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[Kapilux]

In the Mass Effect universe quantum entanglement communicators are used for faster than light communication between any two points within the galaxy, i.e. real-time communication is possible from opposite sides of the Milky Way. (side note: this is not pure fiction but actually theoretically possible between any two points within the Universe)

 

The distance of the Milky Way to the Andromeda Galaxy is about 2500 kly (kly = kilo-light-year = 1000 light-years) and the estimated diameter of the Milky Way is 100 - 180 kly. That said, the only things preventing real-time communication from an Ark in the Andromeda Galaxy to the Milky Way would be either a.) a plot hole or b.) "golly gosh darnit; this here communicator ain't working or nobody on Earth is answering".

 

Thoughts?

[Kapilux]

[Element Zero]

I thought of this a couple of months ago. I wonder if the writers have thought of it? I'm betting the ability to call home to Earth at will isn't something they're looking to build into the feel of the game.

A QEC would definitely work exactly the same from Andromeda to the Milky Way as it would from point to point in the original trilogy.

[10K]

My money is on Plothole.

[The Dystopian Hound]

In the Mass Effect universe quantum entanglement communicators are used for faster than light communication between any two points within the galaxy, i.e. real-time communication is possible from opposite sides of the milky way. (side note: this is not pure fiction but actually theoretically possible)

That said, the distance of the Milky Way to the Andromeda Galaxy is about 2500 kly (kly = kilo-light-year = 1000 light-years) and the estimated diameter of the milky way is 100 - 180 kly. That said, the only things preventing real-time communication from an Ark in the Andromeda Galaxy to the Milky Way would be either a.) a plot hole or b.) "golly gosh darnit; this here communicator ain't working or nobody on Earth is answering".

Thoughts?

Doubtful. Plot wise it wouldn't make sense.

[The One True Nobody]

Quantum Entanglement Communication is literally the only way they could communicate between galaxies. The distance is too great for anything else.

 

And it'd be dumb not to sent a quantum entangler or two along with your extra-galactic colonization team so you could, you know, confirm if/when they finally arrived and ensure your zillions of credits didn't just go down the crapper.

[Element Zero]

We don't know how much time we will actually be spending docked with the Ark(s). The sense of isolation could easily be preserved if we are venturing out into the unknown that tiny frigate, while the Arks do logically have QECs.

Of course, who knows what happened on the "other end of the line" during the centuries of cryosleep? I mostly jest about that. That would be a needless plot thread leading nowhere, since we could never explore such a mystery.

[AlanC9]

If they want it to work, it'll work.

If they don't, something will have failed at the MW end. For instance, if the Ark leaves before the end of ME3, then the Reapers blew up the other terminal.

[Fogg]

I think there shouldn't be any communications with the milky way. Just ignore everything there, from the genophage being cured or not to the ending.

[shodiswe]

Given complications with plots and endings, I'm sure they will say the Quantum relays in the milkyway were destroyed, the Reapers did destroy a lot of communications and other infrastructure.

 

Once one of the Relays has been destroyed, I doubt you will be able to find the coupled twin ever again, in fact, I'm not sure the twin will remain coupled in less than ideal conditions, it's one of those things about Quantum physics.

 

They might even present you with the Ark QEC device, that's now dead, least from a communications stand point. Still, it might be possible to repurpose it an connect it to a new communicator if you find one or build one, might be hard to build with limited tech and resources though, or maybe you will find an ancient commdevice that can be linked up giving you communications with the new council and military command to warn them of incomming emergencies. Or recieve warnings.

 

If you got two devices with you, then you should be able to link them, even if one is alien the laws of physics should be the same.

[JedTed]

 

 b.) "golly gosh darnit; this here communicator ain't working or nobody on Earth is answering".

 

Thoughts?

 

 

Maybe Shepard chose the Red ending and it wiped out all QE Communicators in the Galaxy.

 

If the Arkcon mission set off pre-Reaper invasion, perhaps they didn't take a QEC with them specifically so the Reapers wouldn't follow them.

[capn233]

Would be pretty funny if they had them, but then nobody in MWG answered when they "phoned home."

[JasonShepard]

i.e. real-time communication is possible from opposite sides of the Milky Way. (side note: this is not pure fiction but actually theoretically possible between any two points within the Universe)

 

Umm... Sorry to burst your bubble, but most (albeit not all) scientists agree that it isn't possible. Check out the No-communication Theorem (Wikipedia has an informal go at explaining it), but Mass Effect style QECs are almost certainly impossible.

 

Short, incredibly simplified version: Quantum entanglement is like me sending a beam of light to you and your friend. You receive a blue beam of light. You have no idea what colour the beam of light that your friend received was.

 

If I separately tell you, (through slower-than-light communication) that one beam of light was blue, and the other was red, you can conclude that your friend received a red beam. (Analogy to the ME3 endings not intended ) But that's effectively a slower than light message.

