Oolite Bulletins

Commander McLane wrote:

Sorry, I'm not going to volunteer (too much other stuff to do).

Just want to say that—if it fits—probably some material from the Munchausen thread could be integrated as well. E.g. if you ever want to include Biarge, feel free to look here.

pagroove wrote:

I'm not a English native speaker.

Specialist290 wrote:

Hello, new member and three-day player of Oolite (and ex-lurker of the forums) here. Hope no one minds the thread-necromancy here, but I just wanted to say a few things:

First off, I have to say that I'm very appreciative of the people who put together the entries in the Rough Guide. Those wiki articles (and some of the fanfics posted here) were actually part of the reason I finally decided to download Oolite myself. Now I'm getting a firsthand experience in the wonders of the Ooniverse (and the "thrills" of manual docking...).

Secondly, if no one minds and that offer still stands, I'd like to try my hand at writing a few entries myself. (I'll probably focus on expanding on some of pagroove's stuff first, then try my hand at something a little more original if y'all like it enough.) It's been a while since I've tried my hand at seriously writing something outside of the context of school, but this whole idea has given me a little motivation to try again...

Aesbion
* Economic status: Mainly industrial
* Technology level: 10
* Population: 4.7. Bilion (Green Frogs)
* Political status: Corporate State
* Radius: 6701 km
* G: 1.02 standard
"The planet Aesbion is cursed by dreadful civil war."

Regardless of how he feels about GalCop when he's being chased by a blue-light-flashing Viper while carrying a full cargo hold of Benulobiweed, deep down in his heart the average spacer has at least a grudging respect for the system because it /works/. The Galactic Cooperative of Worlds polices the spaceways and provides neutral markets where spacers can trade without being hassled by planet-bound authorities (for which we all should be thankful; heaven /knows/ that GalCop regulations are hassle enough...), in exchange for which they let the local administrations--or lack thereof--run the planets however they see fit. While this setup isn't perfect, it does make traveling among the stars considerably safer. Only very rarely has GalCop ever needed to directly intervene in the affairs of its member planets, but when it does, it brings its full strength to bear, as the example of Aesbion clearly demonstrates.

In 2921, Aesbion sent a trade delegation the neighboring world of Aronar. During the negotiations, the High Lords of Aronar were rather gruff about what they saw as an attempt at exploitation, taking a very confrontational stance to many points in the agreement and occasionally threatening to suspend talks outright. Unfortunately, the delegation saw these as grave insults and returned home to report to their superiors. The Aesbionians, enraged by the treatment of their fellows, immediately raised a small fleet and raided the system, causing considerable damage to Aronar's capital to avenge the insult. When word of the incident reached the local Sector Command, GalCop justice was swift and severe; the Galactic Navy dispatched a task force to the system, easily obliterated Aesbion's makeshift navy, and arrested, tried, and executed for treason the entire Board of Directors as well as a number of lower-level administrators and any survivors of the battle they could lay their hands on.

In addition to serving as a powerful object lesson to anyone considering defying GalCop's charter to preserve peace between the planets, the Aesbion Incident also brought about the common stereotype of Aesbionians as short-tempered neurotic psychopaths. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth; the incident arose because the Aesbionians believed that the High Lords of Aronar had breached their code of honor, a grave insult in Aesbionian culture, and that repaying them in kind was the only way to prevent themselves and Aesbion itself from falling into disgrace. The Aesbionians place a high value on honor, believing that all relationships bring about "debts" of honor in some way or another. Should you decide to visit Aesbion, keep in mind these simple rules of hospitality: Always be courteous to your host, don't be overly belligerent, and be careful what you joke about. Don't worry yourself too much, of course--your host will probably expect and tolerate a little bit of coarseness from an off-planet visitor--but exercise discretion.

