Unmanned Probes

[Windborne]

I don't know how many of you enjoy playing games with no warp points, or games set in cluster universes without all warp points connected, but for myself I play these wierd game settings a lot and i've had a few idea's that would make them a lot more fun for me and my friends. One of those idea's is the idea of the unmanned intersteller probe.

These probes are like the ones actually being sent out from earth, travelling faster then a human being could stand they spend years travelling through the empty void between stars to reach a nearby system, and take even longer to send back their Messages via sublight radio and television, yet in the end they work.

In a game with few (or no) warp points such probes would allow players to explore the nearest portions of the galaxy long before they could develop the technology to create wormhole and build a warp-ship.

Granted even for these probes the distance traveled would take a lot of time, and they might be destroyed in transit, or at their destination, but those that survived would send back valuable information, and perhaps bring you into contact with friendly neutral races at a time when otherwise you'd be stuck in your small little corner of the galaxy. What does everyone think?