25 replies to this topic

[Threat Doc]

Rhinehart, on 30 November 2011 - 09:02 PM, said:

(In Character)For myself as a Mechwarrior I have to say that a would and will not ever seek to violate the Ares conventions by attacking civillain targets, including populated cities. If such a mission is offered to me I will decline it, unles it can be demonstrated that failing to act would result in potentailly even a greater loss of civillian life.(I.E. a madman in a city must be stopped before he can set off a nuke, but I wouldn't think battlemechs would be the optimum unit for that.)

Rhinehart, thank you. Your work here is well-done and I'm grateful, even if those who couldn't care less what BattleTech is actually about will decry this work. Thank you.

[Dlardrageth]

I'm reasonably sure our Merc unit didn't sign that convention. Might have to ask my commnder to make sure. Hm, nvm, he's too busy counting C-bills ATM, might have to wait...

(The "signatory" part might in fact be one of the core points as supposedly all will play Merc units at first. Just remember the RL parallel of the Soviet Union not initially signing the Geneva convention and the repercussions of that.)

[jojobear]

My btech lore is a little weak today. What exactly was keeping the five great houses from using nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons again?

I mean, instead of assaulting a base couldn't you just flood it with mustard gas?

Why was is such a big deal when the Blakists started to nuke everyone?

Why did nobody unleash biological weapons against the Clans?


It is because "lol lost technology" or does Comstar really put its foot down on these issues?

[Gunhead]

jojobear, on 01 December 2011 - 02:29 AM, said:

My btech lore is a little weak today. What exactly was keeping the five great houses from using nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons again?

E.g. during the 1st and 2nd Succession Wars nothing. All sorts of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons were deployed during those wars bringing all the houses close to the point of losing their capability of interstellar travel and other such tech vital to the existence of the Successor States. It was due to that the Ares Convention was "resumed" partially. The unwritten no-no's of warfare weren't primarily applied due to humanitarian causes but to preserve technology.

[Threat Doc]

Gunhead is absolutely right on, the LosTech, as the technology that's not readily able to be produced, repaired, and/or the knowledge of which is gone in the BattleTech universe, taking society, except for certain remaining boons, back to early 21st Century technology, is called, was a prime motivator in leaders and individuals taking a hard stance against the things which the Ares Conventions -even if they weren't being strictly, legally, enforced- prohibited in warfare. Perhaps the Ares Conventions, which never went away, but have not been treated well since the 1st Succession War, informed people's minds and attitudes concerning warfare.

We can relate how the Ares Conventions were treated to the global warming debate on Earth, now. People know, now, that we are poisoning the environment and not caring for our Earth, the species of all manner of fauna and flora, our atmosphere, everything on our Earth, and have begun to do things about it. For the record, I still don't believe in global warming, the science behind it is shotty at best, but I definitely agree we need to take better care of our planet. Now, in comparison, the MechWarriors and leaders of the Inner Sphere recognize that, if wholesale destruction, slaughter, use of illegal weapons and undesirable fighting spots (ie - cities, DropShips, JumpShips, etc.) continues, they will literally put the I.S. back into the dark ages, pre-19th century technology, and there will be no communications, no BattleMechs, no JumpShips, DropShips, no way to maintain borders or the subjects within the borders, no way to collect and distribute money, food, supplies, and sundries among the worlds to keep them running, build them up, etc. If the technology level is brought low enough through unmitigated warfare, even though by 3048 manufacturing of all manner of higher technologies is returning at an astonishing rate, it will be a flash in the pan before the disastrous consequences of their own ignorance takes hole.

For you folks who believe since this is only a sim it's alright to perform unmitigated warfare, that when you drop, that's it, just go kill everything and have a ball, that's for you to do, that's your choice. However, your fun is not the only type of fun that's on the line, here, and I'm warning you that if you act that way, without tactics, without strategy, without proper care of your resources, the veterans and TT players that have come out of the wood work for THIS game will be gone, and shortly thereafter your game will be, as well. Your choice, but don't let your bad attitude, your **** for the win regardless of what it takes to get that win, kill the game for you, and for everyone else. It's not a matter of playing in accordance with the lore or the fluff, and this is NOT a tabletop argument. This is an appeal to those of you who only want to get in and kill crap with impunity.

The PGI devs have already explained this game will be far more in-depth than anything we've had the opportunity to play, before; if they do it right, resources will have a steady but slow marching order, and what you take from the battlefield you will actually have to earn, unlike ALL previous iterations of MechWarrior. Many leagues -and I owe their developers my respect for all they tried to accomplish- did their best to simulate, outside the game, economies, travel, and forces, but failed only because of the over-riding attitude of the collective community. Now, however, if PGI has its way and does it right -and I know what is right for me, but what is right for me is not always best, so I'm relying on the devs to do what they feel is in the best interests of the community as a whole- the economy and resources will all be in the game, there will be limitations to the amount of metal in the game, or the economy will be built to reflect a close approximation to the proper economy while still allowing for ten to twenty times the steel, but it will be in the game, and there will be limitations.

If those limitations are busted by a community without a care in the world for anything but killing each other on the battlefield, it will be the fault of those who don't show restraint, don't show their opponents honor, and couldn't care less otherwise because they're l33t, and nothing else matters. If every unit sticks, even loosely, to the covenants borne by the Ares Conventions and carried in the lore and fluff of the BattleTech universe, this game will do very well for it.

Thank you for reading.

[Rhinehart]

Dlardrageth, on 30 November 2011 - 09:10 PM, said:

I'm reasonably sure our Merc unit didn't sign that convention. Might have to ask my commnder to make sure. Hm, nvm, he's too busy counting C-bills ATM, might have to wait...

(The "signatory" part might in fact be one of the core points as supposedly all will play Merc units at first. Just remember the RL parallel of the Soviet Union not initially signing the Geneva convention and the repercussions of that.)

Guess what? Pull too many killing sprees and not only will you get blacklisted by Comstar and every House of the Inner sphere, which means no new contracts for more c-bills, but the Houses you commit atrocities against will put bounties on your heads that will have plenty of mercenaries ready to hunt you down for salvage and profit.

Your last option will be fleeing into the Periphery, where Merc units go to die, or throwing in with the Bandit Kings. Don't expect lots of treasure and glory. Pirates in the Inner Sphere lead a hard, usually very short life, even compared to normal mechwarriors.

Edited by Rhinehart, 01 December 2011 - 03:54 PM.