I wouldn't be surprised if by the next book Japan has conquered Yu Jing and the Chinese are the second class citizens.
Maybe it was not an Intentional Leak by Corvus Belli. . .?? I remember that when 8Ball of Aristeia 3D render was leaked far above the ideal release time, it was a mishap by someone that SHOULD have been thorough in its "Non Disclosure Agreement". . . Also someone that received an early PDF copy of the R.P.G. gallivantly spoilered ALL THE PLANETS Maps, of what would have been oe of the most expected (and paid for !!) features of the Kickstarter. . . Sometimes the need to be "First Poster" with useful stuff pre-empts basic education and decency. . . And some other times it is a well-thought and thoroughly discussed "Planning Strategy" by the Owners of the I.P. for their own personal motives and choices. . . Remember that when Wotan Gate Campaign closed in Midsummer that C.B. said "A Betrayal Upheval" is coming and there was a "Web-Storm" of wild rumors abounding about whose Human Sphere Faction would have FIRST joined the "Inevitable Assimilation" by the "Evolved Intelligence Borgs". . . . .!!! The most voted contenders where Nomads (for JUST purely illustration similarities between the New Salamander T.A.G. and the Unidron / New Avatar kind of released Concept Art !!) and Ariadna (for undescribed reasons even less sensate !!). . . Compared to a similar kind of "Game Universe Background" momentous upheval the Uprising by oppressed Second Class Citizens of a proud Empire that had a story of MORE than 1000 Years of Warrior Culture by a Foreign Body (and Skirmish Wars between Medieval Zongghuo and Feudal Nihon hails back to 2500 Years in the Past !!) is a little matter. . .!! Maybe there will be some good future well-balanced and interesting releases for BOTH "Vanilla Zanshi" and "Samurai Rebels" and everyone will be happier for this !!
As far as relative popularity goes, in the previous ITS season Yu Jing were third (after PanO and Combined), and in terms of generic/Sectorials were fourth (after Tohaa, generic Haqq and generic Nomads). So they're firmly in the upper end.
Whoops, forgot the link! https://www.infinitythegame.com/blo...statistics-analyzing-season-8s-organized-play
That's not actually true. If you look at the Ninja fluff in the RPG it's clear that the Ninja's owe some of their reformation / re-incarnation / renaissance to backing from the Emperor. So positing a split between secessionist and loyalist Ninjas is even more likely than within Japanese culture as a whole. I think there's a strong case for wait and see before you grab your pitchforks.
I am not sure the use of JSA units in vanilla Yu Jing are that prevalent, there are a few units that are quite used, but the bulk of JSA roster hardly shows up in vanilla Yu Jing. Now if you worry about the fluff, Gutier so far has not delivered a sub par story and there are no signs that he will do now. I would like to point out a few things revealed by the leaked image, NA2 are minor powers, think whatever you want for the Nomads nation, its three motherships and its population count, Nomads (or Ariadna for that matter) are not "minor powers". I also do not think there is any "villain faction" in Infinity all factions have their public face and behind the scenes backstabbing side, the political background in Infinity is large and thick, nothing happens "just because".
About the "Ninja Issue" conundrum,as far as reliable historical datas about Legendary / Mythical martial arts style cold go, there is an easy escamotage. . . While the "Shinobi Assassins" of Nipponese Lore are supposed to be insular and secretive Clans (often hidden in plain view as "Simple Mountain Farmers" in very faraway hillside / forest / mountain ranges) that could have been heartless Mercenaries or firmly entrenched in the Feudal Politics of a given Samurai Family, Daymio Noble Aristocracy or even directly as "Secret Agents" of the Bakufu Shogunate and are clearly JAPAN-flavoured Stealthy Operatives, there are some less known, but very similar "Masked Assassin Spy" that worked in the past for the Historical Jade Emperor of Ancient China. . . The excellent Wuxia / History Drama "Curse Of The Golden Flower" (movie of 2006) by Zhang Ymou, starring Chow Yun-Fat as the "Jade Emperor" and Gong Li as the unfaithful, conspiring "Rebel Empress" depict some of these Black Clad Assassins that while almost indistinguishable from Japan Shinobi are clearly working on direct orders from the Dragon Throne. . . Called "Lin-Kuei" these are said to be more-or-less "Chinese Ninjas" and it is unclear if the "Shinobi Ninjutsu" was born and refined in the Japan Islands and then "Imported Mainland" or if "Organized Families of Dark Clad Killers" (that could have even a "Common Root" in the Islamic Golden Age Hashashins or the Kalari-Payats / Kalima "Thuggee" Devotes of Ancient India) have been started in Mainlad Far East (Middle East?) and then traveled by sea towards "Mysterious Zipangu" and evolved into Japanese Shinobi Clans. . . So the Bow Lady of Red Veil Box, the Oniwaban Master and the "Vintage" Ponytail Sniper and Plain Sword-Hacker could be just "Chinese Lin-kueis" rather than "Rebel Ninjas". . .
