Shepard Quest Mk VI, Technological Revolution
- Thread starter Hoyr
- Start date
He's originally an urban planner, right? We'll put him in charge of our biotic academy; if Harry Potter has taught me anything, it's that headmasters are supposed to be manipulative evil bastards.
We don't know if he is one. Frankly? There is a good (in my mind) chance that he actually is a genius. Those exist, and in this universe they would definitely be attracted to Paragon Industries.
Eh, let's see where he'll be at his best first.
Anywhere, commanding anything. If I had to use the current rules I'm using he'd look some thing like this:
Andrew Nicholas: +8/Special, Omni-Commander (Full bonus to any unit size/type), Planning Genius (+3 if given time and information to plan ahead), It Needs to Be Done (In exchange for every commanded unit, may achieve an objective regardless of odds*)
*Other then the units surviving and assuming it even remotely theoretically possible, the impossible is still impossible.
Edit:
Okay then!
Well she can cover your infantry/tank groups at least. Until you get more.
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So, when you have an overall commander like this plus an on-the-ground commander, do the bonuses stack or is Jelica basically useless now (until Andrew's sudden but inevitable betrayal)?
Stacks. Commanders effect the unit(s) under them though only so...
I'm rebuilding this so...stuff. But it will stack.
So because I've had such amazing levels of feedback that I can't handle it (sarcasm). I've tossed together a survey. Maybe I'll get more people responding!
Shepard Quest Survery Survey
Edit: Hey I typo I missed!
Meh...
Shepard Quest Survery Survey
Edit: Hey I typo I missed!
Meh...
HanEmpire
Delicious
It's too arcane for casual questers, meaning participation is always low.
Short Version: Stuffs complicated and makes people less likely to vote/join in planning.
Look at the last two threadmarks
This was the winning vote:
Shepard Quest Mk VI, Technological Revolution | Page 305
If you have no problem with that then great. If you do what is it and how can it be fixed.
One of the larger issue that I got commentary on was the tendency to bloat actions in the planning phase, thus what I'm doing now. Other issues might be the research system or the finance documents (Or some subsection of such, like the money tabs, the production tab, or such like)
Further issues would be clarity of certain techs on in the combat system thingy, which I'm re-doing now so I can actually make clear statements.
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- Location
- Dual citizen of SV&SB
The problem isn't with most of our actions; It's with the Massive Build orders. Cut off that top half of the vote and it becomes so much more manageable! ...Except we kinda need that part, as we are tracking finances. Ignoring that, and the research, and the winning vote comes out to:
Which isn't that bad. Though, I don't know how to simplify it. Most of it was just us buying gear for ParSec, which is a nice touch for us to have.
Which isn't that bad. Though, I don't know how to simplify it. Most of it was just us buying gear for ParSec, which is a nice touch for us to have.
HanEmpire
Delicious
The following is an option:
-System stays as is
-The few dedicated questers continue to vote in the arcane, but indepth manner
-Rest of us enjoys the detailed and entertaining quest
Of course this assumes that the said dedicated questers remain dedicated. Getting in new blood will be difficult with this setup.
-System stays as is
-The few dedicated questers continue to vote in the arcane, but indepth manner
-Rest of us enjoys the detailed and entertaining quest
Of course this assumes that the said dedicated questers remain dedicated. Getting in new blood will be difficult with this setup.
You could alternate vote blocks, voting only on one of four categories: production, research, marketing/investigations, or purchases/personal/other at any one time. That will make things APPEAR less arcane, by separating options into manageable blocks. Main problem I have is keeping track of all the things to vote on.
As for the vote bloating, that usually happens with marketing/investigations and purchases/personal/other, doesn't it? That could use an action system. Maybe there you can match characters to investigations, so you can ensure an action can only be done if there's someone to do it.
As for the vote bloating, that usually happens with marketing/investigations and purchases/personal/other, doesn't it? That could use an action system. Maybe there you can match characters to investigations, so you can ensure an action can only be done if there's someone to do it.
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- Location
- Dual citizen of SV&SB
Hrm...
Honestly, build plans are normally unanimous. We only really need to argue about them when wondering about building on a new planet - And even then it's because we're arguing about which planet. So there isn't much lost by keeping it arcane - and we like having solid numbers as to what we have. Could remove that from the normal votes entirely, and just discuss it in thread, bringing it to a vote if there is sufficient discord.
