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Voting closed: April 07, 2013, 10:34:35 am

[Radio Controlled]

"Besides, we are conquering the galaxy here. If that doesn't warrant a little bit of pretense, I don't know what does."

[Harry Baldman]

"Hey, I'm just thinking out loud here. You got better alternatives? If we were to keep 'HMRC', I won't really complain, but honestly: imagine you were an average citizen in the UWM.
Now, if you heard that the HMRC was coming to your planet looking for a fight, or to 'liberate it' as that bunch of convicted mass murderers calls it, would you rise up against your UWM oppressors, or rather take up arms yourself to fight for your dear life? I think we should grab this chance to start of fresh, with a clean slate, without all the negative connotations that the name and idea behind 'HMRC' has.

Oh, and I could do without the ad hominem, thank you. "

I have to agree with Miyamoto here. The HMRC is a name that evokes terror, no matter what it stands for. Some days, we might have use of that, but not when it comes to protecting these people. How about Aegis Popularis? Or if you prefer space English, The Shield of the People? Pretentious, maybe... But also descriptive of what we are trying for here.

"Besides, we are conquering the galaxy here. If that doesn't warrant a little bit of pretense, I don't know what does."

"That's the thing. With names like the Shield of the People or Blazing Spears of Inevitable Triumph or Latin Gobbledygook we sound like a whole lot of silly cliched freedom fighters, when we're really apparently realizing the directives of a great machine god that seeks... something or other. We need a name that is something like the HMRC. Something that sounds bureaucratic, official and mostly harmless, yet will attain importance if given time and suitably adjusted accomplishments. We're all about order and efficiency or something, right? That's Steve's whole schtick, isn't it? Calling the revolution various bomb-throwing freedom fighter names is opposed to that idea in many ways, considering that our benevolent overlord is, in many ways, the very personification of the idea of 'Comrade Card Catalog'."

"Also, I wasn't so much complaining about the unoriginality of these names in particular, but more about the attempt to sound profound simply by using a language nobody reasonable uses for anything."

[Knight Otu]

"Oh yeah. Forgot about that."

give shock trigger back to Gorat if he wants it.

"Thanks. Now, for names... It's an important propaganda tool. We want to evoke that, not only are we the future, we are the best future that humanity can hope for. We ideally want a name that isn't corrupted easily, not something that can be repurposed into something to make us look evil or brutish. OGRE falls into that category, I'd say, sorry. And certainly not something bureaucratic-like. Who'll take something like that serious?

I guess we're looking for something like Paladins of Terra, or Avatars of Peace... actually, no, not that one..."

Spoiler: Gorat 'Chin' Ivanos (click to show/hide)

Str 3; Dex 3; End 3; Cha 5; Int 4; Wil 12//Spe 0; Int 1; Han 0 (-1); Con 1; Unc 0; Exo 8; Aux 1 (+1); Med 0
Mk II Suit; Microwave PK Amp; laser rifle: normal cigarettes; blue smokes; datapad (with platformer shooter); nanoghosts; shock trigger (with me, right now)
Appearance: 5'11'', 170 pounds in a rather unmuscular frame, shoulder-long brown hair, short goatee, brown eyes, a rather long chin that earned him his nickname. Age 32
Half a robot foot. Robot right arm.

[Radio Controlled]

"That's the thing. With names like the Shield of the People or Blazing Spears of Inevitable Triumph or Latin Gobbledygook we sound like a whole lot of silly cliched freedom fighters, when we're really apparently realizing the directives of a great machine god that seeks... something or other. We need a name that is something like the HMRC. Something that sounds bureaucratic, official and mostly harmless, yet will attain importance if given time and suitably adjusted accomplishments. We're all about order and efficiency or something, right? That's Steve's whole schtick, isn't it? Calling the revolution various bomb-throwing freedom fighter names is opposed to that idea in many ways, considering that our benevolent overlord is, in many ways, the very personification of the idea of 'Comrade Card Catalog'."

"Also, I wasn't so much complaining about the unoriginality of these names in particular, but more about the attempt to sound profound simply by using a language nobody reasonable uses for anything."

"While you do raise a good point, remember that before anything like efficient government comes around, we need to actually get there. And like it or not, symbolism is a powerful tool when convincing people to join your cause, especially when they might die because of it. Besides, aren't we freedom fighters? Not sure how Steve will play this out, so this is all theoretical, but I doubt he'll immediately announce he's the brains behind the operation, it would scare people of. And the UWM probably won't be telling the public that their massive machine has gone haywire, they'd be admitting their own incompetence.

Besides, we can always change names into something that sounds like it stands for efficiency or responsible government or order or stability or whatever once the 'conquering' part is over with."

[Harry Baldman]

"I don't think people are comfortable with the idea of heroic symbolism and grand plans for freedom and the future and whatnot - usually, that just means chaos and widespread destruction right now, vague promises it'll be better later. That's why giving a revolutionary force a fruity name alienates it from the people. People want a political machine to keep them safe, fed and on a path to success and efficient living. Machines and bureaucratic instruments give off an impression of power and seriousness far better than high-and-mighty concepts of a distant dawn of humanity. Referring to us as institutions rather than superheroes makes us seem reasonable. And besides, you shouldn't promise people freedom if it's entirely likely that they'll get no such thing. That's just plain dishonest and terrible to do."

