Number One... what exactly do you do around here?

[Manx]

Well, the search function has failed me for the first time ever, so...

Most of the NPC bridge crew are pretty easy to figure out; the skills of our helmsman would have an impact on how our ship flies, our tactical officer effect weapon accuracy, and so on.

The first officer? This one is bugging me.

In game play terms, what role would he/she have? Just a 'back up captain' for when we, the players, are not around perhaps? Would our first officers be able to give orders on their own initiative supplementing the captains own? (examples: Riker ordering 'all hands to emergency escape pods' (Cause and Effect TNG), or Sisko ordering 'full reverse' (Emissary DS9.))

My personal theory is that the skills and abilities of the first officer will be added to our own; serving as a way to address weaknesses in the PC captain's skill set. For example, if the player had wanted to focus on engineering or medical; you could then have a first officer who specialized in the command career path, thereby providing command type skills that can be used by the player. Perhaps to make it a little less convenient than having them on our own characters, the first officer could also occasionally use these skills (commands) on their own; meaning that they will not always be available when the player wants to use them (assuming a cool down period).

I would be interested to hear other peoples theories on this; what do you all think? :)

[Vicelance]

I'm thinking that maybe our first officer could be our chief of another department, (Spock was a science officer and Trip in Enterprise was the chief engineer).

[Xuth]

My image of how the crew works is to act as the 'clothing' in space.

So, in 3rd person on planet/mission mode you would have equipment as with every other mmo. Stats etc.

And then in space [b]imagined]/b] the crew had their own stats and can be slotted to their possitions. So the 1st officer or XO could increase command or diplomatic stats depending on their speciality. So crew could be 'bought' (i.e. transfered.) to increase stats?

So William T. Riker.. +100 Strength Chest plate :P

So quite similar to your own ideas (which I like.)

[willriker09]

Technically, T'Pol outranked Trip in terms of the chain of command on Enterprise. I would expect the first officer to have another role aboard ship, in terms of gameplay I think it would be redundant to have a first officer since people are just going to have their captains be the focal point of their command and away missions. I doubt anyone will really obey their starfleet order manual and find the one that says, "captains can't go on away missions."

[ajaco3025]

Personally, I think they should just use the KISS method. Treat the SIC as the rest of the crew where bonuses or skills affect the ship's performance. Deep six any of that extra crap involving player control as the crew is meant to run autonomously.

[Posidon]

The Commander is another authoritative command individual that is aloud to give orders within a round (seg). Depending on your (you) the Captains "command rating" details the number of commands within a segment, the commander gives an addition command. Hard to explain, but perfectly understandable. Watch different TNG episodes. Picard gives an order as well as Riker. One usually an offensive order while the other is defensive/tactical/damage or otherwise. It makes for a great command structure and a good game play balance.

[Redshirt_40067]

I'll use real military examples. Most soldiers don't really have an idea what the XO does, but I worked closely with both commanders and XOs during my six years of service. The XO duty position is one of learning for the junior officer (Army infantry company specifically) to prepare them for their first command. They are responsible for mot of the logistics, supervising the various department heads, doing the legwork required to keep the unit running smoothly. They get to see exactly how all the pieces of the puzzle fit into place, so that when they do get their own command, they can hopefully do so smoothly. Each level of command does it this way. On a starship, the captain is equivalent rank of a full colonel/brigade commander (Army and Marines). The XO would oversee duty and training schedules, oversee department heads, and handle most personnel issues that did not by regulation require attention from the commander.

As a department head (I ran unit communications and later the arms room) I had to turn in weekly maintenance reports, orders for new and replacement equipment, and my training schedules for the unit radio operators, leaders, and platoons as a whole, as well as plan and execute annual training for recertification. I was also tasked with certifying any training sites involving comms not run by me. In the field, I worked with the XO to gather logistics info from each platoon and plan and arrange resupply, including air transport and LZ set up and security. There's alot more, but as you can see, any XO is a busy man.

From various episodes you can see Riker doing most of what I listed and more, so I hope this helps you out some.

[ParkerHayden]

Who says we'd have a first officer? I never considered having one in STO because of the same reason you made this thread: they're useless.

Of course, it wouldn't go beyond one's imagination to think that Starfleet decided to go back to having a division head as also first officer.