That removes it as a drain on actions, and then we can move to an action based system for everything else, without worrying about buying stuff taking up actions.
Edit: And I'd like to think that a good chunk of readers don't care too much about the specifics of production, so long as we can look at the plan and say: "Yep, this makes us more money and makes our mercs awesome." 25 vs 30 drones isn't something that most care about.
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- Location
- United States
As someone who just found this quest and is very interested in it, I think @Alanek has a pretty good handle on how I feel about the voting. Im fine with making/analyzing/voting for plans, but not if it takes an hour to do so. If you do go to an action system, it would also be fairly trivial to make a number of separate, smaller chapters if that is something you want to do.
@Hoyr I've being meaning to write this up for a while now. Here is my proposal for alterations to the current system.
The primary goal of this system is to cut back on the amount of work the GM and the players have to do per update while minimizing any reduction to our current capabilities.
At it's core my proposal is to break the current updates down even further. This makes each update faster and easier for the GM to produce, since there is less writing required and fewer things to take into considerations, and makes voting easier since rather then voting to do everything we vote for everything within a set.
Update X.0: Quarter Start
This update starts the quarter off with a series of reports assembled by our various advisers and investigation teams. It would start off with a couple general reports on any major news items that are relevant to our interests. On top of the publicly available news these items would have a more detailed section put together by our investigations teams, the quality and detail of which would depend upon our information gathering capabilities compared to the difficulty in obtaining the information.
After that would be where any noteworthy reports from our advisers would go. This could be anything from information their contacts passed onto them, commentary on the above news items, suggestions for actions later in the quarter, or whatever else the GM deems important. It would basically be the bit where our Advisers actually advise us.
Vote here would primarily revolve around Revy's reactions and responses to the content within. These votes generally wouldn't get an update responding to them but instead shape serve to shape Revy's character. There would also be votes offering to dig deeper into various news articles, the results of which would appear in the next quarter's "Quarter Start" update.
Update X.1: Paragon Security Management
Which right now ParSec is kinda unimportant since we haven't actually done anything with it besides training and build up. Going forwards however I see it being the primary source of "action" for the quest and having a pretty major role.
This update would be where we select missions and allocate resources to them. I imagine the vast majority of missions would be generated by the GM since they are being offered by NPC groups. However there would also be a write-in section for missing coming from Paragon Industries (IE: Revy).
In addition to mission management this would also be when we chose to do stuff like recruit new soldiers/commanders, train existing forces, and commission equipment from Paragon Industries.
Update X.2: Paragon Security Action
Here would be where the results of our votes in X.1 play out.
I imagine that the majority of the time it would consist of a series of post-mission summaries but it also presents the opportunity to go more detailed and dive into the action should the GM desire it.
If we do go into detail for a given mission It would start with X.2.0 and progress up the numbers (So X.2.1, X.2.2, ..., X.2.11, ect) until the mission is over. This could be done entirely without votes or we could Assume Direct Control of a character involved for the duration of the mission.
Update X.3: Base Building & Update X.4: Base Building Results
As it's name implies this is where all the votes for building new structures occurs. The way I'm imagining it we would have a list of the top ten planets for future expansion assembled by our staff. We'd chose up to five to expand to build upon. Now admittedly this is a downgrade to our expansion capabilities but starting next turn we are looking at profits in excess of 1 trillion credits so we can actually start mass producing Space Factory IIIs! For those who don't remember each one offers 30 million production per quarter.
Or put simply ~7.8 trillion credits of profit per quarter each. So reduced expansion isn't really much of a nerf.
Meanwhile by limiting our growth this way we can instead get some detail about the worlds we build on and our effects upon them. I mean look at this:
We are turning Benning into a major industrial hub. 270,000pr/quarter is a lot of production. Given that it's the likely location of our next Space Factory...
Well I can't help but think life on Benning is going to change. Maybe not as much as it has on Mindoir but wherever PI goes nothing remains the same.
By having base construction be it's own update pair it will give the GM a chance to show us the sort of effects we are having on the galaxy around us. It also lets planetary information be put into the updates themselves rather then being provided via WoG posts scattered throughout the thread, which will make participating a lot easier for new players who have only read the updates.
