The Server & The Setting Basic Information What is Galaxy Citizen? Galaxy Citizen is a Starbound Role-Play server and community that aims to provide an engaging story-driven experience in a dynamic environment where user-made content is welcome and the users themselves are encouraged to be welcoming of those who are not yet experienced or are looking to learn. What is the setting? Galaxy Citizen's story takes place in an adapted version of the Starbound universe with a focus on story, narrative and a self-contained logic. It is classified as a Space Opera due to the wide variety of themes and elements that are often found within the canon. It aims to promote story-focused role-play where action and conflict are elements employed to keep the narrative moving forward as opposed to being the only form of narrative. This last is heavily frowned upon by the staff team and community. The possibility for light or humorous science fiction is present for Galaxy Citizen aims to maintain a balance between science and fiction, commonly known as Medium Sci-Fi, to keep a consistent and versatile canon for a wide demographic range. Hartwell and Cramer define Space Opera as "Colorful, dramatic, large-scale science fiction adventure, competently and sometimes beautifully written, usually focused on a sympathetic, heroic central character and plot action, and usually set in the relatively distant future, and in space or on other worlds, characteristically optimistic in tone. It often deals with war, piracy, military virtues, and very large-scale action, large stakes." Note: This does not mean that Galaxy Citizen displays or focuses on war, large-scale action and large stakes all the time. They are most commonly seen in the form of story elements and event sequences. Even then, they are scaled-down to match the scale of the setting they take place in - as is done in every Space Opera work to date. Yes, there are large-scale action scenarios and large stakes, but they're only as large as the setting allows them to be without sacrificing the consistency of the narrative. Compatible examples of Space Operas include: - Firefly by Joss Whedon (2002) - Battlestar Galactica by Glen A. Larson (1978-1979) - Galaxy Express 999 by Leiji Matsumoto (1977-2005) - Star Wars (novels only) - The Galaxy Railways by Leiji Matsumoto (2003-2007) - Cowboy Bebop by Shinichir? Watanabe (1997-2000) - Space Dandy by Shinichir? Watanabe (2014) - The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov (1942-1999) - The Skylark series by E. E. "Doc" Smith (1928-1965) - Legend of the Galactic Heroes by Yoshiki Tanaka (1982-1989) - Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold (1986-present) - The Gap Cycle by Stephen R. Donaldson (1990-1996) - The Lost Fleet by Jack Campbell (2006-present) - Valérian and Laureline by P. Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières (1967-present) - The Last Starfighter by Jonathan R. Betuel (1984) - Babylon 5 by J. Michael Straczynski (1993-1998) - Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein (1959) - Farscape by Rockne S. O'Bannon (1999-2003) - The Irresponsible Captain Tylor by Hitoshi Yoshioka (1989-present) - Space Battleship Yamato by Yoshinobu Nishizaki and Leiji Matsumoto (1974-present) - Space Pirate Captain Harlock series by Leiji Matsumoto (1978-present) - Toward the Terra by Keiko Takemiya (1979-present) - Alternity by Bill Slavicsek and Richard Baker (1998) Note: This does not mean you should base your role-play off of the examples above. The list is provided to help you understand what a space opera is, not to tell you how you should role-play the space opera. If you really want to choose one of those examples as a source of inspiration or reference to describe or feel the setting of Galaxy Citizen, your best options are probably Firefly, Galaxy Express 999, and Cowboy Bebop. Where does the story take place? In the universe of Galaxy Citizen, our role-play focuses on the events unraveling in the frontier region of the Milky-Way galaxy: The Fringe; a neutral, 'lawless' backwater area of space where the adventurous, brave and daring search for fortune, freedom and prosperity. The Fringe is not entirely without law: each colony and settlement throughout the years has established their own laws and makeshift sense of order. In reality, there is only one law in this region of space: 'Paradise Law', a code of honor by which men and women lived and let live in the early times of human colonization. "The Law of Paradise establishes that every man and woman is free to do as they please so long as they do not interfere with another one's freedom. We are free to do whatever we want with our lives and the world around us so long as we don't do whatever we want to others or cause harm to them and their free will. Should you, or I, dismiss a fellow being's freedom, we are to make ourselves responsible for our actions and be prepared to face the consequences, for justice will be enforced by those whose freedom we have disregarded. Remember, for honor is the life essence of the settlers and wanderers of space, to be quick to draw at the pettiest of provocations is an act of cowardice. Us free men and women of the sea of stars will never forget a coward's face once we've seen it, for they are the dreg of society who are willing to disregard