Agares Tretiak
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Posts posted by Agares Tretiak
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I vaguely remember this game. I showed up after everything went to hell, or some such.
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>:(
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Not surprised: The Post-cyberpunk tech-FPS genre is a limited field right now. And regardless of anything else, it has pretty damn slick design sensibilities.
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I'M GETTING IT. PS3.
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Huh...
Tiri and I both admire the general design style used in Blacklight, though it's not wholly unique to this or other military themed cyperpunk-like games. There was a mod called "Hull Breach" that used similar designs, as did the NEOTOKYO mod for HL2.
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[11:45] Arokh Blackheart (arokh.takakura): This gun officially sucks.
[11:46] Agares Tretiak: Which gun?
[11:46] Arokh Blackheart (arokh.takakura): Not the most ideal execution tool, unless you want to 'accidentally' execute people.
[11:46] Arokh Blackheart (arokh.takakura): "OH EXCUSE ME HERETIC, i'M JUST GOING TO SHOOT THIS WALL HERE, WHOOPS I SEEM TO HAVE BLOWN YOUR HEAD OFF."
[11:46] Arokh Blackheart (arokh.takakura): Titan Industries Bolt pistols.,
[11:48] Agares Tretiak: Hmm...they've always worked well for me.
[11:48] Arokh Blackheart (arokh.takakura): Maybe it's because I click horribly fast.
[11:48] Arokh Blackheart (arokh.takakura): I have a trigger finger so fast it negates my need for automatic fire.
[11:49] Agares Tretiak: ...
[11:49] Agares Tretiak: ...they have medication for that, these days.
[11:49] Arokh Blackheart (arokh.takakura): Aye..
[11:50] Agares Tretiak: Though, it's nothing to be ashamed of, I'm told. Lots of men have "quick trigger fingers".
[11:50] Arokh Blackheart (arokh.takakura): ..
[11:50] Arokh Blackheart (arokh.takakura): Wait what the Ffff are you talking about.
[11:51] Agares Tretiak: Hold on
[11:53] Inventory item offered
[11:53] Arokh Blackheart (arokh.takakura): ..
[11:53] Arokh Blackheart (arokh.takakura): I hate you.
[11:53] Inventory item offered (sent it to him a second time)
<<< The picture I sent. -
Typer, he was talking about a different modeling suite, called 3D Coat, not 3Ds Max. I don't even think the two are made by the same people. (I wanna buy 3D Coat :( )
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So, you're saying you're full of shit?
If I'm full of shit, you're full of hugs and cuddles, Typer.
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This is a pointed lie. It's well known Space Marine armor process waste internally: You'd never catch me on the can while wearing armor.
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In this case, this is the SL history, rather than the RP fluff history. Two very different things.
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HAHAHAH.
HI. I'M A DRAKE
and I'm Huttsah!
HI HUTTSAH, HOW'S IT GOING?
*locks on, tries to kill with a few dinky rail gun shots*
... *Fires a salvo of 7 bloodclaws* *boom*
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Interesting.
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I might answer this one for you. An APC's job is to ferry troops across a dangerous battlefield to a point where they disembark and engage enemy units. The thing about infantry being transported that way is that they aren't carrying a lot of heavy firepower. Enter the APC again.
The APc is well armed, to suppress, defeat, or otherwise support the Infantry it disembarked or will disembark. The driver's sole purpose is to safely deliver the guys in his vehicle to their destination. So let's give him an autocannon and some rockets to do it with. Magic.
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hello?
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I drew my own. :(
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Personally...
Proper usage of weapon auths should be taken into account, and procedural recommendations made to official codify standard scenarios in which an upgrade in weapons auth would be "appropriate". While it may seem common sense stuff, we do need it in the books, so we have a way to handle possible abuses, should they ever occur.
TL;DR let's make sure we have some rules that can help clarify the general sort of situation where upping the auth level is a good move, and some where it'd be a BAD move.
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I still don't understand ponies :/
You and me both, my friend. You and me both.
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I can do a haunted house build...
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I do not oppose objective systems, as a concept. For instance, I'm helping 39th develop a pretty well balanced, dynamic objective system that will encourage attackers to think flexibly and consider different methods of approaching the ultimate objective. The base layout, itself, while a giant castle, is designed to have disadvantages for the defenders, as well as the attackers.
Properly done, an objective system is awesome and fun. That's much the same for any sort of military base design in Second Life.
Poorly done, it's a nightmare.
Sadly, the majority of the community cannot be relied upon to create a balanced objective system in their sim, and most will simply use objectives as a window dressing to Ffff over attackers utterly. Those that might intend to make a fair base, simply do not have the perspective or possibly the experience to do so. A balanced base design takes a lot of effort and thought, and it's not easy even then, to achieve.
