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Shepard Quest Mk VI, Technological Revolution

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Yog said:
3) Usage of ParSec - our suits are top of the line. We could either use ParSec as the tip of the spear, behind the lines stuff, or for guerilla warfare maybe.
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More important than the suits is ParSec's knowledge and skill at drone warfare. Pyndas are important right now for dominating the space arena, but when the SA starts to transition to ground invasions having experience directing drone fleets will be a big help as well.

Our big remaining problem there is figuring out a good anti GARDIAN tower system; right now I'm thinking something like a flying tower shield made of laser-ablative armor with a half dozen lesser Accipiters hiding behind it. The flying tower shield lets the whole thing approach, then the Accipiters can burrow into the tower itself and start shredding its internal mechanisms.
 
@Hoyr - what would be necessary to hire some mercenary outfits to free slaves - we want no slaughter, some results and repatriate the freed slaves. Ideally the alien mercenaries should act in a way that can be spun as 'not all aliens are scum'.
 
Lord Death said:
We can have a Hyper Dreadnaught or some shit that is 'officialy' a space station that can be broken down and moved by fraighters...little do they know its a giant ship that can move around and has completely replaced all our important work we currently do groundside.
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Current development in doctrine show that dreadnought scale ships are going the way of the dodo.

newwriter said:
The SA navy is going to build a space station around Mindoir maybe Revy can assist them through the tech tree?
And you know create a better and greater station
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They'd need to commission Paragon Industries for the station, and we'd need to invest production. Worth it for us, but a concern and we don't have Space Station construction tech, so we'd need to buy/develop it first.

newwriter said:
Heck maybe Revy can make improvements to arcturus station
allowing it to withstand a full on attack by an enemy fleet
I think that the SA government and military would love to look into that
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Same problem as the above.

Stroth said:
And we are already replacing it.
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It'll be instantly requisitioned once it hits flight capable status. Easier for PI to just sell them, and ParSec isn't going to get to use them until the war's over.

Yog said:
1) We need to curb the "we don't want the help from other species" problem. Question is - how. ParSec should be useful here. We can hire aliens for it. Maybe hanar for underwater operations? They should make great combat divers
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It's an option. A major problem though is that Legionaries aren't available in alien compatible forms.

Happily, foreign companies have been making Legionary type heavy armours for the open market. Actually rolling out an (enlarged) ParSec that employs aliens for combat roles will probably take 1 or 2 turns and cost a good chunk of cash.

Yog said:
3) Usage of ParSec - our suits are top of the line. We could either use ParSec as the tip of the spear, behind the lines stuff, or for guerilla warfare maybe.
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If the Alliance wanted that ParSec would've been hired/requisitioned for the job. It hasn't been.

Yog said:
4) Batarian cyphers - I am very tempted to devote a lot to breaking them, for the same reason as I want to have QEC + Multicore drives. Breaking Batarian trump cards.
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QEC/Multicore drives are more valuable long term I would expect, but the cyphers may help with breaking later Reaper encryption systems.

aceraptor said:
'Buy' multiple older frigates from the Turians to set up multiple privateer groups, the Turians covertly direct some of the recently retired troops and officers to fill the privateer groups. Pitch it to the Hierarchy as a PR opportunity. If the Turian privateers free human slaves there's probably a fair amount of opportunity to get some good will from various corners of the SA. If we can basically make a successful scale model program we might be able to pitch the idea to the SA government to make a bigger program.
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Politically complicated.

SonOfNenji said:
Actually, if we just post a bounty on the Extranet for any pirate/slavers and for returning freed slaves, not only does it open up a way for the other races to help without declaring war but it might sow discord in the enemy ranks because they might get paid for turning on their allies.
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We're going to be inundated with opportunistic scum trying to game the system.
 
