04-19-2020, 04:47 PM | #11 | |
Join Date: Sep 2007
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Re: [Star Trek like] number of planets and sapients
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There's something of a selection bias in that only some interesting stories get told, and "All out war, Federation vs the Squire's Parent's Nation's Army" wouldn't be very interesting, and neither would "Federation Orbital Bombardment of the Ming China Planet" (outside of the Mirror Universe version of the show. Sometimes such things even happen, but offscreen (Federation vs. the Borg). Then there's that annoying habit of advanced races all being evolved past the point of caring about silly wars, which takes out most of that half of the possible stories. But it's not true that everyone in the galaxy is at the same tech level. |
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04-19-2020, 04:56 PM | #12 | ||
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Jacksonville, AR
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Re: [Star Trek like] number of planets and sapients
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While I agree that our current data on exoplanets is limited, I'm inclined to use numbers proposed by astronomers as a base if Ii can. I'm basing these numbers on the estimate of "In November 2013, astronomers reported, based on Kepler space mission data, that there could be as many as 40 billion Earth-sized planets orbiting in the habitable zones of Sun-like stars and red dwarfs in the Milky Way, 11 billion of which may be orbiting Sun-like stars." Quote:
I'm not assuming that warp 6 is a commonly achieved speed until late in the setting. Do you have a reason for those specific extrapolations or do those numbers just feel better to you?
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Travis Foster |
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04-19-2020, 05:17 PM | #13 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: [Star Trek like] number of planets and sapients
These are numbers that would fit best with a Star Trek like space opera, large enough to be interesting and small enough not to be overwhelming. As for population growth, the past fifty years of our history has shown that, on average, human fertility drops as average wealth increases, to the point where every developed nation has negative population growth without immigration, so a warp capable society not expanding beyond a defensive perimeter would be quite possible. Women have better things to do than to just have babies and/or families require two incomes to maintain economic stability.
It is highly unlikely that a warp capable humanity would have high population growth after the influx of wealth from the Sol System. High levels of social support (universal health care, subsidized day care, direct payments to parents, etc.) may be enough to turn negative population growth into low population growth, but the majority of women will stop at two children. Since the minorities that embrace high population growth are the ones that would most likely leave to start up colonies and get eating by unfriendly creatures, their contribution would likely be negated. |
04-19-2020, 05:33 PM | #14 | |
Untagged
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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Re: [Star Trek like] number of planets and sapients
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And I did say major players, not everyone.
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Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check. |
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04-19-2020, 05:35 PM | #15 | |||
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Jacksonville, AR
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Re: [Star Trek like] number of planets and sapients
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Sure, and the farther away from Earth, the more speculative the data will be. I'm not so concerned with named stars as such, but things like the local bubble, nebulas, globular streams [there is one about 33o ly away], and other real features. Quote:
Do you have a link to that discussion? I searched for terraformable and didn't find anything. Quote:
That's what I'll end up doing if this approach doesn't work out. I'm sure that my players won't care either way: this is just for me.
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Travis Foster |
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04-19-2020, 05:38 PM | #16 | ||
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Jacksonville, AR
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Re: [Star Trek like] number of planets and sapients
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As has been pointed out, the ST universe is a dangerous place; although I'm toning down/eliminating a lot of the crazier stuff. Quote:
I don't think the players in my group will care about that.
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Travis Foster |
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04-19-2020, 05:50 PM | #17 | |||
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Jacksonville, AR
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Re: [Star Trek like] number of planets and sapients
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I was thinking about that but haven't done much with it. I would think that there would be a spectrum for that even if we are at one end of it. Quote:
Good point, I'm planning for a less gonzo weird galaxy on the whole. There are periodic disruptions of galactic life (somewhere in the vicinity of Mass Effect's Reapers and the Borg). Quote:
Plausible for the past civilizations.
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Travis Foster |
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04-19-2020, 05:52 PM | #18 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Jacksonville, AR
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Re: [Star Trek like] number of planets and sapients
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I'm considering having humanity's most common psi powers be luck/serendipity themed,
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Travis Foster |
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04-19-2020, 05:53 PM | #19 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Jacksonville, AR
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Re: [Star Trek like] number of planets and sapients
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Kind of like the Culture's GSV's? I like the idea.
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Travis Foster |
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04-19-2020, 05:56 PM | #20 | ||
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Jacksonville, AR
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Re: [Star Trek like] number of planets and sapients
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I'm undecided on the M-stars at the moment: they may have odd life. Quote:
That;s about the scales that I'm using for the series equivalent.
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Travis Foster |
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space opera, star trek |
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