I don't know how anyone on the Unity could've chosen anyone over Zakharov

[zarus]

Reading the introductory fiction for the series, Zakharov's pretty much the only faction leader who actually does anything useful. While everyone else is busy arguing about the chain of command, he's the one fixing the ship so that everybody doesn't die.

It extends beyond that, though. I mean, they're going to an alien planet where they'll constantly be put in situations where doing the wrong thing will spell death for them and everyone around them. The people in Star Trek were all scientists for exactly that reason. "Shoot it with a gun" or "Just buy them off" or "Convert them" doesn't work on borderline supernatural physical phenomena.

If I had to choose faction leaders, I would go

1. Zakharov
2. Skye
3. Santiago
4. Yang
5. Lal
6. Miriam
7. Morgan

 

[BodyGripper]

They all regard him as a genius, but many of them think he's an evil genius. I haven't read the manual or books, but the faction leaders often make reference to his unethical experiments.

Aside from that, many of them just don't think the pursuit of knowledge should be a nation's ultimate goal.

 

[zarus]

The thing is, though, he's the guy who just SAVED EVERYBODY'S LIFE. I get that everybody's worried about human rights or whatever, but their experiences onboard the Unity should have made them realize that such concerns don't pay the bills and keep them alive.

 

[BodyGripper]

Good point. Still, maybe they're genuinely terrified of him. Maybe he's infamous for his cruel experiments, and it's like choosing to follow a famous war criminal over a famous human rights/peace activist. (I haven't read much of the introductory fiction. Is that something included with the game, or are do you mean the books?)

Also, most of the factions probably have enough scientists to make their followers confident. He's just only one who is so heavily involved in the research (besides maybe Deidre).

Still, based on what I know, I'd probably also pick him. Here's my order:
1. Zakharov
2. Deidre
3. Morgan
4. Lal
5. Miriam
6. Santiago
7. Yang

 

[Ermelloth]

Zakharov and Aki-Zeta5 forever.

Best factions IMO. I play one of these nearly always. Oh, and I'm Russian as well - another reason to like Provost

On the other hand, how could anyone trust his / her future to religious fanatic like Miriam? Considering the mankind development by this time period, it's hard to believe someone would follow her at all.

 

[Hightower]

Reading the introductory fiction for the series, Zakharov's pretty much the only faction leader who actually does anything useful. While everyone else is busy arguing about the chain of command, he's the one fixing the ship so that everybody doesn't die.

It extends beyond that, though. I mean, they're going to an alien planet where they'll constantly be put in situations where doing the wrong thing will spell death for them and everyone around them. The people in Star Trek were all scientists for exactly that reason. "Shoot it with a gun" or "Just buy them off" or "Convert them" doesn't work on borderline supernatural physical phenomena.

If I had to choose faction leaders, I would go

1. Zakharov
2. Skye
3. Santiago
4. Yang
5. Lal
6. Miriam
7. Morgan

I agree that Morgan and Miriam seem just completely useless as leaders in canon. At least Miriam gets people to follow her with her charisma (I don't get the impression her initial followers necessarily chose her for being super-religious but for being very charismatic), but Morgan's pursuit of wealth on a hostile, virgin planet with no contact with civilization is just a joke. I get why people would follow Santiago, though I wouldn't, and I don't think she has a necessarily "wrong" strategy. I think you give too little credit to idealism in putting Lal so low. Definitely Zakharov and Deirdre give the impression of having by far the most to offer in dealing with their situation; among other things, they're the only two scientists. (Deirdre's areas of specialization seem to me more relevant than Zakharov's, who is more theoretical, but they're both important.)

Yang always struck me as weird. His citizens don't seem to actually believe they live in a utopia (unlike Domai's in SMAX), so I'm not sure why anyone followed him into his dystopia in the first place. If it was just for his security/survivalism, Santiago seems like a better choice.

