I wanted to reply to a couple of things here. The quotes are from CattyNebulart (first) and KJ (second).
As far as effective weaponstech goes, I still go with the idea of handwavium to power things. The only tech I've used to create a weapon is the basic speed drive, and even that was toned down because of size considerations (yes, smaller things go faster, but my drones are too small to hold a truly effective engine). And there are some devices that could be created in space by fen who really want weapons - all of them hardtech. Railguns are not a new technology - maglev trains run on the same principle and we've had those for years. All you need is the power. The same for strong lasers. There are fractions (And yes, I noted the misspelling, Bob. When everyone started using it, I took it as something that might've happened when the groups were first settling - a typo that got picked up to distinguish our groups from regular factions.) that will want weaponry, even hardtech. Perhaps especially hardtech (Heinleiners, yay! Libertarians as well, I'd say). Some of us are paranoid, some of us are Guardian/Defender personalities...but at least a few of us will have planned for an emergency.
My drones are a primary example. Their MAIN function is exploration/workbots, and names generally indicate function. Poor Spare was a general bot - his function changed, depending on what needed done, such as the grow lights. Spool and Spindle are two types of grappler/winch bots. Succor has the best manipulators, Spotter the best cameras, and so on. They only become Swords at need (or sometimes Shields, depending). And even there, the attacks are either surprise attacks where the target is stationary (Hello, Mr. Zwilnik!), or defense, where the target is approaching you. My drones are too slow to CATCH a ship that's running full out away from me on its drive. I agree that the whirling stars bit under AI control isn't the most interesting of stories....but that doesn't have to be the way that an AI-controlled weapon goes.
All in all, I don't want to see a vast proliferation of weaponry. But if it makes sense for the character, and if it's doable with hardtech or such things as ramming speed, I don't think it should be too actively discouraged, either. While fen tend to be an amiable group as a whole, we're not exactly the most weapon-phobic either (says the man who took the name of his ship from a friggin' BATTLE HYMN). *scratches the back of his head* OK...I'll stop rambling now.
Quote:I'm not sure I like the idea of something that can neutralize handwavium. At least, not en masse. Now, perhaps something that would allow limited interference, that could work. You could have something that would nullify engines just long enough for the Reaver ship to grapple/lock onto the target ship, and perhaps they have a handwaved jammer to prevent communications. It would still let people do those swashbuckling boarding actions without being quite so overpowering.
Reaver probably attack from either ambush or boarding action I agree. Or considering how much of the tech relies on handwavium they have something that neutralizes handwavium for a bit. Losing pressure, communication (seriously, hardtech comminicators that can reach over light seconds are big and expensive), lifesupport, engines and a bunch of other things in an instant got to suck.
Quote:I'm guilty of a bit of this. As far as AIs being willing to commit violence, I'm on the plus side for this. The handwavium may have formed the initial AI matrix, but after that, it's up to the AI. My take on this is probably not surprising, since I have an AI that acts as an emergency weapons officer on my ship.
*nod* Some might even have hardtech weapons bolted to their vehicles (*cough*Heinleiners*cough*) which may or may not be legal on Earth but... well, up in the black, who cares? But at this stage in the evolution of things, nipping the whole "effective ship-ship weapons" armsrace in the bud seems advisable.
Part of that is just interest. Given the velocities involved, the manuverability of speedrives and whatnot, anything that's not an outright surprise/desperation attack is just going to be a matter of telling your AI (if, as handwavium constructs, they'll commit violence; another debate p'raps) or computer to engage, watching the stars whirl around crazily as your ship manuvers far faster than human reflexes can comprehend, then either dying or waiting for a message that the target got destroyed.
As far as effective weaponstech goes, I still go with the idea of handwavium to power things. The only tech I've used to create a weapon is the basic speed drive, and even that was toned down because of size considerations (yes, smaller things go faster, but my drones are too small to hold a truly effective engine). And there are some devices that could be created in space by fen who really want weapons - all of them hardtech. Railguns are not a new technology - maglev trains run on the same principle and we've had those for years. All you need is the power. The same for strong lasers. There are fractions (And yes, I noted the misspelling, Bob. When everyone started using it, I took it as something that might've happened when the groups were first settling - a typo that got picked up to distinguish our groups from regular factions.) that will want weaponry, even hardtech. Perhaps especially hardtech (Heinleiners, yay! Libertarians as well, I'd say). Some of us are paranoid, some of us are Guardian/Defender personalities...but at least a few of us will have planned for an emergency.
My drones are a primary example. Their MAIN function is exploration/workbots, and names generally indicate function. Poor Spare was a general bot - his function changed, depending on what needed done, such as the grow lights. Spool and Spindle are two types of grappler/winch bots. Succor has the best manipulators, Spotter the best cameras, and so on. They only become Swords at need (or sometimes Shields, depending). And even there, the attacks are either surprise attacks where the target is stationary (Hello, Mr. Zwilnik!), or defense, where the target is approaching you. My drones are too slow to CATCH a ship that's running full out away from me on its drive. I agree that the whirling stars bit under AI control isn't the most interesting of stories....but that doesn't have to be the way that an AI-controlled weapon goes.
All in all, I don't want to see a vast proliferation of weaponry. But if it makes sense for the character, and if it's doable with hardtech or such things as ramming speed, I don't think it should be too actively discouraged, either. While fen tend to be an amiable group as a whole, we're not exactly the most weapon-phobic either (says the man who took the name of his ship from a friggin' BATTLE HYMN). *scratches the back of his head* OK...I'll stop rambling now.