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Open Discussion: Roleplay/Lore Questions - Stewgar - 12-02-2021
I hope that everybody is doing well!
I want this post and thread to be about understanding and information gathering. I often find myself in discussion and debates about what is or is not canon, what is considered good RP, and other elements that are not openly given (or at least not easily found). So, here are some points of discussion. And please feel welcome to bring your own.
1. Smuggling. How is it possible for crates of cardamine to make it through the Planet Manhattan docking ring? Surely there is auto-scanning technology to pick up and alert planetary defense forces of the contraband? But also, surely concealment technology on cargo crates are cutting edge as well. My head canon is that police and Navy scanners are tuned finer to scan individual ships and pods instead of a general scan that any other planetary scanners would have. Thoughts?
2. Is it widely known throughout Sirius of the existence of the Nomads, to include the the activities that happened in the single player story within house space? I've run into situations where people don't know the word 'Nomads', and this confuses me.
3. Do/Should Liberty lawfuls know the location and existence of Buffalo base?
4. I've had arguments and debates with some of the smartest, trustworthy people I know here. The discussion was respectful and at the end we agreed to disagree and I still value their opinions greatly. Interesting how that works
The point involves the line between RP and having fun on the server. For example, and this isn't a bash - it has happened, I've been in fights against K'hara, a faction enemy shows up and does nothing, or even sometimes join the K'hara (not in group) in the attack. Doesn't humanity and extinction take precedence over whatever differences there are in factions? Setting RP aside, some of the fights it was welcomed to have more power in the opposing force to balance the odds and it turned into a nice scrum.
But this is an RP server, so my opinion is turbulent on this. Should we collectively decide that ordinary, day-to-day combat and activities could have some RP disregarded for the sake of having fun? Where is the line drawn? I'm conflicted and when I sit and listen/watch, the more I realize that there is no consensus.
RE: Open Discussion: Roleplay/Lore Questions - Vitoniz30 - 12-02-2021
I might surely give you an answer to the third question, which lies both in Badlands and Buffalo infocards:
Quote:...With the authorities loathe to patrol or pursue suspects within the confines of the extremely dangerous Badlands, Buffalo Base is the safest criminal hideout in New York. ~BuffaloI am pretty sure most cloud/asteroid fields bases cannot be detected too. But I can be wrong.
...The Badlands is a particulate cloud filled with asteroids and subject to intense electrical activity that renders most scanners inoperable ~Badlands
EDIT: Question 4 is very complicated to answer at least for me, but I can try to suppose it's about certain concrete players or communities who might look for easy kills or have friends within K'Hara, but they also can give other players an opportunity to fair duel K'Hara (when they do nothing). Many reasons and the best solution is asking participants themselves.
RE: Open Discussion: Roleplay/Lore Questions - Toaster - 12-02-2021
My two cents:
(12-02-2021, 03:13 PM)Racerdude Wrote: 1. Smuggling
The requirements for docking rings is really just a gameplay limitation. I've always rationalised it as such: The docking rings are the official, safe entry points into a planet's atmosphere. Atmospheric re-entry is risky, especially with most ships not being designed with unassisted re-entry in mind, but it is possible, and so smugglers likely do this. In roleplay, of course. In gameplay, they're stuck using the docking rings. Of course, mooring fixtures exist, too, which makes smuggling in transports harder to explain, as these really are the only ways for them to interact with the planet.
(12-02-2021, 03:13 PM)Racerdude Wrote: 2. Is it widely known throughout Sirius of the existence of the Nomads,
I don't care what anyone says, but Nomads are supposed to be mysterious and spooky. I imagine some news of the Nomad War leaked out and a general knowledge of the existence of a dangerous alien species somewhere on Sirius' fringes exists - though many will probably discount this as rumors and tall tales. But the vast majority of average Janes and Joes will know basically nothing about them.
(12-02-2021, 03:13 PM)Racerdude Wrote: 3. Do/Should Liberty lawfuls know the location and existence of Buffalo base?
I'd imagine they know it exists somewhere in the Badlands, but they would not know its location nor would they risk countless patrols trying to locate it. Gameplay does sadly get in the way here.
RE: Open Discussion: Roleplay/Lore Questions - Kauket - 12-02-2021
Nomads don't have to be spooky or mysterious.
But it's been what, nearly 20 years since the Campaign?
People forget stuff easily. Do you remember what happened back in 2002? People move on and forget. Memes, news topics, fads, etc, all die out in the end.
RE: Open Discussion: Roleplay/Lore Questions - Toaster - 12-02-2021
(12-02-2021, 04:22 PM)Kauket Wrote: But it's been what, nearly 20 30 years since the Campaign?
Exactly. The few people who witnessed the Nomad War or otherwise knew about it are for the most part either dead or otherwise gone. So general knowledge of the Nomads is very limited, rendering them mostly unknown and mysterious.
RE: Open Discussion: Roleplay/Lore Questions - Novascova - 12-02-2021
For number 3, the navy probably knows that there is some kind of installation within the field but, I believe its A) to dangerous to try and find it and B) Scanners can't reach into the Badlands very well. The only ones willing to go into the Badlands constantly are the Bounty Hunters. I'm sure there is some rumor or something that clarifies my information.
Quote:Tucked into the southern end of New York lies the fields known as the Badlands. In a study conducted by IC it was discovered that the Badlands are actually the most dangerous area in all of Liberty space. Populated by a variety of dangerous criminals, the field claims hundreds of lives per year. "I don't go in there; that's a military job," said LPI officer Mary Dennis. It seems that even the military and the LSF have their troubles in the Badlands. IC recommends that civilians give the area a wide berth.