So, while I was reading the threads, the argument about the Mark 2 got really old (anyone reading this who doesn't know how the argument goes: Yog is never going to buy it, despite sometimes saying he will in the future. He feels it's impractical to invest in ground combat since we've reached the point politically where we can literally call in orbital strikes with the sole justification that we, personally, are in combat. Either make your own research plans or write omake). If I write up some power armor designs, can I get RP toward the Mark 2, making progress on hopefully ending this years-old argument for a while, or do those only work to bring the designs into existence?
 
Winged One said:
He feels it's impractical to invest in ground combat since we've reached the point politically where we can literally call in orbital strikes with the sole justification that we, personally, are in combat.
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Why would that matter? Personal combat hasn't been the point of the quest since the first research cycle.
We will want the MKII to sell it, thus making SA troops better, not to use it ourselves.
 
Angelform said:
Why would that matter? Personal combat hasn't been the point of the quest since the first research cycle.
We will want the MKII to sell it, thus making SA troops better, not to use it ourselves.
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What did I just say about this debate?:mad:

:p
Here's how it goes: Someone says the SA doesn't want better power armor, they want our superfrigates to pwn the Batarians in space with. You say they can't use space assets in every engagement. Someone else disagrees, probably with math to back it up. At some point, you get strawmanned as just liking the Mark 2 because Iron Man. The plan writers might lie and say they'll get the Mark 2 eventually. All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again. You're never going to convince the people who write plans to buy the Mark 2. Write omake instead.
 
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I think it would be helpful if we had some sort of omake template with things like suggested themes, topics, format, tone, etc.

Otherwise we (I) don't even know where to start to write. (The heart is willing, but the muse is shriveled and dry).
 
Winged One said:
What did I just say about this debate?:mad:

:p
Here's how it goes: Someone says the SA doesn't want better power armor, they want our superfrigates to pwn the Batarians in space with. You say they can't use space assets in every engagement. Someone else disagrees, probably with math to back it up. At some point, you get strawmanned as just liking the Mark 2 because Iron Man. The plan writers might lie and say they'll get the Mark 2 eventually. All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again. You're never going to convince the people who write plans to buy the Mark 2. Write omake instead.
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? I don't get it.
1) Is a means required to provide scalable force locally?
Example: pacifying conquered planets, protecting civilians locally versus husks, conquering a lab complex
2) Do we need multiple instances of such a means?
Examples: security forces, police
3) What is the maximum affordable cost for such a means?
Example: X credits, where X depends on 1) and 2)

Even that basic template should be enough to get answers. The answer may be frigates, nanites, power armored infantery, drones, ... .
Why isn't it possible to come up with convincing answers that conclude the discussion?
 
@SonOfNenji, there might be such a template for easy ponderance. It's not existent, yet, but let's see, shall we?

If you have simply no idea what to write, you can always speculate on Revy's everyday experiences—slice of life—in not only being a once-a-millennium genius, but also a ridiculously successful CEO (eat your innards out, Scrooge!). There are many fields in that alone you could explore:
  • Revy's past: growing up with her smarts in what is essentially Podunk, Nebraska.
  • Revy's current life like described above: what moves her, and more importantly who, in her daily interactions?
  • The flock around her: She has not only co-workers, but friends that happen to work for her (no, you don't count, Conrad).
    • What do they do when they're not actually sciencing shit up? Do they use Legionary for street hockey? How many games are installed in that software suit, because boy can it get boring standing around.
    • When did Revy discover kitchen math isn't?
    • How does the Scientist Salarian deal with working under Science Hulk for side projects?
    • What do the caretakers in the company kindergarten think of the humanoid typhoon's Jack's rapt attendance for story hour?
  • Look at the tech tree and think how people will react to the past, current, or future developments by PI? For instance, there's an omake about hyper modularity basically upending the whole architecture scene. That kind of thing is interesting from an intellectual stand point. What does X imply, how does it affect Y?
    • Take a gander at all the already developed technologies. One of the personally funny highlights to me was when Revy was developing Blackboxing and it took her four hours to verify that what appeared to be a clock was indeed not a thermometer. You could have a whole line of reports by STG/Asari/Turian/Volus/etc engineers going down that route.
      • Or Basic Neural Interface: What are the implications for prostheses? Are they quicker to use, reducing physiotherapy? Is physiotherapy even still necessary to accustom people to their prosthesis? What about phantom limbs?
      • Basic Genemodding: Template of the Littlest Miss Cancer Patient and this thing writes itself
      • Frigates: The design sessions, arguments between designers and engineers would be interesting to read. "No, these wings are superfluous, they only broaden the profile!" — "But consider this: How awesome it'd look!"
  • Generally, people are more interesting than mortar and silicone, so if you tell a story, a treatise on the uses of a tech will be welcome, but a story about people living in and thereby showing off the effects of such tech will have more impact. Though this quest is oddly math heavy.
  • Then there are the social upheavals to consider. Revy has the habit of kicking every technological anthill she can get a foot in, it seems, and that has implications. She all but killed of the construction industry (think houses), even if they don't know it quite yet. How does Joe Everyman of 40 years deal with suddenly being superfluous since his work of weeks can now be done by a PI box in a couple hours.
What I'm trying to get at, while this universe is a big place, the quest is only able to cover so much.

