SE4 by Committee

[Suicide Junkie]

Yes, it is nice to be popular

Geo:
Nice work, now I can build your office.

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:
Geo:
Nice work, now I can build your office.

What? I didn't want the job. I just was throwing that out there.

[geoschmo]

Hey SJ. Are you going to allow a System Lord to decide he wants to stage a little revolt if he wants. I could see one from a major system getting uppity and building some ships of his own. Might require some of the regular navy to show up and put the revolt down. Of course combat would be problematic. Maybe you could estimate it in the simulator or something.

Geoschmo

[Suicide Junkie]

What? I didn't want the job. I just was throwing that out there.

Hey, oops. Ah, well. Kwok's got the job anyways. He's just got a little more pressure to come up with good names now

Geo:
Good question. A system lord could start voting against moving ships out, and try to collect a navy...
He would probably have to have a rebel General in the fleet or be personally present in order to block the senate's orders from the ships... The senate would be able to vote him out of office, but he should retain some command over the immediate ships.
Perhaps once loyalist ships or a senator enters the sector, the rebel would be removed and control returned to normal ... so the rebellion could withhold ships from a war effort by playing cat-and-mouse for a few months, or go off and attack on his own for a while.
This is worth a vote.

[Krsqk]

Personally, I think this is a great idea. Whole systems or Groups of systems could even band together and revolt. The home systems could even revolt (this would be much harder to organize with the high concentration of senators in the system; would also probably require out-of-game communication). This will probably turn into RL politics, with each minister or group of ministers promoting their own interests at the expense of the empire. Who knows, we may even see political parties form out of this.

The one concern I have right now is the level of involvment of the Senate. How much influence do they have in the day-to-day affairs of every planet or transport or exploration ship? Do they really even care if Planet X has enough fighters or System Y has a plague (unless that's where they're from)? I guess the gist of my question is, does the Senate vote on every action, or are some actions only subject to the planet/system/fleet/whatever leaders?

One more question. Do I as finance minister have a say in the "invisible" financial matters, like worker or government payrolls? For example, could I get a 25% block to cut the research budget (by scrapping research facilities)? Just wondering exactly how far I can push my boundaries.

[edit-styoopid smileys]

[ December 19, 2002, 02:59: Message edited by: Krsqk ]

[Arkcon]

Originally posted by Krsqk:
Do I as finance minister have a say in the "invisible" financial matters, like worker or government payrolls? For example, could I get a 25% block to cut the research budget (by scrapping research facilities)? Just wondering exactly how far I can push my boundaries.

[edit-styoopid smileys]

Watch it there with those research centers, "he who cannot be named", as Minister of Science, I may have to throw my 25 % against you. And I'll have the support of governers of large, optimal planets with low resource levels. Who else would they support?

[Suicide Junkie]

The SE4 by Committee Forum
Thanks to Lazarus Long, there is now a forum up for the day-to-day running of this game!
Visit here, and sign up! (link)

Join up with your shrapnel names, or tell me who you are in this thread.
I will then add you, as applicable, to the senators, ministers, and officers Groups.
Ministers will get offices, and moderator powers there for taking calls and having meetings.
Officers have a lounge, and Senators are allowed to vote.
(Note: Ministers and Officers are Senators too)

Originally posted by Krsqk:
The one concern I have right now is the level of involvment of the Senate. How much influence do they have in the day-to-day affairs of every planet or transport or exploration ship? Do they really even care if Planet X has enough fighters or System Y has a plague (unless that's where they're from)? I guess the gist of my question is, does the Senate vote on every action, or are some actions only subject to the planet/system/fleet/whatever leaders?

The senate could certainly grant some independence to certain colonies and ministers. They could simply not bring up certain issues to vote on, and ignore them.
If a Minister or Officer wishes to do something against a senate decision, they would be privately warned that it may be considered treason. If the senate fails to notice, no problem, otherwise they may be voted a traitor and forcibly removed from office as a rebel.

One more question. Do I as finance minister have a say in the "invisible" financial matters, like worker or government payrolls? For example, could I get a 25% block to cut the research budget (by scrapping research facilities)? Just wondering exactly how far I can push my boundaries.

[edit-styoopid smileys][/QB]

Well, Construction Minister Skulky would get one of the blocks for build orders. And the other block would probably fall to the local governor of the planet in question.
Science Minister Arkcon might have a word or two for you as well

You could get a majority block on a vote for a budget plan "The empire needs to add six more rads facilities, and 20,000 mineral storage this next year"
If the construction minister then scraps rads miners and mineral storage facilities, him and the planetary governor/system lord in question may be branded traitors.
I suspect you will find you have more direct control over the out-going resources than the incoming. New ship construction would definitely be a finance concern.

That brings up the question of the social structure of the Empire... does the bigger minister get the majority vote, or the local governor?
Can there be a declared state of emergency where the priorities reverse?
Can local governors authorize construction,scrappings and other orders on their own?
If the local governor and the immediate minister agree, does a senate vote have to be taken?

[geoschmo]

I think it would be most realistic if the senate and the main minsters didn't get involved in every day to day decision a system lord or planetary governor makes. In times of economic crises they would vote to withhold resources for construction projects (put queues on hold) and might direct the various planets to build certain things.

The System Lords I think will be the most interesting position in this thing. They should have the ability to make autonimous decisions and decide whether to follow the Empires directions or not. Of course a System Lord that disobeys too often runs the risk of being replaced. So it will be a balancing act on their part.

Revolts would be very interesting. Some ships Generals could be convinced to follow the system lord with promises of larger ships and fleets to command. Maybe be given a planet of their own. This has so many intersting options in it. It could be fun to play even without AI.

Geoschmo

[geoschmo]

SJ, I can't seem to post in the other forum. It's telling me I have to have special access.

Geoschmo

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by geoschmo:
SJ, I can't seem to post in the other forum. It's telling me I have to have special access.

EDIT: Maybe it's cause I am not a Senator? I can post in the Bar & Grill ok.

Geoschmo