Govt Offices (ML's new addition)
Not the same as BB's
GalCop Precinct.
This is the representation of the Planetary Govt on an Orbital Station which they have either partially paid for (eg Dodo at a Corporate State) or allowed GalCop to put up but contribute minimally too (the inexistent governments of Anarchies, Feudals,
etc).
There are also differences regarding influence over the GalCop viper patrols in system (anarchies - no influence, GalCop pays for all of it. Feudals - ditto for all but a few systems, if any. Multi-Govt - ditto (
maybe one or two planetary govts give a pittance to GalCop). Dictatorships & Commies pay for their own Navy/police forces which "co-operate" with GalCop's vipers. Confederacies would be more likely to rely on GalCop than Democracies & Corporates, which might also have their own navies.
There will be a planetary "Station Viceroy/High Consul/Governer" of some sort or another (see BB's notes about a commie Peoples Palace,
etc.) whose powers will be constrained by GalCop.
Brainstorming
What would the Planetary Govt need the offices for? I'm
not thinking about programming issues here.
This list is attempting to be exhaustive in considering all possibilities. In reality, constraints of available resources and pirate/Thargoid/enemy system activities will intervene and make this merely a wish-list for some systems...
*
Important meetings with visiting dignitaries (GalCop, other systems) who lack the time to go down-planet
*
Trade Office
- organising permits for imports (or even exports?) - and would they be needed for
both legal & illegal items?
- advertising needed items to traders who won't go downplanet so that they can get them (a source of some cargo contracts to be
brought to this orbital)
- attempts to sell planetary exports - some sort of showroom, maybe
- investing down planet
*
Immigration control - middle/long term visas to go downplanet (
Diplomancy only sells batches of one day visas to visit the orbital & to go downplanet). See Redspear's
Station Variation.oxp ideas. Since this is controlled by the system govt, not GalCop, the length of the visa should vary from system to system (5 days or 3 months in one, 7 days or 50 days in another,
etc). Oh - and do all planets rotate at the same speed?
•Dealing with arriving Refugee Adders
•Emergency one-day visas - a highly-priced visa for those who forgot to buy Diplomancy's cheapo before docking, thus allowing travel throughout the system. (needs to be disabled if Diplomancy is not present).
*
Tourist Office - logical, but could be a major pain to make realistic/believable, since the planets are so different, especially with Famous Planets loaded!
•
Citizen's Office - Services for citizens (new passports, other stuff - what do
our embassies do? Emergency loans? Advice on travel to other systems)
Question - who controls the local Orbital Station Police force? In anarchies, it is obviously GalCop. In a dodo, paid for by the local system government, it would probably be the local system government - and this would be very important for Commies and Dictators to (try and) achieve (source of local machiavellian politics?). See Malacandra's
super description.
•
Spies - spying and counterspying
•
Local Naval Office - mostly dealing with procurement of goodies for the system's navy, if there is one? Not for Feudals (each noble provides instead). Important for Dictatorships & Commies. Would some of the Corporates & Democracies just leave this sort of stuff to GalCop (whom they pay to provide the better Viper Interceptor patrols?).
•
Local Solar system control - regulating Rock Hermits/Mining Outposts/Salvage Gangs
etc (possible source of information as to where they are?) and other space stations, regulating Deep Space Dredgers, asteroid clearances, stuff to do with other planets in the system (if any), watching what goes on at the Witchpoint beacon,
etc. This could be the source of some of the more relevant
GalCop missions.
So what?
The Govt Offices will contain the following suites:
*Viceroy's Palace/Suite -
only obviously relevant for eg Picking up the feal tribute from a Feudal State for a more important Feudal State
One would never get into it otherwise, unless possibly of ****Elite**** or noble rank and invited to a social gathering - or asked to perform an errand... Irrelevant for LitF v.1.0 unless the Feudal States tie-in is seen as important enough. Of course with Dictators loaded there would be differences between the agricultural juntas (naval officers) and industrial empires (nobles).
*Trade Office - Irrelevant for LitF v.1.0 (needs to be tied in with Smugglers/NewCargoes/Home System/a new contract system for bringing in imports)
*Immigration Control - Irrelevant for LitF v.1.0 (needs to be tied in with Diplomancy & possibly PlanetFall) - but can add flavour text for refugee adders, etc.
*Tourist Office - does anyone have any ideas about handling this one?
*Citizen's Office - Irrelevant for LitF v.1.0 (needs to be tied in with Diplomancy)
*Spies - Irrelevant for LitF v.1.0? And hidden away, anyways.
*Local Naval Office - only if the system has a navy - see ramblings at top of thread.
*Local solar system control office - ditto. There might be a licensing system for the rock hermits
etc. in weaker systems - but how would it be enforced?
Appendix:
Stationmaster's Office. For the day-to-day running of the Station.
Depending on the system this might be
a) in the GalCop precinct (Anarchies? Some feudals? All Multi-govt's?),
b) in the Govt Offices (Commies? Dictators? Some of the Corporates/Democracies? Fewer of the Confederacies)
c) elsewhere (handful of wealthy feudals, remaining Corporates/Democracies/Confederacies)
