I've had this idea rolling my head that if FTL travel were possible (by things like stargates), then time would cease to be a meaningful distinguishing factor between civilizations. Like, once you develop the mass-effect gates, or whatever, and use it you ought to appear on the other side where the entire universe already has warpgates and a universe teeming with sentient life because of how FTL travel affects time and causality - even if you're "the first". It'd be like the Star Trek Prime Directive but enforced by some weird-ass phenomena of the physics of the universe.