Cult Citizen

[icycalm]

A Cult Commission is a formal document issued to appoint a named cultist to high office in a Cult Territory's armed forces. A Cult Commission constitutes documentary authority that the cultist named is vested with the powers of that office and is empowered to execute official acts. The commission, if lawful, takes the form of letters patent, and if unlawful, a firm handshake.


ACTIVE COMMISSIONS
Hurston Commander (Lorville): Adjudicator (red)
Crusader Commander (Orison)/Stanton Pirate Commander (Grim HEX): shubn (blue)
microTech Commander (New Babbage): ysignal (green)
Pyro Supreme Commander (???): recoil (Pirate)

AVAILABLE COMMISSIONS
Coming Soon

[icycalm]

Let me explain a bit what I am trying to achieve with the commissions.

I am trying to play the game as if it's a 4X/grand strategy game. When you are running a large-enough org, there ARE elements of strategy and even grand strategy in the game, but you have to play IN A STRATEGIC WAY to access them. If you're just jumping into a voice channel and playing random sessions with your orgmates, you aren't playing strategically even if you have dozens of people. You're at most playing tactically during the action (and even that, lots of orgs or groups of friends don't do).



So in order to play strategically you NEED to make strategic choices! And one of these choices is which city or planet or even system to assign to which person. And then tons of other strategic decisions flow from this, both for me as the Emperor but also for the Commanders within their own purview. To give you one example, I've been considering how to apportion the Pyro planets to people, and then I thought, if I find a Supreme Commander for that system, I don't have to deal with individual planets and Commanders for it, he can do it himself! Maybe he won't even want to use Commanders. Or maybe he'll devise some other method of administration. There are many peculiarities to the Pyro system which means it doesn't correspond 1:1 with the choices I made for Stanton. There are no cities in Pyro, for example, so where would a Planetary Commander base himself anyway? And do you need SIX of these Commanders for a system that's basically barren?

And when base-building comes online, these strategic choices will skyrocket, both for me and for the Commanders and Supreme Commanders under me.

You might wonder what fun I get out of delegating many of these choices, but if so, you must not be a big fan of strategy and strategy games. I get a HUGE kick out of giving people missions and observing them devise ways to accomplish them all the while I can jump in at any moment and micromanage anything, or just simply advise and/or push gently towards a desired direction. And the greatest fun of all for me comes from watching my officers INTERACT BETWEEN THEMSELVES, and the soldiers signing up to serve one or another of them. It's like The Sims, if you know what I mean.

Don't forget also that I design the protocols, rules of engagement, grand alliances and grand goals etc., as well as overseeing procurement, investment, etc. And THAT is grand strategy! Play a grand strategy game and you'll see. This is what you do in those games, but here it's done with a level of detail and complexity that's unprecedented. I make all these decisions, and then I go to a bar for a beer! Or lie down in a couch in my hangar for a nap, all in real-time and with the greatest art direction and graphics ever!

So, Cult Commissions are a thing, and they're the greatest thing in this game and gaming. And I hope you will be excited for them whether you're serving as an officer yourself or choosing an officer to serve under and carry out his plans.

[icycalm]

So let's talk about the Pyro Supreme Commander post. We are maybe 10 days away from the introduction of the system, so we need to get this talk out of the way.

First of all, read The Way of The Cult because it explains how I want to play Star Citizen and my vision for subfactions/Noble Houses in The Cult.

So it occurred to me that it makes little sense to have a SupCom in gold gear and gold ships prancing around the Pyro system that's a rundown shithole full of outlaws. There's no way the gold-covered SupCom would sleep in a filthy hab in a rundown station for example. Only way a true SupCom would go to Pyro is if we first built installations to accommodate him. And that's a year off, on top of the fact those installations won't be secure and we'll need to rebuild them every weekend basically, so again a true SupCom would never go there in those conditions.

But we have PIRATE Supreme Commanders, and those guys are perfect for Pyro and lawless systems in general. So the regular SupComs will be assigned to lawful and moreover built-up systems, and the Pirate SupComs to lawless, shithole systems. Space mexicos in other words. In short, if it's an outlaw system, the entire point of it is to be outlaws in it, so we'll be going there as outlaws, meaning using the Pirate Spec.

