Embargoes

[eyvind]

To counter Del's point, I would say that the current embargos have almost zero effect due the fact that no one actually heeds them, as they're enforced so rarely as to be non-existant.

To say that no one heeds the embargoes would be stereotypical. So as not to be hypocritical in that statement, I'll just speak for myself. In Duchess Shipping we pay very much heed to not only embargoes but also the more blurry aspects of interstellar diplomacy. The specifics aren't particularly relevant with the looming 4.85, but the point stands. I would venture to guess that most factions that deal with legal trading take very much heed of roleplayed circumstances. For example, ff there are no player characters that enforce one of the circumstances (an embargo, perhaps), it would be prudent for the trader to avoid being in a situation where the presence of such an enforcer would significantly affect that situation.

What I mean to point out is that the problem is not that people do not heed them, it is merely that they are not enforced. In turn, the lack of enforcement is a separate problem from the issue Xoria is bringing up. The first step would be to fix the concept of embargoes in Discovery -- a point on which I agree with Xoria -- and follow that fix up with solutions to the secondary problem of enforcement.

Perhaps a more concise manner of replying to Dusty's post would be to say that your argument is a direct result of the problem Xoria is describing.

I would say that the current embargos have almost zero effect

Depending on the way they are constructed, embargoes may enhance roleplaying, or it may eliminate it entirely.

On a similar note, there seems to be an ongoing discussion about the Kusari-Bretonia embargo. I believe it has been more or less put on hold due to the potential for significantly affecting changes in 4.85, but it is relevant to this discussion. (Note that I do not know the specifics of this discussion as I believe it is a private one among the leadership of the Kusari factions, I only know a facet of it.)

Gate/Late Parts is not a commodity restricted by Kusari for export into Tau, but it seems to only barely escape the list. The Gate and Trade Lane Construction between Tau-31 and into Tau-23 is sponsored by BMM and very favorable to Bretonian interests. Bretonian expansion into Tau-23 threatens Kusari as much as it enroaches upon Outcast space and the reason for the conflict between BMM and the Cali Outcasts.

If Kusari allows white-box trade through Kusari space to Tau-23, they would be implicitly fueling Bretonian expansion. It would, in the long run, be more harmful to Kusari than allowing military materials to pass to Bretonia. Short-term, the Outcasts might very well shift focus from BMM assets to the white-box shipments sponsored by Kusari or even directly increase violent pressure on Kusari in an attempt to force Kusari to strengthen and widen their embargo.

This issue is being handled competently by the Kusarians, I trust, and I do not mean to bring it up for debate here. I mean to point out that the Rheinlanders and Libertonians should follow suit in how they handle their embargoes. Many issues need careful deliberation, not the hasty classification the current embargo reeks of, bluntly but not offensively meant.

I think embargoes rock, what sucks is that they're not enforced (something I can easily understand, Liberty is such a madhouse of unending combat that there's almost no time to interdict smugglers before another call comes up of wave of outcast bombers/rogue GBs/A Gaian Rheinland Battleship/).

Embargoes might be a decent, if a bit indirect, answer to this problem. If the Liberty Navy began focusing on patroling the Liberty-Rheinland borders, as would be a natural course of action considering the current rising hostility therebetween, the pirate factions would have new targets to exploit.

If Liberty sees an asset as worth securing and sends out a detachment to do so, as Xoria described, pirates would likely consider that asset worth capturing, or at least attacking. More exciting than staring at lanes and less pointless than furballs around Manhattan, in my opinion. It might require a bit coordination between hostile factions, but that should only make things more fun.


Now I can only hope this post was worth more than a measly two cents.

---

<span style="font-family:Agency FB">Good Morning!</span>