X-COM/XSDF RP THINK TANK (part3)

[DarkGemini24601]

Commenced rereading of Story of Defince. I'll put some of my thoughts here as I go.

Page 1 - Oh man, I immediately am reminded of many unused plans and ideas. Not in a bad way, though. Nouja not being married was probably for the best, though i wish we'd seem moar Shalquoir than we did. Significant amount of lewd in three of the week -1 posts.

Page 2 - Interview with the Commander posts are fun as always. And her with an Irish accent. Oh, and Evil Desmond.

Page 3 - Shy Sunny and evidence of something that we simply couldn't do later on: chaining content in the story thread before a mission to make it less sudden. Hopefully I can make that transition smoother in VoF as time goes on.

I also had an idea for XCOM2 that I'll pitch to Dahl. Scarlet dies in 2018, but what if Lilith and her are separate people in this timeline. Lilith is born later and maybe has a somewhat less tragic origin (thus no alt personality), but joins 2039 XCOM because (reasons here).

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Page 4 - Another cool thing is how the posts seem to follow eachother like a base storyline. Don't worry, once the dating becomes fluid again we can manage that to some extent.

Operation Averted Devastation - Billy had a rocket launcher. As a PFC. What. Additionally, I see that the whole "tailored gear" thing didn't catch on, but choosing yur own stuff was similar enough. Might use that to some extent with XCOM2 tho, Ramma.

Other than that, I really enjoyed the creativity and how you and Frost even went into detail about thin man gas being the same weight as the atmosphere and thus floating.

Also holy shit what am I doing? I should be writing the guide while I'm doing this!!

 

[DarkGemini24601]

I will try to be somewhat neutral in my description of events, but I make no promises at being unbiased.

 

[Gisherino]

Well, hot diggity dog. I already read all of the rules and glanced at the RP thread itself. I just needed a "ok" signal.

Due to the upcoming school year and some other stuff, I don't think a soldier would be good right now. I was thinking more a scientist or engineer. Ill get cracking on that app, anyway.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Well, hot diggity dog. I already read all of the rules and glanced at the RP thread itself. I just needed a "ok" signal.

Due to the upcoming school year and some other stuff, I don't think a soldier would be good right now. I was thinking more a scientist or engineer. Ill get cracking on that app, anyway.

Have you looked at the information google document and the whole of the lore thread, though? Just reading the specific rules post isn't the whole of it.

 

[PrismaCube]

Well, hot diggity dog. I already read all of the rules and glanced at the RP thread itself. I just needed a "ok" signal.

Due to the upcoming school year and some other stuff, I don't think a soldier would be good right now. I was thinking more a scientist or engineer. Ill get cracking on that app, anyway.

Maybe you would like to take over my role as lead engineer? I do not know if that role is open but maybe you could ask around. Since I've been working all day I only have a small amount of time to stop by every once in a while and catch up. But never enough time to participate in the Roleplay sadly :/

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Have you looked at the information google document and the whole of the lore thread, though? Just reading the specific rules post isn't the whole of it.

And definetly take a look at the character bios of course.

Maybe you would like to take over my role as lead engineer? I do not know if that role is open but maybe you could ask around. Since I've been working all day I only have a small amount of time to stop by every once in a while and catch up. But never enough time to participate in the Roleplay sadly :/

Ehhh, I think being a chief of staff is too demanding for someone to start out with. The role is just an NPC for now.

 

[PrismaCube]

And definetly take a look at the character bios of course.


Ehhh, I think being a chief of staff is too demanding for someone to start out with. The role is just an NPC for now.

I've been turned into an NPC?! There goes my interactions with others. Now I will keep saying the same thing over and over again, day after day not matter what you ask me? Nothing but a mere background character who plays the same animation and always seems to smile. But we all know deep down inside he is dead because he is an NPC.

There that is all you guys are getting from me this week

 

[DarkGemini24601]

I've been turned into an NPC?! There goes my interactions with others. Now I will keep saying the same thing over and over again, day after day not matter what you ask me? Nothing but a mere background character who plays the same animation and always seems to smile. But we all know deep down inside he is dead because he is an NPC.

There that is all you guys are getting from me this week

I meant that an npc is in charge now, Alex is just an unseen engineer through the power of retcons.

 

[PrismaCube]

I meant that an npc is in charge now, Alex is just an unseen engineer through the power of retcons.

Becoming one with the maschines, learning to live the way they do. Hunt with them, eat with them...mate with them. xD

 

[Gisherino]

I did look at the information doc. I am surprised; we have PC sectoids on every role except as a scientist.

I will fix this.

 

[MarineAvenger]

Becoming one with the maschines, learning to live the way they do. Hunt with them, eat with them...mate with them. xD

Don't tempt Nick.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Oh...

Becoming one with the maschines, learning to live the way they do. Hunt with them, eat with them...mate with them. xD

I get the joke now. They don't do any of those things.

