Rules Update Age of Chaos - Annihilation

[Adron Malvern]

Been thinking about this a bit.

A part of me loves it. The ability to destroy a planet? Makes for wonderful story. The fact that it has a requirement of 400 posts means it will not be easily attainable. Like Super Star Destroyers it will lose the luster or flash of being "The new big bad" so that is comforting as well. So what does that leave me with?

Where does this head? If Tefka decides he wants to take it EVEN FURTHER and venture into the destruction of custom planets on the map (without permission), then i'll be firmly against it. Still, that's not the discussion at hand, so for what we have thus far I don't have much to complain about.

I will say it makes a lot of people uncomfortable and that should be taken into consideration, but i guess we'll see how this plays out.

 

[Kalic Daws]

Well that's the way the games gonna be played. I think people are catastrophising it greatly. I don't think some randos niche homeworld will be blown up unless it's a big military target. See Geonosis, Prefsbelt IV, Byss and many others. But even so, doesn't that destruction add to a characters story? They're last of the WhateverplanetIcomefrom. It's good for some interesting character development. If your character is uber tied to a planet, and then that planet is destroyed, and you can't go past that attachment on an OOC level? That's on you as a writer. Not on anyone else.

Honestly, I think if you're gonna base your entire lore on a single planet, and you ask kindly enough 9/10 people would be alright with keeping you around. I don't imagine a scenario where characters are just blowing up stuff willy nilly. It's gonna be apart of longer term wars. Like say the GA-FO war of a few years back, or potentially the TSE-NIO conflict. If you think that there's gonna be a mass destruction of planets, I dare say you're deluded.

I have to disagree with you on basing a character around a world being stupid. Especially with species like Dathomirians, or to a lesser extent Mandalorians, or Geinosians, any number of other species, who they are is often in some way tied to their homeworlds. Heck, a big thing with Kalic is he’s born a Spacer. My Mando Mig has a strong tie to Concord Dawn. My Padawan Ura to Yurb. I get what you’re saying about it adding story, but I also don’t agree with you on just “ressub it cause it doesn’t matter.” Honestly kinda a shallow way to look at story telling.

 

[Tefka]

If Tefka decides he wants to take it EVEN FURTHER

Adron Malvern

There was a 1-4 Admin vote against allowing Custom Planets to be targeted by Annihilations.

I was the 1 who voted in favor of allowing them to target Custom Planets.

Custom Planets being targeted by Annihilations will not be a thing in our lifetime.

 

[Adron Malvern]

That's great this year, but you never know how things progress. We've started that path, that's my point.

Tefka

 

[Tefka]

That's great this year, but you never know how things progress. We've started that path, that's my point.

Tefka

I happen to know exactly how the rules progress.

Minus the Ally rules.

We blame John Locke for those.

 

[Alkor Centaris]

Honestly, in terms of story, if everyone works together and crafts something fantastic, no matter if the planet gets destroyed or not we get a good one.

The Annihilation ruleset isn't the issue there.

 

[Adron Malvern]

That's generally what i hope for, but it doesn't always work that way. But like invasions, you deal with what you get, good or bad.

Alkor Centaris

 

[Alkor Centaris]

My point exactly.

 

[Luca Donskoi]

Well that's the way the games gonna be played. I think people are catastrophising it greatly. I don't think some randos niche homeworld will be blown up unless it's a big military target. See Geonosis, Prefsbelt IV, Byss and many others. But even so, doesn't that destruction add to a characters story? They're last of the WhateverplanetIcomefrom. It's good for some interesting character development. If your character is uber tied to a planet, and then that planet is destroyed, and you can't go past that attachment on an OOC level? That's on you as a writer. Not on anyone else.

Honestly, I think if you're gonna base your entire lore on a single planet, and you ask kindly enough 9/10 people would be alright with keeping you around. I don't imagine a scenario where characters are just blowing up stuff willy nilly. It's gonna be apart of longer term wars. Like say the GA-FO war of a few years back, or potentially the TSE-NIO conflict. If you think that there's gonna be a mass destruction of planets, I dare say you're deluded.

I'd offer the same response to you here. What gives someone else the right as a writer to determine what is the proper path toward character development and planet to another writer? Why is it so wrong that a character has a strong tie to a planet? I'd saying most characters would have a strong tie to a planet just as easily as i would say the majority of writers have those planets they tend to predominantly write on and which draws their interests.

And yes, this is a role play. It's supposed to be collaborative, but what is collaborative about forcing a story on someone and their character and their work that they've put in?

 

[Amelia von Sorenn]

 

[Takui]

I offer another avenue here, Luca Donskoi , in the event that this ever does become relevant:

Instead of crying foul that you've been targeted, write a story that adequately repels the effort to destroy the planet?

 

[Ariel Yvarro]

Luca Donskoi it would be a colossal effort for any singular faction to target a single planet for a single hex, and as much as I abhor everything about this. It's not like you have to take it lying down, there is an option and opportunity to fight back and tell that classic rebel story of the single shot into the exhaust of the death star. Deleting planets isn't new to Star Wars, and there will always be narratives to create and wrap around the development surrounding a thread like this.

