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[Laria Raven]

I wonder if part of the problem is that there doesn't appear to be very much in the way of positive PF for the Gallente. I've read all the chronicles now, and TEA (but not TBL), and I can't recall seeing a piece of narrative PF (as opposed to "This is Egonics, they make excitement") in which the Gallente aren't potrayed either as (a) evil or (b) losing. Everyone gets portrayed as evil (hey, EVE!) but all the other factions get to win occasionally.

As a result, it's kind of difficult to find positive Gallente things to get behind.

Can anyone correct me?

[Seriphyn]

Open up the character creator. Gallenteans by far have the most "positive" intro description, intro video, and theme (well, the music is subjective, but is the most melodic as opposed to the drone of the others).

Gallenteans also pioneer fashion, cuisine, music and media. WRT cuisine, that's in the Jita 4-4 chron, and fashion is similarly an obscure mission item here.

Thing is, the areas of which Gallenteans dominate clusterwide are all "soft" elements, instead of hard stuff like heavy industry. This means it's not so obvious to RP, and you need to put that extra effort in to get people's attention and so on.

One of the Gallentean ancestries is mining actually, and how it's a cultural icon, as brave pioneers etc. Maybe some scope there.

[Alain Colcer]

I wonder if part of the problem is that there doesn't appear to be very much in the way of positive PF for the Gallente.

I'm not sure about "positive" PF, since if you read the original material about the Gallente Federation, it is a society described as very open and vibrant way.

I think it's more about PF purely centered around gallente without comparing it in bad or good light against others. I have not read a single description on how a lobbyst faction in the Federation achieved great success in any particular area, a new social law that benefited corporation workers?....when you read most news about Britain, US, Brasil (the closest things i can relate the Federation to RL), you read a lot of good and bad news, a lot of events happening inside that had nothing to do with the rest of the world....internal struggles, success stories.....

For the Caldari and Amarr i've seen more of these cases, i think it's just the Gallente and Minmatar that are lacking a bit of "flesh" in terms of faction description.

In fact we once had a long and very interesting conversation with Zagamesh inside STRIX's channels, comparing the Solitude region with US Texas (local pride), or how NPC megacorps in the Federation were aimed to become horizontal monopolies while the Caldari were aimed to become vertical monopolies.

Such small details are important to add in the overall storyline, cause we might have the option as players to do whatever we want in the Federation (personal freedom), but the backdrop in which this is done may augment or reduce the significance of said things we do.

Also, when i invented Federation day, it was a natural thing to think about, with all their pride as individuals, who wouldn't celebrate the day this great multicultural nation was born? It's the same as 4th of July for the US.

Regarding ideas on what to do from an RP standpoint, many of the ideas presented here are indeed quite nice, but again we fall into the small detail, we are capsuleers.....with the ability to command powerful Starships....in what light paints us towards the general federation citizen? a threat? a benefit? the problem again is multitude of answers, and therefore difficult to portray yourself as a loyalist to the faction. You may be loyal to the "ideal", loyal to a government institution, a business partner perhaps....but pure loyaly? nah, no such thing in the Federation.

[Gottii]

I wonder if part of the problem is that there doesn't appear to be very much in the way of positive PF for the Gallente. I've read all the chronicles now, and TEA (but not TBL), and I can't recall seeing a piece of narrative PF (as opposed to "This is Egonics, they make excitement") in which the Gallente aren't potrayed either as (a) evil or (b) losing. Everyone gets portrayed as evil (hey, EVE!) but all the other factions get to win occasionally.

As a result, it's kind of difficult to find positive Gallente things to get behind.

Can anyone correct me?

This is an ironic quote, really, and highlights a lot of the problems with the Gallente.  I think one of the problems with the Gallente faction is, if you read the initial PF and backstory regarding the factions, they made the Gallente the unabashed heroes of the EVE universe.  Everyone dogs TonyG for his portrayal, but from what Ive seen, TonyGs vision is actually fairly true to the initial views of EVE, its just that his views seem quite outdated to modern EVE eyes.  I dont believe EVE's backstory was very nuanced at the genesis.  Fortunately that changed.

If you read the initial PF, it flat out states that the Gallente are the defenders of liberty and liberalism, even explicitly stating that they have more scruples ( i.e. higher moral standards) than the Caldari.  They were the closest thing EVE had to "the good guys".

Well, eventually, it seems that such one sided and simplistic portrayals really limited the appeal of all the races really, so PF tried to make the Gallente more "realistic", in effect started trying to give them flaws and cracks behind the democratic hero image.  But, it ended up that the "moral pull back" became the only new information regarding the Galllente that was put out there.  The corrections became the message.

But I dont think thats the fundamental issue people have with the Gallente.  Its basically this.

Familiarity breeds contempt.

And the vast majority of people who are reading this are either citizens in a liberal, western-style democracy, or at least are very familiar with them. 

