Gaming Cogitohazards: Starsector
If it can consume hundreds of hours of my life it qualifies as a cogitohazard
Far into the future, in a sector of space hundreds of lightyears away, humanity clings to the scraps of its past glory. The stellar empire of humanity- the Domain- died not with a whimper or bang, but with a sudden, defining silence.
The gate system- an interstellar highway that connected the vast Domain of human civilization- simply ceased to be. The Collapse was upon us. The gates died, shattering the empire at the height of its power. The Church of Galactic Redemption claimed that it was God’s punishment for man’s hubristic transgressions- the violation of the natural laws of thermodynamics and causality, that enabled the vast stellar realm to exist. Their scriptures claimed that the hammer of judgment came as the prophet Ludd was arrested and transported through one such gate.
The Persian sector was stranded, just like all the rest of humanity. Logistics crumbled, terraforming projects broke down, miracles of engineering were left to rot, the engineers blessed with the knowledge of their construction and operation many light years away from the frontier Sector.
Piracy, political instability, and religious extremism consumed the Persian sector in a paroxysm of violence and chaos.