@MissingAxis

Okay! No problem! I'll edit my nation sheet to make it only radar stealth. :)

Done! Edited. I also clarified the information transference rules in terms of being in close proximity to the Nexus and each-other.

No objections from me for the new modified sheet.

Please let me know when I can start posting!

@Icepick You can go ahead and start typing up a post, but I would hold off on actually posting it until at least @Palamon or @ClocktowerEchos gives your sheet a look over.

@MissingAxis OK! No worries, I'll wait until tomorrow and look for further feedback before posting, if I don't hear back from the others by then I'll begin my first post.

@MissingAxis Here you go:

@ClocktowerEchos

Exactly how far do Ivrah stations/observatories and all that extend from their core 4 tiles?

Not too far really, the most plausible explanation they would have for having a station outside of their own territory would be either some Mon'hali outpost/blacksite they took over or a research station near some interesting planet or area ie a nebula, astroid belt, planet/moon with some interesting anomaly that warrants further research.

Could also be a meeting with a random Ivrah research ship.

@IcepickThe concealed plasma stealth is mildly worrying as is the ability to just about see/hear anything in the galaxy, but I do trust that you won't go waving it around and stalk people all willy nilly :p

That said, I do have 3 questions of:
1) How do they reproduce exactly? Not sure I caught that, is like they combine AI fragments and put it into a new body?
2) Would they interfere with the AI creations/computer systems of other races? Like could they just hack into someone's computer at will? Is there is any sort of limiter or cap on that stuff?
3) How long ago did the Vo' rule the stars? Would they have known the Aztrovans?

All in all, good work ^^

Well I've gotten cracking on my own NS. Not finished yet, but hopefully I'll manage to have it up by tomorrow. It'd be nice if someone could explain to me in somewhat clearer terms just what kind of technology we're looking at here, since we have people running the gambit of technology (from "Yeah we just figured out fission" to "We are literally AIs") I want to get an idea of just would be considered unacceptable in terms of standard sci-fi tech. Stuff that writers include so they don't need to explain anything like antigravity, just so I don't end up making my empire either pathetically incompetent or literal gods among the stars. Because I'm putting unnecessary detail into my tech and literally everything else.

@Keyguyperson I guess the best way to put it would be like "early" sci-fi mate with variation; you got the land and colonies and the tech but not the massive and complex hyper futuristic near-magic tech. Not the most descriptive I know but its the best I can do right now :c If anything, I'd say that early-game Stellaris would be a decent starting point if you know of that game.

I would tell you not to fear about what you're NS will be like and should think of it more of a first draft rather than a finished product. As of right now the system we have of basically democratic NS review should let us work with you more once we see some bits of it. From a story stand point, it wouldn't be nearly as much of an issue if you're more low tech than you are high tech in comparison to everyone else. It could also be safer in this RP to be a bit weaker as we're hoping that the review system can snuff out the powergaming, arm/tech races and e-penis measuring contests you normally see in NRPs.

Also, more of a @All thing but still applicable, don't overdo yourself with making it look fancy and pump it full of details and stuff. My own NS was literally a copy paste of the NS skeleton with some quick blurbs that I added art and detail and a ship section later on. Just have enough for review on your first go and start going into details once you've been accepted.

That said, I am actually starting to wonder if we should have sentient AI right now @MissingAxis, I feel like that they could be used in a future event chain or something like that for plot purposes. (I actually have a few running through my head atm so yeah >-<)

@Keyguyperson

If you want to use the nation sheets already posted, then MissingAxis' Ouroboros would on the lower end of techs, while IcePick's is most definitely higher tier. We're not starting as sprawling space empires, so we're not looking at world ending Deathstar lasers or anything. Honestly? I'd recommend maybe pulling inspiration from genres like cyberpunk or maybe looking at technologies that we are estimated to have in the near future and taking those maybe a step up.

@ClocktowerEchos
I feel it's a little unfair to IcePick to deny their sheet that would likely be otherwise accepted (at least that's how it seems to me at the moment), just because of a few new plot ideas that hit you all of a sudden. I do admit, sentient AI is for sure the kind of tech that's pushing the boundaries of the lower level starts we're having, but their sheet seems otherwise largely reasonable aside from the things I've mentioned earlier in the thread, both of which have been addressed/fixed.

@Dragonruby Good point, does seem a bit dickish. I guess I'm worried/curious on how the AI of other races would behave or interact with them seeing as AI collectives tend only to be something you see in the higher end tech of sci-fi races and such. Perhaps limit/prohibit other AI races at the moment from this point on besides IcPick's and grant them special reprieve? In this regard his creation and effort wouldn't be wasted but the RP also would still have room to go with AI-related things and not have a sudden influx of machines.

