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Post by icon on Jun 5, 2010 0:16:24 GMT -5
I've been considering joining this guild.
I still have to see if I'll be active enough in general, but I might be able to join, given that I have time to be active.
One question- on the Invention Convention topic, Sarn mentioned that Steam-powered automatons aren't allowed in the Convention. Is this a rule for all of Brassport? That is, would steam-powered or clockwork robots be acceptable otherwise?
I'm pretty sure the answer will be no, but I just wanted to check anyway, just in case. Thanks!
(For the record, the robot- I don't even think it qualifies as that- would be little more intelligent than a pocket calculator.)
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Post by Draco on Jun 5, 2010 0:47:07 GMT -5
From what I can understand. The Steampunk genre that the guild is using (focusing on) is the Elizabethan-era of steampunk. So something like a robot wouldn't be created for a few more eras. I think I'm pushing it with the air ship ideas I do, which involve no balloons (I don't trust them! They pop, you die!) Now in the future of the guilds Brassport may involve because of influence from other guilds a little, but not at this moment. But one thing is for certain, steam/gear powered robots are cool XD --- As for being active or not. Look at the guilds. From what I can see the most active are the Pirates and Mages The rest of the guilds are either being lazy or the members are MIA. Of course, Steampunk is number 3 in activeness at the moment.
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Michelle is too lazy to Log In
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Post by Michelle is too lazy to Log In on Jun 5, 2010 1:05:58 GMT -5
I'm on too sporadically (I mean, I had to drop out of Guild Wars...>.<), but to be honest, I don't particularly care who the leader is so long as they're willing to manage things. ^^ And I hope to join in on RPing more as summer starts.
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Michelle is too lazy to Log In
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Post by Michelle is too lazy to Log In on Jun 5, 2010 1:20:12 GMT -5
Also, wow, I totally didn't read through. >.<
In any case, am looking forward to this, and I hope playing Asta and Aly will be okay? (Though I really need to solidify what both of them can do...)
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Post by Jina on Jun 5, 2010 4:25:03 GMT -5
From what I can understand. The Steampunk genre that the guild is using (focusing on) is the Elizabethan-era of steampunk. So something like a robot wouldn't be created for a few more eras. I think I'm pushing it with the air ship ideas I do, which involve no balloons (I don't trust them! They pop, you die!) Now in the future of the guilds Brassport may involve because of influence from other guilds a little, but not at this moment. But one thing is for certain, steam/gear powered robots are cool XD --- As for being active or not. Look at the guilds. From what I can see the most active are the Pirates and Mages The rest of the guilds are either being lazy or the members are MIA. Of course, Steampunk is number 3 in activeness at the moment. Well, technically, we haven't actually got a limits on what is and isn't allowed, though we really need them. I would say it really depends on the robot, but in terms of things that can think for themselves or run calculations or anything like that, the brain/computer would be too big for it to work.
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Post by icon on Jun 6, 2010 21:23:40 GMT -5
Okay, I've got a feeling this idea probably won't work, but it's worth a shot and all that. EDIT: Okay, I made him more guild canon. Name: Eli Clenman
Age: About 20, perhaps? I'm not sure.
History: A city as large as Brassport doesn't clean itself. Over many years, the soot and steam of the city have occasionally covered buildings, caking them with filth. As a member of the Brassport Janitorial Crew, Eli Clenman's job is to wash away soot, fix anything rusty, and pick up scrap metal off the streets.
Appearance: Eli wears a brown long-sleeved, buttoned shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Slightly shorter than average height, he always wears a pair of goggles over his eyes. Clenman has a messy blob of dark brown-black hair that never stays in place. He usually has a pair of boots with his pants tucked into them.
Janitor pack: Eli's janitorial equipment is composed of a large backpack-of-sorts: there is a large container of pressurized water in this, which connects to a sprayer, generally used to wipe away grime and soot.
Personality: Eli is set in his duties, and does his best to get his job done. He's a neat freak, even when the job is over for the day. Eli is quite reluctant to take his Janitor pack off: because of this, he does make lots of noise when walking, which can be quite a hindrance at times. Eli is quite oblivious to many things, but if he notices something, he usually sees it in a fair amount of detail.
