| Pages: [1] 2 3 :: one page |
| Author |
Thread Statistics | Show CCP posts - 0 post(s) |
Naibasak
   |
Posted - 2008.10.11 03:13:00 -
[1]
Hello, me again, sorry to pester itÆs been happening a lot lately (well twice), I should put a stop to it.
SomethingÆs been bugging me lately, the warp speed being measured in AU, yes I know itÆs just a game and all but why would anyone measure any FTL speed against an arbitrary distance made up in some pokey little solar system thatÆs a very long way away? Not forgetting that according to the background story itself all but utterly forgotten.
Just wondering if there was a background explanation for it, anyone know? If not, why wasnÆt it measured against another speed? Like one of a true universal constant such as light, it wouldnÆt have to be perfect but, rounded off nicely, according to the ôEVEmathö works out at about 480Lights per AU.
Apologies in advance for taking the game too seriously
|
Dirk Magnum
Royal Hiigaran Navy
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 03:14:00 -
[2]
AU is a constant figure. It's about 93 million miles, which is to say the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
|
DubanFP
Caldari
Kylia Inc.
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 03:16:00 -
[3]
It just happens to be a good distance for use between the huge gap of lightyears and miles. It's also something that players can easily understand. Wouldn't it be a thousand times harder if it was measured in distances that don't actually exist?
_______________
"Cheap" and "Lame" are words created by people who refuse to admit they have been completely and utterly outclassed. |
Naibasak
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 03:18:00 -
[4]
I would have thought the speed of light would be an easy thing to understand, and its certainly not made up ^^
|
Letouk Mernel
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 03:21:00 -
[5]
Edited by: Letouk Mernel on 11/10/2008 03:22:49
Dunno why.
There's multiple "lights" actually, lightsecond, lightminute, lighthour, lightyear. I guess they could have done LY/s, but it would be too many zeroes (0.0000000etc). And lightseconds/second is kinda confusing, as is lightminutes/second or lighthours/second.
AU is already abbreviated, even, and no confusion.
EDIT: Oh, you're talking lightspeed, not lightyears/s. Like a Mach number. How would you abbreviate that? LS is lightseconds. Lach? I dunno.
|
Dirk Magnum
Royal Hiigaran Navy
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 03:23:00 -
[6]
An object moving at the speed of light takes something like eight minutes to travel one AU. AU is just much more convenient than any light measurement for movement inside of a solar system IMO.
|
Naibasak
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 03:25:00 -
[7]
1AU = 480 lights or 0.48KL
3AU = 1440 lights or 1.44KL
6AU = 2880 lights or 2.88KL
but what am I saying, that wasnÆt my question, just an example of an alternate system, the Q was why is earth forgotten but the distance between it and sol not?
|
Kahega Amielden
Minmatar
Suddenly Ninjas
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 03:25:00 -
[8]
Because, at one time, people DID come from Earth. And the standard unit of measurement for intrasystem distances is the AU.
Astronomers today use the AU even if they want to measure the distance from, say, Pluto to Jupiter. It's just an arbitrary number used for measurement.
 Originally by: Catharacta
My CNR runs on salvager tears.
|
Naibasak
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 03:27:00 -
[9]
but space travel war RE-invented, it was never a continuous system
|
Kahega Amielden
Minmatar
Suddenly Ninjas
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 03:30:00 -
[10]
Originally by: Naibasak
but space travel war RE-invented, it was never a continuous system
So? A) read the last paragraph I posted and B) Just because humanity couldn't continue travelling through space and had to focus on more practical ventures (like not dying in harsh alien atmospheres) doesn't mean that no one has any memory whatsoever of anything. If Earth were truly forgotten then it wouldn't even be mentioned in the backstory because no one would know about it.
Originally by: Catharacta
My CNR runs on salvager tears.
|
Dirk Magnum
Royal Hiigaran Navy
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 03:31:00 -
[11]
Originally by: Naibasak
but space travel war RE-invented, it was never a continuous system
Yeah but remember we're captaining submarines in a vacuum in this game. **** light speed and continuity tbh. 
|
Naibasak
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 03:34:00 -
[12]
"For centuries men speculated from where mankind came. Today, it has been established beyond reasonable doubt that all the different races and factions found in our part of the galaxy must have originated from a common source.
