Thanks nuclearslurpee for the de-escalation attempt but I am five vodkas in to my Saturday night so here we go.

Maybe you'd be so kind as to clarify what's so offensive.

Almost everything you posted.

Heck, I made a bit of a backhanded complement with "you actually came within 2 orders of magnitude".

Yes, backhanded compliments are offensive to everyone. And it is spelled compliment, not complement. There are numerous browser add-ons that help with spelling, you should probably get one.

Also, WORDS HAVE MEANING.

Yet languages are living things that constantly change - new words are introduced and old words get new meanings. For example, an idiot used to be a medical term to describe people with learning disabilities before it became a common insult, which in turn caused new words to be used in a polite environment to describe such people.

Generation ships are ships that fly from one star to another at sublight, and take generations to get there. Thus the name. Also, the fuel requirement.

Fair point, that is true. But funny that you are so pedantic about this, since in the same post you also wrote that:

We're not allowed to correct someone based on game mechanics?

Which is somewhat tragic since there are no game mechanics for the specific meaning of generation ship that you are so hung up on. You cannot send a ship from Earth to Alpha Centauri in sub-light speed through the galaxy, you have to use jump points.

Given that this thread had nothing to do with you, and yet you jumped in for some imagined slight

Interesting. This thread had nothing to do with you in the first place either, yet you felt the need to jump in and lecture the OP based on your personal obsession over some words. The hypocrisy is earth shattering and the slight you offered is quite a bit more solid instead of imagined.

I'm going to suggest you maybe consider NOT going after a 50-something ex-oilfield emergency response tech who is more than capable of showing you what actual twisted knickers look like I'm kinda offended by your made-up white knight proxy offense, btw. If we're going to play that

Oh my. I am trembling in my knickers. If only this was the first time I have encountered an Internet Tough Guy, but alas, you guys are dime a dozen. But hey, thanks for proving my point - threatening physical violence and bragging about how much of a badass you are in real life really show off what an intelligent and considerate poster you are.

You know what else offends me? The fact I just got here recently, have basically ZERO post history, and have some twit coming after me because I said "umm, actually".

Yes, this forum is generally an extremely peaceful place for a small number of nerds interested in an extremely niche hobby. You have the entire Facebook, 4chan and literally 99% of Internet where you can stomp your feet, pound your chest, and pretend to be whatever you want while angrily typing nonsense.

Is this typical?

If you meet one asshole, you got unlucky. But if all day you only meet assholes, you should stop to consider that maybe you are the asshole and other people reflect that back at you.

Quote from: Garfunkel on April 11, 2025, 09:46:45 AM

Why are you giving him such a hard time over a nomenclature issue? It's obvious he was building an Aurora 'generation ship', not an IRL one. Loads of people have done this thought experiment before. Not my cup of tea but there's hardly any reason to get your knickers in a twist over the details either. Let's take a breather and figure out how to be civilized and friendly in this ultra-niche corner of the Internet that we inhabit.

Also, WORDS HAVE MEANING.

Generation ships are ships that fly from one star to another at sublight, and take generations to get there. Thus the name. Also, the fuel requirement.

It's worth noting that while words do have meaning, the meaning of words is hardly fixed an immutable, and meaning is as a rule context-dependent.

To wit: in the context of Aurora, a game with jump points connecting stars, a "generation ship" need not be capable of traversing light years of distance between stars (with the attendant requirements for fuel capacity, life support, etc.). Usually, the idea of an "Aurora generation ship" is to support a broader idea of nomadic gameplay, which OP described:

wasn't really going for a IRL Generation ship but more of an in game one, where rather then settling worlds would go from one to the next mining resources and expanding the fleet kind of thing

This is a concept which, as Garfunkel noted, people have explored before on these forums - though not very often, and as a new poster it's entirely understandable if you're unfamiliar with that admittedly Aurora-specific meaning for the term.

That being said, it also doesn't really help anyone to nitpick about the meaning of words unless the meaning is genuinely unclear, and inquiring for the sake of clarity hardly requires a follow-up to argue about whether or not a term is appropriate nomenclature. Said another way: Aurora is a game that heavily caters to roleplay, so different players tend to use the same words to mean different things (and, for that matter, different words to mean the same thing). Another example: Steve himself uses "lascannon" to denote twin railguns in his WH40K settings; it would hardly be worth anyone's time and effort to chastise Steve on the grounds that "lascannon" should properly and only refer to a weapon which is of in-game laser type.

I believe this is what Garfunkel was, perhaps a tab brusquely, intending to convey. The "culture" of this forum, such as it is, is one where we generally refrain from arguing points of pedantry (save when some greater import beyond nomenclature or the number of significant digits is to be had from doing so) as a concession to both roleplay and the fact that many of our community members have adopted English as their second, third, etc. language.

I do apologize if this comment, in turn, comes off as slightly pedantic and/or patronizing. I am choosing to give the benefit of the doubt here and explain as best I can some things which might be unfamiliar to a new member - you certainly would not be the first person to join this forum being used to the standards in other corners of the Internet and run afoul of those implicit norms we hold dear. 

That being said:

I made a bit of a backhanded complement

I might suggest that there's rarely a good reason to issue a compliment with the backhand still attached, unless a degree of offense is intended (which is to say, not generally).

because I said "umm, actually".

I might make the observation that, even well beyond this forum, folks who make a habit of saying "umm, actually" tend to be not well-received by most others. This is, I stress, only an observation.

And yes I'm being a bit impolite to you, as you have been to me.

Finally, I would gently suggest that responding "like-for-like" is rarely productive. Since we, as humans, tend to perceive the words and actions of others as more offensive than intended, responding "like-for-like" tends to promote escalation of tempers, so that it is usually more productive to intentionally de-escalate so far as possible.

I hope this is helpful and perhaps clarifies some things that were perhaps not immediately apparent to a new forum member. 

Why are you giving him such a hard time over a nomenclature issue? It's obvious he was building an Aurora 'generation ship', not an IRL one. Loads of people have done this thought experiment before. Not my cup of tea but there's hardly any reason to get your knickers in a twist over the details either. Let's take a breather and figure out how to be civilized and friendly in this ultra-niche corner of the Internet that we inhabit.

Re-reading the post as quoted, I'm REALLY having a hard time finding the hard time.

Maybe you'd be so kind as to clarify what's so offensive.

Heck, I made a bit of a backhanded complement with "you actually came within 2 orders of magnitude". That's pretty bloody good for someone doing a first approximation. Most people are off by rather a lot more on their first kick at it.

Also, WORDS HAVE MEANING.

Generation ships are ships that fly from one star to another at sublight, and take generations to get there. Thus the name. Also, the fuel requirement.

Given that this thread had nothing to do with you, and yet you jumped in for some imagined slight, I'm going to suggest you maybe consider NOT going after a 50-something ex-oilfield emergency response tech who is more than capable of showing you what actual twisted knickers look like I'm kinda offended by your made-up white knight proxy offense, btw. If we're going to play that

You know what else offends me? The fact I just got here recently, have basically ZERO post history, and have some twit coming after me because I said "umm, actually".

Is this typical? We're not allowed to correct someone based on game mechanics?

To repeat with more clarity, cut and paste the offensive language from the post you quoted.

And yes I'm being a bit impolite to you, as you have been to me. Don't like it, maybe consider your own behavior. Hard time, forsooth.

 --- GSFs would be made infinitely better if their speed granted them evasion versus AA fire. So massed AA would suddenly no longer be the insta-kill beam laser of doom that it is now.

 --- Some ECM options for GSFs, both pod mounted and ship module versions, would be a welcome addition as well.