Which doesn’t line up with anything that Starfleet stands for. Either they’re going cloaked literally all the time and never contacting any outside races, which is antithetical to everything that the United Federation of Planets does, or you’re only using it in hotzones that Starfleet actively tries to avoid in the first place. But you’re also forgetting about the major risk of running cloaked. If someone does detect you, your intentions are going to seem immediately suspect. You’re not going to come off like some noble, space-faring organization that strives for the best in everyone if you’re hiding from people and spying on them before revealing yourself.
Avoiding combat is a lot easier when you’re undetected.
Which doesn’t line up with anything that Starfleet stands for. Either they’re going cloaked literally all the time and never contacting any outside races, which is antithetical to everything that the United Federation of Planets does, or you’re only using it in hotzones that Starfleet actively tries to avoid in the first place. But you’re also forgetting about the major risk of running cloaked. If someone does detect you, your intentions are going to seem immediately suspect. You’re not going to come off like some noble, space-faring organization that strives for the best in everyone if you’re hiding from people and spying on them before revealing yourself.
So is combat