[adi11235]

This looks like a glitch in the story. Just after the Great War, it would not have been possible for Earth to be completely cut off from contact. Even if transportation would not be possible (I mean, 3LY, with all the possibilities of the GDVA ought to be covered in say, a decade @ 1/3 the speed of light). The nearest system with a jump node was was Alpha Centauri, and that's a nearby star.

Secondly, communication, which still proceeds at the speed of light, ought to be possible (though delayed by 3 or so years).

And even if no attempts to communicate are made on the Earth side, it should still be possible to listen in to radio traffic leaking into outer space. Consider SETI-grade radio antennae times a couple of thousand times.

Just a few thoughts. Not that I'm taking the game too seriously (hey, all space battles happen at a mere less than 100 mph within ranges of a few km... in space!).

But it's still fun to wonder 

[[DW]-Hunter]

actually, alpha centari, in the Freespace universe isnt as close as you would think. weird isnt it. the closest node which is colapsed is delta serpentis. Heres a map of the systems below. But yeah, contact between earth would take more then 120 years for one message to reach it.

[adi11235]

What do the dotted lines represent? Colapsed gateways?

[adi11235]

Actually, after consulting the wiki, this is what I came up with:

Alpha Centauri
Distance from Sol: 4.395 lyrs, 1.347 par

You don't need to station receptors on Delta Serpentis, all it's needed are a couple of telescopes at Alpha Centauri, which can then quickly relay news all throughout the rest of the gateway system.

Radio waves need no jump nodes to propagate.

And technically, travel should be possible, even if it takes in the order of 10 years. At least in the form of automatic probes. Anyway, with the FS level of technology, it should in principle be possible to build fast near-lightspeed spacecrafts.

[Mongoose]

Hunter, as far as I'm aware, the nodemap was never meant to represent real-world distance from each other; it simply displays the inter-system connections in an easy-to-read format.  Considering the fact that the vast majority of systems in FS1/2 are actual stars, I would expect that their real-world distances from Sol apply in-universe, as well.

Regarding the original question, that's always been one of the great mysteries of FS2, and there have been plenty of theories on the subject.  One is that there's some sort of interstellar dust cloud, or other type of disturbance, located between Sol and Alpha Centauri that would prevent radio transmissions from getting through.  Another is that, considering the fact that a three-year lag time would make any messages sent almost instantly out-of-date, Sol might have decided to just not bother sending them out.  A rather sinister possibility is that GTVA command has received messages from Sol, but the content of them was too disturbing to be unclassified.  There's also the chance that the Shivans managed to find another way into Sol, meaning that there wouldn't be anyone to send any messages.  In any case, it's not something we'll likely ever know for certain.

[AlphaOne]

That or its just simple game story. Remember that it wouldnt be any need for a jump gate a knossos or the burning desire to return to Sol that burns in the hearts of every terran citizen in the GTVA is such comunication and eventual travel would be posible. The fact that contact with Sol has not yet been made makes you wonder what if... and why not...and how would.....? It adds a certain amount of drama to the game and it leaves an opening or rather it originaly left an opening for....ummm......well a followup story.

My best guess is that this plkot line was originali intended to be exploited in a continuation of the series.

Or the shivans found a way to Sol blew it up or rather devastated everything then GTVA found out and as not to have a rebelion on theyr hands decided to hide this from the public! That should keep the conspiracy followers happy!

[Harbinger of DOOM]

I like Woo's story better..........
Hell, I like all stories better.

[Polpolion]

Just a few thoughts. Not that I'm taking the game too seriously (hey, all space battles happen at a mere less than 100 mph within ranges of a few km... in space!).

IIRC, the ships travel in Meters per Second, making them fly at around.

Usually, dogfights take place at anywhere from 110mph to 190 mph.

[Dysko]

IIRC, in FS2 is said somewhere "according to declassified transmission, the attack [on the Lucifer] was successful". This could mean that there may have been a sort of communication between Earth and GTVA.

[Harbinger of DOOM]

Just a few thoughts. Not that I'm taking the game too seriously (hey, all space battles happen at a mere less than 100 mph within ranges of a few km... in space!).

IIRC, the ships travel in Meters per Second, making them fly at around.

Usually, dogfights take place at anywhere from 110mph to 190 mph.

THAT is slow.

[Snail]

Why is this topic brought up so much. It gets very annoying sometimes.

[Mongoose]

IIRC, in FS2 is said somewhere "according to declassified transmission, the attack [on the Lucifer] was successful". This could mean that there may have been a sort of communication between Earth and GTVA.

I'd always assumed that that referred to inter-pilot transmissions before/as the Lucifer was destroyed, not messages sent afterwards.

[Roanoke]

I prefer a Babylon5 style situation where humans born on colonies, who have probably never seen earth, wouldn't be all that bothered (well, desperate anyway) to re-establish contact.

[Snail]

Well they'd be pestered bvy the ones who were desperate.

[Bob-san]

We could go like a BSG-version... Earth is the last known Human Outpost... though centuries out-of-date, represents the final legacy of all humans. They weren't annilated yet; they were forgotten in history and sought for sancturary.