Well, I do somewhat disagree with the thought we have so little cultural separation. Inside the Triarian Collective there is a race willing to drop all diplomatic relations because of an afront to their 'honour' and eats the flesh of fallen warriors (regardless of side), one that has practically no ethical boundaries (Though it seems that nobody else in the galaxy does either...) and species wide mood swings xD, one that is controlled by a hive mind placed in a 150 ft bug which no way of talking and sees pretty much everything as ants, one that is a mixture of Human and Triarian Culture, one that works on a primitive rule-by-might and who pretty much serve the Collective for the single purpose of getting to kill things with big ass weapons.

Take this crockpot of cultures and toss them into the Equiis pact and it wouldn't work (Said flesh eating alien would probably end up causing a civil war over his right to consume the flesh of dead warriors for a start rofl)
And as for entirely different meanings, it seems the Equestrians are doomed to misinterpret anything the Triarii say due to their speech differences (When the Triarii said 'Sacrifice children' they didn't mean Literal child sacrifice)

I admit some cultures do seem to have little difference (The Equestrians don't even have their own language after all)

I'm thinking inducting the Collective into the Pact is a bad idea anyways. The TC is basically the exact same as the Equiis Pact (Although how races joined it are a different story). I'm just kinda here to make sure war doesn't break out :/

TehAlphaGamer said
I'm thinking inducting the Collective into the Pact is a bad idea anyways. The TC is basically the exact same as the Equiis Pact (Although how races joined it are a different story). I'm just kinda here to make sure war doesn't break out :/

Obviously. Inducting a massively different union into another (And fragile, I should point out) union would be a stupid move. My point was not every culture in this rp is as 'utopian' as the Equestrian one, some are actually very different to each other and don't just go "Hey join us" "Okay" and have everything work out perfectly

I like to point out that where as the in the Collective they loose most of there independence, where as with the Pact most they are independent nations. Its just a economic, scientific, and military union, sorta of like the EU and IRL, but the EU bad.

duck55223 said
I like to point out that where as the in the Collective they loose most of there independence, where as with the Pact most they are independent nations. Its just a economic, scientific, and military union, sorta of like the EU and IRL, but the EU bad.

Being stereotypically utopian of course the Equiis pact is going to be more "independent", but independence isn't inherently good, you know, it just appears that way to humans. You need to stop thinking about everything from a human pov. From the view points of the collectives races, the Collective is good. You cant insult people unless its true (Try having your honour offended when you can have the other person charged for it), the highest achieving rule (And highest achieving can also mean mighty soldiers, philosophers, statesmen and leaders, can't it?) They get access to technology they would otherwise never get to spread themselves even further now they have overrun their world (The Corruptelae Insectum would likely never reach space stage. Due to the Empress deal with the Primicerii, they can now spread across galaxies instead of being confined to a single planet)

Also, how independent are these Equiis pact? This may sound very conspiracy theorist, but everything the pact does seems to further Equestrian aims only, it seems quite clear they are the main beneficiary here xD

Flight in one hour.

The reason that the Pact seems to only further Equestria's goals is because the others support Equestria fully. If they weren't in the Pact they be a lot weaker, where as if they are they have access to vast amounts of advanced technology, and were given magic. Logically it makes sense to support the Equestrians so they will continue to gain the benefits.

That makes them a protectorate, they sacrifice political autonomy (which doesn't appear to apply for the Equestirians) and basically give lots to the Equestrians in the hopes they won't be abandoned

Also what kind of democratic system does the pact work on? How can you say that all have to agree in order to deploy forces then not wait for the Sazkarjhit to do so because you assume they will vote in favour. While they may well vote in favou, I cant fo "I'm making myself prime minister because I Assume everyone will vote for me" even if it is likely I will win a landslide victory

And why is it immune to the weaknesses of democracy (Yes, weakness of democracy). If I slipped a Synth Infiltrator in he's be caught, but I don't understand how it would be so easy because I don't think the Equiis can do a Collective and stick biolocks on every door, run a Big Brother is watching surveillance program and still say they have great civil rights

Ever heard of a perfect character?
They always win in fights, they're really smart and clever, they're good at everything and generally unbeatable. Everything goes their way.

Now look at the Equis Pact. I don't know how many races, but there are many. Do you really think ALL of them will just give up, and surrender control to a bunch of magical talking horses, some with sno-cones on their foreheads?

There should be legitimate underground movements. Political manuevering to get other races into the decision making process.

But nope.
It's all Equestrians.

The Equestrians have tons of powers from all these races that they control, who they don't try very hard to break the control.
They have really damn good weapons.
They have really damn good shields.
They have really damn good spies.
They have really damn good, well, I'd rather not go on.
They even have a goddess that helps them out.

So, are the Equestrians more like a main character of a story, or a perfect character?

WilsonTurner said
Ever heard of a perfect character?They always win in fights, they're really smart and clever, they're good at everything and generally unbeatable. Everything goes their way.Now look at the Equis Pact. I don't know how many races, but there are many. Do you really think ALL of them will just give up, and surrender control to a bunch of magical talking horses, some with sno-cones on their foreheads?There should be legitimate underground movements. Political manuevering to get other races into the decision making process.But nope.It's all Equestrians.The Equestrians have tons of powers from all these races that they control, who they don't try very hard to break the control.They have really damn good weapons.They have really damn good shields.They have really damn good spies.They have really damn good, well, I'd rather not go on.They even have a goddess that helps them out.So, are the Equestrians more like a main character of a story, or a perfect character?

