A Discussion About Tech Cells, Shiplines, Equipment, and What They Mean to Factions

[Lythrilux]

This topic might incur some drama so I'd like to ask we try to keep things tame, or with some semblance of that.

So it recently came to my attention that with the addition of the Auxesia base and IFF, Valravn Citadel, Auxesia now sells and manufacturers The Core ship line and equipment line. There's a lot of context to how this point was reached, all of it dubious and open to debate, but given how all discussion around it in the past was suppressed, it's like beating a dead horse at this point. Still, context is important so I'll try to break it down as quickly as possible.

When I suggested Core| in the old BHG|BRAIN planning chat, all the old GKs and GMs agreed that for both factions to move forward, they needed to split from each other. This would be in every area: lore, economy, diplomacy and ships/equipment. When Core| became official I immediately set my sights upon enforcing the split. Lore/economy/diplomacy was relatively easy to do and I just worked in close cooperation with the story team at the time to see it through. Ships, however, was more difficult. I tried finding people to model new ships but with no luck. I eventually had the brilliant, original idea of following in pursuit of the BD line and just cloning the Core ships and equipment from the BHG ones. These would function as placeholders until someone could model ships for us. When I went to the Dev team with this idea, however, they declined it, stating that they wanted no more cloned variations of ships in the mod. This was back in 2014. Without someone to make models in sight, we were stuck with using the BHG line, much to the chagrin of many including ourselves.

Two years later, a Core shipline was introduced into the mod. These were fairly rushed cloned ships (bizarre, right?), but at least in some capacity, we now had a shipline, and could be properly split from BHG, and both factions would have their own respective rights to the shipline, rather than sharing it. Both could sell and manufacture it to/for themselves. Core| published this roleplay in October 2016, to signify that the roleplay had evolved and moved forward:

Spoiler

:::[INCOMING SIRIUS-WIDE TRANSMISSION]:::
:::[ESTABLISHING VIDEO FEED... FEED: ACTIVE]:::

*Music Plays*

BREAKING NEWS

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Recently The Core and AP Manufacturing have unveiled a new shipline to replace the ageing AP-Line traditionally used by The Core and the Bounty Hunters Guild.

Notably, the new ships are sporting a new, darker design. But overall, their form still takes after the old AP-Line. An odd design choice. One of our reporters asked the project lead for more information;

"Well, to tell you the truth, these are just prototypes. Mostly we're just testing the internals and seeing what works. It's extremely likely that the physical appearance of the ships will change in the near future, as well as the names. One suggestion that came up during a board meeting was that these current 'placeholders', so to speak, could branch off from the APX-Line and could become fairly generic ships and equipment for civilians and the like to make use of within the Edge Worlds; much like the Border Worlds shipline".
- Holly Octavia, Engineering Chief, AP Manufacturing

But then what of the current AP-Line? AP Manufacturing has sold the rights to the line for an undisclosed sum to the Bounty Hunters Guild. From this point on, the Bounty Hunters Guild will both build and sell ships and equipment belonging to the line from their bases. The APM Online Store will be closed for an unspecified amount of time, and any future purchases for the line must be made via the Bounty Hunters Guild.

At the end of the interview, Ms. Octavia surprised us with one last comment;

"The team working on the APX line actually isn't that large. This is because we're currently working on something - literally - much, much bigger. Testing for it has occurred at a top-secret location, so it's very unlikely that the vast majority of pilots have been fortunate enough to have seen what we're working on. All I can say is that when it debuts, it's going to cause some - ahem - mega ripples in the Edge worlds".
- Holly Octavia, Engineering Chief, AP Manufacturing

BREAKING NEWS

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Several months ago six high ranking Core officials, including Erik Nodtviet and Nova Hawken, disappeared from the Edge Worlds without a trace.

Fortunately Matt Bishop was able to step in and took the rank of Guildmaster in Nodtviet's absence, ensuring things ran smoothly and maintaining the pace of The Core war machine.

However recently four of the missing officials returned. Upon attempting to communicate with them, it was later discovered that their larynxes had been surgically removed. Meanwhile, Nodtviet and Hawken remain missing.

Once their rehabilitation and therapy to help them overcome this ordeal is complete, the returned four will collaborate to form a report in the next several months. Hopefully, we may gain some insight into what actually happened, and where the previous Guildmaster's whereabouts may be.

ANNOUCEMENT: Omicron Lost

The Core feels the need to remind the Omicrons about it's claim over the Omicron Lost system. Installations built by any party other than The Core will not be tolerated. This is not just because of the high alien presence in the system, but also because of The Core's long standing claim over Iridium. Recently, The Order made the foolish mistake of attempting to construct an installation within the Omicron Lost system. Battlegroup Auxesia also joined in to help fight the common threat. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. However this does not mean they are excused of their crimes against The Core.