Yet it has proven difficult to piece all the different artifacts together into a coherent picture. In any case, it seems logical from a biological standpoint that humans evolved on the same planet. Even if various differences can be found between and within factions, the likeness in the DNA structure clearly points to a common origin. But then the question is: where is this fabled planet that humans evolved on and how did the human race end up in numerous separate places?"
no one even knows its name apparently...
|
Letouk Mernel
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 03:36:00 -
[13]
Edited by: Letouk Mernel on 11/10/2008 03:39:20
Originally by: Naibasak
but space travel war RE-invented, it was never a continuous system
You're imagining that a period of dark ages occurred, where people ran about with swords and shields, and thus would have to re-discover all the physics, so the names of all the units (meter, second, lightyear) would have to be chosen anew.
It makes sense, 20,000 years is a long time to survive off old ships and using old tech.
Some lore does mention Earth and the EVE Wormhole, and they just don't know where in the universe Milky Way is in relation to EVE's Galaxy. Supposedly.
|
Strill
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 03:44:00 -
[14]
Edited by: Strill on 11/10/2008 03:44:47
Originally by: Naibasak
Hello, me again, sorry to pester itÆs been happening a lot lately (well twice), I should put a stop to it.
SomethingÆs been bugging me lately, the warp speed being measured in AU, yes I know itÆs just a game and all but why would anyone measure any FTL speed against an arbitrary distance made up in some pokey little solar system thatÆs a very long way away? Not forgetting that according to the background story itself all but utterly forgotten.
Just wondering if there was a background explanation for it, anyone know? If not, why wasnÆt it measured against another speed? Like one of a true universal constant such as light, it wouldnÆt have to be perfect but, rounded off nicely, according to the ôEVEmathö works out at about 480Lights per AU.
Apologies in advance for taking the game too seriously
Read this
Quote:
...it seemed simpler and more desirable to use these familiar terms... (than) to invent a long series of wholly (alien) terms. In other words, we could have told you that one of our characters paused to strap on his quonglishes before setting out on a walk of seven vorks along the main gleebish of his native znoob, and everything might have seemed ever so much more thoroughly alien. But it would also have been ever so much more difficult to make sense out of what we were saying..."
-Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg, "To The Reader," Nightfall
|
Naibasak
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 03:44:00 -
[15]
Edited by: Naibasak on 11/10/2008 03:45:07
exactly Letouk, well maybe not quite that low from a technological standpoint but not far off, if each race put out its own arbitrary system it probably wouldnÆt be the easiest thing to understand, but if any universally recognised speed was introduced (like what they did with money for money) whatÆs wrong with light?
(still trying to get the image of wow as part of the eve backstory out of my head  )
|
Naibasak
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 03:47:00 -
[16]
ok sorry, IÆm totally failing to see what is so alien about the speed of light
|
CrayC
Gallente
CrayC Inc.
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 03:55:00 -
[17]
Originally by: Naibasak
ok sorry, IÆm totally failing to see what is so alien about the speed of light
As other have pointed out, there would be too many 0s and it is a lot more simple to say you warp 89AU than 0.000something-or-another. So what's so alien about using AU instead of light?
|
Naibasak
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 03:59:00 -
[18]
1 light is a speed... its basicaly mesured in time. so 5 au would be 40minutes
|
Letouk Mernel
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 04:01:00 -
[19]
Why did they use ISK and not "credits"? Why do some of the Minmatar have those particular sunglasses? Why are they using WW2 ship classifications (frigate, cruiser, battleship) for their ships?
|
Strill
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 04:03:00 -
[20]
Originally by: CrayC
Originally by: Naibasak
ok sorry, IÆm totally failing to see what is so alien about the speed of light
As other have pointed out, there would be too many 0s and it is a lot more simple to say you warp 89AU than 0.000something-or-another. So what's so alien about using AU instead of light?
He means that it would make more sense rp-wise to have 1500c instead of 3AUs/sec.
