[K5pbem] My Thoughts On Restarting the K5 PBEM

[Mathieu Roy]

Michael Surbrook wrote:

> Although considering the general (assumed) temperament of the rest of  
> the world, pacification though superior firepower may be greeted with  
> nods of acceptance. And while Jinsei wasn't winning per se, they  
> weren't losing either. It was sort of like Iraq, actually, except  
> there was less of an influx of new "insurgents."

It's very different though in that the population is just about 100% 
hostile, and very motivated. Quite frankly one of the many possible 
outcomes is that Jinsei is *still* fighting in the Zone 5 years later. 
Rooting out a determined, motivated and well-armed guerilla force from 
an urban setting is going to be hell for anyone. Even the mighty US 
military has struggled at it.

> One possible out come was Jinsei being forced to pull out when it  
> became apparent other corporation were sneaking their own troops in  
> for live-fire combat trials and/or a chance to force Jinsei to commit  
> more material in NY and less elsewhere. Bringing new meaning to "cut- 
> throat" business practices, neh?

Indeed. We already know they were nonplussed by Jinsei's "arrest" of 
their personnel in the shallow ends of the Zero Zone, and they were 
willing to collectively hire Spycorp to obtain two top-flight strike 
teams to rescue their personnel and wreck Jinsei's Zone HQ.

> Another independent "nation"? Or an autonomous zone? The Neo York  
> Autonomous Zone?

Not necessarily something official (though that's possible), but if 
Jinsei pulls out, there's the possibility that the tenuous structure 
that brought the Zone together to fight them stays, and the Zone ends up 
with a "city-wide" organized militia. Given a popular and charismatic 
leader, that might even hold together.

Just another of the myriad possibilities.

> Point. I hadn't thought of that, but then I don't think in that  
> direction, either. On the other hand, a lot of Zone inhabitants don't  
> (and won't) have access to that sort of medical assistance.

They can afford cyberware and the like, though. Sure, none of it is 
legal or even sometimes new. But if there's secondhand cyberware, there 
may well be smuggled "gene therapy" and the like. Still something that 
most of the Zone residents won't be able to afford, that's certainly true.

> I had an mental image of Shion going up against a Nightsky Dragon,  
> and a sane Ran helping.

And what about Raven? :D

> Ask Max. I figured the end result would be a Jinsei corporate state.  
> And, to be honest, the land is worth plenty, simply because of its  
> location, but development has been put off so long, no one knows how  
> or where to start.

The land might be worth plenty, but Jinsei may well be finding out why 
nobody did what they're doing before -- the cost to obtain the land may 
well exceed its value. Unfortunately since it's Jinsei, they may 
continue out of pride where a saner corporation would have cut its 
losses and pulled back.

> I am open to suggestions. My current image of the next is loosely  
> based off of stuff seen in "GITS", "Silent Mobius", and parts of  
> "Johnny Mnemonic". I have also thought about "The Matrix" for ideas  
> on next "hacking" as well as "Virtual Light."

They're all classic (plus the seminal Neuromancer), but frankly they're 
not very realistic. Most "real" hackers wouldn't bother with complex 
interfaces, they get in the way, and breaking encryption is generally a 
matter of time and calculation, not twitch reflexes. A virtual reality 
interface may be convenient for regular users, but hackers would use the 
command prompt. ;)

Ultimately in the real world the weakest point in any security system is 
always the wetware, ie. the humans. So a successful hacker really is 
more likely to be a good social engineer, as well as good with dumpster 
diving and similar methods. :)

This is a game with replicant cat-girls and tank-shattering espers and 
cyborgs, though. So unrealistic computing is the least of our worries. 
If it looks cool... ;)

Mat