On the subject of updates

[Corile]

Protégé's #ShowerThoughts, episode i. (You're going to have to excuse me if this post is slightly incoherent, I've been awake for 20 hours without coffee and I'm heading to sleep in a moment.)

Now currently it seems that once an update package hits, iRP it looks like this:

> rp stuff rp pvp rp blues mad salt stuff, normal disco life.
> UPDATE HITS NEW STUFF WOMG OMG NEW SYSTEMS BOOM
> everyone assumes everything either a) appeared out of thin air b) was brought to life by a questionable ion storm which is basically a c) was there all the time what are you talking about d) ignores it

This is a problematic approach. First of all because the infocards are sometimes in contrast with what a faction has been roleplaying, secondly because it happens very suddenly and there's no way for anyone to adapt beforehand and perhaps discuss stuff oorply (GMG and their claim to S-15) and thirdly because sometimes this stuff just seems so rushed that there are bugs, problems and an overall mess (mislabeled jumpholes for instance).

Now hold that thought, slight personal tangent.

When I first installed discovery, what greeted me was a small .txt document called Readme.txt. What a shock. But the section I decided to read through the most thoroughly was (despite the fact that it was written in Courier) was 1. THE STORYLINE. Let me bring this up for you. As it looks originally:

BAD FONTS AHEAD

1. THE STORYLINE
=================
It is the year 822 A.S., and with it comes Bretonia's darkest hour. The house Gallia begins their assault on Sirius in earnest by brushing aside the Bretonian Armed Forces and seizing the Leeds system, changing the political landscape of Sirius forever. Governments and regional powers far and wide now seek to respond to the situation, either by launching themselves toward a desperate united front against a seemingly unstoppable enemy, or seeking to use the resulting chaos for their own benefit.

Liberty is in the process of the biggest mobilisation in its history. Rheinland's gambit of blowing the gates in the face of a Libertonian advance has made the leadership of Liberty focus on the greater foe: a great portion of the Liberty Navy fleet is now on the move to Magellan to catch the advancing Royal Navy of Gallia in a pinch. But is the war between Rheinland and Liberty really over, or is the Rheinland Military merely trying to lull the Libertonians into complacency?

Rheinland's plan has definitely brought them a much needed respite. While their overall defence held against any Libertonian incursions, the Munster research facility was lost and the data it held captured. Rheinland is now faced with a prospect of a counter push against a stronger enemy, so that they can regain what they have lost. But even at home troubles multiply: Rheinland's revolutionary movements seized the opportunity before them and struck at a Rheinland whose Military was off fighting at a distant front. The Dresden system has been taken by storm in a show of defiance, and the Rheinland government now has to choose between attempting to solve problems at home first, or committing resources to the pursuit of the stolen Munster base module, before it can disappear deep within Area 21.

Meanwhile in Bretonia a mass exodus takes place: as core planets begin to fall to an enemy far stronger than the previously hostile Kusari Empire, the Bretonian government attempts to evacuate as many people and as much materiel as possible to the newly annexed system of Omega-3. While the Bretonian navy is pushed out of Leeds, the Cambridge fleet pushes into orbit of Planet Sprague, now functioning as the refugee camp of Bretonia. With thousands of civilians and armed forces personnel still trapped on Planet Leeds, the Bretonian government issues an order to all able citizens of the house to assist with the smuggling of these people and the materiel that they guard off of Leeds, under the noses of the patrolling Gallia Royal Navy. But with all the focus on shipping all valuable stocks to the rear there are many opportunities for an enterprising pirate or freedom fighter: the Mollys relocate closer to Omega-3 to hit these transports as a priority, and Corsairs become an even more frequent sighting in the ice clouds of Cambridge. The Bretonians will have to carefully consider how many forces they are committing to the defence of these shipments. Not enough defenders could spell disaster for the refugees on Sprague, but too many may mean that the Royal Navy begins to threaten the seat of power in New London sooner than expected.

Despite the chaos in the south, the newly founded Kusari Republic tends to its own problems, wrecked by years of war and a defiant imperial administration. Contrary to Liberty and Bretonia, the republican government pursues a policy of appeasement with Gallia, seeking greater trade ties to rebuilt its coffers through the resource hungry Gallic state. But while to an outsider the new, non partisan government would seem to have put an end to the struggles between Kusari big business, new troubles are simmering under the surface. Samura executives and rich families are non too happy about their influence eroding away, and they still have more than enough support among the populace to begin stirring up unrest. In response, Kishiro begins to once again work closer together with the greatly rising GMG. Kusari republicans will have their work cut out for them, having not only a political balancing act on their hands, but also the task of rebuilding the economy. They need to tread carefully, as mistakes may once again plunge the House of Kusari into the depths of civil war.

No matter the distance from Gallia, all of Sirius is feeling the effect of the Gallic invasion. Those who see the coming shifts in power, prepare themselves to seize their opportunity from the chaos ahead. Those who are not as farsighted, will be doomed to a desperate defence against these seekers of glory. One thing is for certain: the conquest has only begun.

This is what first gripped me and what explained to me the universe of Discovery the best. It was fun, relatively short and more importantly informative.

Second slight tangent. I play a card game. It's called Android Netrunner. It has one of the most gripping universes in the history of sci-fi in general. And a thing that they do is each time there is an expansion release, they insert a small leaflet inside the pack with a short story relating to the matter at hand. Those can be VERY different, from simple location descriptions (for instance in the every datapack of the SanSan cycle, one of the districts is described as an article from a fictional website) to long stories that stretch through multiple expansions (a six part story of Nasir Meidan searching for mystical Net Protocols in the Lunar cycle) and overall they provide a very solid foundation of the Android universe lore.

Now.

To solve the problem, I think we can adapt this philosophy of releasing a lore piece of every update BEFORE the update (or even a lore piece for every section - for instance the Sigmas, the Omegas, the Omicrons, Kusari for the last one) that would either be added to the game folder or a piece of brochureware on the webserver. The people involved in the update (leaders of the factions affected maybe?) would be asked to write a short lorepiece in this style that's about 6-10 paragraphs long and can be put on a single page. That lorepiece would a) direct the rp that would later follow from the players regarding the region b) give some context to what's going on c) not make everyone make up their own explanation of this new system with new bases magically appearing there.

Of course I understand that with the current approach to system design sometimes stuff is getting retconned - assets are moved around and it might be hard to explain why suddenly RFP stuff moved from Halle to Sigma-15 but I believe it's still better than what we have currently.

Now excuse me while I go to sleep and read your flame when I'm done.

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Reflections on the Revolution in Gallia
Custodi // High City of Heraklion // The Cult of Archangels
Log Filter // Post Creator // Manhattan