Star Wars tech never changes?

[Devin_Ellenwood]

The SW universe covers literally thousands of years, but things like hyperspace travel, weapons, etc never seem to change except in outward appearance.

 

On Earth, Dr. Theodore Maiman created the first functional laser in 1960. It was less that 10 watts in strength. Now, a mere 55 years later, we have a record setting laser that hit two petawatts.

 

In the SW universe, however, technology doesn't seem to change at all. Why do you think this is?

[Silenceo]

Technological Plateau

 

There are notable increases here and there, but for the most part they have hit a 'wall' so to speak

 

A few things that are major improvements in SWTOR:

 

- Self-repairing metal

- Silencer

- Stealth Tech

- Isotope 5

 

Though, if you look at the Galactic Empire in the OT, there are MAJOR tech improvements:

 

- 20+ super weapons within as many years

- Reactor strength's vastly increased *ISD is about x2 as strong reactor was as a Venator, its predecessor)

- Personal Shielding (Before it had radiation issues, but some were solved)

- Biotech to target specific sentient species only

- Molecular Forge

 

 

There is MUCH more tech advancement than people give SW credit for, it is merely that there are large periods were they are simply unable to improve it due to how advanced it is. But then, there is usually a generation or two of ingenious inventors which push the galaxies tech forward.

 

Then it is advanced again in the Legacy Era, about 100 years after Endor:

 

- Ship systems are much stronger

- Radically different design concepts

- Some ISD sized ships were said to be as strong as SSD of old

- Starfighters outclass completely those of previous times

 

 

In SW it is less of looking at the day to day, but rather the era's. Each Era experienced quite a bit of tech advancement. Like a technological boom if you will. Heck, the Republic is a large reason which tech was so stagnant, and with the Galactic Empire, they drove tech forward so much in just a short span of time.

[raandomname]

The thing is that after the events of SWTOR there was a period of peace that was almost uninterrupted for milenia and during this time military technology stagnated or even deteriorated, because it simply wasnt needed just look at the TPM-era Republic, it didnt even have any sort of standing military. However when galactic scale conflict re-erupted there was rapid advance in military technology, just look at the difference between Clone Wars-era and Galactic Civil War tech.

However, that still doesnt give any sort of explanation in civilian technology where there really isnt any advancement at all.

[MadDutchman]

A lot of this can be explained away with Dark Ages

 

Just like the technology of Rome was largely lost after it's collapse, same with the SW universe. Consider how much technology will be lost when the US collapses? (it'll happen eventually, nothing lasts forever).

 

Also, a lot of this appearance also comes from the fact we only really see military technology, civilian stuff is rarely explored. Military technology tends to go in leaps and bounds, and not always forwards, and because nations keep advanced stuff secret, it is easy to lose.

 

Another thing to consider is that due to the high level of technology, only a few places in the galaxy are likely equipped to push the frontier due to the extreme cost of having the specialized equipment and personnel. Consider RL, most of the cutting edge advancement we see now happens in the universities, big research labs and whatever stuff the various militaries cook up that we don't know about. And this technology often doesn't spread fast to places that have no need for it. You tell someone from a poor third world village that you created a new superconductor by coating graphene with lithium atoms, they'll probably look at you funny and ask "How does that feed my family?" It's just not important, and there aren't thousands of light years between the centers of research and them.

 

It's easy for us to see the "stagnation" and to wonder about it because we are so accustomed to our own society advancing at a breakneck pace, where if you look at most of the world, there is actually very little technological advancement/adoption.

[Wolfninjajedi]

Technological Plateau

 

There are notable increases here and there, but for the most part they have hit a 'wall' so to speak

 

A few things that are major improvements in SWTOR:

 

- Self-repairing metal

- Silencer

- Stealth Tech

- Isotope 5

 

Though, if you look at the Galactic Empire in the OT, there are MAJOR tech improvements:

 

- 20+ super weapons within as many years

- Reactor strength's vastly increased *ISD is about x2 as strong reactor was as a Venator, its predecessor)

- Personal Shielding (Before it had radiation issues, but some were solved)

- Biotech to target specific sentient species only

- Molecular Forge

 

 

There is MUCH more tech advancement than people give SW credit for, it is merely that there are large periods were they are simply unable to improve it due to how advanced it is. But then, there is usually a generation or two of ingenious inventors which push the galaxies tech forward.

 

Then it is advanced again in the Legacy Era, about 100 years after Endor:

 

- Ship systems are much stronger

- Radically different design concepts

- Some ISD sized ships were said to be as strong as SSD of old

- Starfighters outclass completely those of previous times

 

 

In SW it is less of looking at the day to day, but rather the era's. Each Era experienced quite a bit of tech advancement. Like a technological boom if you will. Heck, the Republic is a large reason which tech was so stagnant, and with the Galactic Empire, they drove tech forward so much in just a short span of time.

