Inspired by the discussion on what an autoquill looks like, I have more real-life mundanities for which I would like to know what the W40K equivalent could be. Like, for example:

1. the internet -> some kinda datagrid in sufficiently technologically advanced places, but who can access it and what kind of information would it hold?
2. television -> merely some propaganda channel aired over communal pict screens?
3. telephone -> vox -nets which include public pay boxes?
4. ID -> does every citizen have some kind of identification card and do acolytes have multiple or false ones?
5. timekeeping -> is there some kind of Galactic Standard Time with local variances?

I would definitely be interested in a sourcebook detailing such things.

The trouble is the official GW party line is: it depends.

Officially, there is no one Imperial culture or "standard Imperial world." Every world is unique, separated from the Imperium by vast reaches of space and only having periodic contact through rare and mighty starships. We look at places like Armageddon and Necromunda and use them as models for other hive worlds, but only because they are the only examples we've been given. An Imperial world could look like almost anything.

It's actually the biggest problem I'm having getting a DH game set up, is trying to figure out a particular world in which to set my game.

Best I can do is offer examples of when such things cropped up in GW or BL publication.

You see something like an Internet in both Ravenor and Mechanicum. Its more like modern times in Ravenor, where it can be accessed by cogiators and data-slates. In Mechanicum, it is essentially the internet built into your head. You can 'see' the personal information of augumented people and access the systems of the Hive you inhabit. This also ties into the whole personal ID thing you asked about. It should be noted that this technology was invented on Mars shortly before the Mechanicum's split between those for or against the rule of Horus. It was most likely lost in the ensueing warfare. If it wasn't destroyed it would only be availavble on Forge Worlds.

The mention television in Lord of the NIght. It makes sense that Imperial worlds would have some sort of propaganda machine whetehr it be television or radio. Question is whether it is privately owned or Administratum run. Probably a case by case basis like everythin in 40k. A mass communication system also makes sense on most Imperial Worlds. Its hard to find examples of this in the book though because characters tend to use a Vox network which could be military technology.

ID cards are probably also a commn thing on many worlds. They will vary immensely though. From metal cards you slide into the Manufactorum devices each day to count your attendence to tatoos that contain all your personal information that is readable with an Arbites scanner. You can get a lot of free reign with that.

Advanced worlds and some space craft might also use genetic scanners, relying on your genetics for your "personal identification". However, this would require a centralized registry, while an ID card, electoo, or similar can simply contain all the data and compare it to a database to look for contradictions (and check for forgery). It would also make mutation doubly-bad.

There is a textbox on day-to-day life on a Hive World in Inquisitor's Handbook, along with some everyday items.

the internet ->

Depends on the world. Since there is no interplanetary communication, or at least galactic communication, the internet would be confined to individual planets. Certain planets then could control the internet as much as it can be controlled today, with restrictions, hackers, or completely open depending on the transparency of the individual worlds government.

television ->

See same answer as the Internet. Basicaly, no galactic communication so TV (and radio) confined to planets.

telephone ->

See above answers.

ID -> now this one varies. Each planet may or may not have a planetary style ID. I believe something along this line is described in the Game book. That said, the Military definatly has ID, and there is probably an Imperial Passport for those who travel between planets that is standardized. But unless your military or you have some reason to travel alot, its up to the individual planets if every citizen has to have an ID or not, and Planet A's ID is probably vastly different then Planet B's. Alcolytes would have at least one set of IDs (their Passport) and a bunch of fake ones, and would, if they were smart and their planet had an ID, a few of the planetary IDs.

timekeeping -> There is a Galactic Standard Time, but for the life of me I can't remember what its based off of. That said its probably rarely used by common people, and only those who do a lot of travels, and Astropaths more importantly would use GST. Most just rely on local times, or a common Sector time, and leave it at that.

As for Television/Radio/Media in the Imperium, I would agree that in general it would be confined in general to systems/planets and not dissimilar to RL media. News, entertainment, live broadcasts, system produced movies, radio/podcasting, special events, etc by default being unique to said planets/systems. Most media and news service would be under strict controls with rules and regulations laid out by Imperial regulations. The Imperium would have it's watchdog organizations out there to make sure they stay in line. Or in some respects the Imperium government itself may be the ultimate control of the media. Of course there would be some independent and pirate sources/networks out there that work outside of the system. At best they function to bring non standard programing that is mildly tolerated that does not fit the norm. At the worse they are manned by enemies of the Empire as a tool of control and recruitment.