 

The weirdly quantum aspect is that, if I did this using quantum particles, then the beam that arrived with you was *both* colours right up until you looked at it (Schrodinger's cat situation). So was the beam that your friend received. Every time this experiment was done, you and your friend would still receive oppositely coloured beams of light, they just wouldn't be determined until one of you looked at the beam. This implies that some sort of FTL signal took place, but it's not something that we can piggyback a message onto.

 

Of course, quantum mechanics *is* incomplete - it doesn't include gravity, and it has some fairly major disagreements with General Relativity - so there is the possibility that a future theory might allow for some form of instantaneous communication. But for now, then QECs don't remotely agree with the generally accepted thinking regarding quantum entanglement.

 

******

 

As for ME:A - including a QEC would allow for us to get some feedback on how the post ME3 galaxy is doing without it dominating the game. But at the same time, it's sounding like we're set a LONG time after the original trilogy, so the Milky Way galaxy at the time of ME:A would probably be almost unrecognisable from how we left it.

 

So it's a possibility that we'll hear from them, but I doubt it. QECs could be handwaved as simply not lasting long enough to make the journey.

[KirkyX]

'Alright, who dropped our end of the quantum entanglement communicator in dark space?'

 

'... My bad, boss.'

 

'Fuckin' Jerry, man...'

[Beerfish]

Two tin cans with a really long string in between.

[Malanek]

You can't really afford to have communication because otherwise the Ark would turn round less than 1% into its voyage after the Reapers were defeated. I'm really not sure how they answer that question, anything they do will feel convoluted.

[Wulfram]

They really should never have introduced Quantum Entanglement communication into the lore, all it does is shrink the galaxy.

 

Ideally I'd rather not have FTL comms at all (beyond, y'know, flying a space ship), but at least the conventional stuff could be limited.

[The Dystopian Hound]

Maybe Shepard chose the Red ending and it wiped out all QE Communicators in the Galaxy.

If the Arkcon mission set off pre-Reaper invasion, perhaps they didn't take a QEC with them specifically so the Reapers wouldn't follow them.

or maybe shep took control of the reapers.

[Sigzy05]

If the people on the arks were on stasis, it would mean that they would take some time to reach Andromeda, so, when they arrive I'm pretty sure the reaper war on the Milky Way would be over and then you'd have to deal with the three endings. I'm sure Bioware would not go there.

[Wulfram]

If the people on the arks were on stasis, it would mean that they would take some time to reach Andromeda, so, when they arrive I'm pretty sure the reaper war on the Milky Way would be over and then you'd have to deal with the three endings. I'm sure Bioware would not go there.

 

Well, we might be far enough in the future for the endings not to really matter.

 

If they used my favourite way to reach Andromeda, 2.5 million years will have passed back home.

[Monster A-Go Go]

Just have time dilation be part of the travel method used to reach Andromeda.  The years asleep on an ark ship translates to thousands of years passed back in the Milky Way.  That's plenty of time for the Milky Way's corresponding QEC to have broken down or gotten lost, severing any communication.

[BioWareM0d13]

Bored Milky Way comm tech: "The war is over. We won like, I don't know, maybe 500 years ago? Ancient history, man."

*munches Cheetos*

Ryder: "Well, ****."

[Nohvarr]

 

In the Mass Effect universe quantum entanglement communicators are used for faster than light communication between any two points within the galaxy, i.e. real-time communication is possible from opposite sides of the Milky Way. (side note: this is not pure fiction but actually theoretically possible between any two points within the Universe)

 

The distance of the Milky Way to the Andromeda Galaxy is about 2500 kly (kly = kilo-light-year = 1000 light-years) and the estimated diameter of the Milky Way is 100 - 180 kly. That said, the only things preventing real-time communication from an Ark in the Andromeda Galaxy to the Milky Way would be either a.) a plot hole or b.) "golly gosh darnit; this here communicator ain't working or nobody on Earth is answering".

 

Thoughts?

 

Honestly, since the trip requires stasis, communicating with the Milk Way is likely not a priority. So far all media and info we have implies this is a one way trip and everyone on board knows it. Wasting time and space on Quantum comm equipment doesn't make a lot of sense. I mean, best case scenario....who will be waiting to talk to them? Any family they have is either with them, or long since dead no matter which ending occurs.

[Gwydden]

Honestly, since the trip requires stasis, communicating with the Milk Way is likely not a priority. So far all media and info we have implies this is a one way trip and everyone on board knows it. Wasting time and space on Quantum comm equipment doesn't make a lot of sense. I mean, best case scenario....who will be waiting to talk to them? Any family they have is either with them, or long since dead no matter which ending occurs.

Not to mention Harbinger might be the one to pick up the phone.

[DextroDNA]

Doubtful. Plot wise it wouldn't make sense.

Stupidest thing I've read today.

 

The plot of Andromeda is presumably to colonise a new Galaxy, amongst other things. You really think the boys back home aren't going to want updates on how it's coming along?