2. But the other groups will ask us how we came across them/why we can't support them.
That's pretty easy to answer. We've already told everyone what we're doing in Tokyo, so everyone is aware of the situation over there. The fact that we'd have difficulty absorbing several dozen new magical girls would hardly be surprising to any magical girl group, no matter how capable we're trying to present ourselves as.
We'll also be partially banking our reputation on their future actions- rather risky considering we don't really know any of them.
Debatable. It is a potential risk, but it's an extremely hard one to quantify, because the very act of lending our reputation to them makes them less likely to burn that, particularly in Japanese society where such obligation is such a core part of their culture.
3) Sure. Why not solve the problem by giving suggestions on where to try looking next? They're going to naturally spread out as they leave Tokyo,
Because it gives them almost none of the benefits of associating with us, while increasing the risks that I noted regarding large groups going door-to-door asking for help. Basically, it's a very small gain for us to not put in that effort, while it's a moderate risk of causing the problems we're trying to avoid.
If all we do is point them in a direction, then they owe us nothing, because we gave them basically nothing. If they survive, it is solely due to their own efforts and wits. If we
do help them to survive, though, then they owe us in the future.
It also paints us in a rather negative light, given that we did actively solicit people to join. Again, it's not a matter of practicality, it's a matter of perception. Just like with the Iwata kidnapping fallout, and the knock-on effects with the Coalition, no matter how justified the action may be, the perception can be just as important as the action, if not more so.
Just look at any of the policy change announcements on these forums. Even innocuous ones can have major fallout because the administration has horrible PR (eg: Squishy being Squishy). We've set ourselves up in our current position, and people are going to expect us to follow through on that presentation. I wasn't even all that on board with soliciting Tokyo girls to join us, but since we did, we need to be held to those standards.
it's not like they came to us as one organized group.
Well, they kind of did. There are others spreading out in other directions from Tokyo that didn't come to us, and these came to us specifically because of our spreading the word about ourselves to the Tokyo natives.
You've had around forty come to you looking to join up after the string of victories
It's just unfortunate that they are, as
@TheEyes puts it, the dregs of meguca-dom.
Part of the problem is that it's not just 40 girls that escaped, but somewhere between 40 and 100 (with an unknown number dead). The higher the number of refugees, the greater the risk of something ugly happening if we don't control the population redistribution.
At the same time, we will have to eventually turn those back towards Tokyo, possibly even before we've finished clearing it. The demons in the city
have to be hunted, and I think we'll be in a much better position to support that next month, when we have the possibility of a high-vet refugee exodus.
4) It probably helps our image to the girls we help, but I can't help but see it as lowering our image in the eyes of the groups we're giving them to. Why should they want to take in these girls? Them taking them in would be an act of charity on their part.
A legitimate objection, though ultimately moot, since
somebody has to take them in, or they're going to die, and our mission statement is to minimize deaths.
As for reasons:
1) Because we now owe them a favor. If there is no connection to us, then any group that accepted any refugee would be doing so solely for charity to said refugee, and the obligation goes no further than between the two. As such, those groups have very little motive to accept said sad refugees. If we're involved, however, now there's a favor on the line. The other group actually gains something from it, and is thus much more likely to consider accepting.
2) Because we've been teaching the other groups how to improve their hunting, so we
know that they should be capable of handling a couple more girls for at least the short term. They can't divert with excuses that would allow them to turn away refugees who have no way of arguing otherwise.
3) Speaking of both 'favor' and 'hunting techniques' — There's even a small implication that it could be considered calling in the favor of giving them those techniques. Depends on the group, and which way they want to view things (ie: not owe them anything, or get them to owe us something too?).
4) Something I noted earlier: It gives them slightly better standing in the possibility of claiming Tokyo territory later on, or at least deserving some portion of the cubes hunted up in the restoration hunting.
5) We can be willing to accept them back once the Tokyo situation is dealt with, as we should have more territory available to support them, along with the need of more people to help hunt. All while providing the chance for the Tokyo girls to 'return home', and reducing the sustained load of the other groups.
5) Eh, I don't see that as that big of a bonus. People coming to us for aid = us needing to use resources on helping them or face morale penalties. Out of sight out of mind and all that.
Well, that kind of runs counter to a rather major aspect of our organization. "We're the diplomatic group, but we don't really want to talk to anyone."
Besides, the point is not just us using resources to help other people; it's about what other people are willing to offer us for our services. Look at what we're doing with Nagoya and Heaven's Chosen. They're not just handing us what we need for free; we have to broker and negotiate and make deals. It's an exchange of services, not one-sided.
The biggest problem is that I don't see any reason for the other groups to want to take in the refugees. What group wants greens like that when they can just ask QB to recruit a few more and have access to them during their formative first couple weeks? Why would the other groups like us for giving them a bunch of nearly-unusable newbies?
I don't know that there's any particular value in getting a Kyuubey green vs a wild green. In fact, the wild green is probably closer to vet, which means less time spent waiting for them to grow up. As such, I can't see any group
preferring a Kyuubey green for any real reason.
On the other hand, I
could see them being far more reluctant to take in non-powered greens. That's why I was writing up the stuff earlier about trade priorities, in case groups asked for something specific in exchange for taking on an extra girl or two.
As for whether they'd
want to... Well, that is a significant problem/risk. But that's also the sort of risk that we are designed to deal with. We're crap at PvP, but we can convince people to work with us.
in exchange for an increase in stability in the region
I see this as pretty important, given the current situation. A decrease in stability could go as far as catastrophic, though that probably wouldn't happen until the next batch of refugees.
Right now I'm thinking of taking in 20.
20 would be just about ideal, even for my plan. I just feel that we'll gain a great deal more by being actively involved in the redistribution, even with the risk of it costing us more.
