Skeletons and Unaging

[GodBeastX]

Originally Posted by Kromm

Robots generally don't qualify for Unaging because they're not magical. They have to obey the laws of physics. They do wear down, break down, embrittle, and fail. How long does your average toaster last? How about a computer? Complex machines have lifespans as surely as living beings do; these just tend to result from the wear of use rather than from any kind of cellular clock.

I would say I disagree with this section except you used the qualifier "Generally". It's true devices have their life expectancy warranty, but the life of machines is directly proportionate to "How long until people don't want to repair/refit/replace" parts.

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by GodBeastX

I would say I disagree with this section except you used the qualifier "Generally". It's true devices have their life expectancy warranty, but the life of machines is directly proportionate to "How long until people don't want to repair/refit/replace" parts.

Eventually, circuits will burn out, too. Unless your robots can download their "brain" into a new body, their storage drives will give out some day.

[GodBeastX]

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

Eventually, circuits will burn out, too. Unless your robots can download their "brain" into a new body, their storage drives will give out some day.

And we don't duplicate harddisks and such today? Replace motherboards and processors? 3rd party manufacturers take over where main ones stop production?

My point is, it won't die out until something stops people from replacing parts. And unlike humans, any part can be replaced.

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by GodBeastX

And we don't duplicate harddisks and such today? Replace motherboards and processors? 3rd party manufacturers take over where main ones stop production?

My point is, it won't die out until something stops people from replacing parts. And unlike humans, any part can be replaced.

All of this is covered under the "Maintenance" disadvantage. The lack of Unaging simply points out that even just sitting in standby mode, they'll eventually fail. Those with Unaging are the type that "wake up" 2,000 years later, when some guy with a whip goes exploring a tomb.

[Kromm]

Robots don't have Unaging because of replacement parts for the same reason that humans don't have Unaging in ultra-tech settings where any body part can be cloned or simulated and surgically replaced: It isn't an intrinsic property of the character that wear doesn't occur. Rather, it's a property of the setting. If you take the future-person away from the medical tech – strand him on an alien world, imprison him without medical care, shift him to a timeline with TL3 medicine, put him in an apocalypse that wipes out his society, or similar – he ages like anybody else. Do something similar with a robot and it'll wear out and fall apart.

It's very important not to confuse setting parameters with personal ones . . . Outside of social traits, things you pay points for are meant to be portable between any and all settings. Being from a privileged setting is nice, but not worth points unless you can take it with you.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

All of this is covered under the "Maintenance" disadvantage. The lack of Unaging simply points out that even just sitting in standby mode, they'll eventually fail. Those with Unaging are the type that "wake up" 2,000 years later, when some guy with a whip goes exploring a tomb.

That would fall under hibernation. Just because it's easier to store a robot long term than a human in "cryosleep" or whatever is one of the many machine features in my opinion.
I consider aging to first require a character be alive or at least active in some sense of the word if not always metabolically.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

That would fall under hibernation. Just because it's easier to store a robot long term than a human in "cryosleep" or whatever is one of the many machine features in my opinion.
I consider aging to first require a character be alive or at least active in some sense of the word if not always metabolically.

Yeah, the ability to persist de-animate is probably not best represented as Unaging.

WALL-E, on the other hand, seems to be pretty Unaging. Active 700 years and in working condition.

(Admittedly with parts replacement, but the fact that that is self-administered seems to warrant Unaging, perhaps with a Limitation for needing access to materials.)

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

Yeah, the ability to persist de-animate is probably not best represented as Unaging.

WALL-E, on the other hand, seems to be pretty Unaging. Active 700 years and in working condition.

(Admittedly with parts replacement, but the fact that that is self-administered seems to warrant Unaging, perhaps with a Limitation for needing access to materials.)

He was the last out of maybe thousands, millions or more. He was just the one that critically succeeded on every aging roll. Technically possible.
Makes him quite the cradle robber.

Materials replacement is pretty much equivalent to the general TL bonus for aging rolls, I would think.

[GodBeastX]

Originally Posted by Kromm

Robots don't have Unaging because of replacement parts for the same reason that humans don't have Unaging in ultra-tech settings where any body part can be cloned or simulated and surgically replaced: It isn't an intrinsic property of the character that wear doesn't occur. Rather, it's a property of the setting. If you take the future-person away from the medical tech – strand him on an alien world, imprison him without medical care, shift him to a timeline with TL3 medicine, put him in an apocalypse that wipes out his society, or similar – he ages like anybody else. Do something similar with a robot and it'll wear out and fall apart.

It's very important not to confuse setting parameters with personal ones . . . Outside of social traits, things you pay points for are meant to be portable between any and all settings. Being from a privileged setting is nice, but not worth points unless you can take it with you.

I get you now, that makes more sense.

[The Colonel]

If you're looking for a setting where electronic goods (and pretty much everything else) seems to have unaging, try the Fallout universe - except where the plot requires, robots over two hundred years old can spring to life in an instant and computer terminals are still functional after the same time period unless someone has trashed them. The preserved food on the other hand ... well, the tinned food that was lost when the Betrand went down in 1865 was tested and found safe to eat in 1974, so another two centuries of packaging might just double storage life.