Discovery Gaming Community

.::Incoming Transmission::.
Message to : Whom it May Concern
Comm ID: Yev Lightwing, Shipmaster, (]c[)
Location: Freeport 15, Omicron 74

Supplemental FAQ updated.

7. TAZ and ZTC power trippin'?
TAZ has a two plus year history of controlling the sales of all property on Baffin to all non-Zoner parties. Every faction in the universe that owns a system is responsible for regulating sales of manufactured goods within their system to unaffiliated groups. This is old news. If you want to purchase a Hathor you contact the Order Primary Fleet. If you want to access Omicron-94, you contact the Benitez. ZTC and TAZ are not at this time restricting the purchase of Zoner technology to Zoners and while we encourage registration, it is unlikely that it will ever become mandatory. In addition, ZTC has paid 1.5 billion credits for the purchase of Omicron-74 and over 2 billion credits for the construction of (]c[)Springfield, Livadia's equivalent of the Sparta Station that has traveled outside of O-74 perhaps 3 times in the past 12 months. ZTC members are also the only folks in the Universe that patrol Omicron-74 on a daily basis. We don't want to be arrogant, but we believe that the work we have put into guarding and purchasing O-74 (almost a year long, day-to-day endeavor with a 3.5+ billion investment), gives ZTC the right to regulate sales within the system to non-Zoner parties.

8. Overall Faction power trippin'?
TAZ, ZTC, and OSI come from very different backgrounds and now, astronomic locations. We have on numerous occasions proven that despite our alliance, we have more than enough differences to provide for heated debates. We have an alliance sure, but telling us that all factions think alike is rather insulting. Faction leaders disagree very frequently. We also consider the Council of Zoners to be a faction as it has both registered membership, leadership, unified decision making process, membership driven goals, and most importantly, unified diplomatic / foreign relations agreements. In this manner, we are all members of one faction or another. Lastly, the Security Committee allows for people to overrule SC decisions based on a popular vote. This means that every individual can vote separately to overrule SC decisions. Should CoZ wish to challenge the decisions of the Committee, they can propose for a vote in an attempt to overrule. If the majority among the four factions vote "yes" for overruling, then it is done so.

Let us be honest and frank. Representation is a lose concept. You cannot assume that the opinion of CoZ reflects the opinion of other "Independent" Zoners. Heck, you cannot assume that a CoZ rep's decision reflects the opinion of CoZ. We can add 6 more seats to the Security Committee and populate them only with folks that are completely unaffiliated with any organization (CoZ included). But do you expect that their opinion will be an accurate representation of Zoner indies everywhere? There is no such thing as an average Joe, least of all in the Zoner community. A member of OSI deserves a representative as much as a member of CoZ. All in all, the Security Committee is a faction endeavor and was not proposed to us by Independent Zoners. It is proposed by a faction (CoZ) to other factions (ZTC, OSI, TAZ). If you want to make this "fair," send a diplomatic message to all Zoners everywhere and ask for their opinion. The original SHIZL had 3-4 members from the factions. It worked fine and nobody screamed "faction power trippin'" then. And if it was not for TAZ, there would be no CoZ to proclaim "faction power trippin'" now.

Incoming Transmission
Comm ID: Aurelia Silvan

After reviewing your 'Frequently Asked Questions' section added after-the-fact, and after discussing several matters with other people, I've found that addendum to be filled with lies and unwarranted assumptions.

I'll cover the most simple one first;
-"In addition, ZTC has paid over 1.5 billion credits for the purchase of Omicron-74 and are about the only folks in the Universe that guard Livadia Shipyard on a daily basis."

Even Louisa Salome, your faction's leader, says this information is false. The Consortium never paid this amount in fees for Omicron-74. Records show the Consortium paid five-hundred million. The same cost the I once paid for Omicron-74.. And then add on the billion credits in construction fees for Livadia Shipyard, Corinth Research Station, and then Sparta Station? That is one and a half billion credits I personally paid, not counting contributions by other Zoners. It seems like this lie was added simply to try to provide the Consortium with justification where they had none.

