Board Thread:Fiction Universe Discussion/@comment-4242472-20160124202207/@comment-1073312-20160126014933

I haven't got much to add that hasn't been discussed already.

That being said, I have a similar opinion to the one voiced by Technobliterator: we can construct fictional contexts and narratives that follow an internal, in-universe logic. In the case the DCP vs. the Rogue Boyz, any fiction that will involve the two with have a logic about why the DCP doesn't stomp them. But here's the kicker, what follows internal logic if the fictional universe, does not have to follow an external logic. Many things about the fiction universe when analysed do not stand up to much scrutiny: Charles tells me that postscarcity civilisations at least expressed in the fiction universe would have to be authoritarian states, and have disadvantages to capitalist systems. If we wanted to create the systems that have already mentioned, and force fictions to follow a more external logic, it will simply create a rigid system, because the capitalist ones may always win out. I don't know if this interpretation is true, but in the spirit of the argument, consider this.

At the end of the day, it is not really systems that the fiction universe was ever founded on. It is a complex web of narratives and contexts, points of view between users and fictions. Therefore, in fictions where there can be conflicting viewpoints, it is important to construct a story that is belittling to none of the users involved. Great Xonexian Schism is an example. Some disagreements may remain in such fictions, but it is up to users to decide how much of the other's narrative is true. Even if it conflicts with your own views, it doesn't have to reflect so in-universe.

I just want to clear-up some misconceptions about the true purpose of the tier scale. Some of them stem from improper uses of the scale, and the partially the fault of my own for not correcting. The tier scale does not state that say, megastructures are the only path to stellar and hyperspatial technology. What it has is multiple categories (arguably some are better than others for expansive empires). The spirit of the tier scale these days has become an essay, of the types of civilisation and progress available given resources (especially power sources), technology and knowledge. That is why "Tier U" no longer exists as a separate category, because the scale supports multiple forms of progress; such as swarm races, truly alien conditions, tech and size collapse, or tech-gifted categories (which is probably the largest growing in the fiction universe given the advent of the hyperspatial revolution). It is theory about what the technological capabilities of a civilisation with a given amount of energy, information, and possibly more variables. Things like megastructures are merely examples, although the popularity of the standard method of progression has made it dominant. The tier scale was created originally as a comparison of fictional power, and that idea still remains, or as another variant, treated as an absolute hierarchy. I wouldn't encourage this, however I wouldn't abandon it for its ability to explain the technological capabilities and history of fictional societies.