 

[Luca Donskoi]

I'm not crying foul, as you put it, on myself if I am targeted. I'm pointing to potential unseen faults in the latest rules addition and offering a possibly means to fix it. As I said, I like the potential for story that this offers across the board, but I don't like the thought that someone who has put months and years into a world with subs in both the factory and the codex potentially has all their work and effort wiped away simply because a Major Faction has decided they want to blow something up. Again, my original proposal stated that in these instances, those writers should be asked the same as you would if it were a custom planet. That or make it so both custom and canon planets are targetable without the consent of the creator/writer for said world.

And so far, this is a summary of some of the responses I, or others, have received:

• If you don't like the Annihilation rule, ignore it.
• Just sub a new planet
• Just have your locations, etc. moved to another planet.
• Just "get good" and repel the attack

Now while those are answers, they don't exactly address the issue I raised with my concern. And for the "just repel it" argument, how would that work when it a very small writer base with no ties to a Major faction to defend it? Are they supposed to just "repel it" and beg others in which they are not IC associated with to come to their defense simply so they do not feel as if everything they accomplished is just thrown out the window? And with this as the potential result, what is there to motivate people to even develop canon worlds further with lore and codex and factory subs? Do we just throw those out now too? Discredit everything they've done because a Major decides they have an itchy trigger finger?

 

[Takui]

Most invasions see maybe 200 posts, 300.

If the Annihilation attracts enough attention to hit 400, great. But, your argument that "the little man can't defend" also assumes the little man is going to catch enough heat to generate more interest than an invasion between two majors.

 

[Luca Donskoi]

Luca Donskoi it would be a colossal effort for any singular faction to target a single planet for a single hex, and as much as I abhor everything about this. It's not like you have to take it lying down, there is an option and opportunity to fight back and tell that classic rebel story of the single shot into the exhaust of the death star. Deleting planets isn't new to Star Wars, and there will always be narratives to create and wrap around the development surrounding a thread like this.

You are correct, "deleting," or destroying planets, is not new to star wars, but when it did happen in Star Wars canon/legends, it was a galactic scale event. See Malacho V, Alderaan, Starkiller Station, etc. Perhaps if we want to destroy planets in such a manner, we should bring back site wide events.

 

[Luca Donskoi]

Most invasions see maybe 200 posts, 300.

If the Annihilation attracts enough attention to hit 400, great. But, your argument that "the little man can't defend" also assumes the little man is going to catch enough heat to generate more interest than an invasion between two majors.

The probability that the little man is the predominant target is low, i won't deny that. But, I am just trying to point out potential faults before a system can be abuse and/or exploited. Similarly to what we saw happen with Capital Hex immunity rather recently.

 

[Takui]

I honestly don't see this being more than a hype thing that gets used infrequently, except for maybe by the Bryn'adûl.

People aren't gonna go for this over an invasion, which can do more overhead damage to an opposing faction, and doesn't have an exorbitantly high requirement.

 

[Luca Donskoi]

I hope you're right with that assumption. But, I just try to see things as how they are and if I can see a potential exploit/abuse, there is no doubt that others can as well

 

[Robogeber]

I'd offer the same response to you here. What gives someone else the right as a writer to determine what is the proper path toward character development and planet to another writer? Why is it so wrong that a character has a strong tie to a planet? I'd saying most characters would have a strong tie to a planet just as easily as i would say the majority of writers have those planets they tend to predominantly write on and which draws their interests.

And yes, this is a role play. It's supposed to be collaborative, but what is collaborative about forcing a story on someone and their character and their work that they've put in?

Tyranny of the majority friend. The map game and the introduction of threads like this are catnip for us folks in the map game. Is it sad some people are discouraged by this? Sure. But does it mean we shouldn't be allowed to blow stuff up? Of course not.

Honestly, tbqh, I think if your entire RP experience on a board hinges on whether you can stick around a piece of imaginary clay? It's ridiculous. Plus, these threads are 400 posts long. So compared to an invasion, they are rarely ever and I mean ever going to be used. Because now with the three hex invasions? Demolishing a planet when it'll probably ignored, compared to invasion? Seems largely immaterial.

 

[Kiff Brayde]

People really do think every Major Faction and their Mom is going to be posting an Annihilation thread every week.

I mean, in reality? These types of threads (and even more so the destruction of a planet) I expect to be super rare.

The attacking major faction has to field at least 10 writers compared to the usual 5, and the entire thread has to reach 400 posts within two weeks to even be viable for judging. Now, let's say that you've made it past these criteria. The invading faction would still have to win the Annihilation for it to destroy the planet, or whatever.

In essence, it's a massive undertaking, and 99% of the canon planets on Chaos will never be touched by an Annihilation thread. Couple that with the fact that an annihilation thread can only be launched by a major faction every four months, and it's pretty safe to say that most worlds will still remain completely untouched. So if you have intricate story stuff on some bum random world like Vandor (ooh self-burn, those are rare!) it's pretty safe to say that you don't have to worry.

Mandalore still going boom boom 2021.