So, do you imagine that in the SW universe, intelligent species eventually just reached a point where their technology could not evolve or expand any further? Do you imagine this could ever happen to our society?

 

Think about it.... this game is how many thousands of years before the trilogies and yet all of the technology is exactly the same. There is nothing in the movies that does not exist in this game, does that seem right? I mean, if you look at our technology 50 years ago vs. what we have now... it's like HOLY CRAP! Most of the people playing this game can't imagine or believe people lived without cell phones, ipads, personal computers, digital watches, video games, simple convenient jumbo jet intercontinental travel, starbucks... the list goes on and on...

 

If you really think about it, compared to the supposed technology of the Rakata, things have gone backwards a little bit.

 

Why has there been no technological advancement in the Star Wars galaxy for 20,000+ years?

 

Discuss....

There has been technological advancement, its just there hasn't been huge ones. For instance

 

Kloto was replaced with Bacta

 

Droids became far more advanced

 

Better super weapons

 

Better starfighters/blasters/destroyers

 

There have been changes, but nothing huge. You put an Old Republic fleet against a Galactic Empire one, the Galactic Empire would destroy them.

There has been technological advancement, its just there hasn't been huge ones. For instance

 

Kloto was replaced with Bacta

 

Droids became far more advanced

 

Better super weapons

 

Better starfighters/blasters/destroyers

 

There have been changes, but nothing huge. You put an Old Republic fleet against a Galactic Empire one, the Galactic Empire would destroy them.

 

All are opinionated

 

-The kolto supply ran out/was poisoned most likely, they use it the same way so it probably isn't much superior, I mean maybe it is, but I'd bet that it's a supply issue.

-I haven't seen any evidence that the droids in the movies are any better than the ones in this game

-Just because nobody built a death star doesn't mean they couldn't

-Where is the evidence that starfighters/blasters/destroyers are superior? All ships in both times fly faster than light, have weapons that can destroy other ships and shields to prevent other ships from destroying them. Same goses for weapons.... pull trigger, out comes "lazer"

 

Other than the stuff is styled different, where are you getting information that one is better than the other?

 

Still looking for actual evidence like "they had this thing in the movies that they don't in TOR"

Edited September 15, 2012 by bahdasz

There's a protocol droid on Ord Mantell that boasts, "I am fluent in over 600 forms of communication!" Not only is this a nice shout-out to C-3PO, but it's four orders of magnitude smaller than 3PO's capability (That would be 6,000,000, for those of you keeping score at home!).

 

So there's one small example--something must've been done to increase droids' memory capacities.

All are opinionated

 

-The kolto supply ran out/was poisoned most likely, they use it the same way so it probably isn't much superior, I mean maybe it is, but I'd bet that it's a supply issue.

 

Um...excuse me. Read this. -> Bacta

There has been technological advancement, its just there hasn't been huge ones. For instance

 

Kloto was replaced with Bacta

 

Droids became far more advanced

 

Better super weapons

 

Better starfighters/blasters/destroyers

 

There have been changes, but nothing huge. You put an Old Republic fleet against a Galactic Empire one, the Galactic Empire would destroy them.

 

This. In star wars technology advances, it just doesn't advance very much at a time.

All are opinionated

 

-The kolto supply ran out/was poisoned most likely, they use it the same way so it probably isn't much superior, I mean maybe it is, but I'd bet that it's a supply issue.

-I haven't seen any evidence that the droids in the movies are any better than the ones in this game

-Just because nobody built a death star doesn't mean they couldn't

-Where is the evidence that starfighters/blasters/destroyers are superior? All ships in both times fly faster than light, have weapons that can destroy other ships and shields to prevent other ships from destroying them. Same goses for weapons.... pull trigger, out comes "lazer"

 

Other than the stuff is styled different, where are you getting information that one is better than the other?

 

Still looking for actual evidence like "they had this thing in the movies that they don't in TOR"

 

1. Kolto was still around, its just the value rose and the market for it collapsed it was still used a little. But even so Bacta was still better.

 

"While kolto was still being used during the Galactic Civil War, it did not possess great value. It appeared to be less effective than bacta, but was used as a cheaper alternative."

 

On Bacta

 

"Bacta was often thought of as a "miracle fluid", and seemed to be effective against almost every type of injury and ailment across an incredible cross-section of species throughout the galaxy. It was considered to be the best medicine available anywhere, replacing the previously-used kolto."

 

2. Droids not being far more advanced huh? Well lets look here

 

T3-series utility droids.

 

1. Could communicate in droidspeak, worked on ships and other maintenance duties.

 

2. Equipment: tool access port, auditory and sonar scanner, Radar eye, Radionic scanner, Multi-function arm.

 

3. Could autopilot starships.

 

R2 series(by this time instead of utility droids, they used astromech droids because they could perform a lot of the same functions and more.)