"Actually, if Steve would be so kind to relate what sort of vision he's got for the new galaxy or whatever, it would be far easier to come up with a reasonable name. Right now we're mostly shooting our mouths off about what we think it'll be. What are the core values our machine god is going to promote in the society of the future?"

[Radio Controlled]

"I don't think people are comfortable with the idea of heroic symbolism and grand plans for freedom and the future and whatnot - usually, that just means chaos and widespread destruction right now, vague promises it'll be better later. That's why giving a revolutionary force a fruity name alienates it from the people. People want a political machine to keep them safe, fed and on a path to success and efficient living. Machines and bureaucratic instruments give off an impression of power and seriousness far better than high-and-mighty concepts of a distant dawn of humanity. Referring to us as institutions rather than superheroes makes us seem reasonable. And besides, you shouldn't promise people freedom if it's entirely likely that they'll get no such thing. That's just plain dishonest and terrible to do."

"Actually, if Steve would be so kind to relate what sort of vision he's got for the new galaxy or whatever, it would be far easier to come up with a reasonable name. Right now we're mostly shooting our mouths off about what we think it'll be. What are the core values our machine god is going to promote in the society of the future?"

"That's something we agree on, at the very least. Can't think of any good names if we don't know what we're supposed to be really searching for.

Oh, and personally, 'Machines and bureaucratic instruments give off an impression of power and seriousness' sounds good in theory, but to me, it sounds more like stagnation and corruption. Stability, sure, but isn't that what the UWM already stands for, more or less? Stability and order, and all they ask for it is a boot planted firmly on your neck. You really think people will be enthusiastic when all we seem to do is replace one oppressive regime with another? Even if that's not what we're trying to do, it'll sure look that way.
Again, right now, like it or not, we are a revolutionary force that tries to replace the current government with what we think will be better. Once we do that, We will become the establishment, after which the need to concern ourselves with projecting stability. We can still tell the people we are trying to build them a fairer and better place to live in the propaganda, but we are talking about the name now, not whatever goals we have for the future.

I think the first thing our name should imply is change and hope, you think it should convey stability and efficiency. I totally get where you're coming from, i really do, I just don't think we are a point yet to be giving that as our main message.

And yes, I know that a big part of the reason the UWM is what it is due to the inherent difficulties of maintaining order in such a vast domain, and that a being like Steve should have far less trouble with that. But until we know if he even wants to show himself to us, I think it's safe to assume the ordinary citizen won't like being governed by a machine. Sure, once they see how good it works out, they'll accept it, but we need to get there first. We can reveal it was a big wetware AI masterminding it all once we are securely in power and things have run smoothly for a few decades or so. Then we can actually show them that Steve is benevolent, instead of a big scary machine here to destroy humanity or something like it."

[Tack]

((We're a collection of incredibly terrifying special operation 'Peacekeepers' with the only thing higher than our death count being our killcount. I think 'The Reclaimers' or something is a great name. We can't exactly just change who we are, after all.))

"Glub"

[BFEL]

((We're a collection of incredibly terrifying special operation 'Peacekeepers' with the only thing higher than our death count being our killcount. I think 'The Reclaimers' or something is a great name. We can't exactly just change who we are, after all.))

"Glub"

((Aren't you the guy who nuked the spaceport? I'm pretty sure we shouldn't be taking advice from you for quite awhile
That goes double for Stacy.

Also whats with all the hats on avatars? WHAT DID REMUTHRA DO?

[TCM]

((May's having a breakdown and her boyfriend has spontaneously got comatose. Anyone up to becoming her new BF/GF or at least cuddle companion?))

[Xantalos]

((Xan can try to convert her to crazyism but he needs a turn or two to do the debriefing thing and then accidentally bump into her while going back to the AM.))

[Doomblade187]

((Xan can try to convert her to crazyism but he needs a turn or two to do the debriefing thing and then accidentally bump into her while going back to the AM.))

((HE SEES THE FUTURE.))

[TCM]

((Xan can try to convert her to crazyism but he needs a turn or two to do the debriefing thing and then accidentally bump into her while going back to the AM.))

((She's not going for stuff like that right now. Like, actually human caring and emotions and catharsis and stuff.

Yeah, plot twist.))

[Doomblade187]

((Xan can try to convert her to crazyism but he needs a turn or two to do the debriefing thing and then accidentally bump into her while going back to the AM.))

((She's not going for stuff like that right now. Like, actually human caring and emotions and catharsis and stuff.

Yeah, plot twist.))

((Wait, May has emotions?

Makes sense, I suppose. Though I'm not one to talk.))

[Xantalos]

((Xan can try to convert her to crazyism but he needs a turn or two to do the debriefing thing and then accidentally bump into her while going back to the AM.))

((She's not going for stuff like that right now. Like, actually human caring and emotions and catharsis and stuff.

Yeah, plot twist.))

((My god.
Well, what kind of human emotions? Xan'll likely be moving beyond such stuff soon, as my goal is eventually to become a timespace abomination such as what Lars saw in his dreams at one point but I can try to relate while he still has them.))

[SeriousConcentrate]

(You could go make friends with Jim, if you want. )