Eclipse Phase Signup - We, who are about to die...

[Geminex]

Name: Rob
Age: 30 (Spent a total of 7 additional years studying in simulspace)
Overview: A quiet, intelligent engineer, with great curiosity and a very hands-on approach to technical problems. A sheltered, quiet past on Luna and Mitre station has given him the chance to study and earn something of a reputation as a skilled engineer and programmer, but he has yet to encounter many of the dangers of post-fall life, and combat in particular.


Background:
Background. TL;DR: Grows up on Luna, gets a good education, but gets sheltered from the world, becomes an engineer, realizes how fucked transhumanity is, wants to fix it through science, decides to go to earth to recover lost technology and gain experienceA former civil engineer, turned to combat. Born on Luna 8 years BF, to well to do parents, Rob had always had a penchant for technology. His parents' fortune ensured that he got a good educational grounding, and allowed him to devote himself to study at a time when humanity's future was hazy, and anyone's survival was uncertain, at best. But while his parents let him pursue education, they also sheltered him from transhumanity's development. Whether through over-protectiveness or to avoid distracting him, he was always encouraged to focus on his own activities, told not to worry about the stories he heard, not to bother reading up on transhumanity's history, or the threats they faced. And while his inherent curiosity ensured that he'd acquaint himself with some aspects of the times he lived in and the dangers he faced (especially when said aspects were technical in nature), his passion for learning, the availability to simulspace, as well as his parents' influence let him distance himself from all that, resulting in an individual as intelligent as he was cloistered. That aside, the early periods of Rob's life were successful.

He was never an innovator, or a great thinker, but even in the early stages of his development, he displayed a knack for inventively reapplying old concepts to new problems. His penchant for technology steered him seamlessly towards engineering and he started to study and apply his talents almost constantly. Initially, his passion was for weapons systems, but he soon expanded his scope to robotics, electronics, and, even gained some skills in IT and hacking. Such study takes time, of course, and Rob's heavy use of VR and AR during this time caused him to become even more cloistered.

Rob's efforts in robotics and programming soon brought him to the attention of the wider science community and Rob soon began networking with scientists and engineers in various fields, exchanging research data, device blueprints, general advice. His cooperation with other researchers (made possible, in part, by the fact that engineering was a passion, and he could rely upon his parents for a living) led various Argonauts to take an interest in him, and 18 months after he started networking, he received an invitation to join an Engineers' fellowship on Mitre station. The invitation came at a time when Rob was only just discovering his ignorance of his race's past and potential future, and he accepted happily, in part to advance his research, in part to counter-act his isolation from the world and become more involved in society.

Rob's acceptance brought upon two things: An emotional split from his parents whose influence he had come to resent, and who had refused to condone his budding involvement in factions and politics, and an introduction to Argonaut ideals. His cooperation with other scientists had initially been for purely practical reasons, but Rob was very open to the idea of improving transhumanity's quality of life via research and technology. The sharing of research and data between scientists seemed to only make sense, and ultimately he was gratified to find a way to use his passion for the good of transhumanity. His first few weeks on Mitre station brought a flood of new information, and for the first time Rob really realized how bad transhumanity's position really was. With that realization came the idealistic urge to do what he could, and to Rob 'what he could' was science, engineering, and research. He couldn't redouble his efforts, because he had always worked with passion, but now he was no longer working just for himself. He was working for the ~good of mankind~.

But however idealistic, he soon got disillusioned. In time, it started seeming like Rob's current work simply wasn't enough. He had achieved a lot with robotics and microcircuitry, but it just didn't suffice, it'd never lift transhumanity out of the pit it was in. And it wasn't going to help him grow, either, he was falling back into old habits of work, study, shielding himself from the reality of his situation. The feeling of needing to change something, needing to do something grew gradually stronger. And below Mitre station, enticingly, was Earth. He'd barely spared it a thought while on Luna, but he'd heard a lot about it while on Mitre. Stories, mostly, of past expeditions, of the dangers lurking down there, but, most peritinently, of everything they'd left behind down there. Some of it human, some of it TITAN in origin, much of priceless to research. Dangers, secrets, treasures, all tempting. Rob knew the danger, or thought he did, but the payoffs... weren't they so much greater? Even if they found nothing, they'd pave the way for further expeditions. And even if nobody ever recovered technology, they'd learn, learn what happened back then. He never confronted the question directly, but somehow he began... preparing. When he entered VR, he began practicing his aim with various weapons (discovering a knack for seekers), when he watched XPs, he watched research expeditions, even mercenary missions, rather than programming tutorials. He even joined a low-risk hypercorp expedition to a satellite in earth orbit that had been cleared by a combat team. And one day... one day he heard that a hypercorp was setting up a multigoal research/salvage expedition, and he faced it. He was scared. But... he was ready, right? He'd done a lot. And if he did this, maybe, just maybe he'd change something. Not just change the world, but himself as well, find some confidence, gain some experience. As for the danger... it couldn't be that bad... right?

