This is the first fall into the rabbit hole where you start to read up on some of the deeper lore and setting works that are going on in the background of Bay. Basically just more stuff for us to explore in game, or for you to bring up in conversations, or even just for you to be more immersed in the world.
Here, you get run downs of what's going on, and where to find deeper information.
The year is 2561 (as of 2017 realtime), and the server is set on the SEV Torch, a ship ran by the Expeditionary Corps of Sol Central Gov with the help of the Defense Forces and NanoTrasen. The Defense Forces (as mentioned above) make up Sol Gov's Military Might. The aspects you will see of it on the Torch are Marines, and Fleeties. They both make up a part of the crew, and are military. There's a lot of guides that come with playing either EC or the DF, so be forewarned.
Humanity has expanded to control hundreds of Colonies across a portion of the galaxy. There is probably between 1-2 trillion humans spread over several governments, Sol Central Government (SCG) being the largest with the Terran Confederacy (TC) coming in second. There is also a considerable amount of unaffiliated colonies and populaces scattered about who are welcome to join SolGov or the Confderacy but choose not to, such as the Mirania Republic, the Magnitka Federation.
Another big thing are Trans-stellar Corporations. Much like corporations in our day, except they cover star systems and often monopolize industries. Though only one really matters at the moment, there are dozens in our lore. The main one, is of course NanoTrasen, NT for short. They control most of the energy trade (due to their control over the highly wanted material, Phoron. It powers a lot of things). They do a lot of shady things, and the Research Department on the Torch is ran by them.
There are Seven Alien Species besides Humanity (and one Robot Collective). They are the Skrell, the Tajara, the Unathi, the Resomi, the Diona, the Vox and the Moraki (and the IPC). Skrell are Humanity's biggest ally, and they are the squid-like characters. Tajara are relatively newer to the interstellar level, but they are reaching for the stars, and are the cat-like characters. Unathi are relatively "second-world." They're more warlike, and are the lizard-like characters. Resomi are mostly refugees from an evil empire, they are small, incredibly rude, and raptor-like (different to Unathi). The Diona are plant-like beings that people just really don't understand that much about, but when you see one you'll know it's one. Vox are stinky, non-civilized pirates that are a scum on the galaxy, and look kind of like birds. Moraki are practically the enemies of everybody, and no one really knows what they look like because they're always wearing armor. Currently they're invading IPC space. IPCs are Robotic, but different to the cyborgs (lawed bots), and of course the AIs, that you will see on the server.
Aliens are not allowed to be citizens of Sol Gov. This is often hotly debated, as because of this they cannot join the Defense Forces nor the Expeditionary Corps. There is a difference between being a Sol Gov Citizen, and a member of one of the states in Sol Gov. This is heavy political discussion, and this is as basic as it gets, but it's need to know. Why? Because if you're crew you are a Sol Gov Citizen (yes there's a distinction between the Ship's crew, the Research Division, and the various visitors, contractor laborers, and other assortments that got aboard the ship as well). IPCs are allowed to be citizens of Sol Gov, but their ability to join the Armed Forces is currently being hotly debated.
Phoron was that material mentioned above. It's most heavily found in the Nyx System, and it's trade is controlled by NanoTrasen. Phoron powers many systems across the ship, most specifically through the engine which uses a "Super Matter" material to work. Phoron also allows the ship to travel through Bluespace with the help of a Bluespace Drive, or Gateways.
Travel within human space is predominately handled by Gateways, some sort of weird blue-space 'tech' device that can transport vessels from one gate to the next. The gateways tend to chain together as humanity pushed its way outwards, forming something not dissimilar to say Moscow's Metro. Traveling down one of the routes can take weeks to months because most star systems keep their gateways quite far away from each other for security reasons. While the vast majority of human ships are bound to using gateways, a growing portion of them have started to get individual bluespace jump capabilities. This is probably around 5% of ships at most, as neither Sol Gov nor The TC have fully swapped their navies over to using it.
- Skrell are more advanced than humans to a degree.
- Vox are generally considered by most to be stinky pirates but you can come across some good ones out there.
- Moraki are considered a serious threat, and you've probably heard about their attacks in some form or another by now
- Cloning isn't a thing, many consider it inhumane.
- Uplifted Animals exist, but they're a rare sight nowadays, and you probably won't see them on the ship.
- 3d printing has not replaced industry yet. While it is a powerful technology it is still quite wasteful and has yet to outdo the power of specialized factories.
- Genetics has advanced with the creation of almost unique species of humanity (grav-adapted and spacers), right now however the populace of humanity has largely turned against the concept of new genetic research and the field has slowed to a crawl
- Different colonial cultures have developed from the old-world cultures, and have many different colloquial terms such as Plutons, "Spacers," Gaters, Venuisans, Aresians, Rimworlders, Agrisians, Rock-Hoppers, Floaters(Those that live in the swirling clouds of Gas Giants), and many more.
- Cybernetic improvements are also fairly minimal, while you can have anything ranging from a robotic arm to a fully robotic body, you won't see much like memory enhancing chips, laser eyes, or combat tools.
- SCG TC relations are comparable to Cold War relations between US and USSR in the mid 20th Century
- Xenos are where "Civil Rights" lie today. You've got full-supporters, separatists, and xenophobes galore. Xenos have "rights" but only to a degree, and it depends on the colony.