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Volmarias posted:I'm sorry, did you refer to a character from a children's cartoon as the height of intrigue here? Dude, did you WATCH that show? Xanatos is a BOSS. You're just sulking in sour grapes, because you made a ton of wild statements and didn't have any evidence to back even a single one of them up. Alchenar posted:As pointed out, redundant. quote:Unsure what the actual benefit is. Especially as recent events demonstrate that the Feds can play the media much better than we can. quote:We're probably better off just pumping resources into expanding our own labs. Also safer, because that way we don't give state secrets to an entity that will be full of Federation agents. Speaking of evidence, what evidence do you have that they'll be any more full of Fed agents than our agents (of which there'll be none if someone orders Snark to stop wasting time)? Or that the fact that we have old news technology is at all interesting? Perhaps we should attempt to stop Corny from getting nuclear pulse technology because that's a UN state secret, too? You realize, of course, that if we were to make a sensor - ANY sensor - tomorrow, and design a new commercial ship next week that utilizes that sensor, that McK and Yamamoto would be launching that ship within a few months? With the Grav-12 tech everyone's so god-awful concerned about? A state secret is stuff that Fred DOESN'T have. What we've got up is just yesterday's news. quote:Yeah because it's not like the Federation have a history of making risky plays to effect political processes in off-world bodies that play out in it's favour bec- OH WAIT quote:e: we are also never ever getting an agreement to use this place as a port of call for warships during a conflict. That's not how neutrality works. This is precisely what I'm talking about with the detractors. Pulp fiction and wild statements 'supported' by crap nobody ever said and 'evidence' that is just shouted louder than the real facts. Kommando posted:Weren't we chasing project ZEUS? All of these things are still on the table, but look back at what I pointed out establishing a new colony requires - that is to say, a ton of bandwidth on resources we've had maxed out for a long time and will continue to have maxed out for the foreseeable future. Whatever's beyond the wormhole is an even longer shot, because after we theoretically find a spot we really like (not guaranteed at all), we'll need to build jump tenders that can support the merchant tonnage we'd need to get them moving over there. A lot of the beauty of this plan is that there's no opportunity cost. Unless someone can explain to me how yesterday's tech, 6 mining complexes that aren't worth our time to ship, and a few corporate tax breaks are going to help us complete ZEUS and scout out a new Eden planet any faster I don't feel you've got a case. Also, no! The Cornucopia decision's due at the end of this in-game week. It will take months to get the jump tenders working just so we can send a scouting mission. Kal-L posted:Like Coolguye said, the whole sharing tech would be done in a way that doesn't spill all of our top secret research. In any case, I'd guess that's up for a UNEC vote/Councilor Saros decision. You're looking for this post: Saros posted:Okay I somehow skimmed over the benefits. I will allow the use of older techs as a negotiating tool assuming that the new faction wont just have them all already? He never clarified specifically in-thread, but it's generally understood via IRC that 'older techs' translates to 'things Fred has already', which is exactly what I suggested in the first place. We know for a fact that Fred has Grav-12 because that's part of what gave them the decisive edge at Mars. All the other techs I suggested are at least a year old and are positively quaint by now. I made it very clear that the sensor package included in the Jump Point Theory research is absolutely off the table - that is not leaving the UN research labs. Coolguye fucked around with this message at 02:48 on May 28, 2013 |
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May 28, 2013 02:32
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Uh...I don't see what else my team could be doing at the moment, Coolguye. Sure, when the colony starts up we'll have plenty of stuff to do, but right now, we're doing pretty well on Mars. ...Maybe we should take an in-thread vacation on this topic until bgreman gets back. We're just going to keep repeating the same arguments until then, so we should come back to this once we know more.
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May 28, 2013 03:00
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Dr. Snark posted:Uh...I don't see what else my team could be doing at the moment, Coolguye. Sure, when the colony starts up we'll have plenty of stuff to do, but right now, we're doing pretty well on Mars. Nah, I'm just giving you grief about wanting to go to Cornucopia - I'm pretty convinced that's a waste of time.  You guys being on Mars is definitely where it's at, at least for the moment.
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May 28, 2013 03:02
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On that note I'd like to restate that we should really get down to revamping our intel team, and maybe use it for actual intelligence rather than espionage/black ops sort of things.
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May 28, 2013 03:19
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Dr. Snark posted:Uh...I don't see what else my team could be doing at the moment, Coolguye. Sure, when the colony starts up we'll have plenty of stuff to do, but right now, we're doing pretty well on Mars. Isn't the biggest reason to do this to let the GM keep some big thread contributors in the game? If we don't have to pay anything real to make that happen, we may as well do it and something good might happen. If there is no cost to the UN, why not help out BGreman?
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May 28, 2013 03:21
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SleazyBakeOven posted:On that note I'd like to restate that we should really get down to revamping our intel team, and maybe use it for actual intelligence rather than espionage/black ops sort of things. Uh, boss...we ARE an espionage/black ops team. That's what the bonuses on our officer screens tell me, anyway.
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May 28, 2013 03:23
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WOW im so sorry. i thought we were in charge of Intelligence in its entiriety. sorry!
