OTU is 3000 years in the future

[ady]

One of the things that always boggles my mind is that the OTU is set 3600 years in the future. It makes me wonder (and often try to include) artifacts from our time as ancient and often misunderstood items (aka Macaulay's Motel of the Mysteries). Imagine how much our culture has changed from 1600BC (culture, rulership, technology, warfare, terminology, methods of measurment, understanding of the universe, scale of manufacturing, etc) and extrapolate that for the people living in the future OTU setting. Do you think the OTU should be as different from modern times as 1600BC is from today, or should it be pretty much the same as today but just with better gizmos? Some scifi settings have tried to show completely different societies in the future (Herbert's Dune, Ian Bank's Culture, etc), while others have shown society and culture being basically like today (Expanse, Startrek). The fact that each world can be completely different from the other in the OTU allows for some amazingly varied differences from place to place. I get that this is just a game and we have to make the setting understandable and accessible to players (as well as making the job easier for the Ref) so many of the factors are based on terms we are all familiar with, but does anyone try to include additional 'future history' changes into their games to make it seem more futuristic? If so, what do you include?

Also, humerous clip of Solomani History Channel archeologists digging through an ancient 21st century tomb...

 

[mike wightman]

The Third Imperium setting has always taken a god's eye view of societies and races, homogenising them in a way that is not in any way realistic.

All Vargr are like this, all Aslan like this, all Vilani are like this, all Zhodani etc etc.

I'll come back to the Imperium but let's take a look at the Earth.

Nation states were still the way things were done when the Americans launched their mission to Barnard's Star.

The UN resolution that wouk lead to a world government and military was for extrasolar affairs, the nation states still existed. There was a splintering of cultures during the ISW era, those that serves in the Terran forces would eventually ne mostly people born on worlds and colonies beyond Earth, they were a military and colonising sub-culture. They would eventually win and take over the Imperium for a few hundred years with many adapting to the Vilani or minor-human culture they were ruling. Then the long night fell on the Imperium...

but wait a moment. At the war's end we still know that national governments re=asserted themselves. The Turkish trip to Darrian is evidence of current nation states surviving.

Earth never suffers a world war or catastrophe to remove the current nations as we know them, so I can not see how many would not continue. Islamic cultures and counties will continue and become dominant, the western liberal democracy is the most likely to disappear and be replaced with a corporation dominated secular system, cultures based around christian western liberal values are likely to be reduced to a tiny minority. Judaism will continue, Hinduism will continue, Buddhism, Sikhism and others will likely continue. Russia and China are the outliers, they may well end up allying with the corporation dominated secular pseudo-democracies.

These are the cultures that spread and colonise away from Earth and away from the Imperium. Over thousands of years the power balance on Earth will shift, cultures that were once dominant will decline and be replaced.
Will there still be a USA in the 57th century? What about India and China by the 57th century. Will Islam have achieved its aim of world domination or will it go through a reformation period? Will a whole new religion appear and become popular?

What about colony worlds set up by nation states, corporations, or religious dissidents.

We know about many of the polities that grew during the long night (what long night as the people of Earth), but very little has been explored and written about the cultural and nation state changes that will play themselves out between the 21st and 57th century.

 

[Condottiere]

One thing from Hubbard that did stick with me, is that culture can be preserved and propagated, with comprehensive archives.

And, with quarantines, you can have a planet of hats.