Quote:>>>WARNING: NAVIGATIONAL HAZARD<<<
The Badlands is a particulate cloud filled with asteroids and subject to intense electrical activity that renders most scanners inoperable. Two government research stations, Bedford and Ithaca, were constructed here to study these unique environmental phenomena. However, the Badlands also provides a natural refuge for all types of criminal elements. The Battleship Missouri has since been deployed to protect Liberty interests in the area and deter pirate attacks against nearby Trade Lanes.
RE: Open Discussion: Roleplay/Lore Questions - Zentor - 12-02-2021
(12-02-2021, 04:22 PM)Kauket Wrote: Nomads don't have to be spooky or mysterious.
But it's been what, nearly 20 years since the Campaign?
People forget stuff easily. Do you remember what happened back in 2002? People move on and forget. Memes, news topics, fads, etc, all die out in the end.
Also, interstellar space is BIGGGGGGG, Much more than the limited Freelancer game engine can truly render. It is quite plausible for simple folk don't know, or commit to memory stuff that happened 20 years ago x number of light years away.
RE: Open Discussion: Roleplay/Lore Questions - Toaster - 12-02-2021
Expanding on smuggling and mooring fixtures, I imagine the single, dangly fixture we get ingame is just yet another limitation of the game. It (to me) rather represents a network of platforms in low orbit that ships too large to perform re-entry and planetary landings moor at. So, it is likely that an enterprising smuggler in a transport could make berth at one of these and, with some bribes for the local authorities, get his illicit goods to the surface from there.
Edit: Tried to describe it once in one of my story posts.
RE: Open Discussion: Roleplay/Lore Questions - Corile - 12-02-2021
Quote:1. Smuggling. How is it possible for crates of cardamine to make it through the Planet Manhattan docking ring? Surely there is auto-scanning technology to pick up and alert planetary defense forces of the contraband? But also, surely concealment technology on cargo crates are cutting edge as well. My head canon is that police and Navy scanners are tuned finer to scan individual ships and pods instead of a general scan that any other planetary scanners would have. Thoughts?
Loads of headcannon regarding docking rings and I don't think there's a single definite answer to what you're asking. I never had the need to RP about smuggling through them, but in my head they've always been this sort of handwavium magnetic space lift that worked in a manner similar to scifi space elevators, but the only way it ever showed through in my RP is that characters arrived planetside at the equator (relevant for Custodi) and that there was some kind of "root" of the docking ring.
Quote:3. Do/Should Liberty lawfuls know the location and existence of Buffalo base?
I don't think structures in space iRP are fixed in the same place physically always. I suppose the in game engine limitations make it seem as such but I would hazard a guess that if a LPI ship chances upon Buffalo, it would get chased away by elevated Rogue presence in the area and then be hard-pressed to find it again.
One thing to get used to with Disco is that there is a lot of grey area in terms of things that should be globally known with practical impact on people's RP. I would really like it for there to be a some kind of decision log/FAQ for these kinds of things and I advocated for it years ago but looking back I guess the playerbase is small enough that these small details are unlikely to matter in the grand scheme of things. I can just as well RP a docking ring working one way in my story, then read e.g. @Toaster's story and see them work in a completely different way and it has no impact on the enjoyment of either one.
RE: Open Discussion: Roleplay/Lore Questions - Emperor Tekagi - 12-02-2021
Quote:3. Do/Should Liberty lawfuls know the location and existence of Buffalo base?
For Buffalo: Certainly Liberty lawfuls know about it existing.. somewhere. Even if they knew its exact location, it would be a pretty tough nut to crack regardless. The Badlands make the usage of Warships impossible, a huge squadron of snubs/bombers/GB would suffer a lot of casualties due to the Rogues home advantage (they know how to navigate the Badlands fairly well, it would seem). Also I think it wouldn't change a thing if they actually managed to destroy Buffalo. The Badlands are so large, the Rogues would easily find a new rock to carve some docking bays into, thus making the effort worth zero for lawfuls.
For other unlawful bases, it varies. The absolute vast majority of them are concealed by a nebula or asteroid field too and well hidden from the eyes of lawfuls. Some bases have to actually fight it out, change patrol plans, etc. to stay undiscovered though.
A few exceptions to this pattern exist in Gallia due to the Confederacy times:
Epernay, a Brigand base, in Champagne is openly known to the Gallic Navy due to the Confederacy and the Council's legalization.
Macon Base in Burgundy even changed hands from unlawfuls (Council) to lawfuls (GNI).
As for quasi-lawful bases, namely UC, Junker or Hogosha bases, I'd say that it varies from base to base and faction again.
Bases like Trafalgar, Rochester or Beaumont are surely known to lawfuls, but my head-canon is that Junkers are too sly to get this bases into serious trouble. You know, plant a distraction here, let some "Junker" get caught there, have some of your dear customers distract the Navy in some distance, all this stuff.
Hogosha bases, well, the Liner, Suzuka, Kabukicho are all known to lawfuls - who willingly turn a blind eye to activities around them or even traded bases with them. As for the base in the Sigmas, nope, hidden. Amusingly, the trade part means that the Hogosha know the exact location of the KOI base.
UC is interesting. Basically all their bases are hidden away from lawful eyes - yet they are quasi-lawfuls. Not even all of their bases serve as smuggling hubs though, it's amusing to see how they hid their presence, yet at one point even had actual political power.
The house Freeports are definitely known to Intel factions too, but my head-canon tells me they won't disturb their operations but actually utilize them for their own agenda. (You know, actual cool Intel secrecy thing nobody does!)