As far as sightseeing goes, most of the main attractions are centered around the capital and primary city of Shisoli. Those with a passion for history might wish to visit the Exalted City, a relic of the planet's Imperial era. The entire complex was both home and workplace for the God-Emperor and his staff, many of whom lived and died without ever setting foot outside its walls. A must-see for any visitor, a few miles outside the city proper, lies the Cathedral of Winds. Situated atop a cliff by the coast to take full advantage of the local wind patterns, the Cathedral is built with a number of funnels to catch the winds outside and run them through an enormous organ inside, producing a neverending, always-changing, haunting melody; it is especially popular during the region's storm season. Those lucky enough to arrive during the local new year will be able to take part in the annual Carnival of Fools, a celebration where the strict rules of personal honor are flung aside with reckless abandon and the population throws itself into a whole week of concerts, performances, drinking binges, and general hedonistic revelling.

However, a word of warning: Be careful to watch out for signs of "honor duels" taking place. These can range in scale anywhere from one-on-one tests of personal skill to full-scale warfare between two corporate branches (the latter giving rise to the typically-overstated Register entry). While most conflicts generally have a third-party overseer present who makes sure the proper rules of conduct are carried out and that deaths of innocents are kept to a minimum, this is one of those situations where their relaxation of the rules for outsiders will work against you, not for you. As you're not likely to have any friends or family come to claim a hefty compensation for your death or injury, approach areas beset by conflict at your own risk.

DaddyHoggy wrote:

For me it is us, 50 years from now, where only the Super Corporations exist - ala Taco Bell from "Demolition Man", where Sony is the only producer of Electronic Gadgets (for example), or (ha-ha) Land Rover is the only car manufacturer.

Your system sounds positively feudal, irrespective of the excellent honor system you've created.

Specialist290 wrote:

DaddyHoggy wrote:

For me it is us, 50 years from now, where only the Super Corporations exist - ala Taco Bell from "Demolition Man", where Sony is the only producer of Electronic Gadgets (for example), or (ha-ha) Land Rover is the only car manufacturer.

Your system sounds positively feudal, irrespective of the excellent honor system you've created.

I'm familiar w/ the common idea of the Corporate State being a "supercorporation" in control of a planet (in fact, I did help write this page on TVTropes Wiki a while back), but for this particular planet, I wanted to try something a little different from the norm.

While working on the article, I constructed an outline of the planet's history in my head which I kept in mind as I worked. Only a few snippets of that actually made it into the article (didn't want to bore the readers w/ a history lesson when it seems that we're going for more of a "travel guide" approach), but essentially what it boils down to is:

Aesbion essentially is a feudal world. It has been that way for millennia. The main difference between its earlier governments and its modern history as a Corporate State is that the Board of Directors has to make sure the organization is still turning a profit (hence the policy of instituting overseers--after all, don't want too many corporate assets destroyed in these power struggles!) In a sense, it even encourages these power struggles (albeit rather tacitly) among its lower ranks as a means of ensuring the future of the Corporate State as a whole--since the winners generally get added prestige and (eventually) rise through the ranks, it pretty much ensures that Aesbion is generally controlled by individuals clever and ruthless enough to accomplish their vision of profit-mongering.

In essence, what has happened on Aesbion is they've managed to "successfully" (depending on what you consider success) adapt a newer, modern approach to government without sacrificing their traditional worldview.

(EDIT: It might be helpful to know that I had Japan--particularly the '80s-'90s fear of "Japan taking over the world economy" and the various examples from cyberpunk that were derived therefrom--in mind as a real-world example to work off of while coming up with this, though I exaggerated and overgeneralized in a few areas for effect.)

The Aesbionians place a high value on honor, believing that all relationships bring about "debts" of honor in some way or another. Should you decide to visit Aesbion, keep in mind these simple rules of hospitality: Always be courteous to your host, don't be overly belligerent, and be careful what you joke about. Don't worry yourself too much, of course--your host will probably expect and tolerate a little bit of coarseness from an off-planet visitor--but exercise discretion.

Star Gazer wrote:

Actually when you think about it, a Corporate state isn't that different to a Feudal state. Both have the mega rich and powerful controlling The Rest. The only real difference is one was based on land power and the other is on commercial power. Both want to have more than anyone else.

Both define who lives and dies...

Star Gazer wrote:

Actually when you think about it, a Corporate state isn't that different to a Feudal state. Both have the mega rich and powerful controlling The Rest. The only real difference is one was based on land power and the other is on commercial power. Both want to have more than anyone else.

Both define who lives and dies...