SleazyBakeOven fucked around with this message at 03:29 on May 28, 2013 |
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May 28, 2013 03:25
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Perhaps we need a real intelligence team to report in.Coolguye posted:Nah, I'm just giving you grief about wanting to go to Cornucopia - I'm pretty convinced that's a waste of time. Whats happening on Mars right now? Did Fred make us abandon it?
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May 28, 2013 04:24
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Kommando posted:Whats happening on Mars right now? Did Fred make us abandon it? The UN is in the process of having its stuff moved off-planet, and they'll only be allowed to have engineering brigades there after that. BFM is a tiny rump state in the outback that's about to reveal the existence of Giant Martian Sandworms but this requires that one of the Triumverate be a giant, floating, pustulant madman.
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May 28, 2013 05:00
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Dr. Snark posted:Well, in all sincerity, I don't think any of us actually have an endgame. How about a heavy focus on colonialism like we're already doing while we work towards a slow and gradual détente with the Federation and simultaneously work to build up the mystique around Earth and Sol System. Then when we're finally friends (assuming they're willing) or at least leaving each other alone we ruthlessly oppress those colonials who do not worship Holy Earth/Terra/Sol, home of man! Or fight colonial wars while having tea parties with them here at home.  I suppose this only works if they're not planning to unify all of mankind though, but so far their foreign policy only suggests mild imperialism, to me at least, I think they're actually more just interested in their internal assimilation towards a more homogenous culture and unitary state. Readingaccount fucked around with this message at 06:39 on May 28, 2013 |
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May 28, 2013 06:14
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 Initial Grey Cell concept post Hello everyone, and here at last is a Grey Cell status report. So far I have only 1 taker lined up for joining the Investigate Uridium Source mission, with, as you might expect, definite room for more. I'm also melding missions Loose Lips and Investigate Suspects into a single Investigate Alibis mission, as I feel this would flow somewhat better story-wise. You can sign up for Investigate Alibis and Investigate Uridium Source anytime and as soon as we've got enough people I'll get the show running. Additionally, I'm going to talk a little more on how I envision Grey Cell stories being written and what the actual requirements of participating are, since the creative folks of the thread seem more shy about joining than I expected! Taking the latter first, the absolute base requirements are a modicum of brevity (so that we don't drown the thread in  , like I'm doing here) and a willingness to work with me and others in creating a decent story. You also need to assign one of your three side-character slots up as a volunteer Grey Cell agent (you can do this even if you have no in-game persona yet), and that's it. You don't have to write anything more than you want to, be it a few sentences' worth of clever conversation or a Word page's worth of descriptive material (though, again, keep in mind). Also, leaving Grey Cell is as easy as joining, so if you don't feel like continuing you can quit at your leisure.As for how this cooperative writing endeavor will go down, here's how I envision it: I start it off with a basic introduction to the current Operation (i.e. storyline) and its primary goals. Then I toss the Missions' volunteers their first story Challenge, following which the story will be written in stages by the Grey Cell participants. My tentative goal is to have three to five Challenge stages to a Mission and three to five Missions to an Operation, although this may change pending how this actually works out. Participants are free to work straight up with the setups I supply or they can change or tweak them to their own liking. As your story coordinator, you can ask me any question you feel like having my feedback on and I'll help arrange for any configuration of Mission or Challenge parameters you want, as long as it makes for a good, coherent story and doesn't break the BGverse canon. In order to progress, the participants simply write something to illustrate how they, alone or together with other participants, helped with or failed to help with resolving the Challenge, then submits it to me for a quick review after which they're free to post it here for everyone to enjoy. Once everyone's done (or taken their sweet time for long enough), I then dish out the rewards of their creative efforts in the form of Intel (information relevant to furthering the plot) and a new Challenge that follows up on their earlier efforts. Again, the details are customizable; if you have a more exciting idea for a new Challenge or Intel reward that takes the story in a new direction we can probably make those changes. If you are a fast writer and feel amenable to -extra- tacked on troubles to deal with, I can even throw in Complications, things that get in the way of solving your part of the Challenge. Nothing's ever easy, after all... and that's not even mentioning Antagonists and Enemy Agencies which might be opposing the investigators through Enemy Actions as they make their way through the Missions. It's not like the ones being investigated are going to sit on their backsides if they discover Grey Cell agents nosing around for their secrets. You may invoke these yourself, if you think it appropriate (and if you're wondering about the Capital letter words, I do have a writing primer of sorts in the making for Grey Cell use, in case anyone else would like to create Operations of their own in the future). Here's an example of an Operation introduction, a Mission and its first Challenge: Operation 1 - A Refined Taste posted:Deputy overseer of the UNSA, Brendan Mo, has been poisoned with refined uridium, and is lying deathly ill in hospital. For various reasons, this has caused the Grey Cell initiative to be launched, a crowd-sourcing intelligence cell that would utilize the breadth and width of minor UN assets on case-by-case basis in