[TheMasterpiece]

hadnt thought of this. its not that important though because we'll find it out some time in the future when the game is ready

[thefreshjedi]

The First Officer's duty onboard the ship could be the following:

Issuing Uniform of the Day Orders,
Organizing, Planning and Leading Away Team Missions,
Maintaining Discipline,
Organizing Crew Structure and Duty Rosters,
Coordinating Subordinate Elements.

From Riker's perspective, he was a jack-of-all trades. He had a lot of responsibility, but his first and formost responsibility was to the Captain.

Per canon: The Captain *rarely* ever went on away-team missions. That was the duty of the First-Officer. I don't know how this could be implemented in-game. But also in-canon, we always saw the Captain on the away team missions where diplomacy was needed. This was not the First Officer's duty to maintain diplomatic relationships.

Good questions. I have no-idea how Cryptic will implement this.

-Avery

[RookActual]

the First Officer is responsible for the readiness, safety and fitness of the crew. At the very least, your first officer would make a good portal for you to go upgrade your crew through.

[Sullen]

Number one is there for me when I type "/afk."

[thefreshjedi]

Number one is there for me when I type "/afk."

Lol, I envisioned the "blow-up" Captain from the old movie "Airplane!".


-Avery

[Sullen]

Lol, I envisioned the "blow-up" Captain from the old movie "Airplane!".


-Avery

Haha, Mr. Autopilot. :P

[bradley1701]

I think like with away teams going TOS (Kirk always lead the away team) we should treat the XO in TOS fashion...Spock was Science Officer and First Officer. We should be allowed to choose which of our senior officers is our first officer. If I command I science ship, I may want my science officer as XO. If I command a medical ship, I may want my CMO as my XO.

[Scribe]

Autopilot is the main feature I think number 1's should provide above all else. It adds an extra gameplay element allowing for more complex ren de vous or more complex mission planning.

[Manx]

Huh... I never considered the possibility that we might not even have first officers; I guess when I think of 'bridge crew' the first officer stands out in my mind too much for me to ignore. :o

I can see department heads getting the job, but in game play terms I have a slight problem with it; on those occasions where a second person with command authority might be useful, the bridge crew are likely to have their hands full. Spock and T'pol got away with it because they were manning science stations, which (judging by how little time they spent using them in the average episode) did not seem to require their constant attention.

I dunno, maybe I'm just too used to Riker.

Anyways, good feedback so far people. Thanks for posting :D


---EDIT---

Lots of replies while I was typing lol

[Manx]

the First Officer is responsible for the readiness, safety and fitness of the crew. At the very least, your first officer would make a good portal for you to go upgrade your crew through.

First Officer as crew management interface... I actually kinda like that idea :)

[Riceball]

Going by realism and what's seen on all but Enterprise and TOS the First Officer shouldn't be a department head as well and should be the First Officer only. An XO already has a lot to do without having to worry about heading up a department as well, the only time that would work would be on a small ship where you don't have the luxury of a dedicated XO because of the small crew size.

As far as game mechanics go, I don't really see all that much use for an XO except as just another bridge crew member to help you along in the game. The XO would probably act as just another modifier to your stats like any other bridge crew member, maybe adding to morale or something.

[marscentral]

From TNG onwards, the XO isn't a department head, but fills some of those roles others have brought up as well as lead Away Teams or command the ship in the Captain's absence. That said, you probably won't have one to begin with, I don't think the Defiant had one and I imagine most other small ships won't either.

[RookActual]

From TNG onwards, the XO isn't a department head, but fills some of those roles others have brought up as well as lead Away Teams or command the ship in the Captain's absence. That said, you probably won't have one to begin with, I don't think the Defiant had one and I imagine most other small ships won't either.

Executive Officers are typically only present at the Company level in infantry terms. Naval organizations is a lot more fluid, though.

[bradley1701]

I understand the XO's position from TNG onwards. I was using TOS as an example of a possibility since the dev's are already using the idea of TOS style away teams for the game...that being that the Captain leads the away team, which we know from TNG onwards would not be the case and is against regulations. If the Captain can lead an away team, maybe I can make my science officer my first officer as well.

If they make the first officer a useful tool, like a crew management interface, that is fine...I just don't want a useless character on my bridge just because we're used to the first officer position from TNG onwards.

