Questionable Questing

Plotvitalnpc

Not suggesting it as a thing for the quest, but just kicking it around as an imaginary "What if Mass Effect were actually intelligent, good scifi?" fic.

Plotvitalnpc

Less "We've found this mysterious, cool rock. Let's restructure every aspect of our society around it" and more "Ooh, this solves so many of the gaps in otherwise possible technologies. It'll fit nicely on our existing periodic table"

Slayer Anderson

I would read it, it sounds awesome.

Subrosian Smithy

So what would you see in the science of this galaxy?

They might not be too high on the Kardashev scale (otherwise the Reapers would have come in and bitchslapped the galaxy before it could get too scary and set up a Nicoll-Dyson laser beam)

Subrosian Smithy

(But also there's nothing saying that the Reapers wouldn't be more competent; maybe the Reapers are fully hard sci-fi and get power from siphoning Hawking radiation from black holes, or something even more clarktech, like zero point energy)

Subrosian Smithy

I'd expect to see some pretty spectacular materials science in the galaxy (down to the nanotechnological level?). Probably some extreme human augmentation (and alien augmentation, for the other races).

Subrosian Smithy

If we assume that AI works at all (and it does, the Geth worked) then I'm sort of surprised that seed AI hasn't happened yet, but that's a necessary conceit in order to make conventional space opera work out, so whatever. There's still probably awesome neural network based AI and such.

Plotvitalnpc

Nobody with a completed dyson swarm or matryoshka brain, but a lot of people with very partial ones.
Most relays never get turned on, because eezo based proper alcubierre drives obviate them. DEWs are the primary ship to ship weapons, and can be defended against via a charged plasma field kept contained around the ship. ETC.

Plotvitalnpc

Garden worlds are typically left as nature preserves, because it's much more efficient to deconstruct dedworlds and build habitat swarms, for living space and resources.

Subrosian Smithy

Plus materials science extends to computation (you can get stuff like graphene computer chips, or straight up diamond-substrate rod logic, I think)

So, awesome computers everywhere. Reversible computing?

Plotvitalnpc

When people use kinetic projectiles in space, they're carefully software limited grey goo bolts, that can only replicate a limited amount of times...or can't replicate, and merely deconstruct a certain amount of matter.

Slayer Anderson

Guys, as interesting as this is, there are better places than my profile page to talk about it. I believe we have an ME ideas thread on-site, even.

Subrosian Smithy

Is there full upload technology or some other form of biological immortality?

Subrosian Smithy

Sorry, my bad.

Plotvitalnpc

I mean, even right now, we're seeing that with resistive ram it's entirely possible to consolidate mass storage, RAM, and processing into a single chip.
https://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21717807-new-type-processor-small-devices-memory-chip-can-compute

Plotvitalnpc

And with quantum computing modules also attached, things will get even crazier. And then the Geth are working on their matryoshka brain very slowly.