Who Needs Harmony?: An MLP Empire Quest
- Thread starter Questor
- Start date
- Location
- Maryland
Slightly larger in terms of sheer land-mass. Not by that much though.
- Location
- Germany
what republic are you two talking about? the Minotaur city-states we just discovered?
- Location
- USA
Yes the Minotaur republic.
GhostKing 666
Bringing Nightmares to life evey minute
Minotaur Republics. Remember, they aren't a unified nation, but a collection of city-states with a shared culture.
- Location
- Italy
kinda like the feathersian league before they joined us.
- Location
- Germany
this, although the Feathersians are/were more mercantile-focused compared to the Minotaurs who are giving off more of an "honour-bound warrior" vibe to me.
Speaking of the Feathersians, what about us going on a little family trip to reconnect with old friends in the coming turns like Archduke Talonuelli, our father-in-law (what happened to Gabriellas mother, btw?) and our retired former advisors. Honestly curious about how they are doing...plus, I still haven´t given up on finding out what happened to both Lady Nightingale (Brochards Intrigue advisor who goaded him into gearing up for war against us either deliberately or not) and that female noble we met at the beginning of our regency.
- Location
- Italy
I always thought those two were the same gryph/possibly changeling.
- Location
- Germany
A very likely possibility I already considered as well, yes...but if so, what was their exact reason for both appearing on our meet-n-great and manipulating Brochard into gearing up for war against us.
Trying to ensnare us like Chrysalis did with Shining Armor? And after that, have gryphons kill off each other to enslave the survivors If so, they failed gloriously since Gryphus now is stronger and more connected than ever before.
- Location
- Italy
they might have simply wanted the gold.
I mean, our running theory is that she escaped with all the gold. Gold that a changeling hive could easily use in their infiltration mission.
Just for an example: they can use that gold to fake being merchants. Having really low prices (or even gifting things/helping the poor) would make them really loved by many, and they FEED on that love.
More in general, gold can basically be used to BUY love, if indirectly, allowing them to basically get their food without having to risk capturing civilians and making an enemy of the gryphons.
I mean, let's say that we discover them and that's what they're doing. I assume we'd be more understanding and less violent with them that in the more cliche "they kidnap people to drain them of love, and take their place in society". They might have actually helped us defeat Brochard sooner by witholding important intel simply because the kingdom under him would have likely been a place with very little happiness and love to spare.
- Location
- Germany
...Now I am left wondering, how this quest would have gone if we had been able to play as the/a Changling Hive.
All other players that we currently know of still being present, what would our Hive have done? And more importantly, whre would it have been?
To the lands west of the Yaks, that we only know the mere existence and nothing more of?
Or could they be even to the North of Gryphus? (always wondered if there is somethign and if yes, what exactly)
- Location
- Latvia, Riga
FTFY
T'wasn an option, sadly. And who knows, tbh. Changeling dietary needs and outward appearance would have been an interesting development.
Depending on the location (after Discord's mandatory relocation act) and our neighbors' my guess would be: Changelings as diplomats, infiltrators and social workers with other species in a "cast system" geared towards forms of love (whether it's friendship, lust, love in general, etc. IDK).
Still, I like the Gryphus as they have become. The future is still to come but I hope we become something the world will awe at.
Speaking of, Minotaur Republics practice an early form of democracy and I wanted to know. Some centuries down the line, if it presents more advantages than our Empire, would and how would we "adopt it"?
Unlike Equestria, we don't have an Immortal singular ruler, but a dynasty.
BUT as history has shown, the more advanced society, technology, and the economy become, the more opportunities, free-time, and prosperous households (small individual families) become, the more democracy seems appealing.
[{
IRL democracy is the only known form of government that tries to improve itself as time passes. So far in this quest, we have done great things and changed the Empire (have we added some new laws to our constitution? How do companies and government interact with each other? Is our bank success? )
}]
Most importantly (from the other end)
-> Is there and Atlantis equivalent there? <-
–≥ How goes our internal noble corruption? ≤–
-> How much Libertian culture has changed <-
-> Our neighboring sea has no monster? <-
-> How big is our planet? <-
- Location
- The state of Paranoia
Right now, we're a monarchy, but a very enlightened one. We have relatively few people we actually need to keep happy in order to continue ruling, yet we continue making good choices for our country that are geared towards helping the country as a whole instead of the small number of people (mainly our advisers, nobles, and higher up military leaders) whose attitudes directly keep us in power. Much like irl China and Singapore, this has worked out very well for us. Our country is rich and powerful, at the level you would expect from a democracy rather than a dictatorship.
