I agree but would like to add that there is science in economics, societal behavior patterns and politics as surely as there is science in logical observation and research which can also be applied here but, I feel the application of these sciences will do us a disservice.
Okay, Physical sciences are applicable due their fluid nature, but sciences which dictate unnatural behaviors, IE: that of people and civilization are not so fluid and thus so not so readily applied.
I concur. So where does that leave us with regards to defining this variable?
If it is going to affect the quality of the In Character writing then, yes, this should be resolved. We cannot settle for a half-assed solution; we need something duracrete if it's going to stand as a rule.
If X = Y, what is TRF?
Otherwise, and I say this to everyone, leave this issue alone and end it here. If it must be dealt with, then do so In Character. No harm, no foul.
Impossible to do, many controlled worlds in the TRF universe are haphazzardly taken and controlled, making the establishment of Spheres of Influence applicable only where those worlds are taken in clumps or clusters. In these cases those spheres may extended to a range enveloping unclaimed worlds, while not extending beyond the range of shipping lanes and otherwise as far as a groups shipping may go outside unneccesary means to reach. It is a blurred line to declare, something like a neutral zone...
It's called; Spheres of Influence. It's a story, a thread. The Galactic Coaltion and New Order work on a single project in however many parts the purpose of which is to define those spaces in between.
Id prefer an Interstellar Concordium, a spacial U.N. of sorts... like the Galactic Senate, but presiding over unowned worlds as well. Spheres of Influence would be regulated down to systems alone, where as the I.C. would determine which systems might otherwise support one group over another without being controlled by them.
I guess the biggest question I have is, Drayson, what do you hope to get out of this? The GC to say, "Yes, I've been roleplaying my group unfairly and unreasonably so we can fight TNO again when the time comes." ??
It'd be like them asking TNO to admit that it is unreasonable for our fleets to be standing at the ready no matter what world they hit, even if they did announce their coming. At least standing at the ready as we have sometimes portrayed. Like Corise's warships that just happen to get interdicted within a trap set for nondescript freighters...we all have taken a route of roleplaying expedience as opposed to the more realistic way events would probably turn out.
Corise, just FYI, you do not have to rp every little detail (ie: economy) to show that your stuff is funded. If you take a planet for Kashan/GC, realistically it is assumed that your local economy is boosted as well as the overall faction, GC. However, also realistically, it's not an overnight thing either. I would suppose over IC 6 months to a year for taxation and general economy to grow as strong as they're ever going to be for that planet. Why do I say that? To take into account all the little things that go with administrative changes and expenses and outfitting and getting books in order and etc..etc...
This sort of thing however never really becomes an issue IC.. or would be very rare that it would.
Like you're replacing people with droids to do agricultural work...while I believe it helps in the short run, I think it will hurt in the long run and have mentioned the observation IC. This doesn't mean that you are obligated to roleplay my observations (unless you are so inclined) and I do not believe my observations can realistically be brought out in roleplay until a decade or two IC have passed.. which, with the way time works on TRF, will be a while.
What I consider to affect a faction's economy typically are certain circumstances/events. What are those circumstances/events?
War. Plague. Planet blowing up or being devestated in global manner (Whether naturally or unnaturally). Revolution, perhaps is another such event (depending on scale)
In the past, economy was regulated (or could be determined) by the size of one's fleet. This is because so many planets equalled so many shipyards that could build only so much for any given length of time. The more ships you had, the more industrial centers you possessed which mean't the greater the size of your faction.
Nowadays, it's a little more fluid.
What affects an economy now? gaining or losing planets, war, plague, revolution, devestation of a planet or having it blow up, etc..
I believe owning worlds along canon/traditional trade routes, owing traditionally strong trading worlds, owning canon/traditionally strong industrial/agricultural worlds etc... Note: This, of course, does not mean that one cannot have their own trade routes or develope a made up world or canon world into an industrial/agricultural center, but, in my opinion, canon worlds are the more stronger as they've been doing their thing on a galactic scale for centuries as opposed to new under-developed or less developed or simply just new to being developed worlds trying to boast the same.
I don't think that assessment is unreasonable.
Personally, I do not like WWI or WWII references or comparisons of real world circumstances with that of Star Wars. In my opinion, if WWII Allies or Axis soldiers saw walking, talking lizards trying to convert them to their religion, the lizards would have been shot, hands down. ;)
I think getting too detailed in the breakdown of cultures for an assessment of economical strength will only serve to frustrate people because there are simply too many unknowns. Unknowns like: Do Azguards spend their money on baseball, designer clothes, designer shoes, etc? Do they need clothes over scales? Do they bathe? Do they floss? Do they need to buy toothpaste?
