Liberty Navy [LN] Feedback Thread

[Jihadjoe]

EDIT: Joe, you are absolutely right that those roles and positions and thus the structure is fluid and changes over time. That's real life.

Correct.

But if we do not base our shared fiction on those familiar structures (I'll have you know that Vanilla Freelancer in most points share exact cultural traits with contemporary-ish society), then everything is up to debate. Why doesn't military align with pirates? Why doesn't traders buddy up with terrorists?

This frequently happens. During the Liberty/Rheinland war, we would often see Rogues, Xenos or even Lane Hackers siding with the LN against Rheinland forces... Likewise the Hessians and Unioners would often fight alongside the RM, even to the point of launching attacks into Liberty at the same time. Additionally, the Libertonians have long been neutral with the Blood Dragons, GC and Bundschuh among others. Not everything is painted in shades of black and white - or rather, red and green.

If everything is up in the air, is an admiral just a random word with no meaning attached at all? Is everything relative, and if so how on earth is that conducive to social story crafting? How is it even possible to perform social roleplay if there's no shared basis or understanding? And if new meaning is to be attached, is it up to the official faction players to do so at a whim? When I roleplay my Liberty Navy character, can I totally disregard an admirals order on the basis that "an admiral is something else 900 years out in the future"?

You can inflate anything to ridiculous proportions if you blow enough air into it, right?

To an extent, you are correct - there does have to be a shared understanding, and contemporary cultural norms are as good a starting point as any. But that is precisely what they are... A starting point, from which things can change and alter. This is the nature of social storytelling... That people will pull threads out in different directions, altering and changing the fictional makeup of the setting and their characters' place within it.

However, with this particular example, Sarah has endeavored (in my opinion successfully) to show that high ranking military personel making personal statements is not unknown. It fits within our general cultural understanding... It certainly fits within my personal cultural understanding if not yours.

Even if it did not fit within my understanding of contemporary culture, it would be "close enough" to be acceptable. I wouldn't question it in the same way that I would question, say, an independantly operating nine year old bounty hunter.

You asked;

is it up to the official faction players to do so at a whim?

How many times have people with a similar attitude to the one you hold regarding official factions, berated those official factions about "restricting the roleplay freedom of indies - they should be allowed to do things you see as illogical, because you have no authority over them." ?

What gives you the right to question this, while other people do not have the right to question it? I know that I certainly do not have the authority to question anything that falls within the "close enough" range... So why do you?