NationStates Modern Tech Community Thread

[Ghant]

NSMT Community Discussion Thread
Written by a group of like-minded MTers and other RPers!
(Special thanks to everyone who contributed to the creation of this thread)
To discuss and contribute thoughts, head to NSMT on Discord.
MT Advice & Assistance Thread | RP Questions? Ask Here! | RP Think Tank

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This thread originated as a place where the Modern Technology (MT) community could come together; regardless of experience, regional affiliation, or political alignment, for the sake of promoting discussion and the development of a stronger and more vocal Out-of-Character community. To this end, this Community Discussion Thread does not attempt to impose normative judgements on any members of the community, or establish a single definition as to what constitutes “correct” MT roleplay. The Community Discussion Thread exists for the community in a very real and literal sense; the definitions and standards of the technology level are to be defined by the consistent and courteous input of that same community. As such, this thread seeks to solicit the opinions of individual roleplayers and regional communities as to what MT means to them, and incorporate the perspectives thus garnered in seeking to help provide resources for all members of the community alike. Hence, to establish an OOC Community rather than a unified canon or “one-world” policy.

For the individual approaching this thread, think: How do I define “Modern Technology?” How would I describe my style of roleplay? Do I set standards of roleplay for myself, and do I extend these standards to other players? If so, what are these standards and what impact have they had on my roleplay experience? What is the biggest challenge or concern in MT for me? This thread exists so that these people may make the answers to these questions heard, and so that a healthy discussion can spring up regarding the forging of community perspectives and relationships.

In addition to this thread and the Advice and Assistance Thread, a Discord channel has been established to further facilitate discussion on the aforementioned topics, as well as an IRC channel on Espernet.

Several II Mentors who focus on MT roleplay are also available to answer questions, either those posted in this thread or addressed to them via telegram. The Mentors are fully willing to offer advice and assistance (you can also contact me, the thread OP).

Testimonies

With this in mind, a number of willing individuals have shared their perspectives on how the MT landscape looked when they were most involved, from 2004 to the present, and their testimonies are included here as an example. Please note this is by no means intended to reference “the good old days” or imply that other periods in the history of MT were objectively any better or worse; rather, it is merely a testimony. As a participant in this thread, if you feel inclined to contribute an account of your experiences with MT roleplaying on NS, please feel free to do so. Your opinion is valued, provided you attempt to remain civil and professional, in keeping with the aims of the thread as a whole.

Similarly to how Kyrusia has gone ahead and linked all sorts of nice resources/player anecdotes/commentaries on past events and perspectives in the FT Advice and Assistance Thread, we can think about the possibility of over time accruing the same sort of resources as people who are more comfortable and experienced at roleplaying nations in Modern Tech get a chance to throw out their general opinion on the tech level and successful collaboration in a manner that is not strictly region-specific.

Rules

There are a few rules that players have to keep in mind while participating in this thread. Firstly, this is not a chat thread, so please keep it to a minimum. Any disruptive behavior will not be tolerated. Please respect your fellow players’ opinions.

The point of this thread is to encourage discourse and improve communication within the MT Community. Lively discussion is both anticipated and encouraged, but please keep things civil and within NationStates Site Rules at all times.

[The IASM]

Ah, I see have gotten this project off the ground. Let's hope this is an especially useful thread.

Would it be prudent to try and start a collection of existing guides which relate to NSMT so we have them compiled in one location?

[New Aeyariss]

Reporting for duty .

[Ghant]

Ah, I see have gotten this project off the ground. Let's hope this is an especially useful thread.

Would it be prudent to try and start a collection of existing guides which relate to NSMT so we have them compiled in one location?

We were going to do that in a separate thread to be posted in the near future.

[Lamoni]

Glad to see that this thread has gotten off the ground. Reiterating that the mentors (myself included) are fully willing to answer questions.

[Tyrnica]

I'm excited. Now I can finally find out if my spacefaring, submersible helicarrier is MT!

