SWG Tales

Great discussion so far, guys. Hopefully we can keep it going.

As far as putting rank in the bio, I think that is a great idea. I read a lot of bios and I've noticed that the german rper's mostly put their ranks in their bios. I'll have to remember to do that when I get home.

Much like Nyase, the problem I've encountered is that most people in the game have the rank of Colonel. I'm pretty sure that most people ground out the rank thinking that something would eventually come along with it and it didn't. I ground out the rank for the simple fact that I wanted to be the highest ranking officer I could be. Either way, what happens is we get a ton of people on the same level and it leads to a lot of confusion.

When Griggs asked me about how Nyase and I worked it out, it was easy. IC, I brought Nyase into Rori to assist me, but he is under my command. In the real world, political supercedes military so I figured the same would go here. That usually makes things easier for me, although I never know if I should flex that muscle outside of Rori. Of course, I do most of the time.

When you run into problems like everyone is a Colonel is the ISB (which I have also noticed), then I guess you would break it down to juristiction and hopefully people can agree. A lot of the time, though, everyone wants to be number 1 and people can't agree. People being able to take the number 2 position is the key thing.

Dooo, I think it would be a great idea for everyone to get together and decide who supercedes who, but that again leads us to the problem of people not wanting to be second fiddle. I know I would hate to have an alien over me, though we can all agree that Griggs can command more respect on Gorath than I can. Believe me, if someone doesn't like the position they are left in, they won't be very polite about it either.

Which of course leads me to aliens (and women) in the Empire. Now, I understand that the Empire has aliens working for it, as it does with women, but I believe they work for it on a much lower level than I do. In other words, they are the Empire's servants, whereas I am the Empire itself. I get a lot of people who salute me, and I never salute back to an alien or female (or male out of uniform, with some exceptions). I nod at them. It helps to establish my bias which is a further extension of the Empire's bias.


(BTW, something I've been thinking about. If in the future we can achieve a rank higher than Colonel, would I take it?)

Well fortunately I have finally found an escape route from the Empire. I would think by sometime in January I will be neutral again. That is really where I want my character to be. That being said I still have a human character that is solidly in line with the order the Empire brings, even if he is a bit disgruntled. I may have to introduce him to the Colonel at some point. I had meant to do it many times now but the right opportunity hasn't presented itself.

I think you'll enjoy his story.

I think the challenge you guys face is breaking people of the "I am number one" mindset. I think you can do it if you sell them on the idea that OOC everyone is equal but IC they are playing a role as an officer in a military organization. As such, everyone is NOT #1. Only the Emperor is #1 and he demands unwavering loyalty and unquestioning obedience.

Every higher up, militarily or politically, knows the Emperor is not to be crossed under any circumstances. This mindset permeates the entire Imperial culture. Everyone knows what power they have is derived from the Emperor.

I don't know if there is a real appreciation of what it means to live under a galactic dictatorship. Some people seem to roleplay is if they are living in a democratic society, protected by unalienable rights.

I almost feel like we need to post a primer on what the SW galaxy reallly feels like.

Yeah it seems like most are colonels. For my alts almost all are colonel in game, but from RP standpoint some i RP as lieutenants or captains and one as a private. I only RP Griggs as a colonel.

Same with many in my guild. Most RP that they are officers but lower down the chain so there is a leadership hiearchy.

E-bo Obi wrote:Well fortunately I have finally found an escape route from the Empire. I would think by sometime in January I will be neutral again. That is really where I want my character to be. That being said I still have a human character that is solidly in line with the order the Empire brings, even if he is a bit disgruntled. I may have to introduce him to the Colonel at some point. I had meant to do it many times now but the right opportunity hasn't presented itself.

I think you'll enjoy his story.

Well, I deal with many aliens in intelligence. I RP that Griggs does not like most aliens (though he is one himself) but is tolerant of those that he can use for his needs. This is not uncommon in Star Wars fiction either. Palpatine used Darth Maul (zabrak) for his abilities. Admiral Thrawn used the race of Nohgri as staff and security on the Chimaera.

As for imperial intelliegence and the ISB they are like the CIA vs the FBI. Both have their purpose but sometimes they overlap - and sometimes even compete.

In the Star Wars ficition Imperial Intelligence had it's own buareacracy within, but it mainly reported to the Emperor himself (though it worked with the ISB, army, and navy regularly)

I think many RP Imperial Intelligence or ISB for the same reasons as I - because it gives you a great deal of flexibility. From an RP standpoint it was the easiest way to justify Griggs working with aliens (and being one too)

I don't disagree with that. I mean its not like I could go join a stormtrooper brigade. That is why I never considered myself to have rank nor be a member of the military itself. I find it more than likely that there was a lot more prejudice within the military than in the rest of the government. After all you would want your uniformed visible people to all look the same. For those who lurk in the shadows it is not as important.

And many feel that the failure of Darth Maul is the reson the Emporer disliked aliens and felt they were inferior.

Emperor didn't hate all aliens He made Thrawn a Grand Admiral and he was a Chiss. Blue Chiss in grand admiral's white jacket

This is part of the reason I can justrify Griggs being a uniformed high-ranking officer. He has performed exceptional services for the Emperor having carried out the deepest espionage mission ever within the rebellion before finally having his cover blown

Ekade wrote:I don't know if there is a real appreciation of what it means to live under a galactic dictatorship. Some people seem to roleplay is if they are living in a democratic society, protected by unalienable rights.

