Shepard Quest Mk V, Base of Operations (ME/MCU)

Yes, because the Organization will never fall. That it will always maintain the status quo because you decreed it to be so.

Limiting the Arc Tech is perfectly within our rights as the developer of the tech. The fact that we developed the Arc Tech means we can and should set limits for it instead of throwing it out and moving on to a better one, relying on new tech to always maintain that competitive edge.

Ignoring the fact that all organizations are made from people that when if sufficient amounts of people are convinced the organization as a whole can be moved.

Escalating actions. One rogue agent could lead to more which can snowball into a disaster. The odds are low but it can happen, and preparing for that in case it happens is the smart thing to do.

Also, you clearly missed the point where proof had to be provided, and even then the proof came in the form of extremely contrived circumstances. All it would take would be Tali to be killed and poof, you have 1 person starting a war despite all you fancy talk about business and people being motivated by greed.

You're severely underestimating the damage a fanatic can do and are perfectly willing to arm them because Greed.
There is so much repetitive whining here that I am not going to bother addressing all of it. See: the many posts in this thread addressing your issues.

But since this is my last post on the topic, let me repeat one:
YOU HAVE COMPLETELY IGNORED THE FACT THAT YOU ARE PROMOTING THE CREATION OF A HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT. Again
Again.

All it would take would be Tali to be killed and poof, you have 1 person starting a war despite all you fancy talk about business and people being motivated by greed.
What the fuck are you talking about? Tali dying means that Saren got away with it, what war are you referring to? Alliance vs Geth? That was going down anyways. Alliance vs Council? Never even considered.

"Odds are low" ...extremely low, so low as to not be a definitive factor, meaning we could safely ignore you like Mikhailovich...except that your ridiculous proposals increase those very odds, while providing minimal (read: no substantial) benefits.

Not my point.

What i was saying is that because we have to sell reactors to maintain the patent, Arms Companies can get their hands on them and use it to develop power armor in the style pioneered by us and sell it to anyone who is willing to pay for it.

Because we're being forced to sell the reactors, we do not know where they will end up and what they will be used for.

Limiting the power it can produced means that if by some bad luck we end up facing it over the battlefield, we will have the advantage because our Arc Reactor will generate more power then theirs, so our shields at least will last longer.

Bringing that back to the suits we sell to the SA, it ensures that said suits will always be better then the knockoffs because of the extra power it has.
No, you don't have a point. You have whining. It has been explained several times why your false patent wont work (espionage alone guarantees it).

Who cares if they develop Arc Reactor Power Armor? In the long run, we want them too. From an IC perspective, by the time they do we will have the Mk. 2 and Repulsor Cannons, maintaining a definitive qualitative edge.

Remember that in the OTL, the Alliance had a qualitative edge over the Batarians. Before you factor in us. Why would that go away?




Oh, and this:
Yes, because the Organization will never fall. That it will always maintain the status quo because you decreed it to be so.
You bet your ass they will. This isn't me decreeing shit, this is me noting the over 2500 year history of the Council maintaining the status quo at all costs.
 
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Not my point.

What i was saying is that because we have to sell reactors to maintain the patent, Arms Companies can get their hands on them and use it to develop power armor in the style pioneered by us and sell it to anyone who is willing to pay for it.

Because we're being forced to sell the reactors, we do not know where they will end up and what they will be used for.

Limiting the power it can produced means that if by some bad luck we end up facing it over the battlefield, we will have the advantage because our Arc Reactor will generate more power then theirs, so our shields at least will last longer.

Bringing that back to the suits we sell to the SA, it ensures that said suits will always be better then the knockoffs because of the extra power it has.

And our point is: who cares. In a few decades we're going to need all of those suits to beat the Reapers.

If we kick off a scientific arms race and force every government to double down on modernising their military, we win. Because it will all help against the Reapers.
 
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Yes, because the Organization will never fall. That it will always maintain the status quo because you decreed it to be so.

Because a government that has survived pretty much undisturbed for, oh, about 2,500 or so years is clearly unstable and has enough of a chance to collapse and be replaced by a hostile regime that we need to act like paranoid xenophobes for our own protection.

