Are jump gates a good idea?

[amadeus1171]

No, jump gates are unrealistic and therefore will never be invented. If anything, then maybe a wormhole.

Actually, they're very realistic. LIGO showed us that space can be warped, though it required two revolving black holes to create observable waves.

Jump gates would require an extreme amount of continuous power to keep them open. Power from perhaps a Dyson Sphere around an O, B, or A type star.

 

[Rafe Zetter]

How about gates being a minimum of 1kly tunnel? That will reduce their frequency of use because unless you're out in the black, most star to star travel are short hops.

I said that elsewhere - large jumps and limited to specific destinations.

Actually, they're very realistic. LIGO showed us that space can be warped, though it required two revolving black holes to create observable waves.

Jump gates would require an extreme amount of continuous power to keep them open. Power from perhaps a Dyson Sphere around an O, B, or A type star.

IKR?

It's sad to see people playing a space game with no understanding of modern theories regarding space and travel, next they will be saying electricity is "magic" and spouting words like "heresy", which is so 13th century.

Jump gates don't need to be held open continuously, at least not in a normal sense - think "standby" for your tv, they just need to keep a link to the exit point to stop it collapsing, nothing more than a golfball sized wormhole, and when a ship needs to pass, ramp it up and enlarge the entrance like an iris.

voila.

Next customer!

 

[Old Duck]

As an explorer, I always thought it would be cool if we could "enter" a black hole using some sort of trickery (like attempting to jump to hyperspace within a certain distance of the BH) and it would kick us out at some other random black hole in the galaxy. Each time you do this it would damage your ship, kinda like a neutron star, but the key is it would be uncontrollable RANDOM "fast-travel."

Meaning, only the craziest of explorers (raises hand) would use it. It's kinda the equivalent of throwing a dart blindfolded at a map to chose a random destination. I would love to be randomly dropped off in some distance part of the galaxy and have to make my way back

Like Jaques Station!

 

[Shaamaan]

I'm all for creating a "highway" route of gates, if you ask me. These should be fixed from-to type things.

But than again, I'm a huge proponent of having a "warp to star" option, so that we don't need to travel 15-20 minutes in some systems doing absolutely NOTHING, and that gets people all riled up, so...

 

[Para Handy]

...so that we don't need to travel 15-20 minutes in some systems doing absolutely NOTHING, .........

You don't NEED to, you choose to either from ignorance or greed.

 

[babelfisch]

Short answer is yes, they’re a good idea, but no, we won’t ever get them because the sense-of-scale zealots will throw a biowaste-fit.

To me that argument is kind of invalid since people have access to +60 ly FSDs. If that didn't destroy their sense of scale, why should jumpgates?

 

[babelfisch]

On the one Hand I like the idea of jump gates as a sci fi nerd.

On the other hand do I question the economical viability.
Take a jump gate to Colonia for example. Nowadays you can reach Colonia in under 4 hours utilizing a 70Ly ship and Neutron boosts. That's half of what a truck driver in Germany is allowed to work a day.
So the distance isn't that far any more. Granted, for a fully laden T9 it would propably take much longer, but it is not comparable to say the journey of Columbus to America, more like a Trucker one week on the road.

So no real need to invest trillions for jump gates.

I think you can travel from one end of Skyrim to the other in less than 4 hours and yet the game offers fast travel options. Not necessarily an argument for jump gates, I am not sure yet if I want them ingame.

 

[Old Duck]

To me that argument is kind of invalid since people have access to +60 ly FSDs. If that didn't destroy their sense of scale, why should jumpgates?

I'm seeing that 80LY is the new 60LY.... I actually think that bothers me more than the idea of jump gates.

I miss the good o'l days when it took 70 years to cross the galaxy at maximum warp. Now it can be done in 70 hours

 

[babelfisch]

I'm seeing that 80LY is the new 60LY.... I actually think that bothers me more than the idea of jump gates.

I miss the good o'l days when it took 70 years to cross the galaxy at maximum warp. Now it can be done in 70 hours

Well at least you are consistent with your fear of a destroyed sense of scale. I respect that.

 

[Old Duck]

Well at least you are consistent with your fear of a destroyed sense of scale. I respect that.

For the record, I'd be perfectly fine with, heck I'd even like a jump gate (or wormhole like DS9) between the Bubble and Colonia. One is all we need, however.

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

Well at least you are consistent with your fear of a destroyed sense of scale. I respect that.

I too am concerned by the ever increasing jump ranges, particularly when coupled with neutron star boosting. For me it has the effect of making all regions of the galaxy the same (except for the very outer rim). It used to be that some areas difficult to cross, even in a dedicated exploration ship (eg Formidine Rift). With 80LY jump ranges then you're flying in a straight line generated by the route plotter, rather than having to actually discover a route.

Jump gates I'd consider to be an even worse idea, since they remove any penalties for long jump range (eg stripped down builds, damage from neutron stars).

 

[babelfisch]

I too am concerned by the ever increasing jump ranges, particularly when coupled with neutron star boosting. For me it has the effect of making all regions of the galaxy the same (except for the very outer rim). It used to be that some areas difficult to cross, even in a dedicated exploration ship (eg Formidine Rift). With 80LY jump ranges then you're flying in a straight line generated by the route plotter, rather than having to actually discover a route.

Jump gates I'd consider to be an even worse idea, since they remove any penalties for long jump range (eg stripped down builds, damage from neutron stars).

I'd say jump gates could be OK in a very limited way. They would only take you to a few established places and require several community goals to build. It would feel strange to get faster to Colonia than it takes to reach Hutton Orbital though.

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

I'd say jump gates could be OK in a very limited way. They would only take you to a few established places and require several community goals to build. It would feel strange to get faster to Colonia than it takes to reach Hutton Orbital though.

That would probably be okay initially, but it would just open the floodgates for more demands for jump gates all over the galaxy.
Slippery-slope argument, sure, but it happens with all features whenever they're added.

 

[babelfisch]

That would probably be okay initially, but it would just open the floodgates for more demands for jump gates all over the galaxy.
Slippery-slope argument, sure, but it happens with all features whenever they're added.

Yes, just like increased jump range or credits.

 

[GTwannabe]

A dockable megaship that travels between the bubble and Colonia on a regular schedule would help.

 

[Morbad]

To me that argument is kind of invalid since people have access to +60 ly FSDs. If that didn't destroy their sense of scale, why should jumpgates?

Extreme jump ranges and casual tourist trips out 20-30k ly definitely harmed my sense of scale. Jump gates would be another cut.

I think you can travel from one end of Skyrim to the other in less than 4 hours and yet the game offers fast travel options.

4 hours? More like four minutes with a fast character.

Anyway, Skyrim is my least favorite Elder Scrolls game, with Oblivion being a close second. Scale is a significant (though hardly the most important) factor in this. Arena and Daggerfall were 1:1 with 'reality' and despite not ageing particularly well, the sense of scale is still impressive. Morrowind was tiny, but made up for that in other ways.

For the record, I'd be perfectly fine with, heck I'd even like a jump gate (or wormhole like DS9) between the Bubble and Colonia. One is all we need, however.

I'd rather have a trip to Colonia be essentially one way, with a fair number of those attempting it being forced to turn back or lose their ships.

At least as significant as a trip to the Americas or China, from Europe, in the early 16th century.

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

At least as significant as a trip to the Americas or China, from Europe, in the early 16th century.

A permit for Colonia OR a permit for the Bubble - you can't have both.
Or sacrifice Fed/Imp/All rank and reputation if you emigrate.

#Make Colonia great again!