 

Literally the only answer.

[Leklor]

Answer is simple: According to a lot of EU material, even as soon as SWTOR, pretty much every major scientific discovery had been made.

From that point forward, the only changes were tweaks and minor improvements over the course of centuries or millenias.

[Shayddow]

<<pretty much every major scientific discovery had been made.>>

What about in the field of AI?

In terms of a society totally run by droids, it doesn't seem to exist. One sort of tries in the FP "Directive 7", but loses to the organics.

A totally machine-run society on the scale of what you see in Star Trek <the first movie> doesn't seem to be encountered.

 

And droids in the OT are still considered property. <hence had to wait outside Mos Eisley cantina>

[BrianDavion]

 

On Earth, Dr. Theodore Maiman created the first functional laser in 1960. It was less that 10 watts in strength. Now, a mere 55 years later, we have a record setting laser that hit two petawatts.

 

sure, but woul;d someone from the 16th century have any clue what was more advanced just by looking at em in use?

 

are the weapons in SWTOR just as advanced as the ones in the OT, or are the weapons more powerful but being met by defensive power.

 

Look at the Wildcat fighter, compared with the Hellcat fighter, they both look similer. but the Hellcat is much better, the things that make it better however, are "under the hood"

[ShadowMudkip]

If you are familiar with the Halo series, there was a race that had developed technology to the point where it became redundant. Basically they had transcended the need for technology and became primordial deities.

 

In the same way, Star Wars might have reached its technology redundancy, as the only real developments are in certain niche areas and military science; both of which are used to further plot. The SW universe could very well develop further, as there are precedents for more advanced societies. The Columi, Gree, Kwa, and Taung were all advanced even more so. Finally, the Celestials are the epitome of tech advancement in the SW universe. In order for there to be a significant advancement in general technology, there needs to be a major discovery of some sort.

[Spetulhu]

Technology does move on in the Star Wars galaxy, but it does so slowly. They already have Hyperspace Travel that in theory allows them to traverse their galaxy in a week (sure, it would be slower because they don't have mapped routes) but discovering something that allows travelt to a different galaxy is harder. For some reason.

 

A friend's little sister lent me some Han Solo EU books that shed some light on it. There was a great hunt for the treasure of this or that dictator's treasure, and in the end it was revealed to be blaster focusing crystals. A hoard of what was the best blaster focusing crystals in his era - and completely worthless when Solo found them. The galaxy at large had long ago started using something better, and probably cheaper. And ofc, it's not like the guns of that era were even working quite like Episode IV blasters, but they were called blasters just the same.

 

As explained in old SW tech books most people have no idea what makes a piece of equipment work. They buy it to do something and the tech guy in the spaceport can fix it if it breaks down. FFS, Uncle Owen needed a protocol/translator droid to even diagnose his moisture capture equipment!

[DarthDymond]

A lot of these have been said already, but this is my standard reply whenever the question comes up of "why is technology in SWTOR so similar to technology in the movies, if it's set thousands of years earlier?"

[...]the real reason that technology looks the same is that, as a Star Wars game, they want it to have a strong Star Wars "feel" and a lot of that comes from the design and aesthetics.

 

If you check out the old Tales of the Jedi comics, many of which are set about 40 years before the first Knights of the Old Republic game, you'll see an attempt to make the universe look like it is set thousands of years prior to the movies. That aesthetic got... mixed reviews to put it kindly, and BioWare (starting with KOTOR) made the conscious decision to go for a more traditional Star Wars look, even though it was set in that same era. That design decision has carried on through to TOR.

 

Even with that as the actual reason, there are a few in-universe justifications for why it would be that way, the three I like best:

 

1) Technology is measured against itself - what constitutes a powerful blaster is measured against how powerful the available shields are. What count's a fast ship is measured against what the average ship speed is. Put a New Hope era Star Destroyer up against a TOR era Harrower Dreadnaught and the Star Destroyer could take it out the Dreadnaught in a single volley while the Harrower's blasters would hardly affect the Star Destroyer's shields at all. Ignoring how similar the aesthetics are in Star Wars, you could compare it to a real-world match-up between a 1400s Chinese Treasure Ship (purported 450ft long) to a modern Daring-class Destroyer (500 ft long).

 

2) Technological Plateau - until the younger races happen to figure out something akin to Rakata Teleporters, there just isn't anywhere else for tech to go, and that takes a quantum leap in development which just hasn't happened.

 

3) Dark Ages - A Republic Dark Age is part of the (Legends) continuity, and while I don't think any sources have gone into depth over what technological knowledge was lost or stagnated, it and other similar Dark Ages could account for a lack of progress.

[raandomname]

A lot of these have been said already, but this is my standard reply whenever the question comes up of "why is technology in SWTOR so similar to technology in the movies, if it's set thousands of years earlier?"

Great points.

