I'm not so sure most people would be totally sucked into VR. After all, what portion of people who go on the Internet are completely obsessed with it?
How many people are addicted to drugs? What if those drugs allow people to be as gods?
That's the level of temptation we're talking about here.
Some people will still want to actually have a job (like the military),
Did I say everyone will lose their jobs? I said a lot of people,
not everyone.
Also, if a civilization truly loves their soldiers, they'll use all of their technology to keep them from harm's way, diehards be damned.
That, and an organic can't possibly hope to top a true combat android.
Keith Laumer had it right with his Bolo series that organics are really only better in terms of unpredictability, and in more primitive cases, moral decision making.
and robots won't take over if the government has a scrap of common sense.
Who said take over?
More like automate everything that can be reasonably automated without losing any of its "flavor."
"People" jobs like nurses, doctors, psychologists, singers, actors, and so on will still be there in the same way actors and playwrights weren't laid off during the Industrial Revolution.
While I can still see some companies hiring actual people for less people-oriented jobs to give it a "human touch," the majority of penny pinching companies will lay people off in exchange for an army worker droids and a dozen or so maintenance mechanics.
GroxGlitch...
The key word...
Is SCIENCE!!
SCIENCE FICTION!!!
When people write military fiction, do they completely ignore tactics and strategies? NO!
When people write detective fiction, do they entirely disregard the rules and regulations of police departments? NO!
So why the hell shouldn't science fiction writers pay attention to science? And if they don't, why call it science fiction?
The key word is both
SCIENCE and FICTION.When people write science fiction do they follow realworld tactics to the letter? NO!
When people write detective fiction, do they strictly follow the rules and regulations of police departments? NO!
So why the hell shouldn't science fiction writers have some leeway? And if they don't, why call it fiction?
Look, I'm in the medical field but you don't see me pulling a fit against Doctor House, the film-version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, that one time a Photos nurse-bot gave one of Grox's characters an injection
incorrectly, or every single damn time a purportedly medical franchise uses a defibrillator on a flatline person.
That last one is simply
grating to me, but I accept it because it's fictional.
Grox here honestly stated that he accepts gyro rounds and real life plasma suck as projectiles, and if anything, it's not a flaw in
physics as it is in
in-universe military planning.If you're really adamant about it, use it as a literary device, showing that only the Perrachi know better to avoid using plasma weapons.
And Yuu is criticizing the Perrachi for being cartoonishly drawn? What, like I can immediately switch styles? And I know they're basically oversized parrots (albeit with three beaks and blue blood), but I was young. What do you want me to do - retcon them out of existence?
It was a
joke.I thought the purple parrot gags back in the forum woudl have clued everyone into that.
You can't possibly think that I really consider real life Perrachi to be cel-shaded purple parrots with cartoony eyes and wing-fingers, yes?
Regardless, sorry if the joke didn't come across.
You just can't ignore some of the details like that! It's like if you wrote a historical fiction book about the Revolutionary War, but George Washington wore a gigantic pineapple instead of a hat! It's like if the military actually experimented with shooting people out of cannons! It's ridiculous!
Then I hereby decree that all space fighters be retconned away, because honestly, they're impractical.
Also, mechs, because they're really only useful in giant stair worlds, and even then you could just use a plane or hover platform instead.
Same goes for live-crewed "frontline" ships, because lodging, training, artificial gravity, inertial dampeners and life-support costs money, which could otherwise be used to build more ships. Not to mention that keeping fleshbags in your combat ships is utterly pointless when a space-era supercomputer can do things better, relegating live intervention to stuff like command ships which perform supervision and on-the-spot moral decision making.
This isn't some gun you can fix by adding in one tiny little detail, it's a species!
Half the galaxy uses plasma guns.
That's an
entire line of weapons being retconned, from stuff as small as pistols to things as big as BB main guns.
Also, personally, my creatures use plasma projectiles because it removes the need for solid ammunition. Admittedly, I can just resort to laser rifles, but honestly, that just isn't how those guys roll, something which should have been obvious the moment they started fielding transforming space fighters, and in one particular race, allows their head of government to be the first to charge into battle.
So if you want to take the Star Wars/Trek route and be unable to write a few pages without either completely violating the laws of physics or becoming riddled with more plot holes than Al Capone's swiss cheese, be my guests. I sure as hell won't stick around.
No need to ragequit like that.
I learned that the hard way in three forums, I sure as heck don't want you to experience it as well.
If you haven't made specific precautions against something by writing in extra laws of physics (like a warp drive), then it'll stick out like a sore thumb. Only the most obscure or seriously obstacle-like things should be ignored, but this ins't one of them. Plasma is the most common state of matter in the universe!
Let me make it simple.
The GSU is an entire universe made out of sore thumbs.
Now, as for Kosmosis, you may have a point. Why don't we bring this into the Galactic Encyclopedia section so we could, as a community, discuss and ratify a constitution regarding just exactly how soft or hard this universe is, hopefully it'll include discussion on whether we should handwave the whole atmosphere compatibility thing, which still pisses me off but have to accept because I love you guys.
As it stands, it's just two parties arguing over opposing sides without any vox populi to back them up. This will not stop until the people have decided on what to really settle down with.
So, whaddya say? Shall we continue this discussion in the suggestions section?
And then you all reject it over some trumped-up excuse! It does not require that much effort! I'm doing the hard work for you, goddammit!
Let me put it bluntly.
It's NOT A FREAKING EXCUSE.
We do it ON PURPOSE, because WHAT THE HELL WE LIKE IT THIS WAY.
You can't persecute us for our literary preferences, however it may suck in your opinion.
Realizing that Grox is still just in his first year of highschool would probably also help. Have you considered that he may just be near to the snapping point as you are? Not everyone is as talented at this stuff as you and it's perfectly possible that people would build up negativity every time their technologies get nitpicked, regardless of how nice and understanding they are.
Basically, Grox is human too.
The best approach would be to try and convince us regarding these technical stuff, and if it fails, bring it to the attention of the forum council.
Point is, don't let yourself fall into the same rage-pit
I found myself into. Look what it did to me. I don't want that to happen to you, UFO, you're honestly a pretty swell person and I don't want to see someone like that fall.
I advise that you take a break in the brainstorming sessions for a while, it's a really major stressor I can attest to that. If it helps, I'll start the discussion thread in the Galactic Encyclopedia while you rest for the moment, I'll probably begin with this plasma issue.
delicious sandwiches (I may be hoping for too much with the sandwiches)
We could always get a sandwich in Shudariadne or in the Vara ORealyianis if anyone minds.
I'm sure there are specialty stores in Perrawiih and Photise as well, not to mention Beyon, that place has everything.
oh, and yuu, Hnangha is not really biological. while it does have some living components in him, it is still 97% metal and inorganic.
Oh, okay, my bad.