Cold War Plot Kickoff

[Kirt Dankmyer]

So, as per our face-to-face discussion during the Last Supper, we're
kicking off the TL7 Cold War plot next game. What's going to happen is
the topic of absorbing the JET into the International Task Force as a
special task force, giving it funding beyond the Empire of New York is
going to come up. Of course, this means that people like TL7 Malaysia
will have more say in the JET.

I'd like at least some of you guys to be against it. Understand,
however, that on an OOC level, this is inevitable. If any other player
comes to you about this, be sure to tell them OOC that while there IS
plot here, the plot is not "OMG we must actually stop this". At best,
they can affect how much autonomy the JET has from the ITF as a whole,
and what its' really about is this being the first indication of the
lessening of Technosphere prestige, as they no longer have the endless
supply of Econ they once had.

Are y'all okay with fighting a battle in-public during game that you
know is a "losing" one OOC, and are you willing to let people know OOC
if they get too excited? You can also direct them to the GMs if they
have Social or Politics proficiencies.

Comments? Thoughts?

--
Kirt "Loki" Dankmyer -- http://ivanhoeunbound.com -- xiomBRAG on AIM
cats * hats * RPGs * love * Eris * Agent Patriot * anime * Dada * poetry
"Only ONE MAN can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me!" -Death

[Kirt Dankmyer]

Awesome, that's what I wanted to hear. :)

I'll have a briefing for you before game.

Plot should get more interactive after this but I wanted a set-piece
to happen in-game.

On 3/8/10, Shaun Pal Smith <spwor...@gmail.com> wrote:
> No problems with any of that.
>
> The bit about we're gonna fight a war and lose is inevitable? Yeah, that
> part is quite normal for us. The only difference is that we're not gonna
> get a small win, when we loose everything. (Ie we don't get to save
> everyone, in an obvious and expected manner before our territory gets
> destroyed)
>
> But we're real good and driving story arcs.
>
> -Sp

--
Sent from my mobile device

[Carolyn Grodt]

So  just to make sure I understand - because I don't follow political plots carefully, but would really like to- we say - "Malaysia? We don't want to deal with them." and then see who listens to us.  And let people know not to throw all their BGAs on it, right?  And then Malaysia pretty much gets in anyway - right?

~C

[David Lunking]

I would take the tack that the JET should not suffer the meddling of Malaysia, a state that has demonstrated its willingness to slaughter millions to achieve short term goals. Yes, the hypocrisy is deafening, but at least we took volunteers in order to save the world, rather than execute short term political and territorial gains. Just ask people whether or not they want that sort of state as a neighbor, controlling their funding for making the world a better place. I guess the issue will be directing IC anger away from 'stopping Malaysia from joining the ITF' and towards 'preserving JET autonomy under a Malaysia funded ITF'.

 

One question as to scope here: Does this portion resolve at Feral Detroit? If we are to protest the involvement of Malaysia Friday night/into Saturday, does Malaysia get its seat on the ITF sometime Saturday night? If so, then no BGAs would be spent on this, and we can apply that ire elsewhere at a later date.

 

~D

--
"A talent is formed in stillness, a character in the world's torrent."
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

[Kirt Dankmyer]

The intent is for this to resolve soon after Feral Detroit but not
during. It's supposed to come up during the main diplomatic scene.

Really, at this point it could be less anti-Malaysia so much as overly
pro-Technosphere. Up until this point, it was literally impossible to
challenge the Technosphere. The only time it ever took a hit until
recently was ultimately due to betrayal from within. And pretty much,
the JET was funded by a combination of the ENY and the Technosphere,
with a lot of the really high tech crazy coming from the Technosphere
and the "basics" coming from the Empire and some other states like LA
and Penn Sate.

Over the past three years of the game, while the Technosphere was busy
"saving the world", the Empire has gotten stronger (despite some
Scooby Doo anti-ENY plans by the 'Sphere) and there's few other powers
currently around who can oppose it, particularly with the political
disintegration of LA and Penn State being too small to be anything
other than an economic satellite of the ENY at this point. With the
nuking of the Technosphere, someone needs to take up the slack and it
makes sense for the Empire to use the International Task Force to both
make concessions to powerful entities that have been clamoring for
more consideration in the JET (the TL7 USSR, Rising Sun, Malaysia,
etc.) AND to secure funding and high tech, because otherwise the
Empire would be taking a disproportionate monetary burden since the
Technosphere can no longer shit Econ like it used to do.