As to losing and winning, I hate losing. I really do. It's something so abhorrent to me that the mere thought of failure can send me into conniption fits, when it comes to something I have direct control over. But there always rational limitations on most situations, and victory and defeat are some of those. We should play to win...but have the grace and good sense to know if we've been brought into a situation where victory is not attainable within the rational limitations of our own principles and standards.
If you're losing a fight, examine why, make a note of it, postulate what could be done in the future to avoid it, and move forward, striving to do better with the lessons you've learned. Losing a fight doesn't mean you've walked away empty handed. A failure can also teach you a lot, and I doubt anyone in the Ordo's officer corps would disagree on that point.
If you want an example of people who cannot accept losing, under any circumstances, you need look no further than Exterminatus Footman.
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Miscelleanous notes, mostly about the Guard.
The Praetorian Guard's organization in the back story literature is considerably larger and different from SL's. This is to reflect the much larger organization and numbers of the Praetorian Legions.
The Legion that all members in the Ordo are currently part of is the legendary and illustrious 1st Legion.
Basic Praetorian Legion structure:
- The largest unit of the Guard is the Legion. Legions comprise of 1000 Guardsmen (milites), not including Guard officers and NCOs, or Auxiliary units. Each Legion is led by a Praetorian Tribunus.
- Each Legion has 10 Centuries, led by a Praetorian Centurion, comprised of 100 Guardsmen (not including subsequently attached NCOs and officers, or Auxiliary units). Each Century is lead by a Praetorian Centurion.
- Each Century has 5 Manipulii (Manipular singular). A manipular has 20 Praetorian Guardsman, not including the officers or NCOs affiliated with it. Each manipular is commanded by an Evocati
- Each manipular is comprised of 4 Signa. Signa comprise of 5 Guardsmen. Each Signa has a senior or veteran Guardsman called an Immunes who leads the signa. Signa, are, therefore, essentially fireteam units, with a manipular being like a platoon. Two signa make a the equivalent of a squad.
Thus, an Evocati is like a platoon leader.
If you're say, a Guardsman in Legio II, you might be Praetorian Guard Milites Bob, 2nd Legion, 3rd Century (Ferratum), Vulpes Ferrata (Iron Fox) Manipular, 4th Signa.
The Praetorian Guard is an Imperial institution. It did not exist until the reign of Emperor Avanis. Each Imperator and leader has had their own version of the Guard, but Imperator Vesperia's Praetorian Guard are somewhat unique, being more a specialized army, than a mere bodyguard unit.
For comparison, The overall commander of the Guard and the 1st legion is the Lord Praefectus, with his XO being the Procuratore Augusti. In the canon, then, even Praetorians may not personally meet the Imperator (though, to be honest, he seems to find magical ways of making it to the induction ceremonies).
Another few things to keep in mind. Training a Praetorian to the level of an Evocati, plus augmentations and equipment, costs the same as a single Ordo Navis ship of the Third Rate (a battleship). The Guard are not forced to swear allegiance to the Senate, but must receive their pay (but not their pensions) from the Senate. This is due to laws restricting the rights and ability to deploy mercenaries or private armies. For comparison, the regular Ordo military units receive pay and pension from the Sentate, and must swear allegiance to both the Senate and the Imperator.
Imperator Vesperia personally funds and pays for the pensions of each Praetorian, as well as the majority of their training and equipment. If a Guardsman dies, and has family, his pension is forwarded to his family.
The 1st Legion (Legio I) is legendary, every one from the greenest milites, fresh from Praetorian training, to the Praefectus, an authentic, living, breathing hero of the Imperium. You're massive baddasses, if you're in the 1st Legion. Please note that the entire 2nd Century of the 1st Legion are the Imperator's personal Bodyguard.
The structure of the Guard's legions resonates regardless of a Legion's specialization or Century specialization. For instance, a manipular of Praetorian operated tanks would comprise of 4 tanks, each tank requiring a Signa to operate. A manipular would also represent a single Artillery battery operated by the Guard, with four guns. And so on and so forth. The moderate exception to this might be the 4th Legion's command of the Guard's fleet vessels.
There are no "forge" worlds in the Ordo Imperialis universe. We have various industrial or mining planets, but they are not called forges. The military industrial production system in the Ordo is more highly centralized, when it comes to say, interstellar war ships or specialized weapons for planetary sieges, but more decentralized for smaller weapons and gear.
Titan, itself, in the canon is a moderately populated (3 billion citizens) Imperial world that has been turned into the primary staging point and Headquarters for the entire Paladian Front (AKA Northern Front).
