So I was browsing reddit today because I like pain some decent people still hang out there when this little gem popped into my feed:

ChangedStars, the richly worldbuilt queer-themed feminist scifi TTRPG set in a post-war interspecies Union I'm illustrating & lorecrafting is live on Kickstarter!

"Huh" Says me.  "Seems like a standard 'in the future, transhumanism means gender is an outmoded concept' transhumanist RPG #5000.  Still might be good for a lark."

So I read the Kickstarter pitch.

Nothing could have prepared me for the display of gibbering insanity I was about to read.

The Very first line is "The indomitable Human Empire vaulted itself majestically dick-first into space."

Okay...

I kept reading and my jaw hit the floor at the horrifying, authoritarian fever dream on display.

Let me summarize in order to spare your precious brain cells.  In the distant future, Humanity forms an Empire to subjugate the stars because it's run by "Flesh-eating Men."  We conquer murder and genocide our way across the Galaxy until we run into a race of inectoids called the Mary Sues Murai and their allies the Thren, who of course kick our asses because authorial self-loathing.

Then the "Sister Species" decide to forcibly remake human civilization in "The Great Transition."   This was a literal Mao-style Cultural Revolution.  To hear the pitch describe it:

"They altered religious texts, did away with megacorporations, and temporarily disallowed males from filling political positions (the Thren being formerly matriarchal turned egalitarian, and the Murai being a genderless species suspected the patriarchal nature of the Human Empire to have contributed to the worst of its atrocities). "

JEE-ZUS. There was no way that was voluntary. The way it's described conjures up images of Cisgender men being rounded up and forced into gender-conversion camps to "cure" their "maleness."  Conquering a people and forcibly altering their culture to conform to what you want it to be, gee there's another word for that: Genocide.  I guess it's okay when we do it.

Just when you thought it couldn't get worse: it does.

The Supercomputer the Human Empire created to direct our military was reprogrammed and turned into an absolute despot a totally fair and impartial and saintly distributor of humanity's resources and director of our internal affairs.

The name of this overlord: "The Mother of Steel"

JESUS
TAPDANCING
CHRIST

So basically you're playing as SCUM Manifesto Stalinists in a future where the Great Leap Forward has happened.  I guarantee  you that one of the primary antagonists will be a faction of evil reactionaries who *checks notes* want the freedom to express their gender identity.  Which is bad because they're cisgender men.

The fundamental lack of self-awareness on display here is truly stunning. Both from the Author and from the people who backed this thing.  It's like an infinitely long train derailing.

Honestly, I am rather excited to see where this goes.  I'll never pay a cent for it, but I'll gladly sit back popcorn in hand and watch the fireworks.

This is straight up the Portland Tankie version of MyFarOg or Ra-Ho-Wa. 

"funded in five hours" motherfucker you only asked for 5K

Someone tell 4chan, because this looks like fucking comedy gold. I haven't laughed this hard since Thirsty Sword Lesbians!

Quote from: Torque2100 on April 28, 2021, 12:16:04 PM
So I was browsing reddit today because I like pain some decent people still hang out there when this little gem popped into my feed:

ChangedStars, the richly worldbuilt queer-themed feminist scifi TTRPG set in a post-war interspecies Union I'm illustrating & lorecrafting is live on Kickstarter!

"Huh" Says me.  "Seems like a standard 'in the future, transhumanism means gender is an outmoded concept' transhumanist RPG #5000.  Still might be good for a lark."

So I read the Kickstarter pitch.

Nothing could have prepared me for the display of gibbering insanity I was about to read.

The Very first line is "The indomitable Human Empire vaulted itself majestically dick-first into space."

Okay...

I kept reading and my jaw hit the floor at the horrifying, authoritarian fever dream on display.

Let me summarize in order to spare your precious brain cells.  In the distant future, Humanity forms an Empire to subjugate the stars because it's run by "Flesh-eating Men."  We conquer murder and genocide our way across the Galaxy until we run into a race of inectoids called the Mary Sues Murai and their allies the Thren, who of course kick our asses because authorial self-loathing.

