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[Silas Vitalia]

Spinning off some of Publius' comments on the 'templar one' thread:

What happened to the broad strokes of the Gallente faction as more 'cyberpunk?'  I'm referring to the first few years of EVE, where the imagery associated with the Gallente was extremely slick, Neo-Tokyo, Gibson-ian 'future' aesthetic.  (see all the gallente ship designs as well)

My Gallente PF is of course quite weak, but from an outsider perspective it seems the faction has morphed quite a bit since those days. We see much more 'federal' and 'senate' sorts of focus these days. 

Can any of the Gallente RPers share thoughts on this?

It seems the other factions haven't strayed nearly as far with their general 'feel' from the early days.  Although the State imagery seems far far less focused on high powered mega-corp sorts of things.





 

[Seriphyn]

Grittiness in late 2000s media is what happened, that's what.

But yeah, I'm not very clued in on classical sci-fi (books etc.), but Gallente do have a very "technology integrated with lifestyle" feel (like domestic drones), versus the Caldari who have it integrated into military weapons and industrial systems instead.

But remember, EVE is real. Your EVE avatar is YOU, so We Will Make EVE Fashion As Close to Real Fashion As Possible.

I don't know if I'm getting the definition of cyberpunk right, though.

[Louella Dougans]

Gallente used to have plastic dresses with holo projectory doodad things on them and stuff.

[Publius Valerius]

Spinning off some of Publius' comments on the 'templar one' thread:

What happened to the broad strokes of the Gallente faction as more 'cyberpunk?'  I'm referring to the first few years of EVE, where the imagery associated with the Gallente was extremely slick, Neo-Tokyo, Gibson-ian 'future' aesthetic.  (see all the gallente ship designs as well)

My Gallente PF is of course quite weak, but from an outsider perspective it seems the faction has morphed quite a bit since those days. We see much more 'federal' and 'senate' sorts of focus these days. 

Can any of the Gallente RPers share thoughts on this?

It seems the other factions haven't strayed nearly as far with their general 'feel' from the early days.  Although the State imagery seems far far less focused on high powered mega-corp sorts of things.

I have actually the same feeling....

But yeah, I'm not very clued in on classical sci-fi (books etc.), but Gallente do have a very "technology integrated with lifestyle" feel (like domestic drones), versus the Caldari who have it integrated into military weapons and industrial systems instead.

I will try to make than movie exampels.... ehm....

• The Gallente Fed was for me in the beginning the "cyberpunk" faction.... but it was just a general feeling... I had not any backround infos... just the old intro; and I havent read so many chrons on the start. But generaly I had the same feeling like Silas: A mix out Neo-Tokyo, Blade Runner, Strange Days and Nar Shaddaa.
  
• The Caldari on the other hand were in my book... the "sci fi technokraten"... ehm there isnt really a translation... it is the style mix out Equilibrium (for the corp part) and Pandorum (for the military part), with small part of Kraftwerk.
  
• The Amarr of course "Sci fi fantasy" plus "epic fantasy" (from Star Wars over A Game of Thrones to A Clash of Kings), with a horror elment in the Blood Raiders and Sani Sabik.
  
• The Minmatar... I dont know... It looks like the scum in one of the Star Wars bars.
  
• The Khanid Kingdom... was and is for me a mix out "Sci fi fantasy" and "Sci fi technokraten". It means you have some cold steel elements... from the caldari site... like colors are more in a gunmetal silver-grey and the mod is more in a dark blue. Form the amarr site comes the aesthetics the round forms with a mix out Art Déco and Star Wars the Hutt-Faction. The last part can be seen even in this pic (the character of the old Chamberlain and than the pic and you have a nice fat hutt:P )
  

This was my first impression... after a week or two in the game it gets a little waterdown.

By the way.. can some write for me a hate comment on the EVE Forum I havent a activ account... it is just two little things here and here. I would like a change from "autonomous realm" to "independent realm", thats it; but dont forget me the hate .

[Publius Valerius]

Gallente used to have plastic dresses with holo projectory doodad things on them and stuff.