[THORN74]

the roll of the TOS first officer was vastly different from the TNG and beyond. To this point you have to remember that the major millitary theme we see and know in star trek was implemented in ST2: the wrath of Khan (see directors comentray Capt hornblower in space)

TOS had very loose rules governing away teams. 3 to 4 of the highest ranking officers would leave the ship (along with the obligitory red shirt) and leaving poor ensign sulu or chekov in charge. While spock did assume command several times collectively scotty spent more time in the command chair than spock

TNG presents a whole dfferent approch .... its a dangerous universe out there.... better to send the first office to brave the elements than risk the captian. (though picard weasled his way out for a stroll more and more as the series went on) Yes the TNG first officer was maybe more true to the "navy" model than TOS, but i think it weakened the captians apperance. the largest problem this presents in the game is by all rights there should be some squeaky voiced xo screaming in your ear every time you try to leave the ship.

i mean, who is going to let the xo keep them on the ship, i dont think this will make the game fun, do u?

i see us reverting back to a TOS era command style, it fits the gameplay better

[thefreshjedi]

the roll of the TOS first officer was vastly different from the TNG and beyond. To this point you have to remember that the major millitary theme we see and know in star trek was implemented in ST2: the wrath of Khan (see directors comentray Capt hornblower in space)

TOS had very loose rules governing away teams. 3 to 4 of the highest ranking officers would leave the ship (along with the obligitory red shirt) and leaving poor ensign sulu or chekov in charge. While spock did assume command several times collectively scotty spent more time in the command chair than spock

TNG presents a whole dfferent approch .... its a dangerous universe out there.... better to send the first office to brave the elements than risk the captian. (though picard weasled his way out for a stroll more and more as the series went on) Yes the TNG first officer was maybe more true to the "navy" model than TOS, but i think it weakened the captians apperance. the largest problem this presents in the game is by all rights there should be some squeaky voiced xo screaming in your ear every time you try to leave the ship.

i mean, who is going to let the xo keep them on the ship, i dont think this will make the game fun, do u?

i see us reverting back to a TOS era command style, it fits the gameplay better

Now that you mention it Thorn, I don't remember TOS having a First Officer. I think Shattner was too much of an ego-maniac to share the spotlight. But also, I don't think that TOS envisioned the need for a 'First Officer'.

-Avery

[Trekkie]

I think that the first officer will definitely be more skilled than the rest of the bridge crew and I think that they will be helpful on away missions, but I don't know how they will be utilized otherwise.

[ElbyStarfire]

I like the idea of the XO adding a secondary skillset. Also, mine will hold my scotch and cigar while I do important captain stuff. :D

[Riceball]

Now that you mention it Thorn, I don't remember TOS having a First Officer. I think Shattner was too much of an ego-maniac to share the spotlight. But also, I don't think that TOS envisioned the need for a 'First Officer'.

-Avery

I don't know for certain if it ever was mentioned onscreen but it's widely acknowledged that Spock was Kirk's First Officer. Besides, there would always be a need for a first officer even if the name of the billet isn't such since you'll always have need of a second in command which is what a First Officer is, the second in command of a ship.

[Riceball]

From TNG onwards, the XO isn't a department head, but fills some of those roles others have brought up as well as lead Away Teams or command the ship in the Captain's absence. That said, you probably won't have one to begin with, I don't think the Defiant had one and I imagine most other small ships won't either.

For that matter, the Defiant didn't even have a regular Captain or crew just whoever could be spared to man the ship at the moment although Sisko did act as Captain more than a few times. It seemed like whenever they needed to send the Defiant out they would just strip DS9 of its senior staff and put them in place as her crew which seemed to me like a really silly and unrealistic way of doing things.

[RookActual]

For that matter, the Defiant didn't even have a regular Captain or crew just whoever could be spared to man the ship at the moment although Sisko did act as Captain more than a few times. It seemed like whenever they needed to send the Defiant out they would just strip DS9 of its senior staff and put them in place as her crew which seemed to me like a really silly and unrealistic way of doing things.

I never could wrap my head quite around that. "Hey, here's a small, but powerful brand new warship that we want you to park and just use at your discretion."

It was done for the obvious reasons of entertainment value and plot device, but it really doesn't seem like a reasonable allocation of resources.

