ITW:OT Questions

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2005-07-20 12:34am

I recently got around to buying the ITW:OT, and overall, I'm really liking it, informative and all, but I did notice a few (at least percieved) discrepancies. For one, the 200,000 population estimate bothers me. I suppose it's concievable, but since it's taking into account Tuskens and Jawas, as well as the inhabitants of the planets half dozen or so settlements, it seems a bit small. Has anyone else noticed this?

Second, I noted that the diagram of the SSD on the Executor command tower page seems to be not to scale. I took some measurments (very, very rough) using the provided length of the bridge in relation to the diagram, and I came up with a length of about five and a half kilometers. Now, I know that is wrong, and I would have assumed that the diagram was to scale, so either it was drawn incorrectly, or I am really off base (highly possible.)

Any thoughts?

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » 2005-07-20 01:27am

I was pretty sure that there is only a very small area of Tatooine that people live in.

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2005-07-20 01:28am

Ford Prefect wrote:I was pretty sure that there is only a very small area of Tatooine that people live in.

That is true, but as I said, it still seems like a small number. Perhaps I'm just off on this one though.

NRS Guardian · Post by **NRS Guardian** » 2005-07-20 03:59am

Considering that Tatooine is only habitable near the poles, though the Tuskens can sometimes live in what would be considered the temperate zones, on Earth. And considering that these habitable areas are desert as barren, if not more so, as the Sahara. It makes sense that not very many people live on Tatooine, though it would be more plausible to me if it was one or two orders of magnitude higher. Also, at one time due to mining Tatooine had a larger population of human settlers.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2005-07-20 04:30am

It's not the poles: Tatooine is only habitable on one small portion of its northern hemisphere. Says so in at least one of the ITW books.

It's considered that the 200K number is also an somewhat outdated official population census report that took only permanent residents into account, and the current total population might be slightly larger, but not by a lot.

Everywhere else on the planet is more or less completely uninhabitable. When they say planet farthest from the bright centre of the Universe, they're not kidding: Tatooine is pretty much nothing.

Post by **Vympel** » 2005-07-20 06:47am

"Tatooine is sparsely populated. I will find them quickly Master."

It'd be hard to find them quickly if the population numbered in the million or so.

VT-16 · Post by **VT-16** » 2005-07-20 09:50am

Most of the people seen in the spaceports are probably freighter pilots and visitors, that way it can appear to be more populated than it really is.

Molyneux · Post by **Molyneux** » 2005-07-20 10:00am

So, if there are only 200,000 sentients or so on the planet...why does EVERYTHING happen there?!

VT-16 · Post by **VT-16** » 2005-07-20 10:01am

Besides certain events in the movies, what else happens on Tatooine? I´m not too familiar with the planet´s escapades in the EU. (Besides Luke vs. swoop riders in SOTE).

The Original Nex · Post by **The Original Nex** » 2005-07-20 11:05am

Molyneux wrote:So, if there are only 200,000 sentients or so on the planet...why does EVERYTHING happen there?!

Not 200,000 sentients on the planet, 200,000 residents. Those are quite different statements.

The majority of people we see walking around Mos Espa or mos Eisley aren't residents, but frieghter pilots, tourists and the like (ie. not permenant residents), and wouldn't be counted in a census.

Molyneux · Post by **Molyneux** » 2005-07-20 10:18pm

VT-16 wrote:Besides certain events in the movies, what else happens on Tatooine? I´m not too familiar with the planet´s escapades in the EU. (Besides Luke vs. swoop riders in SOTE).

Let's see...
In Star Wars: Jedi Academy, you travel to Tatooine to buy a droid from Jawas (but end up having to fight Tusken Raiders).

The aforementioned swoop-bike thing...

The Tales of Jabba's Palace and such I'm not going to count, because, well, it's Jabba's Palace.

Does anyone else know of other stuff that happened on Tatooine that could easily have been set somewhere else without the wankage?

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2005-07-21 12:26am

Molyneux wrote: Snip

Well, for one thing, Tatooine, being in Hutt territory, is a hive of black market activity, somewhat of a center of the underground economy of the sector as I recall.

That aside, you gave two or three examples of stuff happening on Tatooine. Hardly "wank."

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2005-07-21 12:29am

Noble Ire wrote:That aside, you gave two or three examples of stuff happening on Tatooine. Hardly "wank."

Compare that to the total number of things that happen in the overall SW saga. Then compare that ratio to 1 : 12,000,000 (number of inhabited worlds in the GFFA).

Wank.