Then the "Sister Species" decide to forcibly remake human civilization in "The Great Transition."   This was a literal Mao-style Cultural Revolution.  To hear the pitch describe it:

"They altered religious texts, did away with megacorporations, and temporarily disallowed males from filling political positions (the Thren being formerly matriarchal turned egalitarian, and the Murai being a genderless species suspected the patriarchal nature of the Human Empire to have contributed to the worst of its atrocities). "

JEE-ZUS. There was no way that was voluntary. The way it's described conjures up images of Cisgender men being rounded up and forced into gender-conversion camps to "cure" their "maleness."  Conquering a people and forcibly altering their culture to conform to what you want it to be, gee there's another word for that: Genocide.  I guess it's okay when we do it.

Just when you thought it couldn't get worse: it does.

The Supercomputer the Human Empire created to direct our military was reprogrammed and turned into an absolute despot a totally fair and impartial and saintly distributor of humanity's resources and director of our internal affairs.

The name of this overlord: "The Mother of Steel"

JESUS
TAPDANCING
CHRIST

So basically you're playing as SCUM Manifesto Stalinists in a future where the Great Leap Forward has happened.  I guarantee  you that one of the primary antagonists will be a faction of evil reactionaries who *checks notes* want the freedom to express their gender identity.  Which is bad because they're cisgender men.

The fundamental lack of self-awareness on display here is truly stunning. Both from the Author and from the people who backed this thing.  It's like an infinitely long train derailing.

Honestly, I am rather excited to see where this goes.  I'll never pay a cent for it, but I'll gladly sit back popcorn in hand and watch the fireworks.

This is straight up the Portland Tankie version of MyFarOg or Ra-Ho-Wa. 

Oh my, who would have guessed they would write their genocidal fiction into a "game"?

Archived the KS so it can't be memory holled.

https://archive.is/YEUnZ

Sounds like a Sci-fi with history written by the victors that would be both strange and alien for players to interact with.

Dude Star Trek was/is considered commi fantasy where the Federation is basically fascist. It's the backbone of Utopian Sci-fi that all is not perfect even if the original authors intended it to be.

Quote from: Rhedyn on April 28, 2021, 01:25:00 PM
Sounds like a Sci-fi with history written by the victors that would be both strange and alien for players to interact with.

Dude Star Trek was/is considered commi fantasy where the Federation is basically fascist. It's the backbone of Utopian Sci-fi that all is not perfect even if the original authors intended it to be.

ST is commie fantasy only for commie addled minds. It's capitalistic, meritocratic even with replicators because there's still thing replicators can't replicate.

It's also for individual freedom, free speech and fights against the borg, who ARE the commie wet dream.

Quote from: GeekyBugle on April 28, 2021, 01:32:53 PM

Quote from: Rhedyn on April 28, 2021, 01:25:00 PM
Sounds like a Sci-fi with history written by the victors that would be both strange and alien for players to interact with.

Dude Star Trek was/is considered commi fantasy where the Federation is basically fascist. It's the backbone of Utopian Sci-fi that all is not perfect even if the original authors intended it to be.

ST is commie fantasy only for commie addled minds. It's capitalistic, meritocratic even with replicators because there's still thing replicators can't replicate.

It's also for individual freedom, free speech and fights against the borg, who ARE the commie wet dream.

Bro they don't even have money in human society and you're projecting capitalist values on them?

Quote from: Rhedyn on April 28, 2021, 02:00:07 PM

Quote from: GeekyBugle on April 28, 2021, 01:32:53 PM

Quote from: Rhedyn on April 28, 2021, 01:25:00 PM
Sounds like a Sci-fi with history written by the victors that would be both strange and alien for players to interact with.

Dude Star Trek was/is considered commi fantasy where the Federation is basically fascist. It's the backbone of Utopian Sci-fi that all is not perfect even if the original authors intended it to be.

ST is commie fantasy only for commie addled minds. It's capitalistic, meritocratic even with replicators because there's still thing replicators can't replicate.

It's also for individual freedom, free speech and fights against the borg, who ARE the commie wet dream.

Bro they don't even have money in human society and you're projecting capitalist values on them?

Bro they totally have money.

You need to say "in human society" and yet:

The Federation and money

Outside of Earth, money and other forms of currency were still used in the 23rd and 24th century, by the Federation itself, individual Humans, and other Federation species. One form of such currency was the Federation credit.

