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by The Macabees » Wed Dec 06, 2017 1:51 pm
by Post War America » Wed Dec 06, 2017 1:53 pm
The Macabees wrote:lol I was going to make a joke along those lines.
Gravlen wrote:The famous Bowling Green Massacre is yesterday's news. Today it's all about the Cricket Blue Carnage. Tomorrow it'll be about the Curling Yellow Annihilation.
by The Macabees » Wed Jan 10, 2018 5:24 pm
by Post War America » Wed Jan 10, 2018 5:25 pm
The Macabees wrote:Souls, on the Discord mentor server, shared a couple of great resources on technology readiness levels and speculative tech that's often used NS:
As I understand, there will be a compilation post at some point soon and I will link to that as well.
Gravlen wrote:The famous Bowling Green Massacre is yesterday's news. Today it's all about the Cricket Blue Carnage. Tomorrow it'll be about the Curling Yellow Annihilation.
by UniversalCommons » Fri Jan 12, 2018 9:02 pm
by The Macabees » Sat Jan 13, 2018 3:42 pm
UniversalCommons wrote:An interesting read is The Strategy of Technology by Jerry Pournelle.
https://www.jerrypournelle.com/slowchange/Strat.html
by Havensky » Fri Jan 26, 2018 7:54 am
by The Macabees » Fri Jan 26, 2018 10:35 am
by The State of Monavia » Fri Jan 26, 2018 3:58 pm
Havensky wrote:Hi all,
I've put together a Guide for Establishing and Implementing a Code for Conduct for Discord: https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=960646
I'm hoping that it's useful in helping in policing some of the trolls that are out there.
by The Macabees » Sat Jan 27, 2018 9:45 am
by Vistora » Sat Jan 27, 2018 10:31 am
by Allanea » Sat Jan 27, 2018 10:58 am
by The State of Monavia » Sat Jan 27, 2018 3:53 pm
The Macabees wrote:Discussion Question:
On our Discord server, Vistora asks, "[W]hat are your favourite soft or firm science fiction elements? Specifically, those that would still fit in a broadly PMT setting."
People answered with:
- Genetic engineering;
- Comprehensive data collection for predictive algorithms;*
- Power armor.
...and other similar answers.
And Vistora makes the interesting, and correct in most definitions of hard/soft SF, quip that those are hard PMT elements.
The thing is that for most people on NS, those are actually soft elements, or somewhere between hard and soft PMT elements. 10 years ago, they would have been seen as hard PMT — just look at any tank from that era —, but because of widespread abuse the definition of hard and soft evolved. People stopped treating it as window dressing and started treating it as the decisive factors behind the outcomes of their stories, and players decided to retrogress to very literal definitions of 'hard' technology because the weight of speculative tech could not be determined easily and RPs easily turned into OOC debates, or just simply died.
Vistora's question, the answers, and the follow-up discussion revealed this reality, this divergence in definitions between hard PMT/SF — and remember, a lot of SF in literature is PMT — in actual literature and within the communities on NationStates.
To give a concrete example: I RP with full-suit power armor. I am not concerned with whether it is 100% realistic. I don't care if modern technology does not produce batteries or actuators that are small enough. I don't care if there really is, currently, no way of feeding moving soldiers with drugs without bruising their skin or rupturing their veins, I can find non-rigorous explanations that would fit within a hard SF setting in the literary sense to explain their existence in my PMT world. Feeding my troops with drugs doesn't directly determine the outcomes of battles/victories/losses, it determines how I tell the story of the man inside the suit.
But I know that this tech would not fly with a lot of other players, including players who call themselves PMT. And this outlook is the product of a unique culture on NS, on that has been shaped by roleplaying experiences since roleplayers started to post on the forum back in November 2002.
What are your opinions on this?
Vistora wrote:I will be honest in saying that I'm not tremendously well tapped-into the PMT situation in II in general, since I usually RP with closed-canon groups. However, I nevertheless get the impression that, as Macabees mentioned, the definition of "hard" science fiction on NS has somewhat gotten away from itself to mean what some people identify as "MT+"; that is, pretty much modern-day technology with some cutting edge and experimental stuff thrown in for the aesthetic appeal.
