That’s the sort of question the Federation really needed to ask itself, especially given how often consoles blew up in non-main-characters’ faces regardless of whether shields were up or down.
Without shields, they would have to defend themselves with the main deflector dish, which they otherwise only do when everything else fails (even changing the polarity). Or something else equally innovative, like every other episode.
That’s kinda the same as the comment I made about tractor beams yesterday, it all depends on the size and power of the actual device. Under normal circumstances, shields are just fine for defense. Unfortunately for the crews of our favorite stories, “normal circumstances” don’t make for interesting conflicts thus they always seem to lose shields at the drop of a hat.
It’s also a nice way to show how advanced the alien of the week is; if the hero ship outfights the enemy, they must not be very advanced but if the shields go down in seconds, then the heroes should start learning the alien language and welcome their new overlords.
The shields give the crew a little time to discuss how %$&#@ed they are.
In a future with meaningful laser weaponry, they would be the main thing keeping space battles from bring won with a single, thousand-mile-away shot.
That really isn’t necessary, since as we all know, Talking is a Free Action
That’s the sort of question the Federation really needed to ask itself, especially given how often consoles blew up in non-main-characters’ faces regardless of whether shields were up or down.
Imagine how bad it’d be without shields.
Without shields, they would have to defend themselves with the main deflector dish, which they otherwise only do when everything else fails (even changing the polarity). Or something else equally innovative, like every other episode.
That’s kinda the same as the comment I made about tractor beams yesterday, it all depends on the size and power of the actual device. Under normal circumstances, shields are just fine for defense. Unfortunately for the crews of our favorite stories, “normal circumstances” don’t make for interesting conflicts thus they always seem to lose shields at the drop of a hat.
It’s also a nice way to show how advanced the alien of the week is; if the hero ship outfights the enemy, they must not be very advanced but if the shields go down in seconds, then the heroes should start learning the alien language and welcome their new overlords.