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Has the email to all other former members been sent out? As far as recruitment goes, I /think/ the SDRP is the best bet esp. since Eileen has some clout there.

I think it's a good idea and players can form little side stories/RP in threads within their respective subforums. In the past, I usually liked to have an NPC interact and take main focus to a specific player, Yakima-Griffen, Renzo-Lindy, Jash-Thrie, etc, but easily to relate to anyone involved or nearby.

While Im on the topic, I'll go ahead and answer a few questions might have:

-Yes, Keno is still retired from the ASDF and has no intention of coming back. ICly he's recovering from escaping one of the Lower Planes (he is a wanted half-demon after all).

-As far as the last attempt to start the GA goes, RL issues placed everything I was working with to a halt. If it's regarded as AWOL or wanted, that's fine since ICly Keno has no intention of returning to that either. Depending on the circumstances of closure and his access, it does pose as a security risk.

-The Torama Mercenary Unit still exists, but is led by Renzo while Keno recovers, tho much smaller. Largest thing they have is a ship serving as base (maybe an old, downed ARMD) and a couple of small mecha (ie Bioroid Power Suits, a few Cyclones and a pair of Mini-Betas). The role they'll play most likely would be 'anti-hero' to 'money talks' as long as there's something left to spend on.

-The R-Type project along with anything else of value has been sold in bits and pieces. With Eileen's new project it wouldnt be surprising if some of the improved versions of that old tech showed up. (Some of her ideas hit the button with what I had hoped to accomplish along the road.) With the main site I got info from going down, my notes being lost, and my PS2 + game having to be sold there's no real hope of picking it back up, especially since although I knew what I wanted the end result wanted to be, I pretty much had to think up the path on the fly.

-I'm sending 'Sputnik' an email since I found it in my of my old address books, who knows right?

I'm in favor of taking them away - either just have a reorg issued in character which causes the mecha shuffle, or have some catastrophe reduce the various branches to ruin (including private mecha).

Question: Everyone gets new ranks right? I was never really clear on that. If so, what's my new rank? Or has that yet to be worked out?

Oh, and on the custom mechs, I'm all for the "Take away the custom mecha for now and give em back when you reach an officer rank" option.

New recruits should all use standard mechs, once a person has reached an officer rank, they'll have earned the privilege to use a custom mech.

Truth. So how about we keep with Eileen's version of squad-similar officer pods, then: same thing, just more badass (and therefore easier to make look the same)?



Definitely agreed.

Also: I suggest we pretty much reserve convertible mecha for elite-forces groups.



So long as convertible mecha are curtailed, that seems more than fair. razz

How about this: Officers pick their own craft, and their choice determines what kind of squad they command and what said squad pilots. All mechs in a squad are either all the same for specialized units, or completely different for general units.



If officers pick what they command, they get custom mechs without penalty... As long as the mech they choose isn't unique.



I'd say that standard equipment policy shouldn't apply to spec-ops at all. However, this means that spec-ops will be readily identified in the field



Convertable mecha are curtailed by the fact that they need to sacrifice armor in order to have the mech capable of altering it's shape. They're also curtailed by the serious risk of terminal wing damage from ground ops, the drastically lowered weight limit, and the loss of a great many hardpoints for mounting.

I have no idea what system we would be using, but I'd say knocking a total of 20% off of their defensive and offensive capabilities would be enough to keep them fairly rare.

If we went with a system where mechs are rated on, say, a simple scale of points per trait, then I'd say it makes sense to give them a -4 penalty to divide as they see fit between defense and attack. Or we could go with a more complex system that simply resolves the issue directly through the simple loss of hardpoints and weight.

Mathmatically, it's 20%. A 10/10 mech with a 20% penalty against both attack and defense would be an 8/8, with combined scores of 20 vs 16 at a total penalty of 1/5th their points, which is 20%. Sticking it at 6/6 would go beyond a simple handicap, it would be the same as stripping an Atlas down to a Galahad.



I see them mostly as support craft so that they don't need to make every op a cross-branch one.

If the GA needs some air recon, or to launch an attack prong across a lake, they shouldn't need to call in the ASDF or GN. It just makes sense to have a squad convert to aerospace for a few scouting passes, or to have an amphibious strike force to approach at high speed from an unexpected direction for free hits on vital targets, aircraft carriers and being able to deploy troops to establish a beachhead are accepted naval practices, and there's no reason for the ASDF to neglect the utility of seaplanes or ground cover.