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I like the non-instant communication. If a message travels at 100 lyrs/hr, then it can go from Earth to Alpha Centauri in 2.5 minutes. That's not bad...

So talking within your "neighbourhood" is OK, but talking across the Galaxy... that takes a while.

gadrin wrote:

Braden, GMPhD wrote:I like the non-instant communication. If a message travels at 100 lyrs/hr, then it can go from Earth to Alpha Centauri in 2.5 minutes. That's not bad...

So talking within your "neighbourhood" is OK, but talking across the Galaxy... that takes a while.

well this isn't in every home on every planet.

large FTL comm mega-corps make a bundle making this happen. In the sector of space I call home (Hourglass Nebula) there are two companies that provide FTL comm for the 150x150 LY sector. They don't reach all the planets. It's a FTL internet provider.

actually there's a 3rd, called Naruni Enterprises. They don't like to be 2.5 minutes behind in anything, so they have their own FTL comm system which they hoard all to themselves. In some remote areas they're forced to piggy-back off CCW or local nets, or simply "go without".

yes, this would be great.

but the time and distance involved is a huge part of the setting. I don't want to see that taken away.

it's better with little to no communication.

i like the idea that you don't have FTL comm.

it means planets have to be much more self sufficent, and that civilian starships are much more important. think of it as a pony express message system.

when a ship arrives in system for trade, it also picks up a bundle of messages (be they digital or physical) to delever to the next system on their trade route. there, the messages are deleivered, and either routed to the next system, or set to the recipient.

for important messages (like military alerts or the like), the goverment agency on planet is likey to have a 'courier', a small fighter sized ship designed to travel fast in FTL and in realspace. it might be a drone, or it might be manned, either one works. in an emergency, this ship would be sent to the regional goverment/military center with urgent or time specific news, where it will be processed and acted on. if they need higher orders, the process repeats, only the regional center contacts the sector center, ect.

the couriers would be very common, at least one per planet, and would also be used to move secure messages around. few planets would ever be without at least one courier available.

Personally I like the DMB3's solution of FTL communication
going with about 100 LY/h.

It is roughly the delay of e-mails for neighboring planets,
and star systems but still requires vast networks and/or
courier ships.

Of course, the UWW and the Splugorth have their instant,
magical communication, but that (ie. Ley-Line transmission
for example) is not very good in transmitting huge loads
of data.
(By the way, Noro psys might have something similar).

Of course, there is the instant courier solution via magic,
but this requires data to be saved on a disc (or whatever),
and be transported by a shifter or LLW.
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But basically planetary systems are on their own.

Of course on can place sensors into the claimed space
(so extending the FTL detection range), but help might not
arrive within hours.

Adios
KLM

gadrin wrote:

glitterboy2098 wrote:
when a ship arrives in system for trade, it also picks up a bundle of messages (be they digital or physical) to delever to the next system on their trade route. there, the messages are deleivered, and either routed to the next system, or set to the recipient.

disaster in the making, unless it was a dedicated route, such that Corp A always moves between planets X, Y & Z and can be depended upon. otherwise you're left up to the whim of the people making deliveries (lousy idea in our own world). People often change their minds/destinations.

then you have the problem of protecting people's privacy and items. is Joe the Spacer gonna fight over someone else's property ? sure you can give a quick answer to make yourself look right, but in practice, it'd be a recipe for trouble, especially with organized Piracy in the region.

well, i was assuming that only companies with a contract to carry mail would be able to do this. like the railways in the early 1900's.

independant contractors would only be used in the case of new colonies or other isolated worlds, where starship prescense is likely to be rare. in that case, the mail is likely to be the main shipping item, and not just a secondary cargo.

I went with instantaneous communication by means of magic.
Normal Radio Wave+Tiny Rift
Simple, too simple infact. Can be jammed, the ppe spent to open the rift can be detected, and so can the rift.

Gadrin: good job.

Adios
KLM