In logic and critical thinking, a slippery slope is a logical device, but it is usually known under its fallacious form, in which a person asserts that some event must inevitably follow from another without any rational argument or demonstrable mechanism for the inevitability of the event in question. - Google
In times it's hard to use the term slippery slope, because of the above mentioned reasoning, without feeling like you've committed some form of deductive mishap. But an alternative question would be this: once you are tumbling down the hill, can you conclude that the slope was, in fact, slippery?
For those that don't know, Reverance was a transfer account from another site: jedivsith.com. I've taken the time to go back there recently, just scope things out and see how they are doing, and the place is all but dead. Quite sad really and quite removed from my point, so I'll move on. The board began as an app for facebook where you could gain knowledge based on answering questions and gain strength based on fighting other people on facebook - your stats were based on your knowledge and the fighting form you chose. They even had a force nexus where it showed the highest ranked individuals based on the strength and knowledge. However, with that, there was also a board on facebook, really a modified comment section, where each popular planet had a single thread and good grief, it was absolute chaos and it was amazing and riveting and you could leave the computer for 10 minutes to come back to over 100 IC posts. During that time, there were no rules - just madness, delicious and insane madness. For those wondering, this was 2007.
Come 2008, the developers decided that there needed to be something more. So they created a site for writing and moved to a forum similar to this. And as things became more organized and focused on fairness, the rules began to flood in. It was odd but made sense at the time, in the moment as it were. Suddenly, people were restricted to force powers they could use, what sort of workup it took to use those force powers, etc. You couldn't use custom tech or what not without having it subbed, extremely similar to this site in that regard. However, what was substantially different from this site and that site, beyond the aforementioned focus on PVP in a prior blog, was the way in which wars were waged. There was no faction admin required discussion, just site based rules based on NPC's and what you could have - based on if you were attacking or defending, based on whether you were using a planetary allotment of npcs or personal allotment, and factions even had bonuses to forces based on the size of the faction. But rather than tell you how bad it was, I wish to share you with something, something that gives me flashbacks every time I look at it.
NPC Ground Invasion Allotment:
These rules are temporary, and potentially subject to change at any time.
Restrictions
Troops/Technology from/inspired by sources other than Star Wars canon are disallowed.
All Ysalamiri which people currently claim to have are now scaled back to a single ysalamir. This allows non-Force users to maintain some protection, while scaling back some outrageous claims. In future, any claims of ysalamir should be able to be backed up by posts on Myrkr showing their removal from trees, how they're kept alive, and their removal from the planet - bearing in mind that very few knew how to do that. Carrying a ysalamir 24/7 is unrealistic also - if you do carry one, it will require a nutrient frame, and constant replenishment of the food in it.
Rifting is not allowed, so there is no need for Ysalamir shielding to prevent entry.
As with fleets, any ground troops considered to be unique 'super-weapons' are out of bounds.
Fleets are assumed to carry sufficient landing craft to land their forces.
Planetary shields are not allowed.
Allowed Forces
10 - Supreme class vehicles-150m+
300 - Heavy class vehicles-15m+
350 - Medium class vehicles-10-15m
750 - Light class veheicles-0-10m
35 NPC Generals
5 up to and including master-equivalent(less powerful than PC).
30 Force Sensitive to Padawan level.
500 - Commando Troops
Commando Troops have no capability of using the Force
Commando Troops are highly specialized troops, and may possess advanced knowledge of skills like espionage, explosives and slicing. These are just examples. Commandos are likely to have superior equipment to other troops.
5000 - Elite Troops
Have no capability of using the force.
Elite Troops are more highly trained than Standard Troops.
50000 - Standard Troops
Have no capability of using the force.
Standard Troops are the core of any army, be they Stormtroopers, Battle Droids, or standard Wookiee Infantry.
The above definitions are not definitive, nor is it possible to cover every potential case. We ask you to use common sense and good judgement when defining your forces.
The troops under your command should make sense - lightsaber-wielding Wookiees fighting for the Empire would be an extreme example of troops not making sense.