Anyway, would put them, in order of practicality:

1. Deirdre
2. Zakharov
3. Santiago
4. Lal
5. Yang (but a bit of a mystery, TBQH)
6. Miriam
7. Morgan

 

[AdamCrock]

It is true Morgan gets SUPER DISADVANTAGE at the beggining but +1 econ +1 econ from golden age = +1 energy square per base / +1 energy from worked tile at golden age and energy credits can accomplish everything Morgan faction needs to spam bases, furtermore , needs to spam bases with future planning and need to defend !! Agreed it is a very difficult faction to start with but very, VERY paying off in the later game !

 

[zarus]

Deirdre's areas of specialization seem to me more relevant than Zakharov's, who is more theoretical, but they're both important.

Not true, as far as anyone can tell, he's humanity's greatest engineer, and he has proven expertise with landing military gear in Siberian winter.

Yang always struck me as weird. His citizens don't seem to actually believe they live in a utopia (unlike Domai's in SMAX), so I'm not sure why anyone followed him into his dystopia in the first place. If it was just for his security/survivalism, Santiago seems like a better choice.

It goes beyond that. He doesn't have any ideology more coherent than "do what the scary old man says."

 

[Dai]

Yang was second-in-command aboard the Unity, which means that he arguably has the most natural claim to be in charge, just according to the rules. People interested in following the rules because they're the rules would have a natural reason to side with Yang. (And might be the sort of person who would prefer a rules-based society like the Hive anyway.) Additionally, I think there's a legitimate argument to be made that having a strong government with a lot of authority has some appeal in a dangerous new world; if you're more scared of your fellow citizens or of aggressive enemy factions than of the government, a police state has some appeal. I'm not saying that I personally would side with Yang, but I think there's reasons to do so.

 

[zarus]

Also, everyone basically saw how weak and useless Garland was. All of the suggestions that worked came from his crew, he basically did nothing while the Unity fell apart. Someone looking for strong leadership, especially an altruistic person willing to do ANYTHING to help the group, would probably gravitate towards Yang.

 

[magic9mushroom]

Zakharov's pretty much the only faction leader who actually does anything useful.

He's also the least charismatic and an arrogant control-freak who jumped at the chance to split up command and go it alone. The guy's competent, but he's also rather unstable and generally not the best choice for situations more complex than "oh half the security force has mutinied".

 

[Pyjama Team]

I don't see any reason to say that featured leaders would be unlikely leaders, without suggesting radical sociology deconstructions. They all have intelligence, knowledge, expertise, charisma and some historical group affiliation, generally. In particular, each is amenable in different ways to imagining special devises for holding social power.

By that line, perhaps Diedre is the most likely leader, since she is a powerful psychic (game text has many mentions of Diedre's psychic conversations with planet, commentary on psychic power, and so on) enough so that mindworm captures are possible without prior planet exposure. Psychic power under some conditions could be influential. Cha Dawn also could be psychic, although perhaps individual ideology would make domination/influence impractical (if not for other psychics).

Lal and Morgan are already leaders, the first diplomacy (ostensibly strategic active political actuarial work, with emphasis in culture), the second similarly with emphasis in research and development, blatant power. Yang probably would be discussed similarly.

Svensgaard could be some kind of survivalist, or eccentric engineer. Perhaps while in space he speculated what would happen if calamity, as happens in the smac storyline at planetfall, struck the ship obligating use of escape pods, and further more, if some calamity befell escape pod landing thrusters, obligating hard aquatic landings, and an eventual need to survive in any arbitrary body of water. Perhaps as a hobby he rigged up one of the escape pods. Or anything. Perhaps he was an engineer, rigged the escape pods anyway, and no one cared because he was their engineer or escape pod use was not a concern (thwarted confidence).

I'm not sure about Aki-Zeta. If it is all about the consciousness, why have a leader? And anyway, how do they have that before mind machine interface? Optionally, many of the technologies discovered on planet could be already known, though perhaps reconstructive experts died in the crash along with computers, archives.

