Ringworld

ncrcalamine · Post by **ncrcalamine** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 9:27 am

The kizinti existso is there a ring world in this universe

Thanks

Nicole

Nerroth · Post by **Nerroth** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 1:06 pm

The Kzintis in the Star Fleet Universe are not the same as the Kzinti from Larry Niven's own works; "our" version of the species has cat ears, no tails, sentient females, are referred to as "Kzinti" in singular and "Kzintis" in plural (instead of "Kzin" and "Kzinti" respectively), and so on and so forth.

(They aren't the only species to turn out differently than their counterparts in other settings; "our" Klingons don't look like the bumpy-ridged versions seen in the Franchise post-TMP, for example.)

There is no equivalent of the Ringworld in the Alpha Octant, or anywhere else in the Milky Way Galaxy, so far as is known at this point; but there is a ringworld in the Helgardian home system, out in the Triangulum Galaxy.

mjwest · Post by **mjwest** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 6:03 pm

There are no known or published instances of a ring world in the SFU outside the Helgardians. (Nor are their any Dyson spheres outside the Tholians.)

Ring worlds in the SFU are a weird thing. The technology would seem to support the possibility of building one. It is definitely plausible from that point of view. But, it just makes no sense to have one in the SFU from an economic point of view. The reason is because travel is extremely easy, extremely cheap, and extremely fast. Even in the SFU it would take an entire empire's economy to create a ringworld. It is way, way, way cheaper (and more practical) to just spread the population out among the multitude of habitable Class M planets instead.

That said, there is no reason that some minor (i.e. we don't know them yet) empire or world decided that a ring world made sense. Alternatively, maybe there is one that is a remnant of a once-powerful, but now dead, population. There are lots of ways you can introduce one if you want. It just isn't likely to have been built by any of the main empires.

Jack Bohn · Post by **Jack Bohn** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 6:55 pm

Hey! What about Slavers?

I remember a stasis box being the goal of an old scenario, but I'm not sure whose it was. Perhaps their place in history is filled by The OldER Kings.

mjwest · Post by **mjwest** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 7:31 pm

I don't think really anything has been done to expand any of that stuff. It's all back there still waiting to be taken advantage of ...

ncrcalamine · Post by **ncrcalamine** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 9:12 pm

Puppeteers?

Nicole

Nerroth · Post by **Nerroth** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 9:28 pm

mjwest wrote:Ring worlds in the SFU are a weird thing. The technology would seem to support the possibility of building one. It is definitely plausible from that point of view. But, it just makes no sense to have one in the SFU from an economic point of view. The reason is because travel is extremely easy, extremely cheap, and extremely fast. Even in the SFU it would take an entire empire's economy to create a ringworld. It is way, way, way cheaper (and more practical) to just spread the population out among the multitude of habitable Class M planets instead.

And in the specific case of the Helgardians, it could be argued that they themselves count as an "elder species", if judged by human standards. (They had spent ten thousand years building up a peaceful empire back in their home dimension, before having their home sun inexplicably transplanted into "our" quantum reality's M33 Galaxy; this displacement took place approximately a thousand years before First Contact.)

Although, in the case of the Helgardians, their society is shaped by their biology. While they live for about a thousand years on average, and have very robust immune systems, they have a very low birth rate; which means they can found only a handful of new colonies per century. So, one could imagine the Ringworld as being a (very) long-term project which would help sustain a slower, but steadier, expansion as a species; one which, after they gave up on trying to go back to their home dimension, allowed them to settle in so well that they rapidly assumed a position of unrivalled power and influence in the Triangulum Galaxy. (Although, they were more keen to be "first among equals"; acting as mentors to younger planets rather than attempting to subjugate them.)

At least, until some of the short-lived young species started to get some unfortunate ideas of their own...

terryoc · Post by **terryoc** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 11:31 pm

There are no Puppeteers in the SFU. The only Known Space elements in the SFU are the Kzintis and stasis boxes, and then only because Larry Niven adapted a Known Space story (I forget which - was it The Soft Weapon?) for the Star Trek Animated Series. ADB's license with Paramount covers those, and Larry Niven gave permission to use the Kzintis.