You know, the visitor has a very good point. In fact, make that several good points. I do believe he has made the most accurate analysis of the situation in EVC. Good job, sir!

A side note, good to see you back, visitor.

QUOTE (darthkev @ Mar 31 2010, 11:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You know, the visitor has a very good point. In fact, make that several good points. I do believe he has made the most accurate analysis of the situation in EVC. Good job, sir!

Its something that I've been thinking very hard about since the last time I argued on the subject against Mr. Auther on this matter. Having replayed EVC several times since then (both in the port and the honest-to-God original flavor) I've made a conclusion based on the facts as presented, and altered my previous thesis accordingly.

QUOTE

A side note, good to see you back, visitor.

Eh, yeah. I've more been avoiding the forums than being away. Got called away to watch dogs for a month, which gave me a backlog of reading, I procrastinated, it built up more, and eventually I just migrated to other forums in the vain hope that a time would spontaniously reverse several months.

Seeing as that didn't pan out, I'm now on plan B: the dreaded archive binge.

I always did like the gray and gray morality and the fact that the "rebels" were not a small nothingness doing raidings, but actually were a fairly powerful government.

Unlike in EVN where they were justified and minor and had morals. Also, I did find it silly that Koria was undiscovered by the bureau.

Also, because of the Official/Guy's port, interest was renewed and did breathe life back into it.

QUOTE (~vIsitor~ @ Apr 1 2010, 01:46 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What about the feds operating a secret weapons lab on New Providence through Astex Mining and dumping the resultant waste on neighboring Diphidia?

What about their constant 'relocating' of colonists from independent worlds to Confederation-controlled ones on the grounds of evacuation against Rebel attacks?

What about the Astrodyne Outpost coverup? (must've been testing something really nasty if it killed off the whole crew).

What about the feds refining industrial toxins into chemical weapons?

What about the reason the rebellion started in the first place: the rim worlds had done their bit part in participating to defend humanity and now that the aliens were gone they had no pressing need (as far as they were concerned) for the protection of the Confederate fleets, but the Confederacy wouldn't let go. Its a simple matter of greed.

1. Given the fact that they're under attack by the rebellion, exactly what is the problem with the Confederation having a weapons programme? Yes, Astex have been remiss in their handling of the waste products, but why don't the Diphidians file a complaint, and block Astex in the meantime, rather than sending their hired guns to raid the company and denouncing the government for what's probably a bit of corporate corner-cutting on the part of a sub-contractor?

2. Not sure what you're referring to.

3. Okay, so it's generally believed there was a disastrous project there, and that the absence of information means something sinister is being 'covered up'. People say the same thing about Area 51. Where is the moral failing here?

4. It's never clear what sort of weapons we're actually talking about, but they do seem to be used to defend Confederation planets under attack rather than as some sort of sinister attack against the rebels.

5. We see far more accusations than facts about this whole period; who exactly wanted to leave the Confederation, and how willing were they to follow legal procedures to do so? As I've said before, I have no doubt that Matt Burch intended to create a game where the rebels were the good guys and the Confederation the bad guys, but in that particular respect I don't think he succeeded. If I lived there, I would have some complaints about what was going on, but the same is true of most places, especially during wartime. The Confederation has an organised, broadly peaceful government which seems to be based in a system of law, while the rebels seem to be nothing more than a large and aggressive extremist movement, and I know which one I prefer.

QUOTE (David Arthur @ Apr 19 2010, 12:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

1. Given the fact that they're under attack by the rebellion, exactly what is the problem with the Confederation having a weapons programme? Yes, Astex have been remiss in their handling of the waste products, but why don't the Diphidians file a complaint, and block Astex in the meantime, rather than sending their hired guns to raid the company and denouncing the government for what's probably a bit of corporate corner-cutting on the part of a sub-contractor?

They file a complaint? Astex says they're obviously trying for a publicity stunt. After all, those seaweed sales have been flagging...

They block Astex, and they're Rebel sympathizers. Astex asks for more Confed fighters to fight this newfound threat.

The Feds find Astex guilty of wrongdoing? Astex retaliates by cutting costs on quality assurance for those weapons, or decides that the enemy will ask fewer questions about dumped waste...

Incidentally, how was it supposed to dispose of the waste?

So... they had to destroy the Astex freighters, because merely taking legal action would have caused the Confederation to invade? :blink: The fact is that there's simply nothing in the game to support the idea that the Confederation have any desire to project power outside their own systems. It's the rebels who are constantly amassing invasion fleets, planting spies, and assassinating senators≥

Perhaps the people of Diphidia felt the Confederation would've taken no action since they were providing Astex with military-grade ships for escort services. The Confederation may have known what Astex was doing. If they did, and yet didn't do anything about it, why would they hear Diphidia out? Additionally, Diphidia is an independent world. Perhaps the Confederation doesn't accept legal hearing requests from worlds not part of their collection.

Just because the player's Diphidia contact never mentioned them taking legal action doesn't mean they didn't try.