Alien Invasions

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by TGLS

Besides that, as it was mentioned before, machines running everything is boring.

Depends on the story you're trying to tell. I could see a novel/film/campaign where the whole purpose was seeking out excitement in a post-scarcity utopia.

Or imagine a game like Hong Kong Action Theatre! but with each adventure being a literal in-universe adventure set up for bored Eloi.

[David Johnston2]

The reasons why someone invades

1. Vikings. Vikings just show up in small numbers to raid and loot. They're here to steal our plutonium, or refined petrochemicals, or tobacco, or human or bovine DNA. They snatch and grab because it's easier than trading and safer than conquest. Either the locals can pose a threat if you give them a chance to mobilize everything they've got or there's an outside force that will intervene if you hang around. Or maybe they just don't like the climate.

2. Merchants. Merchants actually just wanted to trade. We have something they want, maybe bananas or spinal cords, and they can get huge amounts of it exchange for what they think of as trinkets. So they set up a trading outpost and things go smoothly for a time. But then politics happens. Terrorists attack them, or the local government destabilizes or a war breaks out and...suddenly...they have money in the game. Their representatives and their financial interests are being threatened and now it's time to call in their military or mercenaries to establish some order...

3. Imperialists. Imperialists are just looking to fill space in their map. They can move in and take over pretty easily, establishing a puppet government and paying for the expense of the operation by taxing their new subjects. They'll try to modernize their new acquisition a bit so it can pay more taxes.

4. Farmers. Ah...farmers are bad. They have no interest in us or the things we produce or can produce. They just happen to be pretty perfectly suited to live here (or will be once they fix things up a bit) and there aren't all that many places out there that fit that bill. So for them we're just the vermin that needed to be cleared away, exterminated, enslaved or at best confined to "reservations" set up on land they don't find of much value.

[Michele]

5. Travelers. They are not interested in us, the local resources, the territory. But because of their mode of traveling, they need a replenishment station, or a maintenance station, or some sort of waypoint. Maybe they use hyperspace, but accessing it requires "gates" and our star system is suitable for that.
So they set up their base, possibly not even on the planetary surface but in orbit or somewhere in the solar system, maybe on the Moon or another planet or on a stable orbit around the sun. They don't care about what we do in the interior, i.e. on Earth (or if the base is on Earth, in any place away from the base). But they will react strongly to any activity that is a potential threat, or even just a hassle, to their base; including, possibly, our own attempts at leaving the Earth's orbit. Or if the base is on Earth, any vehicular movement within, say, 1,000 miles from it, which is bothersome if they decided it was convenient for them to build the base in Kansas.

[Michele]

Originally Posted by TGLS

machines running everything is boring.

If they can actually run everything, they are AIs using machines, and sentient AIs can very probably have personalities. The bosses of Reign of Steel are different from each other.

[Daigoro]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

The reason that they chose Saturn is because the hyperspace exclusion zone for a Sol-mass star is 10 AU, meaning that any attack force would have to exit hyperspace around 0.5 AU from the military base.

Why can they only exit hyperspace near a planet? They could come out anywhere up to 20 AU away.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Michele

5. Travelers. They are not interested in us, the local resources, the territory. But because of their mode of traveling, they need a replenishment station, or a maintenance station, or some sort of waypoint. Maybe they use hyperspace, but accessing it requires "gates" and our star system is suitable for that.
So they set up their base, possibly not even on the planetary surface but in orbit or somewhere in the solar system, maybe on the Moon or another planet or on a stable orbit around the sun. They don't care about what we do in the interior, i.e. on Earth (or if the base is on Earth, in any place away from the base). But they will react strongly to any activity that is a potential threat, or even just a hassle, to their base; including, possibly, our own attempts at leaving the Earth's orbit. Or if the base is on Earth, any vehicular movement within, say, 1,000 miles from it, which is bothersome if they decided it was convenient for them to build the base in Kansas.

That gives them very little actual motivation to invade.

[Boomerang]

Originally Posted by TGLS

Remember to pack a towel.
--
Honestly, I'm more than inclined to believe that the singularity is just hype from people extrapolating over the last fifty years. Besides that, as it was mentioned before, machines running everything is boring.

Wash your mouth out with soap! Some of us like Gurps Reign of Steel (machines running everything) very much!

[Michele]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

That gives them very little actual motivation to invade.

For some meanings of "invade", yes. As mentioned, they won't be interested in the backwater areas of Earth, for instance, or in ruling us.

Nevertheless, it's the reason why the British set up shop in places like Gibraltar or Aden. They had strategic importance, but only for traveling to other places (or for preventing other powers from traveling too freely). The British were so totally uninterested in the hinterland of Aden that their military command there was, for a long time, a RAF command. Eventually and tellingly, that was briefly given over to the Army when the locals began being unruly. The solution, in the end, was granting independence.

As to Gibraltar, the British had no interested in submitting all of Spain, nor in any local resources of a place aptly named "the Rock", yet their presence there was repeatedly fought by the Spaniards. They obviously would have dearly wished to control the namesake strait themselves, but they could not for as long as the strategic position was in British hands.

Likewise, if there is a hyperspace gate just outside the asteroid belt, and the aliens have complete control over it and forbid us from using it... they are not invading Earth proper, but I can see a strong likelihood of conflict anyway.

[AlexanderHowl]

Originally Posted by Daigoro

Why can they only exit hyperspace near a planet? They could come out anywhere up to 20 AU away.

They do not necessarily need a planet, but why would you not put your base in orbit around Saturn? The gas giant possesses fuel for fusion reactors, its moons possess raw materials for industry, and it is the best view in the Sol system. Anywhere else near the hyperspace limit would be less efficient, as it would take more time to bring fuel and resources to the military base, plus it would lack the aesthetic appeal.

In addition, you can hide additional facilities within the atmosphere of Saturn and within the moons of Saturn. Saturn possesses dozens of small moons that could be used as discrete storage depots. Saturn's rings could also hide thousands of missile pods, which would throw ten of thousands of missiles at any invading force.

[Flyndaran]

While sensible from a hypothetical industrial position, "view" is going to rely heavily on psychology. Sure, Saturn's rings look pretty to us, but maybe they're not so big on giant circling clouds of icy dust.

They may strongly want to see the parent star a bit closer.