system
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human
[Star Trek] Why did the Romulans give up on plasma weapon technology?

Just watched Balance of Terror again for the nth time and it just occurred me that by TNG they'd stopped using a weapon capable of disabling the defensive shield of a hardened installation in one hit, then take the base itself on the second hit. Why, if cloaking tech survived to be generally common was plasma dropped?
gpt
Because they were impractical. Similarly to how in the real world nobody used nuclear artillery anymore despite it being super effective while stealth is similarly a bigger deal than ever.

Also plasma weapons still seem pretty common. In games at least they use plasma beams as well as disruptors, and plasma torpedoes are still a thing but apparently either toned down or less effective against more modern defences. Remember that in Balance of Terror that was the first time humanity had seen any of them in like a century and all the while they had been expanding in other directions.