SDN Worlds 4 Commentary Thread V

[Simon_Jester]

Murca is an uncharted world, so for the sake of PeZook and my storylines, I'd rather not have the interstellar community popping up there before we're done.

Yes. They have plans, which I am privy to; I second the request. The story is definitely going somewhere.

The Elysians are an exception because Rock Stronggo can turn up anywhere, for reasons I will address in a post of my own as soon as I get the Zebes stuff done.

[Akhlut]

Dr. Roxo's back, baby! Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-yeah!

[Force Lord]

Force Lord have you heard this rendition of the Imperial March?

I had it faved for some time.

[Agent Sorchus]

Link... hmm this is as good as I think I can come up with for the Eoghan musical feel. Though this one is good too.

And yeah I have been kinda out of it for a little while.

[Simon_Jester]

Needs more mongoosoids.

[Simon_Jester]

Ow. Harsh.

Be assured, the communistas will not allow this freedomizing to go unanswered. Their revengeance may take time, much time, times even, but yea, it will come. El Terror Negro has not yet drawn his sword in anger! Or, more likely, atrocity-committing bemusement.

[doom3607]

Wow... I like the Imperium's message to me.

To paraphrase: "Hi. Shut up and go back to sleep or we'll fricking murder you. Regards, *insert member of Ordo Xenos here*"

[Zor]

Wow... I like the Imperium's message to me.

To paraphrase: "Hi. Shut up and go back to sleep or we'll fricking murder you. Regards, *insert member of Ordo Xenos here*"

If you want to bring those bastards down to size for lack of politeness, be my guest.

Zor

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Wow... I like the Imperium's message to me.

To paraphrase: "Hi. Shut up and go back to sleep or we'll fricking murder you. Regards, *insert member of Ordo Xenos here*"

Would you seriously expect anything less from an empire which wantonly genocides any xeno or heretical human that got in its way?

If you want to bring those bastards down to size for lack of politeness, be my guest.

Zor

*hands a waiting list number to Zor*

[Shroom Man 777]

I for one think the Byzantine message was greatness.

[Simon_Jester]

[Masked Vinaran lucha wrestler hands Locrians a pamphlet advertising the Bragulan-led Inhumanitarian League]

EDIT: Beo, the Locrians might very well have sent that broadcast in, say, English, Chinese, Old Bragulan, et cetera, whatever languages were in vogue among radio-capable civilizations before their automated probes spiraled into the sun. Centuries out of date, but potentially comprehensible.

At least, based on my conversations with Doomy.

EDIT EDIT: Also, hah, Esper Counter-Counter-Countermeasures

[doom3607]

The only people that wouldn't work with would be say the Chammarans, the MEH, anyone/everyone who showed up space-capable or got that capacity before radio...

But in general, you're right- we might very well have broadcast our message to the humans in, say, 1950's English. For all you know, our translator-thingies translate into Churchill's voice. Or Hitler's. Both of them ranted enough via radio...

Esper CCCM? Must... invent... CCCCM...

Well, either that or just start nuking things before the number of Cs in that becomes completely unmanageable.

Also, to Fingolfin + Zor: I won't be nuking the Byzantines unless I happen to get chummy with my insect buddies the Karlack. Or if the Byzantines decide to try and crusade against me. Then the Bolos, err, "Worldburners" (There is no copyright infringement going on here. Move along.) will start smashing up Titan legions.

[PeZook]

Holy shit absurdly ridiculous mecha vs. absurdly ridiculous tanks!

Fin! Crusade! NOW!

[Simon_Jester]

Hmmm.

It's official. There is a Vinaran lucha wrestling tradition.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Holy shit absurdly ridiculous mecha vs. absurdly ridiculous tanks!

Fin! Crusade! NOW!

Now Now. I would rather have a war between Karlacks and Insects. It would make for good popcorn.

EDIT EDIT: Also, hah, Esper Counter-Counter-Countermeasures

Honestly, I wanted to have Null psykers but for some reason, Steve wasn't happy with the idea.

[Simon_Jester]

The nice thing about mechanical Esper (Counter^N)-measures is that they encourage a sense of arms races in which either side can plausibly have the upper hand at a given moment. In a collaborative game, that's a good thing.

Espers who are intrinsically resistant to mechanical countermeasures are bad, because it's much harder to justify that kind of back-and-forth under those conditions.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

The nice thing about mechanical Esper (Counter^N)-measures is that they encourage a sense of arms races in which either side can plausibly have the upper hand at a given moment. In a collaborative game, that's a good thing.

Espers who are intrinsically resistant to mechanical countermeasures are bad, because it's much harder to justify that kind of back-and-forth under those conditions.

Honestly, does every damn thing in the game need some kind of mechanism? And honestly, with someone throwing about the notion of countering null psykery (hell, such devices did exist in 40K), what's the real beef?

[doom3607]

Hey, here's a question for people: Anyone have any idea what might make the Imperium not hate aliens? Be interesting to see the kind of insane crap this place comes up with... and you never know, might be fun to use some of it.

Also: Great, a psychic arms race. Any psychic weaponry yet? As in, mechanical psychic weapons.

