Yam I Am

N.E.O. - A Vinto-Futuristic Nation RP (Inspired by S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Half-Life, and MGS4)

@Dog Current WIP of the world map. Stuff is all due to change, of course, depending on how the lore works out. But as of right now i'm mostly basing it off of Cold War-era maps.

N.E.O. - A Vinto-Futuristic Nation RP (Inspired by S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Half-Life, and MGS4)

Oh my, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and MGS4 inspiration? Yes please. Would a military contractor company (fancy for mercenaries) that became so wealthy and bloated that it is now effectively an independant entity with its own industries, R&D departments and military bases on private islands and other remote locations be a good fit for this world?

@Eldritch Puppy

TL;Economics is hard and scary: Yes but also not really depending on what company you're talking about and operating under what conditions

Basically because of how international politics, business - and when you merge the two, business subsidies - work, getting something to this point is, to put it mildly, not really possible in the "80s cyberpunk megacorporation" kind of way...

...but you know as well as I do that there's always loopholes to use and abuse in the system. So, to answer my own question, we gotta break it down bit by bit:

Would a military contractor company (fancy for mercenaries) that became so wealthy and bloated that it is now effectively an independant entity with its own industries

@Eldritch Puppy

It really depends on the industry in question. It might be acceptable in the case of an umbrella/shell corporation which in turn owns several subsidiary companies all under the same industry of broadly "Defense" (i.e. They own one small arms company with one name, another aerospace company under another name, a PMC under yet a different name, but are all operated by the same parent company), but because of how funding and grants work in defense - alongside this tiny little document called The Geneva Suggestion Convention - mercenaries de jure replacing entire defense industries would, in all likelihood, cause a lot of backlash both inside the Military Industrial Complex as well as throughout the general public. Most companies in this era with that kind of influence tended to get broken up pretty quickly, thanks to some antitrust laws. However, there's nothing really stopping anyone from making an umbrella corporation and using plausible deniability throughout the defense industry proper to at least maintain some distance from "The Guys Who Made Your Hunting Shotgun" and "That Mercenary Group On CNN Who Pillaged The Iranian National Gallery Last Week".

You also have to get all that money from somewhere. That "somewhere" is usually governments proper. Most funding from defense contractors comes from those sweet, sweet government grants, and without them, most of our own real-life giant corporations wouldn't be able to sustain themselves to nearly the same degree. With that in mind, it might be an interesting idea to have your PMC proper act as a sort of "army-for-hire" for less well-off/third-world countries, in which you make money and you also take the blame for all the shit that you got ordered to do, and the governments which hired you get to save money via your contract fees and not having to deal with all hubbabaloo of officer schools, training, pensions, maintenance...yeah, you get the gist.

and military bases on private islands and other remote locations be a good fit for this world?

Eldritch Puppy

You can already buy private islands out in the middle of the Pacific and Caribbean. Though, do note that these are usually for private, individual ownership, much like how you buy a plot of land out in bumfuck Wisconsin so you can fulfil your lifelong dream of owning a chicken farm. You can technically avoid this by saying that this is owned by, say, the CFO or CEO of the umbrella corporation themselves, and they simply allow the operations of the company to happen on these islands, but keep in mind that both:

• The person who owns the island is paying for any and all expenses out of their own pockets, and can't write them off as taxes for part of the company.
• If shit does down on this island, the person who legally owns it is accountable for it, which is going to cause one hell of a legal headache for them if it's their company in question who committed the fuckup.

Crisis of the Confederacy [Sci Fi Warlordism NRP] (Updated!)

Prior to the dictatorship, the planet was basically run mafia-style with gangs and crime cartels running the planet and exploiting people; the entire reason the dictatorship got into power was because it had the popular support of the people who didn't want to be ruled by a mafia.

@ClocktowerEchos

IMHO a more interesting idea to toy around with would to pull a Korea or Batista and just have a lot of the dictatorship-era staff be the same mafia/gang guys that were just useful enough to keep around, but basically low enough down on the totem pole to not get immediately offed. Some of them could be straight shooters who wanna work their way up in the world. Some just want some easy money and want to keep their heads down low. And of course some of them are just dicks and do stuff like make cocaine powder out of like dead children or something edgy to that degree.

The reason the dictatorship fell was due to a single terrorist attack that detonated a huge chain of explosives around the capital along with random killings and accidents that left most of the executive branch dead and a whole lot of people with power without a central authority.

@ClocktowerEchos

Right, so this is the part where I push up my 2 inch-thick nerd glasses and go, "Well, ackshually", right? Ok...ok, cool.

*Pushes up nerd glasses*

"Well akshually Clock, you tsee tfheere would akshually be a really longf tfime where tfhe people would sthlowly collaptse, and tfthere wouldn't be a serietfs of eventfs happening so quick."

Alright, you get the point. And so do I.

The B-plot to this whole spiel is the suggestion that, of course, some of the warlords in question are perfectly fine with trading with the United World Order while others would much prefer to carve out their own empire. But this is sorta getting off topic.