[New Aeyariss]

To inform you I have several guides planed for this one.

[Heidisteinian Fempire]

Modern Tech best tech. Besides Victorian Tech.

[Puzikas]

MilTech and Realism advisory poster!

Its been a few...YEARS now since ive RPd but ive been asked by some members of the community (#legion, among others) to help, so help I can. Always willing to assist in any matters I can!

[EsToVnIa]

MilTech and Realism advisory poster!

Its been a few...YEARS now since ive RPd but ive been asked by some members of the community (#legion, among others) to help, so help I can. Always willing to assist in any matters I can!

[Maltropia]

Since the Subscribe button has CTE'd (who had the password to that?), and I'm hazy on the current legality of tag posts, let me just express my ringing endorsement of this initiative and confirm my willingness to help.

[Slakonian]

Interesting

[Nation of Warfare]

Hey there, I am here to ask if anyone is interested in joining a RP that I seem to find interesting. Click the link down below to check it out.

Click Here!

[The Macabees]

Open question: So, what kind of MT RPs are you guys taking in part in nowadays?

[Aquitayne]

Posting to lend my assistance to anyone who wants to ask any MT-tech questions, military or otherwise. Or just general MT stuff in and of itself. Feel free to shoot me a TG!

[New Aeyariss]

Open question: So, what kind of MT RPs are you guys taking in part in nowadays?

I am in general involved in The empire of Greater Nihon, which is sort of theoretization; what if processes happening in the current world, connected to death of the institution of Nation-State, caused return of classic feudal structure as a way to guarantee collective security?

Other than that we have Krasnaya Graza - a proxy conflict happening in post-communist world. While the initial struggle is ideological, in fact it as well corresponds to interests of various local groups; wealthy oligarchs such as Jeziorovsky, criminal groups or local families.

[Layarteb]

Open question: So, what kind of MT RPs are you guys taking in part in nowadays?

Most exclusively I'm running Earth II. When I want to dabble outside I have a puppet in New Rostil but that's really the extent of it. I find it easier to concentrate on one nation versus two or more.

[The Macabees]

^Definitely feel you on that. Mostly why my forays into FT always die out.

That's an interesting thesis, New Aeyariss. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out ICly.

[Layarteb]

^Definitely feel you on that. Mostly why my forays into FT always die out.

That's an interesting thesis, New Aeyariss. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out ICly.

I've noticed it a lot through the years with E2. People will make puppets to play on E2 because they're in a region or FT or whatever and then wind up neglecting it. It's quite sad when it happens but I am just as guilty as everyone else. Tnemrot, my puppet, has been off and on in a few places.

[Aquitayne]

I recently made a ranking of Astyrian nations by a few different factors, the main ones being military size, economic strength, and power projection capabilities. An open-ended question for everyone would be this: what sort of capabilities does your nation excel or lack in, and where would you place yourself in your own region's list of powerful nations?

[Lamoni]

I recently made a ranking of Astyrian nations by a few different factors, the main ones being military size, economic strength, and power projection capabilities. An open-ended question for everyone would be this: what sort of capabilities does your nation excel or lack in, and where would you place yourself in your own region's list of powerful nations?

Let's see where Lamoni would fit here:

Economy

The Free Republic has the largest economy in Greater Dienstad, with a GDP of 1.36 quadrillion standard dollars. The future economic outlook for the Free Republic remains strong, with increasing economic partnerships both inside and outside of the region leading the Free Republic to quietly become the regional financial powerhouse in GD. The Rushanna remains steady at ~2 standard dollars per Rushanna, and this is not expected to change significantly in the foreseeable future.

Diplomacy

The Free Republic continues to enjoy an extensive diplomatic network both inside, and outside of the region of Greater Dienstad. This network continues to grow, giving Lamoni an ever-growing voice in world affairs, and it may be the single largest diplomatic network in the region. The Free Republic also maintains a generally respected leadership role in the region.