Operations where expert and/or major assets are unavailable or unable to intervene. The cell's first operation is to investigate leads in order to identify the poisoner among the suspects working at the underground Nevada lab where Brendan was doing research. The poisoning attempt was made to seem like an accident and thanks to stringent need-to-know claims from the security working the case, the poisoner or poisoners are likely unaware their scheme has been seen through. Unfortunately, the investigators must still finish their investigations before the next rotation of duty happens from the secure underground facility. Otherwise the UNSA will be forced to take overt action against Dr. Scribbleykins' core team of lab personnel to protect UN interests. Operations usually have some sort of concept. As I mentioned in my initial Grey Cell post, this one's is 'Spythriller Whodunnit'. Mission 1 - Investigate Alibis posted:Checkerboard wasn't kidding when he said you wouldn't be getting the first-class treatment. Your decidedly 'economy' trip has by and large been uncomfortable, not least because of the excessive security measures you've been making your way through all day. For the last five hours you've been cooped up in the windowless back of a van with only yourselves for company bar the occasional quip from your security detail and one short break for a piping hot MRE dinner that, surprisingly, wasn't too bad. At least you're finally here, wherever here is, somewhere in Nevada. Exiting the van, you all find yourselves inside a large, mostly empty, garage. After a brief exchange (and one more thorough, latex-glove wince inducing pat-down), you're passed from one security detail to another, then ushered into a personnel elevator, going down. You wait for the trip to end, but it takes a while. When the doors finally open, you find yourselves somewhat surprised at the modern look of what you behold, a white-walled open space, practically sparkling; the facility has to be fairly new. Research aides are rushing too and fro between potted plants and there is a secretary chatting into her mic about appointments and scheduling, coordinating at least five different UIAs at once. Beyond the mission intro I might tack on potentially relevant story details, such as: -You are hundreds of meters underground, in a pretty large facility, including worker habitats. -Team has access to Townsend, of the lab's internal security. You get the feeling he's as much there to keep an eye on you as help you, though. -Team has access to most of the facility, as well as any file, video clip or schedule the initial investigation team had, and then some. You get no access to research-related material. -Your UIAs are gonna get purged so bad once you leave this place. This is standard procedure, along with the pat-downs, both for coming and going, unless security clears it first. -Nobody should have been able to enter Dr. Scribbleykins' room in order to mess with his drinks cabinet in the time the drinks were present. This information is based on what the initial investigation team could piece together from available intel. Challenge 1-1 posted:Something Dr. Barrelfox said stuck with you; 'We're always on schedule here'. Seems like the woman meant it literally, because everyone in the Nevada Base has to clock hours to the second and there's security checkpoints when moving from work zone to work zone that help you do this; not to mention the redundancy mode of the tracker app on everyone's UIAs. No wonder everyone has such a tight alibi... but there has to be some way to crack this case open. It's going to be grueling work cross-referencing all that data in order to figure out if there are any flaws in the system, even with computerized help, but it's not like you've got any immediate better options... is it? Challenge 1-1 could be summed up as 'You must discover some flaw in the reckoning of some or all the alibis'. Ideally, I'll give a basic explanation of what I imagine each Challenge cue to be aiming for through the private channels so you know where the rough outline is leading you and can consider whether you want to follow that path or abandon it for something more interesting. As several participants will be working together on the same cue, I might offer different variables for them to focus on so their submissions do not end up overlapping. If someone wants to work together and write their submissions cooperatively they are very much free to do so. Now, note that to avoid derailing the thread, writing discussions should take place through private channels. Personally, I'll be available on SA PMs (I've now bought Plat), e-mail daggerpin at gmail.com or on #ColdestWar on synIRC (where I'll try to be in place fairly often, though my time zone is UTC/GMT+1). If anyone has any questions or feedback about Grey Cell and how it will be run, feel free to express them now, though. I'm very interested in making this work and turn out great for everyone involved, but if people still aren't interested, I'll just shelve it, no big loss. As a final reminder, Grey Cell will not affect the overall storyline of this Let's Play. If BGreman wants to cameo or make canon any of the pieces we assemble that's his prerogative, but don't expect any writing you're doing for Grey Cell to change the course of UN history. This is done purely for fun and to be an alternate way to contribute to the thread and Auroraverse story pile! Oh, and I will be donating a Platinum Upgrade to whoever the thread thinks is the best writer at the end of the first Operation, assuming we get it running. Scribbleykins fucked around with this message at 12:15 on May 29, 2013 |
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May 29, 2013 01:24
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Scribbleykins posted:hotlink from wikipedia You might want to have that rehosted on imgur or something, lest the mods come and give you a real mystery to ponder. quote:Grey Cell I'd participate, but I don't have enough free time 
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May 29, 2013 05:01
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Hey, Scribbley, when you guys are doing your Grey Cell updates, could you add something to the beginning of your posts that lets the thread know that it's a Grey Cell update and not a general update? That way we can keep the thread flowing, and it would help people navigate posts more easily.