Any vehicle may be substituted using the following guides:
10 Heavy = 1 Supreme
5 Medium = 1 Heavy.
10 Light = 1 Medium.
Note: You cannot trade up for more Supreme-class vehicles.
Any troops may be substituted using the following guides:
10 Elites = 1 Commando Troop member.
10 Troops = 1 Elite Troop member.
NEW: Troops may be exchanged for vehicles using the following guide:
10 standard troops = 1 light vehicle
Any troops may be substituted using the following guides:
10 Elites = 1 Commando Troop member.
10 Troops = 1 Elite Troop member.
1 NPC General = 10 Commando Troops. (Up to a maximum of 25 NPC Generals can be traded down for additional troops.)
Note: You cannot trade up for more NPC Generals.
Planetary allowances for ground forces are intended to be quite separate from personal allowances. Personal armies are not drawn from planetary defense armies; nor can planetary defense armies ever leave the planet to which they are assigned, even if the planet is taken. They are there for the planet, not for the faction which controls the planet; thus their loyalties remains to the planet even when the controlling faction changes.
Restrictions
Troops/Technology from/inspired by sources other than Star Wars canon are disallowed.
All Ysalamiri which people currently claim to have are now scaled back to a single ysalamir. This allows non-Force users to maintain some protection, while scaling back some outrageous claims. In future, any claims of ysalamir should be able to be backed up by posts on Myrkr showing their removal from trees, how they're kept alive, and their removal from the planet - bearing in mind that very few knew how to do that. Carrying a ysalamir 24/7 is unrealistic also - if you do carry one, it will require a nutrient frame, and constant replenishment of the food in it.
Rifting is not allowed, so there is no need for Ysalamir shielding to prevent entry.
As with fleets, any ground troops considered to be unique 'super-weapons' are out of bounds.
Fleets are assumed to carry sufficient landing craft to land their forces.
Planetary shields are not allowed.
Allowed Forces
10 - Supreme class vehicles-150m+
300 - Heavy class vehicles-15m+
350 - Medium class vehicles-10-15m
750 - Light class veheicles-0-10m
35 NPC Generals
5 up to and including master-equivalent(less powerful than PC).
30 Force Sensitive to Padawan level.
500 - Commando Troops
Commando Troops have no capability of using the Force
Commando Troops are highly specialized troops, and may possess advanced knowledge of skills like espionage, explosives and slicing. These are just examples. Commandos are likely to have superior equipment to other troops.
5000 - Elite Troops
Have no capability of using the force.
Elite Troops are more highly trained than Standard Troops.
50000 - Standard Troops
Have no capability of using the force.
Standard Troops are the core of any army, be they Stormtroopers, Battle Droids, or standard Wookiee Infantry.
The above definitions are not definitive, nor is it possible to cover every potential case. We ask you to use common sense and good judgement when defining your forces.
The troops under your command should make sense - lightsaber-wielding Wookiees fighting for the Empire would be an extreme example of troops not making sense.
Any vehicle may be substituted using the following guides:
10 Heavy = 1 Supreme
5 Medium = 1 Heavy.
10 Light = 1 Medium.
Note: You cannot trade up for more Supreme-class vehicles.
Any troops may be substituted using the following guides:
10 Elites = 1 Commando Troop member.
10 Troops = 1 Elite Troop member.
NEW: Troops may be exchanged for vehicles using the following guide:
10 standard troops = 1 light vehicle
Any troops may be substituted using the following guides:
10 Elites = 1 Commando Troop member.
10 Troops = 1 Elite Troop member.
1 NPC General = 10 Commando Troops. (Up to a maximum of 25 NPC Generals can be traded down for additional troops.)
Note: You cannot trade up for more NPC Generals.
Planetary allowances for ground forces are intended to be quite separate from personal allowances. Personal armies are not drawn from planetary defense armies; nor can planetary defense armies ever leave the planet to which they are assigned, even if the planet is taken. They are there for the planet, not for the faction which controls the planet; thus their loyalties remains to the planet even when the controlling faction changes.
