Tone

"Hope and possibility are nothing but fleeting dreams glimpsed at the doorstep of this nothingness. Illusions that offer no comfort. They lead people astray and create meaningless conflict."

"But even so...!"

-- Full Frontal and Banagher Links

General Tone

SRT MOO is not meant to be a theme of endless grinding misery, but conversely, bad people need to be able to do bad things in order to clarify the stakes of the world and create interesting tension.

While the cooldown on plots where "something really horrible happens" will exist, it is unlikely to be enforced too terribly stringently, and 'something really horrible' only counts successes. Certainly, if the game runs for the better part of a decade, you can expect incidents and accidents, possibly in a quantity you cannot count on your fingers.

Accordingly, you can reasonably expect bad things to be attempted. Some of them will even succeed.

Factional Tones and Guiding Questions

Different factions, likewise, have different tones, different core questions, and different takes on those questions. What follows is a breakdown of the sorts of questions best explored in each faction. Note that not all these factions are expected to last forever.

Overall Questions

• Are we doomed to do this forever?
  • If so, how do we make it less bad? Can we?
  • If not, how do we stop it?

Groups Trending Antagonistic

• Britannian Forces
  • How do we make our peace with the world as it is?
  • Can a racist system even be saved in the first place?
  • How much do one person's contributions matter?
• REA Forces
  • How far should we go for the sake of progress?
  • Who makes an acceptable sacrifice?
• G-Hound
  • Does making war "safer" for civilians justify making it radically worse on its participants?
• Amalgam
  • How far should we go for the sake of progress?
  • Is a world that hurts so many even worth living in?
• BioNet
  • Let's be honest: BioNet is really about not asking these questions, because they're hard, and being selfish is -- conversely -- very easy indeed.
• Sleeves
  • At what point do you admit you lost?
  • Can you achieve meaningful change through conflict at all?

Groups Trending Neutral

• AEU and OAC Forces
  • When we share a system with someone larger and more belligerent than we are, are the benefits of mutual aid worth their costs?
  • How do we live up to our obligations without being used and discarded?
• OCU Forces
  • Is appeasement worthwhile?
  • If a system like the Federation doesn't even protect its own members from each other, is it even worth it to stay?
  • Do external threats like the PLANTs change the calculus?
• Black Knights
  • What is the cost of wishing the world was different?
  • When protecting the things we care about, how much is too much?
• ZAFT
  • In the face of an enemy that hates your existence, is it acceptable to hate their existence back?
• NERV
  • When the alternative to sacrifice is annihilation, how do you choose your sacrifices?
  • Is it worth it to go for long odds on something better, or accept an outcome more painful, but more likely to succeed?
• Celestial Being
  • Is sheer power enough to stop people from fighting?
  • Can we trust that seemingly disparate actions will add up to something?

Groups Trending Protagonistic

• Londo Bell
  • Can we thread the needle between protecting the Earth Sphere and oppressing it?
  • Is an autonomous corps inherently authoritarian?
• Nergal Heavy Industries
  • Can we balance obligations to others and our own freedom?
  • Is there such a thing as righteousness in battle?
• Shuffle Alliance
  • How do we stop the Earth Sphere from giving in to all its worst impulses?
  • When you can see how bad everything is, how do you choose what needs fixing the fastest?