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May 29, 2013 05:26
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Scribbles I appreciate your desire to RP but can I pretty please have my best sensor researcher back in action sooner rather than later? Furthermore: Can whoever is currently in charge of the ECM device please hand it over to the UNSA for analysis. If nobody has a specific claim then UNSA is hereby taking charge of the device and would like it analysed and disassembled as soon as possible. With regards to the Cornucopia project. UNSA is disinterested in taking part but will allow the use of non cutting edge techs as bargaining chips. Saros fucked around with this message at 05:52 on May 29, 2013 |
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May 29, 2013 05:43
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While i'd normally jump at a chance to RP, im not at all interested in the material. And we have enough distractions already.
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May 29, 2013 05:49
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SleazyBakeOven posted:On that note I'd like to restate that we should really get down to revamping our intel team, and maybe use it for actual intelligence rather than espionage/black ops sort of things. Game mechanics don't work like that. Intelligence, in game terms, is determined by the TF Intelligence Officer's (currently, I believe this is still me) bonus and is used mainly to determine certain results on the tactical intelligence screen. Functionally this happens when you have ships in combat, or do things that cause the enemy vessels to reveal information about max thermal sig/speed, suspected max armor, suspected max shields, max known FC range, etc. We do not actively do anything for this, it happens passively. It of course requires Fred, or an alien empire, to present us with poo poo we don't know as well. Intel is not a five man team, but rather a staff officer position per TF (of which I believe we only have one at the moment that covers all UNIN TGs). Espionage is actually performed by a five-man team, set up like other teams. It is described elsewhere in this thread but as you can imagine it involves espionage and stealing things. It does NOT involve issues of analytical intelligence in any way. Kommando posted:Perhaps we need a real intelligence team to report in. See above, there's nothing for us to report. I think one thing we're all forgetting is that this is a Cold War themed LP, and therefore this game works best when we are actually doing a Cold War, with all the paranoia and suspicion that entails. We should be thinking up cold war ideas, including the crazy ones. If memory serves me, bgreman has even said as much. Setting up third parties (satellite states, with or without our direct influence) without any regard for how they will evolve over the next several decades is basically the definition of the Cold War. poo poo, we should be establishing Space Afghanistan, Space Yugoslavia, and Space Taiwan just for the drama it should bring. I'm not saying we should goon this poo poo up until it goes into laughable mode, but there needs to be a balance between super serious decisions and things that we go along with just to drive the story. Otherwise you end up just playing Aurora more slowly, on an outdated patch.
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May 29, 2013 10:59
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Along that line, part of the problem is that we have no established meta-strategy for treating with Fred. In diplomacy (I say this as an outgoing working diplomat) you tend to have high level documents outlining your strategy towards a particular country -- what pillars you want to engage with them on, what tone you want to take, key deliverables you want to achieve, etc. For instance you can approach a country from a strategy of containment, where you are trying to slow or stall their growth and advancement, but do not want outright war. You can take a strategy of working towards a peaceful co-existance with a country, aimed at minimizing the chances for armed conflict (boring, and terrible for this kind of game). You can take a strategy where you will harass and antagonize an opponent to learn more abotu them, but avoid both open war and open peace. You can take an outright hostile strategy, or any variation thereof. We can establish redlines that trigger certain counter actions. We've done none of that. We have some people who want open war with Fred. We have others that want pure peace, via appeasement or diplomatic agreement. We have some who want to see a covert campaign go on while we maintain outward peace. Others want some limited engagements but with the possibility of drawing back from open war. We haven't decided on a strategy for how we even think of/view Fred; how can we expect to even maintain parity if we don't know what we want to do? Let alone throwing in a third colony into the mix. On top of that we haven't even really figured out our own long term strategic guidelines, and if we have we certainly aren't following them. We have talked about jump theory and such, and spent time and RPs on it, but we are almost entirely focusing our energies on picking scraps and fights in a crowded system with literally zero regard for extrasolar exploration. Not a single one of you are even thinking about what our strategy should be once we can leave this solar system, and yet we could reasonably be ready to do that in the next couple of years. We should be shifting as much of our resources as possible towards setting up a permanent presence out of this solar system as soon as possible, with the goal of shifting as much critical infrastructure (shipyards, research labs, etc.) to this point where it will be out of Fred's reach and protected by a significant chokepoint. At that point, everything opens up. We can continue to expand outwards without regard for Fred if we want. Who knows what we'll find: Star Swarms, Precursors, NPR alien races, etc.. We can take a more aggressive stance vs. Fred within Sol (which we would not completely abandon) when he is not able to hit our assets; we'll also have only a relatively short window of opportunity before Fred does this same thing back to us and makes it harder for us to strategically cripple them. We could fight a proxy war with Fred, possibly through Tilde's colony, which can provide all sorts of opportunities for cool backstabbing and drama. But it all comes down to one critical, vital thing -- we need to get the gently caress out of Sol system and establish a defensible foothold where we can store our most vulnerable and critical assets, away from Federation influence. If we don't make significant steps towards doing this in the next two years, we are almost certainly