For races, we essentially have all the Citadel races from Mass Effect, the 10 (I think?) Races from the Equestrians themselves and the Sazkarjhit so I believe in total its ~20.
Credit where its due though, at least they are honest on who really runs the pact; it's named the Equiis pact xD

Edit: Now please note, I am not saying the society cannot possibly ever work. We are playing alien races, so some it could work well, especially with their POV. But I think the Equestrians are running a Mary Suetopia, and I will use a passage from TV tropes to reinforce this

"Note that there is no reason to assume that it isn't possible to create a better society. Thus, some of these utopias might actually work. However, the distinctive characteristic of a Mary Suetopia is that it goes beyond just being a perfect society - it's a perfect society filled with perfect people, who show enthusiastic support for the society's ideology. For example, maybe no one is poor unless they don't adhere to core ideology. Anyone who disagrees with that ideology is misguided at best and evil at worst"

Now, just in case you were going to point out the Collective has some of these features (The people support it's ideology with fanatic enthusiasm etc), that might be because everyone who disagree's gets their memories replaced. The Collective maintains controls through Dystopian means and holds together their Utopia through Brutal Control, Screaming Fanatics, Executions, Mind Control and pretty much any other way they need to (IE: When those Selkath tried to escape the planet. In the end they were all caught and shot). The Equestrians DON'T, and yet theirs works perfectly because everyone is willing to obey for no reason, a blend of 'Mary Suetopia' and 'Perfect Pacifist People' (Though the later is heavily debatable considering the Equestrians actions). The Collective is a blend of 'Utopia justifies the means' and the 'Evils of Free Will', which works because they will go to the lengths required to run this society regardless of the cost in an attempt to set up what they see as the ultimate utopia where everyone will be happy and there will be no want, no worry, no pain, no sorrow blah blah, basically good things. With the Equestrians it works because... uh... Magic? xD

How many is a Brigade?
Cause having enough footsoldiers to shake the ground
is like
unreasonably massive
You can have a stadium full of people screaming and yelling at their loudest, but I'm pretty sure the ground doesn't shake. That's just their feet against rickety metal constructionwork.

And true, Darkwolf.
I just don't believe that anything that is sentient and in space is content to lose control, and give it to someone else. If someone is in space, they are greedy or curious enough to do so. I doubt that they will easily let loose their freedom and control to someone else.

The Equiis Pact isn't perfect, and neither are the Equestrians. Due to the massive size of the Pact there is places where they have to imply beuracy, which opens up corruption and it does exist, I just haven't found it relevant. Crime also exists, its just that bigger ones like rape and murder are less common. I will also reference the fact that when Robert blew up a EA data archive to start his terrorist attacks he was working with a Griffon, Equestrians are corruptible and can be evil, just less so. There does exist separate ideologies but they tend to be the minority, and gerrymandering has happened. Also for the other nations and why they would sacrifice there freedom to be in the Pact is that they don't actually loose much. They can still run there nations the way the choose, and they loose diplomatic power, but gain economic, miltiary, and protection.

I wouldn't say 'evil,' exactly.
The Equestrians consider the Draconians, in some form, evil, yes?

Well, if you looked at it from this point of view, the Draconians may have just sought the ultimate peace. They go to different galaxies, integrate themselves in some form, then wipe everyone out, and then there is just Draconians. If Draconians took over an entire galaxy, it would be utter, complete peace, because Draconians have given up fighting each other. There would just be a working, stable organization of everything.

And your posts, to me, anyways, make the Equis Pact more of just Equestrians ruling everyone else in it. Like the Equestrians are just benefitting, and everyone else is working.

I know it seems like but they aren't as relevant, the Equestrians are the biggest and they usually receive 0 mention because they just aren't that relevant. They do benefit its actually the Equestrians doing the most of the work in the Pact.

WilsonTurner said
How many is a Brigade?Cause having enough footsoldiers to shake the groundis likeunreasonably massiveYou can have a stadium full of people screaming and yelling at their loudest, but I'm pretty sure the ground doesn't shake. That's just their feet against rickety metal constructionwork.And true, Darkwolf.I just don't believe that anything that is sentient and in space is content to lose control, and give it to someone else. If someone is in space, they are greedy or curious enough to do so. I doubt that they will easily let loose their freedom and control to someone else.

Couple hundred men. But they're trying to be louder because doing it shows you're motivated to a task, and motivation can be a sign for respect.

They're taking orders from the entire military's commander, so obviously they need to show as much respect as they can. Also, physiologically speaking Sazkarjhians may be able to speak louder than a few other species based on how their lungs, larynx and vocal cords are.

Shaking the ground is still an exaggeration. When a Spinosaurus puts its foot down, that's when the ground shakes.

Sorry for the inactivity, I spent two days making an app for an entirely different roleplay when the territory I claimed was taken by someone else. I'll get a post up today or tomorrow.

I'd like to join this. Is there a Galactic Map?

There isn't a galactic map, it'd be only partially useful anyway since some species are intergalactic instead of just being interstellar. Its more of a sandbox style tok

I need you on steam Key, oh and I would like to bring something to your attention Darkwolf if you could hop on as well.