The way I'm picturing this working would be the GM providing a paragraph or two of description for each planet in X.3 along with a handful of Pro and Con bullet points. For example:
Then once we pick our planets we get a couple paragraphs per planet in X.4 describing what it's like, how the people are reacting to our presence, that sort of thing.
Update X.5: Paragon Industries Management & Update X.6: Paragon Industries Management Results
This pair of updates would deal with the various other groups, such as the SAM and private companies, proposing contracts, our in house manufacturing, and any other general purpose corporate things like taking out loans, purchasing other companies, ect.
Unfortunately this is a pretty mechanical area that can't really be spiced up or simplified without dramatically reducing our effectiveness and going against the core reason we picked Iron Man: To Tech-Tech our way to victory!
Still mixing in contracts, corporate dealings, and such may work to make it a little less bland. At least on the bright side this should be a really fast pair of updates for the GM since there isn't much to actually write on their part once the votes are done.
Update X.7: Research & Update X.8: Research Results
Basically our current research system but with dice simplified to straight RP which is all pooled together and can be allocated to any research project in 50RP blocks.
Update X.9: Personal Actions & X.10 Personal Actions Results
Basically our current personal actions separated out. on their own.
Update X.11.0+: Special Events
This would be where whatever special events, either due to random chance or choices made in earlier updates (usually Personal Actions), occur. A special event would start at X.11.0 and progress up the numbers (So X.11.1, X.11.2, ..., X.11.11, ect) until the special event is over.
The primary goal of this system is to cut back on the amount of work the GM and the players have to do per update while minimizing any reduction to our current capabilities.
At it's core my proposal is to break the current updates down even further. This makes each update faster and easier for the GM to produce, since there is less writing required and fewer things to take into considerations, and makes voting easier since rather then voting to do everything we vote for everything within a set.
Update X.0: Quarter Start
This update starts the quarter off with a series of reports assembled by our various advisers and investigation teams. It would start off with a couple general reports on any major news items that are relevant to our interests. On top of the publicly available news these items would have a more detailed section put together by our investigations teams, the quality and detail of which would depend upon our information gathering capabilities compared to the difficulty in obtaining the information.
After that would be where any noteworthy reports from our advisers would go. This could be anything from information their contacts passed onto them, commentary on the above news items, suggestions for actions later in the quarter, or whatever else the GM deems important. It would basically be the bit where our Advisers actually advise us.
Vote here would primarily revolve around Revy's reactions and responses to the content within. These votes generally wouldn't get an update responding to them but instead shape serve to shape Revy's character. There would also be votes offering to dig deeper into various news articles, the results of which would appear in the next quarter's "Quarter Start" update.
Update X.1: Paragon Security Management
Which right now ParSec is kinda unimportant since we haven't actually done anything with it besides training and build up. Going forwards however I see it being the primary source of "action" for the quest and having a pretty major role.
This update would be where we select missions and allocate resources to them. I imagine the vast majority of missions would be generated by the GM since they are being offered by NPC groups. However there would also be a write-in section for missing coming from Paragon Industries (IE: Revy).
In addition to mission management this would also be when we chose to do stuff like recruit new soldiers/commanders, train existing forces, and commission equipment from Paragon Industries.
Update X.2: Paragon Security Action
Here would be where the results of our votes in X.1 play out.
I imagine that the majority of the time it would consist of a series of post-mission summaries but it also presents the opportunity to go more detailed and dive into the action should the GM desire it.
If we do go into detail for a given mission It would start with X.2.0 and progress up the numbers (So X.2.1, X.2.2, ..., X.2.11, ect) until the mission is over. This could be done entirely without votes or we could Assume Direct Control of a character involved for the duration of the mission.
Update X.3: Base Building & Update X.4: Base Building Results
As it's name implies this is where all the votes for building new structures occurs. The way I'm imagining it we would have a list of the top ten planets for future expansion assembled by our staff. We'd chose up to five to expand to build upon. Now admittedly this is a downgrade to our expansion capabilities but starting next turn we are looking at profits in excess of 1 trillion credits so we can actually start mass producing Space Factory IIIs! For those who don't remember each one offers 30 million production per quarter.
Or put simply ~7.8 trillion credits of profit per quarter each. So reduced expansion isn't really much of a nerf.