[Aeneas_Falco]

Answer is simple: According to a lot of EU material, even as soon as SWTOR, pretty much every major scientific discovery had been made.

From that point forward, the only changes were tweaks and minor improvements over the course of centuries or millenias.

 

Pretty much this.

 

The Star Wars universe is mostly set during an era when the galaxy is near the peak of what is technologically possible. There's no where to go but back down when you're at the top, basically. Advances do happen of course from the Old Republic to the Original Trilogy or NJO era, but they aren't going to be massive leaps forward.

Edited September 23, 2015 by Aeneas_Falco

[SanjayaP]

There was a dark age stage, set between the TOR timeline & The battle of Russan. The Kinght Errant books showed how things were because somewhere down the line the sith pull off a big win , republic lockdown what they can & go into isolation - tech goes downhill fast.

 

**However with the new SW lore this has all been disregarded

[Onerats]

The reason tech doesn't seem to change is because the thousands of years time period was assigned randomly and designed to give redoculus gaps in the story to avoid one piece catching up to another or causing problems in another. Thus, the universe has been static for thousands of years between the old Republic and its fall.

[DNGDangerous]

Pretty sure the death star is a technological advancement...

[Wolfninjajedi]

Pretty sure the death star is a technological advancement...

 

Along with the Super Star Destroyer, among other things the GE created.

 

You also have Bacta which replaced Kolto

 

Protocol Droids becoming more advanced

 

R2 series of droids and successors

 

So on, so forth.

 

General Grevious could also be considered a technological advancement in some respects.

 

There are small things here and there, just not big that the average person would notice unless one actually looked.

 

I point back to Silenceo's post on page 1.

Edited September 23, 2015 by Wolfninjajedi

[psandak]

[...]the real reason that technology looks the same is that, as a Star Wars game, they want it to have a strong Star Wars "feel" and a lot of that comes from the design and aesthetics.

 

If you check out the old Tales of the Jedi comics, many of which are set about 40 years before the first Knights of the Old Republic game, you'll see an attempt to make the universe look like it is set thousands of years prior to the movies. That aesthetic got... mixed reviews to put it kindly, and BioWare (starting with KOTOR) made the conscious decision to go for a more traditional Star Wars look, even though it was set in that same era. That design decision has carried on through to TOR.

 

This is the real reason. For SWTOR to be a Star Wars game BW NEEDED the game to look like Star Wars; They needed the triangular capital ships and solar paneled fighters to be the bad guys; They needed the more hodgepodge curvy capital ships and the "winged" fighters to be the good guys; they even went so far as to name the smuggler's craft an XS Freighter (the Millennium Falcon is a YT1900 Freighter).

 

Everything else is justification: the population sees all these "non-changes" makes the various claims already stated in this thread to justify the ancient aesthetics that have not changed in 3000+ years.

[bigray]

GL took a stab at it once by saying that the galaxy was so advanced that tech improvements only came in small increments going forward; hyperspace travel was the peak of technology. I've also seen it described as hyperspace travel effectively making the galaxy smaller; poorer and less advanced civilizations were lifted up, while the most advanced tended to slow down their advancements due to integration with other societies and of course space taxes. Because as you know, taxes stifle innovation.

[RaiderMid]

SWTOR needs better tailors, the tech is good to go. As far as the tech, SW was never really tech oriented like that as say like Star Trek. It just wasn't.

[PallyHk]

This is the real reason. For SWTOR to be a Star Wars game BW NEEDED the game to look like Star Wars; They needed the triangular capital ships and solar paneled fighters to be the bad guys; They needed the more hodgepodge curvy capital ships and the "winged" fighters to be the good guys; they even went so far as to name the smuggler's craft an XS Freighter (the Millennium Falcon is a YT1900 Freighter).

 

Everything else is justification: the population sees all these "non-changes" makes the various claims already stated in this thread to justify the ancient aesthetics that have not changed in 3000+ years.

 

This I feel is true for the whole franchise. Most SW material has to look like the films.

 

SWTOR needs better tailors, the tech is good to go. As far as the tech, SW was never really tech oriented like that as say like Star Trek. It just wasn't.

 

This is another factor. Star Wars has always been about the "story" and the "characters" and not the "tech" . This is not a problem. Star Trek focuses on tech and ethics, Star wars on story and characters, Warhammer on combat and gore. Star Wars has its focuses, and tech is just not one of them, and it is fine as it is.

 

As far as tech development goes, it is safe to assume that small increments happen. Like a Venator is just a stronger, better Harrower. And an ISD is just a stronger, better Venator.

The basic technology stays the same so that people who have seen the movies are familiar with it and you don't have to explain the changes in technology every time a story takes place a few hundred years before or after the movies.

This is a good decision because it makes it easier for people to "digest" new material. They aren't weighted down by a lot of totally new technology, plus that way the "giant super weapon of DOOM!" tech stands out.

Edited October 2, 2015 by PallyHk