Reading the introductory fiction for the series, Zakharov's pretty much the only faction leader who actually does anything useful. While everyone else is busy arguing about the chain of command, he's the one fixing the ship so that everybody doesn't die.

It extends beyond that, though. I mean, they're going to an alien planet where they'll constantly be put in situations where doing the wrong thing will spell death for them and everyone around them. The people in Star Trek were all scientists for exactly that reason. "Shoot it with a gun" or "Just buy them off" or "Convert them" doesn't work on borderline supernatural physical phenomena.

If I had to choose faction leaders, I would go

1. Zakharov
2. Skye
3. Santiago
4. Yang
5. Lal
6. Miriam
7. Morgan

 

[AdamCrock]

@Pyjama Team Having a leader is a willing of a concious being, people like being watched over, they like to have a "big brother", despise what anyone say. They have a need for "god to watch over us" and they like to have a leader. Me ? I would like to join in with the Free Drones , work myself out of this mess

 

[Pyjama Team]

@Pyjama Team Having a leader is a willing of a concious being, people like being watched over, they like to have a "big brother", despise what anyone say. They have a need for "god to watch over us" and they like to have a leader. Me ? I would like to join in with the Free Drones , work myself out of this mess

You can be my leader if you do everything I say.

 

[Pyjama Team]

I'm not sure about Aki-Zeta. If it is all about the consciousness, why have a leader? And anyway, how do they have that before mind machine interface? Optionally, many of the technologies discovered on planet could be already known, though perhaps reconstructive experts died in the crash along with computers, archives.

I suppose as ideology becomes increasingly central to intra-group discussions of group coherence, so increasingly ideology (language, performance, 'performance') theory and practice may become increasingly inviting, susceptible and candidate for manipulation efforts, for any interested with concepts of social control, stability, etc.

Consequently, Aki-Zeta could for example be Svensgard's girlfriend or sister, equally obsessed or pre-disposed toward addressing existing and potential survival constraints, and/or perhaps finding and justifying means to stay occupied. (bg music suggestion: "The Joker" (opening line "some people call me the space cowboy"). Among vocations she could be a different kind of Lafayette Ronald Hubbard: Arrakis is desert power and the observable is people power, and so she devices protocols, systems, for her dominant human resources strategy, whose enactions are more amenable to her design and control (centrality of artifice and mechanism design, tools directly accessible by her individual person, to social order). Democracy and thought control intermingle with her authorship. Incidentally, of many things that could be said about this sort of form comes to me notice that of perks or purposes plausible deniability may be of greater use. They have creative accountability options, the cybernetic consciousness.

But of course a would be "strong leader" would be interested in laws, regardless agendas.

 

[Daedwartin]

Also, everyone basically saw how weak and useless Garland was. All of the suggestions that worked came from his crew, he basically did nothing while the Unity fell apart. Someone looking for strong leadership, especially an altruistic person willing to do ANYTHING to help the group, would probably gravitate towards Yang.

a giant problem with this: he didnt get much time to do much but try to make sense of everything going on before he was killed.

he never got time to do much period.

the entire reason all the factions exsit is because he was killed. and that the UN rushed things and didnt make sure they chose those who would get along.

 

[Codpiece]

I reckon quite a lot of people would side with Lal. Yes, he's a bit boring and sides with the old order, but it is a U.N. ship, after all. Quite a few people would be loyal to the mission, as reflected in the base capacity- and Talent bonuses in-game.

Although I'd never side with Yang, I reckon quite a large portion of Earth's population would have come from large, collectivist/communist regimes, and some would stick with what they know. Not so much an ideological choice, but one based on familiarity and work ethic.

My personal order of preference would be:

1. Zakharov
2. Lal
3. Deirdre
4. Morgan
5. Santiago
6. Yang
7. Miriam

... because of my western atheistic upbringing. I'm not much of a capitalist, but I'd rather follow a regime based around achieving personal comfort on an alien world than throwing myself at the will of a militarist.