The vast majority of the players who play EVE easy identify and recognize Gallente democracy, and thus they know how to critique it.  Internet culture itself is generally skewed against such concepts as patriotism and nationalism, at least as it applies to western style democracy.  For many players, Its easy to critique the Gallente fed IC, simply copy/paste whatever anti-US/Britian/Western democracy rhetoric you find in editorials and news stories in real life, change some details, and suddenly you have very realistic and dense RP that resonates with the majority of the RP audience.  We're used to looking at democracies flaws and ugly facets, because we see them every day. 

Nothing wrong with this at all, as I said, it makes for very dense and weighty RP.  The problem is that, when looking at the Gallente traditional opponents, the Caldari society is much, much fuzzier and not very well-understood to the EVE RP community, because its quite different from anything in real life today.  Because Caldari culture and society is so relatively alien, its easier to over-identify with, to idolize, and to sweep the faults under the RP rug so to speak, or to simply overlook them.  Ive seen it portrayed many, many ways, as clans or tribes with Corporate names, to Ayn Rand-like capitalistic utopias, to whatever. 

As far as I can tell, the Caldari society is a relentless one, thats quite brutal and merciless to even its citizens, let alone those outside of it.  Caldari have very little loyalty between individuals (after all, even your own family will disown you if you cant take the grind of Caldari corporate life), the society "grinds its own people to dust" (almost an exact quite from the Burning Life, my copy is packed up somewhere), and the State generates homeless and poverty at a rate unequaled to any other faction (more homeless there than anywhere else, even more shocking since theyre a commercial power, they have the resources to help their fellow citizens, they just dont care, its not in their mindset).

In short, the Caldari (and the Amarr and Minmatar for that matter) have a lot of faults, but those faults are many times subjective and open to debate, because its all "make believe", a lot of them are conjecture and/or require a lot of research and digging into EVE's PF (this goes for the Minmatar and Amarrians as well).  But, when looking at the Gallente, we already know all their faults, cus we seem them in the world around us, and we're trained to look for them by our own media. 

If you would like Lara, I could give you some of Gottii's/Minmatar-centric views on the Gallente people.  He has a fairly positive one (i tried to create one, since it jived with the general universe).  But I would rather RP it I guess, makes for good scenes

[Seriphyn]

What Gottii said.

People apply RL democratic criticisms to the Gallente Federation. The problem with CCP is they have not made Gallente an interesting SCI-FI democracy, but just a generic space one. Their portrayal in the Burning Life is a step in the right direction. It makes no mention of its government or politics; it actually made the Gallente seem like they're actually set in a sci-fi universe.

One example is that people assume the Fed oppresses minorities, or that it's "us and them" WRT the Gallente and other bloodlines. Not strictly true; they all seem diluted and mixed together now.

[Casiella]

I personally really enjoyed the bodymod scene from TBL. It built a little more on this idea of the Gallente value of freedom of expression.

Plus, you know, it could be kind of hot.

[orange]

One example is that people assume the Fed oppresses minorities, or that it's "us and them" WRT the Gallente and other bloodlines. Not strictly true; they all seem diluted and mixed together now.

As a Caldari RPer, we press this position because that is what the first Gallente-Caldari war became about.  We try and play the "long memory" and point to it.

[Matariki Rain]

"Gallente society is in a constant state of flux, vigorous, vibrant and progressive."

If there are fundamental concepts in Gallente culture they're that individual lives matter and that people's freedom to express themselves is precious. If you can dream it -- and bring together the ideas, the contacts and the work, and spot the right moment in time -- you can do it.

Yes, there are big brands and huge-scale commercialism, but Gallente society seems also to be the sort of place that fosters street fashion and values personal creation and recombination of elements. The big companies are taking their lead from stylish taste-setters on the streets of the Gallente equivalents of Milan and Harajuku. The people are confident enough to choose and use the brands available to them.

It's your right to make the most of yourself. If you don't, that's your choice.

We tend to hear about the current big brands (mostly Quafe), but my take on Gallente includes both a lively interest in the best from their own history and curiosity about all that's to be found in other cultures. They're magpies, cultural bricoleurs, striving to explore and succeed and be envied and live meaningful lives. They think everyone else must be basically like them, wanting freedom and Gallente-style democracy, and they'll do their best to help others achieve that. They love some of the ideas they have of the life of the noble savage, but when other cultures' concepts conflict with their own concepts of freedom, franchise and equality they have no doubt that they're the ones who are correct. They find it hard to understand that others might not wholeheartedly embrace the gifts they offer. Yes, of course the cynic can point out that they'd like bigger markets, but they also fundamentally mean well and want to bring the light of the Crystal Boulevard and the classic Gallente playwrights to the dark places of the cluster. If you take to their ways you can indeed do well in the Federation.

Lately we've seen the things that happen when some aspects of the Federation go too far: complete reliance on drones and an execution by public acclaim. The first has been corrected. The second... I haven't really been following the signs about whether that Gallente version of the lynch mob is now a matter of shame.