Limiting the Arc Tech is perfectly within our rights as the developer of the tech. The fact that we developed the Arc Tech means we can and should set limits for it instead of throwing it out and moving on to a better one, relying on new tech to always maintain that competitive edge.

1. They're going to get their hands on it, sooner or later. This is established fact by the GM himself.
2. Moving on to a better one to maintain a competitive edge is exactly how things work. That is literally the very essence of how the industry we're a part of functions.

Ignoring the fact that all organizations are made from people that when if sufficient amounts of people are convinced the organization as a whole can be moved.

Unless the rest of the Citadel has their own anti-Cerberus trying to whip them into a rabid anti-human frenzy, not f*cking likely.

Escalating actions. One rogue agent could lead to more which can snowball into a disaster. The odds are low but it can happen, and preparing for that in case it happens is the smart thing to do.

Yes, that is very true. Until your precautions actually increase the chances of the very situation you're preparing for to occur, in which case it becomes stupid and counterproductive.

Also, you clearly missed the point where proof had to be provided, and even then the proof came in the form of extremely contrived circumstances. All it would take would be Tali to be killed and poof, you have 1 person starting a war despite all you fancy talk about business and people being motivated by greed.

There was no indication that either the Alliance or the Council was going to go to war over what happened on Eden Prime even if the Council didn't declare Saren an outlaw. Further, that was just the proof necessary to tell the Council that yes, Saren was indeed behind Eden Prime. If they hadn't proved it then, there would have been all kinds of other chances to prove that Saren was working with the geth.

You're severely underestimating the damage a fanatic can do and are perfectly willing to arm them because Greed.

You're forgetting that:
1. He'll find ways to get arc reactors anyway because the Council will figure out how to make them. We've gone over this many, many times.
2. We're willing to sell to the Council because we're neither xenophobes nor paranoid conspiracy theorists who think this is 40K.

Not my point.

What i was saying is that because we have to sell reactors to maintain the patent, Arms Companies can get their hands on them and use it to develop power armor in the style pioneered by us and sell it to anyone who is willing to pay for it.

Because we're being forced to sell the reactors, we do not know where they will end up and what they will be used for.

Limiting the power it can produced means that if by some bad luck we end up facing it over the battlefield, we will have the advantage because our Arc Reactor will generate more power then theirs, so our shields at least will last longer.

Bringing that back to the suits we sell to the SA, it ensures that said suits will always be better then the knockoffs because of the extra power it has.

F*ck it. You know what, just f*ck it. I'm done. I'm sick of trying to convince you, because you've made it very clear that I'm just screaming at a brick wall. I'm not arguing this anymore. Call it your win if you must (and I'm sure you will), I'm done wasting time responding to this crap.
 
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There is so much repetitive whining here that I am not going to bother addressing all of it. See: the many posts in this thread addressing your issues.

But since this is my last post on the topic, let me repeat one:

Again.


What the fuck are you talking about? Tali dying means that Saren got away with it, what war are you referring to? Alliance vs Geth? That was going down anyways. Alliance vs Council? Never even considered.

"Odds are low" ...extremely low, so low as to not be a definitive factor, meaning we could safely ignore you like Mikhailovich...except that your ridiculous proposals increase those very odds, while providing minimal (read: no substantial) benefits.


No, you don't have a point. You have whining. It has been explained several times why your false patent wont work (espionage alone guarantees it).

Who cares if they develop Arc Reactor Power Armor? In the long run, we want them too. From an IC perspective, by the time they do we will have the Mk. 2 and Repulsor Cannons, maintaining a definitive qualitative edge.

Remember that in the OTL, the Alliance had a qualitative edge over the Batarians. Before you factor in us. Why would that go away?




Oh, and this:

You bet your ass they will. This isn't me decreeing shit, this is me noting the over 2500 year history of the Council maintaining the status quo at all costs.

Idiot.

Tali dying means Saren was free to do what he wanted without consequences, part of which was wiping out humanity.