Military

The Free Republic might not have the largest military in the region of Greater Dienstad, but long-term partnerships with multiple nations both within, and outside of Greater Dienstad have allowed the Free Republic to both design, and purchase the highest quality military equipment available, as well as to train their troops to astonishingly high levels that match or beat those of their fellow regional military forces. As such, it is generally deemed as foolhardy to invade the Free Republic militarily, and Lamoni scores highly on international military rankings.

Lamonian power projection capabilities are also regarded as strong, and the Free Republic has many allies that could be called upon to help improve these capabilities, at need.

Verdict:

It is our opinion that the Free Republic would rank within the top five of nations within Greater Dienstad. Certainly within the top 3.

[The Technocratic Syndicalists]

I sort of RP MT+10/20 tech level, I would say it's 50% stuff that exists today and 50% stuff that's projected to exist in the near future. I'm currently in Sondria, a PMT region using NS stats, but I've participated in a few MT RPs outside of my region. The idea for my nation is basically Silicon Valley: the country, essentially a "techno-libertarian" nation with a lack of welfare, low taxes, lax business regulations, and dominated by extremely powerful tech companies supported by massive government R&D expenditures. I would say it's my RL views sort of taken to their logical extremes.

I recently made a ranking of Astyrian nations by a few different factors, the main ones being military size, economic strength, and power projection capabilities. An open-ended question for everyone would be this: what sort of capabilities does your nation excel or lack in, and where would you place yourself in your own region's list of powerful nations?

According to NSeconomy my GDP per capita is NSD 45,726 which is tied for second in my region. Exchange rate for my currency is 1 cr = 1.99 NSD. Tax rate is 10% which is amongst the lowest in my region. Government spending is about 20% of GDP and is dominated by defense spending with education and healthcare also receiving significant funding. Surprisingly my nation does not have a huge income disparity, according to NS " [Average income] is evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.9 times as much as the poorest". According to NS stats my nation is the most scientifically advanced in my region, 2nd in intelligence, 2nd highest in average income, and 3rd highest in human development index, 3rd highest in civil rights, and 5th highest in politician freedom. So my nations could be said to be a highly developed 1st world country with a comparatively high standard of living.

My personnel opinion is that "NS" populations and stats are incompatible with MT because then you're looking at a humongous planet (necessary to accommodate the 100+ billion people of certain regions) which would then have a much larger horizon and heavier gravity (1.5-3g for a super-earth like planet) and different atmospheric composition which would render pretty much every real ship, aircraft, and spacecraft/space launch system design invalid, amogst other issues. I also believe that governing a nation with a population larger the earth's with modern technology would be impossible, amongst other issues with NS scale populations. For that reason I believe that for MT to be valid popcaps of say 1 or 2 billion should be enforced, and even then most nations should be in the double-digit million range (like reality).

Military when I RP MT I use more "realistic" population levels which is then reflected by a proportionate decrease in military size and capability. If I RP with a pop of 258 million (1/10th my NS pop) then my military budget becomes 1.18 trillion, cut that in half again I have a defense budget of 590 billion which about the same as the current US military budget. My military equipment/troop numbers are linearly extrapolated from the US military so RPing with 1/20th my NS pop is practical because then I can use basically the same numbers as the US military.

Military wise I'd say my strength is technological capability+small unit tactics. My equipment designs tend to be described as PMT but they can be mostly "scaled back" to MT levels when needed (ie replacing pulse detonating engines with standard turbofans on my ASF, with the appropriate performance loss, or replacing the railgun on my cruiser with a conventional 127mm or 155m gun and replacing the MSR with a conventional PWR). I'm more of a plane/ship person so I tend to focus on the naval and air combat arenas rather than ground warfare which isn't my forte as far as tactics and strategy are concerned. I prefer to focus on tactical/individual elements of warfare, ie describing the steps my fighter would take before attempting a BVR missile shot or talking about the specific set of maneuvers my fighter would undergo in order to get a kinematic advantage in a WVR engagement, rather than focusing only on the strategic or macro elements of warfare (ie just posting "my fighters attacked your fighters"). IC my weaknesses would be numerical inferiority, I try to balance the technological advantages of my equipment by giving them much higher maintenance requirements and higher operating costs which limits the number of units which can be deployed at any one time. Thus my military is pretty much always outnumbered from a personnel/equipment perspective which has its advantages and disadvantages from both an IC and OOC perspective.