Praetorians are functionally immortal. They do not age in the same way normal people do, and it's rare for one to actually reach the end of their service term to retire. Rather, they are Praetorians for life and tend to die in service. Essentially, becoming a Praetorian means you're serving a death sentence. Most burials are done in-absentia of the body, or with a closed casket. It's the grim reality of the Guard: The places they serve, the wars they fight in will eventually kill all of them, even Praefectii, and their deaths will be violent and probably highly unpleasant. It's difficult to recover a body, when the fortress you just stormed ultimately gets shelled from orbit, because the infiltration you led got the confirmed kill on the high value target you were ordered to take down. Likewise, Praetorians fighting on a frontline engagement serve in the worst portions of the front, to help turn the tide, and fight were the battle is the thickest.
One final point: We must make the distinction between Second Life Praetorian and "Fluff" Praetorian organization. All Guardsmen, even the officers, are combat soldiers. A lot of administrative and staffing is supplemented by the Guard Auxiliary, who help run logistics and support. So there are no "administrative" Praetorians in the Guard, according to canon. The closest you get is the Procuratore Augusti, Tribuni, and Lord PRaefectus. They have to understand the whole structure of the Guard to the small details, and thus effectively govern their Legions or the Guard as a whole. Even Guard Centurions generally do not worry much about the background logistics, beyond a certain point, so they can focus solely on the task at hand.
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Congrats, everyone!
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The Existence of the Kindred (WoG version).
Where do furries fit into the Ordo's backstory? This is a question often asked of myself and Tiridates, and one we've discussed numerous times. Ultimiately, what was settled upon was a manner by which we might include them, without overly restricting their existence or plausibility. What follows is a narrative explanation in terms of an omniscient (Word of God) perspective on the literal origins of furries in the Ordo universe. Source materials made widely known and most "characters" within the story would, therefore, not know, or be aware of every single particular explained here-in.
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Many question the Origin of the Kindred. Who are they? Why do they share so many traits with Old Earth animals? Why is it that humans and Kindred can inter-breed with a low chance of sterility?
The answers to these questions, and more, lie in the past of Old Earth.
In mankind's infancy, following its first real steps into the galaxy. Resplendent in its own magnifience, excited and curious to further improve and develop and adapt to the universe it was rapidly expanding to exist within, they looked to the very structure of mankind itself. Technology had reached a new zenith, a point where the living body was no more restrained to its original form, as it was to its planet of origin. Mankind thus, looked beyond its species, to develop traits from nature, adaptations and changes they were curious to explore, to develop, and express if it meant they could gain an advantage, in appearance, or function.
Thus began the Kindred.
Many animals on Old Earth were well known to mankind, the dogs, cats, birds, and other animals that brough humanity some degree of connection to an otherwise alienated natural world, flush with mechanical technology as they were. By some miracle, many survived humanities bungled efforts to reach the stars, and now they were brought to the stars alongside mankind. It was from trying to introduce traits from these animals into humans that created the first Kindred. This process was not rapid, nor widespread, at first. Many mistakes were made, many abominations, many failed experiments. Some banned the practice, others promoted this form of exploration into humanity's own very core of existence.
After a time, the sophistication needed to readily produce effective traits were made stable and cost effective to where the rich or those inclined to seek thme could easily bring about this new way of evolution, evolution controlled by mankind's own auspices...and subject to mankind's hubris as well. In time, they would see to what degree that hubris would cost humanity and the Galaxy.
But not yet. Those who debauched themselves and reveled in humanity's cleverness soon developed amazing and oftentime enviable traits. Fur and claw, talon and feather, and all manner of other modifications were introduced. Nearly a full millenia of this created human-animal hybrids, stable ones that could still genetically 'interface' with normal humans. Not all humanity welcomed this new branch of mankind, however.
Some saw it as a perversion, others a blasphemey, and yet others, a dangerous game to tamper with the very form that evolution had thus far granted humanity. The Kindred, while numerous, were still outnumbered by mankind and soon, kindred formed thier own cultural and social groups, and sought some degree of escape from the scorn of thier fully human cousins. In many, many cases, these communes comprised of Kindred who shared similar traits. Those inclined to aquatic environments often settled or sought worlds suffuse with water and oceans. Those more terrestrial inclined sought colonies that matched those traits. Thus, humanity also spread more and more into the galaxy, along side the Kindred.
It must be understood, that humanity was not a unified entity at this time, more a loose set of political blocs and confederations, intent on local concerns and issues. During this expansion period, there wa slittle contact with species or entities on the same level as mankind, (but for the sake of narrative flexibility) many records on the particulars have been lost over time.
Kindred have traded off certain flexible, human traits in favor of strong adaptive traits (say a fur coat, greater strength, or improved senses). This makes your average kindred adept in their normal environment of adapation, but less so in more adverse or opposite environments. For example, a polar inclined kindred will feel at home on an icey world, but find a jungle or desert fairly uncomfortable. However, Kindred can still adapt more readily than say an actual animal, and of course, many create technology that allow thme to control some degree of thier environment.