Incidentally, I assume omake writers have a vote in the use of 'their' RP?

On an unrelated note, hello.
 
A good omake seed to start the MKII armor. would be Revy having a nightmare about how the invasion could have gone(before the redo) and having her get some inspiration on how the mk2 would piece together and decide to work on in her free time.
 
By the way, have we tested the blackboxing on our own guys yet?

Like, blackbox a thermometer and have them try to figure it out without turning it on.
 
Ramble said:
By the way, have we tested the blackboxing on our own guys yet?

Like, blackbox a thermometer and have them try to figure it out without turning it on.
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Yep:
Hoyr said:
Research:
[X] Flawless Blackboxing: 1270.25
1,929.75 + 1270.25 = 3200/3200 – Finished
"Wait so if that does this... and if that... no..." you pause looking at the device in front of you, "Okay I built this. It's a clock, it even acts like a clock. Buuuut.... it still takes me four hours to figure out that the internals aren't a thermometer."

"Good enough, should keep everyone guessing."
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On the MKII, up till now I would agree that it wasn't worth getting. However the last few updates have had other races start producing equivalent armour and the war we are about to fight will soon show that good as it is the Legionary isn't perfect. Give it a couple of quarters for the war to start dragging on then bring out the MKII.
 
MTB said:
? I don't get it.
1) Is a means required to provide scalable force locally?
Example: pacifying conquered planets, protecting civilians locally versus husks, conquering a lab complex
2) Do we need multiple instances of such a means?
Examples: security forces, police
3) What is the maximum affordable cost for such a means?
Example: X credits, where X depends on 1) and 2)

Even that basic template should be enough to get answers. The answer may be frigates, nanites, power armored infantery, drones, ... .
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That's either a new one or an old one formatted in a way I don't understand. If I had to guess, I'd say that the answer to it will be that we already have the Legionaire, which already kicks the shit out of the Batarians where infantry is needed. The likely answer to that one is that news reports are showing that other power armors are improving as well. The answer to that one is that they're not improving very fast, and a reiteration of the lie that it'll be gotten to eventually. This might, or might not, end the debate until "eventually" comes around and the Mark 2 is nowhere near the research queue.
Why isn't it possible to come up with convincing answers that conclude the discussion?
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Because people keep bringing it up again without reading the previous versions of the debate. We need an FAQ for frequent debates or something.
 
Winged One said:
Because people keep bringing it up again without reading the previous versions of the debate. We need an FAQ for frequent debates or something.
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@FAQ:
MTB said:
Put them on a 'FAQ' page. Or create one FAQ per recurring discussion. Of course, that would just mean that the discussion devolves to 'haven't you read the FAQ' followed by 'but I have a new point, there is nothing about green mechs on the FAQ'!
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MTB said:
Just come up with a way to combine frigates like LEGOs, harmonize the energy output, non-newtonian drive, weapon output and FTL of all assembled units and you've got a dreadnaught. Too.
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I think we need the Dreadnaught tech to do that. Also the transforming mecha tech.
 