Not all aspects of Media would be limited to a system. There probably is a great degree of Imperial sanctioned programing, including but not limited to propaganda, supporting the government, religious upliftment, and recruitment for example. Of course said programing is all recorded and only uploaded to the networks depending on how it comes through on the next intergallactic trade ship with provisions put in to ensure that it can run 50 years without a need for an update.. Also a good deal of commercial media traffic would exist, again being recorded and shipped via agencies/networks from guilds, corporations, and other commercial entities. Movies, documenteries, and special events would also be recorded and circulated to various networks, and in turn put onto movie screens then distributed to the public via internet like networks, or through domestically produced hardcopies. It is also possible that news subscription services would exist as well. In this case say groups of people who moved from Cadia to Necromunda could keep up with news from home (though more often than not the "new" news could be as much as 80 years old).

What is broadcast on the vids would greatly varry between system with no two systems having emphisis on the same stuff other than the typical "Uplifting Programing". Some things that are promoted or tollerated in one system or planet may be taboo in another, or simply just don't exist.

While great degrees of control and government involvement may be involved in Imperium Media, there would also be oppertunities of various enterprising individuals to bring electronic media into markets that would otherwise not have them. Like lets say planets that are becoming more developed and/or having more contact with the Imperium at large. So it would not be out of the ordinary for a more medeval based planet to have an established "electronic bard" in several of the more reputable inns.

Being the big influential business that media is, it leaves a lot of room open for potential adventure seeds for DH.

Xathess Wolfe said:

Yes, there is an Imperial Standard Time- based upon a terran sidereal year and (loosely) upon the gregorian calendar. Without wanting to blow my own trumpet over-much, I do a rather good explanation of it here. It won't be used much, save by bureaucrats and Imperial functionaries (including the adeptes Arbites, Ministorum, and, of course, the adepts of the Administratum of the Adeptus Terra); interstellar travellers; members of transtellar merchant combines; dock workers and longshoremen (at spaceports/starports, not ocean); astropaths... you get the idea: anyone involved in the Imperial politburo or in interstellar travel and commerce (hell, even interplanetary commerce) will have to have at least passing familiarity with it, whether or not it is what they use to regulate their everyday lives.

And just for reference- yes the Inquisition comes under Imperial functionaries, and yes, I do implement it in my game: the party gets paid every 100 standard Days, into an account maintained with the Guild Bank of House Banatek of the Navis Nobilite. This is not necessarily readily accessable...

In Ravenor everyone has a hand vox that they use just like a mobile phone.

Course, this being 40k I can't help but feel the phone should look like this:-

or even be a large manpacked monstrosity carried by your dedicated phone bearer servitor.

Ubiquitous telecommunications are so much a part of life these days that anything trying to be relevant kinda needs a place to make gags about the internet and twitter and whatnot.

Also to be pointed out is that even under IST, it isn't possible to establish exactly when you are in relation to the rest of the universe. Astropaths often keep their own chronos and listen for "when you hear the tone it will be exactly..." notices from Terra. This measures the discrepancies betweem Terra and the Astropath, which is at least a basis for measurement.

As I recall, it's actually pointed out somewhere that Calixis is specifically noted for being in a slightly unstable timeframe - while you know what month and year it is, and even what IST day it is, the exact hour might not be exactly parallel with Terra.

In my games, there is no network that resembles the internet. The digital storing and retrieval of documents is largely nonexistant outside of the Adeptus Mechanicus. That's why Imperial organizations need such vast armies of fuctionaries and beurocrats to collate, organize and store all their information. That's the way it is typically depicted in the literature, so that's what I stick with.

As far as radio, television and movies go, they do exist but their scope is quite limited. Such devices are only available on the most advanced Imperial worlds or Hive Worlds and only the well to do can afford vid screens and so there might be only one vid screen in an entire neighborhood in the mid hive. Television shows are controlled by planetary censorship boards that answer to the Adeptus Arbites. The Arbites typically won't intervene unless they deem the planetary Censorship board inneffective. The Ecclesiarchy will only be involved if the work in question is deemeed to be blasphemous.

Vox receivers are extremely common in many corners of the galaxy. I am sure that many a fuedal or feral world peasant gathers around a vox set every night to hear the gods speak.

I take my queue from the IH. In it, it has a device known as a Vox-Phonograph which is primarily used as entertainment for the wealthy as the middle and underhivers simply can't afford such technological comforts. It is effectively this:

...only with a few more skulls, perhaps a dead baby stapled to it for some odd reason, and, if it's in the mood, it can project magic lantern halo-shows.

