History: Jumpgates were used in a yesteryear when hyperdrives were too cumbersome for most ships. With this problem, someone thought of the obvious solution of not putting them on ships (jumpgates essentially being external hyperdrives). And so things were for quite some time.

But innovations in the hyperdrive, happening just 50 years ago, revolutionized the thinking. Hyperdrives were now practical to put aboard ships, and soon new colonies stopped building jumpgates.

The current universe of TEP should be one making a transition. Most systems no longer have jumpgates, but several of the most important systems still possess them, due to public outcry against dismantling them (and the fact that they're more used, therefore more sustainable).

Gameplay implications: This would create an interesting new lifestyle for those willing to try it. You could move about the inner (fairly safe) systems without a hyperdrive and without hiring a carrier. It'd be another way to scrape up cash...

Jumpgates are located almost entirely in the 'core' systems, and connect the major socio-economic centers of the Republic, the Nation of the Reol, and possibly the Regiment. They would generally be well guarded. They are not in every system by any means, however, on occasion, one could find a rare exception (i.e. a mining corporation that uses a jumpgate to send asteroids to a processing base).

This would also create several news articles (campaigns to save the jump gates, news of deconstructions), several events (actual deconstructions), and even a couple of missions (I've a wicked idea for one involving an attack... with an awesome twist).

The pseudophysics are the same as the hyperdrive, so that shouldn't be an issue... in fact, they can have an enhancing effect on a hyperdrive and can increase the jump range when used in conjunction with one!

Jumpgate FAQ:

Why do they exist???

To enhance gameplay.

Do I have to give up my hyperdrive?

Not by any means.

Why are they being dismantled?

In America, most areas can't really support a public transportation system. It's mainly the cities that have them because everywhere else the population density just isn't high enough. And what of Europe? Despite good transportation, how many still own cars? And just why is that?

It's simply that firstly, not all areas can support public transportation, and secondly, total freedom of movement is its own incentive.

Building on this analogy, we can see that while the densely populated central systems of nations might be able to maintain jumpgates because there's more demand placed upon them, hence more money is made operating them. Outer systems do not have the demand, and therefore either loose their jumpgates to decay or else they never built them in the first place.

Basically, the trade off is this: if you want to use the jumpgate, you'd have to wait in line, be charged each time you use them, and you'd also be confined to a small area.

However, if you want to make a quick profit trading... if you want to get the higher paying courier/taxi jobs... if you want to make money faster, you'd go to the outer systems that need supplies, have less traffic, and do not have jumpgates.

There's any number of reasons to tear them down... the ever present "special interests" might lobby against them, there's fact that the technology is aging and hyperdrives can get you farther, cheaper, and more efficiently...

Robert Graham also stipulated the possiblity of failed government policy being a cause for the dismantlement. Suppose a government supported the network of jumpgates at first, under the aegis of a public transportation cause. Eventually, in the name of capitalistic reforms, the government privatizes it all. Then hyperdrives undergo vast improvements and soon all the jumpgates close due to rapidly declining demand. Only the more populous systems can support their portion of the jumpgate network, therefore they remain intact in the more populace systems.