Topic of the Week: Interstellar Aid Corps & Luna Convention

[Caelphon]

Both of these represent a much more "hopeful" Orion Spur - one with a sliver of interstellar order. How you view them, and how would you change them if you could? Where do you eventually hope these two things will lead, and what foundations could they possibly lay out? 

[Marlon P.]

I remember writing these. The luna convention was just a tool to update human rights laws to space. I'm suprised to see it mentioned; i assumed it was retconned because its ancient and i think i rarely saw it mentioned. Does it get much mileage nowadays?

The iac was always a favorite i liked that everyone else shrugged at. They're the only egalitarian movement that doesn't compromise their message.

In the dark, hopeless, and cynical setting built for aurora they seem strange and out of place.

I still like their dorky outfits.

Edited February 28, 2022 by Marlon P.

[WickedCybs]

At the moment they both feel like relics of old lore that don't really matter much. The Luna Convention is superfluous and with no signatory except Jargon following it without some stipulation. The IAC is conceptually fine but it's pretty out of sight and doesn't really get much mention in places I'd imagine it'd be heavily involved in, like the Wildlands. Another aspect that's more of a player sided thing I suppose, is that it doesn't feel very "professional" either to me. Volunteering on a whim and treating it as a diversion probably wouldn't really happen right? I think they'd want dedicated professionals that believe in the mission.

[ChevyChevron]

I'd personally just like to see more of the IAC. As Cybs mentioned, there's a lot of places where the IAC would logically be involved where the just don't get any mention because they're not terribly relevant in modern lore.

[Sparky_hotdog]

Personally I really like the IAC, for the reasons highlighted above. They're pretty unrefutably good guys, which is refreshing in a universe of shady grey figures. The Aurora universe is clearly not supposed to be a happy place, but having those dorky light blue uniforms act as a simple, universally understood light in the dark only serves to make the shadows stick out more. So I would greatly like to see the IAC expanded upon, or at the very least used and discussed more in relevant lore.

Me rambling on a bit about the IAC

Spoiler

However, I do think the idea of characters wearing their IAC uniforms to work is... strange at best. I'm going to compare the Corps to the Red Cross IRL for reasons I believe are self evident. The Red Cross similarly have both full time employees and volunteers, but the volunteers mostly spend their time acting as extra first aid at public events, at least the folks I know that do it. Obviously places in the Auroraverse that are hell in a high basket would be an exception here, so an IAC volunteer in the Wildlands would likely be dealing with worse shit than one in Biesel, but the way it read to me is not "civilians who volunteer their time to go into active conflict". If it's supposed to be that, that's still cool, but some clarification would be nice. This similarly extends to the usage of IAC outfits on station. I get that its a way of showing the lore, and I can probably suspend my disbelief for small 'trinkets' like the beret and armband, but the jumpsuit and other more uniform-y items feel to me at least too much like they're out of place, especially given NT/SCC relations with the IAC aren't exactly warm. And a final note on that would be that it is also strange that these items are restricted to medical, given most of the Red Cross volunteers I know aren't healthcare professionals.

As for the Luna Convention, it's... yeah, it's old. It's old and at this point basically broken by every sovereign state in the Spur. Maybe that's the point, but eh... it's kind of just something that's there in the lore. Maybe if, in the wake of recent events, the IAC were to push for a new convention to be signed by the galactic community, that would be interesting. Give the IAC some spotlight, keep the Luna one as a sort of IC reminder of a failed attempt. Just spit balling at the end here.

[ImmortalRedshirt]

I'd argue that things like the jumpsuit is a necessary concession to make for the sake of the game, as it's much easier to notice than an armband or hat labelled "IAC MEDIC DON'T SHOOT" with the level of fidelity we have.

[Boggle08]

The Luna convention is merely a suggestion, in practice. Many of our factions opt out, and the ones that opt in are written in such a manner that it doesn't matter anyway.

As for the actual gameplay, these conventions don't exist at all. Antags are not beholden to morality, and the station security/command become more autocratic and extra-judicial as they move through alert levels. The only rules of engagement that exist are the ones the admins enforce. 

I think that rules of engagement and diplomacy for space will become useful later on, however. Things like the Luna Convention can't exist in a traditional SS13 antag round, but they can when interacting with 3rd party ships. Having conventions/rules of diplomacy when it comes to these interactions will be extremely useful at keeping both sides from just needlessly escalating into doing something stupid. 

[ImmortalRedshirt]

Oh, the IAC got updated. Overall, the idea of expanding on what they do and where is good, but there's just one issue. I'm not really into the idea of them being a corrupted organization, especially when everyone else gets plenty of that already, and it doesn't feel like a fitting drawback. Perhaps a more appropriate one would be an IAC that tries to stay clean in spite of everything going on around the Spur, and draw the conflict, struggle, and triumphs from how their efforts are made difficult by this persistence. Focus on the external rather than the internal. After all, that's what the corps was made to do.

Edited March 1, 2022 by ImmortalRedshirt

[Boggle08]

2 hours ago, ImmortalRedshirt said:

Oh, the IAC got updated. Overall, the idea of expanding on what they do and where is good, but there's just one issue. I'm not really into the idea of them being a corrupted organization, especially when everyone else gets plenty of that already, and it doesn't feel like a fitting drawback. Perhaps a more appropriate one would be an IAC that tries to stay clean in spite of everything going on around the Spur, and draw the conflict, struggle, and triumphs from how their efforts are made difficult by this persistence. Focus on the external rather than the internal. After all, that's what the corps was made to do.

I feel this. People who want their fix of shitty reality cyberpunk aren't going to the IAC for it. The tension and conflict for the faction would benefit more from external factors

Edited March 1, 2022 by Boggle08