[Gamma_Draconis]

In the Ancient's Monologue 1, the speaker describes the progress of her species. After thousand of years of expanding, (I believe this includes all ages from Stone to Galactic), the Ancients recognized that they could travel no farther. What if the Ancients never discovered subspace or if no suitable jump nodes existed? What if the Terrans after thousands of years of progress found that they could never escape Sol. Trapped within our local systems, knowing the limits has been reached might change everything. I think there's a subtle message that suggests that once any species reach their maximum capacity, chaos will ensure. Would that suggest the self destruction of those left on Sol?

[Colonol Dekker]

Umm.
 
Spice?

[Paladin327]

sup light propulsion and lotts of magazines

[The E]

One thing you are underestimating is that Solar systems are big places. Given the technological advancement present in the FS universe, building up Luna and Mars into habitable worlds is possible. It takes _a long time_ for places like that to fill up to the point of self-destruction.

[Gamma_Draconis]

One thing you are underestimating is that Solar systems are big places. Given the technological advancement present in the FS universe, building up Luna and Mars into habitable worlds is possible. It takes _a long time_ for places like that to fill up to the point of self-destruction.

I think it's clear that the Ancients were on the brink of that stage. They seem to have taken a much longer time finding subspace compared to the Terrans and Vasudans though.

[The E]

Except for the tiny little fact that the Ancients had subspace tech.

Sayeth Ancients Monologue 1:

And we discovered subspace. It gave us our galaxy and it gave us the universe. And we saw other advanced life. And we subdued it or we crushed it. In months the extermination of billions of years of evolution on a similar but slower path. With subspace, our empire would surely know no boundaries.

In other words, that Ancients discovered Supspace tech and exploited the hell out of it before the Shivans came and killed them.

[Gamma_Draconis]

On the same monologue, the speaker also acknowledges they had seen the limits meaning they recognize that their expansion would be finite. That indicates that they were on the verge of reaching the limit.

Ours was a proud people, and always the strongest. For thousands of years, our empire expanded. For so long, we could imagine ourselves alone in the universe. For so long, never did we encounter advanced life.

And we travelled faster and farther, spreading in our galaxy; and before long, we could see the day when our reachable systems would have been exploited. And then there would be nowhere else to go.

We're speculating on how species would develop with the absence of subspace. It's very possible for the Ancients to have potentially destroy themselves given their tendency for imperialism. Or could being limited to their own systems make them vulnerable to subspacefaring species?

[NGTM-1R]

I think it's a lot simpler than that. Pure resource depletion.

[Mongoose]

On the same monologue, the speaker also acknowledges they had seen the limits meaning they recognize that their expansion would be finite. That indicates that they were on the verge of reaching the limit.

Ours was a proud people, and always the strongest. For thousands of years, our empire expanded. For so long, we could imagine ourselves alone in the universe. For so long, never did we encounter advanced life.

And we travelled faster and farther, spreading in our galaxy; and before long, we could see the day when our reachable systems would have been exploited. And then there would be nowhere else to go.

That line came right before the line in The E's post, implying that the Ancients had reached some sort of self-realized limit before their discovery of subspace.  It enabled them to transcend that limit and spread across the entire galaxy, and possibly beyond.

[Bob-san]

On the same monologue, the speaker also acknowledges they had seen the limits meaning they recognize that their expansion would be finite. That indicates that they were on the verge of reaching the limit.

Ours was a proud people, and always the strongest. For thousands of years, our empire expanded. For so long, we could imagine ourselves alone in the universe. For so long, never did we encounter advanced life.

And we travelled faster and farther, spreading in our galaxy; and before long, we could see the day when our reachable systems would have been exploited. And then there would be nowhere else to go.

That line came right before the line in The E's post, implying that the Ancients had reached some sort of self-realized limit before their discovery of subspace.  It enabled them to transcend that limit and spread across the entire galaxy, and possibly beyond.

Or they realized the problem and set out to solve it. The solution, subspace technology, expanded their "playing field" hundreds of times over and brought the big, developed and subspace-traversing Ancients into contact with dozens of others.

[Rico]

I think it's a lot simpler than that. Pure resource depletion.

Well they did say the systems being exploited would be finite, so it def sounds like resource depletion.

[Deka1184]

I think it's a lot simpler than that. Pure resource depletion.

Well they did say the systems being exploited would be finite, so it def sounds like resource depletion.

"YOU HAVE NOT ENOUGH MINERALS"