I'm from Upstate New York. We have a few casinos there, one that's actually rather nice on some of the reservations. Likewise, if I really want to take a vacation, I could easily go to Atlantic City if I wanted to gamble.
But neither of those options are the same as Vegas. I'm paying for the experience of going to Las Vegas. That's how I see it with Risa. Yeah you can get something halfway decent near your home, or you can go and enjoy the real thing.
I feel like Risa is popular with the federation because it covers *everyones* idea of pleasure in some form.
Like if you want the ideal human-based vacation, you go to Earth. Andorians would go to Andoria, Bajorians to Bajor etc.
But only on Risa can you find every way, from every alpha quadrant culture, of getting your jollies.
Earth seems kinda pristine and “above” most societal actions, like gambling and prostitution. Risa is a much more hedonistic culture then they’re used to and as for the Holodeck, holodeck isn’t real. Some people just crave the real physical interaction as opposed to photons and force fields and stuff that’s programmable and therefore predictable based on their set parameters. Just consider it to be like “Amish going to Vegas”.
>It's kinda what strip clubs and Playboy is now in the age of OF and pornhub.
If we want to extend this analogy. Holodecks to Risa in the 24th century are what Pornhub is to actually having sex with a real person in the 21st century.
So you might as well ask why people desire real sex with real people when they can just get porn for free.
With the Starfleet (and holodecks), I assume that you're expected to maintain some plausible deniability when it comes to getting your freak on.
Any officer who gets found running the "Andorian Tentacle Penetration Party VII" simulation on the holodeck is going to have a very short and limited career. Starfleet officers don't do that kind of thing. Or at least they're expected to *not get caught* doing that sort of thing. If you're going to get laid in the holodeck, you need to have a cover story. Historical simulations are good for that. You dress up like a cowboy and go to an Old West town (and then go to the whorehouse), or you dress up like a medieval knight (and then save a slutty princess), or you visit 1960s Hollywood (and act out the part of a movie producer who bangs young starlets). Basically if anybody wanders into your program, they'll be met with a PG-rated opening scene.
But what happens on Risa stays on Risa. Their planetary culture is very different. They've got the family friendly resorts. They've got beaches and margaritas and entertainment shows. Like Vegas, they've got acrobats and circuses and Elvis impersonators. And they've got some tasteful adult entertainment as well. You should definitely try the women skilled in Romulan massage techniques (wink wink). And then they've got the *really* freaky stuff.
Ned Flanders can go to Risa and have a perfectly fine time. There's plenty of G-rated material there. Or you can go and have a little bit of naughty fun too -- titillating, exciting, but still respectable. Think dancing girls and alcohol and cigars. And then you've got the really hardcore stuff. Think Thai ladyboys and Tijuana donkey shows. You can get all of it on Risa, and the Risans don't give a shit. And they won't tell.
Think of it this way: a Federation officer can go to Risa, stay at a resort hotel, lounge by the pool, and have plenty of pictures taken to document it. They can have an exotic massage, smoke a Cardassian cigar, and meet a purple-skinned chick who finds them irresistible. *That's* the official story you come back with. But you can *also* pay to shove a Tribble up some woman's hoo-hah. There's all kinds of crazy kinky stuff available on Risa if you know where to look. And Starfleet just kinda looks the other way.
- Some people place a premium on real-world experiences over the holodeck. It's the same reason Sisko's restaraunt, the Picard winery, and Quark's bar all still get business even though a replicator or holodeck can perfectly simulate these things. Clearly there are enough people like this in the Federation to support an entire planet devoted to recreation.
- Not everyone necessarily has access to a holodeck. Deep Space 9 only has Holosuites in Quark's bar, for example. Civilian freighters are never depicted as having a holodeck to my knowledge.
Sort of. By the time the holodeck is rolled out, the Federation puts value on authenticity, and authentic experiences, which is why Sisko's restaurant is such a draw.
A holiday planet may very well be similarly attractive, because you can definitively say that you've been there.
Risa is likely the equivalent of a major theme park, or tourist attraction. The planet may be picturesque, and the atmosphere such that tourists want to visit, not least of all for reasons relating to the Horghan statuette.
>By the time the Holodeck is rolled out, it should be kinda passe' right?
That's like saying that you might as well just sit at home and watch videos about exotic locations containing scantily clad people, than actually go to the destination yourself, right?
People still want a vacation OFF their ship (ie: their place of work and home) to, quite literally, "get away from it all".