Once his regular route is complete, Eli will try to find other ways to clean the area, which sometimes leads to his escapades- do you know how messy this city can be sometimes?
Weapons: Eli has little need for weapons considering his job. His only real weapon is his water sprayer (used to clean away soot) which can change the temperature from anywhere between freezing and scalding. He also carries, in his Janitor pack, some extra tools that might come in handy with his job- a screwdriver, a feather duster, you get the idea.
Anything else: Eli is assigned to cleaning the area of Brassport near city hall.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2010 22:19:03 GMT -5
Um ... If I may put my two cents in, I'm not sure you'll have much fun with this character since he is a drone ... essentially he's got no personality, he can't learn beyond what his initial function is and you just can't develop a 3D character. Well, you could, never say never, but to me it seems unlikely.
On the debate of Brassportian technology levels, I think we need to be very careful about what sort of technology we introduce. Toka wanted to build a train, but the idea simply did not work in relation to the other guilds. Brassport isn't he only city out there and we do have to have some sort of canonicity going. I told Scar off for letting Oscar have a pistol, and told him off even more when he gave the Mercs a jeep and a helicopter. And I'm not all that happy about those merc characters with modern weapons and such.
If you think about it in terms of the Knights and Ninjas and try to match things up with their levels of technology we should be good. Spacefleet is the exception because of their secrecy and unwillingness to share their technology. They're an organization and their weapons and abilities were nerfed so that they could work in with the guildverse, but Brassport is a city full of everyday folks and if a certain technology is available to one, unless they're a top secret inventing guru, it should be available to the rest of the city as well and, by extension, the rest of the guildverse.
Which is why I think robots are a very bad idea. I doesn't make logical sense to invent a robot for cleaning and not invent some with weapons and that gives Brassport a huge advantage. So yeah, I'm against trains, robots and fancy gadgets, weapons that could easily beat a Knight's sword or bow and all that jazz.
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Post by Draco on Jun 6, 2010 22:58:19 GMT -5
I partly agree. Weapon wise... Brassport is basically the same as Knights and Pirates (blades, blunt objects, and simple gun powder weaponry like muskets (looked it up XD)). Even with the added tech of steam and alchemy this should only bring it up a little. Like possibly having Gatling guns.
Robots and stuff is possible, but like I said it wouldn't be for a while still. There is a chance that people can be playing around with the possibility of it... But not real ones. Like perhaps pulling a crank that has arms grab things and stuff, but that just seems like a waste of time for the person who invented or put it together XD (yet I can see Gil doing that in his shop>.>). Or maybe that can be used like a cleaning thing in the city <.< But yeah, no real robots. It would have to be manned somehow.
For Gil's airships I use the excuse of a alchemy powered engine that helps generate the steam needed. Then it was merged with the Osprey Helicopter, which should be totaled now in GWIII XD There is still the Nameless Ship I have, which is powered the same though, alchemy.
Of course, Alchemy can't be the answer to everything.
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Post by icon on Jun 6, 2010 23:00:26 GMT -5
You've got some extremely valid points there, Sarn. I'll see if I can find some way to work with my character- maybe just a regular janitor-guy, but with the same tools, or something along those lines would work better.
Alternatively, I was thinking that having him be powered by some alchemial substance could be another concept, but now I'm thinking of scrapping that idea as well- it doesn't seem as plausible either.
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Post by Draco on Jun 6, 2010 23:06:47 GMT -5
A Janitor using steampunk style tools or something can work. And they would have a personality The other idea I was thinking was possibly a run-away from another guild. Like a robot from Spacefleet malfunctioned/crashed or something and was repaired by someone in Brassport, which ultimately downgraded the robot to some point, but may still have the computer brain. Since Brassport shouldn't be able to recreate that no matter how much they try.
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Post by icon on Jun 6, 2010 23:30:28 GMT -5
Hmm, I think that the best idea for now would be a Steampunk-style human Janitor- I don't want to cause any real hubbub about different technology. I'll work on editing my post to make that make more sense.