The other part of your statement is also false. I know a dozen other Zoners who were actively protecting Livadia and the rest of Omicron-74. I myself sent the Arromanches there when things started getting out of hand, and it was I and the others who were protecting Omicron-74 on our own before the Consortium existed. You seem to have been ignoring history and presenting everything from only the point of view you wish it to be viewed as. And much of that has been incomplete and false.

Only recently did the Arromanches leave Omicron-74 to go to Coronado and then to Bethlehem when issues started cropping up there. Even then, there are still several Zoners not of the Consortium that are still out there.

The next issue;
-"Also, keeping 5 reps active will be cumbersome considering that we all have our own business duties plus personal lives."

Here I would have to disagree. The old SHIZL was composed of six members, and that was one of several reasons it got out of control and started taking more liberties than it should have. When decisions are made in such a small group, deals are made between the representatives and certain policies and regulations are sometimes pushed to the side in pursuit of what those few see as 'right'. With a large amount of people, that won't happen. Also, it will allow for the Committee to be composed of members with little bias involved, or with neither party holding too much power.

Third;
-"Banishing someone from the Zoner community seems inappropriate, even for the evil doing Zoners."

I think this may simply be a miscommunication. The Security Committee was never meant to be able to banish any Zoner. This rare decision was made to be a responsibility between both the members of the Council of Zoners as well as the factions. With a majority 'yes' vote needed to make it happen.

Fourth;
-"The only real way to keep the Security Committee 100% proportionate is performing popular votes among all 4 faction members (CoZ, TAZ, OSI, ZTC) on every occasion."

This would be false. By allowing a single seat for each faction, one for the Council's Chair, and possibly one for the Council's Vice chair, then six open seats available to anyone, even those from the factions already holding one of the 'given' chairs, this negates the need for proportionate representation and prevents either party an advantage.

Also, considering the Council the same kind of organization as the factions is also a mistake. There are vast differences between the two. We work together to formulate global policies that need to be made, but we're also still a diverse group of individuals who lead our own lives, rather than working as 'corporate employees'.

Fifth;
-"TAZ has a two plus year history of controlling the sales of all property on Baffin to all non-Zoner parties."

This would also be a lie. TAZ has not managed the sale of Aquilons, which for information, are built at Livadia, then transfered to Baffin. Baffin has no shipyard of its own. Aquilon purchase by non-Zoners was handled by the SHIZL, and that is a policy Malaclypse followed himself. Since the Security Committee is a replacement for the SHIZL, to rectify several problems the old system had, why would this Committee not also handle the sale of those ships, when it has for two years? Not to mention, these kind of decisions affect all Zoners, not just the TAZ. As I said; If someone with a Zoner Carrier creates trouble with someone else, all Zoners will be held to blame. When the repercussions are of that state, shouldn't everyone who can be affected have a voice in the matter?

Sixth;
- "You cannot assume that the opinion of CoZ reflects the opinion of other "Independent" Zoners."

You are partially right. We can't assume that our opinion reflects the opinions of all other 'independent' Zoners. However, unlike the factions, we allow anyone into the Council if they wish to be a part of it. Anyone who's opinion is not reflected in the Council is someone who has decided themselves to not give their opinion. If at any time a Zoner wishes to have their opinion realized they may do so with nothing more than to be added to a list of delegates so we know they are, in fact, a Zoner.

No matter which way you look at it, that process is still a much fairer representation of Zoner opinions than the factions, which are a select group of pilots working together collaboratively. Unlike the Alliance, anyone may voice their opinions in this Council, which makes our representation of opinions a much wider net, thus accounting for more opinions than the factions would.

I'd appreciate it if there were more truths and correct facts in a response to a proposal I sent in good faith to the Alliance. This sort of response makes me wonder why I made that step towards cooperation.
<div align="right]End Transmission

.::Incoming Transmission::.
Message to : Whom it May Concern
Comm ID: Yev Lightwing, Shipmaster, (]c[)
Location: Freeport 15, Omicron 74

Miss Silvan..

[Transmission disrupted due to a rip in the space-time continuum]

So you see, we are both ...[static]
Now that we have ... [static] ... please vote and send us your reply.

