STGOD2k6 Discussion Thread

[Adrian Laguna]

Mekidar ships should be arriving in Silver Flame and Gain Compact space soon. Maybe tomorrow (though as my posts and Beowulf might attest, that isn't exactly a solid date coming from me).

I sent 45* ships out to explore nearby space. I'm assuming that there might be useful things there, like maybe non-player controlled nations. The equivalent of NPCs in RPGs. If they exist, the Republic probably knows about, and periodically trades around half-a-dozen of them. If they don't exist, then too bad. At least I'll get some charting of the local area done.

*Note that battleships are always accompanied by two Hedgehog-class escorts. So, 30 cruisers, 5 battleships, and 10 escorts = 45 ships.

[Spyder]

Our studies of these ruins have shown that your kind honor your dead, so as a sign of good will from my people to yours I offer that if you wish we are willing to return to your people all remains recovered during our archelogical excavations.

"Greetings, I bring dead people."

[Stormin]

Better than "We threw the bodies in the recycler and served them up to your diplomats because we figured it would be the least likely thing to poison you" ;P

Edit: Not that anyone would invite a human to dinner. They are icky, smell bad and who knows what sort of wierd "human powers" they have <shudder>

[Spyder]

Jees, you do that one time...

The Gaian was totally warned about the salad dressing.

[Nephtys]

Jees, you do that one time...

The Gaian was totally warned about the salad dressing.

Salad /dressing/?! You monsters! This means war! *hugs a tree before battle. Rawr!*

[Spyder]

"Run! Hippies!"

[Stormin]

Diem don't really claim territory, they explore by sending out robot probes that deploy into observation stations. Every observation station within a certain radius has a central hub with more powerful communications and an AI that is more than a dumb checklist reader/report filer. Even when fully on-line the AI will be far less capable than the one onboard the Probe currently talking to the Gaians, mostly to entropic decay over the centuries of even the best preserved hardware.
It will be unable to create a "translation matrix", like the one Probe created to talk to the Gaian's, and will simply try to keep the aliens from leaving until someone higher-up can come in and start figuring out how to talk.

[Thirdfain]

Key:
Dark Grey: Loyal Crobuzon systems
Light Grey: Recently conquered systems of uncertain loyalty/civil unrest
Dark Red: Former Witchocratic worlds which have accepted easy occupation
Red: former Witchocratic worlds which are restless

Cross: Bas-Lag, Capital
Large Square: Dominion Capital
"x"": Major Fleet Base
Circle: Industrialised major world
Dot/small circle: colony, listening post, other minor worlds.

The Marches

The Empire is organized into five provinces, called "Marches." The central march, Gross Crobuzona, represents the earliest settlements Crobuzon established during the colonization race against the Witchocracy. The other four marchs are both administrative districts as well as machines for expansion- the industrialised worlds closest to Crobuzon finance expansion out to the border worlds, who send raw materials back to the vast refineries and manufactories of the core. The politics involved are byzantine and highly competitive- it should be noted that 20% of the votes in Parliament come from Bas-Lag itself, and that a further 30% are concentrated in the Gross Crobuzona march. The four border marches all have the votes heavily concentrated amongst the industrialised worlds, essentially placing power in the Marches in the hands of the industrialised planets. However, the creation of new Parliamentary seats is more or less controlled by New Crobuzon, which gives each march a reason to attempt to develop it's border systems, so as to recieve more clout for the march as a whole against the other marches in the Parliament.
.
Gross Crobuzona
1. Bas-Lag
The capital world of the Empire. A full tenth of the planet's surface is covered by the vast expanse of the City of New Crobuzon, capital and heart of the Empire. At the center of New Crobuzon, where the Tar and Canker rivers meet to form the Gross Tar which then flows out to Ironbottom Bay, lies Perdido Street Station: hub for the city's ancient railways, a vast edifice which contains the center of Crobuzon's government,
2. Steelshatter
This system lacks any inhabitable planets, but supports a huge population in the airship-cities and vast orbitals in the system's five gas giants. Home of the largest warship yard in the Empire.
- 3 industrialised systems, three lightly inhabited systems

Kergudter March
3. Tarsis Deux
This major fleet base is in the most heavily populated system in the Empire outside of Gross Crobuzona, and is home to the March capital.
4. Celebrantus
This industrialised system is home to a vast rockmilk extraction enterprise, which provides a significant portion of the Navy's thaumaturgic fuel. Recent Socialist and Unionist riots amongst the miners have forced the Militia to increase it's presence.
5. Ikt Sin Vanapur
A border world notable for it's extensive Ghosthead ruins and a large colony of expatriate vampir who settled there after fleeing a Teshite purge. Also, supply base for most Corewards expansion and exploration.
-3 industrialised systems, 9 minor worlds.