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Post by Jina on Jun 7, 2010 4:51:04 GMT -5
Isn't the point of the mercs that they have modern technology? But anyway, that's for them to sort out.
The way I see it, if we don't have better tech than the Knights and the Pirates, then there's not much point in us being Steampunk. We'd need a reason not to sell our technology to other guilds, but the fact that we don't want them blowing us up with our own weapons should be reason enough. Though that said, there's no reason we can't make money off of the rest of the guildverse with our technology, with things like airship services for the rich and famous.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2010 5:15:42 GMT -5
xD I like that idea. Though I don't think the "blow us up with our own technology" reason can be used logically. There's always one person who doesn't agree with the rest and who knows, maybe there'd be a lot of people who, like you said, defy the rules and sell advanced stuff simply for profit. I' not saying we -can't- have the technology, but it does need to be strictly controlled, and thus not available to the general populus.
If we really wanted drones, we could have Blackstne Industries working on a secret project to produce them ... or something like that. And they would have to be nerfed when RPing with the less techno guilds.
But here's the big question ... do we even -need- the technology level? Sure, it'd be fun and all that, but if its so much trouble and discussion and suchlike. IMHO, anyway.
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Post by Jina on Jun 7, 2010 6:22:34 GMT -5
Yep, that's true, technology would have to be largely owned and operated by the government, and anything privately made would need to be fully registered and so on, otherwise it's illegal tech.
Though that said, some technology could still be owned by the general populace - we might sell novelty clockwork toys to tourists, and stuff like that. But nothing that would allow the rest of the world (that doesn't already have it) to get better tech than us.
I think that anything that's able to make any sort of decision is starting to push the boundaries of our technology. We could be developing them, but we aren't getting particularly close to them working well enough to be useful. I'm not sure if we should limit it to being Blackstone Industries developing them, either, mostly because it seems to me to be up to Toka what Blackstone Industries does. But we could say several companies are working on it, leaving it open as to which companies specifically.
As for whether we need technology... I would say yes, because that's what sets us apart as a guild. If we didn't have it, we'd just be a Victorian guild.
The other thing is, we could do with working out how Brassport defends itself. I'm assuming we have some sort of army, navy, and probably an airforce too, but I'm not sure about technological terms. On the one hand, it makes sense for us to have stuff like tanks and metal ships (and primitive submarines, because they've been around for a while), but on the other hand, we don't want to go overboard with it. So possibly having a reasonably wide range of technology, but only in low amounts?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2010 7:27:34 GMT -5
Mhm, was just using Blackstone Industries as an example, but I do agree with you there. I also just had a thought while discussing this with Scar. Brassport has been displaced from its home, right, so whatever technology it had in the other universe it'll have in this one. The only difference is, now it can't be renewed.
Take trains for example. Let's say Brassport had an extensive inner-city train system and a few busy tracks to other major cities. But when the city was moved, it all got cut off, so they've still got the tracks and whichever trains were within the city limits at the time of the movement, but now Brassprt isn't supplied by mines outside the city, so they've got to work with what they have. If they can get the trains running again, fine, but they don't have the ability to lay new tracks, or build new trains. They could still repair them, though.
So the technology would work similar to the mercs. They've got guns, sure, but bullets are hard to come by and they can't often use them, or the use is limited or nerfed. It makes sense given Brassport's situation.
It also makes sense for them to have had armed forces, but we can probably assume that most of what might have been a navy was left behind. Perhaps they've got a few subs left but nothing to poke a stick at, else the pirates would be in real danger.
Air force makes sense, and they've probably got a few steampunk-y weapons which might be really fun to come up with concepts for, but again, we'll need to be careful about how they're used. As for the army, I'd imagine Brassport would go under martial law now that they're in a strange new world (with mages) and that martial law gives us a way to control the technology.
Which brings me to another question. Weapons. What sort and how many? And if they're anything more than what could beat a sword or bow, they should probably be restricted to the armed forces.
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