Barry's Bar

[Dirty Chai]

Yes, High Rock + Hammerfell like an expanded TES2 would be getting the most out of a contained map, I think.

Though, when was it that the Redguards wiped out the Nedes who lived in Hammerfell (which was called the Deadlands by the original Nedes)?

[Barry Goldwater]

Looks like we've got a decisive victory for High Rock + Hammerfell, folks. I'll get the thread finished hopefully by Wednesday, at which point we can start immediately.

@BF UESP and the TES Wiki both inform me that that didn't happen until 1E 808, so with our starting date the Deathland Nedes should still be around.

[Dirty Chai]

So.. we have Nedes, Aldmer, Dwemer, and maybe Orsimer (they're not mentioned until the First Era).
And then Nords can be invaders perhaps? Though their empire did not attack until 1E 240.

[Barry Goldwater]

Nedes, Aldmer, Dwemer and Orsimer are definitely in: the Orsimer have been around since the Middle Merethic Era, they haven't organized into Orsinium yet but they apparently already do have their own communities in central High Rock (as well as parts of the other provinces). The Nords are in as well I guess, there's nothing stopping anyone from playing a Nordic warlord who's established a foothold in the east (the region of Jehenna, Craglorn, whatevs). Heck if a player so wishes it, they can claim their faction got founded by Pelinal Whitestrake under any of his many early aliases, apparently he's been carving out random kingdoms all over the place only to leave when he got bored since 1E 660. The Yokudans also at least know Tamriel exists by this time I believe, and though in respect of canon there'll be no NPC Yokudans on the mainland at the start (at most they could show up as traders/diplomats in your court as a special event), if a player so wishes it could play a faction of Yokudans who've washed up on the continent ahead of date for some reason or other (fleeing civil war, trading, looking to establish a new power-base to help in struggles at home, etc.).

I've decided on an ME 10 start BTW, so just 10 years before the beginning of the First Era.

[Dirty Chai]

I'm not too familiar with the original Yokudan civilization's culture, but perhaps the most reasonable explanation for any Yokudan faction would be Phoenician-style colonization?

[Barry Goldwater]

That could certainly work, though I'd be happy to leave the specifics of how one's faction became a thing to each individual player.

[Dan the Man]

On a totally unrelated note, THE STEAM SALE BEGINNETH!

[Dirty Chai]

Hey everybody, how are we all?

[Kip]

Busy busy but life is grand, BF. Yourself?

I had a chance to glance through some old stuff this morning and reminisce. Thought I'd mention that I think Rodina was one of our greatest creations. Enjoyed a (sadly brief) read of our RP threads from that era.

[Dan the Man]

Red 5, standing by.

Things are pretty good on my end. Semester got off to a rocky start but I'm recovering. Talking to a new girl now as well, so I got that goin' for me...which is nice.

[Pericles of Athens]

Well... My chapter got kicked off campus, but we're recovering nicely. About to have my six month anniversary with my girlfriend. Classes are hard but I'm making it through. Get a new apartment or house in June so I can live at school year round, so things are going pretty well.

@Kippy Rodina was good, the original RB was epic as well.

[Celsius]

All quiet on this man's front.

At this time, I need education to be worth the money I'm pouring into. Also scouting job offers across the nation, which sounds fun but in all actuality is the worst thing I've ever had to do.

[Dan the Man]

Well... My chapter got kicked off campus, but we're recovering nicely.

Did they take the bar? The whole ing bar?

[Barry Goldwater]

Still here, still chugging along quietly. I'm spending the free time that I'm not using to hang out with friends/the gf/family to keep tabs on the ongoing primary process (both GOP & Dem), which is exciting in the same way that riding the worst rollercoaster in the world while drunk and with a ton of dynamite in the seat behind you is exciting.

[Pericles of Athens]

The republicans have some real crap choices this go around don't they. A puppet, a fascist, a maniac, an , and a clown - its like the set up to a real bad joke.

On the other end Hillary is a bad joke too, so I'll be feeling the bern.

[Kip]

Bernie Sanders reminds me of the unpopular guy/girl in after-school specials that beats the cheerleader/quarterback for class president by promising to give students access to the teacher's lounge, then promptly gets kicked out because you can't just do stuff. That being said, he's one of the only stand-up folks in the entire race (not just Dem side) - which I realize, even as I type, is an utter travesty that I cite it as a positive trait, rather than the 100% guarantee it should be.

Agreed about RB - those may be our true glory days. Both a great setting and plenty of lively activity!

