Suggestion Major Faction Resource Limits

[DeadpoolMLP]

So, I've been thinking about this a lot, and I think I've come up with a presentable suggestion.

So, ever since I've joined the site, old heads have told me the days of restricted materials, dev threads, and how much fun it was to do those, but also how much of a pain in the ass it was.

And I want to be very clear:

This is not advocating to bring that system back.

That system was gotten rid of for a reason, and I understand that.

HOWEVER:

I do think there's something that could be reinstated.

See, I've always lamented that certain materials, especially big lore ones, have little meaning in the factory nowadays, and have lost a lot of their luster. So, my proposed solution:

Restrict materials, specifically for major factions. Anything mass produced, or minor, for a major faction, needs to follow these new rules. Limited, semi-unique, or unique items would be exempt, as it's always feasible you could've acquired a limited amount of a resource for a 'special project', as it were.

So here's the actual pitch:

Major Faction, in order to acquire a special resource, have to capture a resource/challenge hex designated with said resource.

Major Factions with said resource, can use it freely, without any approval.

Major factions without said resource hex, can acquire it through trade with a major faction who has, and must get approval from the other faction staff. Would work the same way factory permissions work currently. Just provide a screenshot of the approval of trade.

The Purpose?:

My logic behind all of this would be a justification for RP. Want Beskar? Go do a diplomacy thread with the Mandos, or invade them. Want Songsteel? Dom the planet it's on, or invade who owns it. Let it drive RP through trade, invasion incentive, and expansion. Give the challenge hexes a reward, as well as those green hexes that, as far as I'm aware, don't do anything at the moment.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

and how much fun it was to do those

Somewhere between root canal and stepping on a lego.

 

[Vazela]

No thanks. I don't want to wait three business days for a response from Gary because his faction happens to own a planet just so I can make a post in the Factory about the gun I want to shoot in roleplay.

 

[Selrik Lorcas]

In general, I agree with Vazela.

1. The suggestion ignores the existence of black markets, smugglers, etc, where said resources would ALREADY exist.
2. If no major faction controls a hex with a special resource, why can't a major faction just say they went in and mined a bunch and left?
3. This potentially gives an unfair advantage to the larger major factions who already control most special resources (I haven't checked on who controls what of the special resource worlds).

 

[DeadpoolMLP]

In general, I agree with Vazela.

1. The suggestion ignores the existence of black markets, smugglers, etc, where said resources would ALREADY exist.
2. If no major faction controls a hex with a special resource, why can't a major faction just say they went in and mined a bunch and left?
3. This potentially gives an unfair advantage to the larger major factions who already control most special resources (I haven't checked on who controls what of the special resource worlds).

No thanks. I don't want to wait three business days for a response from Gary because his faction happens to own a planet just so I can make a post in the Factory about the gun I want to shoot in roleplay.

I see your points, however, my counterargument is thus:

Clouds should mean something. Growth should mean something. If you're gonna go in, mine a resource on a neutral world, then leave, what's the point of having a cloud anyways? There's no RP there, just the implication of RP. Shit happening off screen because you wanted a cool toy is boring, and negates characters like Smugglers.

It doesn't ignore black markets and smugglers, because that's what limited or semi-unique items would be for. Mass Produced and Minor produced items should imply you have a steady, reliable supply, that you own, not some random neutral world that you showed up once to.

I think a cloud should represent a major faction's reach, and what they have access to. Saying 'lol I don't want to have to get permission' is lame, and if you don't want to, then invade. Take it, it's yours.

 

[Selrik Lorcas]

I see your points, however, my counterargument is thus:

Clouds should mean something. Growth should mean something. If you're gonna go in, mine a resource on a neutral world, then leave, what's the point of having a cloud anyways? There's no RP there, just the implication of RP. Shit happening off screen because you wanted a cool toy is boring, and negates characters like Smugglers.

It doesn't ignore black markets and smugglers, because that's what limited or semi-unique items would be for. Mass Produced and Minor produced items should imply you have a steady, reliable supply, that you own, not some random neutral world that you showed up once to.

I think a cloud should represent a major faction's reach, and what they have access to. Saying 'lol I don't want to have to get permission' is lame, and if you don't want to, then invade. Take it, it's yours.

My counter to that (and this is my opinion, mind) is that clouds don't represent reach, but control. It's entirely possible for worlds outside of a cloud to be sympathetic to a government, but not a member of it. A planet on the border of GA space may not have joined yet, but if something drastically bad were to befall them and they needed help, who would they go to? The GA, because that's the influence the GA has through proximity, even though they aren't within their cloud.

If that planet had a large resource, and the Alliance asked them for access to it, offering to pay them, do you think they would say no? I don't. Yeah, there's probably no RP that happens around it, but we don't RP taking a poop, either (least I hope people aren't writing that). There is always some level of handwaving that occurs, just like in the development of ships.

When I first started roleplaying, building ships took RL time. The amount of meterage of a vessel determined how many RL days it took to build a ship. But now we just say that those ships are built at the snap of our fingers. Same with character training. We can start a new character as a master and handwave all the development before that.

It's part of the game.

 

[Soundwave]

God I miss the days where special resources that are meant to be scarce were actually scarce and not used for anything beyond Unique/Semi Unique.

We lost the argument of resources being special the moment minor/mass-produced beskar battle tanks were allowed outside of a Mandalorian space controlled faction. TSE strip mined Mandalore but still we see beskar in abundance literally everywhere else and still enough on Mandalore. In truth special resources have literally no inherent value to them outside of the effects they bring to an item for roleplay like cortosis or voidstones. Scarcity does not exist on Chaos, no matter how much we might try to say otherwise.