Seeing as how that's the main technological personal entertainment device for the wealthy on most typical hive worlds in the Calixis sector and the fact that Hive worlds are the most heavily inundated with technology outside a forge world, that should say something about the state of personal leisure time electronics in the Calixis sector.

The IH dose go on to put up a brief blurb on the common hivers life stating that on most common Imperial Hive worlds in the Calixis sector, what little mass media exists is rigidly controlled by the Ecclessearchy and state agencies for the purposes of security and moral instruction (sounds like some fun media... seriously...). Beyond what little mass media exists, entertainment takes on a much simpler and direct form for mid and low hivers. Bars, hookers, live shows, and blood sports are common distractions from life while the rich tend to enjoy the circuses, carnivals, halo-lantern shows, and strolls through arbor domes.

Mass communication and rapid information at your finger tips dose not seem to exist at all in the 40k universe and it makes sense for it not to. In a universe where knowledge is so dangerous that the wrong nugget of it can make you grow eye stalks then it stands to reason that information would be tightly controlled and not easily accessible to the masses. More dangerous is the contagion of ideas. Mass media allows ideas to rapidly spread through a populace allowing different and possibly subversive thoughts, observations, and outlooks to be easily spread and difficult to get rid of once the rebellious cancer takes root. Because of that (and the eye stalk thing to a lesser extent) any form of mass communication or media would, by necessity, have to be strictly controlled.

Sure, a planet can have any form of mass media for it's people, but a planet that has such and dose not control it, it runs the very real risk of the wrong kind of information getting out, the kind that leads to rebellion, corruption, or some other state that will threaten the security of the planet. Sure, once that happens, the Abiters, Inquisition, or some other force will come and set things right but you can bet that once order is restored and corruption purged, the Arbiters will be going after the ruling body of the planet. After all, by allowing such an easily averted situation to erupt on the planet and jeopardize an Imperial Planet's security, such a ruling body would be deemed too weak or incompetent to continue existing.

"It all depends on the planet" arguments don't hold much water in regaurds to mass media. I think it can be safe to assume that it would universally be in the best interests of the ruling body of an Imperial Planet to either eliminate any mass media for the public or, if they deem it worthy of the man hours and specialists needed to police and censor the media, then strictly control it. Of course, if they do go the mass media rout, I'm sure certain Imperial agencies, especially the Ecclesearchy, would be more then happy to help censor the media so that their vision and dogma could be easily assimilated into the culture.

All in all, I think the default approach to life in the Imperium is to look at is as a more antiquated society with bits of odd high-tech wizardry shoved through it at odd angles. The common man seems to live far more simply then we do. It's closer to how we lived about a hundred years ago then how we live today. And even so, how we live today has little precedent in our short history. Cell phones have only been around for 20 years or so and only so omnipresent for 10 years. That's not even long enough for it to be a fad in the grander scheme of time. The same goes with personal computers and our incredible obsession with quick, fast, and easy electrical entertainment. The whole information age very well might be a flash in the pan, a fluke that once ended will never repeat. Besides that, as pointed out above, a sociaty such as ours would not be permitted to exist in the Imperium -we would pose too great a danger.

+++++That's not even long enough for it to be a fad in the grander scheme of time. The same goes with personal computers and our incredible obsession with quick, fast, and easy electrical entertainment. The whole information age very well might be a flash in the pan, a fluke that once ended will never repeat. Besides that, as pointed out above, a sociaty such as ours would not be permitted to exist in the Imperium -we would pose too great a danger.+++++

My problem with this is that it risks making 40k old fashioned and quaint.

Do we not have email and the blogosphere because it is in character or because we are old gits who still think email is a clever, new fangled idea?

Course, having mobile phones to be down with the kids may be worse, but it may be worth considering how important these things are to modern life, and if that necessitates their inclusion.

--

To show how old I am, I find myself tickled by the idea that 40ks information superhighway is a big ass road carrying enormous trucks loaded with hand written records between hives.

Dezmond said:

True, it can become quaint if done improperly. However, it seems that the main approach of 40k is to mash two things together, something antiquated and something high tech, that have no right to be together. This juxtaposition of two familiar things (say a phonograph and holographic projector) can help to create a more alien feel, especially if theirs little outwardly apparent logical reason for the merger. It makes the culture seem a touch more removed from our own and helps with the 38 thousand years in the future time frame of the setting. Likewise, pulling out dusty esoteric names and descriptors for objects helps in adding the alien factor to them (such as the cogitator and the reticulation engine).

