Hard Space Redux

[Ulsyus]

What kind of jobs do most middle class types have in Hard Space? Are people in such a class generally living in the arcologies?

Is corporate security, or law enforcement, usually pretty heavily cyborged up? Like would Jensen or Hermann, or Motoko Kusanagi, be considered pretty heavily cyborged in Hard Space, considering you said for Jensen that he would probably be called a Merka?

Middle class living in arcologies may have the same sorts of jobs that those living in the suburbs do now, modified for a higher-tech environment.

For security, most wouldn't be augmented, just as the majority of military forces aren't 'special' these days. If it's cheaper to just give a piece of equipment to an agent or guard then there's no need for expensive cybernetics. That's not to say they wouldn't exists, but the cost would need to be justified at some point.

 

[wellis]

Middle class living in arcologies may have the same sorts of jobs that those living in the suburbs do now, modified for a higher-tech environment.

I wonder what even counts as middle-class in cyberpunk settings.

For security, most wouldn't be augmented, just as the majority of military forces aren't 'special' these days. If it's cheaper to just give a piece of equipment to an agent or guard then there's no need for expensive cybernetics. That's not to say they wouldn't exists, but the cost would need to be justified at some point.

Seems like light augmentation is sort of widespread from what is said here:

Almost any combatant, including bloc soldiers and even many insurgents, has an implanted military OmniComm, providing a combat HUD and augmented reality features. Simple cybernetics such as internal breathers (providing partial NBC protection) and even implanted blades are common in such echelons, but serious combat cyber such as subdermal armor and reflex enhancers is expensive* and thus you see it on high-end mercs, first-echelon corp security (such as executive bodyguards), and corporate SWAT, as well as the special forces attached to rapid-reaction forces.

* Though Hard Space cybernetic prices are significantly cheaper than the ones in TSAO, as this is, after all, a cyberpunk setting.

 

[Golan2072]

What kind of jobs do most middle class types have in Hard Space? Are people in such a class generally living in the arcologies?

As this is cyberpunk, there is less of a traditional middle class, in the American sense of the word, and more of a "salaryman"/"salarywoman" class a bit similar to 1980's Japan. Corporate employees - indeed living in arcologies and working in them. Arcology internal transit means only a few own (or need) vehicles. They get a nice flat - the higher the rank, the higher the flat in the arcology structure and the larger it is, of course - and 22nd century amenities. Highly automated homes, though most corporate drones eat outside (in corporate cafeteria or restaurants) and use corporate automatic laundry available on their floor, so the apartment is smaller and has less appliances than a 20th century middle class house.

Is corporate security, or law enforcement, usually pretty heavily cyborged up? Like would Jensen or Hermann, or Motoko Kusanagi, be considered pretty heavily cyborged in Hard Space, considering you said for Jensen that he would probably be called a Merka?

Usually lightly cyborged, except for SWAT teams, especially corporate SWAT. Advanced cybernetics are expensive; you could spend an MCr or more or a single cyborg and still have cool stuff remaining to implant.

 

[Golan2072]

Middle class living in arcologies may have the same sorts of jobs that those living in the suburbs do now, modified for a higher-tech environment.

Yes, arcology apartments replace the suburbs.

For security, most wouldn't be augmented, just as the majority of military forces aren't 'special' these days. If it's cheaper to just give a piece of equipment to an agent or guard then there's no need for expensive cybernetics. That's not to say they wouldn't exists, but the cost would need to be justified at some point.

Yes, cybernetics are expensive. Street stuff less so, but all the advanced stuff is too expensive to stick in a typical rent-a-cop or even proper cop.

 

[Golan2072]

I wonder what even counts as middle-class in cyberpunk settings.

The "salaryman"/"salarywoman" ("suit", "drone") class replaces the middle class for the most part. Think 1980's Japanese corporate employees, not 1960's American suburbanites.

 

[wellis]

Are cybernetics pretty common among spacers like trader crews?

 

[Golan2072]

Are cybernetics pretty common among spacers like trader crews?

Simple cybernetics, yes. Such as implanted omnicomps and other simple cyber.

Note that Hard Space has more a complex offering of cybernetics than either These Stars Are Ours! or Cepheus Light, so some street-level cyber is cheap (mere thousands of credits), especially compared to the highly expensive hot cutting-edge stuff.

 

[Golan2072]

I have updated the Hard Space map. This reflects my rethinking of the Trading Blocs.

The two veteran players in interstellar colonization are the UN - led by Switzerland, Britain, Russia, and some Asian countries including parts of the devastated China; and the International Commonwealth, which is mostly African and Chinese. The American Federation - where Brazil, Argentina, and the former US hold sway - are latecomers to the interstellar scene. However, they are aggressively expanding into further stars using cutting-edge ships with long-range jump drives.