Tagging @MissingAxis since it seems like something they should be aware of. Also, Axis, may I recommend picking coGMs to run things when you aren't on?

I'm kinda interested.

Alright, posted mine up for review. Thanks for giving me some tips on the technology and the like, I've done what I can to make it as not ridiculous as possible but I'm still not entirely sure how okay it is. I just hope I didn't bury a bit that's actually ridiculous and OP in all the detail.

@ClocktowerEchos Don't worry about the plasma, it's only radar protection and general scan protection, you can still see them through thermal scanning and visual observation, they will be especially easy to see considering they are glowing somewhat when they have plasma surrounding them after and before a warp jump.

You are correct on the reproductive aspect, the Nexus creates them by generating it's on A.I fragments into new bodies, this can occur when new citizens are required by the Dominion to fill required jobs or when other Voltar Citizens ask the Nexus their-selves for the blessing of new children which is then bestowed upon them if accepted.

The Voltar are certainly robotic in design and they can connect to electronics but only of their own design, the is because their chip sets are only compatible with their own technology and the technology is completely different, they could certainly use cyber warfare if they wished but that would only be simple things such as communication jamming this would require building a system that's compatible with another races electronics, they are also a fairly peaceful race, I wouldn't really worry about it, I'm not going to have them attack people and take control of their ships, I understand limitations and balancing and I understand that would just ruin the fun, think of the Voltar as a race that rather share technology and knowledge, but if they are required to defend their-selves, they will, however the Voltar are incredibly susceptible to hacking, viruses and EMP attacks, this is their weakness.

We are literally talking billions of years, the Aztrovans may have known of the Vo' when they came to power but this would be when they were almost completely extinct so they would perhaps be nothing but a myth by that point, the war was so catastrophic that almost no trace was found, and any trace that remained was collected and used by the Voltar.

I hope this clears things up. :)

@Keyguyperson

I'm just going to read over your sheet now! I'll give some feedback soon!

I'm starting to feel like everyone's just trying to outdo each other with how ancient their predecessors are. We have the Ouroboros who've nuked each other into the middle ages over and over in 'cycles of destruction', humanity who's apparently at least thousands of years old (which I did not coordinate with Palamon at all, it was just a detail I'd always planned to use so that other people could play humans if they wanted to), a race genetically modified by their god predecessors in a process that's at least gone over three times, and a bunch of sentient AI with a god-AI that was made by scientists that nuked themselves to death apparently billions of years ago.

Also Icepick, the main reason for ClocktowerEchos asking about the Vol, is likely to try and get some story thread started with that. It's probably better to talk a bit about it between the two of you and see if you can come up with something interesting to work with it rather than mostly write it off as they'd only have had minimum contact or none at all. If in the end you two decide to not have had any contact between the two, then that's fine, but I feel like you ought to at least give it a shot before saying they'd absolutely not done anything with each other.

@Dragonruby

Your telling me that predecessors actually matter in some nation's history? Blasphemy! History does not matter only the glory of the future!

*battle cries of doom in background*

@Dragonruby

To be honest with you, I never even intended to make the predecessors better than anybody elses, why would I even do that? The predecessors are gone and it doesn't effect anything other than another race possibly knowing of the Vo'. I just did what seemed most suitable and realistic as a form of origin story. Don't worry about my race, this role-play isn't about bettering each-other and I know my limitations, if war does occur I'll certainly give the Voltar many failures and faults to even the score, I'm also open to converse about how events will end through PM's prior to starting.

@ClocktowerEchos

I'm completely open to organizing a previous history with the Aztrovan, perhaps they knew of the Vo', perhaps they have a technological trade agreement with the Voltar, could also be possible that there was a first contact war that last a short period of time before peace was declared, I'm open to many things, perhaps you could send me a PM and we could discuss there? Unless you are OK with just discussing here.

@Lauder

Just saying, everyone's going for some sort of pretty ancient history behind them. Honestly, I kinda like the tone of it since it does give the galaxy bit of a more 'lived in' feel, but I do feel like there's a point where it gets a little ridiculous.

@Dragonruby

If it makes you feel any better, there is no mention of ancients within my history :P

@Dragonruby Well don't you think it's sort of a requirement for a robot race? That doesn't just appear from dust and nothing...

@Icepick

It's nothing against your sheet in particular, just a trend I'm starting to see. Each one that came in just started to go older and older. Not a big deal, honestly, just a minor gripe from me.