going to find ourselves in an untenable position and get our asses kicked, possibly irreparably. So, here is what I'm calling the Nairobi Doctrine. Why am I calling it the Nairobi Doctrine? Mostly reasons unrelated to this thread: because I came up with it this weekend chilling in Nairobi, while musing over the concept of Africa (Mombasa specifically, also in Kenya) as a key location in the Halo series, and it is as good of a name as any. Considering that of the three major powers in sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya is the most likely to align with the UN (the others being Ethiopia, which I believe could go either way, and South Africa, which given present-day politics could go either way as well) I think it would be appropriate. You can visibly see where parts of Nairobi are heavily shaped by vestiges of colonialism (e.g. Karen district) while others are protected out of necessity (Langata/NNP area) and others are basically economic zones (JKIA area). It is a nation that does not forget the past, but also is attempting to embrace the future. I find it inspiring. The Nairobi Doctrine is meant to be a simple, easily understandable priority list that should guide our long term (not short-term) R&D, production, intelligence and diplomatic efforts towards establishing an extrasolar colonoy. If we're doing something major (like starting a war or expending huge amounts of resources) that does not further the Doctrine, we need to have a very very very good reason for doing it. This does not have to be a law that we pass/adopt or anythign like that. All it requires is that UNEC members and other department heads agree to follow it. We then should come up with a second doctrine that outlines our relationship towards the Federation, but I don't want to muddle things up so let's do that one separately. For an example of what I'm thinking, this is intended to be a very very streamlined and slimmed version of the U.S. government's QDDR. The Nairobi Doctrine Article I: It shall be the highest priority and overriding goal of the United Nations to establish an extrasolar colony in a system that is under the sole control and of the UN. This system should be defended and patrolled to ensure the highest security for critical assets, intelligence and infrastructure. Such assets should be shipped to this system at the earliest possible opportunity. Any system protected by the UN in this way shall be designated a Restricted System. Article II: While Sol may remain the cultural, spiritual, and administrative hub of the UN, the possibility of hostile or aggressive elements within the Federation and unaligned parties necessitates that it should not be the research, manufacturing, industrial, or shipbuilding hub of the UN. Article III: The sanctity and safety of life on Earth and the Solar colonies, and the natural beauty and scientific importance of planets of the Sol system must be respected. No conflict in Sol may result in planetary bombardment with nuclear weapons or mass drivers. This article shall only apply to planets, moons, and dwarf planets; it shall not apply to asteroids or comets. Article IV: While the UN may choose to allow unaligned or non-UN colonies within its sphere of influence, it shall not do so within a Restricted System. Article V: Any military vessel entering a Restricted System without express prior permission may be intercepted and is subject to seizure, boarding, or destruction, at the discretion of UN. This article shall only apply to military vessels and includes military controlled freighters or colony ships. Civilian vessels may otherwise travel freely but must abide by any applicable laws including local, planetary, system, UN, or interstellar law as appropriate. Article VI: The UN's long-term research goals shall be directed primarily towards those technologies necessary to achieve the goals listed in Articles I and II. Article VII: Department heads and administrators shall devote sufficient industrial resources as necessary to further the goals of this Doctrine.
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May 29, 2013 11:53
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Saros posted:Scribbles I appreciate your desire to RP but can I pretty please have my best sensor researcher back in action sooner rather than later? Don't worry, that situation will get resolved regardless of the outcome of Grey Cell's Op. My original intention was to have the story influence how fast, but at the rate we're going that seems unwise now. Volmarias posted:You might want to have that rehosted on imgur or something, lest the mods come and give you a real mystery to ponder. Right. Thanks for the heads-up. Kommando posted:While i'd normally jump at a chance to RP, im not at all interested in the material. And we have enough distractions already. That's fair, though future Operations could be based on different concepts and give different material to work with. I also hoped this would help give those wanting to do side-stories a focal point, rather than add to the number of things going on on the side. Out of curiosity, what kind of material would you be interested in?
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May 29, 2013 12:42
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Considering the Hauge and Ottowa convention prohibit the use of indiscriminate land mines. I believe we should invest research into intelligent sensor based smart space mines. Long term bouys stationed near jovians or planets of UN exclusivity, mounting multiple missiles, that will fire upon hostile ships that approach. IFF will allow civilian ships to pass but protect our space while not tying up our limited naval resources. With adequate notice, the Federation will be warned to steer clear lest automated defences strike them. Judicious application of minefields will allow for a high degree of security while being low maintainance. and will offer great oppertunities for deniable strikes or avenues to escalate if Fred blunders into one to 'test the waters'. We claim we were defending our territory.
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May 29, 2013 13:29
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Kommando posted:Considering the Hauge and Ottowa convention prohibit the use of indiscriminate land mines. I believe we should invest research into intelligent sensor based smart space mines. They're actually not all that low maintenance, since the batteries only last for a year or so. We'd constantly have to maintain our minefields.
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May 29, 2013 14:26
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Per IRC mines are a big pain in the rear end to handle from a user perspective too. As in Bgreman would probably hate them pretty quickly due to the micro involved.