As for stats, yeah I don't want to do "hard stats" where every post you gotta do a calculation. I was thinking something more like the NS would have numbers in certain things like troop morale, equipment, popular support, etc to make the three playable faction types feel different as well as letting the events be more interesting. Do you do something that can get you a lot of resources and equipment but will loose you popular support? Or do you gain popular support but make your own troops more dissatisfied. Stuff like that. The alternative is that there is just a strengths and weaknesses list on the NS itself for people to list it out and then there's a lot of OOC talk about what happens going forward.

@clocktowerEchos

Here one sec, I gotta say it louder for the people in the back:

"FUCK STATS IN NATION RPS. LEARN SOCIOLOGY AND ENGINEERING. READ A BOOK. DON'T JUST MAKE SHIT UP AND CALL IT A 'STAT'."

Tbh i'd be perfectly fine with just making a list of traits/qualities out that people can do. If you wanna really go full game-y, you could probably come up with a full CYOA-styled chargen system [color=grey](Disclaimer: May lead to infighting about balance)[/color]. I'd be more concerned with people actually RPing out their flaws than just having to pick a few.

Crisis of the Confederacy [Sci Fi Warlordism NRP] (Updated!)

Now I feel like I actually need to answer/respond to the questions laid out...

The sci-fi one is basically like the old Star Wars Imperial Warlords canon although I don't know if my knowledge on that stuff is good enough to warrant a proper SW NRP; more likely it'll end up as the same setting or an entirely new setting.

The modern one I have a bit more of a grounded idea. its 20XX and this nondescript country has fallen into civil war after a prolonged period of instability and a general downward trend. Along side the generals and revolutionaries, there are also corporate and international interests. Each side would have different objectives/bonuses so for example Warlords need resources but certain resources are controlled entirely by the corporations who have their own security forces in the area to protect their stuff. International forces might include something like a UN peace keeping force or neighboring countries sending in their own forces to "protect" things. Of course, the Corps and the Ints would be bound more by the laws of war and public perception where as the warlords have aren't. Both warlords and Ints would want the capital for legitimacy reasons while the corporates might not want a quick peace so they can expand whatever holdings and company towns they might have.

The latter idea could also be put on to a sci fi setting and I'm still on the fence about making stats up for it. However I do plan on having regular "events" that happen that can change things up. Like maybe a shipment of guns got lost and can be recovered or some former big wig is open to being rescued/captured. Some last things is that this could be retooled into a fantasy setting as well if people want to roleplay one of Rome's many civil wars and that while people would likely start with similar armies and such, I'm interested in seeing what kind of new unique units and such could develop from it.

@ClocktowerEchos

In the case for sci-fi, I vote for a new setting. It might take some more time, but if you do do it, i'd try and lay down some more firm "ground rules" first. Personally I think that Space NRP can kinda descend into "Whoops! Accidentally invented Warhammer 40k!" fairly quickly, so having some pre-established rules would work really well in this case imo. It also might be worth considering making it such that warfare is either:

1) Incredibly destructive, veering on levels of M.A.D. so it's really only done as a last resort
2) A case where actually achieving strategic goals on anything larger than a planetary or even systemic scale is incredibly complicated, such to where outside of individual battles within planets or even for individual space stations, large-scale warfare is, in essence, too complicated on a large scale for most organizations to handle.

Also Legends >>>>>>>>> Canon don't @ me

In the case of modern day, it's sorta getting into an interesting - if equally complicated - situation. Because of how Modern Politics^TM works, civil wars tend to be one of those things that..well...




Civil wars only tend to get longer and longer as the times go on, and I think this is something really to consider in this case, too. In a contemporary, modern-day setting, the conflict in question has probably gone on for decades by this point, and the land in question can easily be considered completely ruined by most everyone else on the planet.

And on the final notes, I get the appeal to stats and rolls in NRP. I hate 'em. Can't stand 'em. Every single time i've seen them, i've never really seen them done right. The more and more i'm exposed to them, the more they feel like a tacked-on addition to try and balance out the game, but they either:

1) End up being too vague to be of much help when writing or creating a NS.
2) End up getting forgotten about entirely as the story has to go on.
3) Are put in to "Encourage not min-maxing", and then everybody goes on to try and squeeze as much value out of every individual stat as they can, and by trying to not encourage min-maxing, it encourages min-maxing.
4) Don't really make much sense to begin with, either because they aren't clearly defined (See Point 1) or because they're too all-encompassing, to where things that should intuitively be completely unrelated qualities end up being lumped together in the same stat. (EX. Technology and Industrial Capacity being separate (Which is very quickly debunked by military historians), Army quality and size being the same stat, etc. etc.)

It doesn't really make much sense to me to try and make abstractions for the purpose of making stuff up about your nation, since I am of a simple belief: Real life has stats, and we should probably just use those if we want to number-crunch. Otherwise, just stick to focusing on the story at hand.

