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What do you prefer to think of workers as?

Humans - everything is humans
Total votes: 13 (17%)
Biological sentients - species mix and match
Total votes: 25 (32%)
Artificial intelligences - just programs running a ship
Total votes: 11 (14%)
Robots - programs with a mechanical body
Total votes: 11 (14%)
Androids - robots with some biological functions
Total votes: 10 (13%)
Clones of the NPC - exactly what it says on the tin
Total votes: 2 (3%)
Quasi-clones of the NPC - clones, but with slightly varying personalities
Total votes: 2 (3%)
Other - detail in a reply
Total votes: 4 (5%)
Total votes: 78
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What should workers be?

#1
NPCs are the faction leaders and executives, capable of making higher decisions and guiding their projects. Workers, on the other hand, are NPCs that aren't as intelligent, and basically do the grunt work for the NPCs.

So, now that we have that explained to those who haven't been closely following, what are workers, in your mind? I've noticed that this seems to be a subject of heavy debate, and can't find a related poll, which surprises me. It has me curious to see what people prefer.
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Re: What should workers be?

#3
Jamiee5300 wrote:I don't like the idea of uploaded personalities or clones and the like, a little too fruity I think, sometimes the most obvious approach is the best one.

I'll be thinking of the workers as simply people, humans or perhaps alien, with the exception to AI piloted ships.
The most obvious approach - that everyone is a digital individual, because the notion of flesh-and-blood people flying about in space like we see in Star Trek is of course completely absurd and something that only seems to make sense to us at the moment because we're still primitive ape-related mammals that haven't yet figured out how to augment ourselves - is often the best one. Flatfingers offers an elegant idea elsewhere which allows us to assume a less obvious but apparently more palatable idea that players (and high-LOD NPCs) are flesh-and-blood, which people keep referring to as "people" as if digitally-hosted consciousnesses didn't merit personhood as well for whatever reason (well at least I know what's gonna replace racism or sexism come 2065).

There are very good reasons for considering low-LOD NPCs to be digitally-hosted consciousnesses and very good reasons to view high-LOD agents as flesh-and-blood. There is currently one obvious issue with this system, which concerns how a low-LOD agent can be promoted to a high-LOD one if they're of two different natures.

So indeed, the most obvious approach is often the best one, but as Flatfingers points out we can't view all agents as digitally-hosted consciousnesses, as there are non-obvious problems with this that are only noticed on closer inspection of the system.
Last edited by ThymineC on Sun May 11, 2014 1:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What should workers be?

#6
AIs. The society in LT relies heavily on people that never leave space. Humans or any species that has developed on a planet would be horrible at working in space for long periods of time. Also being AIs solves the problem of not having to represent alien or human physiologies nor needs.

I don't want any humans in this game. Nor any human replacement alien species (alien race is technically wrong, isn't it?).
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Re: What should workers be?

#8
Katawa wrote:Other, sexy androgynous boys.
I was going to say Hand Puppets of the arms of Hindu gods so I could play as Mahasamatman. But I like your idea better.
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Re: What should workers be?

#12
BFett wrote:I don't think it matters at this point since we won't be able to see or communicate with them on a personal level. For lore or in-game symbols I'd expect workers to be humanoid aliens, humans, and/or robots.
Everyone keeps saying this, but it would matter if gameplay ties into this.
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Re: What should workers be?

#13
Grumblesaur wrote:I would say a mix of wholly biological sentients, androids and cyborgs, and full-blown robots.
Exactly my selected options as well. Makes sense to have biologicals for those unable to afford purchasing more expensive robotics, then the middle-ground of androids/cyborgs for those slightly better off, and full-blown, highly-efficient robots for the wealthy entrepreneurs.
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Re: What should workers be?

#14
5anitybane wrote:
Grumblesaur wrote:I would say a mix of wholly biological sentients, androids and cyborgs, and full-blown robots.
Exactly my selected options as well. Makes sense to have biologicals for those unable to afford purchasing more expensive robotics, then the middle-ground of androids/cyborgs for those slightly better off, and full-blown, highly-efficient robots for the wealthy entrepreneurs.
So in your view, being more mechanical is considered to be the more desirable option within the LT universe?
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Re: What should workers be?

#15
ThymineC wrote:
5anitybane wrote:
Grumblesaur wrote:I would say a mix of wholly biological sentients, androids and cyborgs, and full-blown robots.
Exactly my selected options as well. Makes sense to have biologicals for those unable to afford purchasing more expensive robotics, then the middle-ground of androids/cyborgs for those slightly better off, and full-blown, highly-efficient robots for the wealthy entrepreneurs.
So in your view, being more mechanical is considered to be the more desirable option within the LT universe?
In short, yes. For more in-depth thoughts, see below, but they have more of a grounding in perception of the universe moreso than what the workers actually are (commodities).

My thought processes are that biological life-forms are efficient, but also potentially cheap as labour. Businesses could import races accustomed to labourious tasks, and perhaps those accustomed to lesser wages, and could be paid more than they would back on their world, but still less than other galactic races. It also brings illegitimacy into the equation, where businesses could act illegally and purchase slaves as workers. However, the underlying potential problem down the road, is that many biological life-forms have brains, morals, ethics, and a sense of self-worth. This can lead to dislike of the employer, rebellion, refusal to work, lawsuits, and all manner of other costly drawbacks for the employer.

Enter the android or cyborg. A human-like robot would remove some of the problems of a purely biological life-form, but not all of them. Since they'd be human-esque in both structure and mentality to a degree, they could also feel they're being treated unfairly, and pursue termination of work contracts, escape, or prosecute the employer. With cyborgs, biological life-forms could be altered to mix and match with benefits and drawbacks, but still have the drawbacks of being able to be injured and require longer healing depending on with elements are cybernetic. If legs were mechanical but arms were not, perhaps they'd break an arm, or vice-versa. Additionally, the process of requiring mechanical parts to work in unison with organic tissue, organs and muscles, would be more complex than a purely non-mechanical or mechanical worker.

Pure robotic workers would be perfect for employers, because they require no sentience, just restricted programming to function in their allotted tasks. They could be more efficiently replaced or repaired as the time taken to repair relies merely on the parts and the repairer, not a time-bound healing requirement in the case of human tissue and muscle. Due to no sentience, there is little to no chance of insurrection, and other penalties for the employer. They can also be manufactured for their specific tasks, therefore excelling in their task more than a unit with a breadth of abilities, but no specialisation. They can also be given structure and parts to handle such tasks, for example, a Heavy Lifter could have quite a bulky frame, compression legs and suspension to handle varying weights. However, due to their requirement of parts and having to be manufactured to quality standards, as well as software configuration, updates, regular maintenance checks and the ilk, they would be more expensive than the aforementioned options. However, I view this to be the ultimate desire for a business considering having efficient workers, because there's minimal risk, maximum efficiency, and easier management.

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