Illuminatus Primus wrote:They didn't have hyperdrive.
(emphases mine)
I see reading comprehension is still premium at SD.net.
Ja, ja. I read you the first time, I just couldn't remember from the game, so I was wondering if it said it explicitly or if you were simply inferring that they didn't have hyperdrive because they were pre-Republic. They don't have hyperdrive. I get it.
Their drive system was based on the Force; like much of their technology and the drives of the Aing Tii monks. Perhaps they could only travel very short distances to normal worlds, but their drives were drawn to the Force nexi across the galaxy with ease?
A little weird, but probably the most sensical theory given the facts. If they explored outwards from the Unknown World via stl or ftl slower than hyperdrive, they'd have a much less scattered Empire.
And you may ask yourself, 'Where does that highway go to?'
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The inhabited worlds held special meaning for them, as in: the stars looked a certain way from certain planets, or there's some special element in the planet.
The ratio of necessary resources to people was very very one-sided, meaning they needed a huge amount of resources in order to maintain their civilization. Therefore the far-flung planets are/were rich in some resource they needed. Planets that don't have this resource aren't worth inhabiting, since they'd be a burden to maintain. This would also explain why a large part of their society is made up of slaves, who might not need this resource, but do the necessary dirty work of a vast empire.
Pilgrims/renegades/free-thinkers were the only real explorers, everyone else was just kicking it on the homeworld. An ancient space "hippie" would get as far from the society he knows as possible.
Their method of propulsion requires some sort of gateway to be established at the other end. You have to actually travel the many lightyears in a sub-light craft, establish the gateway, and then and only then can you travel between two planets. Therefore, the planets they decide to do this with have to be special, and nearby planets aren't worth the trouble. Maybe after a while they figure the cost is too high just to have some stupid planet accessible. (think about why we'd rather have a base on Alpha Centauri vs. Neptune)
Maybe all the others planets just smelled funny to them.