[Barry Goldwater]

The republicans have some real crap choices this go around don't they. A puppet, a fascist, a maniac, an , and a clown - its like the set up to a real bad joke.

On the other end Hillary is a bad joke too, so I'll be feeling the bern.

The scary thing is that every single one of the bolded nouns you chose could easily apply to more than one of our candidates For my part, I've made up my mind to cast my vote for Rubio come the Virginia primary on Super Tuesday, since he's by far the sanest & least slimy of the candidates we have left* and also seems to have overcome his robotic meltdown from NH in SC. (immigration isn't a very big issue for me so that's everyone's favorite ex-Democrat self-promoting conman from NY out, and I find Cruz simultaneously Nixon-level shady and far too radical for my tastes)

I agree with your & Kip's sentiments on RB BTW. WEF 1.0 was the first time we tried out the mixed political RPG-IH model, but I think RB was where we perfected it. That, and the next games set in the RB-verse were generally more successful than WEF 2.0 and 3.0 (the former of which fell apart in the Constitutional Convention and before any real gameplay got going). As I recall only WEF 1776 really came anywhere near the longevity & player #s of say, Rodina.

Edit: *Well, the sanest and least slimy candidate left who can win. I guess there's still Kasich but his plan going forward (skipping every state between NH and Michigan IIRC, including South Carolina just now + Nevada + all the Super Tuesday states) is utterly insane and unworkable, especially since neither he nor Rubio currently have a hope at beating Trump in the northern states he's betting on unless one of them gets out of the other's way.

[Celsius]

I was speaking to a colleague the other day and we starting discussing Trump. What if he really does "Make America Great Again"? What if he slashes poverty, unemployment, and the economy booms and goes down as one of the greatest?

It's a terrifying thought in more ways than one.

[Pericles of Athens]

Hitler did those things for Germany..

[Barry Goldwater]

I was speaking to a colleague the other day and we starting discussing Trump. What if he really does "Make America Great Again"? What if he slashes poverty, unemployment, and the economy booms and goes down as one of the greatest?

It's a terrifying thought in more ways than one.

Oh I wouldn't worry about that and you shouldn't either, the odds of Trump actually 'Making America Great Again' are roughly equal to the odds of a dino-killer asteroid hitting Yellowstone and killing us all tomorrow - yeah, it theoretically could happen, but the chances are so tiny that it's not worth more than two seconds of consideration. Setting aside his long history of support for the Democrats & the Clintons in particular - he's run business after business into the ground & drove himself into bankruptcy more than once (hence why Trump Steaks, Trump Vodka, Trump Airlines, etc. no longer exist while Trump Hotels & Casinos, or w/e he's calling it now, is on thin ice), he's proven himself to be very fond of using eminent domain & to collude with corrupt local politicians to screw over any 'little people' living on property he wants (hi there, Vera Coking and those disabled veterans he tried to boot out of sight of Trump Tower), for all his bleating about illegal immigration & walls he's been quite happy to abuse the former's labor in the construction of Trump Tower and God knows how many more of his buildings, he's in debt to many of the major banks he claims doesn't own him and he might not even have enough money to fuel his campaign to the finish. Whenever I hear a Trump supporter tell me that 'oh none of that matters, what counts is that he FIGHTS DA 'STABLISHMENT' I have to replay Winston Churchill's immortal quote in my head to block out the voices of Alexander Hamilton & countless long-dead European aristocrats telling me that the common people are too stupid to be trusted with the levers of power, so we should have an elite aristocracy make all our decisions for us instead:

It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except all those others that have been tried

In summary: the Donald's a bald-faced conman, a hypocrite and an oligarch representing the absolute worst of crony capitalism & puddle-deep populism put in a blender, who is presently rocking the highest unfavorability rating out of all the candidates in the Republican field (note also that he's never been able to get out of the high 20s-30s range in either of the primaries & the Iowa caucus to date and won SC by a lower margin than NH, meaning he has a high floor but very low ceiling of support, zero ability to grow his base & no ability to carry momentum from one state to the next), and who if elected due to God falling asleep at the universe's wheel or something will be an American knockoff of Putin with even less ability to consider the long term, certainly not some Messiah who can actually make the country 'great again'.

@Perry Nah, the Trump-Hitler comparison is unfair and insulting...to Hitler, who was at least marginally competent at steering the economy back on track (even if 1. the German economy was at rock bottom before & 2. his economic growth was unsustainable without a major war & looting of the vanquished) and at playing the long game in world politics - two things Trump has repeatedly demonstrated he's not got the slightest idea how to pull off.