[Ghant]

I recently made a ranking of Astyrian nations by a few different factors, the main ones being military size, economic strength, and power projection capabilities. An open-ended question for everyone would be this: what sort of capabilities does your nation excel or lack in, and where would you place yourself in your own region's list of powerful nations?

This is a good question, thank you for asking! I’ve had similar discussions with people about this, and the first thing I’d like to say is that there is a great deal of debate over how to accurately measure “power.”

The first and most important question is, what is power in this context? To me, it basically means how easily can one’s nation accomplish it’s goals on the international stage?

I have my own views on this that have often conflicted with others. For many people, “power” is hard power, i.e. their force projection capabilities. While this is without a doubt an important factor in measuring a nation’s power relative to nations, I don’t think it’s an absolute, end all be all.

I’m a firm believer that the pen is mightier than the sword. More specifically, that a nation with a robust economy and a strong international diplomatic presence can be more effective than a nation that has a strong military with likewise strong force projection capabilities.

As to how this applies to me personally, for the purposes of answering this question I will use Cornellia (given that’s the only MT region that Ghant is in). I will also apply Lamoni’s framework to answer the question.

Economy

Economically Ghant is sort of middle of the pack, with a very Scandanavian style economy. Imports are high, exports are low, and quite reliant upon trade. Having oil helps, but much of that is undeveloped or untapped as a result of very strong environmental regulations. Ghantish citizens and businesses do have a good amount of investments abroad in various nations friendly towards Ghant.

Diplomacy

This is where Ghant works its magic. A very old country compared to most in the region, Ghant has earned a “reputation” in the international scene as a nation that strives to maintain and achieve peace, cooperation, understanding and justice. Due to extensive relations with other nations that sometimes go back a great deal in time, It’s quite easy for Ghant to achieve it’s foreign policy goals due to being seen as a leader on the international policy stage, and many nations often supporting Ghant’s policies as a result.

Military

Remember when I said that I have engaged in many a debate about the relevancy of military strength as it concerns measuring power in an MT setting? This is where it usually starts.

Ghant has a relatively small military designed for national defense and emergency response. It is equipped well enough to respond to its local needs, and has enough force projection to come to the aid of its nearby allies if need be. Though by and large, Ghant’s military leaves a great deal to be desired, and of the three criteria it certainly is the weakest link.

Some have said that Ghant is a weak nation because it’s military is lacking, but I disagree. In an MT setting, military capabilities matter less than international diplomatic clout, given the presence of international rule of law and progressive societies that generally frown upon the wanton use of military power in order to achieve foreign policy goals. That line of thinking is more PT.

Verdict

Given what I’ve said about Ghant’s economy, diplomacy and military, I would say that it safely rests within the top ten in Cornellia, in the bottom half to be precise. (I would rank Arbites, Adiron, Rome, New Edom, Deadora and the Shrai Empire higher for sure, others are a bit more debatable).

Again though, I’d like to stress how subjective this measurement is. Everyone has different opinions as to what power is in terms of international relations, and how to measure it.

[Aeyariss]

Ahoy~

Just saw this thread.

[Aquitayne]

Ahoy~

Just saw this thread.

Welcome aboard, Matey!

Ghant, you bring up some excellent observations and some great points on power projection and other factors that go into what makes a nation great (again). I plan to, next time around, develop a point system - Layarteb, if I recall correctly, has expressed interest in assisting me in developing one - to better formulate the truest rankings of power in Astyria, and perhaps it will become something people elsewhere use, who knows.

Thanks for your response, it was great to read!