Re: [OFFICIAL] Colony lists? (was:Re: Locations of Stars etc.)

Ground Zero Games wrote:

> This is very useful stuff, but I'd like to pose a couple of questions
to
> everyone on the list who is interested - responses to this may help
shape
> the way we write up the background material in future.

I was just telling someone how good a relationship GZG has with it's
fans.  :)  

> 1) What do we want? ("We" being the list membership, as a particularly
> enthusiastic cross-section of FT/DS/SG players). A star map/colony
list
> that is as close to known astronomical data as possible, or one that
> applies a bit of artistic licence (as most SF authors do) and allows
there
> to be planets wherever they best suit the storyline? If the latter, do
we
> stick to "real" stars only, or make the whole thing up once we get
past a
> few LY out?

I do prefer that any official lists stick as close to known stars as
possible.
 
> 2) Of those people who use the "official" background, or a minor
> modification of it (on the assumption that those who hate the
background

Does adding an extra major power count as 'minor'?  <All-time dream
fantasy> You want to add it to the background? </fantasy> just joking,
not gonna stick you in position of saying "You're a Loony!"  :>

> won't be interested in all this anyway!), do you actually WANT to see
it
> defined in this sort of detail, or left loose (as we have done so far)
to
> allow more freedom to come up with your own colonies, campaigns etc.?
Would

I've got all the major colonies I want listed.	I'm not listing smaller
colonies incapable of raising a military force--those wouldn't be
classified as themes, but colonies.  I'm leaving those undefined
deliberately.

> you want to see detail of specific events/places in the timeline, and
> exhaustive lists of whose settlements are on which worlds etc.? This
sort

To a certain extent.  Perhaps listing all the 'major' settlements, with
room for minor settlements.  Someone suggested, as an example "5 major
settlements, 3 of which are NAC provinces".  I like this style since it
leaves room for player definition, but also adds substance to the "Real"
GZG-verse.

> Inner Colonies: (out to about 25ly from Sol)

>	  Procyon (F5V)

I call dibs on Procyon as New Constantinople!  :)

> warship being able to halve that - so a "slow" freighter would do Sol
to
> Centaurus in around 10 days, Barnard in 12, Ross 154 in 16; to an
Outworld
> at 50LY would take around 56 days if the ship had the endurance to
keep up

Someone with more knowledge please enlighten:  This is equivelant to the
trip from Europe to (picking a place at random) Indonesia at what
technology levels?  Are we looking at a Napoleonic-era style of
communications and travel from the core to the fringe?

John M. Atkinson