Easily spotting their attempt, The Core swooped into the system and destroyed the installation without mercy, sparing none of the crew on board. Take note that even non-combatant personnel that sign up to a terrorist organisation are also terrorists. This includes Order scum.

The destruction of Kebok Survey Station will deliver a great blow to The Order's already strained logistical efforts. All this does make one wonder though: how is the most hated organisation in Sirius able to sustain itself? Perhaps this question simply answers itself, and explains why The Order lost Kebok.

Omicron Theta - A Zoner Protectorate?

Recently the Zoners have 'claimed' Omicron Theta as a Protectorate under the Confederation of Freeports. Although The Core considers all of the Omicrons its rightful property, Omicron Theta is more or less beneath their interest. Omicron Theta is a suitable home for the Zoner enclave in the Omicrons. If the Zoners wish to claim a system on the border of the Corsair Empire, then The Core has no qualms. Even if it is slightly humorous to see Zoners of all people flocking to the concept of laws and regulations, whilst hypocritically many Zoners are against the idea of Imperium Omicronis, which is essentially the same thing.

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This concludes the news. Be ready for the next broadcast; being on top of things might just save your life!

FOR GLORY! FOR OMICRONIS!

DOLOR TRANSIT, GLORIA AETERNA EST
(Pain is temporary, glory is forever)

When we started to see Auxesia immediately using these brand new ships though, we thought it was very strange. Logically, as these ships were a new development, Auxesia wouldn't have had any way to obtain them. None of us knew how the process of setting up a new shipline in the mod worked, but we assumed that the cells would have been a CTRL+P of the BHG line and our diplomacy. Shockingly, it was later discovered that the line didn't actually have an entry in the tech chart at all (and still might not) and that anyone, even Nomad IDs could the line. We decided to work on a request to establish what IDs could and couldn't use it - Corporate and Intelligence/Military IDs would get a cell, Auxesia would explicitly not. Auxesia HC caught wind of this, and this lead to some back and forth between them and us regarding the line and its cells. Even though this discussion was kept relatively private between us, this announcement later propped up a couple months later in 2017. Isn't it somewhat funny that it was made as a locked announcement, thereby nullifying any chance for discussion?

So apparently the Story Team had come forward to make several huge retcons at the behest of Auxesia, even though Core| and BHG| together had already established roleplay for the new shipline split. Neither Core| or BHG| was consulted about this for input or discussion. It just happened. Big NPC faction retcons for a faction that, at the time, was a player faction birthed from the Freelancer ID. To me at least, that seems incredibly silly, reckless and extremely haphazard. Factions are still reeling from that announcement today, confused as to what to do in regards to the BHG and Core ships. Tl;dr "You know those BHG ships you had? They were Core ships all along XD". I understand that the Dev team does sometimes have to retroactively change things, but to do something that changes so much, is so sensitive and to brush it off so easily seems overboard.

It seemed like any complaints or criticisms about this were suppressed, and we more or less gave up trying to get the cell changed or altered. Aside from them perhaps having too much access to ships they shouldn't really have, it was fairly harmless otherwise. This was until Auxesia tried selling our ships to the Lane Hackers and the Hellfire Legion. We had to get the Admins involved to stop this.

The fear from the recent patch is that the above is now legitimised, as Auxesia has a base that sells and manufactures another faction's ships and equipment. It was Core|'s firm stance that Auxesia should not be able to reproduce The Core ships and equipment. We have believed that any Core items they own should have become SRPs, as it was only a small contingent of ships that defected from Core, and that they lack the ability to create the ships themselves due to a variety of factors. If anything they should have inherited a BHG cell, not a Core one, for the sake of lore consistency.

In an ideal world, I feel they should just simply have a tech cell (BHG preferred for the sake of lore consistency) to allow a sort of lightweight-SRP process which can quickly help facilitate the ships, but not have any places that sell or manufacture it. Or better yet, perhaps they should just simply have their own ship line now, as they're an NPC faction (cloned ships again???). The Edge Worlds actually make a good substitute as well. All in all, they should not have any sort of Core line ownership, nor be able to sell or manufacture it in lore or in-game. But trying to find a solution for this feels like beating a dead horse, and it's not the main point of my post.

So what does this all mean for tech cells, ships and equipment? What does it mean for things like Faction Right 6? The roleplay behind the example I've cited is extremely flaky at best, so is that the standard required for obtaining tech cells and manufacture rights? In the past at least, when it came to establishing tech cells on the Core and JM IDs, I had to roleplay with and gain permission from other leaders, to ensure it wasn't one-sided. I couldn't simply have JM salvaging Guardians and stating they could produce them independently from that point onward. And even then, in those cases we'd be given a limited number of ships to use, usually providing what the specific names of those ships would be. If we went over that, we'd be in trouble.