Now one advantage of the Pirate version of the SupCom is that it doesn't need the $15k outlay to get the gold gear and gold-trimmed Executive ships. All you need is some pirate paints, and not even all of those. So for those players who might want to control an entire system but don't want to break the bank, the Pirate SupCom position is ideal for them. They DO need an 890 Jump for their mobile HQ, but this can be purchased in-game. Now if you ask me, would I like it if the Pirate SupCom cashbought his 890J, I would say of course I'd like it, I love it whenever anyone cashbuys anything in this game, but I don't require it for this rank, and moreover I think it will be fun scrambling in the first few weeks of the Pyro wipe to get together the 65 million to buy him his 890J. So no matter what he does, we'll have fun, just a different KIND of fun: if he cashbuys the 890J we will of course enjoy merely having it in our fleet, and if he chooses to buy it in-game we'll enjoy figuring out how to max out our earnings and putting in the work to get it. Now that the Hull C bugs have been fixed we can e.g. fly our 2 Hull Cs back and forth between the two systems, making 1+ million each run, so finally putting our Hull Cs to good use. So really don't stress it if you don't want to spend $1k on a Blender model. Moreover, you can't buy it now anyway even if you wanted to, it's only available a couple times a year, and one of these times just passed (IAE). So there's no way for us to cashbuy an 890J right now unless we buy a new account from the grey market, and we aint doing that. So no matter what, the Pyro SupCom will have to earn his mobile HQ in-game, and I am all for it. And note that the last wipe lasted something like two years, and CIG has said they want even FEWER wipes going forward, so it will be a very long time until you need to rebuy your 890J in-game. And when that time comes, we'll have fun re-earning it with you. Moreover all this makes sense in-lore too: since the Emperor has SENT you to Pyro, he will make sure you have all you need to succeed, including your mobile HQ. So he'll marshal the entire CULT to help you buy it.

So what does the Pirate SupCom NEED to buy with cash? He needs to buy the Meridian paint for the 890J, and at least a few more pirate paints, in the grey market now, as Pirate Week has passed. And finally he needs to buy some Fieldsbury Dark Bear helmets, again in the grey market, because Halloween has passed. There are 6 colors of these and eventually once we have several Pirate SupComs I would like each of them to pick a color and stick to it, but for now since there's no way to recover these helmets after a death, our only Pirate SupCom should buy all of them thus giving him 6 lives to lose for the duration of the patch (the PATCH, not the wipe: a wipe is comprised of MANY patches, and with each of these you'll be getting all 6 of your helmets back). Which means he can't show up to every operation as SupCom because he'd lose his helmets very fast. But the SupCom isn't supposed to be showing up in everyday operations anyway. For those he can dress down as regular Pirate Commander with gear that can be acquired in-game, and he can use his 6 lives once in a blue moon, like for example during Global Events (and even then he should be careful by staying away from the front, and having adequate bodyguards, etc.) (And P.S. as for his armor etc. below the helmet, I haven't settled on this yet and I can work with you on it. We can try several styles in-game and see how we like them.)



Fieldsbury Dark Bear Sinister Helmet - Six-Pack w/ Lime, Grape, Guava, Orange & Blueberry Helmets $39.99
https://star-hangar.com/5959-1602194846.html

Paints - 890 Jump - Meridian Paint $26.62
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/pled ... dian-Paint

For a daily driver, when you're just playing solo or with one or two other pirates, you'll need something basic like this:

Cutlass - Skull and Crossbones Paint $35.99
https://theimpound.com/products/cutlass ... 9677055229

And when you're playing a Master Chief, Captain or Commander you'll need some of the following:

Hercules Starlifter - Meridian Paint $18.99
https://theimpound.com/products/hercule ... 6545652989

400i - Meridian Paint $39.99
https://theimpound.com/products/400i-me ... 6016210173

Paints - 600i - Sterling Paint $19.36
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/pled ... ling-Paint

Of course you'll also need some of the ships, purchased in-game, not just their paints. The only pirate ship that can't be bought in-game and must be cashbought is the Pirate Caterpillar which must be unlocked in Arena Commander and costs about $300 iirc. But shubn already has one and I'll get one eventually, so we'll often have them available in Pyro. If anyone wants to buy more, so much the better, but we don't absolutely need more.

If you want to go all-out you can get the Seachest pack that has almost all the paints:

Pirate LIMITED Ultimate Seachest Paint Pack $145.00
https://star-hangar.com/16907-1727797321.html

And here's a more expensive offer if the previous one runs out:

Pirate Paint Ultimate Seachest $175.00
https://star-hangar.com/40075-1727559953.html

You'd still need to get the 890J and 600i paints, but all the rest are in this pack. So about $200 if you want to have all the paints—but you don't need all of them. Plus an extra $40 for the helmets.

