Hussar
Legend
The broader story of that double-length horror show of an episode doesn't need to change. But the fact remains, they dealt with a situation in which there was a perceived direct threat to the Enterprise. The fact that it was a single encounter rather than the whole plot line and was resolved with the situation remaining status quo doesn't mean it was effectively "backgrounded". Rather, it was very much foregrounded so they could show off something they thought was cool.
Sigh.
Still missing the point.
Even if you add that one, ok, great. Now 20% of the episodes feature a threat to the Enterprise. Whoopee freaking do. The point I was making was that even if you DID background the Enterprise, 80% of the stories remain unchanged. Which was the point I was trying to make. That Backgrounding hardly changes games as much as people are making it out to. That backgrounding this or that element by and large won't impact the larger game.
Just like backgrounding the Patron won't actually change the campaign. All it does is take a tiny slice off the table. The DM still has most of that world to play with and the player doesn't have to worry about this bit that he or she doesn't like. It's win win for everyone.
But, hey, feel free to continue with overly pedantic nit picking. It's obviously a much more productive approach to conversation.
Sheesh.