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May 29, 2013 15:47
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Diplomaticus' doctrine looks nice. Which reminded me of one thing the UNEC might want to address... FROM: Markus C. Z., Head of the Imaginary Department of Niggling Reminders TO: UNEC SUBJECT: The Current Status of Project BIFROST Sirs, when I asked what's the status of our interstellar exploration, I was told we're waiting for BC shipyard to expand a bit so it can build our first jump tender ship. Thank you for your satisfactory answer. Now just another note: the planned tender ship will enable us to get our scout ships into other systems. As great as it is, I would like to point out that we will still have no ability to jump with freighters or colony ships. As the self-appointed head of the newly created imaginary Department of Niggling reminders, please allow me to ask: What then? What's the plan here? I see these solutions: 1) Build a civilian tender ship able to take along Aberdeens and Mayflowers. Problem: our only civilian shipyard big enough for that is the one producing Aberdeens and Mayflowers. Sydney Shipworks, currently idle, will likely take several months to grow to the required size. Do we have an estimate of when Sidney could be available for tender ship building? 2) Build a civilian tender ship able to take along Yorks and Ascendancys, and then reroute all Yorks and Ascendancys to service extrasolar systems. This is a nice intermediary solution, and we could probably dedicate the Samsung Shipyard to it while we wait for Sydney to work. We need to come up with a workable whip design and start the retooling process as soon as possible. So why aren't we doing it already? 3) Long term, we definitely need to build jump gates to allow unlimited traffic to service our extrasolar colonies. Considering expansion is our number one priority, why aren't we researching jump gates already? Thank you in advance for your kind responses, MCZ markus_cz fucked around with this message at 16:38 on May 29, 2013 |
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May 29, 2013 15:52
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Diplomaticus posted:The Nairobi Doctrine While I do like the idea of creating an extrasolar colony that would be the center of UN activity, I'm worried that if we pursue that to the detriment of else, I'm worried that the Feds will use it as an opportunity to seize control of Earth. I understand that we want to leave Earth politics behind, but the fact of the matter it until we start having more colonies in the galaxy we're going to have to put up with the Feds (who can research Jump tech much like we can, which would negate our advantage). As extreme as it sounds, I think that the best possible outcome for us would be making contact with an alien race. Their mere existence would create paranoia in the public, and we could use the opportunity to "unite for the greater good of mankind." As time progressed, we could slowly phase out the Federation until we were the only ones left. Granted, that involves a lot of risks on our part, but considering the sizes of our fleets, I feel that said risks would be acceptable.
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May 29, 2013 18:23
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I'm not sure if putting a direct attempt to contacting an alien species is worth it, since such an endeavor would recquire allocating a ton of resources towards an something we may very well never get a pay off in; we don't know if there are any other species anywhere remotely close to us. Unless, of course, you want to go the other route and fake a first contact
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May 29, 2013 20:51
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Dr. Snark posted:As time progressed, we could slowly phase out the Federation until we were the only ones left. Granted, that involves a lot of risks on our part, but considering the sizes of our fleets, I feel that said risks would be acceptable. I like how it's the Federation phasing out instead of the UN because ???.
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May 29, 2013 22:30
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tonberrytoby posted:I wish to enter the UN-Academy as a Civil Administrator. You've been added to the queue. Kommando posted:Because it got lost in Conference chat. To clarify, "planetoid governor" is the same as "civilian administrator," and there is a queue for it. The only type with a free slot right now is the UN Interplanetary Navy; the rest have queues. markus_cz posted:
It doesn't help the recent pacing that I took a nice vacation. As for most of your points, I don't think the UNEC has really abandoned any of its long-term goals. They just don't come to the forefront of the narrative when more pressing concerns (and shorter updates) are taking place. Basically, the game operates on two timescales: the historical scale, where nothing of note is happening and I'm essentially just running turns to get to the next event, and the narrative scale, where individual events become important enough that time has to slow down to allow the important actors to perform their parts. After the Battle of Mars, but prior to this conference, the game had been running on the historical scale for nearly 9 months. The conference should only have taken a couple days to run out, but I couldn't get everything done before I had to leave, so it was left paused in the middle. It will be finished over the next few days and the game will resume the brisker pace. You've also been added as a naval commander, currently in charge of Missile Complex Aviano. Coolguye posted:Literally every corporation on the planet save one is throwing their weight behind this and there's a few dozen unaligned nations who are teeming with citizens who'll want to go. And I'm still absolutely convinced we'll see a presentation from Fred's Firstborn before this whole thing is through. But even if we don't, thinking the population will be any less than 25 million within a year is probably dishonest, due to the combined capacity of these corporations and what we've already seen committed from the companies we have seen present. Given that, even if only 50% will be available for industrial employment (which is mega low, iirc on Luna it's closer to 80%), that's still more than enough to staff 10 labs and handle other commercial concerns. 10 labs with a half-decent electronics scientist will outperform us on a single-project basis handily, especially when you consider that we don't have an electronics scientist and we don't care to devote 10 labs to these projects. The first paragraph here has some inaccuracies:
The second bit I've quoted here is something I have floated in IRC (new UNEC councilors every few IRL months). I have made no decisions about it, and will probably open it to UNEC/thread vote (or just General Assembly fiat it) once I have some firm ideas. Finally, this conference is intended mostly to sketch out the rough design of how the colony might work. Nothing is binding and no final decisions need be made. Diplomaticus posted:Kenya is the most likely to align with the UN (the others being Ethiopia, which I believe could go either way, and South Africa, which given present-day politics could go either way as well) Kenya and South Africa are already UN members. Ethiopia is part of the East African Alliance which is a political quagmire full of infighting, but is nominally Federation affiliated. Thread Updates Right now I'm advancing time in Aurora to catch us up to where we are in-thread regarding the conference. That will be posted shortly, followed by the remainder of the conference, either later tonight or tomorrow.
