well im guessing that people choose everyone other than serco to get the valk easier.

either that or they read the backstory first and then see that the serco are an evil race :\

Bah... I read the backstory too... and I didn't see the serco as evil...

Plus, Akan started it.

Then again, the universe is at war... and the Serco are the current aggressor... it makes for good cultural diversity though.

That reminds me of last night... when Leber declared Sedina b-8 to be serco free... isn't it like that most of the time?

I know what happened. All the noobs think good sides always win. Because of that they all join itani. when they start advertising just watch the serco number rise. Nowadays you either bad or badder. And whos nuertral. Plus a few friends after reading the story said "so the serco are black people cause they think they are all bad and the itani are white people cause they did martial arts just like the chinese. Then the brown people are the so called nuetral. When on the internet i get a few races remarks just be cacuse of those pictures from the fight in the story. So the game is probaly has more white players right now then black. No OFFENSE

I have to agree with Lin on this one. Without meaning to spark any hate, I simply don't see how anyone could read that backstory and not see the present-day Serco as not only evil, but completely without a shred of honor (re-read: the conclusion of the battle between Karun and Oernon). Add that to abject disgust towards anyone not of their race (remind you of a certain earth war?) and the constant disregard they have for any sense of diplomacy, and you've got a wickedly nasty group of people.

It seems to me (and I might be wrong, it's just a guess) that the Serco were originally designed to give "griefers and pirates" a place to go when they joined the game, since correctly roleplaying the average attitude of a current-day Serco as described in the story would practically be the same as acting like a griefer/ganker...

...but I'm wondering if the developers may not have taken into account that even a true MMO griefer would likely avoid starting out so plainly labelled as such. And even that's disregarding the fact that anyone who would be that much of a jerk all the time probably wouldn't have bothered reading that rather long backstory anyway.

I dunno, just my thoughts. But now that I've read the whole thing through, I'm certainly never joining Serco.

Edit: I should also note that the other quote I saw here was "Akan started it"...which just boggles my mind the point of hardly being able to respond. The comparitive struggles told throughout the history are that Akan threw a rock at the Serco, and they in return have been attempting to commit genocide for millenia. There doesn't seem to be a chance to use a "who started it" justification for the Serco's horrible actions, as far as the backstory tells it.

At least that's how I see it, but perhaps I missed something remotely honorable in the Serco's ultimate intentions.

Actually Akan did start it by bombing the Serco cities and killing many civilians, therefore Serco did the same thing back. Once the Serco find out that the Itani's were still existing, they probably feared that the Itani's 'invasion' and killing all of there civilians. So thats why they planned an all out war to prevent it from happening again. Atleast thats what I'm assuming, on the Serco point of view. (remember the backstory was told in the point of view of the Itani Monks).

An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind

And condoning genoside to protect your colonists is not the answer, especially when a small ship enters your territory to discuss peaceful alternatives.

well, they didnt discuss, they were 'spying' So the serco thought that it would endanger them. Theoretically speaking...

can we say Xenophobia

Tarryk: actually it reminds me of whole lots of earth wars.

> Without meaning to spark any hate, I simply don't see how anyone could read
> that backstory and not see the present-day Serco as not only evil, but completely
> without a shred of honor (re-read: the conclusion of the battle between Karun
> and Oernon).

Actually, I would use the battle between Oernon & Karun as an example of how I see it: there are "good" Serco, and "bad" Serco, and "good" Itani, and "bad" Itani. Both Oernon & Karun were good - the backstory says "It is now known that Karun himself had brought about much of the interaction with the Itani, perhaps against the wishes of the other Triumvirate members."

On the Itani side, the Order of Akan easily qualifies as "bad". And towards the end of the backstory, it seems to me that the Order of Eo (the "good" Itani) is declining in power, while the Order of Akan is increasing. And to be quite honest, I think that the majority of the Itani playerbase acts far more like the Order of Akan than the Order of Eo.

They're both evil!! Although I think Serco is less so. Remember, it was the Itani that started bombing innocent civilians. In any case... UIT rules!!

Oh, and where's CrippledPidgeon's Serco POV backstory, already?

Yeesh... I'm slowly working on it. Just remember that every minute I spend writing is a minute not spent playing Vendetta :)

OK everyone, if you see CP in-game, shout at him to logoff & get to writing. :-P

You do have to admit that the attack lizards were cool though...

I concur with Beolach's point that there are good people on both sides.

Plus... we're gonna have to kind of put the war on the back burner whilst fighting "TEH HIVE"!!!

I really hope leviathans aren't as ugly as queens... can we just call them "levi's" from now on? or some other nickname that is shorter?

Your all wrong.

The serco started it all by using cybernetics. Akan remebered that which what happened on earth would happen on there. He attempted to eliminate the threat. No cyber civilans, No serco. He knew it would get out of hand and it did.

If earth ever finds them and sees that cybernetics corrupted the human race again they(earth) would geneocide the serco as well.

By the way the backstory is AWESOME!

It's DEEP.

Genocide isn't a verb... you can't "genocide" someone.

[quote]
AD 2511

The quality of life on Terra II has improved considerably. The Itani have succeeded in repairing and even advancing the machinery they use for maintenance. The Serco have continued to make achievements in their specialized scientific fields, and have even managed to build farms in the still-hostile environment. They have begun to grow special genetically-engineered plants tailored to the new world, which hasten the terraforming process while providing an additional source of food and raw materials. New beasts of burden are developed to help maintain these farms, giant creatures with native armor against the fierce outside world, kept in line with cybernetic brain control systems. The two factions remain separated, often by neighborhood within the same dome, but many of the Itani concerns have been calmed by the last hundred incident-free years. The two groups coexist in friendship, although there are those within each who remain wary of the other. Both view themselves as opposing political parties within a single nation.