That's why the JET becoming part of the ITF is inevitable. This is
actually mainly a good thing, as arguably all Threads have a stake in
the JET and it'll bring a lot more of them on-board, AND will spread
out the financial burden more fairly.

However, it also makes sense that on an emotional level, the people in
the 'Sphere are used to being top dog, and despite the nuking, they
just pulled off a coup with ReUnification. They saved the world. But
they're not being kept in the privileged position they once were, and
even if objectively it's better for everyone that this happen, and in
fact it's really not possible to stop it, it ALSO makes sense that
members of the Technosphere might resent it and try to fight back
politically.

If your character doesn't follow politics, he or she might not care.
On the other hand, she or he might care MORE, because on the surface,
it seems awful ungrateful, tho in practice it's actually practical, to
try to shunt the JET into a big treaty organization rather than the
super-independent "Starfleet" that Penn State and the Technosphere
originally created it as.

[Carolyn Grodt]

I really like this.  The funding issue for the Jet is interesting as well (and seems relevant now IRL.)  Are there Budget cuts that force Malaysia to step in?

[David Lunking]

It's less of a budget cut, and more of a catastrophe, almost like the JET's econ supply got nuked.

 

Well, since the Technosphere had near limitless ECON at its disposal, and that supply was cut off when we got nuked, it's not a simile. And to take the simile idea one step too far, it's budget cuts... like a knife!

 

~D

[Kirt Dankmyer]

David is correct. Basically, the Technosphere doesn't have the deep
pockets it used to have.

On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 10:43 AM, David Lunking <david....@gmail.com> wrote:
> It's less of a budget cut, and more of a catastrophe, almost like the JET's
> econ supply got nuked.
>
> Well, since the Technosphere had near limitless ECON at its disposal, and
> that supply was cut off when we got nuked, it's not a simile. And to take
> the simile idea one step too far, it's budget cuts... like a knife!

--

[Gordon Olmstead-Dean]

So, to be fair, it's pretty well inconceivable that Malaysia wouldn't be seated in the ITF under the final charter.  It's one of the principal founding members, so that would be a little like ENY not being seated on the original JET board of Trustees.

It's also the case that Malaysia wouldn't be the principal funder of the ITF.  Funding would be divided up on a pro-rata basis.  

I've drafted a charter that's reasonably workable and I'll forward it later today.  It's a draft, but it's a fairly reasonable draft.  

[John Cooke]

Yes, I actually meant to reply to this as well.

The founding members of the ITF were Malaysia, USSR, Rising Sun, and The Hive. The funding for the organization comes from all of those states. I believe at this point the ENY has been added officially and Imperial France is in the process of being admitted. As additional line of inquiry for this might be to try to gather support for Daedalus to join the ITF in it's own right. I wont speculate on how likely that is or how dificult it would be to make that happen, but its an option.

John

[Kirt Dankmyer]

Yeah, as I said earlier in this thread, I see a realistic Technosphere
reaction as less anti-Malaysia so much as "Hey, did we become less
important all of a sudden? WTF?"

Which, of course, is interesting drama because it's both true and
false. The Technomages were a major part in "saving the world". But
now that it's been saved, people still gotta eat, and that takes
money. :)

Plus, despite implants, Technomages are human. It's going to take time
to adjust to the new situation, not to mention the 'Sphere has been
ignoring other festering issues (like LA) in favor of the whole
world-saving thing.

On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 1:37 PM, John Cooke <jco...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Yes, I actually meant to reply to this as well.
>
> The founding members of the ITF were Malaysia, USSR, Rising Sun, and The
> Hive. The funding for the organization comes from all of those states. I
> believe at this point the ENY has been added officially and Imperial France
> is in the process of being admitted. As additional line of inquiry for this
> might be to try to gather support for Daedalus to join the ITF in it's own
> right. I wont speculate on how likely that is or how dificult it would be to
> make that happen, but its an option.

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