INTRODUCTION :: GALAXY :: LATEST REPORT :: GALACTIC REPORTS
Carl Sagan once wrote ''...Your own life, or your band’s, or even your species’ might be owed to a restless few—drawn, by a craving they can hardly articulate or understand, to undiscovered lands and new worlds.'' We've long been fascinated with the ideas of alien life - their societies and culture, their governments, and their history. What do these far and unknown civilisations of old and new do? Do they debate philosophy like that of the Greeks? Wage grand campaigns on a scale that would make Rome tremble? Create large and expansive federations of inter-diplomacy on a scale unseen in our time?
Welcome to GALNET.
As a community of roleplayers, we have long danced across a cosmic stage of our making - occasionally together, and occasionally alone. The stories we tell are often unique, and distinct visions created by our own imagination of what we believe interstellar life may be. Yet, an aggregate of these stories into a central galactic repository has not been done to the satisfaction of everyone. In truth, it is a hard feat to manage. GALNET seeks to bring the community aspect back into the overall galactic narrative of the NSFT community. Inspired by the older State of the Galaxy projects (SOTG), GALNET'S role is less reliant on the need for an exclusive circle of editors, and instead relies on you, the RolePlayer. Because at the end of the day, you are the one who can best tell your story.
GALNET's approach will utilise two threads. GALNET's Galactic Report thread, and GALNET's Community News thread, which is where we are right now.
GALNET's community thread will allow anyone in the NSFT community to write up news articles of the current events in their nations. The advantage of this allows the rest of the community to keep tabs on international affairs by scrolling and searching for related news articles. It also allows RolePlayers to express what they want people to know about their nations without the concern of it being funnelled or misrepresented by a process.
Format guidelines are lax for the Community thread, though articles should include what quadrant is being affected, and include (if applicable) at least a hyperlink to the relevant RPs the editor's article is covering. This allows other users to read RP threads and further get a grasp of galactic affairs, especially regarding the editor's nation. Beyond this, formatting is to the editor's taste, but as a reminder - NS' site rules still apply for content.
Each month, I will take all of the news stories players have written and create a meta-narrative that represents each quadrant in a monthly 'Galactic Report'. The Galactic Report will serve as a summary of galactic affairs, and quadrant tension and always include not only hyperlinks to the community's articles, but also coverage of their stories. No-one will be excluded. This is why mentioning what quadrant is being affected in your articles is important, as it will allow me to more accurately summarise each quadrant's report. We will cover quadrants in the next section.
The MilkyWay Galaxy, which is where the central part of the NSFT community and its events takes place, is immense. Sagan said it best, ''Billions upon billions of stars.'' There are also a lot of us, the RolePlayers, who lay claim to a few of these stars, but we are also spread out across vast areas of the galaxy. Within the community, the galaxy is generally accepted to be divided into four quadrants. An example map of the NSFT community (there are many maps), displays not only the quadrants but also the intricate storybuilding of a number of RolePlayers marked on it. The quadrants are as followed:
Alpha Quadrant (bottom left quadrant) is home to Sol, and often considered by the community to be NSFT's 'Old Money' region. Things here are generally quiet, and very old interstellar powers such as the Republic of Sunset exist within its realm. The region is dominated by gunboat diplomacy and trade between these powers.
Beta Quadrant (bottom right quadrant) is considered the 'New Money' region. Newer and more mercantile powers such as the Phoenix Domain often settle or can be found here vying for resources and trade that helps fuel the rest of the galaxy. While not as quiet as Alpha, the region is relatively stable.
Gamma Quadrant (top left quadrant) historically a literal manifestation of the phrase 'Here Be Dragons', Gamma has retained a troubling and eldritch history within the community. This region not only is prone to conflict but was also the center-piece to the rise and fall of a number of plagues, Lovecraftian horrors, and diabolical empires. It is also dominated by long held powerhouses such as the Galactic Republic of Alexzonya.
Delta Quadrant (top right quadrant) is widely a militant region prone to conflict like Gamma, though exhibiting less eldritch abominations historically until late. The region is often dominated by imperial powers such as the Huerdaen Star Empire, and seen as a sort of new frontier within the galaxy. Recently, however, the region has seen a revival in conflict and has been stealing Gamma's crown for creating Lovecraftian nightmares.