I don't think it's a lot of money for what you get, which is pretty much full control, both strategic and tactical, of the most-anticipated real-time "level" in gaming history. And you can start small, spending say about $100 now, and add more later. Certainly by next year's Pirate Week you should be able to just scoop up all the paints you don't have for cheap. And maybe the Pirate Caterpillar in a couple of years, if you're still playing SC and enjoying it, and still want to be Pyro SupCom.

But what about ships like the Polaris or Hammerhead that don't have pirate paints?

Those are military ships, and thus inappropriate for pirate ops. However, if the SupCom determines that he needs military backing for special ops (i.e. not for routine daily ops), he can request this help from the Stanton Commanders, and they can decide what to send and when. Would be cool if they came into Pyro with their colors like real backup would. But they can also lend a ship or two: the Polaris is already black by default so wouldn't look too bad next to the pirate ships, and the Hammerhead default is also pretty dark. Same with ground vehicles. There is a pirate tank, but the Storms and Atlas Platforms are military vehicles. Still, the Storms especially have a black paint that would look nice with the pirates. The Atlases don't, so I would refrain from using them in Pyro unless absolutely necessary.

Who can apply for Pyro SupCom?

Pretty much anyone. I have a cool rationale for anyone becoming Pirate SupCom in Pyro:

1. First of all, any of the heads of the three "Noble Houses". The Emperor has declared his intention to expand The Cult's operations into Pyro, so any of his house heads can step forth and volunteer to lead the effort. In the case of shubn, who is also Stanton Pirate Commander, it would make sense for him to want to expand his pirate operations, but the other two leaders may also decide to jump into the pirate game, and increase their sphere of influence. Maybe they feel left behind by shubn and want to check his growing power due to his illicit activities? Maybe they just want to travel and to explore? Perhaps they only want to please the Emperor and get on his good side? Who knows. Only they do, and it's up to them if they will share their motivations or not.

2. Any ambitious CULT member may come forth to lead the charge to Pyro given that the resources required are few and easily acquired.

But what happens if no one steps forward to be Pyro SupCom?

Then we don't go to Pyro. Not officially, at any rate, not in force. But we will keep sending scouts to check it out and amass intel which will be used when we finally do find a SupCom, and go to Pyro in force. And those scouts will be geared up as Rangers. As you might have seen with the recent Ranger Spec Update, it's a bit harder to get that gear now than it used to be, so every trip to Pyro will have to be paid with some looting back in Stanton. But this simulates nicely the distance to the system and the difficulty involved in exploring it without a local base. (Also, we can only bring Ranger ships, so the scope of operations will be limited.)

So, no Pyro SupCom means none of us can set Pyro as our home. If we do get a Pyro SupCom, on the other hand, any player can choose to set Pyro as home and serve the SupCom. (As to WHERE in Pyro they can go, the SupCom will decide this.)

But what about the heads of the Noble Houses? Where should they set their home if one of them does decide to take command of Pyro?

They have to set their home cities as home so we can get the large persistent hangars in Stanton. If one of them does become Pyro SupCom, he must set one of his clones to live in Pyro so we can have a persistent hangar there too. Doesn't need to be a big hangar since we're just starting up our operations there. It makes sense as lore too: the Emperor sends the Noble House head, and the Noble House head sends his lieutenant ahead to establish a small base of operations and then build it up from there. The Stanton Commander can then decide to set his imprint in Pyro and move back and forth between the systems as required like Musk moves between the HQs of his businesses.

For a regular cultist becoming Pyro SupCom, things will be easier: he just sets Pyro as his home, and that is that. He is expected to spend almost all his time learning the system and amassing resources there. He also gets to decide whether he wants to promote someone to Commander (or even more than one), and what planet(s) or other duties to give him (or them). He really does make the rules in Pyro for The Cult, unless the Emperor decides to intervene and give a direct command. He decides on gang allegiances, and even designs the Mad Max Spec for the Contested Zones. And he has to help map out the main features of the system, main outposts etc., by gathering intel and posting it in the Pyro forum. It would also be cool if he kept up with Pyro development and made some newsposts about it, again in the Pyro forum. But I'll be doing most of that myself anyway. Still, a little help would be appreciated.

