My limitation on ship size is built off my handwaves for the M-Drive, which is basically a massively sub-C warp drive that effects an entire area equally (which is why it’s volume based, not mass based). Past a certain size, you’re building a drive pylon that puts all the normal stresses plus extra on the ships structure (and is more expensive than just building two ships).
In regards to space stations, the answer is required instastructure cost. A planet with atmosphere, sufficient mass, and liquid water is cheap. Even importing filter masks and crashing comets into the atmosphere is cheap over time.
In space, you have to provide gravity, atmosphere, water, recycling for those, radiation shielding, heat removal, and power to run all of that, all for a sufficient volume to hold the infrastructure you want to support, plus the infrastructure required for the people who run the thing. Oh, and you have to build it.
Planet side, a few hundred huts from IKEA, several basic machine shops, some basic mining and refining equipment, and some supplies could fit in a few Beowulfs. Far cheaper.
On 1/3/2019 8:55 PM, Greg Nokes wrote:
> I’d love for some non-economic reason for a small ship/CT77 universe.
> But at the scale of the imperium I’m not sure it really makes sense.
>
> Even if you hand-wave jump drive as the limiter it makes attacking
> impossible, as I will just build a huge station or monitor, and your
> small ship attack force will die a quick death.
>
> So convince me! :)
>
Other than certain luxury items and unique foodstuffs, other than
technologically advanced goods, why would there be trade in physical
goods? This thought came to me when I was looking at the videos that
Spacedock did to support their new serialized animated/voice series, The
Sojourn. They did several videos (links to the videos below) where they
discuss how a cluster wide famine and depleted resources are causing
severe issues. This is for a "world" where everyone was on one world
300 years ago and now there are close to two dozen settled systems and
resources are "depleted". Not sure how much I agree with that, but...as
I was watching the videos I started to think about the immense amount of
materials in one solar system and how all it takes is the ability to
reach them to be able to recover them.
Then, since being able to build large space structures is doable, the
next question was why don't they move to agricultural stations using
hydro- and aeroponics?
Now, dragging this back to Traveller and trade, it comes back to my
original question; just how much would be moved between systems?
All we get in the books (granted, my detailed reading ended with MT, so
they may have rectified this in a later edition) is "small package"
cargo, the stuff you'd expect a gypsy or independent trucker to try and
contract to carry here in the States. How much do the big companies carry?
--
Kurt Feltenberger
xxxxxx@thepaw.org/xxxxxx@yahoo.com
“Before today, I was scared to live, after today, I'm scared I'm not living enough." - Me
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