The default setting is the UN Arm, which is mainly British and Swiss in culture, with some strong elements of Southeast Asian culture as well. The biggest corporations around the UN Arm are the Royal British Interstellar Company (RBIC), the Russo-Chinese Zhang-Markov, and the Swiss biotech giant Sanapharm.

HS WIP 21-11-18 by golan2072, on Flickr

 

[wellis]

So has the number of colonies changed, or the big company players changed?

 

[Ulsyus]

The "salaryman"/"salarywoman" ("suit", "drone") class replaces the middle class for the most part. Think 1980's Japanese corporate employees, not 1960's American suburbanites.

So more corporate or government wage slaves? It could depend on how you see the automation of things such as design and engineering, and whether expert systems are so expert that they only need vague oversight from living engineers and designers rather than a person to do the work assisted by the expert system.

 

[Golan2072]

So has the number of colonies changed, or the big company players changed?

I already posted a map with the added colonies a while ago. However, I changed the trading bloc and their colonies, as well as fleshed out the smaller companies operating in the UN Arm.

 

[Golan2072]

So more corporate or government wage slaves? It could depend on how you see the automation of things such as design and engineering, and whether expert systems are so expert that they only need vague oversight from living engineers and designers rather than a person to do the work assisted by the expert system.

There are limits to what automatic can achieve in this setting. I am taking a pessimistic view of the advancement of automation (i.e. not too far from the automation we have today) for game reasons, as a fully automated luxury society is far from the cyberpunk milieu I wish to write. Bureaucracy still exists to a major extent. Automation still needs a large number of programmers, technicians, and engineers. Factory work is partially automated, to a somewhat greater extent that today, but industry still needs workers. Earth has a large unemployed or temporarily-employed population in the Urban Blight, but there are industrial and technical jobs, especially in the colonies.

 

[wellis]

I already posted a map with the added colonies a while ago. However, I changed the trading bloc and their colonies, as well as fleshed out the smaller companies operating in the UN Arm.

So the big 4 or whatever those super companies were stay the same?

There are limits to what automatic can achieve in this setting. I am taking a pessimistic view of the advancement of automation (i.e. not too far from the automation we have today) for game reasons, as a fully automated luxury society is far from the cyberpunk milieu I wish to write. Bureaucracy still exists to a major extent. Automation still needs a large number of programmers, technicians, and engineers. Factory work is partially automated, to a somewhat greater extent that today, but industry still needs workers. Earth has a large unemployed or temporarily-employed population in the Urban Blight, but there are industrial and technical jobs, especially in the colonies.

Another issue with a fully automated society is if robots take all the jobs, who can make any money to buy stuff?

 

[Golan2072]

So the big 4 or whatever those super companies were stay the same?

The only difference is that UEM becomes UAM (United African Minerals).

Another issue with a fully automated society is if robots take all the jobs, who can make any money to buy stuff?

Yes, and then you get into universal basic income and post-scarcity economics which are contrary to this setting's cyberpunk milieu.

 

[wellis]

Japan is part of which bloc? Did the American Federation retain/inherit any of the old alliances the US had made prior to WW3?

 

[Golan2072]

Japan is part of which bloc? Did the American Federation retain/inherit any of the old alliances the US had made prior to WW3?

Japan is part of the UN.

The US suffered greatly in the Collapse (I'm tending to make this more complicated than one big WWIII - eco-collapse combined with several smaller nuclear wars - the US was heavily involved in one such war and had its own major ecological disasters). It is no longer a world leader, and has only tenuous control over large parts of its former territory. This is why it had to partner with Argentina, Brazil, and Canada to start rebuilding the Americas... Or at least expanding the corporate enclaves in them.

Many don't share this vision - the various non-state entities and quasi-state entities such as the Rocky Mountains Cantons or Free Texas, both (and several other wasteland/wilderness entities) not recognized as legitimate states by the American Federation.

Most pre-Collapse alliances have faded away. Some even led to betrayals. There are new ones - those of the Trading Blocs.

 

[wellis]

How are Israel & the rest of Southwest Asia doing? Are they part of any bloc?

 

[wellis]

What is manufacturing like in the current era?

As for 3d printing hmm...are stuff like toys something like where you buy the specs (thus paying a distributor or company) before downloading it into a 3d printer to make?

For normal households/families in your setting.

Like how has something like 3D printing changed home life?

 

[kilemall]

Another issue with a fully automated society is if robots take all the jobs, who can make any money to buy stuff?

The people who own the robots.


I have a class of ne'er-do-wells, your classic Others type, that make their living buying near to failure end of life robots and hiring them out to do work to earn money, until the bots eventually fail.

 

[wellis]

The people who own the robots.


I have a class of ne'er-do-wells, your classic Others type, that make their living buying near to failure end of life robots and hiring them out to do work to earn money, until the bots eventually fail.

Wouldn't they have to pay to fix up the robots again though?
Sounds like a good chunk of their income would go into maintaining the robot?