Gallente culture and RP could be bright and vibrant and wonderfully open to culture-building. I find much of it strongly appealing, which may explain why Matariki's life is marked by her involvement and engagement with Gallente language, ideas, (lovers) and dance. There's much to admire, and also much to distance yourself from in order to be you.

I'd love to see the bright, witty RP that I think Gallente culture could support. And I find the military stuff dreary, and the Black Eagles a bit too trope-y. Yes, that stuff is there and it's important, but if Gallente give up their curiosity and joie de vivre they will have lost the culture war they've previously managed fairly successfully. Sure, they're hurt over the Caldari not wanting to be part of the family any longer, and confused about the Republic-dwelling Matari wanting something that's not what they'd want, but at the moment they're still winning on immigration, culture, music and food. Those count!

Drink the champagne; dress with style; be audacious: be Gallente.

[Seriphyn]

<3 Matariki, very good post.

Perhaps it's worth I try and resurrect the "capsuleer idol" that Seriphyn had going on for a while...like...

Inhonores landing a sponsorship deal for Quafe Navy Issue.

That combines the Gallente military RP with Gallente culture RP right?

Or maybe even utilize Anette Inhonores...

[Vieve]

If there are fundamental concepts in Gallente culture they're that individual lives matter and that people's freedom to express themselves is precious. If you can dream it -- and bring together the ideas, the contacts and the work, and spot the right moment in time -- you can do it.

And of course, if you succeed, you'll likely wind up in a higher tax bracket, so it's a win-win for the Federation (or at least for Federation tax attorneys funneling money into foreign tax shelters).

[Alain Colcer]

They think everyone else must be basically like them, wanting freedom and Gallente-style democracy, and they'll do their best to help others achieve that. They love some of the ideas they have of the life of the noble savage, but when other cultures' concepts conflict with their own concepts of freedom, franchise and equality they have no doubt that they're the ones who are correct. They find it hard to understand that others might not wholeheartedly embrace the gifts they offer.

The above is the jewel of your post, i believe that within STRIX this very same concept was discussed, and it is the way Gallente think of "others" outside their nation.

The problem i see, or at least not the problem but the lack of information is how the Federation sees itself....

[Chowda]

The problem i see, or at least not the problem but the lack of information is how the Federation sees itself....

It probably depends on which party is in power.  The citizens who favor the ruling party probably see a nobel, yet imperfect democratic republic that stands for truth, justice, and the Gallente way.  The citizens who dislike that party likely bemoan what the Federation has become and quietly cheer any setbacks or bad economic news. 

   

[Casiella]

Huh. Sounds familiar.

I was thinking today that the Federation might be the only one of the four major nations to adhere to what we think of as a sovereign nation-state, a la the Westphalian model.

[Chowda]

Since this thread started, I have been thinking about what kind of corp I would design from scratch if I wanted to create a Gallente RP platform.  It would have to stand for something in the Federation, as well as have a unique look to outsiders.

Name: The Conservative Bloc

The corporation would be funded by the Progressive Party and Ultra-Nationalists, comprised solely of members of the two.  The corp's goal would be to grow in size and reputation in order to protect the frontier from the Caldari as well as be used as a tool for political influence against the Sociocrats.

The Progressors are basically libertarians, but as the party that had been in power so long, they would have to be realists towards the external dangers the Federation faces.  The U-Nats are always down for busting heads in the name of the Fed, so they are in to accomplish similar goals.  

This allows for wiggle room between those who want to role play the political angle and those who just want to be in a PvP corp.  In my opinion, you need both if a rp corp is going to exert real power in the game, something this corp would be designed to do.  A good player likes to act up in local?  Here, link this U-Nat page in your profile next to the link to the pic of the ape drinking its own pee.  Problem solved.  I'm not implying U-Nats can't be roleplayed.  I'm just saying its the easiest cover for pirate/griefer-style gamers.    

The main operating base would likely be Vlillirier as it is two jumps (x2) from Black Rise and most Caldari mission runners have to pass through it.  The location would provide a setting for players being stationed on the front lines of the conflict.  It's a prime spot for both offensive and defensive plexing.  It's also a functional system with a lot of factories, four of which are actually Caldari-owned interestingly enough.

I'm a political wonk so I would play up that angle.  I'd make mock homepages for the two parties, maybe even one for the Sociocrats, and encourage Gallente players to link which one they belong to in their profile even if they weren't in the corp.  I would seek out Gallente corps who take an opposing political view to develop political storylines.  Maybe for events, have some friendly wardecs with other militia corps (no podding) in hi sec to settle political disputes.  

Basically, it would be a PvP corp with a rp focus.  I'm the type of person more concerned about developing things in-world with a certain look rather than making sure everything is done in-character.  Others here are obviously take a different approach.

Thoughts?  



    

[Alain Colcer]

Thoughts?  

Do it