There is also literally nothing stopping anyone from just subbing an asteroid/planet with a resource that should be special to a faction and saying that a special resource can be found within the cloud of a faction. It would take me less than an hour to sub a planet saying it's rich with beskar or something special and throw it in the GA, with the only thing to stop me being a Codex Judge slapping me on the wrist and telling me that's not allowed. It's either that or you start invading other factions for their resources and that's a whole other can of arguing about getting invaded constantly because someone wants something that someone else has and they don't want to share.

It's stated that Resource Hexes are useless on their own and may have additional bonuses, but until Resource Hexes have any sort of actual definitive value assigned to them, then there's really not much that's going to change.

 

[DeadpoolMLP]

It's entirely possible for worlds outside of a cloud to be sympathetic to a government, but not a member of it. A planet on the border of GA space may not have joined yet, but if something drastically bad were to befall them and they needed help, who would they go to? The GA, because that's the influence the GA has through proximity, even though they aren't within their cloud.

Yeah, and I bet that would make a great thread for senators, and business types. You could make a dom out of that premise.

If that planet had a large resource, and the Alliance asked them for access to it, offering to pay them, do you think they would say no? I don't. Yeah, there's probably no RP that happens around it, but we don't RP taking a poop, either (least I hope people aren't writing that). There is always some level of handwaving that occurs, just like in the development of ships.

RP should be the first and last thing you'd want to do. Is it always the most thrilling thing? No. But the story should always come first. I've got a thread right now of two characters stuck in a traffic jam, and it's some of the most fun I've had in months.

I think handwaving is lame, and negates entire characters in some cases. When was the last thread built around business types you've seen? I haven't had a chance to use my major company in ages, because there's no incentive to. Trade deals could be spearheaded by those types of characters, or senators, or even smugglers.

When I first started roleplaying, building ships took RL time. The amount of meterage of a vessel determined how many RL days it took to build a ship. But now we just say that those ships are built at the snap of our fingers. Same with character training. We can start a new character as a master and handwave all the development before that.

Yeah, and more often than not, I see those kind of stories get looked down on, because the newbie wants to fast track their way to the council, or being a moff, or being a sith lord. Sure, there's no one telling you you can't make a sith lord, but there's certainly plenty of people telling you you can't do the emperor of the sith, or part of the NJO Council, or head of the Imperial Confederation. And yeah, you can say you are, but no one is gonna respect you if you don't earn it.

I think this solution encourages people to RP out stuff, rather than handwave it. Because it's really dumb that beskar, or any other similar material, is as prevalent as it is. That shit should have meaning, and scarcity.

 

[DeadpoolMLP]

There is also literally nothing stopping anyone from just subbing an asteroid/planet with a resource that should be special to a faction and saying that a special resource can be found within the cloud of a faction. It would take me less than an hour to sub a planet saying it's rich with beskar or something special and throw it in the GA, with the only thing to stop me being a Codex Judge slapping me on the wrist and telling me that's not allowed. It's either that or you start invading other factions for their resources and that's a whole other can of arguing about getting invaded constantly because someone wants something that someone else has and they don't want to share.

This would change that. The map is in a unique position where we've got admins curating what's on the map now, rather than every other hex having a custom planet like how it used to be.

 

[Alan]

Turning a forum roleplay into resource management StarCraft type deal isn’t my idea of fun or helping create meaningful writing and stories.

 

[Allyson Locke]

So, ever since I've joined the site, old heads have told me the days of restricted materials, dev threads, and how much fun it was to do those, but also how much of a pain in the ass it was.

imma be real - 95% of us meme about this.

 

[Kitter Bitters]

To me this just sounds like a nightmare. I have to be poor and fight for resources in real life. I like being able to just have fun on here.

Just my two cents.

 

[Darth Virelia]

To me this just sounds like a nightmare. I have to be poor and fight for resources in real life. I like being able to just have fun on here.

Just my two cents.

Fun? Here? What are you on about???

Now get back to posting (work)

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

Make resource hexes a boon for those with the Techno Boom mandate - can submit 2 extra submissions per-month for every resource hex you have in your cloud.

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

I just don't see people getting behind the idea of limiting rare resources, even though I get where you're coming from on trying to make it about story first

 

[Makai Dashiell]

It would drive corpo RP, which I'm for. Yet it would create more Jedi who run businesses, which I'm not for.

I have to be poor and fight for resources in real life. I like being able to just have fun on here.

Same girl.

 

[Selrik Lorcas]

I'm gonna be real, if people aren't RPing it right now, it's probably because people dont want to. If the drive was there to RP corpo business, people would be doing it already.

People aren't interested in doing that. We're here to write about Star Wars, not resource farming.

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

Clouds do mean something, you ate the crayons, and managed to puke out a color on a hex. It has all the meaning and weight the members assign to it.

 

[Delsin Shaw]

Now the Factory/Codex Judges become bouncers.

Carding everyone to see if they really are part of a faction.

"Nah, you can't drink Make stuff here. Fake Id."

 

[Aether Verd]

It’s gonna be a no from me man. I appreciate the thought but:

• This is basically reinstating half of the old restricted rules (go steal it) without the alternative option (writing prompt)
  
• Most would just grab a trade screenshot and keep it moving
  
• Others would use the closest non-restricted material or some obscure canon option
  
• Back when this was a thing, very few people did resource raids. Most just did a writing prompt.

Overall, I don’t see this generating RP or making resources feel special. It’d just come off as an arbitrary wall.