NationStates Jolt Archive

Ive noticed something on this forum, generaly involving FT nations, and not just in the RPs Im personally involved in.
It seems that everybody, everywhere, happens to have a Super Star Destroyer or other giaganteroid ship on call to respond to every First Contact, minor conflict, etc. etc.
One thread saw TWO SSD's showing up to defend a random planet on the outer edge of the galaxy!
Frankly, this is amoung other things, rude. Crashing (or simply bringing them in) an RP with uber-ships or tons of minor ships throws things off and turns the RP into a smash fest, in which neither side has any real goal other than to bring in more ships and, should the numbers get to high, tech wank for t3h winz!
Now, those four billion plus nations might just have the resources to put together an uber-fleet to respond to some indicent on the outer rim, but most other people would have trouble getting said ships together for a large war, let alone patrol duty.

Basically, my points can be summed up simply:
1. Dont use uber-ships for first contact. SSD's have better things to do than run around in unexplored areas. Its a waste of the massive resources required to run such ships. Anything less than a large scale war is a waste, really.
2. STOP THE NUMBER WANKING. This is more important than number one. Its actually probobly best if you DONT bring in more ships unless you are seriously outnumbered. If your just a bit outnumbered, do something tricky, lure your opponent into a black hole or something. Be creative.
3. For the love of all that is sacred, dont tech wank. Its even worse than number wanking. Going 'My ships launch clouds of steam into space that stop all your lasers then launch dimensional teleporting missiles that phase into real space in the middle of all your ships and explode. Post casualties' is an invitation to, 'My ships have pan-dimensional mirror shielding which reflects your missiles back at you.', and things only get worse from there.

So remember, dont ship/number/tech wank. And be nice OOCly as well.
If you dont, Ill send some Stalkers to eat you and lay their eggs in your prostate or, if your female, left ovary.

So, in your view, it is blasphemous to have a small fleet of extremely large ships? Even if they have glaring weaknesses and don't have GodMod technology?

I find your lack of faith.. disturbing.

I agree with what you said - I've got my very own dedicated explorer vessel. See, the likelihood of a first contact being responded to with ships with enough power to punch a hole through a small moon are usually unlikely to be dispatched to something minor.

If I had a fleet of say 20 SSDs, hypothetically, I really couldn't afford to send em running about responding to some random colony on the rim complaining about this or that, much less a fledgling nation unless I had the intent to conquer.

---

The ship I use is a 7km behemoth by the name of Millenium, though it's mostly taken up by the fact that it houses something along the lines of a large city, with capacity for over 2 million and pretty much labs, schools, offices, etc.

It works well since it is practically an entire colony in space, with all the assorted gadgetry needed for these small time things, as well as defending itself from the occassional pirate.

My first contact vessel is the Siren Class Frigate, which can be seen in my thread FT Introduction: Arise, The Galaxy Awaits Ye.

As can be seen in that thread, it is far from uber. Due to the unlikelyhood of first contact, and of that contact being aggressive, it has only one armament and average defenses.

I do agree however, I have seen several threads recently where people have made first contact with a fleet. Personally, if an alien fleet came into my territory on claims of making first contact, I'd call in a much larger force and then politely suggest they have all but one ship withdraw...

For first contact, I tend to use a light frieghter 52 meters long with a crew of eight and nine soldiers. And usually a droid.

My Army has just been issued with the very latest sharp sticks. Threaten us at your peril.

My Army has just been issued with the very latest sharp sticks. Threaten us at your peril.

"Oh, shit. There goes the planet."
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I would agree with you buddy. Entirely. As a nation that is fairly large, I could field uber-big ships; instead usually I just have large reserves of 1k-2k ships.

Most times in the case of first contact a nation will usually meet perhaps a Imperial, Venator, or Victory Star Destroyer squadron (3). And if not that, then maybe a couple Dreadnoughts.

I haven't really done much RP, but I agree. The usual Sagitian ships are about the size of Star Trek's Galaxy Class starships; big enough to be formidible, but not so big that it could be mistaken for a moon.

We are also deep space explorers, and though our ships are very fast, they're also widely scattered, so they probably won't swoop into a First Contact with a bazillion ships.

We do, however, have high enough tech to qualify for "wankage". :p

SW pwnz ST, so no real need to compare the two.

Example (http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Essays/FiveMinutes.html)

My Army has just been issued with the very latest sharp sticks. Threaten us at your peril.

[ Your name rules, I must say.

