingshot around the Sun to bring them back to a particular date, he had to sit down at a computer and work out complex equations and variables. He had to comprehend what it was he wanted to do. Even on board the 29th century timeships in Voyager, the navigators appeared to require at least some rudimentary understanding of time travel in order to direct the ships through time & space. Are we to believe a 26th century timeship is just directed via verbal commands?
Nebbie
#568254
9 months ago
^A computer's entire purpose is to do things that we could, but much faster and in a more predictable and controlled way. I would hope that a 26th century computer can figure it out for me even if I do not understand what it is I'm doing, because I am more error-prone than a computer and it would take quite a bit of time to work out the math by hand.
Understanding what you are doing is a good thing to have, but a bad thing to rely on. What if the time-traveller forgets a variable name? Is he to die?
It is, however, a good backup since computers might fail.

Maneuvers in Trek are usually pointless due to perfect accuracy of torpedoes and beam weapons. I would certainly hope a computer-controlled ship with better shields and weapons can defeat a lesser ship commanded by humans unless the humans do something clever.
Nebbie
#568260
9 months ago
^Well, Romulans in that case. Still, it was a straight-up fight with no tactics beyond pointless moving about. Try playing an RTS some time and tell me that a computer's units should die just because all it did was attack with better weapons while you sat there, attacking back.