And that's it. What I especially like about how I set up the Pyro SupCom Commission is that I don't control what happens with it. I do set the general parameters, but then whether we end up with a SupCom or not is out of my hands, meaning our play experience of Pyro is out of my hands. Will we go there in force as pirates? Or sporadically as scouts? It's not my choice, and moreover I don't even know whose choice it will end up being. Which factions will we align ourselves with once we're there? Again, I don't know. And it could even happen that someone does volunteer to ship out to Pyro, but after a few months he changes his mind and resigns. And then we'll need someone else to step in and take over. In the longer run once more systems are in the game I can even see the heads of Noble Houses decide to move their HQ elsewhere, perhaps because they want an entire system to themselves? So that's how I see us navigating the ever-expanding verse: not trying to cover every single system and planet by default, but moving between them according to a kind of narrative that emerges out of how each individual player chooses to navigate the Cult Hierarchy and rules set down by the Emperor.


P.S. Those interested in the position should DM me on Discord. Don't post here about it, because once someone has posted everyone else will refrain from applying because you're all too nice, and then the first applicant will win by default, which is not what I want. What I want is to receive all the messages and then, if I have more than one applicant, decide on whom to send.

[icycalm]

EPTU just hit Wave 4. This means 4.0 could go live at any moment, though probably not before Friday because tomorrow’s ISC is a rundown of all the update’s features. Most likely we’re looking at Live late next week, but you never know.

All this to say that we still don’t have a Pyro Supreme Commander because no one has applied, so first of all if you’ve been thinking about it stop thinking and DM me, and second of all, if you don’t hear about a SupCom appointment from me and the patch drops, do NOT set Pyro as your home for your main character (you can do what you want with your clones).

Only way to pick Pyro as home for your main is if we get a SupCom and you pledge allegiance to him. And even then, you have to ask him where to set your home.

After everyone has set their home as Stanton it will be impossible to appoint a Pyro SupCom until the next patch drops 3-4 months down the line, which means we’ll only be able to play in Pyro as Rangers for that time. It’s not what I would have chosen, but it’ll be an interesting experience if it comes to that. Maybe even more immersive than the more direct route. But no Polarises in Pyro for us, etc. You’ve been warned.


P.S. No SupCom also means no Mad Max Spec because the SupCom designs it, so must go into Contested Zones as Ranger.

[recoil]

While resting at Pyro Gateway during the Save Stanton initiative, recoil hears of the Emperor's plans to expand The Cult's operations to Pyro and decides to answer the call and lead the charge. Does he have what it takes to become the ultimate outlaw?

[icycalm]

One strategic responsibility I failed to mention in my inaugural post on the strategic ranks [ > ] was appointments. It escaped me because we only had Stanton to think of at the time, and in Stanton the Emperor personally appoints Commanders because it's his home system and there's no one else to make appointments. This is also why the Noble Houses are there, to be near the Imperial Court and the ultimate seat of power.

But in Pyro things are different. There it's the SupCom that makes the appointments, so I added the following lines to the SupCom's and the Emperor's list of duties/privileges:

SUPREME COMMANDER (i.e. System Commander)
-Appoints Commanders in his system, one per Landing Zone minus the LZ he picks for himself

EMPEROR (i.e. Galactic Commander)
-Appoints Supreme Commanders for each system, except the system he picks for himself (and also appoints Commanders for his home system)

As you can see, Commanders no longer go by planet but by Landing Zone, and again this has to do with Pyro's peculiarities. In Stanton, each planet has a Landing Zone, so this wasn't an issue, but Pyro has a grand total of 3 Landing Zones for 6 planets... Actually, Pyro has 5 planets, not 6. Pyro IV doesn't orbit the star, it orbits Pyro V like a moon because "Astronomers believe that Pyro IV was once the fourth planet from the sun in the Pyro system. However, a collision with a large celestial body knocked Pyro IV out of its orbit and into its current position around Pyro V." So Pyro has 5 planets, and 3 Landing Zones. LZs by the way are the options for home the game gives you at the start. So while Stanton has 4 planets and 3 Commanders, Pyro has 5 planets but can have only up to 2 Commanders, because one LZ must be taken by recoil.

So recoil can appoint 0, 1 or 2 Commanders.

Why would he want to appoint any? Why not keep the whole system for himself?

The whole system IS his either way. Commander or no Commanders, he can go wherever he wants in the system and do whatever he wants. The Commanders would only be there to assist him and govern in his name in their jurisdictions while he attends to other matters.