The Human philanthropist Carter Winston acquired a vast personal fortune during the late 23rd century. (TAS: "The Survivor")

In 2368, a Vulcan master doubled the price of a meditation lamp upon learning that Tuvok and Kathryn Janeway were Starfleet officers. (VOY: "The Gift")

Notably, the crew of the USS Voyager, faced with severe resource limitations after being flung into the Delta Quadrant, treated rations on replicator and holodeck use as currency and traded these among themselves. (VOY: "The Cloud", "Twisted", "Parturition", "Meld", "The Chute")

Bartender Quark had repeated financial interactions with Federation personnel. On numerous occasions, Starfleet officers gambled to win latinum at Quark's, including Julian Bashir, Thomas Riker, and Jadzia Dax. (DS9: "Statistical Probabilities", "Playing God", "Business as Usual", "Change of Heart", "Defiant"; TNG: "Firstborn") His bar also routinely extended credit to its patrons, including Federation citizens and members of Starfleet. (DS9: "Little Green Men"; VOY: "Caretaker") In 2372, he sold Quark's Treasure – a damaged Ferengi shuttle which had belonged to him – for scrap after it was disabled in the Sol system, and was given enough to cover passage back to Deep Space 9. (DS9: "Little Green Men") Later that year, Benjamin Sisko threatened Quark to collect on five years' "back rent" that was unpaid, though the actual motivation behind the threat was not fiscal. (DS9: "Bar Association") Quark later stated that he was in debt to some unnamed Humans, but considered defaulting on them a trivial matter. (DS9: "Body Parts") In 2373, he indirectly caused damage to a cargo bay, and was informed that he would have to bear the burden for the repairs, though it was not clear if this burden was financial in nature. (DS9: "Business as Usual") When Quark rescued Gaila from a Federation starbase after he was arrested on Thalos VI, he had to pay a fine before he could be released. (DS9: "The Magnificent Ferengi")
It was not specified that the fine was owed or paid to Starfleet or the Federation.
Other mentions

    Sometime in the 2250s, Harcourt Fenton Mudd programmed a number of android duplicates of himself with the phrase "if I had any money, I'd be sipping jippers on a beach somewhere." (ST: "The Escape Artist")

    Captain Kirk offered to reimburse a group of miners on Rigel XII for lithium crystals in 2266, but he was rebuffed in favor of bartering for Mudd's women. (TOS: "Mudd's Women")

    In 2285, Leonard McCoy wanted to pay a smuggler to transport him to the Genesis Planet. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)

    In 2364, Beverly Crusher bought a roll of cloth at Farpoint Station and had her account on the USS Enterprise-D billed. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint")

    That same year, while playing the role of the title character in a Dixon Hill simulation, Picard stated a rate of $20 a day plus expenses to Jessica Bradley, who was convinced that someone was trying to kill her. She accepted and gave him a "c-note," or $100, as an advance. Later in the simulation, he wished to purchase a newspaper but did not have any money, and was told by the vendor that he could catch him next time. (TNG: "The Big Goodbye")

    In 2366, Jean-Luc Picard purchased a Horga'hn on Risa. (TNG: "Captain's Holiday")

    In 2368, Commander William T. Riker tried to get information out of Amarie. She complimented him on her husband and told him to "drop a few coins" in her jar. He told her that he did not carry any money, but managed to tempt her by teaching her a song. (TNG: "Unification II")

    In 2370, when Lieutenant Worf and his son Alexander Rozhenko visited the Klingon outpost on Maranga IV, Alexander came to Worf asking for money, stating that he could see Molor's head in a box for 50 darseks. Worf replied that the man who told him this was just trying to take his money. (TNG: "Firstborn")

    As of the 24th century, the Bank of Bolias was a major financial institution, and Bolarus IX had a market economy that fluctuated in value. (DS9: "Starship Down", "Who Mourns for Morn?")

Quote from: GeekyBugle on April 28, 2021, 02:08:16 PM

Quote from: Rhedyn on April 28, 2021, 02:00:07 PM

Quote from: GeekyBugle on April 28, 2021, 01:32:53 PM

Quote from: Rhedyn on April 28, 2021, 01:25:00 PM
Sounds like a Sci-fi with history written by the victors that would be both strange and alien for players to interact with.