the preciousness of life. As such, he or she who has been branded a coward is no longer deserving of paradise. They will be shunned and their life will be at the mercy of those who wish to spare it. Their freedom will no longer be theirs." While our characters' role-play is contained within the Fringe, interactions between them and Civilized Space (CivSpace for short) are commonplace in the form of announced and unannounced events, as well as role-play provided by some of our staff members, as the rest of the galaxy is managed and controlled by the staff team to ensure that day-to-day role-play has some form of effect in the larger scheme of things, contribuiting this way to the dynamism and consistency of the narrative where players can affect the story through their characters. Out of curiosity, what are the most common themes found in science-fiction? The following is a list of the most common themes found in science-fiction. A lot of them, including some not listed, are found in Galaxy Citizen already. Not all of them will be seen frequently, and some may or may not be restricted for balance and narrative reasons: Overarching Themes: Alien contact Alterations of the human body and mind Artificial Intelligence Collective consciousness Cosmology Destiny of humanity Evolution Existentialism Eschatology The future and former imaginations Global catastrophic risk History Alternate history Psychohistory Secret history Human fears Human nature & human psychology Identity Isolation & alienation Language Alien languages Universal translators Military conflicts Space warfare Weapons in science fiction The nature of reality Determinism Omega Point Interpretations of quantum mechanics Parallel worlds or universes Philosophies and philosophical ideas Political ideas & governance Religious ideas Simulated reality & consciousness Sociology and sociobiology Technological singularity Science fantasy Being Themes: Archailect Artificial Intelligences Androids and Gynoids (aka. Mechanoids) Artificial life Biological robot, aka. Synthetic (aka. Metanoids) Cyborgs Robots and humanoid robots Replicants Simulated consciousness Beings of pure mentality Characters (example stereotypes) The absent-minded professor The ‘Golem' (animated artificial anthropomorphic being) The ignorant friend The mad scientist Space pirate Super soldier Space cowboy Space noble The Miyazaki antagonist The Matsumoto protagonist Clones Extraterrestrial life Hypothetical types of biochemistry Alien invasion Astrobiology Principle of non-interference Message from space Living planets Hive minds Infomorphs Mutants Noosphere Shapeshifters Superhumans Superorganisms Symbionts UFOs Uplifting Ancient astronaut hypothesis Progressor Body and Mind Alteration Themes Biohacking and biotechnicians (Biopunk) Artificial organs Additional or improved senses Bio-implants Brain transplant Cloning Exocortex Genetic engineering Intelligence amplification Invisibility Life extension Cryonics Digital immortality Mind uploading Organ transplantation Organlegging (Organ theft) Prosthetics Memory Memory sharing Memory erasure and editing Mind occupation Mind swap Mind uploading Neural implants Psychic phenomena Clairvoyance Precognition Retrocognition Telepathy Telekinesis Paradise engineering Resizing Shapeshifting Teleportation Transhumanism and posthumanism X-ray vision Habitat Themes Artificial worlds Alien Zoo Arcologies Cyberspace Domed city Endemic Floating City Future of the Earth Climate change Megacity Seasteading and ocean colonization Pirate utopia Space colonization Terraformed planets Pantropy Space stations and habitats Underground city Walking city Political Themes Adhocracy Anarchism Anarcho-capitalism Apprenticeship Assassination Capitalism Neo-feudalism (capitalism) Privatisation Megacorporation Evil corporation Cognitive liberty Communism Decentralization Dystopias and Utopias Totalitarianism Ecology Environmentalism Economics Economic inequality Eugenics Fascism Galactic empires Legal personality Libertarianism Militarism National security state Nepotism Pacifism Plutocracy Proportional representation Post-scarcity economy Racism Regulation of technology Revolution Slavery Socialism Technoethics Bioethics Technophobia Terrorism Bio-terrorism Eco-terrorism Theocracy Totalitarianism vs. Libertarianism Treason Wealth inequality and class conflict World government Zero population growth Technology Themes Artificial gravity Artificial intelligence Asteroid mining Astronomical engineering Brain-computer interface Cloaking device Emerging technologies Holography Resurrection Robots Self-replicating machines Star lifting and stellar engineering Stasis device Mecha Megascale engineering and planetary engineering Megastructures Dyson sphere Molecular manufacturing Alien technology Virtual reality, mixed reality and augmented reality Weapons in science fiction Travel Themes Accidental travel Colonization of other planets Embryo space colonization Generation ship Interstellar ark Uploaded astronaut Terraforming Space exploration Interstellar travel and starships Faster than light travel and communications Hyperspace Hyperdrive Warp drive Wormholes Ansibles Close to light speed Bussard ramjets Much slower than light Generation ship Sleeper ship Space stations Teleportation Teletransporter Portals Time travel (forward)
