"The Vanu are techno-religious nut jobs." - Page 6

LordReaver · 2011-10-01, 02:36 AM

Originally Posted by Xyntech

A mockup of some recruitment taglines for the three empires:

The Terran Republic needs you! Fight to bring unity, that we may annihilate the traitorous New Conglomerate and the zealots of the Vanu Sovereignty.

Answer the call of the New Conglomerate! Fight for our freedom, to liberate us from the tyranny of the Terran Republic and the dogmatism of the Vanu Sovereignty.

Embrace the glory of the Vanu Sovereignty! Fight in the name of progress, against the stagnation of the Terran Republic and the anarchy of the New Conglomerate.

I also found this on planetsidesyndicate.com

"Tear down the Threat that is Tyranny! Burn it all down and Start Again! We call all able-bodied soldiers to The Frontlines to take up arms against those who would deprive us of our basic freedoms. Do not forgive! Do not forget the History of Oppression that we have endured at the hands of the Terran brutes and the Vanu maniacs! Volunteer Now!"

"Loyalty until Death! Strength in Unity! Order requires law. Law is enforced through deterrence. Deterrence is based on the fear of consequences, and fear is the most powerful motivating force. The separatist groups, the Vanu Sovereignty and the New Conglomerate, will be dismantled through the exercise of forceful deterrence. Dissidents will fear the consequences of their disloyalty. Unity and order will be restored."

"The destiny of the human species tilts toward ruin. Thousands of years of shortsightedness and provincial thinking have hampered its proper evolution. We plunge toward oblivion. Those able to comprehend the promise and potential of humanity will advance. They will usher the less gifted through the gateway of understanding and cleanse the taint of blindness, ignorance and mulishness from the species. We are the shepherds of evolution, the harbingers of progress. We lead toward the light."

I feel I was spot on with this.

The NC seek freedom. To others they create anarchy.
The TR seek stability. To others they create stagnation.
The VS seek religion. To others they create zealotry.

The NC are easy here. It's pretty much based on American ideals.

The TR just want peace and law abiding citizens, which is a damn fine goal, however others see them as creating an environment where change and innovation is impossible.

The VS are the tricky ones. They want to make humanity better at what humanity does, but their problem is similar to what we are nearing in real life. Where does humanity start and end? Most people wouldn't call you a cyborg for having a hearing aid or pacemaker, but how much of your original body do you need before you become a robot? The VS also seem to think that there is some sort of special plane of existence upon achieving said goal.

These are all real life issues, and they were chosen because they clash so well against each other. They are all right and wrong at the same time. The point is not to offer validity to their beliefs, but to understand what they are and how you yourself fit in within these three dominant philosophies.

Talek Krell · 2011-10-01, 05:04 AM

Part of it may be in how you're defining "religion". Some definitions are fairly vague, and the VS would fit within them. For example:

2. a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects.

I would say though that with a definition that broad you could pretty easily include the TR (law and order will preserve us) and NC (freedom and independence are our rights) with the VS (progress and knowledge are our future)

**T-Ray** · 2011-10-02, 12:20 AM

Originally Posted by LZachariah

Ouch o.O This is written beside the small icon of the Vanu symbol on the new art post (which I found to be extremely interesting, and I love how invested SOE is in its fanbase). Reading this comment made me sad, however, because it shows that the developers of the game see a flaw (or possible "these are the bad guys") mentality toward one of their factions.

It's not a huge deal to me, but it gave me pause, because it was the first time that there has ever been an imbalance of the normal Planetside harmony of "All these factions have a reason to fight, you could empathize with any of them, there are no good guys or bad guys in this war." Calling one of the factions a bunch of nut jobs disrupts that balance. Now, for sure, SOE never said that to "us," what we're reading are notes that they are allowing us to see for the first time, presumably given to their artists for some conceptual focus. However, when the artists and designers have it in their heads that "The Terrans are militaristic, the NC are separatist commandos, and the Vanu are techno-religious nut jobs," some of the inherent disdain might filter down into the design.

I'm not challenging anyone on this, and I'm not too upset, it just caught me off guard (the Vanu having always been my faction). Hell, T-Ray loves the Vanu the MOST, and he's the art director. But I guess I'm wondering what people's thoughts are on this.

Just thought I'd share mine

~Zachariah

I wouldnt read too much into that, hell, I bash the TR all the time thats cuz i'm VS for life. The person that said that is most likely a NC or TR lame-o

We all have a side on the DEV team and we all stick to them. You are right, they are all fighting for what they deem to be right and true (in their minds) it is up to the fans to decide, whos right, and whos wrong

Techo-religious nut job and proud!!!!

**T-Ray** · 2011-10-02, 12:24 AM

Originally Posted by LordReaver

I also found this on planetsidesyndicate.com

"Tear down the Threat that is Tyranny! Burn it all down and Start Again! We call all able-bodied soldiers to The Frontlines to take up arms against those who would deprive us of our basic freedoms. Do not forgive! Do not forget the History of Oppression that we have endured at the hands of the Terran brutes and the Vanu maniacs! Volunteer Now!"

"Loyalty until Death! Strength in Unity! Order requires law. Law is enforced through deterrence. Deterrence is based on the fear of consequences, and fear is the most powerful motivating force. The separatist groups, the Vanu Sovereignty and the New Conglomerate, will be dismantled through the exercise of forceful deterrence. Dissidents will fear the consequences of their disloyalty. Unity and order will be restored."

