Chances are this has been discussed before but whatever.

I know the real world reason is it has to be Star Warsy so we have to have all the things the movies did. Because people don't read anymore........

However I am unable to come up with a reason why in 4000 years there's been little tech advancement at all by the time Luke puts on his Jedi pants.

Is it because of the near perpetual state of war the galaxy is in? They don't see the need to advance anything because awesome laser swords are still awesome?

What's everybody else's opinion on this matter?

Chances are this has been discussed before but whatever.

 

I know the real world reason is it has to be Star Warsy so we have to have all the things the movies did.

 

However I am unable to come up with a reason why in 4000 years there's been little tech advancement at all by the time Luke puts on his Jedi pants.

 

Is it because of the near perpetual state of war the galaxy is in? They don't see the need to advance anything because awesome laser swords are still awesome?

 

What's everybody else's opinion on this matter?

Well, like you said, 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 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 SWTOR.

Even with that as the actual reason, there are a few potential in-universe justifications that might be able to explain 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 Dreadnought and the Star Destroyer could take it out the Dreadnought 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.

(To my knowledge, these are all examples of fan theories, I don't believe any actual SW works have attempted to provide a 'canon' explanation.)

Yes this was discussed years ago when the game launched, and the consensus then was that they needed the game to look and feel like the movies...period...end of discussion.

Yeah, I said that already.

The answer I was looking for is more akin to the guy above you.

Yeah, I said that already.

 

The answer I was looking for is more akin to the guy above you.

On YouTube Boofire191 answered this. From the time of SWTOR to Bane creating the rule of two, the galaxy is in a CONSTANT state of war. It goes so long, half of Lord Hoth's army is using Spears and metal swords and the holonet is in complete shambles. Because noone was up keeping and improving technology.

That's why between SWTOR and the beginning of the series we know as Episode 1, nothing has really changed. It took a millenia to literally undo all the damage done to a VERY LARGE galaxy after 4 millenia of war.

Dark Ages I think are the biggest culprit here, and we can look at RL history to see this in action.

Ex. Just a few months ago we finally discovered why ancient Roman concrete was so much stronger than our own. Only took ~2000 years.

Completely forgot this topic was a thing....

However I did find a good answer to my question via this video....

Chances are this has been discussed before but whatever.

 

I know the real world reason is it has to be Star Warsy so we have to have all the things the movies did.

 

However I am unable to come up with a reason why in 4000 years there's been little tech advancement at all by the time Luke puts on his Jedi pants.

 

Is it because of the near perpetual state of war the galaxy is in? They don't see the need to advance anything because awesome laser swords are still awesome?

 

What's everybody else's opinion on this matter?

Well it makes no difference in the advancement of Light Sabers. Is because it is the weapon of Choice of the Jedi & Sith, there is really no reason for an advancement. Or do you consider flames coming out the side of the hilt an advancement, if thats the case, ok. But i dont. The rest of Star wars tech, i dont know, it is what it is...

Completely forgot this topic was a thing....

 

However I did find a good answer to my question via this video....

 

Exactly the reference I was eluding to.

On YouTube Boofire191 answered this. From the time of SWTOR to Bane creating the rule of two, the galaxy is in a CONSTANT state of war. It goes so long, half of Lord Hoth's army is using Spears and metal swords and the holonet is in complete shambles. Because noone was up keeping and improving technology.

 

That's why between SWTOR and the beginning of the series we know as Episode 1, nothing has really changed. It took a millenia to literally undo all the damage done to a VERY LARGE galaxy after 4 millenia of war.

I think you can look at *every*single*war* in our world's history and see that technology improved during the war. People do research to find better(1) ways of killing people, or better ways of not being killed, or ...

(1) That is, more effective(2), more efficient(2), less costly, etc.

(2) Effective and efficient are different things. A Rocketdyne F1 is a very *effective* rocket engine, but I don't think many people would describe it as *efficient*. On the other hand, a VASIMIR type rocket is extremely weak (and thus not *effective*), but also extremely efficient, that is, it uses very small amounts of propellant.

I was thinking about when I was watching Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 this week. What would happen if the Star Wars characters was using that kind of tech. It would make for a really fun movie, the Jedi And the Sith would have to be really creative to survive in that kind of technological climate.

Most of the tech-level is probably because the writers of every story wants to keep at least some of the old Star Wars spirit. Pop-culture has come a long way since the first trilogy where the technology was amazing and new to the audience and to the sci-fy genre in general.

And if the normal folk was starting using cyborg tech from the DC comics the common day waepons of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies or the armor of the Warhammer 40000 space marines the Jedi and Sith would simply beome insignificant in the big picture.

Heck we see that for ourselfs what happens when a creative fighter use all sorts of tech in a fight with an experienced Jedi in the BH story so the technology is just a result of the writers being conervative and nothing else.

PS what do you guys think would happen if a wormhole or whatever opened beetween the galaxy far far away and one inhapited by other characters from pretty much any sci-fy genre would it be a fun story or just a boring meta-fanfic?

1) Technology is measured against itself - what constitutes a powerful blaster is measured against how powerful the available shields are.

 

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.

Aye, the real world reason is certainly the need to make the game look similar to the films.

The three "in-universe" reasons all sound good as a way for our characters in different eras to rationalize it.

The plateau is real - we have hyperdrives that can take us across the galaxy in days (provided we can plot a course), guns that can wipe out planets and planetary shields to keep off a whole fleet. Making a significant advance on that is incredibly difficult. Tweaks and small improvements, sure, but nothing revolutionary.

Dark Ages also, or maybe our own sort of specialization? Very very few people actually understand the technology of anything but their own field. Hell, Uncle Owen needs a protocol droid to even TALK to his own farm equipment! Any thug can buy a blaster but few can service it. Anyone with the cash can buy a space ship but he'll more than likely need an astromech droid to keep it working. It's like us, really - we can buy anything but understand little of how it actually works.

And measuring too ofc, somewhat tied into the plateau. I recall reading some Han Solo books (EU) back in the day where everyone wanted to find the treasure of some legendary warlord or pirate, but it turned out to be a huge pile of blaster crystals that were now basically worthless since people had long ago switched to cheaper, better materials - better firing rate, less overheating, more firing before replacement etc. In the days of the warlord that treasure was the threat of outfitting a fleet and an army, once found by Solo it was like us getting our hands on a munitions stockpile from the US Civil War. Sure, the cannon balls have some curiosity value and if the powder is still good you can blow it up or shoot a cannon, but for actual use in war nothing.

On YouTube Boofire191 answered this. From the time of SWTOR to Bane creating the rule of two, the galaxy is in a CONSTANT state of war. It goes so long, half of Lord Hoth's army is using Spears and metal swords and the holonet is in complete shambles. Because noone was up keeping and improving technology.

 

That's why between SWTOR and the beginning of the series we know as Episode 1, nothing has really changed. It took a millenia to literally undo all the damage done to a VERY LARGE galaxy after 4 millenia of war.

Interesting point of view. It reminds me of several countries in RL.