However, I think something being important to modern life is a reason for it's exclusion from the world, not for it's inclusion. Modern easily recognizable things (such as cell phones) will add a sense of familiarity and knowing to the setting which could cause the alien atmosphere to fade. It could heighten it if juxtaposed with the bizarre in the right way, but it stands a chance of failing more then succeeding.

Beyond the alien feeling atmosphere that is needed to present such a far flung time, if 40k kowtowed to pop-culture too much simply because it was relevant for that year or two that the material was written, then there's a very real risk of that material becoming dated with a very short shelf life.

I would have to second this nomination, accepting, however, that any given cultural trend will probably be reflected on some world or another (thus, Internet in some worlds, and tubez in other worlds). Some planets are ruled by representative democracies, or indeed are composed of smaller, independantly run governments that turn to something akin to a United Nations that collectively elects the body that directly interfaces with the Imperium. Others are autocratic monarchies presided over by a face in a coffin that's bean around for seven thousand years and shows no signs of stopping, where everyone on the planet is a vassal, directly or indirectly, to the one ruler.

In other words, if you'd like to see a modern trend or technology reflected, you can do it with the caveat that it probably will not be especially widespread. In the Imperium, very little actually is.

I think the fact that 40k was born in the 80's, essentally a pre-internet /information culture is an important factor. Had 40k been written in 2009, it would have a very different feel.

In terms of entertainment technology, I tend to gravitate towards a 1920s-30's feel. there is media industry, but you need to go to a public cinema to see anything. phones exist, but most people use public phones, very few have on in the home. no mobiles, no internet. Large percentage of the population is illiterate so printed media isn't particularly popular.

Agmar_Strick said:

Completely agree... except for the printed media bit.

I agree with the 1920s-30s feel, with bits of medival Europe and the Wild West tossed in. Especially since your house is probably no more then 500 square feet, you don't have the room for entertainment, even if you could afford it, which you can't. Bars, Hodowns, Cho parties (for those of you who've been to Japan you'll know what a Cho is) and of course the Church is where most people go to get away. A single area probably has a single radio, and everyone groups around it to listen to the adventures of Captain Strick and his trusty sidekick Wondermutant. If your lucky you get to go uphive on occasion to see a magic holoshow, but pretty much you go to work, eat your corpse starch, and go to the bar to drown your sorrows in gyn or go to church.

The nobility of course has private theaters on their compounds.

Now why I say the printed media may be wrong, is simply because that while a large percentage of the population is illiterate, a large percentage of the population is. The billion or more Administorium workers kind of alone would be a hell of a market to send printed media too, as well as the Ministorium. All the Arbitrators read as well, and there is a good chance that since many Guardsman were at least taught to read the Primer, they have a handle on the written word. So while sure the largest percentage of the population is illiterate, there is big enough number of the population that does read that its a market that a savey buisnessman or hell the church would tap into.

On thing that interests me is 'Civilian' autos. At the momement I'm converting some Doc Hudson disney toys to act a scenery:-

The way I see it, average administratum cubicle drone would prbably have something equivalent of a desktop PC on his desk, hooked in to an Administratum network or database, but only the wealthiest of nobles would own their own computer. There would probably be libraries with computers and access to something like the internet, but only those with the propper technical knoledge would be able to operate them. Laptops, or smaller computer-like devices would probably be rare and expensive even for the wealthiest of nobles.

Radio would probably be commonplace for the middle classes and nobility, but rare for any of the lower classes. There would probably be various different kinds of music as well as news, talk radio programs, and radio dramas.

Movies would also exist, but I'd immagine that they would be expensive enough that a low class family would have to save up for a month or two to be able to afford a trip to the movies. The movies would probably be about planetary, sector, or Imperial heroes fighting to protect humanity from some horrific threat from beyond the stars. I don't immaginr that romances or comedies would be that common.

Television is a bit trickier, the technology for it would still exist, but a lot of the uses for it in the Imperium, such as news, speaches by the planetary governor, etc. could just as easily be accomplished by radio.

Phones would probably exist but only be commonplace for middle class and nobles. As for cell phones, they might be on some planets, but I'd immagine only the nobility would be wealthy enough to afford them and they'd probably be the size of bricks with foot long antenna.

i'd imagine arts would be pretty popular among nobles and imperials...operas, plays, gallery exhibitions...

