Quick! The Unity is seperating! Who will you join?

[Gadren]

If you were a colony on the starship Unity, who would you have sided with (I'm including the SMAX factions too, just because I'm nice ^_^)? Answer quickly -- the pods are seperating -- oh, and don't choose that 8th pod, I hear it's unstable.

I would go with Zakharov and the University of Planet, mainly because I share his ideals of a better world through science, as described in the mini-story written by Michael Ely. His disdain for politics and lack of desire to get caught up in them echoes my sentiments that all the political bickering and polarization nowadays is just hurting society. I also have some sympathy for Lal's humanitarianism, but in the end I would have to team up with the University.

What about you? (Remember -- this poll is about ideology, not necessarily who you play as.)

 

[Proletariat]

I'd go with the Spartans, simply on the basis that my chances of survival as an individual will probably be a bit better than with the rest of the bunch, at least in the short-run. Also, from what little I know about the Spartans, they seem much less intent on nerve stapling me the first chance they get, unlike the Believers or Hive.

In purely ideological terms (which is kinda silly) though, I'd probably side with the Morganites or Peacekeepers. The rest just scares the bajeezus out of me, and with the exception of the Drones or Cyborgs, the SMAX factions is kinda hard to pin down on any particular ideology, or at least not ones that make any sense outside of the context of SMAC.

 

[Paalikles]

Brother Lal. Give peace a chance

More seriously:

I believe in a rather strong role for government (although the bureaucrazy portrayed in this faction is a bit much)

I also believe in the UN - although it does not take a rocket scientist to see that the UN is an imperfect organisation.

 

[Lockesdonkey]

I took Peacekeepers ("Ambassador to the U.N." is one of my dream jobs), but my mother would probably go Gaian and my father would go University.

 

[Phlegmak]

Gaians, without a doubt.

 

[Wilhelm Kaleva]

CyCon Forever!

 

[YNCS]

The Pirates. See my avatar for a clue as to why.

 

[Truronian]

Morgan Industries, then I'll emigrate to Peacekeepers if I go bust

 

[Till]

I'd probably join the Gaias, but once i find out about mind worms, i reckon i'd lose my green thumb real quick.
My next stop would probably be the pirates.

 

[Perfection]

Manifold Usurpers!

 

[adam123]

Here are mine choices and why. Comments welcome


-Morgan
Morgan number one cause it would be the land of opportunities. And, it sounds like a no tax, no interference government. Profit justifies. A libertarian society. It makes you feel alive, and stand on your own feets because you’re forced to. The TV channels and culture would be like Fox News (without a conservative touch) For those not blessed with a good health, private charity organizations exist. Hopefully it won't turn bad or un-efficient, where huge monopolies hurt the economy, or if it turns out to be a speculation economy making most people gambling and fighting competitors instead of actually producing something.


-Data Angels
Free sharing of information and technology. Sounds like a laid back, cozy and fun place to live. It would be capitalism without copyright/patent rights or industrial secrets, communism with personal freedom.

-Zakharov
Probably the most successful society, with technologies making life simple. Defiantly on the right direction speaking on human evolution. It would be more progressive than Morgan's, but I like the "**** future generations, let's party" and limiting government at the benefit of the citizens more, putting the individual in focus, and not the government.

Zakharov may have some weird genetical experiments (voluntarily I presume) everything justified by science where ethics is defined as scientific discoveries benefiting human evolution.


-Nautilus Pirates
Yes sir, burn and pillage! Rob and party.. Sign me up!


-Cybernetic Consciousness
I guess they would take us far as evolution as a species. But is it really that fulfilling to having a pre-set perfection as a goal in itself? And they seem very puritistic and boring, where the daily tea hour is the ultimate high.


-Santiago
The world has always been ruled by guns and bullets, so giving people access to this is a sound decision if you wan’t to prevent government facism in the future.

Very de-centralized, with freedom, privacy and pro gun laws. But poor on efficiency and high crime rate.


-Lal
Oh gosh, lot's of bureaucracy and political correctness. Very much like the world we live in today. It would however have human rights and a rule by law, but progress would be slow due to an inneficient government system.


-Cult of Planet
So a cult..hmm. Well, world leaders including the Nazists and Reagan++ Where obsessed by astrology and some went further. But, it alone has never brought success in the end, it may be a good tool to set details as place and date, but it's not something to build a society alone on. I guess they never would reach the Industrial revolution for example, but would continue to be a tribe in the rain forest until someone comes and colonize them.


-Miriam
Considering that Christianity is built on do what you wish others would do to you, it can’t be THAT bad. The downside is allot of regulations, high punishments and prison sentences for sins and a puritistic world view.