Allanea wrote:There are three essential approaches:
1. "Things that are likely to exist within the next 20 years". (Early within NS, it was considered to be 'about 2020', but it is now 2018). You could reasonably look at what is currently being researched and developed IRL and have certain clues about this.
2. "Things that are feasible, i.e. it is possible to reasonably suspend disbelief about them within the next 20 years, given the current state of the science and the contexts of the greater NS multiverse". This includes not only things for which we have actual prototypes, but things for which feasibility studies have been done, such as atomic-powered trains and aircraft.
3. "Things that - whether or not they are necessarily feasible - cconsidered [sic] acceptable in games and science fiction works set in the near future". A good example of this sort of content can be seen in the old Cyberpunk 2020 roleplaying game, or in the Ghost in the Shell anime.
by UniversalCommons » Sun Jan 28, 2018 10:29 pm
by UniversalCommons » Thu Mar 01, 2018 6:15 am
by Jackania yugo » Sun Mar 04, 2018 3:23 am
by New Aeyariss » Sun Mar 04, 2018 3:44 am
Jackania yugo wrote:So...thing's like plasma rifles are allowed?
Inyourfaceistan wrote:You didn't know that Cusc is actually a 4-armed cyborg genius commander and skillful warrior created in secret by a cabal of rich capitalist financiers built to lead and army of drones and other renegades against and overbearing socialist regime?
Psalms 144:1 wrote:Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.
by Jackania yugo » Sun Mar 04, 2018 7:06 am
by Libraria and Ausitoria » Tue Mar 06, 2018 11:08 am
○ Commonwealth Capital (Bank) ○ ○ Commonwealth Connect (Bank Treaty) ○ ○ SeaScape (Shipping & Energy) ○(██████████████████████████████║║◙█[Θ]█]◙◙◙◙◙[█]
by The Macabees » Mon Apr 30, 2018 5:55 am
by A m e n r i a » Mon Apr 30, 2018 9:19 am
by The Macabees » Mon Apr 30, 2018 10:07 am
A m e n r i a wrote:Hello, PMT nation here, hello everyone. I have some questions regarding my military. First, I need to determine the size. How big will Asia (minus Japan except for Kyushu)'s population be in 2046 after a two-year world war on 2040-2042?
by A m e n r i a » Mon Apr 30, 2018 10:24 am
The Macabees wrote:A m e n r i a wrote:Hello, PMT nation here, hello everyone. I have some questions regarding my military. First, I need to determine the size. How big will Asia (minus Japan except for Kyushu)'s population be in 2046 after a two-year world war on 2040-2042?
That depends on your answers to the various questions you should ask yourself to build this world. Because it's not RL Asia in 2046, it's your conception of what Asia may be like in 2046.
Some relevant questions:
- How does the history of Asia play out between current day and that world war in 2040? The answer to this question will determine how this world got to that world war. It can't be random, there has to be a compelling reason that the characters (in this case, entire countries) followed that path. It will also help to determine the face and nature of this world.
- What consequences did this world war have?
- How do growing incomes, policies, and wars affect birth rates?
- Are incomes even growing or is the world economy retrogressing?
- Do these individual countries have birth policies?
- Do these individual countries have internal turmoil that would affect this?
Let's quickly explore why these questions matter, by way of example. Let's say that the world war causes 50% of the world's population to die. This obviously has an impact on your question, because Asia's population will be different if 25% of the world's population dies, for example.
But there's so much room to be unique by figuring out what these questions are and answering them in a way that allows your world, and the stories in them, to make sense.
by The Macabees » Mon Jun 11, 2018 2:16 pm
by New Aeyariss » Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:20 pm
How do you define PMT?
Inyourfaceistan wrote:You didn't know that Cusc is actually a 4-armed cyborg genius commander and skillful warrior created in secret by a cabal of rich capitalist financiers built to lead and army of drones and other renegades against and overbearing socialist regime?
Psalms 144:1 wrote:Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.
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