Or he just wanted to be in the prime spot to take command of the Enterprise should anything happen to Picard, which DID happen at least twice that I can think of. Picard came back both times, but still, if Riker hadn't been there in second place, it's not likely he would have been transferred from wherever he happened to be at the time. Especially if he took that command in the episode with his father, where they said it would take MONTHS just to get to where they would be getting STARTED.

And of course, if he had accepted command of the Melbourne in "Best Of Both Worlds," he would have died when the Borg destroyed the Melbourne.

Mostly though, Riker didn't just want to command A Ship. He wanted to command the Enterprise.

Is life only about reaching the next rung? I always thought that Riker remained in place because he loved working with Picard, Troi, Laforge, Worf, Data and the rest more than he wished to command. Is it wrong to put personal relationships before career? If I were in the same position, knowing that life is about being with those you love as much as humanly possible, I’d have made the exact same decision. Never let others dictate your happiness.

If you bring the events of the Picard series into this, Picard’s later years are filled with regrets about personal relationships not fulfilled. He’s alone, with caretakers as companions. And the only times he looks genuinely happy are when he’s with Troi and Riker. People need to stop defining themselves as their jobs but rather by the people they surround themselves with and whom they care about.

@Knixon Mostly though, Riker didn't just want to command A Ship. He wanted to command the Enterprise.

And baking pizzas

His constant turning down commands did get to a point of ridiculousness, within the earliest seasons of TNG we already get the impression that he was at the end of his tenure as a commander, his obsession with Picard and the Enterprise did blind him to far more immediate and critical responsibilities.

Real reason for staying because the format of the show demands that he stay in the same place doing the same thing for seven seasons and four movies.

@AlienFanatic said:

Is life only about reaching the next rung? I always thought that Riker remained in place because he loved working with Picard, Troi, Laforge, Worf, Data and the rest more than he wished to command. Is it wrong to put personal relationships before career? If I were in the same position, knowing that life is about being with those you love as much as humanly possible, I’d have made the exact same decision. Never let others dictate your happiness.

If you bring the events of the Picard series into this, Picard’s later years are filled with regrets about personal relationships not fulfilled. He’s alone, with caretakers as companions. And the only times he looks genuinely happy are when he’s with Troi and Riker. People need to stop defining themselves as their jobs but rather by the people they surround themselves with and whom they care about.

Picard isolated himself deliberately, except supposedly at the end of the series; but it's quite possible he didn't continue with that. Riker would make friends wherever he was, including while commanding his own ship, whatever ship that was. It seemed pretty clear to me that Riker wanted to command the Enterprise, and nothing less would do. He didn't accept a different command until it became clear that Picard wasn't going to let go of the Enterprise for a good long time. Although it may have been that Riker's focus was Enterprise D, as we also saw in the series finale. He may not have had quite the same feelings towards the E.

yeah and when he is in command of Enterprise D he manages to get it Destroyed(Generations)

@Nexus71 said:

yeah and when he is in command of Enterprise D he manages to get it Destroyed(Generations)

His obsession with the ship did get to the point of putting people in danger like getting the ship destroyed where everyone could've been killed.

Especially if one realises that Riker would have known how to prevent Enterprise's destruction by rotating the shield frequencies which was something he himself came up with in Best Of Both Worlds

@Nexus71 said:

Especially if one realises that Riker would have known how to prevent Enterprise's destruction by rotating the shield frequencies which was something he himself came up with in Best Of Both Worlds

His stagnancy and lack of ambition was obviously causing problems like getting the Enterprise destroyed etc, frankly should've resulted with him being demoted or kicked out of Starfleet.

They could have - and perhaps should have - made it so that a single hit through the shields, was enough to cause significant damage. Or maybe they knocked out the shields - some of them, anyway - with that first shot.

But that's another problem too. Those ships always seemed way too fragile to make sense, especially since they did end up in combat situations on a fairly regular basis. It never seemed to take much to knock out primary power systems, etc.

@Invidia said:

RIKER was a COMMITMENT PHOBE.

He was IN LOVE with DEANNA, but couldn't settle down and make a COMMITMENT to her for several years.

Same situation with his JOB.

He was probably also AFRAID of making the CHOICE to have more RESPONSIBILITY, because he was also AFRAID that he wasn't MATURE enough or READY for it (the same way as he was also afraid of not being ready yet for marriage).

Problem about being afraid of the captaincy where were a lot of young up and coming officers in Starfleet and his refusing to be a captain was having a negative effect on them.

Which would explain that Riker now largely makes pizzas.

@MickyMac said:

@Invidia said:

RIKER was a COMMITMENT PHOBE.

He was IN LOVE with DEANNA, but couldn't settle down and make a COMMITMENT to her for several years.

Same situation with his JOB.

He was probably also AFRAID of making the CHOICE to have more RESPONSIBILITY, because he was also AFRAID that he wasn't MATURE enough or READY for it (the same way as he was also afraid of not being ready yet for marriage).

Problem about being afraid of the captaincy where were a lot of young up and coming officers in Starfleet and his refusing to be a captain was having a negative effect on them.

As I've said before, Riker didn't wan't to just be A captain of A ship. He wanted to be THE captain of THE Enterprise. Which he got to do occasionally during the run of the series, although Picard wound up coming back each time. But at some point Picard would retire or become an Admiral, and then Riker wanted to be in the first position to take over. That wouldn't be something that was likely to happen if he was off being captain of some other ship, especially if that ship was MONTHS away at top speed, which would have been the case if he had accepted the mission whose briefing he received from his father.

But I don't think Riker staying where he was, was responsible for other up-and-coming officers being held in place. Those other ships still got new captains, they just weren't Riker. And those other up-and-coming officers could have moved up by positions freed by the others who moved into the captaincy. The bigger problem, which I think is what Admiral Hanson said too, was that if Riker kept turning down commands, they would no longer be offered to him. Because those other up-and-coming officers would move ahead of him.

What's next articles about Chekov ,Sulu,Uhura and Scotty being creepy because they held a function for twenty years?Or an article that promoting Worf was a result of positive discrimination?

I have seen Chaos On The Bridge on numerous ocassions.But just because TNG got off on a rocky start doesn't mean STD or STP will have the longevity of TNG there the similarity ends