Winged One said:
I think we need the Dreadnaught tech to do that. Also the transforming mecha tech.
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Related, but not exactly what that's about. What you'd need is interfacing, a way to create units that can serve alone and also as part of a bigger whole. Dreadnaught might help to cope with non-linear effects of putting together more mass and distributed systems (multiple drive cores instead of one big one), but mecha doesn't fit I think. We don't change the appearance and role of the ship, we 'just' add more.
 
@TheEyes Where do we stand on Project Earthfall right now?

Mandabar said:
I seriously do think we need to beef up security on our HQ/Planet though.
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A "What was that?" grade planetary shield currently costs 50 Quintillion (as in, after a quadrillion) credits and 6 quarters to build (and a similarly pricy amount to maintain). After we get Eezo Production up I imagine we can cut down the costs a bit and I imagine national governments on Earth would be willing to pay to build and maintain the emitters in their back yards (making Moscow, St. Petersburg and Minsk safe from orbital bombardment for the cost of an aircraft carrier? I can imagine Russia paying for that) but even with Paragon Industries the Midnoir government doesn't have the economic chops to build and maintain something that ambitious. We currently help maintain the city of Landing's city-grade shields, and if we were willing to shell out x50 as much we might be able to upgrade that to regional shields (we did just get an influx of eezo...) but we're nowhere near ready to protect the planet that way ourselves yet. (I'm noticing a wealth of weapons tech but few, if any, shield techs on the tech list.)

I am considering how to make cheap defense satellites, personally. An arc reactor, a laser (or would repulsers work well as space-based weapons platforms?), and sensor unit to be sold to colonies with allergic reactions to pirates. Alternately, if we wanted to mess with the carrier paradigm, void-based stealth drone platforms somewhere in the system (dark side of the moon, maybe?) that can detect and harry a ship? Something like that ought to help defend colonies from casual raids at least, and their small sizes ought to make them unappitizing to groups of raiders (which also have a larger footprint and can be more easily tracked down by patrol ships).

Karugus said:
The one thing I'm somewhat leery of when it comes to lobbying for a privateer system and PI posting bounties because it presents (the fairly accurate) image that Revy and PI take this personally.
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A third of the Batarians' opening suckerpunch was to kill or abduct us specifically. Is there a reason we shouldn't take this personally?

Karugus said:
Now, if we sponsored liberating slaves- that's a PR coup. And if we do it right, it can undermine the Hegemony on a broader front.
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How would you suggest we go about doing this? Best I can think of right now is hiring the slavers of the Terminus to shift their markets from raiding the SA and selling to the BH to raiding the BH and selling to the SA for the duration of the war.

@Hoyr Would it be possible to buy YMIR designs from Hahne-Kedar and get some RP on the 5 Meter Mech? I'm not asking for all of it, but just a bit maybe? Also, what would the cost for bioweapons targeting Batarians be, RP-wise? I'm asking for a friend.
 
TheEyes said:
The Pynda contains all of our most valuable weapons designs. The whole reason we manufacture in-house is to prevent people walking off with our tech.
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That's what Flawless Blackboxing is for.


Hazard said:
Current development in doctrine show that dreadnought scale ships are going the way of the dodo.
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Um, what? Sure, frigates beat dreadnoughts right now - because we haven't gotten around to making a PI-designed dreadnought yet. I have no doubt that, when we do, the result will blow LLPs out of the sky as easily as the current dreads killed pre-us frigates.
 
macdjord said:
That's what Flawless Blackboxing is for.
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...you do realize the licensing means giving the person the plans/instructions needed to produce something right? Sure they wouldn't know exactly how it works but they could still pump them out by their millions. From there it's easy for plans to be "lost" or "misplaced" or just plain sold on. Before you know it everyone can produce all our most advanced technology.
 
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