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2005-07-21 12:33am

Illuminatus Primus wrote:
Noble Ire wrote:That aside, you gave two or three examples of stuff happening on Tatooine. Hardly "wank."
Compare that to the total number of things that happen in the overall SW saga. Then compare that ratio to 1 : 12,000,000 (number of inhabited worlds in the GFFA).

Wank.

So essentially, your saying if anything happens on a planet more than once, it should be considered wank?

Honestly, the strong Hutt influence there alone should be enough justification, not to mention the fact that much of the stuff that happens there is directly related to either Luke or Jabba, and thus is perfectly justifiable.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2005-07-21 12:42am

Tatooine was a minor Outer Rim starport planet right off one of the major trade routes (the Corellian Run).

And storywise, it was also the homeworld of the two major characters of the saga, so it's no wonder why writers would occasionally revisit the planet, no matter how absurd that might stike some of you.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2005-07-21 12:53am

Please. There are all excuses. You both know its kind of stupid and it'd be more sensible if Luke's lamentation and the story's original implications were actually showed, rather than talked about.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2005-07-21 01:06am

What are you talking about, specifically? Because frankly, I have no clue whatsoever what you mean.

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2005-07-21 01:16am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:What are you talking about, specifically? Because frankly, I have no clue whatsoever what you mean.

I am also perplexed. Why are you so adamant about Tatooine being a one shot dirt hole, when it is perfectly reasonable that it is not?

VT-16 · Post by **VT-16** » 2005-07-21 09:42am

I think Illuminatus Primus has been hitting the wacky tobaccy. By his standards, anything happening on Coruscant should constitute a continual cumshot.

And don´t argue that it´s an important planet, it just ONE planet. 1:12 000 000

The Grim Squeaker · Post by **The Grim Squeaker** » 2005-07-21 09:54am

VT-16 wrote:And don´t argue that it´s an important planet, it just ONE planet. 1:12 000 000

On which the main part of the imperial goverment resides as long as the dictator of the empire and his succesor, all his records and his chief officers and inteligence agencies (and everyone down a few dozen places in the chain of succesion).

VT-16 · Post by **VT-16** » 2005-07-21 09:59am

Doesn´t matter, with 12 000 000 planets to choose stories from, it would still constitute wank to some people.

apocolypse · Post by **apocolypse** » 2005-07-21 10:02am

I know regarding Tatooine and its climate, the SWTJ had some info that there is only one region of the planet that's habitable for people to live in. I'll have to dig out the book when I get home to get the exact wording and details. IIRC the population count in the SWTJ was even lower than the ITW, something like 80,000.

Admiral Drason · Post by **Admiral Drason** » 2005-07-21 11:51am

Ok to put this into real word perspective it like having most of your movies set in a city like New York (Coruscant) vs. having them set in Fort Ripley Mn population 97 (Tatooine).

What are the odds of multiple stories coming out of Shitville USA where the biggest news all year was when Bob the drunk fell off his porch and sprained his knee?

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2005-07-21 01:06pm

Admiral Drason wrote:Ok to put this into real word perspective it like having most of your movies set in a city like New York (Coruscant) vs. having them set in Fort Ripley Mn population 97 (Tatooine).

What are the odds of multiple stories coming out of Shitville USA where the biggest news all year was when Bob the drunk fell off his porch and sprained his knee?

Your missing the point. There are two reasons stuff happens there: The Skywalkers and the Hutts. Both Luke and Anakin come from the place, which would explain at least so of the plots that have them coming back to it (recollecting the past and some such.) As I have said, the Hutts, and their black market, have made the place a hive of black market activity, thus its only natural that stuff would happen there.

Admiral Drason · Post by **Admiral Drason** » 2005-07-21 01:13pm

Noble Ire wrote:
Admiral Drason wrote:Ok to put this into real word perspective it like having most of your movies set in a city like New York (Coruscant) vs. having them set in Fort Ripley Mn population 97 (Tatooine).

What are the odds of multiple stories coming out of Shitville USA where the biggest news all year was when Bob the drunk fell off his porch and sprained his knee?
Your missing the point. There are two reasons stuff happens there: The Skywalkers and the Hutts. Both Luke and Anakin come from the place, which would explain at least so of the plots that have them coming back to it (recollecting the past and some such.) As I have said, the Hutts, and their black market, have made the place a hive of black market activity, thus its only natural that stuff would happen there.

I was trying to hit the point that Coruscant would have more stories vs the thousands of other towns in the world because of the size, importance to trade, and hub of government AKA the UN.

Sure a small town can have a local hero make it big and a drugs moved through the place but it dosent excuse all of the EU referances to Tatooine like the comics and the Video games. I mean come on did we really have to have that shit hole planet in KOTOR. KOTOR took place far before Luke, Anakin, and even Jabba were farts in the wind.