William Ironfoot stands up to address the Council and the Alliance guests,

"O.K. the Alliance want's the voting simple, the Council want's if fair so what about 3 votes, 1 Alliance, 1 Council and one truly independant Zoner elected in fair elections that is not part of either body?"

William pauses then continues, "I know there are a lot of emotions right now, but we have to sort out this whole mess once and for all, be under no illussion that the Alliance looks just as foolish with all this bickering as the Council. You all may think these are closed communications and meetings but word leaks out to the wider Sirius"

Ironfoot scans the faces around the hall, "At this moment I am tired of all this petty squabbling on both sides, I want the security committee to unite the Zoners again, I see both sides finally coming together so lets get it sorted once and for all. I William Ironfoot offer to put forward my name as the Independent seat on the Security Committee, if elected I will step down from membership of the Council"

Ironfoot sits back down.

Incoming Transmission
Comm ID: Aurelia Silvan

Patience William, patience.. Your nomination is noted, though it may be a few more days before the final version of this committee is decided on. Starting yesterday I have been in talks with Louisa Salome regarding possible changes to this committee that hopefully will make it more acceptable to both parties than the Council's version and the Alliance's counter-proposal.

That said, please make any comments or suggestions you have over the original and/or counter-proposal. It could be possible that someone will suggest something we did not think of and will allow us to finally get this issue dealt with.
<div align="right]End Transmission

.::Incoming Transmission::.
Message to : Whom it May Concern
Comm ID: Yev Lightwing, Shipmaster, (]c[)
Location: Freeport 15, Omicron 74

*Yev coughs*

I would like to remind dear delegates of the CoZ that this proposal is unaffiliated with the Zoner Alliance. There are a number of reasons behind it both personal and not so personal. I'm not going to go into that right now but will only mention that the entity "Zoner Alliance" will not be affiliated with the Security Committee.
The counter-proposal we have sent to you would be signed separately by each faction. If you'll take a closer look, you'll find that the words "Zoner Alliance" aren't anywhere in the document.


..::Appending Transmission::..

*Yev coughs again*

Ahoy sir Ironfoot. If you will re-read our counter-proposal, you will see that anybody in any of the 4 groups (CoZ included) has the right to run for the position of a Committee representative.
This means that you could (under our proposal) become the CoZ representative should you be elected by the majority of your peers.

Also, please don't leave the Council. You are one of the few voices that folks actually listen to on the outside.

Comm ID: RFS Freedom
*static is heard*

Greetings. This is a transmission from Captain Jonah Robinson, aboard the RFS Freedom.

We are currently busy conducting experiments on nomads and have not been able to keep current with Zoner politics, and for that we apologize.
It will be some time before we can catch up, but we hereby reaffirm our loyalty to the Council of Zoners for the time being.

-Jonah Robinson and crew

.::Incoming Transmission::.
Message to : Whom it May Concern
Comm ID: Yev Lightwing, Shipmaster, (]c[)
Location: Freeport 15, Omicron 74

Apologies. I am going to have to resign from being a spokesperson during these negotiations for personal reasons.

Miss Silvan, please give access to another spokesperson when you have time.

Regards,
Lightwing.

.::Incoming Transmission::.
Message to : Whom it May Concern
Comm ID: The-Neutrality Guard ZBT
Location: Freeport Tau-37

Well traveling from Planet Erie to Freeport in Tau-37 i was molested by a Pirate transport,with Outcast IFF,and Pirate ID by the name of Jesse James. He ordered me to stop,and when i did began firing on my ship,stating he did not like sheild's. I docked at IMG base in Tau 23.Got some repair's,and then headed for Tau-37. He caught me again while i was aprouching the Freeport and began firing on me. 4K from freeport he dropped my shields,and armour was all but gone,and demanded i pay him 3mil or die. I tried to reason that my cargo was worth 500K only,and he blew me up right outside the freeport. While being rescued by the freeport staff,i witnessed him then dock,to sell my cargo. I do believe this type of action outside our bases has to stop.

.::END TRANSMISSION::.


//OOC http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x238/ry...2/screen6-1.jpg