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Gallente Bloc (or lack thereof) Discussion

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Seriphyn:
To start this off, I think the biggest thing that is a problem is that there are plenty of Gallentean roleplayers...except they all roleplay as another faction. Either as a Gallentean that is (apparently) a happily accepted State citizen, a Gallentean that converted to Amarr, or a Gallentean that "stepped down" and joined the Republic. If you ask me, that doesn't seem characteristic of Gallenteans at all; there are non-ethnic Amarrians who fight for the Empire, yes, but the tend to be Ni-Kunni, Khanid, Matari etc., and the State is marketed as xenophobic and the Gallenteans being their "hated enemies"...but I think that is another discussion altogether, and possibly sparked by my personal resentment over the fact you have more Gallenteans roleplaying a different faction instead of roleplaying their own.

EL-G attempted to provide, to which it worked to varying degrees, "militaristic" Gallentean RP. The tangible RP is all there; kicking out the State out of Gallentean systems and keeping them out so their can keep their corporate slavery blahblah to themselves. CCP provided an escalation to the war, a reason for the Gallenteans to fight, the same way that the Amarrians are fighting for the Reclaiming and the Matari are fighting against slavery. The Gallenteans are now fighting against corporations that will exploit their systems for material gain.

Why is it, then, in the face of this tangible RP goal, that the Gallente still are neglible in size? With the release of the Black Eagles chron, I was thinking of styling EL-G as a Black Eagles auxiliary. Lots of tasty lore that make the Gallentean secret police seem quite badass. Protecting Freedom by any means necessary. This has been discussed before really, but I am curious; the lore is there to be able to RP a Gallentean loyalist to the same degree as the other factions...so why don't people?

(also the Federation aren't Cosmic Catholics or tribes-in-space hurhur lolol :P kidding)

Syylara/Yaansu:

--- Quote from: Seriphyn on 22 Apr 2010, 03:23 ---To start this off, I think the biggest thing that is a problem is that there are plenty of Gallentean roleplayers...except they all roleplay as another faction. Either as a Gallentean that is (apparently) a happily accepted State citizen, a Gallentean that converted to Amarr, or a Gallentean that "stepped down" and joined the Republic. If you ask me, that doesn't seem characteristic of Gallenteans at all; there are non-ethnic Amarrians who fight for the Empire, yes, but the tend to be Ni-Kunni, Khanid, Matari etc., and the State is marketed as xenophobic and the Gallenteans being their "hated enemies"...but I think that is another discussion altogether, and possibly sparked by my personal resentment over the fact you have more Gallenteans roleplaying a different faction instead of roleplaying their own.

EL-G attempted to provide, to which it worked to varying degrees, "militaristic" Gallentean RP. The tangible RP is all there; kicking out the State out of Gallentean systems and keeping them out so their can keep their corporate slavery blahblah to themselves. CCP provided an escalation to the war, a reason for the Gallenteans to fight, the same way that the Amarrians are fighting for the Reclaiming and the Matari are fighting against slavery. The Gallenteans are now fighting against corporations that will exploit their systems for material gain.

Why is it, then, in the face of this tangible RP goal, that the Gallente still are neglible in size? With the release of the Black Eagles chron, I was thinking of styling EL-G as a Black Eagles auxiliary. Lots of tasty lore that make the Gallentean secret police seem quite badass. Protecting Freedom by any means necessary. This has been discussed before really, but I am curious; the lore is there to be able to RP a Gallentean loyalist to the same degree as the other factions...so why don't people?

(also the Federation aren't Cosmic Catholics or tribes-in-space hurhur lolol :P kidding)

--- End quote ---


I originally selected an Intaki ethnicity when I made Syyl'ara, fitting most of my natural outlook as a first roll.  This was before the recent strife that has taken place within the Federation, and I had no plans for any dischord in her relationship with the government.  Deeper understanding of Caldari-Gallente history and especially recent events lead me to this basic conclusion: from a narrative perspective most other factions offer a way for players to join their faction's antagonism while the primary route for doing so with the Federation is to direct it against the faction.

