Re: [fh ot] Re: [GZG][FH] Planet types (was Re: Locations of Stars)

On Fri, 4 Dec 1998, John M. Atkinson wrote:
> Steve Pugh wrote:
> > > Danm, that put everyone in NAC-ESU  Duality.  Except the Dutch and
the
> > > abiguous Aussies.
> > Free Cal-Tex? The Khalifate? Those Boers? The Free French Republic?
> > Not exactly super-powers....
> *whap forehead*  Forgot FCT.	Anti-NAC, right?  The Khalifate is like
> the IF, but more so.	The Boers. . . aren't they fighting war against
> ESU?	And the FFR is anti-FSE, and from the scenario in Full Thrust is
> getting help from Dutch AND NAC.

what follows is NOT a poke at john atkinson. it is a defence of
diversity.

i'm not sure that splitting all the power up into two blocs is a good
idea. in fact i think it is cryingly daft. the whole point of the gzg
background is that it is a general melee in which *any* conflict is more
or less possible. there are almost no allies, just partners in crime who
will turn on one another in the time it takes to say Tsukada's constant.
the corollary of this is that there are also no impossible alliances.
this 
whole two power bloc thing is just a replay of the cold war or a world
war; been there, done that. maybe during the solar wars this was the
case,
but in the hot peaces in between there will be conflicts on all sides,
nac
vs nsl vs fse vs nac.

> > Of course my map also has a large blank in that corner of the world
> > that you've customised so well. Sorry, but the NRE just don't fit
> > into my view of the GZG universe.
> Ain't supposed to fit into anyone's but mine.  If someone else likes
it,
> good.  If not, so?

fair enough. that's the beauty of gzg.

Tom