And at one time, things were simple like what we have here. Or maybe it's what we had but the atmosphere is slowly shifting. I once posted this exact same count in the Warmongers group, sort of warning on the aspect of creating these rules that would lead to more rules - maybe not warning so much as acknowledging my own sense of wary. We've even experienced it in our most recent invasions where we've created these NPC exchanges for vehicles and have given the vehicles categories based on size or on purpose. Then, once we've done that, we realize that with the advent of the factory, there are vehicles that just don't fit and really, for fairness sake, shouldn't they have their own category or special consideration (insert facetious tone here) ? If you look above, you'll see a category for supreme class ground vehicles - that's right, people built things that size because at one time, we didn't have the category and thus, anything above 15 meters counted as the same thing. Why use something that's 15 meters when you can use something that's 115? So we made a new category, like a band-aid.
The purpose of this isn't to accuse anyone of anything, this is something that sort of naturally occurs, in my experience on multiple competitive sites, on Starwars sites that try to mingle NPC restrictions in an atmosphere that is constantly changing, i.e. factory and codex. So what's the solution? Personally, it's my belief that there isn't one so long as as NPC's are capable of garnering purpose in an objective format where a factory and codex exist. Mind you, I don't think any of those things should ever be removed from a site - creativity is the foundation for which we write our stories and everyone expresses that in a different way. But limits will always be pushed and that's the nature of the game when people make these awesome and powerful custom items - we make these things, we dev them, we should be able to use them! On JvS, we affectionately referred to this as the Patent Office Armsrace.
However, I've slowly come to terms with the fact that while I love commanding NPC's, I personally don't think they have a place in competitive invasions - or maybe they do and we just haven't found that sweet spot. There are things on the line in invasions and while we all want get at the root of these "win at all stakes" attitudes, fixing the way we think; the fact of the matter is that it's not always that easy. I believe that NPC's should be the natural stars of skirmishes, where people like me and my IC opponents can engage one another without worrying about the technical specifications of our crafts and whether they are or aren't being fully respected. Where we can spend the majority of our time beating each other up IC, instead of corresponding in PMs (not that that is a bad thing
). Where I can have characters like Tsoring Shai, of the Shai Domain, ride a warkeeper into a barrage because of his traditional beliefs in the heresy of retreat - no matter the costs to my war effort. That still happened actually because, lets face it, Tsoring Shai cares not for me opinions on the matter.PvP will always be my main love for Invasions, from the perspective of both a writer and a Faction Admin who will later have to judge said Invasion. Some people don't like PvP because the mood, the tempo, the conversation is changing from what we have seen in canon or what we have always expected it to be. Well, I would argue that in the realm of fanon, a lack of change is far less healthy then what we see here. The point of writing isn't just to tell the stories, but also to learn different ways in which to tell them. Adapting, overcoming, modifying and accepting that we are a living breathing community, constantly testing one another and finding new stories to express - it is vital to the health of the community. And traditionalism will always wage war against the pressing tide of development and modernization, it's the way the world works and it's the way Star Wars should as well. And this changing landscape can't be reflected on just one group - we are all guilty of it and if being guilty of this is wrong, I don't want to be right.
Some of you all may look at this and say...Well, Rev, what about fleeting? To that, I assert that when you get down to brass tax, npc ground warfare is a totally different beast (apples and pineapples). 5000 meters translates into 10 ships or so? 300 Npcs can feasibly translate into 300 npcs, all who have a story...Maybe my assumptions apply to Fleeting, but I don't think they do. And really, it's a different discussion for a different blog.
I'm glad my last site was hacked and lost it's way. It meant that I stumbled upon this place and while a number of you have had to contend with me, either IC or OOC, I hold no ill will towards any of you and I hope that that feeling can be reciprocated - if not now, then in the future. I write a Sith, but I'm not a Sith. For every negative thing I have encountered, I have ten positives things that outweigh it. And by and large, I think this community is one of the very best I've ever interacted with. From the writers all the way up to the Admin.