The Laughing God said:

Yes. Particularly on Forge worlds or core Imperial worlds. I'd suspect that this would not be an interstellar capacity though so each such information net would be keyed to an individual world. The Administratum may maintain an 'Imperial database' though that is updated to local nets say every 5 years.

Given the oppressive nature of the Imperium though i'd suspect this would be more akin to the internet in China than in the rest of the world...

The Laughing God said:

Definately. Again by world. On Imperial coreworlds i'd suspect a good deal of 'state TV', with overt propaganda, whereas on many worlds it would be the more covert propaganda we suffer in the West.

Forge worlds i'd see as '1984', with the Omnissiah screens permanently on...

The Laughing God said:

Yes definately. Pretty much everywhere i'd say, especially on core worlds. Forge worlds, the vox-net may actually be implanted to more efficiently mobilise workforces.

The Laughing God said:

Yes on Imperial worlds. It may actually be this disgraceful 'biometric' bull dung our own governments are planning, with genetic coding being the ID (especially on forge worlds. I can see barcode tattoos being used extensively on Imperial worlds also. Barcoded at birth i'd say the average citizen would simply accept this state slavery branding as normal.

The Laughing God said:

Yes. http://www.scholaprogenium.com/calendar.html

Luddite said:

Some of the Rogue Trader-era background, IIRC, suggested the use of simple electoos (sub-dermal micro-implants that can be used to store or transmit information in the most basic of cases; the more sophisticated, less fragile ones used by some Tech-Priests can conduct large amounts of electricity and generate large magnetic fields as well, but most electoos don't, and can't, use too much power) for the purpose of identity, personal wealth.

Luddite said:

It should be remembered that, according to the 5th edition 40k Rulebook, the "day" (the 2nd, 3rd and 4th digit) are not used by the majority of people - they, like the accuracy/check digit (the 1st digit) exist for bureaucratic purposes and nothing else. It's likely that many people will ignore the millennium as well - few, if any, people will ever live long enough for which millennium it is to actually matter, so only a three-digit year number will be referred to in common conversation unless specifically talking about a date that happened in a prior millennium.

Dren Kre''lar said:

This I would have to disagree with somewhat. Movies are the kind of thing the leaders of society would want to be cheap. Imagine the old 1930's-40's news reals and films... culturally uplifting propaganda masked as news and entertainment. You want that to be cheap, so that lots and lots people see it and receive "the message."

LuciusT said:

I understand what you're saying, but the way I see it, your average Imperial factory worker probably won't have any money to spare on entertainment beacuse he would be paid just enogh money to afford a rundown apartment and some really cheap food. If he has any money left over after paying for that, he'd probably spend it on getting drunk.

Going to see a movie would be something to save up for, a special treat to indulge in when he has a little bit of extra money. It would be like if one of us wanted to go to a concert or a Broadway play, we could afford to go to one now and then, but we wouldn't be able to afford going to one every weekend.

As for getting the message out cheaply and to large groups of people, that would be what radio, public bradcast systems, and the Imperial churches are for.

Dren Kre''lar said:

That assumes that the average manufactorum worker has to find his own food and accomodation. Personally, that's not how I see it working - the company provides basic lodging and sustenance for its workforce, along with other ameneties (such as healthcare - medicine in the Imperium is extremely advanced, and while things like Rejuvenat treatments are rare and expensive, keeping the workforce and armed forces healthy and able is a different matter entirely). There's no altruism here, not really - if you're required to mass-produce thousand-tonne macro-ploughs for the tithe (so they can be shipped off to agri-worlds), the workforce is important... because the consequence of failing to meet your quota isn't a lack of profits for that year, it's having the planetary governor send in the Magistratum because he's got the Arbites questioning him about failing to meet the planetary tithe requirements.

Obviously, the standard variation between worlds clause applies, but on heavily-tithed worlds (such as heavily-industrialised Hive Worlds), I see the matter of money as a secondary concern to that of meeting tithe quotas, and consequently individual manufacturers are generally more interested in making sure they aren't tried, convicted and executed (worst case scenario, but fear is a good motivator here) for failing in their duty to Mankind than they are about profit margins (though those, admittedly, will come a close second, so while the workforce may be cared for... there'll really only be a practical minimum spent on them - enough to keep them able, maybe a little more to keep them loyal, but no more than is necessary).