I can see a brush manufacturer making it on Kasshyyk but Polo would go out of business. I cannot see a food manufacture finding it easy or cheap to operate out of Kasshyyk no matter how inexpensive the labor is as nobody likes hair in their food, Coalition included. Oh, they'll gladly go to a war that kills an entire generation of their best and brightest but eat food with hair in it?! Uggghh! No way!
Since a lot of these opinions may have been taken from comments made by me in observation of the Coalition, please know that this is a general comment made with a very simplistic approach to arriving at the conclusion that I did.
I will illustrate it down below in an attached Excel Document.
Several questions/observations I saw (I am reading this at work) that people wondered and/or commented about:
1. GC War. It is not only Mon Calamari. The War encompassed quite a bit more worlds resulting in mucho damage. It can be argued that the war is a few months over but the point was that the damage the war had wrought is still fresh and applicable to current situations. There has also been no formal closing of the war, just a lack of attacks so assets may still be scattered, deployed, being repaired hurriedly for a continuation.
2. Logan's call for ships all across the GC rather than just using Onyxian Commonwealth ships can mean many things such as (but not limited too) 1). GC scaping the bottom of the barrel to rustle up some ships for an attack. 2). Onyx CW hoping as many ships as possible from other factions within GC are destroyed leaving the strongest, Onyxian Fleet to perhaps seize control of GC. 3). Onyxian Fleet is unprepared, ill-equipped, etc.. and requires more veteran units from GC to fill the gap... heh heh.. 4). Political statement (however impractical) 5). By asserting control over other subfaction's fleets, Onyx is showing itself to be the most powerful subfaction of GC and Logan is promoting himself for Prime Minister spot when Regrad's term ends.. 6). Onyxian Fleet serves ketchup in their commissary and those farflung subfactions of GC can't resist a good ho-down with ketchup, etc..etc..
3. The time passage from TNO/ORS-GC war has been about 3 years. I know.. I know.. I need to update the Timeline. I shall have it done this month! At least, as much as I can .. if you want something posted, you'll have to link the rp and give me a sentence detailing the action.
4. Onyx was part of the Outer Rim Sovereignty, I believe. Upon the merger of what was left of ORS and GC, it became part of the GC.
5. TNO's influence into a thousand planets. I remember reading somewhere that the Galactic Empire (in canon) at it's height reigned over thousands of systems and had like 25,000 ISD's in it's fleet or something like that. Obviously, there are not a thousand planets listed on our planet list but one must assume they are somewhere.. so what's all this talk about us running out of space in the galaxy??
Now one could say that the NR came and all these other factions came and with the Empire being based on Bastion for a time trying to regain it's position that the original influence the Empire might have faded. However, after working towards it's rise (IC) methodically, This happened:
Then the Wrath Virus (major epidemic and revolution) killed that hold by having those worlds isolate themselves due to the pathogen. (OOC: TNO became the dominant faction at TRF and everybody bitched that new groups could not possibly cope and so a restart was enacted).
So, yes, while TNO does not own these worlds OOC-wise, the people may be predisposed to TNO rule and/or even still being garrisoned. Perhaps oVer time, as the Empire has yet to restablish those ties lost due to Wrath, perhaps those planets begin to evolve from the Imperial model and independently think for themselves. Perhaps those worlds have established trade with the Empire but are not giving their allegiance as they are angling for better terms? (OOC: TNO hasn't gotten around to taking them) Even so, I don't see new planetary takeovers talking about how the Empire once owned them and all that.
It seems everyone on TRF has taken every world BUT one of those thousands owned IC by TNO at one point...
It seems everyone sort of skips over that point but you don't hear us bitching. But oh no, mention the GC econony as rocky and all hell breaks loose. I do think GC is headed for economic disaster unless something major happens (like a peaceful decade maybe?). People bring up the US but I think the US is also headed for economic disaster. With inflation rising, Social Security drying up, and a deficit expanding it's a wonder the whole stack of cards has not fallen yet.
Anyway, in my opinion, there is reason to claim as to some influence with worlds not yet owned. Though, realistically, that influence will not always be to the Empire's benefit.