I already forgot it... that stuff looked awesome.... it was so cyperpunk... plus the house backround (this silver, glas monster, which looks like a mix out factory and office), this was my old gallente "jita trade price check bitch". And always when I loged in.. I though why I dont play this guy.... today it looks like a abercrombie shopper 

[lallara zhuul]

A cyberpunk feel for the Gallente may be part of the aesthetic, but a cyberpunk culture the Gallente are not (at least portrayed as such from my experience).

In the cyberpunk genre there usually is monolithic entities (corporate/criminal/governmental) that actively oppress the subcultures that search for freedom within the confines of the society that survive by living on the cutting edge. Smugglers, hackers, strange personality cults, its the Frontier of the Wild West brought into a dystopian future. Where True Grit and Attitude means more than creds.

There are clear aspects of the Gallentean society that hint at this possibility, the party line of the culture of 'freedom' where the 'freedom' is expressed only in the culturally accepted way. Clear controlling of the masses with media and funneling their interests into trivial ways of expressing themselves through consumerism.
There is the downtrodden who live in an economic prison who find that only way to keep sane is to be brainwashed by the media and be turned into something that does not have a personal identity anymore, this aspect is probably strongest among the Minmatar immigrants.

I could go on with the examples on how a player could interpret the Gallente culture as cyberpunk, to me, it has always seemed that the roleplayers that portrayed the Gallentean culture rejected this.
The frivolous 'feelgood' aspects of the media have been in the spotlight of the IGS (Glamour Bunnies for example).
The party line of the culture of 'freedom' has been the dominant view expressed by those criticizing other cultures.

The corruption of the whole Gallentean system has been swept under the rug through the actions of the roleplayers and the CCP.

Personally I would welcome a new aspect to the Gallentean RP.
But you would need bad guys for it.
And it seems like even the Amarrians do not want to be bad.

/end blergh.

[Publius Valerius]

A cyberpunk feel for the Gallente may be part of the aesthetic, but a cyberpunk culture the Gallente are not (at least portrayed as such from my experience).

In the cyberpunk genre there usually is monolithic entities (corporate/criminal/governmental) that actively oppress the subcultures that search for freedom within the confines of the society that survive by living on the cutting edge. Smugglers, hackers, strange personality cults, its the Frontier of the Wild West brought into a dystopian future. Where True Grit and Attitude means more than creds.

There are clear aspects of the Gallentean society that hint at this possibility, the party line of the culture of 'freedom' where the 'freedom' is expressed only in the culturally accepted way. Clear controlling of the masses with media and funneling their interests into trivial ways of expressing themselves through consumerism.
There is the downtrodden who live in an economic prison who find that only way to keep sane is to be brainwashed by the media and be turned into something that does not have a personal identity anymore, this aspect is probably strongest among the Minmatar immigrants.

I could go on with the examples on how a player could interpret the Gallente culture as cyberpunk, to me, it has always seemed that the roleplayers that portrayed the Gallentean culture rejected this.
The frivolous 'feelgood' aspects of the media have been in the spotlight of the IGS (Glamour Bunnies for example).
The party line of the culture of 'freedom' has been the dominant view expressed by those criticizing other cultures.

The corruption of the whole Gallentean system has been swept under the rug through the actions of the roleplayers and the CCP.

Personally I would welcome a new aspect to the Gallentean RP.
But you would need bad guys for it.
And it seems like even the Amarrians do not want to be bad.

/end blergh.

Sure you are right... ehm it was just my first impression about the differnt factions... and Im a guy which looks first, than try to dig deeper But of course you right. They where even as I started so 2009ish... no more cyberpunk... it was just my first impression, thats why I have style the char this way.

About "Amarrians do not want to be bad." I have not the feeling that it is actually a good or bad thing (even when it is always the story-plot, at least in the Novels). But I think, I know what you mean.... "But you would need bad guys for it." something bad in the Faction or Roleplayer which are bad, but in their own traditions and code of conduct etc.... If this is the case I can show one  here. I for myself has plan to get a story done... it is time... something like Strange Days but with Transcranial Microcontrollers and a little more politics, to be precisely, with a network of intrigues in the nobles of the Empire and Kingdom... etc... I hope I will start some day 

[Seriphyn]

Mm, as per Lallara said, I think aesthetic over politics.

