Re: [OFFICIAL] Some FT background stuff (guidelines for writers) - LONG POST!

>> travel without developing FTL comms. It's like having invented a
>> teleporter
>> but yet not invented a Fax machine or radio.
>Why not? That's excactly how cultures and Empires developed here on
>earth. Communication develop at the speed of transportation. (sailing
>ship, horse etc etc.) I guess if you are proposing that FTL commo is no
>faster than FTL travel,I'd agree with you. (that means message bouys
>couriers etc). However if you are talking instantaneous commo, then
>maybe that's a tech level above current NSLNAC blah blah capabilities.
It's still wierd (to me). Any form of FTL is *probably* going to be down
to
som equantum mechanical fudge or other taken macroscale, and I can't see
how it would be easier to 'fool' physics for something the size of an
aircraft carrier (or bigger) rather than, say, a pulsed EM beam. This is
all conjecture on my part admittedly. But I just feel that the analogy
with
sail doesn't apply - we DID have Comms that was much faster than
carrying a
message pre-sail (semaphore, smoke signals, anything), what we didn't
have
was beyond line of sight communications. I don't think that distinction
is
really applicable in a stellar context.

>Or how about this for a comprimise. Messages are realyed by fixed commo
>relay sites at Jump points. The messsage itself is a physical object
>like a bouy or container, that is relayed from point to point by a
>series of jumps. Being non organic, the bouy can be "jumped" as quickly
>as a relay shuttle is ready to send it.
>
>While this doesn't give you instantaneous comms it does give you FTL
>comms faster than normal FTYL transit and is in line with current
>technology. Also relay stations then become things to fight over and
>interdict.
I believe in B5 they do do an instant-period comms via jump-points.
Again,
from what I can discern, the 'points' into hyperspace are always there,
but
are stretched wide enough for ships to go through by the jumpgates.

I dare say you could come up with a PSB explanation of why you have FTL
travel but not comms, but I think you'd have to work harder than the
other
way around.

			TFN
				Jon
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