Seeking Development Team and Players

[JarlWolf]

Further thoughts on hunters, make hem have slower population growth due to rugged lifestyle instead of minus to planet if you wish. Reason why I state minus to planet is that in game, having negatives to planet would be GOOD for faction, because negative planet means you anger planet more. Angry planet sends more mindworms. More mindworms for them to kill= more planet pearls, thus stimulating economy more. Mechanical choice for gameplay to help support lore.



I think communist faction should not be based off of Russian politic. Russian politics has right now, heavy basis on nationalism with minor focuses on welfare. My country has always had somewhat autocratic focus on regimes and is not fair to socialist ideals at large due to cultural nature of country.


Socialist faction that could arise is perhaps is a workers commune derived from disgruntled industrial workers who want to escape demagogues that want to dictate them. They split from main parties (somewhat like Free Drones) and form communal havens that are focused on sharing resources and caring for one another, welfare state that everyone works towards.

Could call them,

The Communal Haven, The Commune for short.

Their bonuses:

1+ growth, families of working class men are encouraged to grow, state and community supports young families and takes care of elderly and injured.

Free Prototypes: The Commune isn't restrained by a centralized overbearing bureaucracy/major ideological base camp, and this allows workers in the field to come up with new, non standardized designs and implement them without problems.

-1 Morale, The Commune does not like to fight and risk their lives, they wanted to get away from all the ideological conflicts and largely be on their own, they want to work and support their families and grow in peace.

Aversion to Free Market, as its exploitative of the working class and derogative to them. Preferred is democracy, they prefer to keep their society fairly independent and their leadership as elected, chosen representatives.

[Trenacker]

I was indeed thinking that the Hunters would be on the smaller side. I'd guess that the largest factions might be the Conclave (religious emphasis on procreation), the Estado Novo (in order to ensure an adequate labor supply, peons are encouraged to have large families), and the Labyrinth (cast-offs from forced breeding programs are destined either for the drone bays or the killing fields, so he isn't worried about having too many mouths to feed). I'd say that factions on the smaller side would include the Hunters, the Ascendancy, and the Dreamers. The Spartans, too, although largely because Santiago would have landed with a relatively small force of stowaways relative to the number of expedition survivors overall.

I do think it would be fun to have a Soviet-style faction, and in fact my alternate history does provide for the resurgence of exactly the kind of ultra-nationalist Communism in Russia that you describe (following a period of prolonged authoritarianism under Putin and like-minded successors). I suppose I could go in a very different direction and instead go with a monarchy as the logical pinnacle of hypernationalistic "thug-o-cracy." I'm amenable to that.

Sure, there's room for a communist faction. Am I correct to understand that your version of communism isn't actually based on the philosophies of Karl Marx? Let's assume for a moment that the liberation of workers elsewhere means nothing to this proposed faction (which is, I think, what you have tried to say) -- that it's essentially an insular kibbutz. I think, at some point, that faction would be struggling to figure out how to overcome the inherent limitations on risk-taking that exist in a society where all property is communal.

[Trenacker]

Very roughly speaking with respect to the timeline and "future" history...

The history that I have written thus far can best be conceived of in X stages, each with a different theme.

In the first stage, I tell the story of the Second Renaissance, a flowering of Western culture, including scientific revolution, until about 2100. During this time, Chiron is discovered and an expedition organized and dispatched under the auspices of a NATO successor organization, the Global Treaty Organization. This expedition was launched with the benefit of much careful planning. It represents humanity at the height of its achievement.

In the second stage of the story, things go sour for the colonists on Planet. Contact with Earth is lost and a plague destroys the original colony, forcing the survivors to scatter under the leadership of various different leaders.

In the third stage of the story, we learn that Earth has experienced a precipitous backslide into calamity (complete with multiple nuclear detonations) that will ultimately end with what appears to be the certain destruction of Planet Earth.

The fourth stage of the story deals with Unity on the stocks. We examine why the expedition is so peculiar. The Probe launched amidst raucous celebration; Unity launches under a cloud of pessimism about Earth's final days. It is juxtaposed with the Chiron Interstellar Probe, which was launched under dramatically different circumstances.

The fifth stage of the story is that of Unity's arrival in the Alpha Centauri system and its early experiences on Planet.

[JarlWolf]

I was indeed thinking that the Hunters would be on the smaller side. I'd guess that the largest factions might be the Conclave (religious emphasis on procreation), the Estado Novo (in order to ensure an adequate labor supply, peons are encouraged to have large families), and the Labyrinth (cast-offs from forced breeding programs are destined either for the drone bays or the killing fields, so he isn't worried about having too many mouths to feed). I'd say that factions on the smaller side would include the Hunters, the Ascendancy, and the Dreamers. The Spartans, too, although largely because Santiago would have landed with a relatively small force of stowaways relative to the number of expedition survivors overall.

I do think it would be fun to have a Soviet-style faction, and in fact my alternate history does provide for the resurgence of exactly the kind of ultra-nationalist Communism in Russia that you describe (following a period of prolonged authoritarianism under Putin and like-minded successors). I suppose I could go in a very different direction and instead go with a monarchy as the logical pinnacle of hypernationalistic "thug-o-cracy." I'm amenable to that.

Sure, there's room for a communist faction. Am I correct to understand that your version of communism isn't actually based on the philosophies of Karl Marx? Let's assume for a moment that the liberation of workers elsewhere means nothing to this proposed faction (which is, I think, what you have tried to say) -- that it's essentially an insular kibbutz. I think, at some point, that faction would be struggling to figure out how to overcome the inherent limitations on risk-taking that exist in a society where all property is communal.

