The Psychology of Prime Base

[tsofian]

If Prime was actually started in the 1960s and 1970s it may have predated freeze technology.

Freeze technology would have changed everything about the Project. Before that, it was a case of "riding the storm out" awake and vulnerable. There are a number of ways to do this, one is to disperse assets into as many widely separated locations. These will be cheap, easy to hide, probably not hardened and put all over the middle of nowhere. The other method will be to build a very limited number of highly valuable highly protected sites that are highly hardened and protected.

If Prime Base was originally one of, perhaps the only, of these high-value installations it would have had a very different original mission than that described in the module. It would have been designed, supplied and staffed to become the core of the rebuilding. The key here is "staffed".

If Prime Base (and potentially other bases) were originally meant to ride things out and actively rebuild they would have been filled with people selected for that job. These would have been "colonist families". There would have been a lot of the "support" skills, medical, agriculture, crafts and trades and such. As the Project gets new technology (freeze and fusion) the mission would evolve drastically, as would the operational planning.

What becomes with the original core of Prime Base? They can't be returned to the normal population. Not only are the original "colonists" there, but their children as well. There might have been a subtle conflict between the newcomers who were sent to Prime when its mission changed and the old guard who had been there for a decade or more. If the mission changes in 1975 there will be almost 15 years between closing up and the war starting and another couple of years after that. During all this time there might have been a lot of discussions concerning what would happen after the war ended.

By the time refugees show up what will feelings be in the population of the base? Will some of the most senior people, who may be well respected by a large number of the residents be thirsting for the chance to help someone? These "old timers" may have been in the roles of educators and medical staff within the base. These informal leadership positions may have substantial "soft" influence within the community.

It may come down to a techies vs hippies argument as the refugees start filling in the area near the base.

This would not have been an ideal situation. It might never have even been identified before the war happened and it developed.

[nuke11]

That is one of the problems I have with Prime Base in the module.

Like you say in the other thread Prime Base has to be completed first, late 70's to early 80's. If it is "manned" for say 1980 to 1989 (3rd edition) or 1980 thru 2017 (4th edition), that is a long time for people and there families to be in Prime Base. At some point there will be a few adults / young adults that will want to leave and live a different life, or how about divorce inside of those families, how is that handled?

Personally Prime Base as a manned installation would be a problem. If it must really be a manned base, it should have no families and personnel are rotated in.

[.45cultist]

Originally Posted by nuke11

That is one of the problems I have with Prime Base in the module.

Like you say in the other thread Prime Base has to be completed first, late 70's to early 80's. If it is "manned" for say 1980 to 1989 (3rd edition) or 1980 thru 2017 (4th edition), that is a long time for people and there families to be in Prime Base. At some point there will be a few adults / young adults that will want to leave and live a different life, or how about divorce inside of those families, how is that handled?

Personally Prime Base as a manned installation would be a problem. If it must really be a manned base, it should have no families and personnel are rotated in.

What if the rumors of frozen backup meant most everyone is frozen, and a cadre is active?

[cosmicfish]

Why is it that everyone always assumes that BEM, the guy who repeatedly travels through time, the guy who brings back advanced technology that could never have been developed prior to the war even without the Project, never brought back some estimate of the date of the war? It is the single most valuable thing he could give them, beyond fusion power or the universal antidote or even the fact of the Project's existence.

If he doesn't then the Project has to live every day as if the war could be tomorrow. That means a vast expenditure of people and money and resources. If he does... then they don't need to man PB until a year or two before the war starts, and the staff will be ideally selected from the best ever recruited AND will go into the ground with up to date knowledge of the situation and the resources without having wasted their lives disgruntled underground.

Seriously - there is a reason intelligence services are so important. Knowing what you have to deal with is the single biggest advantage in survival. It's the sensible thing and in no way detracts from the game. Heck, I would be disappointed if I fought all the way to PB and found it full of 70's technology and the remnants of 40 years of habitation.

[mmartin798]

Originally Posted by cosmicfish

Why is it that everyone always assumes that BEM, the guy who repeatedly travels through time, the guy who brings back advanced technology that could never have been developed prior to the war even without the Project, never brought back some estimate of the date of the war? It is the single most valuable thing he could give them, beyond fusion power or the universal antidote or even the fact of the Project's existence.

I totally agree here. Sure, the Project's activities may affect the actual date and time to some extent, but I am sure he came back with an initial estimate and modified it over time as it shifted. I mean how would he be able to get captains of industry to sign on to his idea of creating the CoT and MP if he didn't provide some short term proof the could see the future and supply them with a date for the war far enough into the future to make the Project even plausible. Prime Base can be a big empty structure until you get within 5 years or so of the war. Then put in the best and most proven tech developed or reverse engineered from the future in those last few years.

[tsofian]

Why do you assume that BEM was working in a single timeline? If he knew everything about the future how did everything get so FUBAR? Is this the best Bruce could put together?

If Bruce has too much specific information about the future there end up being a lot of questions. Did he know how the war started? If so could he not have prevented it? How did he let Prime get knocked out? Could he have stopped Krell?

Instead, I have always felt that is an ever-branching river. Ever decision point leads to a new path. Infinite numbers of BEMs move through infinite iterations of the multiverse. In some, the War comes far earlier than in others. In some, it NEVER happens. In some, the Project hops right out of bed and gets to it. Two other versions are the versions in print, classic and current.

This also means that every PD is playing in their own version of the realities BEM was trying to prepare for the future.