[Mysticone622]

Well, the search function has failed me for the first time ever, so...

Most of the NPC bridge crew are pretty easy to figure out; the skills of our helmsman would have an impact on how our ship flies, our tactical officer effect weapon accuracy, and so on.

The first officer? This one is bugging me.

In game play terms, what role would he/she have? Just a 'back up captain' for when we, the players, are not around perhaps? Would our first officers be able to give orders on their own initiative supplementing the captains own? (examples: Riker ordering 'all hands to emergency escape pods' (Cause and Effect TNG), or Sisko ordering 'full reverse' (Emissary DS9.))


I would be interested to hear other peoples theories on this; what do you all think? :)


Actually it was Picard that ordered the all hands to escape pods(remember the camera is at a close up of picard when he says it) But Riker does give secondary commands when picards is on the bridge....

Not sure How this will work in the game, because the player is the Captain and the player will lead the missions of the surfaces



I'm thinking that maybe our first officer could be our chief of another department, (Spock was a science officer and Trip in Enterprise was the chief engineer).

This was because Captain always went on the away missions, by the time of TNG that duty was soly for the First Officer as a safe guard to the Captain.. Which is way we always saw Riker leading the missions and Picard staying with the ship..

When Picard did leave the Ship, Riker always made sure Worf went with him as protection.

[bradley1701]

I don't know for certain if it ever was mentioned onscreen but it's widely acknowledged that Spock was Kirk's First Officer. Besides, there would always be a need for a first officer even if the name of the billet isn't such since you'll always have need of a second in command which is what a First Officer is, the second in command of a ship.

Kirk introduced Spock several times as his science and first officer :)

[Manx]

Actually it was Picard that ordered the all hands to escape pods(remember the camera is at a close up of picard when he says it) But Riker does give secondary commands when picards is on the bridge....

Not sure How this will work in the game, because the player is the Captain and the player will lead the missions of the surfaces




You could be right; but I remember it being Riker ordered 'all hands to emergency escape pods', then Picard ordered 'all hands abandon ship'.

I'm gonna have to watch that episode again now... I know I've got an old tape of it somewhere :)

[vp21ct]

Perhaps it would give a 'crew efficiency' bonus.

One person had said that crew will be like the trinkets of space, but i would liken them more like a party in the old rpgs that had 3 or 6 characters in them, each with a different role to play. You, the captain, would be the most diverse member of the group, and would have (to some extent) the skills of all members, but would still relly on the other members of the group.

I'll use the example of a Combat Captain's crew

Captain=Paladin
Engineer=not really an analoouge in normal D&D terms, you have to go to eboron to get Artificers, who increase armor and weapons stats
Medical=Cleric
Tactical=Fighter
Counciller=Bard
First Officer=Sort of a cross between fighter and bard, but not quite.

As i said things wouldn't fit perfectly into this model. Whats more, they could go for an entirely different one. Another thing that they could do, however, is let you sort of costomize you bridge crew (which i think they have at least hinted at that) and under this method you first officer would be made out in a simmilar fashion to your Captain, meaning you pick what department he is good at.

[Mysticone622]

You could be right; but I remember it being Riker ordered 'all hands to emergency escape pods', then Picard ordered 'all hands abandon ship'.

I'm gonna have to watch that episode again now... I know I've got an old tape of it somewhere :)

your right, I just had a flash back,lol.....Riker says that after data's plan backfires and I guess people were taking there sweet butt time so picard had to say get the &%^% off the ship,lol...

[damo]

I would assume that the First Officer has all the abilities (to an extent) of the bridge crew to aide the captain in decision making and assistance.

Example: If your connection is lost to the server, the NPC First Officer has the skills and AI abilities to run/repair your ship (or even battle) until you return.

The First Officer can also give commands that compliment your wants and needs like if you're about to be attacked but you didn't see it coming, the NPC First Officer might call RED ALERT and get the shields up to minimize damage.

Also consider that the FIrst Officer can give updates and be a point of reference, similar to the Star Trek game Bridge Commander but with more active skills (maybe it can help to coordinate repair efforts?, etc).

I believe the First Officer will play a vital role in the game. It's a complicated issue to work it in but once you get the relationship right and a good balance, it will be fantastic!