This is theorem of mine but I see the rise of communes in colonies to rise in confederal fashions due to distances, and the relative autonomy such settlements would develop from each other. City states that effectively work together due to shared ideal and methods of operation in tight alliance, but still independent of one another. Regionalist Communism if you will over nationalist due to the independence of towns who wouldn't like to be ruled over by a central power. Internationalist communism/socialist regime/organization would require some sort of reliable worldwide communication to occur.

[Trenacker]

Yes, that makes good sense, but again, how would those societies overcome the limitations inherent in an arrangement where all property is communal? Presumably, they'd suffer penalties to innovation, and possibly to efficiency as well, the incentive to work being reduced because all gains are more or less evenly distributed. You're not going to get outliers who might otherwise form a small but hyper-productive elite. I'd also be curious about how such societies would make and enforce common decisions. Wouldn't there be a worry that agents appointed by popular consensus would slowly grow entrenched? Not that these prevent such a faction from being as viable as any of the others. All are imperfect, like every human institution.

[Buster's Uncle]

Hmm.  If you think of bases as arcologies -large single buildings- the answer to a lot of those questions could be "they don't have a lot of other options"...

It's not Earth - having to take your air with you and figure out something workable about food raises the difficulty/expense/complication of striking out on your own by roughly an order of magnitude.  That's probably the only reason various factions are so politically stable, too.  Not a lot of other options than the setup you started with.

[Trenacker]

I'd guess that the Chiron Probe crews would have acclimated to Chiron's nitrogen-rich atmosphere by the time the Unity arrives so many years later.

I wouldn't think that most factions would feature arcologies, although I could be underestimating the hostility of Chiron's natural environment.

One of the ideas recently proposed was to start one year after the Unity crew make Planetfall, allowing time for rudimentary global trade and communication to kick up.

[Trenacker]

Still zeroed in on the background material. If folks could help me chew on the following questions, I'd be most grateful:

1. What should be done about the decades-long, perhaps century-long, gap between the two missions, Chiron Probe and Unity? Are the current-day faction leaders of the Probe legacy factions the distant descendants of the original officers and crew, or is some other factor in play? Perhaps humanity achieves biological immortality by 2100? Does something about Chiron dramatically reduce the negative health impact of human aging?

2. Assume a technological and cultural renaissance from 2000 to 2100. What kinds of technologies and social movements are likely to appear? Medically, I've got: gene therapy, stem cell, and medical cybernetics breakthroughs leading to dramatic reductions in global mortality rates and the near-elimination of disability. Eventually, we reap the ultimate reward of a healthier society: reduced healthcare costs. Obviously, there will be some who refuse the most-invasive techniques and reject cures based on fetal stem cells. With respect to planetary engineering, I envision the widespread use of genetically-modified organisms, including patented insects and patented pollens, along with "resurrection" of species in the fossil record. For energy, there's fracking, fifth-generation nuclear power, grid-scale batteries, and improvements to industrial control systems resulting in adaptive, self-healing systems. During this century, we successfully explore the oceans and rain forests so that, by 2090, more than a half-billion people live below sea-level (although not necessarily underwater). We also build semi-permanent stations on both the Moon and Mars. Should I add anything else? Do we reach biological immortality in this timeframe?

3. The Chiron Probe settlements eke out a living for about one year, spending most of that time bitterly divided by ideological disagreement, then collapse into disorder when a plague annihilates most of the colonists.

4. The basic idea for the background is 100 years of celebratory advancement, culminating in the Chiron Probe, followed by 50 years of backsliding and another 50 or 100 years of total catastrophe, mostly man-made. A lot of social backlash to modernity. The U.S. falters, then takes everybody else with it, and nuclear weapons begin to be used so that the planet experiences a short, sharp nuclear winter. Eventually, our world poisoned, we take off in Unity for Chiron.

I'd like to set up some kind of real-time discussion forum to vet pieces of background about once a week or so. We could do that on Skype or IRC. I'm open to suggestions in terms of what is easiest for everyone. Or we could just have a very lively discussion here, which I'd be glad of.

All right! Thanks!

[Geo]

I'd guess that the Chiron Probe crews would have acclimated to Chiron's nitrogen-rich atmosphere by the time the Unity arrives so many years later.

I wouldn't think that most factions would feature arcologies, although I could be underestimating the hostility of Chiron's natural environment.

Its not only the higher partial pressure amount of the nitrogen in Chiron's atmosphere. Its the higher total amount of atmospheric pressure, combined with the 30% higher gravity, that gives unprotected people 'the bends' and ultimately results in their deaths. And of course the oxygen percentage of Chiron's atmosphere is lower as well, though IIRC the particle amount of oxygen in Chiron's atmosphere is roughly the same as Earth's.

[Buster's Uncle]

Wouldn't the bends only happen if you went inside too fast?

[Geo]

The game's lore keeps mentioning nitrogen narcosis and gasping death, so I gather its not exactly healthy for people to go outdoors unmasked.

[Buster's Uncle]

High nitrogen pressure does result in the bends - but only if you decompress in normal too quickly.

Actually, it would end up killing or crippling a lot of people who had to get inside in a hurry in a crisis.

[Trenacker]

Figure they'd acclimate eventually, no?

[Buster's Uncle]

A genetic modification ought to be possible, and a full pressure suit ought to work - but the former would be unacceptable to some factions like the Believers, and the latter would be expensive and cumbersome.  In large part people would likely make do with minimal breathing gear - and sometimes get the bends.

[Yitzi]

A genetic modification ought to be possible

And might be what the Pholus Mutagen is...