And you're ignoring the point that the STG have no reason to waste resources on unlocking the Arc Reactor in their possession when we just released it to the public, there is no reason for them to suspect that the one we produced for the Citadel is less powerful then the one they have and thus do tests to prove it.

Also, you seem to fail at comparisons. If the Mk. 2 and Repulsor Cannons are a edge over their version of the Mark 1, how much more of a edge will it be if they do not have the MK 1 at all, or if their MK 1 is weaker then that of ours ?

Yes, because the past will always match the future, that because there was no betrayal in the past, non shall occur in the future.
And our point is: who cares. In a few decades we're going to need all of those suits to beat the Reapers.

If we kick off a scientific arms race and force every government to double down on modernising their military, we win. Because it will all help against the Reapers.

And in the short term, your plan just got more humans killed because you decided to up-tech their enemies. That's going to go well with the other humans.

" Oh i sold them Arc Tech and allowed them to use it to make weapons that killed our loyal soldiers because Alien Space Squids are coming, and we need all the tech, Honest! "
 
Because a government that has survived pretty much undisturbed for, oh, about 10,000 or so years is clearly unstable and has enough of a chance to collapse and be replaced by a hostile regime that we need to act like paranoid xenophobes for our own protection.



1. They're going to get their hands on it, sooner or later. This is established fact by the GM himself.
2. Moving on to a better one to maintain a competitive edge is exactly how things work. That is literally the very essence of how the industry we're a part of functions.



Unless the rest of the Citadel has their own anti-Cerberus trying to whip them into a rabid anti-human frenzy, not f*cking likely.



Yes, that is very true. Until your precautions actually increase the chances of the very situation you're preparing for to occur, in which case it becomes stupid and counterproductive.



There was no indication that either the Alliance or the Council was going to go to war over what happened on Eden Prime even if the Council didn't declare Saren an outlaw. Further, that was just the proof necessary to tell the Council that yes, Saren was indeed behind Eden Prime. If they hadn't proved it then, there would have been all kinds of other chances to prove that Saren was working with the geth.



You're forgetting that:
1. He'll find ways to get arc reactors anyway because the Council will figure out how to make them. We've gone over this many, many times.
2. We're willing to sell to the Council because we're neither xenophobes nor paranoid conspiracy theorists who think this is 40K.



F*ck it. You know what, just f*ck it. I'm done. I'm sick of trying to convince you, because you've made it very clear that I'm just screaming at a brick wall. I'm not arguing this anymore. Call it your win if you must (and I'm sure you will), I'm done wasting time responding to this crap.

No. WOG was that they're in the process of unlocking it, as in it's not unlocked yet.

Which means there is no way they can discover that the Arc Reactor we sell is less powerful then the one in their possession, nor will they have any reason to because why should they devote resources to further unlocking it when there is already a perfectly useable one out on the market?

And really, you can say without a doubt that Saren is the only Turian or alien in existence to hate Humanity, that there is no way there would be hate groups, because they're all such nice and forgiving people.
 
Why on earth would they not realize that the limited one is less? Seriously, we have to tell them how much it produces!

What makes you think that nobody would realize that we advertise them as producing less than we say in alliance territory?
 
No Shepard, you are the Reapers.
No Mochinator, you are the Idiot.

Tali dying means Saren was free to do what he wanted without consequences, part of which was wiping out humanity.
No.

there is no reason for them to suspect that the one we produced for the Citadel is less powerful then the one they have and thus do tests to prove it.
Human tech outperforming theirs is plenty of reason. Espionage will confirm that easily.

Also, you seem to fail at comparisons. If the Mk. 2 and Repulsor Cannons are a edge over their version of the Mark 1, how much more of a edge will it be if they do not have the MK 1 at all, or if their MK 1 is weaker then that of ours ?
You fail at reality - yes, what you are proposing is a theoretically better matchup for us. It also isn't possible to create.

And in the short term, your plan just got more humans killed because you decided to up-tech their enemies. That's going to go well with the other humans.
No. We upgunned humanity too. In fact, humans have more of an edge over the rest than they did in the OTL, it's just that everyone is better. Meaning fewer humans die than in canon, and everyone is better prepared for the Reapers.


