Improvements Board Concern

[Cora]

Exception: Hoshi no Iori can theorectically move itself; it is both a space station AND a solar system. It has never been tested.

I serously want to know how long it took to build that.

 

[Zack]

If this is about balance, and what GMs do directly affects the game balance, then what GMs do is something that should be talked about.

 

[Doshii Jun]

Uso, let's make a deal. If you stop talking, I'll stop talking, and we can let some other opinions filter in. Sound fair?

 

[Toshiro]

...I believe I have to make one statement here...it will sound silly, maybe even unfair to some, but it is a fact you must come to terms to.

WES IS GOD HERE.

He can be appealed to and listens to suggestions, but once a decision is made, OOCLY or ICly, it's canon. This is not a good or bad thing, merely a fact.

Using his actions to indicate the upper limits of PCs is almost ludicrous, because:

A: His OOC stature.
B: His IC resources.

Hoshi no Iori is indeed Xbox HEUG, but it is also the result of dozens of civilizations working together on a single project. Remember that.

 

[Zack]

That doesn't mean we can't question his choices any more than putting things in a larger font makes them more true.

 

[Toshiro]

The font size was to emphasize a point I wanted to be obvious as key.

And we can question it, but in the end, it's all up to Wes what he does. Citing what the admin does and saying 'Why can't I do this if he can" is not a viable argument.

 

[Zack]

It is not why can't I do this if he can, the argument is if he is going to put forth standards for acceptable tech, everyone should have to live up to those standards.

 

[Wes]

WES IS GOD HERE.

But, I'm a benevolent god, lol. I want everyone to have a good time, and I'm interested in something close to fairness (but I prefer things slightly unbalanced - it can often be better RP to be the underdog). I try not to be overbearing - I'm not in this to make players feel small. I want to build up characters (not tech, characters) and adventures.

As far as the tech forum, I think four mods is plenty.

 

[Toshiro]

He can put forth standards, but as he created the rules, he need not abide by them. He may CHOOSE to abide by them, or be talked to about it, but there is nothing to say he can't do whatever he wishes with the RP.

To expect that limit to be imposed on him unless it is self-imposed is not plausible.

 

[Wes]

In regards to tech, most of the time (especially lately) I have been putting submissions in the tech forum for comments (example: the Mindy flamethrower).

 

[Vesper]

To Fred, please look at the following:

Note that the Mishhuvurthyar could do this with the transposition array on their new flagship, since their effective range is 1.5 light years and they can affect/grab up to a 1 AU volume inside.

from the thread discussing about moving the lor system: https://stararmy.com/forums/viewtopic.ph ... sc&start=0

and

Anti-Star Transposition Array: Dwarfing the Legacy cannon the Xianthrafruglu has, the Shlarvasseroth's main weapon, built in its three large clawlike extensions, manifests a 1 AU wide black globe which can destroy anything in its reach much like the TFC can - this causes major damage to the space-time of the area which will take months to ‘heal'. Alternatively, the transposition array can, instead of unleashing a lethal attack, grab anything a globe of up to a 1 AU diameter and transfer it to another location within the weapon's range.

from the flagships info page: https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=sh ... battleship

Keep in mind that most solar systems would be falling into that range (most planets we have found so far orbit very close to there starts btw), so yes, describing it as moving a solar system was in fact accurate and not blowing things out of proportion on my part.

To Doshi, please explain to my why it is necessary to create godtech to get a "whoa' factor and why these things should be "legitimately excluded" when there are many, many other methods of creating the same feelings in the players without godmodding tech.

To Toshiro, I do not believe anyone is saying that "since the GMs can totally bypass the approval process we should be able to as well". As Uso said, our point is that EVERYONE, from the guy who just started a week ago to Wes himself should have to follow the accepted standard process for getting tech through. If it is so powerful and/or unrealistic that it couldn't make it through the approval process (as all of the aforementioned items almost surely would have been), then it is quite likely it shouldn't exist in the setting. The purpose of the tech approval process is to weed out overpowered and excessively unrealistic items from getting into the cannon. Essentially its purpose is to act as a filter for what the populace of the board does and does not want in the setting. End of story, end of discussion.

There is already so much stuff in the setting that is capable of such awesome things (in the literal sense) that there is no real legitimate reason to produce godmod tech that avoids any oversite.

 

[Fred]

Are you off of your rockers Vesper? The Solar system has a 90 AU radii if you take into account the most distant body.

You can pluck something within a 1 AU sphere of volume and transfer it to any position 1.5 light years away from the weapon itself... but you can't grab an entire star system.

And in rejoinder to Vesper's bolded arguments, the game masters manage the plots that move the events of the setting onward for the populace and we bloody decide what our plots need and don't need.

 

[Toshiro]

Fred's view is accurate though, especially of the upper level of GMs. This isn't a complete democracy, you know.

Fred's words aren't a god complex, either. They're fact. I've seen mods with REAL god complexes, ones that sacrifice the fun the players have for their own goals rather than keeping the RP fun. Fortunately I have yet to see such a thing here.

The GMs and Admin have more power than the PC, especially in their own plots. You may talk to them and try to influence their decisions, but once those decisions are made, I'm sorry to have to say 'live with it'.

Wes doesn't HAVE to follow the rules, though he may choose to. He can just as easily change them. As for the other GMs, they have a flexibility necessary depending on their plot, no more, no less. Be thankful you have an admin willing to listen to you and try to work with you. There are many worse ones out there.

 

[Zack]

This kind of unilateral thinking is what is causing the tech problems that people have been complaining about. I think you'll find plenty of people complaining about the GM's overuse of those freedoms in this thread. Even other GMs have complained about tech that has just been introduced with no approval. This kind of thing affects everyone.

 

[Wes]

I think you'll find plenty of people complaining about the GM's overuse of those freedoms in this thread.

I just see the same three people that are always bitching and moaning: Vesper, Zack, and Chris.

Does anyone have any reactions to this feeling? Does the review process hamper a submitter's ability to have what they want approved?

This is the topic of the thread, and it's been addressed already. The review process (putting a tech submission up for comment) should be used by everyone, (including the GMs, when there's a possibility of tech being controversial).

 

[Cora]

Well, apparently we have a good reason for it, otherwise we'd have stopped already.

 

[Toshiro]

Well, apparently we have a good reason for it, otherwise we'd have stopped already.

...Actually, I've met many people who complain just for the sake of causing trouble. I'm not saying that's what you three do, but the argument you use is invalid because of that detail.

 

[Wes]

If you don't like me being able to instantly approve my own creations, why not ask for something like a minimum time for approal, or for every submission to have a poll attached?

 

[Zakalwe]

I disagree with the idea of a poll - it should be the result of reasoned debate, not a popularity contest. Which it would be.

 

[Fian]

Probably done after a debate that did not produce a concrete outcome.