Guard Systems

[Benjamin]

Yeah, I often make disparaging comments about guard systems the same way I do about indies or zoner traders or whatever. There are actually a bunch of good ones, but the rest stink the place out somewhat.

There are a few nice, integrated ones that aren't silly. Prime example would be Baffin, which doesn't stick out at all from surrounding systems and is a real, used part of the universe. Rico is run as 'open house' too, is neutral to a lot of people, like the zoner ones, and features in trade routes. Same with 74 (although yeah, it's proximity to theta is weird. it's basically just more theta.) I heard there were plans to put a junker base in Cassini and try and get that more integrated, and I know the BDS has some plans for Tottori to get that into a more open, useable system.

There's also some that are sort of pointless but ultimately fine, like the BAF one, Salisbury. I guess an army could have some pointless system to do training in? Not really an issue either way.

And then you have all the ones with habitable planets and enormous shipyards.
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I know these things look nice, and if you bought the system for 500 million woolongs and get to make it yourself, doing such stuff is tempting. But from my personal standpoint, I just kind of soldier on and deny their existence in the lore.

I agree with Brunhild about there being 'too many' too. I've talked before about how it would be better if all the Rheinland unlawfuls just shared the one system.

Sometimes guard systems are just weird, too. Like the Mollies want Dublin. That's all the want. They are fighting to own Dublin and its gold for themselves. Then you go to Londonderry, and you find a system they already own completely, and it is literally totally covered in gold, and apparently they make like over 9000 billion tonnes of gold a day or whatever. Why would they even care about Dublin? Similarly, Chugoku, Omicron Alpha, Omicron Gamma, systems like that. These are ALREADY 'guard' systems in the lore. Is another system off that one really at all necessary?

Basically I can't help but see a large percentage of guard systems as pointless/silly/oorp 'supernova shops'. But the potential is there to make them decent. Trade routes, jumpholes, non-guard stuff or even, ideally, bases from other factions. But the factions that have like, just the one base, and then a guard system right behind it. There doesn't tend to be much going on there.

Obviously the amount (and largely position) of guard systems is a fait accompli, so whining about that is pointless, but I think they could be populated more in line with disco realism.

Huuuwaahaaaaa

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