A big part of the reason that we are ruling in such an enlightened way is the structure of the quest. Our advisors do not ask for bribes, they do not funnel money towards private, useless projects, nor do they plot behind our back. Likewise, the nobles haven't asked for huge tax breaks, massive amounts of money channeled towards them which they then neglect to share with the peasants, etc. Our popularity rating has remained high simply from ruling well, with no need for bribes of any sort.
Generally, governments move towards democracy as a way of either pacifying their people or raising income. Usually, the reduced corruption, more reasonable tax rates, freer communication, and overall more sensible economic decisions that democracy both allows for and forces upon you cause the economy to do much better and causes the peasants to be much more productive. This allows such a government to bring in much more money than they otherwise would. The second benefit, pacifying the people, comes from how peasants much prefer to have a say in how they are governed. When you can simply vote for someone who will crack down on police corruption, you are less inclined to take to the streets and start an open rebellion to replace the government with one that will have less violent police (for example).
Neither of these reasons are particularly relevant to Gryphus right now. We have more income than we know what to do with, and our approval rating is higher than basically any irl government ever, even democracies. If at some point we start getting options that have harsher trade offs, or more corrupt nobles/advisors, then we may very well see our country slide into a decline. At that point, we may see our wealth or approval rating drastically decline, thus giving us reason to move towards democracy.
A third reason to move towards democracy also may exist. That would basically be 'just because we want to.' If a ruler just plain wants what is best for the people, and doesn't care much for personal wealth, power, or leisure time (all of which the ruler will have in much higher amounts in a dictatorship or monarchy), they may decide to move towards democracy without an outside reason. Needless to say, this doesn't happen often. In our case, it would basically be because we think democracy is cool, and to try it out. I'm not sure how much it would actually affect the decisions made in the quest, since we already are mainly given options that help the country as a whole.
TlDr:
We can do democracy, but it would be hard to implement and there currently isn't much point for us. If things change or look like they're going to change, then it might be a good idea.
Last edited:
- Location
- Germany
Tbh, the kind of democracy Ancient Greece had was comparetively primitive and honestly more than a little hypocritical, given how many different groups were barred from voting either partially or entirely, like slaves (which made up a huge part of the populace) and women.
So, seeing how likely the Minotaur version is going to pay lip service to the ideal and how young our nation still is, maybe we should table adapting their government for a few decades still.
So, seeing how likely the Minotaur version is going to pay lip service to the ideal and how young our nation still is, maybe we should table adapting their government for a few decades still.
- Location
- Latvia, Riga
I agree with both of you, but some points that you raised are also partially the reason I mentioned that. Though as you pointed out:
Economically we're golden
Politically there's little to no backlash (either from nobles, merchants or peasants/working class)
— Well, for now. I mean in the "Turn 24: Too much Winning" there were hints that a large number of our people might end up unemployed... Far as I know there are limited ways to deal with this (1st is for GM to ignore this, 2nd is "after x+y+g conditions automatically gain more action slots", 3rd is to create temp mauls/bonuses, and few other options)...
{not to mention aliens/griffs = different mentality aka author faith}
And of course, I mentioned Celestia for a reason. As we know Equestria was/is this prosperous because they had a stable government and more importantly an ever-present singular leader. She was practically unopposed and most deified her (for good reasons, but still).
We have a dynasty, and no-one expects that Garric's successor to be the same. Even if temporary there will be at least some instability during the change of power.
.. Oh, so THAT'S why there's Piety for nigh-magicless species, ok, ignore this post, sorry to bother, bu-bye
Economically we're golden
Politically there's little to no backlash (either from nobles, merchants or peasants/working class)
— Well, for now. I mean in the "Turn 24: Too much Winning" there were hints that a large number of our people might end up unemployed... Far as I know there are limited ways to deal with this (1st is for GM to ignore this, 2nd is "after x+y+g conditions automatically gain more action slots", 3rd is to create temp mauls/bonuses, and few other options)...
{not to mention aliens/griffs = different mentality aka author faith}
And of course, I mentioned Celestia for a reason. As we know Equestria was/is this prosperous because they had a stable government and more importantly an ever-present singular leader. She was practically unopposed and most deified her (for good reasons, but still).
