I still find it odd that in TNG they were known to the federation only by rumor. Yet by DS9 they’re a long running cornerstone of finance and commerce in the alpha quadrant.
Exactly, TNG made them one dimensional and unintentionally laughable. DS9 took that foundation and let their civilization be a joke, while still allowing characters to be properly fleshed out.
I would have personally preferred a more grounded and nuanced society for them, but that’s true of a lot of Star Trek’s world building. They’ve always had a preference for making everything a planet of hats.
The overhead on a war with Starfleet is overshadowed by the potential profits of simply cheating them out of their resources. Plus, they can call on their assistance as muscle… if they have a good enough excuse.
I’m not really a fan of how DS9 just turned them in to Flanderized comic relief.
They were already too goofy to be taken as a serious enemy. They were meant to be the big bad instead of the Borg, originally.
I still find it odd that in TNG they were known to the federation only by rumor. Yet by DS9 they’re a long running cornerstone of finance and commerce in the alpha quadrant.
Exactly, TNG made them one dimensional and unintentionally laughable. DS9 took that foundation and let their civilization be a joke, while still allowing characters to be properly fleshed out.
I would have personally preferred a more grounded and nuanced society for them, but that’s true of a lot of Star Trek’s world building. They’ve always had a preference for making everything a planet of hats.
The first TNG episode with them ends with them literally jumping around on all fours while wearing furs and howling like cavemen.
The overhead on a war with Starfleet is overshadowed by the potential profits of simply cheating them out of their resources. Plus, they can call on their assistance as muscle… if they have a good enough excuse.