Though I assume there are plenty of places in the Fed planetside where the local government is weak, and the corporations are stronger.

[Graelyn]

And it seems like even the Amarrians do not want to be bad.

We like being bad, but we like balance.

Every piece of new PF, news, novel, and nearly every single post on the IGS (that isn't from one of us) is obsessed over the utter sick putridity of Amarr.

Every single one.

[Vieve]

Maybe it's because I'm freaking ancient¹, but when I looked at the old art for the Gallente, I didn't think 'influenced by cyberpunk', I thought 'influenced by 2001, Space:1999, Logan's Run, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and Aeon Flux'.




¹To hear it suggested that cyberpunk is 'classic sci-fi' makes me twitch:  'cause Neuromancer dropped when I was a freshman in high school, y'all.

[Seriphyn]

And it seems like even the Amarrians do not want to be bad.

We like being bad, but we like balance.

Every piece of new PF, news, novel, and nearly every single post on the IGS (that isn't from one of us) is obsessed over the utter sick putridity of Amarr.

Every single one.

I feel you.

Just read the flawless, new introduction to the Caldari State, as well as the Minmatar Republic. No mention of societal flaws such as, I dunno, in the Caldari's case, authoritarianism, and maybe leaving millions of those who fell off the bottom rung of the corporate ladder (as well as their children) to become nothing.

While the Caldari are subtitled as "Megacorporations and Militarism" (by far a very popular attraction to new players), the Gallente get stuck with "The Paradox of Democracy", because yakno...democracy is the worst form of government because of human nature and what have you (no mention of sectarianism in the Minmatar Republic)...the good second-half of that intro is pretty negative. Gosh-darned Gallente don't know how to behave.

But that's just me q_qing again.

[orange]

All of those seem to be written as if it was 2008...

[Matariki Rain]

Maybe it's because I'm freaking ancient¹, but when I looked at the old art for the Gallente, I didn't think 'influenced by cyberpunk', I thought 'influenced by 2001, Space:1999, Logan's Run, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and Aeon Flux'.

This. I've tended to think of it as bold, clean, Courrèges-influenced space fashion, but some of your examples there are even better. It seems to have been "the look" of space fiction through the late '60s and '70s.

Ridley Scott's "dirty spaceship" approach in Alien in 1979 brought a huge and influential aesthetic change. Then he made the neo-noir Bladerunner, and Gibson and Sterling et al brought us more of the hi-tech/low-life blend that became labelled cyberpunk, and the previous aesthetic seemed... very well-lit and tidy in comparison.

¹To hear it suggested that cyberpunk is 'classic sci-fi' makes me twitch:  'cause Neuromancer dropped when I was a freshman in high school, y'all.

That sounds about right.

[Matariki Rain]

All of those seem to be written as if it was 2008...

Before the May 2009 Matari-weren't-all-enslaved retcon, anyway:

These raids ended when the Amarr Empire, acting on the religious imperative of their Reclaiming doctrine, launched a full-scale invasion and conquered all the Minmatar worlds, enslaving the entire race in the process.

[Esna Pitoojee]

Moving off from the slight derail for a moment - yes, I think Gallente definitely used to have a much more cyberpunk-ey feel to them.

I mean, let's look at the Crystal Boulevard even - they needed a way to protect their home base. This could have been written as the Gallente harnessing national popularity to build some complex layered defense out of unobtanium, with advanced self-repair droes and lots of technical info, etc etc...

Instead, CCP had them build several city blocks out of solid diamond.

Why? Not because it is the single most effective defense ever described in science fiction, but also because there's an undeniably shiny-cool-future feel to having your city made out of solid diamond. It's not just practical democracy, it's hedonistic, it-looks-cool-let's-do-it, near-future aesthetic design.