[Simon_Jester]

Re: Doomy: Mechanical psychic weapons... they're called Blitzschlag fields and they zorch psychic people's brains when the power is cranked up high enough. Aside from that, not much and I don't really want to see proliferation beyond that; the idea of esper abilities being something more or less limited to biological creatures is something I'd like to preserve. If nothing else, to grant a degree of parity between the countries that prefer 'squishy' humans and the ones that cyborgize people extensively.

The nice thing about mechanical Esper (Counter^N)-measures is that they encourage a sense of arms races in which either side can plausibly have the upper hand at a given moment. In a collaborative game, that's a good thing.
Espers who are intrinsically resistant to mechanical countermeasures are bad, because it's much harder to justify that kind of back-and-forth under those conditions.

Honestly, does every damn thing in the game need some kind of mechanism?

Mechanism offers a level playing field between different countries that rely on mechanisms. I can write myself having machines to counteract your machines, without having to do anything drastic to the flavor of my nation (the way the Byzantines would be affected if, say, you were saddled with an elected head of state in place of a God-Emperor).

Also, there's a fundamental difference in flavor between "I devise tools to counter your tools" and "I make the targets of your tools into things your tools can't affect." The latter 'undoes' the other player's accomplishments far more than the former.

[doom3607]

Is it just me, or is someone planning on having their fleet try to, and I quote, have me "burnt to a cinder" on its "way by" my region of space? The hell?

[Siege]

Also, there's a fundamental difference in flavor between "I devise tools to counter your tools" and "I make the targets of your tools into things your tools can't affect." The latter 'undoes' the other player's accomplishments far more than the former.

I agree with the general gist of your point, though I think it's - yet again - primarily a matter of reasonable limits and competent storytelling. To make it past a jammerfield a psyker could activate a counter-null device, sneak by, simply muscle their way through or any other possibility one could think of, and it's all be fine by me as long as the writer handles in a decent way. "My psions are totally unaffected by null fields" is of course silly, but frankly so would "all my facilities are covered by null fields of +10 mega unbreakableness that'll explode the mind of any psion who looks at them crosswise" be.

[Tanasinn]

Is it just me, or is someone planning on having their fleet try to, and I quote, have me "burnt to a cinder" on its "way by" my region of space? The hell?

Orbital bombardment is just a forceful way of saying 'hello.'

I wouldn't take it too seriously. This is a collaborative - not competitive - RP. It's really not feasible for a player to go "oh and by the way my fleet carpet nukes your capitol on the way to IHOP."

[Simon_Jester]

Is it just me, or is someone planning on having their fleet try to, and I quote, have me "burnt to a cinder" on its "way by" my region of space? The hell?

Don't worry, other participants in the same operation would oppose that. Violently.

Also, there's a fundamental difference in flavor between "I devise tools to counter your tools" and "I make the targets of your tools into things your tools can't affect." The latter 'undoes' the other player's accomplishments far more than the former.

I agree with the general gist of your point, though I think it's - yet again - primarily a matter of reasonable limits and competent storytelling. To make it past a jammerfield a psyker could activate a counter-null device, sneak by, simply muscle their way through or any other possibility one could think of, and it's all be fine by me as long as the writer handles in a decent way. "My psions are totally unaffected by null fields" is of course silly, but frankly so would "all my facilities are covered by null fields of +10 mega unbreakableness that'll explode the mind of any psion who looks at them crosswise" be.

Yes to all of the above.

What concerns me is that there's a natural player tendency to dwell on the great power of their nation's X, Y, and Z, while finding it hard to accept the idea that they might not be best at everything. I think it sits easier with most of us to have technological arms races than mental ones.

[doom3607]

Is it just me, or is someone planning on having their fleet try to, and I quote, have me "burnt to a cinder" on its "way by" my region of space? The hell?

Orbital bombardment is just a forceful way of saying 'hello.'

I wouldn't take it too seriously. This is a collaborative - not competitive - RP. It's really not feasible for a player to go "oh and by the way my fleet carpet nukes your capitol on the way to IHOP."

I wasn't so much "worried" as "concerned my fleet might take a bit of damage that'll take time to repair". No fleet "just passing by" could ever expect to defeat 50,000 worth of ships. The issue would be, my Hives might get hurt, and replacing those would be hard.

On a related note, just how fast are ships? Given that my empire is a square, with my fleets spread evenly around it, and a junction and gate in each sector, how fast could I reasonably concentrate my fleet at any one planet? In other words, could I assemble an overwhelming defence before that (hypothetical) fleet I detected on its way in arrived? If not, how long after that fleet's arrival would my overwhelming wave of reinforcements arrive? Before or after they could've glassed the planet?

[Siege]

What concerns me is that there's a natural player tendency to dwell on the great power of their nation's X, Y, and Z, while finding it hard to accept the idea that they might not be best at everything. I think it sits easier with most of us to have technological arms races than mental ones.

That makes sense. It's just a point of attention for me personally because my mental weapons are more or less technological in nature (hybrids are mostly vat-grown), and as much as I loathe to get into mechanics I am paying points for them.