I almost feel like we need to post a primer on what the SW galaxy reallly feels like.

I would have to say that there isn't an appreciation for what the galactic dictatorship is. This can EASILY be seen by how many people disrespect me while in character. In the SW Universe, this woulnd't happen, but on a game where it's ok for everyone to be a cowboy it happens all the time (and yes, I'm talking about with some roleplayers).

Even though I have an ego I'd like to appease, I never wanted to always be the top dog. It just so happens, however, I've only found one Imperial that I have taken a back seat to, and he was the Imperial Prefect of Corellia (this was a while back). As a Prefect, he would have outranked me and I addressed him as sir and whatnot. To hold some semblance of structure, though, I can't just bend to any guy who thinks he should be ahead without a well thought out backstory.

By the way Griggs, a Zabrak who doesn't believes aliens are inferior could go a very long way. Self conflict stories are always the best in my opinion, and characters should have flaws. I'd like to see you work with that and develop it more. It could really help you mold your character in the long run.

E-bo, give me about another week to get my compound in order and then your human could always stumble into, or be tasked to deliver something to my office (Yes, Nyase, my office will be even better than yours).

That leads me to something else. Griggs, I know you're not in Triumph anymore. What city are you based out of and do you have some sort of Imperial establishment there (ie. office, common guildhall, etc)

Griggs wrote:Emperor didn't hate all aliens He made Thrawn a Grand Admiral and he was a Chiss.

A lot of people use Thrawn to justify aliens in the Empire and I think it actually speaks to the opposite. Now, bear in mind that I haven't read Last Command (as I told Griggs, I'm trying to read ALL the SW books in order and I just got the idea for that after getting through the first chapter of Last Command), but from what I understand about Thrawn is almost everything he did was in secret. When he would challenge others to games of strategy, it would be in situations that protected his annonymity. Even at the Emperor's Retreat they say he is visiting from the Outer worlds.

Thrawn was suppose to be the absolute best of the best. There wasn't suppose to be a human that could match him, yet he was still kept secret. He was kept secret, although he was the absolute best, because the alien prejudice ran that deep.

TramelRaggs wrote: That leads me to something else. Griggs, I know you're not in Triumph anymore. What city are you based out of and do you have some sort of Imperial establishment there (ie. office, common guildhall, etc)

Right now I am based out of Solace, Dantooine but I think I have to set up an office elsewhere.

I been thinking of setting up an office near the imperial outpost on Talus or something for my RP purposes.

Ultimately I would love to set up an all imperial city on Talus - place the medium generic houses in neat rows like barraks, and have the large houses for the officers' row etc but my hands are tied at the moment. I am commited to my current city on Dantooine for the time being and if I pulled all of my characters out it would definitely hurt the city.

TramelRaggs wrote: By the way Griggs, a Zabrak who doesn't believes aliens are inferior could go a very long way. Self conflict stories are always the best in my opinion, and characters should have flaws. I'd like to see you work with that and develop it more. It could really help you mold your character in the long run.

Interesting thought. I don't very mush like roleplaying an alien that hates aliens. I will have to think about this more. Not every member of the Empire agreed 100% on this with the Emperor so it is justifiable by the fiction.

TramelRaggs wrote:

Ekade wrote:I don't know if there is a real appreciation of what it means to live under a galactic dictatorship. Some people seem to roleplay is if they are living in a democratic society, protected by unalienable rights.

I almost feel like we need to post a primer on what the SW galaxy reallly feels like.

I would have to say that there isn't an appreciation for what the galactic dictatorship is. This can EASILY be seen by how many people disrespect me while in character. In the SW Universe, this woulnd't happen, but on a game where it's ok for everyone to be a cowboy it happens all the time (and yes, I'm talking about with some roleplayers).

Yes, and it is you who I was thinking of then I made my comment. If you look back throughout history and see what happens to people who speak out against the dictator, or try to abuse one of his agent, you will see they are pretty much out of the picture in short order.

Ekade is a rebel sympathizer, but you will always see her obeying the "law" in a respectful manner when imerial eyes are on her. She knows she is considered a "lesser being" who owes some of the leniency she has been shown to her saying the right things at the right time and an occasional batting of the eyelashes.

Griggs wrote:

TramelRaggs wrote: By the way Griggs, a Zabrak who doesn't believes aliens are inferior could go a very long way. Self conflict stories are always the best in my opinion, and characters should have flaws. I'd like to see you work with that and develop it more. It could really help you mold your character in the long run.

Interesting thought. I don't very mush like roleplaying an alien that hates aliens. I will have to think about this more. Not every member of the Empire agreed 100% on this with the Emperor so it is justifiable by the fiction.

Well.. you could just hate the "lesser aliens".

I'd go into the whole thing behind Thrawn being sent to the outer regions but you haven't read the books and you are planning to. I will tell you that it is better revealed in the duology "the hand of thrawn" but definately read the trilogy first.

Ekade wrote: Well.. you could just hate the "lesser aliens".

Like E.T., Alf, and Mork from Ork?