Meanwhile by limiting our growth this way we can instead get some detail about the worlds we build on and our effects upon them. I mean look at this:
We are turning Benning into a major industrial hub. 270,000pr/quarter is a lot of production. Given that it's the likely location of our next Space Factory...
Well I can't help but think life on Benning is going to change. Maybe not as much as it has on Mindoir but wherever PI goes nothing remains the same.
By having base construction be it's own update pair it will give the GM a chance to show us the sort of effects we are having on the galaxy around us. It also lets planetary information be put into the updates themselves rather then being provided via WoG posts scattered throughout the thread, which will make participating a lot easier for new players who have only read the updates.
The way I'm picturing this working would be the GM providing a paragraph or two of description for each planet in X.3 along with a handful of Pro and Con bullet points. For example:
Planet: Earth
Description:
Earth is often described as the cradle of humanity. A fitting title for a world devastated by centuries of industrialization and overpopulation because of humanities unwillingness to leave the safety of the cradle and step out into the great unknown. With an estimated 87.6% of all humans living on Earth the planet has a never ending hunger for goods of all manner from across the galaxy and one of the most complex logistical systems in existence.
Pros:
Description:
Earth is often described as the cradle of humanity. A fitting title for a world devastated by centuries of industrialization and overpopulation because of humanities unwillingness to leave the safety of the cradle and step out into the great unknown. With an estimated 87.6% of all humans living on Earth the planet has a never ending hunger for goods of all manner from across the galaxy and one of the most complex logistical systems in existence.
Pros:
- Easy access to the largest human market in existence
- Reduced upkeep due to easy access to humanity's logistical system
- Higher profits thanks to reduced transport costs
- Doubled building costs due to land prices
- Private security forces require expensive permits
- Use of advanced military vehicles like drones, IFVs, and fighters is banned
Then once we pick our planets we get a couple paragraphs per planet in X.4 describing what it's like, how the people are reacting to our presence, that sort of thing.
Update X.5: Paragon Industries Management & Update X.6: Paragon Industries Management Results
This pair of updates would deal with the various other groups, such as the SAM and private companies, proposing contracts, our in house manufacturing, and any other general purpose corporate things like taking out loans, purchasing other companies, ect.
Unfortunately this is a pretty mechanical area that can't really be spiced up or simplified without dramatically reducing our effectiveness and going against the core reason we picked Iron Man: To Tech-Tech our way to victory!
Still mixing in contracts, corporate dealings, and such may work to make it a little less bland. At least on the bright side this should be a really fast pair of updates for the GM since there isn't much to actually write on their part once the votes are done.
Update X.7: Research & Update X.8: Research Results
Basically our current research system but with dice simplified to straight RP which is all pooled together and can be allocated to any research project in 50RP blocks.
Update X.9: Personal Actions & X.10 Personal Actions Results
Basically our current personal actions separated out. on their own.
Update X.11.0+: Special Events
This would be where whatever special events, either due to random chance or choices made in earlier updates (usually Personal Actions), occur. A special event would start at X.11.0 and progress up the numbers (So X.11.1, X.11.2, ..., X.11.11, ect) until the special event is over.
- Location
- Leeds
It reduces it to managable blocks. That is good.
The frigthening thing is that each turn will be seperated in 10+ number of posts.
- Location
- Leeds
After all have been posted Hoyr can copy them into a summary post and just threadmark that.
Decim
On again, off again lurker.
- Location
- St. Louis, MO
Eh, I'm fine with this. For a comparison, CORE over on SB uses a very similar structure and ends up with 7-8 updates per full turn. I think that overall, it makes things much more manageable for most. Only thing that I might change would be to do 2 sections at a time so that we can up the pace a bit while keeping things quite manageable.
- Location
- Leeds
Not familiar with this, link please?
Decim
On again, off again lurker.
- Location
- St. Louis, MO
- Location
- Leeds
Thanks, it's slightly long, I may not be done with it for a short period of time.
Decim
On again, off again lurker.
- Location
- St. Louis, MO
Slightly? Pffft... You might need a few days to go through all the threadmarked materials. Or a few weeks depending on how fast you read. I think that there is something around 300,000-ish worth of words from Sage and well over 100,000 more of stuff from omakes. Including one that's around 15,000. Yeah. You're in for the long haul with that.
But anyways, I think that I accidentally derailed the thread. Can someone else help me get this back on topic?