What's the point of phasers when a regular gun can kill people?

[ManSnake]

Shields can defend against laser beams, but not bullets. Like in the Star Trek movie where a machine gun can kill a Borg but a phaser can't even harm him. So what's the point of a phaser? It seems to me that a regular gun is more effective.

 

[dighn]

regular guns don't have 100% safe stun mode
phasers are pretty damn powerful on maximum setting
bullets are boring

dunno why the borg is defenseless against kinetic attacks

 

[Scouzer]

Stun

 

[OS]

marketing, the show wouldn't be nearly as flashy if everyone just carried guns.

 

[Shadowknight]

As they pointed in Babylon 5, one of the advantages of PPGs (sort of their version of an energy weapon) is that while powerful enough to kill someone, unlike a bullet, it doesn't have a chance of hitting a window or a weak section of the wall and rupturing the hull/breaking the window. Obviously, a bad, bad idea in space. Bullets also can ricochet off hard surfaces. With a gun, you have to reload when you get low and have to make sure the ship's stores are reguarly restocked at space stations or planet. With energy weapons, you just recharge them from the ships electrical system (powered by a nuclear reactor/antimatter/whatever a sci-fi ship uses for energy). With an energy weapon, you can usually just use it until the battery runs dry, depending on how much of a charge it holds. If you need to carry a large supply of "ammo" with you, having a few small batteries will weigh less vs. a crapload of bulets.

Plus, y'know, energy guns look prettier in design that guns. With the exception of the colonial assault rifles from Aliens.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Shadowknight
As they pointed in Babylon 5, one of the advantages of PPGs (sort of their version of an energy weapon) is that while powerful enough to kill someone, unlike a bullet, it doesn't have a chance of hitting a window or a weak section of the wall and rupturing the hull/breaking the window. Obviously, a bad, bad idea in space. Bullets also can ricochet off hard surfaces. With a gun, you have to reload when you get low and have to make sure the ship's stores are reguarly restocked at space stations or planet. With energy weapons, you just recharge them from the ships electrical system (powered by a nuclear reactor/antimatter/whatever a sci-fi ship uses for energy). With an energy weapon, you can usually just use it until the battery runs dry, depending on how much of a charge it holds. If you need to carry a large supply of "ammo" with you, having a few small batteries will weigh less vs. a crapload of bulets.

Plus, y'know, energy guns look prettier in design that guns. With the exception of the colonial assault rifles from Aliens.

I.E. the build quality of spaceships suck, and no one needs an entire paragraph to explain how a fictional tv show attempts to justify fazers...

 

[SlitheryDee]

Shields also defend against torpedoes in Star Trek, which I think qualifies as a physical projectile.

 

[MajinWade]

I always wondered why they don't carry swords and axes on board after the borg showed up.

Phasers are stun, probably cheaper than bullets. But wait, there's no money.

 

[dxkj]

Originally posted by: ManSnake
Shields can defend against laser beams, but not bullets. Like in the Star Trek movie where a machine gun can kill a Borg but a phaser can't even harm him. So what's the point of a phaser? It seems to me that a regular gun is more effective.

Collateral damage on a ship where explosive decompression is an issue?
Collateral damage with ricochet? Phaser hits the wall it dissipates.
Stunability.
No production of nasty gunpowder smell in a closed ship.
No need to reload?
No need to manufacture and re-supply the ship with ammo (though I guess they could create that with the one thingy?)
Weight/bulkiness?
Accuracy/recoil?

Enough?

 

[Analog]

Phasors don't always leave a body (old trek)

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: ManSnake
Shields can defend against laser beams, but not bullets. Like in the Star Trek movie where a machine gun can kill a Borg but a phaser can't even harm him. So what's the point of a phaser? It seems to me that a regular gun is more effective.