But the problem is that you still need to measure distances in AUs, and light-years are based on the orbit of the earth, which still wouldn't make sense rp wise. So they just used AUs for everything.
|
Naibasak
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 04:05:00 -
[21]
Because the names of things are translations, the speed of light doesnÆt need one, still sunglasses has stumped me.... why not?
|
CrayC
Gallente
CrayC Inc.
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 04:05:00 -
[22]
Originally by: Naibasak
1 light is a speed... its basicaly mesured in time. so 5 au would be 40minutes
If 5au = 40 minutes, then 1 light is not the same as lightspeed 
|
Naibasak
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 04:08:00 -
[23]
im putting 1au as 8 minutes, ccp changed the distance of the au... will have to rework the calculations later but its easier using this for now XP
|
CrayC
Gallente
CrayC Inc.
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 04:11:00 -
[24]
Originally by: Naibasak
im putting 1au as 8 minutes, ccp changed the distance of the au... will have to rework the calculations later but its easier using this for now XP
Wait, what? YOU change the time it takes for light to travel 1 AU, yet you say CCP change the distance of 1 AU? Contradicting much?
And yes, Windows XP is much easier to use than Vista. I hope the next Windows won't suck as much...
|
Naibasak
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 04:13:00 -
[25]
its "about" 8 minutes, i rounded down slightly (not much honest)
|
Strill
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 04:14:00 -
[26]
Edited by: Strill on 11/10/2008 04:19:37
Originally by: Naibasak
im putting 1au as 8 minutes, ccp changed the distance of the au... will have to rework the calculations later but its easier using this for now XP
CCP didn't change the length of an AU. And I answered your question of "why not" already. If you're going to measure speed then the speed of light is fine. You can say that you're traveling at 1500 * c instead of 3 AU/second. The problem is that you also need to measure distance. And in order to measure distance in terms of the speed of light you need a measurement of time, which would be arbitrary. So no matter what you do you still end up using some arbitrary unit that conflicts with the RP aspects of the game. So instead of using inconsistent units, CCP decided to just use AUs, seconds, and kilometers.
Originally by: CrayC
Originally by: Naibasak
im putting 1au as 8 minutes, ccp changed the distance of the au... will have to rework the calculations later but its easier using this for now XP
Wait, what? YOU change the time it takes for light to travel 1 AU, yet you say CCP change the distance of 1 AU? Contradicting much?
Light takes about 8.32 minutes to travel 1 AU. He's right.
|
Naibasak
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 04:16:00 -
[27]
ccp changed the distance of the AU to a round number to make the maths easier to do, i rounded to 8 already to save ccp doing it, (also it would make the ship a second or two faster on the long warps but dont tell ccp that)
|
Naibasak
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 04:17:00 -
[28]
Edited by: Naibasak on 11/10/2008 04:17:08
the eve online au is exactly 150,000,000km, a little over the real thing :)
|
Naibasak
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 04:19:00 -
[29]
ROFL!!!
Sorry, just noticed, you just called the one true universal constant inconsistent.
|
CrayC
Gallente
CrayC Inc.
|
Posted - 2008.10.11 04:20:00 -
[30]
Going at that speed, taking a few seconds off, can make a heck of a difference in the long run. Depending on who you ask, it's 8 minutes and 12 to 20 seconds. If we go by the lowest number, 5 AU would then be 41 minutes. Sure, 1 minute is not a lot. But when you reach a 100AU warp, it's a 20 minutes difference. And that's just for travel inside a single solar system. Going further than that, distance between solarsystems, if we keep measuring in AU, the difference could be weeks, months or even years. So rounding down, even as slightly as 12 seconds, makes a huge difference.
And how exactly do you know that CCP changed the distance of an AU in EVE from what it is in the real world? As I know it, the distance from the Earth to the Sun changes during the orbit and what part of the planet you are measuring from, but the astronomers have agreed on a single number - 149 598 000 kilometers. Are you saying CCP changed that to 149 000 000 or 150 000 000? If so, how can you be so sure of that?
|
| |
|
| Pages: [1] 2 3 :: one page |
| First page | Previous page | Next page | Last page |