 

1. The center of the droids' success could be attributed to its Intellex IV computer, which featured 700 different spacecraft configurations. Its sensor package was equally impressive, with a full-spectrum transceiver and electromagnetic, heat, motion, and life form indicators.

 

2. The droid's outer shell concealed an array of tools beneath its streamlined durasteel exterior. Each R2 came equipped from the factory with two manipulator arms, an electric arc welder, circular saw, computer scomp link arm, VicksVisc holographic recorder/projector unit, internal cargo compartment, and a general-use fire extinguisher. IA, taking a page from Corellian ship-builders, made the droids easy to upgrade and modify. The company offered a variety of after-market packages, but industrious owners also managed to equip R2s with such eclectic items and accessories as underwater propellers, laser pointers, jet thrusters, remote sensor limpets, and inflatable life rafts.

 

Think of the R2 series, as being swiss army knives.

 

3. Super Weapons

 

While the DS could have been made, no one had the idea or thought of one till the Clone Wars.

 

4. Ships

 

While your right, what I mean by superior is that they have either had 1. More things added to them or 2. Been built to be better then the others.

 

Edit: Heck with it,. not gonna post every detail about all the ships. Just look and compare some of the ships to each era.

 

As said, there were advances nothing big. But big enough, that there are some differences between. Otherwise, why would ships/droids become outdated at all?

Edited September 15, 2012 by Wolfninjajedi

Star War's technology advances at a slow pace. Like others have shown in t heir examples.

 

It mainly has to do with the OT. You only had X amount of budget, etc...so you can't make the everything before the OT look "too advanced" but maybe just some bulkier versions. Same with Star Trek (TOS).

Does the advance in technology actually make things better? Does it change the way people act?

This is going to sound bad, but it's Bioware's fault.

For example, before KoTOR was made, there weren't any starships in use (or developed) that had Gravity Well generators to pull a ship out of hyperspace, and weren't any until the time of the Galactic Civil War. They may have set the timeframe thousands of years before the movies, but that time in SW history barely resembled what people would recognise as Star Wars. The only exception was Jedi Knights using lightsabers.

 

Generally, between the end of the Great Sith War and the start of the Mandalorian Wars, technology leapt forward exponentially. It's like someone hopped in their SW Delorean and nabbed some tech from the future instead of a sports almanac.

So now, we're left with technology seeming to be on par with that of thousands of years in the future, and a decline of technology and galactic civilisation just prior to the Ruusan Reformations at the end of the New Sith Wars.

Edited September 16, 2012 by Fyurii

Makes you wonder how long it will take before we advance to a point that it slows to a crawl for lack of ability to go any further like that. The last 300 years have seen more advancement than the 3000 before them, the last 50 have been going in leaps and bounds.... wish I could see what it will be like in 300 more (if human's don't push themselves to extinction by then, of course).

there are hundreds of examples in canon works where it's stated that the latest droid,weapon, technology or whatever is new and more advanced than the older models... just not a lot of technobable about how it is... from our point of view tho a blaster looks like a blaster... the newer ones are more advanced but to us and for the purpose of storytelling the are still just a gun that fires a packet of coherent light into someone and they die... they do seem to have hit a technological plateau tho with advancement coming in small increments not large leaps... tho if you go back say 5000+ year BBY there are some large leaps... like protosabers to normal lightsabers and navicomps on ships from Hyperspace beacons

 

also keep in mind that while at the moment we are in an era where technology is rapidly advancing we have experienced this same plateau effect before also... we ran around in the same wooden boats with the same bows, swords and whatnot with only tiny advancements for thousands of years... large technological advancement tends to come in short bursts followed by long periods of relatively small improvements

Edited September 16, 2012 by Liquidacid

also keep in mind that while at the moment we are in an era where technology is rapidly advancing we have experienced this same plateau effect before also... we ran around in the same wooden boats with the same bows, swords and whatnot with only tiny advancements for thousands of years... large technological advancement tends to come in short bursts followed by long periods of relatively small improvements

 

The previous plateau was primarily down to aggressive expansionism of empires, greed, war, and more importantly religion. As good a thing as religion can be, it's often used to the detriment of the majority, to benefit the few with the power it brings.

This is certainly one aspect of Star Wars and the Jedi & Sith that I love. A simple but clear showing of the upsides and downsides of religion, based upon how it's employed.

Whist Frank Herbert's Dune books go into much deeper and intricate detail by comparison to Star Wars on this matter (showing the blurring of lines between religion and politics when it comes to power and manipulation of massses), they're both for showing one of the common and repetitive problems of religion - abuse of the power it can provide.

 

Aaaaand what was meant to be a small comment on technological plateaus, turned into something longer and completely different. We need a Star Wars themed /facepalm emote for times like this...