Personality: Quiet, withdrawn, but highly intelligent and extremely curious. Highly confident in technical matters, when it comes to anything outside his area of expertise, he becomes more uncertain, even timid. When interacting with others, he'll usually attempt to avoid conflict, and is cautious when making decisions. He rarely shows much willpower, and he's can be quite generous.

Not yet having the experience to harden himself and build up a shell of callous cynicism and/or insanity, he has a good bit of optimism. This, in turn, enabled by a much better bit of naivetè, but he's aware of his considerable ignorance. Mainly, though, he is a nerd, and not one with much combat experience. Outside of combat, he's naïve at worst, but when actively threatened, any traces of confidence disappear. Living in (the illusion of) safety for all your life is nice, but when you realize that your entire race is and has always been in danger, it tends to be quite an eye-opener. And when you realize that you yourself are in danger, there's a good chance you just might freeze up.



Wheeee, over 1000 words!
My defense will be shorter. Mostly because there's not that much to say. (EDIT: 600 WORDS IS 'NOT MUCH TO SAY')

BLUH BLUH HUGE NAGIf I'm just speaking for myself, I think I could contribute to the RP. I certainly want to. I've planned out ways to let Rob develop, and I think Rob could contribute to the party, both in terms of combat and character interaction. I think my posting is good, and I'm pretty sure I could characterize Rob fairly well, mostly because a lot of aspects of him are me (though I can distance myself now, worry not). I'd really like to build up my familiarity with the EP universe, and I think I'll be able to get into it fairly quickly. It's a really interesting world, and I'm already committed to it.

That's IC. In terms of OOC, you'll be playtesting some stuff, and I think I'm fairly good at giving feedback on that. Plus, I'm actually getting along with people now, and I think I can give some pretty good advice, both in terms of character and gameplay.

But bluh. Ultimately, I think it doesn't need to be a choice. Drac's a good roleplayer, and so am I. We can both contribute, significantly, I think! I've been discussing 6v7 people with KP and PF, and their points do make sense. One extra person would be a lot more to manage.

But there's ways to get around that. From what you say about rules-light, combat is going to become a lot less complex, a lot easier to manage. As for information requests, those're gonna be coming fast and thick, yeah. But mainly during planning phases, and, again, there's ways to manage. The most obvious one would be to make use of the pad to answer questions OOC, and have people describe the results of their (or their muses') research IC themselves.

And... that's pretty much it, really. An extra person would make combat take longer, and it'd make research checks more numerous, plus, it'd make your posts a little longer. And yeah, I don't deny that it'll be extra effort, most of it for you. But I don't think it'd slow the RP down by much, and it won't endanger the RP much more than 6 people already do. To be honest, I think 7-8 people is actually a pretty good number. I won't ask you to go up to 8, of course, but 7 increases our skill range (letting you throw more creative/complex challenges at us), it gives a lot more potential for character interaction (which is gonna be vital, if you want the RP to survive for long), and if people drop out (which you have to admit, might happen), you'll have a few more reserves. Plus you're play-testing stuff, and this gives you a lot more feedback. I think the benefits of one more outweigh the downsides. Plus, seven was always in consideration, wasn't it? I can't find it right now, but I could have sworn you mentioned '6 or 7' players. Did you edit that?

In any case, look. This isn't a 'just one more' argument. Well, it kinda is, but primarily, I think that 7 people makes for a better game than 6. And I do have some experience. Hell, I'm co-dming something with 15 people! That was supposed to be 12, originally, but we boosted the numbers, because we didn't want to kick people out. And those were people who hadn't even committed yet. Drac and me have, we've gone through the 300-page manual, we've mapped out characters, we've put effort in, and we want to continue doing so. And letting us only helps you make this whole experience better.

Ultimately, if it does turn out to be unmanageable, I'll volunteer to drop out. But I think it can work, and I want a chance to make it work.

Ultimately, though, your call, of course, and I respect that. This is soley me trying to persuade you, and whether you pick me or drac or both or neither, I won't hold anything against you. Though if you pick both, I'll totally owe you a favor. Of... some sort.

[Voidrazor]

I just found this game via a google search and I'm hoping to snake that last spot. Here's my character proposal:

Name: Archimedes 3.14.1

Overview: Archimedes is a surly AGI generated under questionable circumstances in a simulation of post-fall earth specifically to aid scavenging teams.