"The destiny of the human species tilts toward ruin. Thousands of years of shortsightedness and provincial thinking have hampered its proper evolution. We plunge toward oblivion. Those able to comprehend the promise and potential of humanity will advance. They will usher the less gifted through the gateway of understanding and cleanse the taint of blindness, ignorance and mulishness from the species. We are the shepherds of evolution, the harbingers of progress. We lead toward the light."

I feel I was spot on with this.

The NC seek freedom. To others they create anarchy.
The TR seek stability. To others they create stagnation.
The VS seek religion. To others they create zealotry.

The NC are easy here. It's pretty much based on American ideals.

The TR just want peace and law abiding citizens, which is a damn fine goal, however others see them as creating an environment where change and innovation is impossible.

The VS are the tricky ones. They want to make humanity better at what humanity does, but their problem is similar to what we are nearing in real life. Where does humanity start and end? Most people wouldn't call you a cyborg for having a hearing aid or pacemaker, but how much of your original body do you need before you become a robot? The VS also seem to think that there is some sort of special plane of existence upon achieving said goal.

These are all real life issues, and they were chosen because they clash so well against each other. They are all right and wrong at the same time. The point is not to offer validity to their beliefs, but to understand what they are and how you yourself fit in within these three dominant philosophies.

WOW.
that is dead on....good job sir... but the question is..."What set you claimin' fool?"

LordReaver · 2011-10-02, 03:23 PM

I fight primarily under the banner of the New Conglomeration. Though mostly for the badass sanctuary music and the Vanguard.

SuperMorto · 2011-10-02, 04:08 PM

Originally Posted by LordReaver

I fight primarily under the banner of the New Conglomeration. Though mostly for the badass sanctuary music and the Vanguard.

Logo, and the music is poor!

I'm going to start a new thread bases on this reply!

Bravix · 2011-10-02, 04:45 PM

VS through and through, I just don't care for the religious nut-job implication to describe ourselves. I'm fine if the TR or NC look at us like that. That'd be great. But it shoudn't be in our official description. Not only is it incorrect (in my opinion), it will defer players from being with us if they have issues with religion.

I read through everything, and I cast my vote with everyone who describes the Vanu as seeking progress. During the cold war, the US was constantly trying to advance their technology. Were they technological religious nutjobs? Or were they trying to simply advance/better themselves and become more powerful.

The closest RL group I can compare the VS to are Nazi's. We seek perfection and the advancement of humans through better understanding Vanu technology. Those who stand in our way will die. Hitler was basically the same way...except the Vanu part.

Damn, I don't like comparing my favorite faction to Nazi's XD

I'd like to think of the VS and NC very similar. But instead of seeking freedom of rights, the Vanu seek freedom to explore the vanu technology in its entirety.

My idea of chain of events:

Terran's iron fist rule cause the NC to break off and rebel. At roughly the same time, those who felt that they discovered Vanu technology was the key to advancement of humankind (scientists and what not for example) broke off so they could do their own thing without the TR controlling them.

TR obviously need to silence the rebellious NC. Though the Vanu aren't rebels in the same sense, they become their own separate entity which is against the TR belief that everyone must unite to survive and prosper.

NC are against TR for obvious reasons. No idea what to say for NC - VS being enemies. I suspect the VS simply find the NC stench revolting.

As someone else said, I think that if LordReaver changed it from seeking Religion to Progress it would be more accurate. They aren't looking for a God. Last I checked, they aren't trying to 'ascend' in the same sense one would in the Stargate series.

Bags · 2011-10-02, 05:04 PM

The VS are fat.

Accuser · 2011-10-02, 05:18 PM

Originally Posted by Bags

The VS are fat.

Your faction can only squeeze into an XXL MAX suit

Talek Krell · 2011-10-02, 06:10 PM

Originally Posted by Bravix

No idea what to say for NC - VS being enemies. I suspect the VS simply find the NC stench revolting.

While the VS and NC philosophies aren't diametrically opposed the way that both factions are with the TR, they both rebelled for very different reasons, and they have plenty of cause to fight with each other. I figure it's probably sort of like this:

*Immediately after NC and VS make their last unsuccessful attempt at diplomacy*

I don't understand this Vanu ---- and I don't like it. We just got done puttin up with the TR's bull---- and I am not about to risk being sub-juh-gay-ted by a bunch 'a shineh purple ninnies. We're doin just fine on our own, burn em all.

These .."individuals" are not worth the energy it takes to communicate with them. Their superstitious idiocy is slowing down our research, and educating them would take decades. This is a waste of time. We'll just kill everyone and be done with it.

Graywolves · 2011-10-03, 12:50 AM

They said they've retconned the lore and made it better.

If someone on the team called them religious, I think they made the empire religious.

I SandRock · 2011-10-13, 05:41 AM

I think in PS1 they had a religious aspect too. In the sense that they saw the alien artifacts left behind as almost 'divine' and it was borderline worshipping?

I'm fine with that. As in, the VS seek technological advancement and they see the Aliens and thus their technology as superior (beings) who will guide humanity to a better place. So they revere the aliens and their technology.

I'd find it odd if all of a sudden they believe in some new God or something. It has to tie into technology and the alien artifacts for me to be understandable and acceptable.

LZachariah · 2011-10-13, 06:57 AM

T-Ray responded to my post! And it was ABOUT my beloved Vanu! OMG OMG OMG!

I seriously just feel like I got an autograph from a celebrity.

*dance*

Traak · 2011-10-13, 08:57 AM

The lack of info about the Vanu is not doing a thing to discourage me from playing Vanu. Quite the opposite.

Hamma · 2011-10-13, 09:37 AM

I am sure they are going to be a part of at least one of the chapters this week. Perhaps we will find out more about their start.