-Free Drones
Like communists limiting humans to working robots. Everyone is the same, A4. And the government are paranoid about people thinking different or standing up, and thus makes it's best effort to passify and subvurt resistance.


-Dierdre
Oh, hate those environmentalist-fanatics above all else. It's twisted that someone sets threes and plants above humans. I believe the world is ours to be used, and not the other way around. Still, I rather live in small hut eating carrots say Yang.


-Manifold Usurpers
Main objective is to destroy all life and planets. Well, it may be a fun life, (fun to destroy and blow up stuff) but a very short one


-Manifold Caretakers
Same as Dierdre, only that these ARE animals and plants.


-Yang
Like the dictator of North Korea. A communistic oppressive regime, with torture of political opponents. Very twisted rule, where huge national amusement parks and national monuments isn’t visited since no one can afford or wants to.

Everyone are slaves for the government's desire to increase GNP and to make the dictator complete it’s vision of a communistic paradise, but he doesn't, it's stagnation and poverty makes Yang force everyone back doing the basics, farming. When that doesn't work, he get's bitter at the people, and wants to get back on them. They still worship him brainwashed as they are, making self destruction it’s only hope.

 

[Proletariat]

Wow, that's certainly an... interesting interpretation of the various factional ideologies. I can't even tell if you're being facetious or not. I suppose that's the neat thing about the factions in SMAC though: They each have their own overarching agendas while still leaving enough room for the player to interpret in the form of the Social Engineering options.

Take the Morganites for example: Democratic Libertarians with emphasis on individual economic freedom (Democratic/Free Market/Wealth), or Corporatist State in which business interest rules above all (Police State/Free Market/Power) I personally prefer the first interpretation, but many of the quotes by Morgan would suggest the latter ("The Centauri Monopoly").

In that sense, it is perhaps a bit unfair of me to write off the other factions so easily, when much of what they say and do are fairly benign. It just irks me immensely when someone places so much value in something that people are tossed to the wayside, whether that be science, the environment, or whatnot. At least with the Morganites, you're at least garunteed some degree of freedom, by the virtue that slaves never have, and never will make a decent economy. You need consumers, after all.

Say what you will about Brave New World, it still beats the heck out of living in, say, 1984. Not that either are particularly desirable.

 

[ArneHD]

I'm not quite sure, but I think that either University (who I play the most of in SMAC), Gaia (Eco-anarchism? I don't really know where to put these in todays political compass), Cybernetic Consiousness (I don't know about these, I need more information), or Data Angels (not the most organized of them).

I think that I would rather go with University though, since I have played them a lot.

 

[Crimson Sunrise]

None of the factions are entirely good or entirely bad, I think. Even the peaceful, eco-hippie Gaians have sort of a dark side - read the descriptions of what mind worm psionic attacks are like, or the blurb for one facility (I forget which) about Deirdre driving up to Santiago's ruined headquarters through the burned-out ruins of Sparta Command. In the end I think it comes down to whatever intangible factors appeal to you more or less. I like the Gaians best. Their bases look cool and they have a good color. Morgan is cool too.

 

[Anemone]

I'd side with Aki, she seems the most stable of the bunch. Domai in second, same reason really, and I dig that whole workers against the system vibe.

 

[Perfection]

I'd side with Aki, she seems the most stable of the bunch. Domai in second, same reason really, and I dig that whole workers against the system vibe.

Aki is stable?! A being that's goal is the elimination of emotions?!

I kinda doubt it.

Frankly if you want stability, go with Yang. Yang is solid as a rock.

 

[Proletariat]

Yeah, I really don't see where lack of human emotions or abject contempt for anyone outside the working class equates to stability. If anything, the ideals of Drones and Cyborgs are probably the most revolutionary of all the factions, and are anything but stable.

 

[Anemone]

A being that's goal is the elimination of emotions?!

An apathetic society would be stable.

And the working classes have always stuck together and provided a tight knit unit, very community spirited within themselves and protective. 'Course they're stable.

That and the rest are psychos to be honest.

 

[Proletariat]

An apathetic society would be stable.

Uh... elaborate? Apathetic societies have a nasty tendency to collapse from within. That is, unless you're using a different definition of apathy than I am, which I'm guessing you are.

And the working classes have always stuck together and provided a tight knit unit, very community spirited within themselves and protective. 'Course they're stable.

This a is a pretty broad statement that I don't think holds true on anything other than a very small, local scale. Even then I'm not sure that's true everywhere. The history of the last century have pretty much proved that religious/cultural identities >>>>> class identity. As for stable? Again... Huh?

 

[guare]

morgan!!

wealth is always good, no matter if those are hard times! XD