We have a dynasty, and no-one expects that Garric's successor to be the same. Even if temporary there will be at least some instability during the change of power.
.. Oh, so THAT'S why there's Piety for nigh-magicless species, ok, ignore this post, sorry to bother, bu-bye
Just go for Prussian Constitutional Monarchy (since we're already HRE/German Empire), there's the Reichstag (an elected body) and the Bundesrat (the Imperial Council made up of the reigning nobility from the various states of the Empire). It is regarded as a progressive democratic system (for its time), but the Emperor retains a large amount of power and influence, being able to appoint the Chancellor and assert his will upon the government.
From a gameplay perspective we wouldn't need to change much beyond adding a opinion to the politics. We can also justify it as expanding on what the Crystal Protectorate have at the moment (as no doubt I think we're all thinking future integration) with the Consul having practically unlimited power only restrained by ethics and a sense of duty to the Empire and his people.
- Location
- colombia
democracy isnt born in a single day
i like this 2 videos that point out the flaws with the representative system
so if we implement a democracy we would need some things
-a minimal requirement to be a politician in certain areas (public administration,experience on the field etc) as well having no major infractions
-free public higher education
-election by lottery in order to avoid nepotism (no parties or elections campaigns because no amount of promises influence in your chances of being elected)
i like this 2 videos that point out the flaws with the representative system
so if we implement a democracy we would need some things
-a minimal requirement to be a politician in certain areas (public administration,experience on the field etc) as well having no major infractions
-free public higher education
-election by lottery in order to avoid nepotism (no parties or elections campaigns because no amount of promises influence in your chances of being elected)
Last edited:
- Location
- I think somewhere. I might be nowhere though
If you go to the Prussian example, you would also need a manner of adjusting for population change by way of urbanization. One of the problems of the Prussian system (besides empowering Prussia above all other states) was that it empowered rural areas above the more populated cities.
Dr.Degenerate
The Resident Furry
- Location
- A Trash Can
Some might argue that's a good thing, the rural communities that provide the nation with food are pretty important.
since this is a player faction we can set up the Royal family as a regulatory mechnism for the legislative branch.
but at the same time the size of those communties will shrink as technology improves the efficiency of farming meaning ever smaller portions of the populuace will be dictating to the urban majority with each generation.
Dr.Degenerate
The Resident Furry
- Location
- A Trash Can
Then it we might need to tip the scale even further in favor of those rural communities so they aren't completely drowned out among the urban voices.
Honestly I don't think we should adopt democracy, republicanism, or anything else like that unless we have to. We have overwhelming support amongst the nobles and the people and we control the main decision maker. Unless our character (whoever that is down the line) somehow isn't emperor, we have nothing to worry about.
- Location
- colombia
but the problem is that we cant assure that the next emperor is gonna be as good or moral as this one
what happens when the neron of our bloodline pops out?
- Location
- I think somewhere. I might be nowhere though
It wasn't, no. It is literally one of the things that made the empire a hotbed of politics despite Bismark's whole plan of undercutting socialist and liberal agitators. You are thinking of this with an American perspective with the whole "rural vs urban" polarization. When I say the rural areas were empowered under the Prussian system, I am not talking "things were tilted in their favor to make sure everyone was easily represented." I am talking "lines drawn in the 16th century had giant farm owners and minor noble elites dominating politics leaving the cities fairly powerless"
Dr.Degenerate
The Resident Furry
- Location
- A Trash Can
We will become the next emperor the moment we die. Even if we abdicate to Gawain before we die, we will almost certainly still have most of the control. I doubt Gawain would simply disregard the advice of his dear old dad. That's why I said the only reason we have to do democracy is if our character somehow losses the power without someone who can be influenced us on the throne.
I stand corrected, I certainly was looking at this with an American perspective.
- Location
- colombia
yeah because definetly sons always follow word by word the advice of their fathers
your entire argument holds on the hope that the heir is a good person and is capable of handling the government by virtue of nurturing
except that history has showed us again and again that from to time bad apples pop up,so again
what happens when the neron of our dinasty is born?
because we dont have ways to keep the emperor power in check,and with the whole thing of the religion of the emperor going on
i can see in less than 2 centuries a power drunk descendant tearing apart the country because he is the emperor and others must obey him
and there is no instutional tools to put tyrants down others than civil war,assasination or a coup
monarchy is heavily dependant on monarchs being good and efficient,wich is not always the case
Last edited: