3000 years back, still it look like the movies?

[Dezzi]

To those pointing to our own ancient history: Technology is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It begets itself. One tech leads to another, leads to another... If you look at the course of human development on a graph, you'll notice that it increases exponentially; as time moves forward, the rate at which new technologies develop increases.

 

This is why we can have 4,000 years of relative stagnation (a more trained eye sees there was plenty of technological development), and then go from hot air balloons to moon landings in the comparatively short span of 100 years.

 

The long and the short of it is this: EU writers love to do the next big "original" thing. They scour the SW timeline for gaps and then fill it with whatever nonsense they can imagine to sell a book. But if they deviate from the original formula too much, people are turned off and refuse to relate the new EU to the original IP.

 

This is why the Old Republic looks like the Republic, looks like the Empire.

 

As for an in-universe explanation as to why technology doesn't seem to evolve? I don't think we were ever given one.

Edited February 3, 2012 by Dezzi

[Quip]

The reason the stuff all looks the same is because if Bioware messed with the aesthetic even slightly there would be a massive class action suit filed against Bioware on behalf of grief stricken mothers. Mothers who had entered their son's basement "apartments" to discover their little bubala (38 years old) had expired from swallowing his own head out of Star Wars nerd rage.

 

Hell, they're playing a dangerous enough game by making characters with Light Sabres hit people more than once.

[run_hello]

From ancient Egypt all the way through the Renaissance, a total of over 4000 years, technology on earth didn't really change. Weapons were the same, technology was the same (or worse), travel was the same.

 

 

I would say that things have changed a hell of a lot from 2000 BC to today, a span of 4000 years.

[JustTed]

My take on this is the empire and republic don't want the technology to progress. The jedi order have a big advantage over the current technology and they don't want new technology to render them obsolete.

 

How exactly does one suppress all innovation, everywhere, done by anyone, in a galaxy?

 

Oh, that's right. That would be utterly impossible.

[chaconjc]

So we are 3000 years back. Still the world look like the new movies and Clone Wars series. Vehicles have not changed much, armour and weapons are the same. Even the clothing design is very close to Darth Vader! Trooper armour look like the ones in Clone wars series etc.

 

Did the world stop 3000 years back and only people got older? Didn't the weapon design change at all? They made one armour and then they said "lets use this one for over 3000 years now"... hello?

 

It's like our world would stop at 1920, same cars, cloths and so on. Walking around looking like Capone in 2012?

 

Maby it would have been better to stay 3 years from Clone wars in the story?

 

you are so right here....why in name of all that is holy is my Juggy not swinging a stick!!! I demand an answer because the movies had light sabers so why am I still doing this 3000 years before that....I want my stick!!!!

 

/sarcasmoff

[JustTed]

you are so right here....why in name of all that is holy is my Juggy not swinging a stick!!! I demand an answer because the movies had light sabers so why am I still doing this 3000 years before that....I want my stick!!!!

 

/sarcasmoff

 

You should look up the phrase "straw man."

[The_Butler]

I'm also surprised that no-ones mentioned the fact that KoToR 1 & 2 the tech was pretty much identical to the movies and the gap between the KotOR and SW:ToR is only a handful of years

 

It would have been impossible for any other design decision to have been made to make SW:ToR more primitive as to do so would have made it more primitive than tech that was known to exsist only a few years previously.

 

Besides this is just how SW works

 

It doesn't have to make sense.

 

Lets be honest light-sabres don't seem like the most practical of weapons with which to rule the galaxy with...

[JustTed]

It doesn't have to make sense.

 

Prequel fan?

[Blynks]

What I don't get is that the death star was viewed as the ultimate weapon for the empire in the movies. Yet in a few of the class storylines I've done there were already weapons 3000 years ago that could destroy entire planets.

 

Youd think in 3000 years they'd have already destroyed every single planet out there.

[TUXs]

Yes. It's so that players can relate to it, not to blow your mind with the lack of progress made in 3000 years.

[MasterKayote]

Its a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.

 

When society reaches a point where:

 

-we're traveling across the galaxy in a matter of days.

-has a galaxy wide democratic government.

-uses weapon systems based on lasers.

-seemingly unlimited fuel-less energy.

-people own starships as casually as we own boats.

-FINALLY finds a religion that actually has real world, viewable, and measurable effects.

 

... id think/hope thats basically as far as technology can possibly go. Only thing thats left would be a universal peace and prosperity for all life. However I doubt thatll ever truly happen in a universe based on death, destruction, and constant competition for survival.

[JustTed]

Yes. It's so that players can relate to it, not to blow your mind with the lack of progress made in 3000 years.

 

So... why not set the game, say, 300 years before the films instead of 3,000?

 

With Bioware's heavy, heavy emphasis on story, you'd think they'd hire some of those writer people.

[Mr_Crueak]

We're talking about a galaxy here though, not a singular planet. I find it hard to believe that in 3,000 years, hundreds of planets with different cultures and races couldn't figure out how to improve upon technology. I dunno, maybe I just think that civilizations should be able to progress in that time frame.

 

you may find that hard to believe, but that does not change the fact that it is possible to not advance technology in that time frame. What one believes does not mean is true.

[JustTed]

... id think/hope thats basically as far as technology can possibly go

 

They don't even have some of our technology. There's plenty of places for improvement.

Edited February 3, 2012 by JustTed

[Mr_Crueak]

I would say that things have changed a hell of a lot from 2000 BC to today, a span of 4000 years.

 

his point completely went over your head

[HavenAE]

So we are 3000 years back. Still the world look like the new movies and Clone Wars series. Vehicles have not changed much, armour and weapons are the same. Even the clothing design is very close to Darth Vader! Trooper armour look like the ones in Clone wars series etc.

 

Did the world stop 3000 years back and only people got older? Didn't the weapon design change at all? They made one armour and then they said "lets use this one for over 3000 years now"... hello?

 

It's like our world would stop at 1920, same cars, cloths and so on. Walking around looking like Capone in 2012?

 

Maby it would have been better to stay 3 years from Clone wars in the story?

 

Go find some youtube videos of Michio Kaku

 

He will tell you that there comes a point in a civilization where technology and culture slows down dramatically.

 

One example earlier in this thread about horse to cars then still cars is a good one.

 

 

Another would be computers. Computers actually started WW2 well before that really but this is where most people pinpoint the beginning.

 

For years computers went through a moderate period of evolution but them BOOM in the late 80's 90's they exploded and we saw processor speeds and storage space skyrocket, then 2000 hit and we really haven't seen that big of an improvement since, now we have multi-core processors and it's not odd to have a terabyte or more of space on a HDD but relatively for 10+ years computers haven't evolved much (yes it's still advancing but it has slowed down a lot by comparison). Because we're reaching our current limits.

 

Eventually computer technology will hit another breakthrough and we'll break the stagnation and see it explode in development again. But the subsequent stagnant period will be much longer and the cycle will repeat.

 

The civilization in Star Wars has ran this cycle possibly an infinite amount of times (I mean come on faster than light travel, plasma swords and shield generators) and it's obvious in a very long stagnant period beyond our comprehension.

 

Also times of prolonged war also actually cause advancements in tech to slow down, and currently we're in a coldwar state in the Old Republic so resources are being pumped into that. (But arguably should also be being pumped into tech advancements as well. Whcih is evident in the game as you quest..)

 

 

Anyway, beyond that I can only offer...

 

 

It's fiction?

 

Edit: On your Darth Vader example, you might also want to read a little lore behind his suit, which is stated to be an older model. It wasn't the cutting edge at the time.

Edited February 3, 2012 by HavenAE

[FuzzNasty]

A prime example would be this.

Look at your pants, how much has the design for pants changed in over 2000 years?

 

Most people didn't wear pants up until the past few hundred years.

[JustTed]

Go find some youtube videos of Michio Kaku

 

He will tell you that there comes a point in a civilization where technology and culture slows down dramatically.

 

Sure. As said as much. But that's probably well after people all have smart phones.

 

Does anyone have a smart phone in SWTOR? How many quests have you had to retrieve someone's "data" out in the field? All I can think about is "This schmuck doesn't have email on his personal holocommunicator?! Why is everyone's precious 'data' on a physical device that can't be transmitted and has to be carried around?"

 

Sure, there comes a point when technological progression slows, but it would have to be way, way past this point. My Corellian Defender is a lot less advanced than an F-22 from today.

 

And yeah, I know it's fiction. It would still be nice if it were believable fiction.

[al_giordino]

Well, hyperdrives have changed.. There's nothing in the movies that really looks like what we see with a planet popping up immediately.. I kind of was looking forward to the streaking of the stars for more than .5 seconds.

 

I think most of their technology was on a plateau though.... There has to come a point where it doesn't make sense to make a harder/stronger metal... or a more powerful laser beam etc etc. If nano bots can bring back the dead what else do you want from medical technology.. etc

 

You kind of have to suspend belief with most of this stuff because if you think too much about it, none of it makes sense. I mean look at the prequels already, where are their iPhones? Why does nobody have a chip in their eye that gives them a HUD? And their "holograms" are actually already possible today with 3+ projectors on a smoke/vapor emitter.

 

As a side note, there's no sound in space, so the lasers pew pewing etc are all not possible either.

Edited February 3, 2012 by al_giordino

[MasterKayote]

They don't even have some of our technology. There's plenty of places for improvement.

 

Like what? Video games? Well, maybe not Call of Duty but they had a pretty cool holographic board game in episode IV.

 

I suppose its a wonder why in 3000 years they havent invented "Full Color 1080p HD Holoprojectors" yet.

 

Only thing I can think of would be teleportation devices a'la Star Trek, but they might want to invent lawyers first ;-)

[JustTed]

Only thing I can think of would be teleportation devices a'la Star Trek, but they might want to invent lawyers first ;-)

 

See above. Seemingly, no one can transmit simple data.

 

Space combat with dogfights. This doesn't even happen in 2012 in the atmosphere. F-22 fighter jets shoot targets they can't even see because they're over the curve of the horizon.*

 

* - Yeah, this wouldn't be very dramatic to watch or play, and that's the real reason things are they way they are. It's about dramatic presentation, not story sense.

[NemoSD]

From ancient Egypt all the way through the Renaissance, a total of over 4000 years, technology on earth didn't really change. Weapons were the same, technology was the same (or worse), travel was the same.

 

Just because we're in a boom for the past century (a blink of the eye in comparison to the time human civilization has existed) doesn't mean that galaxy was in the middle of a similar boom. We made it far longer than 3000 years without any significant advances. It's not unheard of that an entire galaxy would do the same.

 

Also, this is a fantasy realm, not a sci fi realm. In Lord of the Rings, the world was more or less the same for thousands and thousands of years.

 

Lastly (and most importantly), even if you don't agree with any of that, gameplay and atmosphere trumps this. They wanted the game to feel like Star Wars to the players, and I'm glad they did. They wanted it to be familiar, yet new, which I think they accomplished wonderfully.

 

This is exactly right. Cultures advance based on need, and once technology covers all needs, slight and small improvements on existing elements continue. (To use the ancient to medieval- the sword changed materials it was made out of, and regional designs became mainstays, such as the curving Turkish blades, or the long, double edged strait blades of Northern Europe.)

 

Today, we have had a MASSIVE boom in technology thanks to the advent of Nuclear power, plastics, and and new metal alloys. This has changed the production at the core of all modern tools, and has changed how our tools and technology are built, which spurred the concept of miniaturization. We were looking more and more at machines, and getting the most out of them, so our need became make it smaller.

 

Which of course led to more developments like personal computers, and the entertainment factors as technologically advanced first world countries ran into more and more leisure time.

 

We are currently on the tail end of the boom... computer advancement has slowed, cars are peaking on the current technology, home design is stagnant, clothing design for men, in the exception of the increase in the polo shirt and t-shirt, has remained more or less then same since the 1860's. Suit jacket with tie (although the tie has changed.) Leisure clothing is where the change occurred, as well as the removal of the hat and vest. Women's clothing has seen a revolution, but it is now stagnating a bit, with new styles being styles from previous years being recycled.

 

To Star Wars, and anyone familiar with the lore, you can very quickly see the differences. In fact, as you learn on the Jedi Knight story, the time period the game is set in, the Republic is pioneering some of the stuff that is everyday in new hope era. The Dreadnoughts are smaller then a Victory Class Star Destroyer.

 

Star Wars is at a period where technology meets all the needs, they are just refining materials and efficiency.

[DarthKhaos]

Why is it that industrial productivity in europe decreased when western roman empire fell?

 

Why is it that it took over a thousand years before western europe was able to develop military technology that surpassed the military tech of the roman empire even though it's the same geographical location?

 

???????

Riveting stuff. Who needs the discovery channel!!!

[JustTed]

This is exactly right. Cultures advance based on need, and once technology covers all needs, slight and small improvements on existing elements continue.

 

Good gracious! This again?

 

Read the thread. Does this society look like its technology covers all need? Not even close. So why are people making this non-argument? It's not so much that it's false, but that it's self-evidently false based on even a cursory glace at the world.

 

Lordy!

[ptwonline]

The Egyptian reign of the Pharoahs lasted what, 4000 years? They did have some technological and cultural advances, but at the end of their time the culture looked very much like it did millenia earlier.

 

To a traveler from another world, looking at Capone and the 1920's in terms of clothing and the way society works would look almost unchanged to 2012. WE see differences, but to an untrained eye a lot of things would look very much the same.

 

A lot of things change as time goes by, but the basic form and function may not because:

 

a) it works

b) it may have some kind of infrastructure/support mechanism that prevents too much change

c) technological and cultural development have already evolved to a point where future changes will be more incremental, not revolutionary

 

For example, look at cars. Cars have changed dramatically technology wise since, say, the 1950's. But in basic design, form, and function they are virtually unchanged. Why? Because the human body is basically the same, the reasons we use cars is basically the same, and the roads are basically the same.

 

Anyway, the REAL answer is that there was an existing fictional Star Wars universe that has already been represented in movies, tv shows, art, etc and Bioware wanted to create a universe that looked and felt like it.

Edited February 3, 2012 by ptwonline