And please, Thrashia, this is not a "my FTL-capable penis is bigger than yours" thread, so don't turn it into one. ]

If its first contact I'll usually only send one vessel; it will be big; it will be heavily armed. But the galaxy is a dangerous place. We have to walk softly and carry a big stick.

I also use a set amount of ships (1000 per bill) and a set tech base. :)

If its first contact I'll usually only send one vessel; it will be big; it will be heavily armed. But the galaxy is a dangerous place. We have to walk softly and carry a big stick.

I also use a set amount of ships (1000 per bill) and a set tech base. :)

"Bully for you, son." ;)

SW pwnz ST, so no real need to compare the two.

Example (http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Essays/FiveMinutes.html)

Very interesting site! I will mention that though Sagitian tech is similar to Trek, it's actually more advanced. Stronger phazers, much faster warp drive (we wouldn't get stranded in the Delta Quadrant for years), and shields that are thought to be impenetrable (though a planet-splitting blast from a Death Star would probably be too much for them). But like Star Trek's Federation, we're explorers, not conquerors, and admittedly would be at a disadvantage against ships built specifically to conquer worlds.

The whole of the Imperium thrives on conquest; but providing that you're relatively human we might be persuaded to take you at face value :P

[ Your name rules, I must say.

And please, Thrashia, this is not a "my FTL-capable penis is bigger than yours" thread, so don't turn it into one. ]

"Looks kids, a deer!" *flips Gejigrad off*

No need to get huffy, just inputing my opinion.

So, in your view, it is blasphemous to have a small fleet of extremely large ships? Even if they have glaring weaknesses and don't have GodMod technology?

I find your lack of faith.. disturbing.
No, Im saying its odd that, in a purely hypothetical situation, you would send said ships gallivanting around the very edge of the galaxy looking for new civilizations.
Its highly innefecient since such ships are almost invariably geared towards combat, meaning that, amoung other things, they usually lack high quality sensors and comms equipment. They might have okay-ish equipment, but it will be designed to function in a combat zone, not over an entire system or to focus on a planet a looonng way aways. Unless your producing combination exploration/combat ships.

Anyway, thank you for your agreements, now go do something about it :P

To the people who noted that they thrive on Conquest and taking over new people is part of their buisness...
Its STILL a waste to send said ships running around in the galaxy. For the price of fielding those giant fleets that are running around scouting systems for signs of life, you could field a hundred or more dedicated exploration ships which could do the EXACT same job in a much cheaper fashion.
Once in-system, they send a message back and a few days later your uber-fleet pops in.
Not only is this more realistic, it also means the first response to a new player isnt 'I land 5,000,000 troops in your capitol and exterminate every single person on your planet. Post casualties.'

I have Mobile Fleets surveying unhab after unhab, so although I usually use prizehunters, a borg first contact or similar powerful, no diplomacy techs will be met with 64 BFG ships. Sorry if you hate it, but at least I don't use Schmaldt (http://us.games-workshop.com/games/bfg/hobby/showcase/imperial.htm) (second from the bottom, the obscenely powerful looking one)

SW pwnz ST, so no real need to compare the two.

Example (http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Essays/FiveMinutes.html)

for a different take try http://www.st-v-sw.net.

a lot of the stardestroyer.net stuff is based off of materials that are not official or canon in the SW universe, and they tend to over inflate the number's they're using through either bad info or poor logic.
SW is still pretty powerful, but no more so than star trek. the methods just vary. (SW is a brute force overcoming tech limits thing, while ST tends to go for finesse)

of course, the Empire beats the federation due to sheer size countering any possible tech disadvantage.


choose which ever viewpoint you wish, i don't want to start a Vs. war here.

Can we please cut the ST v. SW stuff? Theres a topic for it in General.

Pop!

The Calico Cat!

It was sporting a newly acquired Powered Armor and nifty shiny new Jack Boots. The image blurred...it was gleening...it... morphed into the much more familiar form of a kami Fox! Tymbri!!! Damned foxes played terrible jokes everywhere!

"What if you were Nomadic? a peoples of the ship?
<cough>sorry Xant just one ST reference...Like the Dino's that Voyager met in the Delta Quadrant or thos Hunter guys?

"AND You know I've always been partial to the Upliftverse's tech and First Contacts. The 17 galaxies broke to 11 and are now just 5 or was it 4? Anyway, the cycle of Uplift is neverending. I like the idea of the pathetic Terragens clan trying to make a difference against terrible odds. They are the wolflings and the outcasts...<grins>

So Tandu Warrior <spits> Bugface! You wanta go find someone to show the true Paths?

ooc: X sorry for barging in...wanna start an Upliftverse RP? I call the foxlike allies of Earthclan.