Its easy for people to roleplay an imperialist zealot (or cautious liberal reformer), it fits right?
Its easy for people to roleplay oppressed tribalists enacting retribution and spreading emancipation (or working quietly to bring their people into a more modern life), it fits right?
Its easy for people to roleplay bottom-line minded corporate meritocracies with meticulously streamlined logistics backbones and smart division structure (that looks super on a flowchart...I mean or the loyal provist soldier)

When it comes to the Federation, well...who ever sticks up for democratic bureaucracies with entrenched parties, obscured oversight, and the right to disenfranchise its citizens?

The problem is, it hits too close to home for a lot of people.  This game is naturally played in more advanced parts of the world who's governments are most easily identifiable with the Gallente...with varying degrees of the same problems portrayed (and in probably all of them, very clear examples of such across their history).  The natural position to take is one of antagonism.

We "know" brainwashed-from-birth generally leads to the prototypical Amarrian
We "know" formerly enslaved cultures have a hard time integrating and harbor deep resentments
We "know" corporate culture and supreme loyalty lead to questionable ethics

We know abuses of power in democracy must be met with indignation, not support or apathy

The first three most people have only experienced through anecdote or fictional/literary portrayal, the last we shy from "un-writing" from our conscience without grave consequences, so putting on the role of someone loyal to that institution might just be too far of a stretch for most of us.

Now with Yaan and the backstory of their Intaki exile heritage, my characters have a view equally critical of both for their irrational xenophobia and abuses.

Kaleigh Doyle:
Some have made the argument that since the Federation shares many similiarities to Western Culture that the roleplay is too close to the real world. Obviously, that's selling Fed rp a bit short and clearly they have many differences worth presenting. What I find interesting is that Federation roleplay has the most vibrant internal conflict (intaki separatism) of any of the factions.

Before faction warfare started, Kaleigh had started the Egaltarian Movement and the Rue Lounge that brought together all the major fed roleplay alliances and independent looking out for the best interests of the Federation people and each other in space. Cyrene, and a couple other alliances banded together, they worked together on projects, and I think overall strengthened the fed rp movement because of it, despite all their minor differences.

Ultimately, Federation citizens thrive on individuality but need to learn the value of banding together as a cohesive movement. It needs a natural leader to bring them together, and that might be something you could pull off, especially if you're well respected.

Casiella:

--- Quote ---We "know" brainwashed-from-birth generally leads to the prototypical Amarrian
We "know" formerly enslaved cultures have a hard time integrating and harbor deep resentments
We "know" corporate culture and supreme loyalty lead to questionable ethics
--- End quote ---

I might suggest that points 1 and 3 show up more commonly IRL than we might like to admit. I don't want to paint with too broad a brush, but certainly one can think of various religious groups who've reached conclusions that trouble many who do not belong to their belief system, yet seem completely acceptable to large parts of the world. And if you don't think that corporate culture leads to questionable ethics and decision-making, I wonder where you've been for the last few years. ;)

The second point is a little more complicated, but many of us have substantial experience interacting with individuals from the developing world (if not from there ourselves). Certainly the colonial pasts of many of these regions have an impact on their current situations, economically and culturally, so I can identify to a degree with the carryover into EVE.

I do agree that part of the issue described here with the Gallente is that it hits even closer to home for many EVE players and forces us to confront issues we face IRL, particularly in recent years. The other three issues seem a little more clear-cut, but ask around in the US about "enhanced interrogation techniques" and the current wars and you'll get lots of answers, some angry, with many varying viewpoints.

Carrying that conflict into a game that many of us play for escapism might defeat the purpose...

Silver Night:
I would say it isn't unlikely that you would find Gallente pod pilots scattered around other cultures pretty frequently. If you have a culture that is all about individuals, then they will go and make decisions for themselves. It's messy, but there you are.

I disagree with the idea that there is once 'type' - or even a few - that people 'should' play based on their race or background. It's a big cluster, and everyone should be different, to one degree or another.

I think a lot of the trouble for Gallente RP has already been hit on, but to add: There is no unifying theme. No hook for new RPers to grab onto. That is something that someone or some corp might be able to fashion.

Also, it seems to me you have a lot of 'RP-lite' folks in the Gallente block, particularly involved in FW. Someone might try and make contact there, and see if they can find a few people who are interested in the whole 'RP' thing.

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