Sud Tempost March
6. Canopus Minima
This system is the capital of the Sud Tempost March and a major hub of trade. It's twin, Canopus Maxima, is sight of a major Militia base where many troop transports are kept between deployments.
7. Fort Desdemonia
Established since the end of the Frigid War, this major fleet base is turning the minor border world it resides on into a bustling center and a source of new Crouzoner expansions antispinward.
8. Crais
This system's watery planet is home to a large Cray population, additionally, it is the corporate headquarters of Skillia & Johansen, Crobuzon's largest difference engine corporation.
9. Genjarii Station
Former den for Teshite-financed privateers, taken by the Navy during the Frigid War, now a major naval research base with proving yards for new ship designs.
-5 industrialised systems, 17 minor systems

Sparse March (Former Teshite)
10. Restitia
This system was once the home of the Witchocracy's feared Venomfleet. The fall of the Witchocracy lead to most of the battlewagons being scuttled, instantly destroying the system's source of livelyhood. Teeming masses of poor make thier home in the abandoned slips and shipyards, and a great city has been built out of the hulks in high orbit. This city, Jostle, is known for lawlessness. However, it is becoming increasingly profitable as it is through Jostle that the wealth collected by the Rimwards Expansion flows to Bas-Lag. Known as a hotbed of Socialist sentiment.
11. Albiachor
This industrialised Teshite world's native inhabitants found themselves becoming masters when the Witchocracy fell and Crobuzon established tham as the system's new ruling class. Now, the men of Tesh labor in factories while Albiachorans dine on the finest china. Site of the march's main fleet base and capital.
12. Imrha's Reach
This rough-and-tumble border system holds the Salácus Street Northwest Company's field headquarters (as opposed to their main offices at Salácus Street in New Crobuzon.) The presence of such a major accredited company's offices and associated facilities has lead to an economic boom as aetherclippers come and go from the wild.
-2 industrialised systems, 18 minor worlds.

Spiralsworn March (Former Teshite)
13. Ostmarch
This major industrialised system was uninhabited when the Teshites arrived. It's populace sided with Corbuzon against the rest of Tesh when the Witchocracy crumbled, and was rewarded well. This system's asteroid belt is home to a large fleet base as well as extensive military facilities and a shipyard which produces destroyers and other escorts.
14. New Arzamas
New Arzamas's inhabitants, primitive humans who had only recently discovered thaumaturgy, were invaded by Tesh. Crobuzon supported the Arzamasi, and the ensuing meat grinder broke the back of the Witchocracy without the loss of a single Crobuzoner Militiaman. New Arzamas is now the March capital; however, most positions of power belong to Crobuzoners rather than natives.
4 industrialised systems, 9 minor worlds

[Lancer]

Diem don't really claim territory, they explore by sending out robot probes that deploy into observation stations. Every observation station within a certain radius has a central hub with more powerful communications and an AI that is more than a dumb checklist reader/report filer. Even when fully on-line the AI will be far less capable than the one onboard the Probe currently talking to the Gaians, mostly to entropic decay over the centuries of even the best preserved hardware.
It will be unable to create a "translation matrix", like the one Probe created to talk to the Gaian's, and will simply try to keep the aliens from leaving until someone higher-up can come in and start figuring out how to talk.

That's nice, but what happens when the probe intrudes into somebody's territory and either gets confiscated or destroyed?

[Dahak]

Ok, I battled with editors, and got some results. It's not really pretty, but it should do, I hope... WIth errors, but I lack the patience to correct the naming...

Legend:
A: Falau'un System, with central planet, Falau'un Cruinne

Green: Central Core Systems (clockwise)
Oldest systems, heavily industrialised, large population
B: Esh'tral System
C: Yel'tral System
D: Reylan's Fortune System
D: Filis Nech System
unnamed one: Hero's Grave System

Blue: Outer Core System
The systems of the second expansion phase, not as heavily industrialised, but steadily growing.
E: Mooran's Victory System
F: Dal'Yech System
G: Terrian's Massacre System
H: Wind of Death System
I: Yelu'un's Star
I: Serpent's Cove Sytem
K: Falau'un Truan System
L: Trembling Mountains System
M: Gha'Dhu System
N: Ghejetachd System

Light blue systems are newly settled colonies, just recently self-suficient.

Purple dots represents military outposts, fleet bases, and research stations of varying size.
Black little dots are automated listening posts and surveillance stations.

The grey blob in the lower left corner is the R'tach'Aul Nebula, a rather violent nebula. The orange dot in it is a large research and fleet base, hidden within.
[/img]

[Stormin]

That's nice, but what happens when the probe intrudes into somebody's territory and either gets confiscated or destroyed?

In that case, either messenger pods get away with a warning of hostile aliens or the follow up probe (since the one probe cannot fully deploy into an observatory that can study the entire system at once) will see the destruction and run the hell home to report. Well, not directly home but to the nearest hub system which will spread the alert across every system quickly.
In fact, this is already happening because of the contact with the Gaian ship.