Well they kept their grounds in Svalarheima, Paradiso, blocked PanO from acquiring Ariadna as citizens of their territories, dealt an insulting victory to PanO intelligence in outrage, I do not think they did bad for themselves.
To be fair that would feel like a massive cop out and take the chinese knock off meme to the next level
And then for some reason Wotan happened and we were railroaded into becoming horrible people. At least Ariadna stopped being part of the Axis of Evil (Tohaa, Nomads and Haqq still remain tho)
Flamia and Wotan. And speaking to Vanther (the Tohaa faction commander in both campaings) on a regular basis, it doesn't look like they are going to stop. Ever.
You are confusing official fluff with what players may say about their faction and behave, these are two completely different things.
Is that CB's point of view, though, or is it the players' point of view, 'cause quite a few players drove out-of-story smear campaigns during both of those, and the ones directed at Yu Jing stuck a bit better than the other factions ('cause I think contrary to particularly Nomads, Yu Jing didn't have any PR campaigning to drown out the smear)
Does it matter? Corvus Belli makes a campaign and says it will affect the fluff. Railroads it, but alsot akes things from it. Factions gang on Yu Jing. Yu Jing loses. CB takes that and uses it to suit their railroad. Bang, Yu jing is evil. We hardly ever read anything about Yu Jing not being bad guys, and when it is its internal Yu Jing propaganda.
Partly that's because you're reading what is said about YJ from a western perspective: authoritarian; illiberal; parsimonious is 'bad'. Democratic, liberal, wealthy is 'good' by western standards. But it's easy to see YJ as a nation under seige: they're basically facing a potential regional hegemon on their own. In the face of that the strict order of their society isn't only understandable it's necessary. It's an important pillar of their national power. They look at PanO and wonder how such a soft and decadent society can possibly defend humanity. Haqq, Nomads and Ariadna are an irrelevance: without YJ balancing PanO, they would not even exist. "In this, Humanity's darkest hour, the corrupt capitalism of PanO won't save us. They will drug themselves happy while Earth burns. Only the iron will of the Emperor will sustain us."
Of course it matters, but probably not in the way you outline. I mean, I've been playing Elves in almost every game where elves have been an option and usually they get painted by the community as overly-clean hippie tree-huggers*, but that's not what any official non-Goto story writer weaves into their stories. CB might want to take it into account and shape the next campaign to counter-act this - if only to reclaim creative direction of their own narrative. Example, if in the next big campaign CB sets the stage such that Yu Jing enters a conflict where the Hexahedron is trying to subvert one of Earth's old democracies, for added spice of evil they might issue a hidden agenda to one of the factions opposing Yu Jing that they may only ally with Combined Army. * Footnote: which is funny because Elves' narrative heritage would make them essentially as fascistic as you can possibly make a racial trait (monkeys have tails, horses have four legs, elves are fascists, humans are boring, and birds have wings), embodying everything that Nazi Germany would have liked humans to be.
Wouldn't it be better to wait for the actual official fluff? Or you really think CB would just take whatever the players wrote and make it official?
Apparently Yu Jing just ran away from Wotan, leaving the Japanese to hold and die. That's what Corvus wrote. At least with the Japanese leaving there will be an end to all the "sent the japanese to die like meatshields" fluff pieces. Oh, I love Yu Jing and the Party. Which is an aspect of YJ that hasn't been explored much if at all, but Socialism with Chinese characteristics is something I find very interesting in real life, so I can't wait. But until we get there, the fluff is about YJ scheming and nothing about YJ being heroic, or halfway good or protecting civilians or anything.
