[Dhylec]

Please continue all discussion on PSO story & information here
The original thread is still available for reference

[Daikarin]

Oh, right.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Even_Jin on 2005-07-21 03:52 ]</font>

[DezoPenguin]

(Hm...utterly dead thread here!)

Okay, here's one for you: The Hunter's Guild. Just what the heck IS this organization and how does it operate?

I mean, consider what we know:

The PSOBB website (despite the dubious canonity of its information due to internal errors) says that the Guild was created by the government to organize and control the activities of the mercenary Hunters. It also says that many Hunters remained outside the Guild and it was these who became famous for their mercenary activities during the ongoing strife on Coral.

During the Forest section of Ep. I, the woman outside the Guild states, however, that the Guild is independent of the military and government and enjoys "total extraterritoriality within the Guild." Extraterritoriality generally refers to something like an embassy, which while located within Nation A is considered part of Nation B and subject only to Nation B's laws.

Questions of the ability of the Guild and government's cross powers crops up notably in "Soul of Steel." There, WORKS has reached an agreement with the Guild which forbids hunters to enter an area of Ragol. In this case, hunters would be subject to military regulations (i.e. "shoot to kill"), which implies, though, that under normal circumstances the military has no legal authority over hunters. Sakon also threatens the PC with having his/her license pulled ("We can make it so you never set foot on Ragol again!"), though this may just be a lot of hot air.

Then, look at the nature of some of the Guild Quests. While some are straightforward enough and fall within the more general mission of the Guild to investigate Ragol and Pioneer 1, others raise a few eyebrows. "Journalistic Pursuit" clearly involves helping Nol with illegal behavior (Ragol is off-limits to civilians and there's a media blackout in place), and yet the Guild's quest listing states this illegal purpose. "The Grave's Butler" similarly involves taking a non-Hunter private citizen down to Ragol (although for a less "legally" offensive purpose). "Doc's Secret Plan" and "Soul of Steel" involve requests from Dr. Montague to go outside his lawful authority, and yet the Guild posts these quests.

(It would be different, of course, if the Guild didn't know what was going on, but when the player walks up to the Guild counter the illegal nature of the quest listing is immediately obvious.)

So how does this work? Does Guild "extraterritoriality" protect hunters from arrest if found committing illegal acts? Or does it work to protect the client only? How did this extraterritorality come about? Who authorized it and for what purpose?

(Likewise, it's clear that clients can either post a general offer or request specific hunters for a job, as in "Black Paper," "Seat of the Heart," or "Soul of Steel"--merely a mechanical detail, but a point to be made)

[A2K]

Heh, super-dead thread... anyway...!

Sonic Team has done a bit of retconning on the matter, it seems, but I think it's still within the realm of explainability.

The government may have created the Hunter's Guild, but the Guild basically goes about its business without anyone keeping all that close an eye on it at all. It doesn't protect hunters, per se, rather, despite being a government creation, it simply does not report every little insignificant detail about quest postings.

It seems that other organizations such as the Lab or the Military which are supposedly vestiges of Principal Tyrell's administration are autonomous to the same agree (although in those cases support from the homeworld contributes to their abilities as well.)

[Eihwaz]

I always thought that Hunters were basically mercenaries, and the Hunter's Guild is just a centralized way of giving them jobs.

I've always wondered how some of the various items amd things from the game work. Scape Dolls/Ragol Ring, for instance. Ian and I talked about those a while ago, and we discussed theories ranging from re-synching your "soul" with your body to making a clone of your dead body and copying your memories into it.

[PJ]

On 2006-02-18 19:52, Eihwaz wrote:
to making a clone of your dead body and copying your memories into it.

This can't be true, since that's a new thing introduced in Episode 3

Something tells me that's the point, consiidering it came from Ian

[HUnewearl_Meira]

I suggest that whatever it is that they do to revive you in the Hospital there, Scape Dolls function on the same principle.

[Eihwaz]

If they could create a piece of technology that could instantly bring you back from the brink of death to full health, why would they still have hospitals?

[HUnewearl_Meira]

1. The equipment used in the hospital is larger, more potent, re-useable, less portable.
2. The Scape Doll is smaller, portable, good for a single use, not immediately available.

Both are rather expensive, of course.

[Skorpius]

On 2006-02-18 19:54, PJ wrote:

This can't be true, since that's a new thing introduced in Episode 3

Old Phantasy Star games used clones as a revival tactic. So, no, it's nothing new to the 'series'.