So for example, if a Global or Narrative Event or whatever is going on, recoil may not have the time to attend it. So it's good to have Commanders to take care of it. Or soon there'll be the Dune worms added to Monox (Pyro II). Someone will have to learn how to hunt them. Could be recoil, but he also has a ton of other goals and responsibilities. The worms could be farmed long-term and then their eggs and teeth or whatever would have to be traded, and recoil already has to oversee the Contested Zones et al. And there are 3 Contested Zones anyway... I can see him needing help with those. Not to mention that a Commander is supposed to max out rep in missions in his region. Will recoil max out rep all over Pyro by himself? Will he explore and survey and take and post pics of all of Pyro's POIs by himself? And all that before taking base-building into account. Another advantage of Commanders I could see especially in the Pyro system is that he could appoint each Commander to ally with a different gang, so we could be allied with 3 gangs at the same time. Could come in handy in various ways!

And btw shubn can also appoint one Pirate Commander based off Grim HEX, for all of the same reasons.

So how does recoil, and shubn if he wants to, appoints Commanders?

First off he makes a post in this thread declaring how many Commanders he wants, and their proposed jurisdictions. In Stanton the jurisdictions are easy to determine, but in Pyro it's more complicated. He could give e.g. 2 planets to each Commander and take 1 for himself. Or 1 per Commander and take the rest for himself. Or any other arrangement he can think of.

But even if he makes no declaration, players can still DM him on Discord and ask for a command. Or he can contact players directly if he has someone in mind for the job. That's how Adjudicator got Loreville, I was missing a Commander there to complete Stanton, and I knew he liked the city, so I offered it to him, and he liked the idea.

I'll go as far as to say that the SupCom can auction off the posts for a price, which could be in-game or even out-of-game. "Whoever cashbuys me such-and-such ship can have Checkmate station and 2 planets!"

What if recoil wants Commanders but can't find any?

We were pretty close to this scenario with Pyro earlier. For a while, I couldn't find a SupCom until recoil (and a few hours later shubn) volunteered. And it would have hobbled us a lot if we hadn't managed to find someone to send. So the same goes for the Commanders. If recoil tries to find some and fails, he'll just have to do the best he can on his own until he finds someone. Could take months or years, but it is what it is. That's how you play Star Citizen as a 4X strategy game. Recruit more players to the org, and hopefully eventually someone will step up. The OP in this thread will always have an updated list of current and available commissions.

Especially when base-building goes in and you can't build in the context of our org (you'll always be able to build solo, without CULT resources) unless you are a Commander or above, I think more players will seek out Commander appointments if they want to experience all the game has to offer. Worst case scenario if more systems and planets go online and we lack the manpower to cover them all, our Commanders and SupComs will start moving their HQs around just so we can fully explore the new systems, and those moves too will be very strategic decisions. And of course a single person will always be able to spread out across multiple planets and systems if he wants, so that's an option too.

Which reminds me btw to mention something specific to Pyro. Who can accept a Pyro command? In this particular case it can't be any of the heads of the Noble Houses. It wouldn't feel proper if they placed themselves under some scruffy pirate's command with a bear helmet. One of them COULD have taken the WHOLE system as Pirate SupCom, but it doesn't make sense for them to take just one planet or two. So for Pyro specifically, they can't apply for command. There are more systems coming out soon for them to expand to if they want. For Pyro, it must be new people that step forward to take command. And a Pirate Commander is the cheapest, least demanding strategic appointment, so it's a good starting point for those wanting to try that aspect of the game. You absolutely need the Meridian paint for the 400i that can only be found in the grey market now for about $40 and the Sterling paint for the 600i that's $16 on RSI, but beyond that even a couple of basic pirate paints should suffice to get you started, with the ultimate long-term goal, in terms of cash purchases, being a Pirate Caterpillar. But you can leave that for years down the road (or just get it in-game after 1.0). Everything else can be bought in-game.

[icycalm]

New 4X rule drop: If you are Supreme Commander of a system, in order to expand to a second system you NEED a Pioneer. It can be purchased in game or out of game, I don't care, but you need one to expand. Same as with 4Xs where you need to build a "settler unit" to make a second city.

Pirate Supreme Commanders (i.e. in lawless systems) are exempt from this rule. Pirates aren't supposed to build things.

The Emperor also doesn't need a Pioneer, he owns everything anyway, and he sends people out WITH Pioneers.