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May 29, 2013 23:05
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Volmarias posted:They're actually not all that low maintenance, since the batteries only last for a year or so. We'd constantly have to maintain our minefields. I'm running a 6.21 game and there are big changes, especially to the missile design system. Basically minefields can last forever in v6.
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May 30, 2013 00:01
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Earth: Ruins of Machu Picchu, 18th December 2033, 1:00 UTC (17th December 2033, 20:00 Local) Machu Picchu Conference Schedule Main Schedule 17th December 2033, Day 4: Presentations by BFM, unaligned nations 18th December 2033, Day 5: Presentations by Latin American Colonziation Coalition, Balkan League, West Africa Association 19th December 2033, Day 6: Presentations by United Nations representatives 20th December 2033, Day 7: Integration Brunch, Closing Ceremonies (+ Afterparties) Schedule, 17th December 2033 9:00: Remarks from Conference Organizer 10:00 - 12:00: Morning workshops/panels 12:00 - 14:00: Lunch workshops/panels 14:00 - 17:00: Afternoon workshops/panels 17:00 - 18:00: Presentation by Brotherhood of Free Mars 19:00 - 20:00: Presentation by Representatives from Various Unaligned Nations 20:30 - 21:30: Evening workshops/panels Most of the early workshops of the day consist of retrospectives on the Mars Crisis and how such a situation might be avoided on future extraterrestrial colonies. A panel led by delegates from the ICCS indicates that it believes the Articles of Colonization provide a broad framework for independent colonies to be created by any capable party, but that colonies founded as implicit members of a colonizing SNO must abide by the governing laws of that SNO. Framing the BFM rebellion in this light is unpopular, and voices are raised from the audience of the panel, which is ended early to allow tempers to cool. An interesting concept arising out of one of the afternoon workshops is a super-SNO charged with mediating disputes between interplanetary powers. Several of the participants point to the ICCS as being the forerunner of this organization. Skeptics ask how this organization is expected to enforce its adjudications. As evening comes along, delegates from the Brotherhood of Free Mars give a short-notice presentation. After an informal poll conducted over the first few days of the conference, nearly 25% of remaining BFM citizens (approximately half a million individuals), disheartened at their ultimate loss on Mars, indicate that they'd be willing to relocate to Cornucopia, bringing along their infrastructure and facilities. This would amount to a little over 270,000 tons of infrastructure, two factories, and six mines. They also offer a seasoned officer cadre to form the basis of Cornucopia's self-defense garrison. Near the end of the presentation, a slide is displayed that indicates a financial contribution of over 2.5 billion Euros. The audience breaks into a frenzied murmur at the announcement; while the funds are described as "venture capital" from the initial founding of the independent BFM settlements by Free Mars contributors, the likely source is the Federation funds seized during the BFM's brief occupation of Lockyer Crater. The Federation has been engaged in a lengthy legal battle with the BFM remnant to try to recover these assets, but the BFM claims to have no knowledge of any such activity, and that any stolen money must have disappeared in the chaos of the Mars Crisis. Later, a coalition of delegates from nations not affiliated with any of the major players (UN, FEAN, CLC, BL, WAA, EAA, SL, or BFM) gives a brief presentation. This includes a number of nations from Oceania, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean, as well as Taiwan (which has recently adopted a more neutral stance). Ukraine is also represented, despite being a UN member, due to a large internal movement toward neutrality. The presentation mostly repeats TildeATH's rhetoric about enfranchisement, self-determination, and relevance in a post-TN world. All told, the group offers approximately €250 million and 100,000 volunteers, with Ukraine alone matching these amounts.
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May 30, 2013 00:41
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bgreman can you updates the op to indicate which updates have significant events, like the Battle for Mars and Mumbai '33? So its easier to go back and reference them? --------- From: Jnr Admin Kommando To: UN conference delegates. Re: BFM and our part to play. Seems the BFM has a fat wad of cash to throw at their dubious colony problem. And every man and his dog is firehosing money at this. Do we want to out do them and hose more money into this pit? I'm sure we could ramp up our involvement in this colony should it become significant. For now, this junior administrator advises a nominal investment in this project and a refocusing on our own UN controlled interests and projects. Stick a finger in the pie, dont punch it. Because it'll just be messy.