[cocoa-jin]

1st Officer would manage crew morale, he is a liason between the crew and the captain, he hears things that arent said in the presence of the captain, crew would come to the 1st officer and speak about concerns they have that they would never or at least wouldnt easily share with the captain.

The 1st officer assures the captain's wishes are met and executed without the captain needing to raise a finger. The 1st officer is the physical extension of the captain's word/will. If the was McDonald's the captain would be the owner, the 1st officer would be the store manager.

The 1st officer insures the departments are doing their jobs, their heads report directly to him. The 1st officer gets the reports, inspections, enforces procedure and protocol, etc.

The 1st officer essentially insures the ship runs as smoothly as possible so when the captain asks the ship and crew to do something it happens efficiently, profficiently and by procedure.

So a good 1st officer should provide an overall crew multiplier...across the board.

I guess he would also lead the away missions.

[Riceball]

I would assume that the First Officer has all the abilities (to an extent) of the bridge crew to aide the captain in decision making and assistance.

Example: If your connection is lost to the server, the NPC First Officer has the skills and AI abilities to run/repair your ship (or even battle) until you return.

The First Officer can also give commands that compliment your wants and needs like if you're about to be attacked but you didn't see it coming, the NPC First Officer might call RED ALERT and get the shields up to minimize damage.

Also consider that the FIrst Officer can give updates and be a point of reference, similar to the Star Trek game Bridge Commander but with more active skills (maybe it can help to coordinate repair efforts?, etc).

I believe the First Officer will play a vital role in the game. It's a complicated issue to work it in but once you get the relationship right and a good balance, it will be fantastic!

That would be pretty ambitious and a little unrealistic to expect, not that it wouldn't be nice though. I don't think that there's an MMO out there that has the ability to run on autopliot for you when you lose connection to the server; that would probably require some serious AI programming to do that. I think what will most likely happen if you lose connection to the server in this will be the same as any other MMO and you'll simply be dropped out of the game until you log back in and probably lose a certain amount of the progress you made up until then.

[KirksOtherSon]

As others have said, I expect the First Officer will hold another core bridge crew position simultaneously, a throwback to the earliest days of Trek, when STO opens in 2409.

Why? Because it seems to work best for gameplay (no potentially-redundant NPC characters taking up limited space in your core bridge crew), and it also works with Cryptic's stated love of offering customization options.

I expect that the XO position will be something you, as a player, bestow on your favorite bridge crew character yourself.

I suppose the XO could also be a complete NPC (not even active core bridge) who simply "minds the ship" on your behalf, especially when you're on Away missions -- but my gold-pressed latinum is on a more player-influenced, streamlined XO solution.

My opinions, anyway,

KOS

[k.mpok]

For me (a supporter for PC crews and ST RP) I am hoping that I will be able to remain on my ship and use my First Officer as the one in charge of Away Missions.

Remember it is also the First Officers duty to keep the Captain safe.

[jhem99]

Number one takes care of number two etc etc

[RookActual]

"Who...does...Number One..work for?!?!" - Austin Powers(revised).

[STO_NPG]

IMHO we are the captain in ship combats and become the 1st officer when lead the away team.

But I maybe wrong.

[CurtisWT]

For that matter, the Defiant didn't even have a regular Captain or crew just whoever could be spared to man the ship at the moment although Sisko did act as Captain more than a few times. It seemed like whenever they needed to send the Defiant out they would just strip DS9 of its senior staff and put them in place as her crew which seemed to me like a really silly and unrealistic way of doing things.


Originally it was intended as an additional defense to DS9 in the face of expected Dominion attacks. Once Worf was brought into the crew, he acted as the captain of the Defiant while Sisko remained on DS9 for the most part if memory serves. If Sisko was on the Defiant he assumed command. So essentially The Defiant was permanently stationed at DS9 for use at the commander's discretion with a crew that was integrated into the station while docked.

Now my memory may be off somewhat about this, so kindly don't skewer me if it is.

[Riceball]

Originally it was intended as an additional defense to DS9 in the face of expected Dominion attacks. Once Worf was brought into the crew, he acted as the captain of the Defiant while Sisko remained on DS9 for the most part if memory serves. If Sisko was on the Defiant he assumed command. So essentially The Defiant was permanently stationed at DS9 for use at the commander's discretion with a crew that was integrated into the station while docked.