AD 2542

An incident occurs on a Serco farm. A cybernetic implant bug, combined with a genetic mutation brought about by extended exposure to the outside environment and radiation, causes the Serco to lose control of a farm creature. The 125-meter-long goliath, standing several stories tall at the shoulder, wanders off the farm in a random direction trailing its Serco masters, who futilely attempt to regain control. While largely docile, the great creature is very dumb and far too large to physically control. After some minutes of aimless wandering, the animal crashes through a small domed town, almost entirely populated by Itani. While the town had a few minutes warning by radio, the time was insufficient to completely evacuate. A number of injuries and a few deaths result from the sudden exposure of the unprotected people to the harsh outside atmosphere. While the incident does not cause great damage or casualties, it rekindles the Itani mistrust of cybernetics and bio-engineering. Anti-Serco hardliners resurface, and call for an end to the abominations created by these technologies. The Serco, who by now are mostly genetically and cybernetically enhanced themselves, take a dim view of the Itani protestors. They also point out that they are now dependent on the food and resources provided by the surface farms, and thus the beasts who help maintain them. The Serco are nonetheless repentant and remorseful over the destruction their creature has caused, and promise to develop safeguards to prevent such things from occurring again. The Itani populace are mollified, but the hardliners within begin to gain followers who murmur against the dangers of Serco science[/quote]

The Serco did what they did for the benefit of all the colonists. They enhanced themselves and other things around them for the sole purpose of helping solve the food problem and to help terraform the planet.

Sure there may have been some animosity between serco and non-serco... but that doesn't justify Akan striking the "first blow" and trying to eliminate all the serco. You have even taken a morally objectionable view of the serco by deeming them "corrupted," thus implying that Akan's genocide was justified.

Yes, this backstory is awesome... even if it is written by the Itani monks... hopefully CP will finish his soon.

Akan was not justified:
[quote]
AD 2645

Several explosions simultaneously occur at outlying Itani domes closest to the Serco. A number of people are killed and injured. Akan, now the most powerful senator and de-facto leader of the Itani, sends hand-picked teams to investigate the explosions and determine their source. After several days of "investigations", the teams report their belief that the explosions were in fact terrorist attacks by the Serco against the Itani people. Several in the Senate voice doubts about these findings, considering the historically peaceful (albeit accident-prone) nature of the Serco. However, these voices are swept away by Akan in a "resolute, yet saddened" speech against the Serco people and their "technology of terror". His speech plays on over 100 years of pent-up fear in the population, and easily sways the Itani to follow his recommendations.
The overall lack of communication and mingling between the Itani and Serco further catalyzes these events. The Itani believe what their leaders (Akan) tell them, and since there is little contact with any Serco, there's no one to tell them otherwise. It has been since theorized that Akan, or an organization under his control, planted the bombs in the interest of polarizing the Itani people against the Serco while furthering their own control of the Itani government. However, little is known one way or the other. The political and cultural climate of the time would certainly not have allowed such possibilities to be mentioned.
Within a month of the "attacks", Akan has closed the "borders" to Serco territory, populating it with many of his more ferverent followers and preventing any contact between the two nations. He also begins construction of an "Itani defense force", adapting mechanized environment suit technology to potential combat applications. Many of these changes are fought by a shrinking minority of the Itani senate, proposals of moderation and at least diplomatic communication with the Serco are ignored. Two of the most powerful senators to openly attack Akan's plans die mysteriously within a week of one another. Public opposition to Akan within the government crumbles. The Serco watch these developments with growing alarm. Their attempts at diplomacy go ignored, and eventually their emissaries begin to vanish entirely. As the creation of the Itani military becomes evident, the Serco begin to think of their own defenses. The Serco populace reacts to the news of the changing Itani with bewilderment.
[/quote]

I'll concede that the text was written by the Itani, and therefore may be very biased, but it must be placed alongside the fact that it's currently the only text that anyone has to go by.

With that in mind...

Everyone seems to be reading through the history without taking into account the actual dates, nor the seperation of people's actions. This seems to be more a prejudiced debate more than anything (and judging on my last post, that's something I'm guilty of as well).

Here in RL, Hitler attempted genocide a little over 50 years ago. Today, no-one with any sense condemns the people of Germany or Austria for that. So wiping the slate for the current generations on both sides considering the MILLENIA that have passed should be an easy enough thing to do, yes?

However, the inherent problem here is lack of information on our (the readers) part. Contemporary Itani society is well-described as being seperate from the Order of Akan, yet the Serco refuse to acknowledge that on the whole and continue to attempt to wipe out the Itani.

Question: Is there a society within Serco that is peaceful? We don't know, because the text is rather clear on several points that the Serco society as a WHOLE has become militaristic, arrogant, and dishonorably prejudiced.

Again, conceding that the text may be biased since it was written by the Itani monks, it's still ALL WE HAVE. So unless one of the storytellers involved with VO decide to release the doctrines of the Serco and the UIT for us to run comparisons over, everything is pure conjecture.

But personally I go with what's provided for me, and what's provided for me is a crystal-clear pronouncement that Serco is evil, UIT is neutral, and Itan is good.

I've actually allways seen the Itani as evil and manipulative.

This is just a quick statement to show that there are people, like me, who interpret the backstory in a different way as that the story would like to be understood, mearly because of the way it was written by an Itani monk.