You're a villain. How would you change the world? Contest with prizes. (Spoilers for ZEITGEIST)

[Ajar]

The Pyre is a villainous plan. Well-intentioned, but flawed. Take our world and remove all technological progress but increase empathy and sympathy. Great, you have a peaceful world where people agree easily, but then it stagnates. It can't progress, because you've removed the mechanism by which progress occurs. In my view, that's actually a dystopia. It's not so far removed from the Watchmakers.

 

[gideonpepys]

The Pyre is a villainous plan. Well-intentioned...

Nice way to contradict yourself from the outset. "Well-intentioned villainy"? I think this demonstrates the absurdity of your counterargument quite nicely.

Take our world and remove all technological progress but increase empathy and sympathy. Great, you have a peaceful world where people agree easily, but then it stagnates. It can't progress, because you've removed the mechanism by which progress occurs. In my view, that's actually a dystopia. It's not so far removed from the Watchmakers.

Miller's Pyre does not seek to 'remove all technological progress'. That is a misrepresentation. I might go on to argue that 'progress' is subjective, but given that we don't seek to stifle it, that argument would be redundant. If by 'the mechanism by which progress occurs' you mean conflict and suffering, I can only assume that by 'progress' you mean 'enhanced means to inflict the same on one another'.

Finally, to describe a world in which people understand one another better as a 'dystopia' reveals the warped nature of your own Panarchistic viewpoint, for only someone truly twisted could view it that way.

 

[Ajar]

"Well-intentioned villainy" isn't an oxymoron. No need to be a jerk about it; this is, after all, just a game.

Miller's Pyre replaces the plane of Jiese. The Cunning trait of Jiese is what has enabled the technological progress in this setting, making it distinct from conventional fantasy settings that generally exist in a technological vacuum. Obviously it isn't certain that technological progress would be completely halted, but it's likely enough that I wouldn't risk it -- however appealing the rest of the Pyre's changes might be.

Edit: If it wins the voting, though, that does give me a good hook that will pretty much ensure my players (three of whom are engineers, as am I) will oppose it.

Edit 2: On an unrelated note, Panarchism also has a very significant side benefit -- with everyone regenerating, all but the worst accidents and ailments will be a thing of the past.

 

[gideonpepys]

"Well-intentioned villainy" isn't an oxymoron. No need to be a jerk about it; this is, after all, just a game.

Er... I know that. I was engaging in a bit of fake banter in a fake debate about a fake conspiracy on a fake world. Until you called me a jerk, I assumed you were too.

 

[gideonpepys]

"Well-intentioned villainy" isn't an oxymoron.

Oh, and, yes it is.

 

[Ajar]

Er... I know that. I was engaging in a bit of fake banter in a fake debate about a fake conspiracy on a fake world. Until you called me a jerk, I assumed you were too.

Oh, okay. Then I retract and apologize. When I'm not explicitly the writing as a character, I'm writing as myself and making my own actual arguments - which may differ from those I put in the mouths of characters.

 

[Herobizkit]

I misinterpreted the poll and thus didn't choose a major faction. But if I did, I would have went Arboretum/Sky League/Trekkers. Control nature, fly around, and secure resources from other planes.

Why yes, I do love Stargate...

Also, more Bards. Because there are never enough.

 

[Ajar]

You can change your vote if you wish - click the red "unvote" at the top right of the poll.

 

[DonTadow]

Voted Miller's Pyre. It had the most layered plot plan than the other plans. It's a very subtle, almost passive agressive, approach to the situation, which kinda falls in line with whats been going on right now. No one is forced to do anything, but the pain of doing some things is quite potent. I can see really good people backing this up, and I can see really evil people wanting to support the PCs. I love moral quandaries.

 

[RangerWickett]

While I don't realistically expect everyone who has voted so far to check in and change their votes, I wonder if those who have been particularly outspoken for one faction or another would like to propose alliances or compromises?

Watchmakers and Colossus look like they might need to coordinate to have a chance of victory, and a compromise might involve letting those with the proper truename powers resist the "no free will" aspect of the Watchmaker plot.

That would force the other factions to seek a compromise. Miller's Pyre, currently in the lead, could pair with the Panarchists, though the two groups seem a bit ideologically opposed, with harsh words being thrown back and forth. And the Pyre cannot easily ally with the Arboretum without severely curtailing their plans, since both factions use the planes of air, earth, and fire for different purposes.

It's unclear how many votes the Pyre could pick up by offering to support some of the minor factions. Mortal Mind has a lot of support (perhaps partially due to the typo in the poll changing its name), and it seems less compatible with the Watchmakers, but will they support the Pyre or the Panarchists? The Sky League certainly seems to favor Panarchists.

This thread is both exciting and vexing, because I'm writing Adventure Seven now and am having to work around not knowing how the vote will go. Plus, I'm pondering which of the posters here I want to ask to let me write them into the plot. Thanks for your involvement; it's been a great boon.

(Oh, and a reminder. We're still running a Kickstarter, and we're about ten pledges away from hitting probably our most important stretch goal at $11,000.)