The down sides include certain inherent changes, and less variation than you find in most human populations, as well as more stagnate societies and technological development. Humanity seems to remove these inhibitions from thier cousins and extended exposure has permitted Kindred cultures to more or less integrate into the Imperial System of rule and governance.
Kindred also seem, at the time that the Ordo exists, to lack, in the extreme, any form of psychic potential. The reason for this will be described in the next installment (The Catastrophe). Geneticsts believe it may have been bred out of them some time in the past (which is true).
As Kindred societies continued to expland, so did humanity, and Kindred found itself pushed ever to the outskirts of human settlement, in many ways forming the frontier of settlement. Residual contact between trading parties of Kindred and humans resulted in a decent knoweledge of various life-sustaining worlds. The fact that the Kindred were on the fringe of human expansion would ultimately spell a marked change in thier culture. Prior to the Catastrophe, Kindred were as dynamic as humans and shared many cultural and even some emerging evolutionary traits, a phenoma that will be recognized as psychic potential.
However, after the Catastrophe, Kindred lost both their dynamism and their psychic potential. To modern, Imperial scientists thi sis a puzzle, seeing as the compatability between kindred and normal humans is virtually identical. In essence, the differences on a genetic level between a human and kindred require a very indepth examination of to determine the subtle differences.
Timeline:
At the time of the Ordo, no one is aware, though some suspect, of the common ancestry between Kindred and humanity. The source of this lack of awareness (or at least, certainty) relates to the Catastrophe, as well. The difference in time between the first Kindred hybrids, and the modern era is nearly six thousand years. The Catastrophe itself is four thousand years prior. The Imperial system is maybe 300-500 years old (Longevity has increased, especially for the wealthy).
Other considerations:
The technology that created the kindred is mostly forgotten, though not entirely lost. The ability to create new ones exists, but is extremely regulated, and only used for types of genetherapy for human/Kindred couples and their children, to increase compatibility.
Kindred have strengths in very specific areas, as a character and in terms of strengths, but those are offset by certain downsides. If you wish to write a kindred character, keep this in mind if you want a story to be included and labled as "canon" (I.E. Official).
There are no mythical entities, really. No demons, angels, or dragons. You heard me.
No. Dragons. Sorry guys. inb4 FYIAD.
No magic, no supernatural powers. If you want to be a psychic, you will need ot get it approved, and understand very specific restrictions on what being a psychic will include. Essentially, very few psychics will be approved. If you want to try, you gotta convince me you'll write literature that will make fit. So...Kindred won't be psychics, unless they are human/kindred interbreeds, and approved.
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For a less narratively illustrative, but more technical explanation of Kindred (TL;DR):
Kindred are not aliens, really, but (by the time of the "current" timeline) a result of a past era in humanity's past, one rife with some level of confusion due to a general lack of unity and good record keeping.
They were created through a wide range of exploratory and adapative angled genetic modifications, in order to provide humanity some sort of survival edge. However, despite a decent chunk of the population becoming what will later be known as Kindred, they are still outnumbered by most of the unmodified humans. Due to various social forces, such as varying views on ethics, religion, and politics, the kindred form into more and more strictly defined homogeneous units, to escape scorn and persecution.
It also takes, approximately, 1000 years of constant experimentation and testing before the hybriding yields non-sterile, self-sustaining populations. Int erms of attributes, the strengths of Kindred are that they tend to express specific, advantageous adaptions, but are less...adaptible than a standard human being. A fox kindred is not going to enjoy a desert too much, for instance. Another trade off, which will be further expressed is a certain degree of social and technological stagnation, if left to thier own devices.
This is circumvented by the more progressive, individualistic human societal and cultural contact that is experienced under the umbrella of the Imperium and the Imperial System (it's governing concepts, essentially).
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REALLY TL;DR VERSION-
Basically, there's no difference between humans and furries, except plot and story elements, but permits us to have an explanation for all you lovely fluffy animals out there.
They are like humans, because in the past, they were humans, but humans that formed stable hybrids who could interbreed and form their own sustainable populations, from somewhat naieve genetic modification experiments. Basically, hybrids that can have sex and make babies. Yes, humans and Kindred can interbreed in the story.
But I swear to all that is Holy and Righteous, if anyone takes this beyond normal relationship descriptions in a story submitted for canon, I will cut your face the Ffff up and destroy your soul. We are not a fanfic site. >:(
Wurm Online
in Gaming Discussion
Posted
Which PvP server, though? I want a bloody name, or I'll name one myself. I'm sitting at the end of the Tutorial, right now, trying to figure out which we should go to.