OK ladies and gents. I think it's time we acknowledge sunk costs and got out.

*discontinues discussion with Mochinator*
Fair enough.
 
OK ladies and gents. I think it's time we acknowledge sunk costs and got out.

*discontinues discussion with Mochinator*
No Shepard, you are the Reapers.
No Mochinator, you are the Idiot.


No.


Human tech outperforming theirs is plenty of reason. Espionage will confirm that easily.


You fail at reality - yes, what you are proposing is a theoretically better matchup for us. It also isn't possible to create.


No. We upgunned humanity too. In fact, humans have more of an edge over the rest than they did in the OTL, it's just that everyone is better. Meaning fewer humans die than in canon, and everyone is better prepared for the Reapers.



Fair enough.


And i'm gonna rub it in your face when Arc Tech Power armor is developed by the other species and used to kill human soldiers, along with the negative hits to us that will happen when that occurs.

Because clearly you don't believe that it's will happen.
 
Business
[X] Building Better Babies. Distribute your new procedures as widely as you can, making Humanity stronger, faster, smarter and prettier. Also pissing off the companies that are making a killing doing this for the rich and powerful.
-[X] Provide free treatment to cure genetic disease in children.
--[X] Work with those of alliance governments who have free medical care and mandatory inoculations to spread your advancements as far as possible (and for political capital)
---[X] See if you can involve Sirta Foundation. This sort of thing is their specialty and it would be nice to have a working relationship.
[X] File. Let them see what we can do, and let them then shut up and give us their money.
-[X] But have your people go over any changes in Citadel patent law first. Hire a specialist if needs be.
[X] Hire on five new security teams.
- [X]Prioritize Marines but if we have to take on more LEOs or mercs to have them on time then so be it.
[X] Build Basic Research Lab II and III
-[X] Hire Research Teams at our usual salary

Research
[X] Advanced Fire Control VI (0/400)
60d10 + 120 = 98.85% chance of completion
[X] Advanced Black boxing/FRM (439/800)
60d10 + 70 = 96.21 % chance of completion
[X] Peak Human (0/400)
20D10+70+Overflow

Spare time
[X] Have your own advanced implant (Magi) installed.
-[X] Ask if Rahna would be willing to be hired as your tutor for you
[X] Spend time with family and Brian.
-[X] Hellish as it was fighting to beat Mum's challenges with Brian was fun, maybe you can do some more of that
--[X] Bring some of what you've learned to the Security Teams training
 
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And i'm gonna rub it in your face when Arc Tech Power armor is developed by the other species and used to kill human soldiers, along with the negative hits to us that will happen when that occurs.

Because clearly you don't believe that it's will happen.
No. Don't stick words in my mouth, I know it will happen...and?

Nothing you can do will prevent that.
 
I promised dice probability calculator program. I deliver. There are both the .exe file and the source code in there. What it does and how it works.

You set the number of projects you want to calculate. Then you set the cost of each project in the leftmost column, the number of dice allocated to each project in the second column (put zero if you don't put any dice into it) and the bonus allocated to each project in the third column (you can leave it blank if you don't want to put any bonus into it, or put zero into it). The last project is automatically the overflow one. You then press calculate. It throws the dice set as many times as you put into the sampling size box. The output is displayed in the fourth and fifth columns. The fourth column shows the probability of finishing the project in percents. The fifth column shows the average amount of overflow. Negative values indicate the average amount which would remain until the project's completion. In the upper right corner two additional numbers get displayed. The top one is a chance to waste dice, i.e. to get more points that can be spent. The lower value is an average amount of points lost in the event that any are lost at all.

This also includes the mechanics from the start of the quest where, if we roll 100, an additional dice gets rolled. Is it still in play?

Also, I gladly accept criticism and am taking suggestions.
 
I fully expect the Citadel to have Arc reactors reverse engineered in 6 months to a year at the longest even if we don't file the patent because
  1. Our current Black Boxing is crap (The Stop Amateurs Cold level)
  2. We have no say in who H&K sell too the Salariens aren't going to be lacking samples nor is anybody else.
After that another 3 months to 6 tops to tool up and they'll have their own power suit factories running.

