Dave2112
Level of Cherry Feather
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- Apr 17, 2001
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To answer phfttklr's assertations about the technology timeline...
Technology actually was at a lower point during the Galactic Civil War than it was during the time of the Republic and the Clone Wars...at least for those not serving the Empire directly. The Rebel Alliance didn't have the luxury of endless coffers of cash to finance thier offensive...or much else for that matter. Many (including Leia) spent a good portion of thier own personal fortunes on hardware and supplies. However, it's still not enough to take on a military Empire. I don't want to get into an entire history of Galactic finance here, but it does make sense that the tech level would drop after what amounted to a military coup of the recognized government.
The Empire had control of everything. They limited public access to the HoloNet, allowing pretty much only the government's propaganda. You have to remember that the galaxy at large didn't know a damn thing about Palpatine's real rise to power or his intentions. They saw a man who saved the galaxy from the devastation of the Clone Wars and restored order to people tired and ravaged by war. Most of the surviving populations after the Clone Wars came to equate high levels of technology with the Confederacy, those who had wiped out entire species. So, it was no big trick to start cutting back on the production of new technologies...meanwhile, the worlds of the Outer Rim (the ones we mostly see in the films) started to slowly slip back into thier version of the Stone Age (ie: repulsorlifts and homemade droids, but just try getting parts for a Nubian J7 hyperdrive)
Funny you should bring up the X-wing, by the way, as it's the perfect example of how this all fits into the story. Originally, the company that designed the craft, Incom, was devloping a new starfighter for the Empire. Sienar's T.I.E. fighters were exellent swarm vehicles...fast, nimble and packed with firepower, and they were produced by the millions. Pilots were expendable to the Empire, shown often by the wings of hundreds that would be dispatched to overtake a relatively small ship or group. However, the Empire wanted something that could be used for specific missions, a true superiority starfighter that could be deployed when the swarm tactic wasn't appropriate or effective. Luckily for the Alliance, the designers and several key officals at Incom were Rebel sympathizers and delivered the plans for the fighter to the Alliance. Incom wound up pulling up shop and producing ships for the Rebels, but that's another story.
So, the Rebels were fighting the Empire with lesser technologies and hardware, just like the Afghans did against the Russians, the American Colonists did against the British and so on. The X-wing was the big advantage they were able to get. It's like the PLO getting Lockheed to make F-15's for them.
The apparent lack of technology in the chronologically later films then makes sense. The Empire kept all the good stuff for themselves, and most of the non-Core systems barely noticed.
Technology actually was at a lower point during the Galactic Civil War than it was during the time of the Republic and the Clone Wars...at least for those not serving the Empire directly. The Rebel Alliance didn't have the luxury of endless coffers of cash to finance thier offensive...or much else for that matter. Many (including Leia) spent a good portion of thier own personal fortunes on hardware and supplies. However, it's still not enough to take on a military Empire. I don't want to get into an entire history of Galactic finance here, but it does make sense that the tech level would drop after what amounted to a military coup of the recognized government.
The Empire had control of everything. They limited public access to the HoloNet, allowing pretty much only the government's propaganda. You have to remember that the galaxy at large didn't know a damn thing about Palpatine's real rise to power or his intentions. They saw a man who saved the galaxy from the devastation of the Clone Wars and restored order to people tired and ravaged by war. Most of the surviving populations after the Clone Wars came to equate high levels of technology with the Confederacy, those who had wiped out entire species. So, it was no big trick to start cutting back on the production of new technologies...meanwhile, the worlds of the Outer Rim (the ones we mostly see in the films) started to slowly slip back into thier version of the Stone Age (ie: repulsorlifts and homemade droids, but just try getting parts for a Nubian J7 hyperdrive)
Funny you should bring up the X-wing, by the way, as it's the perfect example of how this all fits into the story. Originally, the company that designed the craft, Incom, was devloping a new starfighter for the Empire. Sienar's T.I.E. fighters were exellent swarm vehicles...fast, nimble and packed with firepower, and they were produced by the millions. Pilots were expendable to the Empire, shown often by the wings of hundreds that would be dispatched to overtake a relatively small ship or group. However, the Empire wanted something that could be used for specific missions, a true superiority starfighter that could be deployed when the swarm tactic wasn't appropriate or effective. Luckily for the Alliance, the designers and several key officals at Incom were Rebel sympathizers and delivered the plans for the fighter to the Alliance. Incom wound up pulling up shop and producing ships for the Rebels, but that's another story.
So, the Rebels were fighting the Empire with lesser technologies and hardware, just like the Afghans did against the Russians, the American Colonists did against the British and so on. The X-wing was the big advantage they were able to get. It's like the PLO getting Lockheed to make F-15's for them.
The apparent lack of technology in the chronologically later films then makes sense. The Empire kept all the good stuff for themselves, and most of the non-Core systems barely noticed.
