There are missions where you have to mediate a conflict or you're performing humanitarian tasks and are forced to defend yourself, but no one mentions those. Everyone just drops the "Aid Planet" quests because in Star Trek Online, we can't be bothered to carry emergency supplies in our holds.Actually, things started to become a lot more grim when they began fleshing out the Bajoran / Cardassian relationship.
If it helps you sleep, just imagine that the time it takes for you to get in range is spent hailing the enemy ship and imploring them to seek a peaceful resolution Or an enemy's HP(sto credits) bar is actually your stun setting and they won't back off after being shot a few dozen times. If you think they could sell a game where you fly around in heavily armed and armored ships waving a white flag while all the aliens you meet want to conquer you, assimilate you, seek vengeance on you, hunt you, use your ships and / or bodies for decoration, you should probably think again.
A scene was most of the vaporized when Rick was forced to a woman whose sole mission in life to complete the destruction of a rival faction. Another rough one was Archer having to choose to steal warp engine components from another ship in The Expanse (leaving that ship stranded) so his crew could have a hope of completing their mission and preventing genocide level (sto credits). So why are people still hung up in this. Our culture has changed from Roddenberry's time and our entertainment has changed accordingly.