 

[Adrammalech]

Operation Averted Devastation - Billy had a rocket launcher. As a PFC. What. Additionally, I see that the whole "tailored gear" thing didn't catch on, but choosing yur own stuff was similar enough. Might use that to some extent with XCOM2 tho, Ramma.

It actually wasn't supposed to catch on. It was kind of like "we have a roster of like 60 pinks and 4-10 classes, let's look at their background, give them a loadout, and see where it can be improved." Then later on they get freedom to choose, which is why Emily used a small rifle and grapple gear, even when there were better alternatives. Her choice (and reliability of it) is pointed out on her overseer mission. Also, I'm pretty sure I asked permission for Billy's launcher, because I asked permission for literally everything back then.

 

[MarineAvenger]

It actually wasn't supposed to catch on. It was kind of like "we have a roster of like 60 pinks and 4-10 classes, let's look at their background, give them a loadout, and see where it can be improved." Then later on they get freedom to choose, which is why Emily used a small rifle and grapple gear, even when there were better alternatives. Her choice (and reliability of it) is pointed out on her overseer mission. Also, I'm pretty sure I asked permission for Billy's launcher, because I asked permission for literally everything back then.

Now look at you, a real outlaw and rebel to society... Where did we go wrong?










Obvious sarcasm is obvious.

 

[Taxor_the_First]

Just in case anyone is interested, I'll be around tonight (murrican time) for collabs.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Alrigtt, everyone. It has come to my attention that I need to make an announcement about a story element people seem to be misunderstanding to various extremes or mild tones.

Commander Astasha Streczyk.

What was the intent with her that Zombie created and I carried on? She's a bitch, she's guilty of space racism, and generally a demanding and unkind person.

But she's not an incompotent leader. She hasn't done anything to suggest she's mortifyingly unqualified for command.

Ezra - This is an issue of legaility we decided at the start of the story. Understandably, a Commander that doesn't care about AI getting rights is going to treat them like tools. But Astasha never expects to actually harm him because she isn't going to anger Exalt Enterprises.

Cassia - Cassia is guilty of insubordination and threatenining the crew and her CO. In any military organization this would be the result. Just like most militaries wouldn't allow their acting operatives to be having sex willy nilly.

Why did this become an issue in my eyes?

Because people are getting the impression that just because Astasha is a witch, that gives them the right to defy her. And this is where its time for a lesson on military organizations.

The military is not a democracy. If anyone here thought that, let me give you a lesson now. It is not. It is comparible to a dictatorship. You are obligated to be respectful to your commanding officer at all times, and the only time you could EVER question their authoirty is if they committed a crime or did something that would lose them their command, like murder.

Aside from Astasha's bitchiness, I have not run the XSDF vastly different to any typical military. Yes, you're not supposed to like her, that's the idea. But you have no right to commit mutiny or ignore her authority.

So imagine my surprise when people tell me they can't be any calmer because she's "arrogant and greedy", she's "power-mad", she's "a racist".

Racism is bad, but it disgusts me when people seem to act like its a crime comparible to a capital offense. Astasha doesn't like aliens, but jesus, that doesn't mean you can talk shit to her face and tell her that her organization is gonna collapse.

Yes, sh enjoys her power a little too much, but she isnt out for world domination.

And yes, she's arrogant, but that doesn't mean her authority is moot.

Morrigan was exceptionally nice and lenient. Not everyone is going to be esactly like her, but it scares me to think that no one is going to treat a military leader like they have any power.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

And furthermore, Astasha cares about her troops. You think she'd send people to their deaths without caring? She's not inhuman, but I wonder how many people actually think shes human anymore.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

This is largely my fault. I feel like I painted Astasha in the wrong light. It is pretty obvious she was meant to be vastly different then Morrigan in many respects. But she is not the villain.

Yes, there was a moment in one of my posts where Brigid talked about mutiny. But the whole point was how she doesn't want that, and if it did, she'd be torn by her loyalty to her CO.

Astasha isn't a bad guy, and she was given her position for a reason. Please remember that, guys. Say what you will behind her back, but people have to follow her orders. COs are put in their positions and given their authority because they have earned the right to be trusted in her position. Until she does something bad, there is no legitimate reason to be defiant.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

This is largely my fault. I feel like I painted Astasha in the wrong light. It is pretty obvious she was meant to be vastly different then Morrigan in many respects. But she is not the villain.

Yes, there was a moment in one of my posts where Brigid talked about mutiny. But the whole point was how she doesn't want that, and if it did, she'd be torn by her loyalty to her CO.

Astasha isn't a bad guy, and she was given her position for a reason. Please remember that, guys. Say what you will behind her back, but people have to follow her orders. COs are put in their positions and given their authority because they have earned the right to be trusted in her position. Until she does something bad, there is no legitimate reason to be defiant.

While I do feel half the blame rests on my performance with her, this is exactly it.

If you think Astasha Streczyk is evil, you've misunderstood the intent behind the character and how we've tried to portray her.