(Please note, I wrote this at like 2am, please be gentle if its not entire coherent >_<)

@ClocktowerEchos

It's ok i've felt exhausted lately for no really good reason, plus this entire response has been semi-rambly as it is. You good fam

N.E.O. - A Vinto-Futuristic Nation RP (Inspired by S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Half-Life, and MGS4)

In short, some form of outside alien comes to Earth and invades some section of the planet after the first visits by those other aliens. A collaborative government is formed and citizens are expected to be collaborators, loyalists, to their new government. People are not really happy about it, but most follow in line to not die from starvation. It's a dystopia in nature. Only loyal collaborators with history supporting the actions of the government can have high positions. A central AI, Overwatch, manages the highest functions of the state while ensuring that no anti-citizen behavior is in the government. Our Benefactors (their alien overlords) have prepping humanity for their "ascend" or in other words their enslavement (tho, the full enslavement and integration of humanity is still ages off but it's getting there).

@Dog

Short answer: No, but you could make The Monolith.

Long answer

Why I say Monolith and not The Combine is due to the degree of separation between each one's respective overlord; The Combine is practically an integrated colony state whereas Monolith's exact ultimate hierarchy is left rather vague in most of the STALKER GAMES, until...

Spoilers for STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl

It's ultimately revealed that the C-Consciousness communicates to the hierophants of Monolith, and even when Strelok destroys the C-Consciousness in Shadow of Chernobyl, this doesn't stop Monolith from receiving orders.

The reason for the level of separation being that there's only undeniable proof that extraterrestrial life exists, and is capable of interstellar travel. However, the implication here is that nobody has ever seen or met one, so any NLC-induced phenomenon could theoretically be supposed to their influence over the Earth's intelligent population, yet, this is intended to remain as just that: Speculation.

However - and this is half my suggestion, half me bouncing off ideas - what you could do is instead have a faction which arose from an anomaly which, through the emission of anomalous waves, interfered with neurons within its area of effect, such that those who came too close to it had the neurons in their brain purely dedicate themselves to the over-creation of tyrosine hydroxylase (which is one of the most notable things about brain chemistry when learning about what causes schizophrenia) such that they grew attached to the artifacts in question causing this chemical imbalance via some manner of a trauma cycle.

Crisis of the Confederacy [Sci Fi Warlordism NRP] (Updated!)

Man i've always wanted to play the wedding dress militia. Dudes got drip.

N.E.O. - A Vinto-Futuristic Nation RP (Inspired by S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Half-Life, and MGS4)

@Dog

I would like to hear a more full concept before I go approving or shooting down ideas.

N.E.O. - A Vinto-Futuristic Nation RP (Inspired by S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Half-Life, and MGS4)

@Dog Now that life is past the holidays and i'm mostly settled on job hunting, i'll be working more on the OOC. Expect it up within the week, where it'll have some more lore (Pending on the other responses)

N.E.O. - A Vinto-Futuristic Nation RP (Inspired by S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Half-Life, and MGS4)

Well, since it's here and the map's taking longer than i'd like...eh fuck it, I suppose we'll set this on our own Earth?

Thoughts, everyone?

@MagustheRed Short, sweet, and to the point. I dig it.

N.E.O. - A Vinto-Futuristic Nation RP (Inspired by S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Half-Life, and MGS4)

Love the concept, I just know I don't have it in me to roleplay a modern nation-state.

If you're not already familiar with it I would recommend looking into Serial Experiments Lain for a similar sort of "it's the 90s and computers can do anything" vibe.

@Dead Cruiser

I didn't wanna give the impression that you had to strictly play as a modern nation-state. In fact, a few ideas for what you could play as alternatives come to mind...

• Multinational Corporations - A lot of countries in our own world have incredible influence all around the world, to say nothing of the power they exert in their home countries. With the rise in disasters and relief efforts, there would certainly be a lot of countries with some deals to be made for food, medicine, and other essentials. Think of all the advertisements we see on a daily basis on how corporations want to commit themselves to a project or goal. Who's to say they won't do the same here?
• Nonprofit Organizations - On that same note, there's more than likely going to be a lot of organizations set upon providing relief as best as they can to a world scarred by alien visitation and its deadly aftereffects. Given how they tend to act as a "middle barrier" between powerful individuals and those most afflicted by The Visitation, there could be a lot of intrigue in regards to who gets what first...and how.
• Political Organizations - Not all political movements gain power in office, but that doesn't seem to deter any of them from trying. In the wake of the newfound chaos of the New World, there's bound to be at least a few movements worldwide looking to take advantage of the tumult...
• Religious Institutions - Think of how, say, the Catholic Church or the International Buddhist Progress Society might function in the face of this. Wouldn't it be interesting in the Pope or the Dali Lama had to have their entire belief systems re-examined in the face of this overwhelming new evidence? How would this affect their teachings? Their interpretations? Their own personal beliefs? How they collect donations and how they continue to justify their own theology?
• Criminal Syndicates - If it's a new avenue of business, you can be damned sure that organized crime is going to be crawling all up and down over it making sure they figure out how to get their cut out of it before anyone else does. Think of all the ways that Cosa Nostra and The Cartels could try and make good money off of selling artifacts to the highest bidder...or even keep them for themselves!

I hope these give you some ideas, at the very least. I didn't want NEO to be an RP where it was all a bunch of same-faced nations all trying to muscle over one another for something they couldn't even explain themselves.

Oh, and thanks for the recommendation. I'll be sure to look into it!