After this quarter we'll have No-Sell Corp/Seriously Delay Governments Black Boxing and maybe a year past Lab III No-Sell Government Black boxing but that won't magically upgrade anything we've already sold.
 
So I was thinking.

[ ] The invisible man (400): The stealth system that was installed in the prototype the Berkeley students presented at the power armor conference was not good enough to fool Alliance security, but then it was Conrad piloting the thing. While working on your advanced ceramic, you've had some ideas of your own on how to incorporate digital camouflage at a fundamental level. (Make near-invisible versions of your vehicles. Sound, thermal and radar detection will still be issues, but issues exist to be solved!)

One of the problems is that it still emits sound. But from what I remember of high school physics sound is simply vibrating particles in the air. So given that kinetic barriers can be tuned to stop bullets but not your chair how hard would it be to tune one to stop sound?

The obvious disadvantage is that you may be rendered deaf depending upon whether or not one way barriers can be created.

Either way that removes the big hurdle for invisible Legionaries since it's unlikely anyone will be running around with thermal cameras or radars trying to pick up man sized targets that are close to ground level.
 
Well ME barriers are definitely used to keep atmosphere inside the cargo bay with the doors open - so that should be possible. It is probably just super energy intensive.

With the Arc Reactor (maybe the Mk. II for balance) there shouldn't be a problem with having a "stealth mode" to your barriers where the atmosphere gets blocked. Not sure if they can be one way though. I want to say yes, but at the same time the heavy duty barriers seen in game are all two-way. You would also be cutting off your air supply, but that should be easily solved by it being toggleable.
 
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Well ME barriers are definitely used to keep atmosphere inside the cargo bay with the doors open - so that should be possible. It is probably just super energy intensive.

With the Arc Reactor (maybe the Mk. II for balance) there shouldn't be a problem with having a "stealth mode" to your barriers where the atmosphere gets blocked. Not sure if they can be one way though. I want to say yes, but at the same time the heavy duty barriers seen in game are all two-way. You would also be cutting off your air supply, but that should be easily solved by it being toggleable.

I'm concerned that the resulting ME fields could be detected instead.
 
Business
[X] Building Better Babies. Distribute your new procedures as widely as you can, making Humanity stronger, faster, smarter and prettier. Also pissing off the companies that are making a killing doing this for the rich and powerful.
-[X] Provide free treatment to cure genetic disease in children.
--[X] Work with those of alliance governments who have free medical care and mandatory inoculations to spread your advancements as far as possible (and for political capital)
---[X] See if you can involve Sirta Foundation. This sort of thing is their specialty and it would be nice to have a working relationship.
[X] File. Let them see what we can do, and let them then shut up and give us their money.
-[X] But have your people go over any changes in Citadel patent law first. Hire a specialist if needs be.
[X] Hire on five new security teams.
- [X]Prioritize Marines but if we have to take on more LEOs or mercs to have them on time then so be it.
[X] Build Basic Lab II
-[X] Hire Research Teams at our usual salary

Research
[X] Advanced Fire Control VI (0/400)
60d10 + 120 = 98.85% chance of completion
[X] Advanced Black boxing/FRM (439/800)
60d10 + 70 = 96.21 % chance of completion
[X] Peak Human (0/400)
20D10+70+Overflow

Spare time
[X] Have your own advanced implant (Magi) installed.
-[X] Ask if Rahna would be willing to be hired as your tutor for you
[X] Spend time with family and Brian.
-[X] Hellish as it was fighting to beat Mum's challenges with Brian was fun, maybe you can do some more of that
--[X] Bring some of what you've learned to the Security Teams training
 

We've shifted from using d100 to using 10d10, it averages the probabilities more and increases the average by 4.5. However the dice must be allocated in lots of 10d10, basically where ever it said d100 or die before substitute 10d10. Bonuses are also only granted per 10d10 block.