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May 30, 2013 01:39
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Foreign Policy ... should be value-based as it reflects our very core values in existing as a political organization! My personal opinions: 1. Towards the federation we should aim for a slow and gradual détente through diplomatic agreements, especially tech-sharing. 2. Aliens belong under the boot-heel of humanity, whether as vassals, pets, toys or to be exterminated, regardless of their strength. If they're stronger than us we should seek truce (and if necessary even diplomatic agreements) until they can be attacked. Readingaccount fucked around with this message at 01:51 on May 30, 2013 |
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May 30, 2013 01:48
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Kommando posted:From: Jnr Admin Kommando
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May 30, 2013 02:03
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Readingaccount posted:2. Aliens belong under the boot-heel of humanity, whether as vassals, pets, toys or to be exterminated, regardless of their strength. If they're stronger than us we should seek truce (and if necessary even diplomatic agreements) until they can be attacked.  So much science to learn.. and just... ugh. bgreman posted:To clarify, "planetoid governor" is the same as "civilian administrator," and there is a queue for it. The only type with a free slot right now is the UN Interplanetary Navy; the rest have queues. Blab on all aspects of policy. we all seem to be doing it. Edit: Actually, do all our engineering battalions have goon officers? Negative Entropy fucked around with this message at 02:25 on May 30, 2013 |
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May 30, 2013 02:06
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Kommando posted:
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May 30, 2013 02:32
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FROM: Grand Hostess TildeATH TO: Conference Participants SUBJECT: The Growing Consensus It is my sincere hope that as Cornucopia becomes more and more of a reality, that it will help to calm the tensions between the two great powers. Remember, as the dusty but still unbroken Brethren colonists make their way from the debacle of Mars to their new home, wherever it may be, that they are owed your respect and your support in their new lives. To that end, I think we can all agree that regardless of whatever concern there may be regarding the dramatic claims made by some Federation junior legal administrators, the investment in this new colony by such spirited people will benefit not only Cornucopia, but Mars. Let us let bygones be bygones and take this moment to allow the Federation and BFM to forgive the trespasses of each other and look forward to a new and more peaceful future that benefits us all.
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May 30, 2013 02:52
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Kommando posted:bgreman can you updates the op to indicate which updates have significant events, like the Battle for Mars and Mumbai '33? So its easier to go back and reference them? I don't want to put major events in that listing because anyone skimming it who first enters the thread might get spoilered. The list is in bad need of updating anyway. As for the engineering brigades, none of the goon ground force commanders have a non-zero xenoarchaeology rating, so none of them are in command of Engineering Brigades.
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May 30, 2013 02:55
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TildeATH posted:FROM: Grand Hostess TildeATH FROM: Jnr Admin Kommando TO: Grand Hostess TildeATH SUBJECT: Re: The Growing Consensus Poppycock, its becoming apparent its a money pit and nothing more. A dive for terrorists and lowlife corporations wanting to escape the oversight of rational governance.
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May 30, 2013 02:56
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Kommando posted:FROM: Jnr Admin Kommando That may be, but the purpose of that particular little speech was to give the Federation the hint that $2.5bn is a good price to pay to have a bunch of rebels vacate Mars.
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May 30, 2013 02:58
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TildeATH posted:That may be, but the purpose of that particular little speech was to give the Federation the hint that $2.5bn is a good price to pay to have a bunch of rebels vacate Mars. And we'll have them turn up a year later as asteroid belt pirates in corporate barges? No thank you. The UN freed Tibet, the UN freed Taiwan and it will drat well free the poo poo out of Mars. Negative Entropy fucked around with this message at 03:10 on May 30, 2013 |
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May 30, 2013 03:03
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Kommando posted:And we'll have them turn up a year later as asteroid belt pirates in corporate barges? No thank you. The UN freed Tibet, the UN freed Taiwan and it will drat well free the poo poo out of Mars. You chickenhawk imperialists are all the same. It's amazing the kind of rhetoric that gets passed around in your gentlemen's clubs and smoke-filled backrooms, and yet whenever a UN mouthpiece gets in front of an audience, they're all about "freedom" and "prosperity". I can't wait to see how your next round of freedomering works out.
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May 30, 2013 03:20
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| # ? May 12, 2024 15:52 |
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TildeATH posted:You chickenhawk imperialists are all the same. It's amazing the kind of rhetoric that gets passed around in your gentlemen's clubs and smoke-filled backrooms, and yet whenever a UN mouthpiece gets in front of an audience, they're all about "freedom" and "prosperity". FROM: Jnr Admin Kommando - UN Dept of Freedom and Munitions. TO: Grand Hostess TildeATH SUBJECT: Re: Re: Re: The Growing Consensus It is my sincerest hope that the UN doesnt waste resources on this spinning chunk of rock. Either as venture capital, infrastructure, technology, or as munitions, personnel and naval time when the whole place becomes a Pirate haven. ----------------- FROM: Jnr Admin Kommando TO: UNCAO, UNFRAD SUBJECT: Re: Grand Hostess TildeATH It is my sincerest concern that TildeATH is possibly a plant by the Brotherhood of Free Mars. Whos side is she on? UN? BFM? or is she jonesing for administration of Cornucopia? Negative Entropy fucked around with this message at 04:11 on May 30, 2013 |
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May 30, 2013 04:06
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