That's called a "glaring plot hole."
Deflector shields can defend against projectiles. They'll absorb the energy of photon torpedoes, and they'll also defend against solid objects. The best example I can think of was in Voyager: a probe/missile was closing on Voyager. 7 of 9 transported its warhead out at the last moment, and it crashed harmlessly into the shields.

Other benefit of phasers: You may need extra power cells, but they're small, thus there are no loads of bulky ammunition to carry around.

 

[rhino56]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster

Originally posted by: Shadowknight
As they pointed in Babylon 5, one of the advantages of PPGs (sort of their version of an energy weapon) is that while powerful enough to kill someone, unlike a bullet, it doesn't have a chance of hitting a window or a weak section of the wall and rupturing the hull/breaking the window. Obviously, a bad, bad idea in space. Bullets also can ricochet off hard surfaces. With a gun, you have to reload when you get low and have to make sure the ship's stores are reguarly restocked at space stations or planet. With energy weapons, you just recharge them from the ships electrical system (powered by a nuclear reactor/antimatter/whatever a sci-fi ship uses for energy). With an energy weapon, you can usually just use it until the battery runs dry, depending on how much of a charge it holds. If you need to carry a large supply of "ammo" with you, having a few small batteries will weigh less vs. a crapload of bulets.

Plus, y'know, energy guns look prettier in design that guns. With the exception of the colonial assault rifles from Aliens.

I.E. the build quality of spaceships suck, and no one needs an entire paragraph to explain how a fictional tv show attempts to justify fazers...

hahahaha lmao

 

[dmcowen674]

Depends on the species being fired at.

A few rounds of bullets may not have much effect on many of them such as Klingons.

 

[Squisher]

Projectiles also cause an equal force on the gun/cannon firing it. Without said gun being anchored to Terra Firma the ship would have to apply thrust to keep on course.

 

[Sphexi]

1. Ship to ship battles are sometimes done over hundreds of miles, bullets are kinda slow for that sort of thing generally.

2. Armor can stop bullets, and yes, shields CAN stop them to, such as forcefields and whatnot.

3. The Borg obviously have to touch things, and want to attack us, so some sort of physical shield would be impractical, as opposed to one that stops our high-tech energy weapons.

4. Phasers can stun as well.


Remember, it's all just hypothetical since none of the above really exists, except bullets, armor, and Borg.

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Phasers don't send you spinning if you fire in zero gravity. Of course, this is assuming that everyone on board the ship isn't so stupid that they're all dying because they lost all power to life support, yet somehow forgot to divert the power from the artificial gravity which is obviously still on because they're still standing on the deck.

 

[yowolabi]

The Borg didn't have physical shields because the people they fought didn't carry physical weapons. The Borg weren't morons, they simply prepared for the enemy's style of fighting. If the federation made it a habit to use guns, then the Borg would certainly have been prepared for them, and a phaser would have been the suprise that got through.

 

[roguerower]

You watched First contact on sci-fi yesterday, didn't you?

 

[stinger25]

Phasers can vaporize sections of rock/hull/walls, they can stun, and they can provide light (lowest setting: flash light ). Guns are messy, bulky, and have no where near the destructive power of a phaser on the highest setting: vaporize bad guy to the point where theres not even ash left over.

 

[Brutuskend]

No nasty mess to clean up!

 

[stinger25]

Sorry for teh double post, but I almost forgot...

There was the ST:TNG episode where Worf used an impromptu personal force field to protect him against bullets that Data was firing at him...

 

[tweakmm]

The only thing I can't believe more than the responses in this thread is the fact that I read them all.

 

[Evadman]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
I.E. the build quality of spaceships suck, and no one needs an entire paragraph to explain how a fictional tv show attempts to justify fazers...

There have been entire books written on the subject.

 

[Stunt]

Do you know what sucks?

Star Trek.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Evadman

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
I.E. the build quality of spaceships suck, and no one needs an entire paragraph to explain how a fictional tv show attempts to justify fazers...

There have been entire books written on the subject.

and?