Edit: Being a individualist race (with a very strong sense of "personal space"), the Diem would not be concerned in any great way over the destruction of the probe. There would probably be a defensive deployment of war-capable ships and a very careful survey to attempt to discover the extent of the aliens territory followed later by a less intrusive attempt at contact.

[Spyder]

Edit: Being a individualist race (with a very strong sense of "personal space"), the Diem would not be concerned in any great way over the destruction of the probe. There would probably be a defensive deployment of war-capable ships and a very careful survey to attempt to discover the extent of the aliens territory followed later by a less intrusive attempt at contact.

We have very different ideas of the actions people take when they're not overly concerned about something.

Glimmervoid:

Wasn't quite my intention to just have text mysteriously appear on your computer, I was thinking more along the lines of it just coming through as a plain text message, through part of the system which messages typically of that type would have come through, but wouldn't have made any sense coming through, which would have just required an understanding of whatever your equivilant of an ASCII table is, and your language, not mysterious uber powers that can take over your computer at will.Sorry if there was any confusion.

[Stormin]

We have very different ideas of the actions people take when they're not overly concerned about something.

Its the difference between "Omg they killed our helpless probe. Off to war we go, Diem empire on the march!" and "They killed our probe...but it was in THEIR territory and we have lots of them. Deploy defensive postions near them like we would anyways and carefully explore in that direction without trying to set them off."

[Spyder]

Sounds awesome, I approve.

[Glimmervoid]

Edit: Being a individualist race (with a very strong sense of "personal space"), the Diem would not be concerned in any great way over the destruction of the probe. There would probably be a defensive deployment of war-capable ships and a very careful survey to attempt to discover the extent of the aliens territory followed later by a less intrusive attempt at contact.

We have very different ideas of the actions people take when they're not overly concerned about something.

Glimmervoid:

Wasn't quite my intention to just have text mysteriously appear on your computer, I was thinking more along the lines of it just coming through as a plain text message, through part of the system which messages typically of that type would have come through, but wouldn't have made any sense coming through, which would have just required an understanding of whatever your equivilant of an ASCII table is, and your language, not mysterious uber powers that can take over your computer at will.Sorry if there was any confusion.

Do you want me to edit my post. Sorry for the confuction.

[Spyder]

Nah, it's ok. I'm just covering my arse for the eventual "Lol I control ur comput0r! It's ok, one of the mods did it!"

Just so we know.

[Thirdfain]

So, when does the diplomacy end and the Game begin? I'm pretty much ready for action.

[Glimmervoid]

So, when does the diplomacy end and the Game begin? I'm pretty much ready for action.

hopefully after I get my Uber Alliance of Doom tm of the ground.

[Thirdfain]

Hmmm. Well, let's light a little fire under that, mm?

[Spyder]

This wont take long. Any formal alliances will be built up ingame, we're just establishing connections at this point. Probably wrap it up in two posts.

[Thirdfain]

I'd like to point out, Glimmervoid, that you have no way of knowing what Crobuzon intends to do. Assuming that an invasion is imminent, well, there's an old saying: When you assume, you make an ass out of you and me!

[Lancer]

Ah, how I love the relatively simple politics of the south-eastern half of the stellar cluster. Almost totally populated with isolationist nations with little to no diplomatic upkeep required.

[Adrian Laguna]

Thirdfain raises, albeit inderectly, an important point. This is STGOD, not Diplomacy or a strategy game. Out-of character comments, asides, narration, or dialogue that occurs somewhere else, cannot be used as a basis for the decisions of your characters and nations for the simple reason that they are not aware of these things. The Mayor of Crobuzon ordered a fleet to go kick the living shit out of the Silver Flame. Glimmervoid and all the other players know this, but is important to remember that the Silver Flame, and everybody else for that matter, are unawhare of this development and thus cannot realistically act accordingly.

[Glimmervoid]

I'd like to point out, Glimmervoid, that you have no way of knowing what Crobuzon intends to do. Assuming that an invasion is imminent, well, there's an old saying: When you assume, you make an ass out of you and me!

I keep telling my self that I can not know about your last post, which is why I have not sent ships to plead for aid from everyone about me. Spyder contacted me remember.

Coldrocks comments are a result of a) Him drinking b) being in a high pressure situation and current pessimistic attitude and c) Spyder said "and have been known to become very angry when either of these assets are threatened"

The Fleet redeployment was many that your ship got so close without being intercepted (and there only being a single group of fighters in system at the time).

The alliance is an OOC thing I think it would be fun too do, which is why I have not tried to make it happen IC.

[Spyder]

There are no OOC alliances. This is just a dude with some connections having a little chat. He doesn't know what the Crobuzon are going to do either.