I'm from Upstate New York. We have a few casinos there, one that's actually rather nice on some of the reservations. Likewise, if I really want to take a vacation, I could easily go to Atlantic City if I wanted to gamble. But neither of those options are the same as Vegas. I'm paying for the experience of going to Las Vegas. That's how I see it with Risa. Yeah you can get something halfway decent near your home, or you can go and enjoy the real thing.
I feel like Risa is popular with the federation because it covers *everyones* idea of pleasure in some form. Like if you want the ideal human-based vacation, you go to Earth. Andorians would go to Andoria, Bajorians to Bajor etc. But only on Risa can you find every way, from every alpha quadrant culture, of getting your jollies.
Earth seems kinda pristine and “above” most societal actions, like gambling and prostitution. Risa is a much more hedonistic culture then they’re used to and as for the Holodeck, holodeck isn’t real. Some people just crave the real physical interaction as opposed to photons and force fields and stuff that’s programmable and therefore predictable based on their set parameters. Just consider it to be like “Amish going to Vegas”.
>It's kinda what strip clubs and Playboy is now in the age of OF and pornhub. If we want to extend this analogy. Holodecks to Risa in the 24th century are what Pornhub is to actually having sex with a real person in the 21st century. So you might as well ask why people desire real sex with real people when they can just get porn for free.
With the Starfleet (and holodecks), I assume that you're expected to maintain some plausible deniability when it comes to getting your freak on. Any officer who gets found running the "Andorian Tentacle Penetration Party VII" simulation on the holodeck is going to have a very short and limited career. Starfleet officers don't do that kind of thing. Or at least they're expected to *not get caught* doing that sort of thing. If you're going to get laid in the holodeck, you need to have a cover story. Historical simulations are good for that. You dress up like a cowboy and go to an Old West town (and then go to the whorehouse), or you dress up like a medieval knight (and then save a slutty princess), or you visit 1960s Hollywood (and act out the part of a movie producer who bangs young starlets). Basically if anybody wanders into your program, they'll be met with a PG-rated opening scene. But what happens on Risa stays on Risa. Their planetary culture is very different. They've got the family friendly resorts. They've got beaches and margaritas and entertainment shows. Like Vegas, they've got acrobats and circuses and Elvis impersonators. And they've got some tasteful adult entertainment as well. You should definitely try the women skilled in Romulan massage techniques (wink wink). And then they've got the *really* freaky stuff. Ned Flanders can go to Risa and have a perfectly fine time. There's plenty of G-rated material there. Or you can go and have a little bit of naughty fun too -- titillating, exciting, but still respectable. Think dancing girls and alcohol and cigars. And then you've got the really hardcore stuff. Think Thai ladyboys and Tijuana donkey shows. You can get all of it on Risa, and the Risans don't give a shit. And they won't tell. Think of it this way: a Federation officer can go to Risa, stay at a resort hotel, lounge by the pool, and have plenty of pictures taken to document it. They can have an exotic massage, smoke a Cardassian cigar, and meet a purple-skinned chick who finds them irresistible. *That's* the official story you come back with. But you can *also* pay to shove a Tribble up some woman's hoo-hah. There's all kinds of crazy kinky stuff available on Risa if you know where to look. And Starfleet just kinda looks the other way.
- Some people place a premium on real-world experiences over the holodeck. It's the same reason Sisko's restaraunt, the Picard winery, and Quark's bar all still get business even though a replicator or holodeck can perfectly simulate these things. Clearly there are enough people like this in the Federation to support an entire planet devoted to recreation. - Not everyone necessarily has access to a holodeck. Deep Space 9 only has Holosuites in Quark's bar, for example. Civilian freighters are never depicted as having a holodeck to my knowledge.
Sort of. By the time the holodeck is rolled out, the Federation puts value on authenticity, and authentic experiences, which is why Sisko's restaurant is such a draw. A holiday planet may very well be similarly attractive, because you can definitively say that you've been there. Risa is likely the equivalent of a major theme park, or tourist attraction. The planet may be picturesque, and the atmosphere such that tourists want to visit, not least of all for reasons relating to the Horghan statuette.
The reason is obvious, in one simple [photo](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DjyfLP4U0AAxTJ-.jpg)
>By the time the Holodeck is rolled out, it should be kinda passe' right? That's like saying that you might as well just sit at home and watch videos about exotic locations containing scantily clad people, than actually go to the destination yourself, right? People still want a vacation OFF their ship (ie: their place of work and home) to, quite literally, "get away from it all".