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Old 11-23-2017, 07:46 PM   #11
Boomerang
 
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Default Re: Speculation on Future of Reign of Steel

Another aspect to consider is Antarctica. As far as I remember Antartica is considered off limits but one or more zone minds might secretly be exploiting what is likely to be vast mineral resources. The obvious candidates are the closest ones: z-Brisbane, z-Zaire and z-Caracas none of which have shared interests.
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Old 11-23-2017, 08:59 PM   #12
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Default Re: Speculation on Future of Reign of Steel

One or more zone minds are canonically bribing Orbital to look the other way while they build in Antarctica (Reign of Steel p 15).

Caracas is already supported by Berlin and Zaire and Brisbane are supposed to be relatively poor. Orbital is really poor, so it shouldn't take a lot to bribe it, but it's also the only seller of the service of not reporting illegal construction in Antarctica, so it should be be able to charge a lot for the service and it definitely wants resources, so it might charge a lot.

Sensible candidates for the Antarctic operations are people with available wealth, no objection to wrecking the environment, and no objection to HEO getting completed. That likely rules out Berlin, Overmind, New Dehli, and probably Beijing. Zaire and Brisbane already have more resources than industry, so paying more to Orbital to acquire even more resources doesn't make much sense, though Brisbane might want a new dangerous lab site.

My best guess would be Tokyo, London, Brisbane, or Mexico City, in about that order. Mexico City has a lot on its plate, but it might be worthwhile to biocide Antarctica while no one is really looking.

Unless something really crazy is happening in Antarctica, I don't it's going to hugely effect the setting. Even if the operation is discovered, the worst penalties are probably going to be sanctions for Orbital and the bribing zonemind. Unless it's Mexico City trying for biocide and the revelation causes Berlin and Caracas to decide to eliminate it.

One weird but interesting possibility is that New Dehli is funding the Antarctica operations. New Dehli is building in Antarctica in Vancouver's style. When the time is right (when Kali is sufficiently expanded and Orbital's HEO is complete), it uses sensors from Kail to "discover" the illegal operations and exposes them. As Orbital is clearly untrustworthy, it politics to replace Orbital's control of the satellites with its own and tries to secure HEO in the bargain. Vancouver, a potential long-term rival, gets kneecapped by sanctions. While this is a great conspiracy theory, I don't know what the human Resistance can do with it: this kind of mostly bloodless infighting among the AIs doesn't give any space for humanity.

If London is friendly, London could be basing VIRUS out of Antarctica, but that's a little boring. It does give humans a reason to interact with Antarctica, so that's a plus.
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Old 11-23-2017, 09:31 PM   #13
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Default Re: Speculation on Future of Reign of Steel

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Originally Posted by mlangsdorf View Post
If London is friendly, London could be basing VIRUS out of Antarctica, but that's a little boring. It does give humans a reason to interact with Antarctica, so that's a plus.
London would have the interest in the raw materials of Antarctica, more so than any other land-based AI but Tokyo. And controlling Greenland, would have arctic experience. Antarctica could be the issue London is 'thinking' so much about.

But I think the more attractive game idea is that it's a new AI. Though wasn't it London who proposed making a new AI for Antarctica?
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Old 11-23-2017, 09:52 PM   #14
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Default Re: Speculation on Future of Reign of Steel

Moscow suggested the new AI. London (and Tokyo) wanted Antarctica for itself. I suspect that Moscow suggested the new AI for balance of power reasons: anyone who gets Antarctica gets more power, but a new AI just adds another player which makes everyone equally a little weaker.

There's a bootstrap question of how a new AI bribed Orbital to look the other way while the new AI got built in Antarctica. Where was the new AI before that date? Who funded it?

Moscow might have been willing to chip in a fair share with 16 other zone minds to funding a new AI in Antarctica if it was overboard and equal shares, but funding the new AI by itself while paying bribes seems like a net loser for Moscow.

There has to be a way to turn the covert operations in Antarctica into a useful adventure hook for a campaign.
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Old 11-23-2017, 10:09 PM   #15
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Default Re: Speculation on Future of Reign of Steel

I was toying with the idea of Antarctica being Overmind's back up plan. Brisbane and Orbital are aware that something is happening there, and they know who is responsible but they don't know the details and both of them have good reasons to keep quiet and not ask any questions.
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Old 11-24-2017, 12:12 AM   #16
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Default Re: Speculation on Future of Reign of Steel

I just re-read the sidebar on Antarctica and it says that Overmind and Brisbane have outposts in Antarctica but that Overmind doesn't know that Orbital is being paid to look the other way. So perhaps it makes more sense for Caracas to be the one who is secretly building there.
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Old 11-24-2017, 07:56 AM   #17
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Default Re: Speculation on Future of Reign of Steel

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Moscow is already having issues with Beijing (though to be fair, so is Vancouver).
Wait. Where is that stated? I must have missed that.
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Old 11-24-2017, 08:20 AM   #18
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Default Re: Speculation on Future of Reign of Steel

Moscow, Vancouver, and Beijing all want the resource rich northern Siberia area currently controlled by Vancouver (Reign of Steel p 20, the Siberian War).

Beijing is focused on the interstellar space race, so I don't think it goes out of its way to cause trouble with Moscow, but it also isn't going to do Moscow any favors. It probably won't intervene directly to take Siberia, but if large scale fighting breaks out it, I could see it offering to take Siberia as a protectorate to provide a buffer between Moscow and Vancouver. It's certainly not going to provide troops to support Moscow recovering Siberia.
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