Dude Star Trek was/is considered commi fantasy where the Federation is basically fascist. It's the backbone of Utopian Sci-fi that all is not perfect even if the original authors intended it to be.

ST is commie fantasy only for commie addled minds. It's capitalistic, meritocratic even with replicators because there's still thing replicators can't replicate.

It's also for individual freedom, free speech and fights against the borg, who ARE the commie wet dream.

Bro they don't even have money in human society and you're projecting capitalist values on them?

Bro they totally have money.

You need to say "in human society" and yet:

Which I did. Human society didn't have money. A bunch of examples of non-human societies having money does not change that.

Quote from: GeekyBugle on April 28, 2021, 02:08:16 PM

Quote from: Rhedyn on April 28, 2021, 02:00:07 PM

Quote from: GeekyBugle on April 28, 2021, 01:32:53 PM

Quote from: Rhedyn on April 28, 2021, 01:25:00 PM
Sounds like a Sci-fi with history written by the victors that would be both strange and alien for players to interact with.

Dude Star Trek was/is considered commi fantasy where the Federation is basically fascist. It's the backbone of Utopian Sci-fi that all is not perfect even if the original authors intended it to be.

ST is commie fantasy only for commie addled minds. It's capitalistic, meritocratic even with replicators because there's still thing replicators can't replicate.

It's also for individual freedom, free speech and fights against the borg, who ARE the commie wet dream.

Bro they don't even have money in human society and you're projecting capitalist values on them?

Bro they totally have money.

You need to say "in human society" and yet:

The Federation and money

Outside of Earth, money and other forms of currency were still used in the 23rd and 24th century, by the Federation itself, individual Humans, and other Federation species. One form of such currency was the Federation credit.

The Human philanthropist Carter Winston acquired a vast personal fortune during the late 23rd century. (TAS: "The Survivor")

In 2368, a Vulcan master doubled the price of a meditation lamp upon learning that Tuvok and Kathryn Janeway were Starfleet officers. (VOY: "The Gift")

Notably, the crew of the USS Voyager, faced with severe resource limitations after being flung into the Delta Quadrant, treated rations on replicator and holodeck use as currency and traded these among themselves. (VOY: "The Cloud", "Twisted", "Parturition", "Meld", "The Chute")

Bartender Quark had repeated financial interactions with Federation personnel. On numerous occasions, Starfleet officers gambled to win latinum at Quark's, including Julian Bashir, Thomas Riker, and Jadzia Dax. (DS9: "Statistical Probabilities", "Playing God", "Business as Usual", "Change of Heart", "Defiant"; TNG: "Firstborn") His bar also routinely extended credit to its patrons, including Federation citizens and members of Starfleet. (DS9: "Little Green Men"; VOY: "Caretaker") In 2372, he sold Quark's Treasure – a damaged Ferengi shuttle which had belonged to him – for scrap after it was disabled in the Sol system, and was given enough to cover passage back to Deep Space 9. (DS9: "Little Green Men") Later that year, Benjamin Sisko threatened Quark to collect on five years' "back rent" that was unpaid, though the actual motivation behind the threat was not fiscal. (DS9: "Bar Association") Quark later stated that he was in debt to some unnamed Humans, but considered defaulting on them a trivial matter. (DS9: "Body Parts") In 2373, he indirectly caused damage to a cargo bay, and was informed that he would have to bear the burden for the repairs, though it was not clear if this burden was financial in nature. (DS9: "Business as Usual") When Quark rescued Gaila from a Federation starbase after he was arrested on Thalos VI, he had to pay a fine before he could be released. (DS9: "The Magnificent Ferengi")
It was not specified that the fine was owed or paid to Starfleet or the Federation.
Other mentions

    Sometime in the 2250s, Harcourt Fenton Mudd programmed a number of android duplicates of himself with the phrase "if I had any money, I'd be sipping jippers on a beach somewhere." (ST: "The Escape Artist")

    Captain Kirk offered to reimburse a group of miners on Rigel XII for lithium crystals in 2266, but he was rebuffed in favor of bartering for Mudd's women. (TOS: "Mudd's Women")

