Captain Joy replied to Tom:
> As far as the CR for a such a society, I'd say CR4: Controlled  
> [B506].  If the regulatory powers of the gov't mean they are actually  
> monitoring TV, radio, and Internet, then, depending on what the gov't  
> allows to be broadcast/sent, the society might actually be CR5.
> 
> > I am looking at writing a treaty that bans for-profit organizations  
> > from owning public utilities and life support device
> > what rules would you put in place (Control Rating, etc)?
> >
> > tom_a_sparks

Remember that CR is a highly artificial game mechanic. It describes
how much trouble the characters will get when they do as characters
tend to do -- solve crimes without official badges, hunt down alien 
infestations, keep their old starship flying one step ahead of the
creditors. That means the ownership of public utilities will not 
affect the CR of a society directly. We can probably exclude CR 0
by the fact that the ban is enforced, and CR 6 from the fact that
non-utilities can be private property, but that leaves CR 1 to 5. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that good game settings tend to be
bad places to live in, "may you live in interesting times". Science 
fiction background with many settled worlds allow the exploration of 
extreme social systems, "this planet was settled by the Society for 
Constitutional Anarchy, all 23,567 members, and no other immigrants
were allowed to stay without multiple character witnesses ..."

Getting my two cents of real world remarks in, the recent economic 
turmoil shows how market forces can fail when actors either cannot 
get reliable information or cannot find relevant information under
a torrent of chaff. Command economies have their known drawbacks, 
of course, but different drawbacks, and a sensible system makes a 
case-by-case decision how much regulation it needs. I'm perfectly 
comfortable with leaving my supply of fresh GURPS books to market 
forces, and as an informed customer I regularly spend money in my 
FLGS even when Amazon would be cheaper. I want more regulation on
my fresh water supply.

Regards,
Onno
_______________________________________________
GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]>
http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l

Reply via email to