I doubt the dice exploding on a 100 is a thing anymore due to this shift. (explode # in dice speak means where you roll #, you roll again and add the result to the first one)
 
I'm concerned that the resulting ME fields could be detected instead.
...yeah, they totally can. Pretty sure tech scanning for eezo exists.

In any case, while that might not let you hide out in the open, in a more crowded setting it could work. Like, in a city where eezo signatures will abound anyways.
 
Honestly? Sound is the *least* of the problems with the stealth system we can research there, because at the distances you can hear the vehicle, chances are good you're already close enough that you can easily detect it anyway.

Heat and Radar are more problematic, as I'd expect pretty much all existing military sensors to include those two.
 
First of all, it seems that the shouting at each other and tearing apart strawmen business has stopped. This is good. If it picks up again over this, I'll contact the mods.

By the way; didn't we start building on a new Basic Research Laboratory a turn or two ago?
I can find no mention of it in my summaries and here is no mention of it in the finance sheet either, so I don't think so. Actually, there is no mention of any construction costs in the Finance sheet as far as I can see.

@UberJJK is this something you can fix or point me towards?

It's Maxim 35: 'That which does not kill you has made a tactical error.' which only appears on a Schlock T-shirt. The reference is oblique from Brian when he says:



Schlock Mercenary - Check
Not in comic - Check
Subtle - Check
Nope. And as I said, it's not really meant to be subtle. It's meant to be freaking obvious.

We've shifted from using d100 to using 10d10, it averages the probabilities more and increases the average by 4.5. However the dice must be allocated in lots of 10d10, basically where ever it said d100 or die before substitute 10d10. Bonuses are also only granted per 10d10 block.

I doubt the dice exploding on a 100 is a thing anymore due to this shift. (explode # in dice speak means where you roll #, you roll again and add the result to the first one)
It is no longer a thing.
 
@Esbilon
I think the construction fees are listed as "Cash Purchases" in the Cash at Bank tab. Research Lab II hasn't been paid for - I think it was discussed, but we didn't have the cash to do so between Factory III and Laboratory III.

Can we begin construction of Research Lab II and III now? Or must they be done sequentially? Or do we just build Lab III at greater expense and gain the benefit from II as well?
 
@Esbilon
I think the construction fees are listed as "Cash Purchases" in the Cash at Bank tab. Research Lab II hasn't been paid for - I think it was discussed, but we didn't have the cash to do so between Factory III and Laboratory III.

Can we begin construction of Research Lab II and III now? Or must they be done sequentially? Or do we just build Lab III at greater expense and gain the benefit from II as well?
I think you are right. Thanks.

You can start construction of both of them now and have the Basic Research Lab II ready in 2 quarters, and the Lab III in 3.
 
We've shifted from using d100 to using 10d10, it averages the probabilities more and increases the average by 4.5. However the dice must be allocated in lots of 10d10, basically where ever it said d100 or die before substitute 10d10. Bonuses are also only granted per 10d10 block.

I doubt the dice exploding on a 100 is a thing anymore due to this shift. (explode # in dice speak means where you roll #, you roll again and add the result to the first one)
Ok, I'll correct this in the morning. Would be nice to know anout any addiotional rules and features I need to put in.

@Esbilon any comments on the dice system so I can make this thing better?
I'm concerned that the resulting ME fields could be detected instead.
They can most likely, we know they have handheld "dark energy" scanners, which likely detect mass effecf fields.
So I was thinking.



One of the problems is that it still emits sound. But from what I remember of high school physics sound is simply vibrating particles in the air. So given that kinetic barriers can be tuned to stop bullets but not your chair how hard would it be to tune one to stop sound?

The obvious disadvantage is that you may be rendered deaf depending upon whether or not one way barriers can be created.

Either way that removes the big hurdle for invisible Legionaries since it's unlikely anyone will be running around with thermal cameras or radars trying to pick up man sized targets that are close to ground level.
It depends on how barriers work - by mass shift somehow or by creating a strong repelling force.
 
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Alrighty then.

Everyone! We have 700 in the bank, need 600 to start construction on both the Research Lab II and III.

Changing to:
[?] Build Research Lab II and III
-[?] Hire Research Teams at our usual salary
 
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