    In 2285, Leonard McCoy wanted to pay a smuggler to transport him to the Genesis Planet. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)

    In 2364, Beverly Crusher bought a roll of cloth at Farpoint Station and had her account on the USS Enterprise-D billed. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint")

    That same year, while playing the role of the title character in a Dixon Hill simulation, Picard stated a rate of $20 a day plus expenses to Jessica Bradley, who was convinced that someone was trying to kill her. She accepted and gave him a "c-note," or $100, as an advance. Later in the simulation, he wished to purchase a newspaper but did not have any money, and was told by the vendor that he could catch him next time. (TNG: "The Big Goodbye")

I was with you up to this part. I don't think a fictional story on a holodeck referencing money means the Federation uses it anymore.

QuoteIn 2366, Jean-Luc Picard purchased a Horga'hn on Risa. (TNG: "Captain's Holiday")

    In 2368, Commander William T. Riker tried to get information out of Amarie. She complimented him on her husband and told him to "drop a few coins" in her jar. He told her that he did not carry any money, but managed to tempt her by teaching her a song. (TNG: "Unification II")

    In 2370, when Lieutenant Worf and his son Alexander Rozhenko visited the Klingon outpost on Maranga IV, Alexander came to Worf asking for money, stating that he could see Molor's head in a box for 50 darseks. Worf replied that the man who told him this was just trying to take his money. (TNG: "Firstborn")

    As of the 24th century, the Bank of Bolias was a major financial institution, and Bolarus IX had a market economy that fluctuated in value. (DS9: "Starship Down", "Who Mourns for Morn?")

Some alien societies still use money. The Ferengi for a notable example of still having currency in a world full of Replicators.

But we have numerous incidents after TOS where the Federation characters declare that they don't use money anymore. I chalk it up to Roddenberry being naieve about currency, Capitalism, and hand waving away exactly how they "don't use money anymore". And subsequent writers scratching their heads and going "What the fuck is this shit?"

Quote from: Torque2100 on April 28, 2021, 12:16:04 PM
So I was browsing reddit today because I like pain some decent people still hang out there when this little gem popped into my feed:

ChangedStars, the richly worldbuilt queer-themed feminist scifi TTRPG set in a post-war interspecies Union I'm illustrating & lorecrafting is live on Kickstarter!

I read that as "Lovecrafting" and said "Wait?  WHAT?" 

Off topic. But ST and especially TNG ran off a thing called Credits. Credits seemed to be something you got extra for actually doing stuff. Be in working, farming, whatever. Seemed to be mostly used for luxuries from the rare few examples can recall. Its not exactly money. But seems to get spent on stuff.

Dilithium seemed to be another form of almost currency. But barter seemed the main thing going at least in TOS and occasionally in TNG.

As for this, to use BGGs wording,  'game'... Does not surprise me at all.

In fact it reads like its tailr made for outrage marketing by ticking off pretty much every box possible to get people to complain. And here we have a thread. Free Advertising is the name of the game. More people will back it just to see what a train wreck it is.

Quote from: Ghostmaker on April 28, 2021, 12:18:51 PM
Someone tell 4chan, because this looks like fucking comedy gold. I haven't laughed this hard since Thirsty Sword Lesbians!

Dont give them what they want.

Quote from: Omega on April 28, 2021, 02:34:21 PM
Off topic. But ST and especially TNG ran off a thing called Credits. Credits seemed to be something you got extra for actually doing stuff. Be in working, farming, whatever. Seemed to be mostly used for luxuries from the rare few examples can recall. Its not exactly money. But seems to get spent on stuff.

Dilithium seemed to be another form of almost currency. But barter seemed the main thing going at least in TOS and occasionally in TNG.

As for this, to use BGGs wording,  'game'... Does not surprise me at all.

In fact it reads like its tailr made for outrage marketing by ticking off pretty much every box possible to get people to complain. And here we have a thread. Free Advertising is the name of the game. More people will back it just to see what a train wreck it is.

Credits ARE money tho. Just imagine all our dearly beloved leaders just stoped printing money altogether and instead of several different currencies we had the earth credit. not paper, not coins but electronically stored in your account. It is still money.

As for this "game" it reads as genocidal porn.