There's a huge lack of any established or clearly defined lines and boundaries here, how far can this go? Can leaders now request Wild, Nomad and AI tech cells for the Core/Order/Auxesia IDs, with the justification of "alien tech RP", and then have our bases selling them? Can hostile factions now manufacture each other's ships and equipment based on "defections" alone? Can we do the same any other technology in the game, provided we can obtain it in some way, regardless of plausibility?

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[Querious]

I agree with you, Lyth. Auxesia should have the Core tech they stole when they defected, not the new material. Both Auxesia and Battlegroup Harmony are guilty of some sort of administrative favor, and need to double check their RP to make sure that their advantages aren't just admin abuse. I like both factions, but they need to draw their attention more towards the player base and not the administrative team.

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BIG PLANS

[SnakThree]

I really hate seeing staff favourism around. More so since I was burned for exposing such shenanigans in the past.

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[Lythrilux]

Well, Staff favouritism isn't really my point. I just want some logic and consistency, and established specifics on ships and equipment thereafter.

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[St.Denis]

I agree with you, Lyth. Auxesia should have the Core tech they stole when they defected, not the new material. Both Auxesia and Battlegroup Harmony are guilty of some sort of administrative favor, and need to double check their RP to make sure that their advantages aren't just admin abuse. I like both factions, but they need to draw their attention more towards the player base and not the administrative team.

Just a little note here, the Admins had no input in the decision on what Auxesia were given in the Ship Line. I have no problem with the use of 'Staff', as that encompasses us all.

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'I would like to be half as clever as some people like to believe they are'
Life is full of disappointments, it is how we handle them that helps to define us, as a person

[Kauket]

I agree with you, Lyth. Auxesia should have the Core tech they stole when they defected, not the new material. Both Auxesia and Battlegroup Harmony are guilty of some sort of administrative favor, and need to double check their RP to make sure that their advantages aren't just admin abuse. I like both factions, but they need to draw their attention more towards the player base and not the administrative team.

I hope you realise the Core tech was a /retcon/ - the story was fixed to say that the Core's stuff isn't owned by BHG. Core were supposed to get their own shipline long ago before it anyway.


https://discoverygc.com/forums/showthrea...tid=147165

This means, while I was still the Core lead, was able to - inRP - gain access to such plans. Of course, this'll mean the tech we have would be outdated because we aren't developing it, pretty sure I stated that the things in my roleplay were slightly outdated models.

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[sasapinjic]

I have secret administrative favorisam to , can i have Valor with Nomad Primary weapons and Gunboat Razors + Gunboat Missiles on Secondary slots ?

[Lythrilux]

The way the retcon was handled was undoubtedly disgusting and haphazard though. The absolutely worst possible way the split could have been dealt in.

And on the notion the ships are supposed to be outdated, what would be the issue with just using the BHG line? The Core line are upgrades.

I digress though, Auxesia isn't really the focus of this discussion.

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[Geoffacake]

Tech cells are iffy, and the circulation of technology to different groups is very common. Core honestly has it easy on terms of controlling their technology. while Auxesia might be a hiccup within your process, this is what happens when defection groups exist. Currently, the original concept of Auxesia as far as I understand was a large group of Core renegades that will probably include maintenance teams who worked their lives with Core vessels will probably know the in's and out's. Not to mention that some might be ship builders and so on. I wouldn't be surprised if they tore down some of their ships to examine the work behind them. Because I would.

While I understand the fustraing position you're in. Here are the relevant factions that have the availability to use, sell, and distribute Rheinland Military Technology. (Including unlawful distribution without state permission.)

Daumann Heavy Construction (Owner ship of Oder shipyard/The Ring + Holder of Military shipbuilding contracts)
Republican Shipping (Ownership of Alster Shipyard + Holder of Military shipbuilding contracts)
Rheinland Federal Police
Rheinland Military
Marinenachrichtendienst
Bundschuh (Limited reserves for distribution due to majority being from defected military pilots)

Here are all the remaining groups that have the freedom the use Military technology:
Kruger Minerals
ALG Waste Disposal


Thats a big list, and its probably the same as other houses. But this also means I can hand out technology under Faction Right 6, as BDM (Official faction to the Marinenachrichtendienst). But this causes complications to the Federal police, Rheinland Military, Republican Shipping, Daumann Heavy Construction as theres no clear definition to "Who it belongs to" as its classed as Rheinland Lawful in the tech cell.

Tech cells are complicated, don't always expect to have absolute control over them forever.

EDIT:

Also, your "RP" was borderline meme'ing. The usage of that advert poster "Once you go black, you never go back." completely ruined the post.

[Altejago]

Because no one gets their own shit these days. Nothing is sacred nor does it need to make sense so long some one writes a convincing story

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