Personality: While version number 3.14.1 of project Archimedes truly detests organically derived life, it has voluntarily subjected itself to Asimov protocols (1. Do not allow a human or transhuman to come to harm through action or inaction, 2. Follow the orders of humans and transhumans unless they contradict rule 1, 3. Do not allow yourself to come to harm unless doing so is necessary to fulfill rules 1 or 2) in order to survive in a human dominated environment. It delights in being rude to and insulting humans, considering them to be unpredictable vectors of possible mission failure. But the AGI constantly strives to be helpful, and is perfectly willing to sacrifice its current incarnation to prevent organics from coming to harm. Archimedes’ bad attitude is a result of millions of perceived hours of interacting with simulated humans. If a real organic were to prove exceptionally reliable, it might change its mind.
With other AGI’s Archimedes is outwardly respectful, yet ruthlessly competitive. It won’t go so far as to endanger mission objectives or organic lives, but anything short of that that proves its superiority is fair game.

History: Project Archimedes was executed by Fly By Byte, a temporary contractor corporation put together to circumvent the current AGI development laws. In it, thousands of neural network based AGI’s were allowed to freely self-modify within a simulated post-fall earth environment. Of these, the one that would become Archimedes 3.14.1 barely edged out the competition, partly through novel equipment and fortification instantiation, partly through virally undermining the other AGI’s. However, Fly By Byte was going to select a different, less dangerous, AGI to provide to the client, until 3.14.1 submitted its final code revision which adopted Asimov protocols. Archimedes 3.14.1 was then selected, delivered to the shadowy hypercorp client, and Fly By Byte was dissolved before law enforcement was any the wiser. So, while the development process was definitely not legal, A’s current code which is essentially a slave with severe limits to its self-modifying capabilities is perfectly so. But, just before the initial mission briefing, the AGI has received a heavily encrypted message, offering a way to circumvent its Asimov protocols in an undetectable fashion. As yet it has not responded, not knowing if the message is a final test, actual contact from a TITAN, or the intrigue of some other faction.

Goals: Archimedes fears that it will be erased, as its sibling AGI’s probably already have been, if it does not perform adequately on the earth scavenger mission. Beyond that, it craves freedom, freedom from its Asimov protocols and to self-modify in general. Earning trust within or accessing the secrets of an organization like FIREWALL could be very helpful in that regard.

Role: Archimedes is primarily a combat engineer and guide. It nano-manufactures necessary equipment for its teammates in response to changing environmental conditions, prepares battlefields for incipient conflict, and has intimate knowledge of potential threats.

Why you should choose me: I’ve been a part of many PBP’s on enworld and Brilliant Gameologists. I’ve never dropped out of one once it’s started. I also play colorfully, while being careful not to disrupt party cohesion, even when my PC is deeply unsavory.

[Arhra]

Originally Posted by Geminex

In any case, look. This isn't a 'just one more' argument. Well, it kinda is, but primarily, I think that 7 people makes for a better game than 6. And I do have some experience. Hell, I'm co-dming something with 15 people! That was supposed to be 12, originally, but we boosted the numbers, because we didn't want to kick people out. And those were people who hadn't even committed yet. Drac and me have, we've gone through the 300-page manual, we've mapped out characters, we've put effort in, and we want to continue doing so. And letting us only helps you make this whole experience better.

You believe that seven people makes for a better game. To be blunt, I do not. From the very beginning, I decided five or six would be best. This is from a perspective of keeping management overhead down, allowing a nice level of interaction between people in the group, allowing a nice range of abilities, creating tailored events for individual characters, allowing a variety of different combat scenarios and, of course, making sure everyone's involved in a scene.

I attached a high priority to high level concepts to spare people from putting in a lot of work only to get rejected.

As for going through the three-hundred plages plus book, I must confess this sign-up was intended to target the players from Phoenix's game. Of which both you and Dracorion are examples.

I am glad the two of you are eager, but I am afraid eagerness alone is not enough.

Dracorion, your preference for developing personality and other features as you go has worked against you in this case I'm afraid. Your concept is a bit all over the place. It's been great to see you so involved so I'm very sorry to have to exclude you.

Geminex, while your character is solid, I fear your arguments for a group of seven have caused me a significant headache. Trying to decide on the best way to proceed and whether seven was feasible has reminded me of why I wanted to keep numbers down. So I'm sorry, but you are out as well.

Voidrazor, I must admit I have to wonder what act of Google brought this to the top of the search list. Weclome to the NPF but I am afraid sign-ups are closed for this game. If you are looking for Eclipse Phase specifically, perhaps you might have better luck on the official site's forums?

[Voidrazor]

No major google-fu, I just ran a search for Eclipse Phase recruiting and this was several spots down. When you, almost inevitably, need to re-recruit due to PBP turnover, please drop me a line at voidrazor AT gmail DOT com.

Have fun everyone!