(12-18-2019, 05:05 AM)Typrop Wrote: ... Isn't like, the entire premise as to why Outcast society is unified is because they're all addicted to Cardamine, and Malta is the only source of Cardamine that can be reliably exploited? Therefore making turncoating basically the dumbest possible thing you could ever do because you're cutting off something you need to live, without essentially taking out a space-mortgage to fund your crippling habit?

(12-18-2019, 05:14 AM)Charo Wrote: >we have these brand new caps because of defectors

That's some auxesia tier stuff tbh

(12-18-2019, 05:27 AM)SnakThree Wrote: Tell that to all people who joined before RCR was posted and all factions before RCR and all characters before RCR and all ideas before RCR. lol

(12-18-2019, 05:33 AM)Spectre Wrote: While this is true to an extent, the *MR| supplements the lack of access to Malta by using secondary sources, as well as working to grow their own in small quantities. The population of the Republic is rather small, and readily accepts usage of Stabiline to make up for the lack of up front access to Cardamine.
Reliability isn't really an issue when your population that requires Cardamine is small enough to be sustainable, yet prolific enough to make a mark that the *MR| aims to.

(12-18-2019, 05:46 AM)Typrop Wrote: So, let me get this straight. Cardamine. Only grows on Malta. Demonstrably, only grown on Malta. Grown elsewhere. Stabiline, highly controlled and regulated, and still ridiculously expensive. "Small yet sustainable," yet clearly enough to crew huge capital ships. Excuse me if I'm at least a bit incredulous towards the entire concept.

(12-18-2019, 06:00 AM)Spectre Wrote: Cardamine has been grown on bodies outside of Malta for some time now. This much is legitimately in the canon. Planet Soledad's infocard notes a small 'Malta-like band' on the equator that can grow Cardamine. (You ninja edited that, so yea) Beyond that, 'growing their own' was generally meant to insinuate that it's in the works. That's on me for not clarifying. My bad.
As for Stabiline, I'm not entirely sure what the going market price for it is, though I will note that the *MR| does get its supply through surplus means through Crayter. I've noted earlier, about a couple months ago, that the faction at the current stage does pretty much rely on the CR for most of its imports, which to an extent to include Stabiline and Cardamine for their own people.
Regarding warships, most of them I'd say are rather small. A Sarissa, a few destroyers and a gunship are hardly what I'd consider labor intensive, especially considering the amount of automation that's commonplace in the Freelancer universe. Add into that the fact that the Republic isn't entirely 100% native Maltesians, and the numbers become considerably more believable imo. The people manning the ships for the most part are, but those groundside are mostly non-natives working either by connection, desire or out of necessity.

(12-18-2019, 06:00 AM)Spectre Wrote:

(12-18-2019, 05:46 AM)Typrop Wrote: So, let me get this straight. Cardamine. Only grows on Malta. Demonstrably, only grown on Malta. Grown elsewhere. Stabiline, highly controlled and regulated, and still ridiculously expensive. "Small yet sustainable," yet clearly enough to crew huge capital ships. Excuse me if I'm at least a bit incredulous towards the entire concept.

Cardamine has been grown on bodies outside of Malta for some time now. This much is legitimately in the canon. Planet Soledad's infocard notes a small 'Malta-like band' on the equator that can grow Cardamine. (You ninja edited that, so yea) Beyond that, 'growing their own' was generally meant to insinuate that it's in the works. That's on me for not clarifying. My bad.
As for Stabiline, I'm not entirely sure what the going market price for it is, though I will note that the *MR| does get its supply through surplus means through Crayter. I've noted earlier, about a couple months ago, that the faction at the current stage does pretty much rely on the CR for most of its imports, which to an extent to include Stabiline and Cardamine for their own people.
Regarding warships, most of them I'd say are rather small. A Sarissa, a few destroyers and a gunship are hardly what I'd consider labor intensive, especially considering the amount of automation that's commonplace in the Freelancer universe. Add into that the fact that the Republic isn't entirely 100% native Maltesians, and the numbers become considerably more believable imo. The people manning the ships for the most part are, but those groundside are mostly non-natives working either by connection, desire or out of necessity.

• expensive
  
• difficult supply to Taus from Liberty (while Cryer might be interested to some extent in it for research purposes, the risks outweigh the benefits, IMHO)
  
• in addition to the previous point, there are no other credible suppliers of Stabiline except for Cryer. Even if, say, CR lays hands on Stabiline (somehow) to cater for its own addicted population, most of it will be spent on its population by logic, not on some "for some reason friendly Outcasts".
  

(12-18-2019, 06:28 AM)Spectre Wrote: To be honest, I'm not sure how 'Maltese ships that aren't Maltese' makes sense, but to each their own I suppose.

Crayter, from my understanding, has had a history of stockpiling Cardamine for use by their own people, as to my knowledge part of the population of Borneo itself is already of Maltese origin. It's not solely for the *MR|. That much I had to ensure was clear during the RP years ago. Nothing's given away. That'd just be stupid.
The supply of the faction goes primarily through the CR as Crayter can act as a middleman for the *MR| to obtain supplies that it in turn pays the CR for. Whatever the CR doesn't use for those who need it that they govern is sold off to the *MR| as surplus. Bear in mind, the CR population is roughly 20 times that of the *MR| (give or take, I'm still figuring out the actual numbers for both but have a rough estimate as well as clarification from the devs), which allows for the runoff from the CR to handily supply the micro-state *MR|.

(12-18-2019, 06:30 AM)Mr.Cardaminum Wrote: If one reads the infocard of Galicia Research Station in Beta, the stance of the devs and the mod on Cardamine growing "elsewhere" becomes pretty much self-evident. Cardamine grows only on Malta and on a small portion of Soledad. Period.

Galicia Infocard Wrote:Galicia Research Station was set up not too far from Ruiz and in far orbit of Planet Elysium in order to further study the mysterious former gas giant. That's not all, though, for a few laboratories have been set aside to examine and experiment on Cardamine away from the prying eyes of the Maltese population. Those scientists perform tests on the drug to collect data on some of its auxiliary genetic alterations and conduct detailed analyses about Cardamine's euphoria inducing effects on the human body. This station also recently led a controversial project to test the feasibility of growing Cardamine grass inside its bio-domes, thus potentially on other planets as well, but with very little in the way of success. Another rendition of the project is currently being planned, which is to be aided by a more public campaign in an attempt to boost support of the concept.

Vanilla lore Wrote:"All Outcasts are thoroughly addicted to and genetically altered by the drug Cardamine, produced exclusively on the Outcasts homeworld. Withdrawal symptoms include a progressively worsening sickness which leads to the death of the addict if additional Cardamine is not obtained. Outcasts wear masks to dispense small doses of Cardamine into their system constantly, and prefer to sleep in Cardamine sleep chambers. This intense addiction ensures absolute loyalty throughout the Outcasts themselves (with perhaps some minor internal conflicts), and better, ensures that the Outcasts' lackeys who use the Cardamine they distribute remain loyal to the Outcasts in the future."