Now my memory may be off somewhat about this, so kindly don't skewer me if it is.

Either way it's a very illogical way of doing things. It makes for a crew, of either DS9 or the Defiant, who aren't all that proficient at their jobs because they spend their time jumping between being a station crewmember and a starship crewmember meaning that they either more proficient at being one or the other or neither but never both. Also, seeing as how the Defiant's crew is typically made up of DS9's senior staff this tends to leave DS9 a little light on experienced officers whenever the Defiant goes off somewhere and would probably make for the ideal time to launch a sneak attack on DS9. All you have to do is fake some sort of accident, incident, or stellar phenomena in order to draw the Defiant away from DS9 and succeeded in not only leaving DS9 slightly understaffed but you've also taken it's most senior and experienced officers to boot leaving it ripe for attack.

[thefreshjedi]

Kirk introduced Spock several times as his science and first officer :)

I do remember that aspect of TOS, but again, I think that Shattner would not have liked to have his thunder stolen. In fact, I remember in Star Trek: The Movie, when Admiral Kirk took over the Enterprise as Captain, he put Commander Decker in charge of the First Officer position, directly under him, much to the Chagrin of Commander Decker, especially since that was his first noteworthy commission.

Spock was always just the Science Officer to me, growing up watching TOS, but you're right, his 1st Officer role was always there in the background too.

I think that the other technical reason was that the old Enterprise NCC-1701-A (http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/USS_Enterprise_%28NCC-1701%29) was a much smaller vessel compared to the newer Enterprise NCC-1701-D (http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/USS_Enterprise_%28NCC-1701-D%29) , which carried a much larger crew compliment, including whole-families. So unlike before, it was not as necessary to have a First-Officer to help organize all of the different departments.

At least that's my guess from a technology standpoint.

-Avery

[Riceball]

I do remember that aspect of TOS, but again, I think that Shattner would not have liked to have his thunder stolen. In fact, I remember in Star Trek: The Movie, when Admiral Kirk took over the Enterprise as Captain, he put Commander Decker in charge of the First Officer position, directly under him, much to the Chagrin of Commander Decker, especially since that was his first noteworthy commission.

Spock was always just the Science Officer to me, growing up watching TOS, but you're right, his 1st Officer role was always there in the background too.

I think that the other technical reason was that the old Enterprise NCC-1701-A (http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/USS_Enterprise_%28NCC-1701%29) was a much smaller vessel compared to the newer Enterprise NCC-1701-D (http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/USS_Enterprise_%28NCC-1701-D%29) , which carried a much larger crew compliment, including whole-families. So unlike before, it was not as necessary to have a First-Officer to help organize all of the different departments.

At least that's my guess from a technology standpoint.

-Avery


The one flaw in your logic is that a Virginia class SSN with a crew 1/4 the size (113 officers & men) of the Constitution class Enterprise have a dedicated First Officer who holds no other billet other than that of XO. Having an XO that's also a dept. head makes for a very busy XO who not only has to take on the usual responsibilities of the ship's XO but also has to a run a dept as well; the only person who could do that would be Data since he doesn't get stressed out and doesn't need sleep although he may not enjoy not having any free time to explore being human.

[thefreshjedi]

The one flaw in your logic is that a Virginia class SSN with a crew 1/4 the size (113 officers & men) of the Constitution class Enterprise have a dedicated First Officer who holds no other billet other than that of XO. Having an XO that's also a dept. head makes for a very busy XO who not only has to take on the usual responsibilities of the ship's XO but also has to a run a dept as well; the only person who could do that would be Data since he doesn't get stressed out and doesn't need sleep although he may not enjoy not having any free time to explore being human.

I'm was just speaking in terms of Shows and Movies, and why we never really saw Spock in the light of First Officer more. I wasn't aware of the crew compliment for the Virginia Class.

That being said though, we did finally see Spock acting as more of a First Officer in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Star_Trek_VI:_The_Undiscovered_Country). He took over as Captain (if memory serves he actually was the rank of Captain too) when McCoy and Kirk were sent to Rura Penthe (http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Rura_Penthe) to serve their Klingon sentence. So I realize that there is a duality to his role there as well, but just based on TOS tv-canon alone, Spock was never quite like Riker was in TNG (with regard to responsibilities).

-Avery