There old saing if it isn't broke do not fix it. That being said while i bet the tech looks the same it still more advance 3000 years later. But remember there was nothing but peace more or less for the 1000 years leading up to the movies which means there was very little fighting within the republic which means they stop advancing as fast. that my take on it anyway could be wrong could be right still i bet the falcon could out gun or fight most ships it size with ease in this time hehe

Middle ages = 1000 years = not much advancement

 

Industrial revolution = boom changes

Ok for 1 they don't have human looking droids yet

 

so far we have herd nothing of cloning technology in TOR which i would see as a major leap forward

 

 

 

hell look at Anikans replacement arm and then Luke's, Anikan's looks like a droid one, Luke's looks real.

 

but look at our technology today, our computers planes and phones don't make massive leaps forward they simply get slightly better with either better graphics better memory more battery life ect.

so all of you are saying

that in FOUR THOUSAND YEARS noone said "hey that fighter could put a shield in" but as soon as star wars rebels starts they can make a special tie fighter etc.

 

and the argument that there was no need is literally ridiculous there were wars everywhere for most of the time until the prequels, everyone having engineers trying to make advanced technology to beat their enemy.

 

I love star wars, I like the old republic arguably more than the original saga, but I can't act like 4000 years wouldve just passed without tons of engineers making advancements (or having photo realistic holographs)

 

better to just not think about it tbqh.

There's a giant emphasis on ancient technology in the KOTOR universe which indicates cyclical development of technology. Huge, galaxy spanning empires rise and fall and their tech reaches a point where it out-paces their civilization and that civilization is destroyed. Then, another civilization rises up out of the ashes. So, to answer your question: no I don't think that there will be a point where tech reaches it's "hard cap" in development because the universe keeps getting reset by civilizations getting wiped out or wiping themselves out before they reach their cap.

necro aside...

 

One thing that is difficult for many in our rapidly advancing society to understand is that this is not the norm. Go back through a few thousand years of history and we see technology come and go.

 

Rome is an excellent example of this, many of the technologies of the time were lost for centuries before being rediscovered.

Another thing to consider is that, unlike harder sci-fi like Babylon 5 or Star Trek, the tech in Star Wars is mostly set dropping. It's Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers-style pulp sci-fi, focusing more on the high adventure than on the realistic technological advancement of a society. Add to that that the tech can't move past what the movies show. If the movies show some new whiz advancement, then the rest of the setting can move forward around it, but otherwise that's why, no matter when the setting is, the tech will always be roughly the same.

unlike harder sci-fi like Babylon 5 or Star Trek.

 

Those aren't really examples of hard scifi either. B5 actually tries with the rotating space station and the way human fighter crafts manuever, but it falls flat when the Minbari use basically space magic to defy gravity anyway. And Star Trek? Please. Technobabble solution of the day saves the ship, and after the episode ends it's forgotten forever? Crappy engineering safeguards (more like non-existant) that wouldn't be allowed on Earth even if you only wanted to build a house or a car? Real nuclear reactors have at least two, if not three or four failsafes that stop the reaction immediately if it goes beyond safe limits - Star Trek ships have a core malfunction every four episodes because they have NO safeguards except the (easily hacked or malfunctioning) main computer. The Double Picard Facepalm is the only possible response to it.

 

As for Star Wars (which ofc is space fantasy) it seems even advanced tech is so common and well-designed that almost anyone can use it without actually understanding it. Improvements will be in new materials (better or cheaper or hopefully both) or better programming (new droids seem better than some old ones), not some huge new advance. You have loaders or vaporators or some other machinery, you buy a protocol droid so you can communicate and reset the calibrations. You need a ship, you buy one (and have an astromech droid check it over). Development is slow because they've already reached a pinnacle in easy-to-use tech and none of the regular users can even come up with an improvement anymore. Personally I'd like it if my ship, or loader, or whatever spoke Basic so I could program it myself without using a droid as middleman, but maybe that is too much to ask for in the SW galaxy.

KOTOR really showed it well. HK-47 was fluent in 600, and then 6000 languuages in KOTOR 2. And of course in the movies, you have C-3P0 fluent in 3-7 million (I believe it's 3 million in Phantom, 6 mil in ANH, and then 7 mil in TFA). They also explained a lot of other things too - why Cortosis is rare in the movie era, for example, is because the Republic and the Sith used it up during the New Sith Wars, and that it's an absolute pain to mine. The starship designs were great too, the Aurek being the predecessor to the Delta-7 and the A-Wing, and the Ministry-Class Shuttle being the clear predecessor to the Lambda-Class and the Sentinel Dropship in the Original Trilogy.

 

One of the reasons people say KOTOR is as good as the movies is because it captured what Star Wars was supposed to look and feel like.

 

~ Eudoxia