[-Norbert-]

Hi Spoon.

As you may or may not remember from the threads of the old setting, I'm quite the backstory addict. And I was wondering a few things about the history between Humans and Cyrvans in the new setting.

• How long before the start of the game did the two species first meet?
• Did the war start immediately and continue the entire time, or was there a (or more than one) period of peace between the races?
• Is the Cyrvan war effort similar to the old one, meaning the only ones that participate in the fight against the Humans are volunteers?
• Was the Human's refusal to disarm and become a helpless protectorate the only reason for the war, or were there other reasons that contributed as well?
• Did the Cyrvans take any planets so far or was the fighting in space only?
• If they did, did they actually launch a ground invasion there, or just blockaded (or bombarded) them from space until they surrendered?

I think that takes care of the most immediate questions, though I might ask more later, if you don't mind.

[NGTM-1R]

The last two questions are actually answered in the game. Sort of, and no invasions. They suppress surface-to-orbit defenses and then leave things as they are. (This seems a cruel plan if the planet is dependent on imports or the like.)

[Spoon]

Oh, I like questions!

• How long before the start of the game did the two species first meet?

Offical first contact happened a short 3 years before Dawn reentered the timeline.

• Did the war start immediately and continue the entire time, or was there a (or more than one) period of peace between the races?

After first contact there was a roughly 2 year period in which minimal contact occured. At first, there was the language barrier but even with that being resolved over time, the Cyrvans mostly warded off any attempts at diplomacy and kept their distance.

• Is the Cyrvan war effort similar to the old one, meaning the only ones that participate in the fight against the Humans are volunteers?

Not quite the same, it will be elaborated on in episode 2.

• Was the Human's refusal to disarm and become a helpless protectorate the only reason for the war, or were there other reasons that contributed as well?

From the human point of view, it's actually not directly known why the CSA is attacking. They haven't given a direct declaration of war to any of the factions or mankind in general.

• Did the Cyrvans take any planets so far or was the fighting in space only?
• If they did, did they actually launch a ground invasion there, or just blockaded (or bombarded) them from space until they surrendered?

As NGTM-1R already said, no ground invasions have been launched by them. The only 'hand to hand' combat that has occured, has been during boarding actions on space installations.
For planets that are dependent on imports (which, a lot of the unalligned fringeworlds that they have conquered, are) the Cyrvans have started providing.

though I might ask more later, if you don't mind.

Absolutely, fire away!

[-Norbert-]

Thanks to both of you.

So the Cyrvans want to Humans to lay down their arms and leave their defense to the Cyrvans, but they didn't tell the Humans? That seems rather... unorthodox. Are they waiting for a better point in time to make that "offer"? Kinda "we show them how helpless they are compared to us and then offer to take over the defense." or somesuch?

How is the general population of the Cyrvans thinking of this war? Is the majority for it, against it or just doesn't care?

And how do those pro-Cyrvan smugglers play into it all. Are they seen by the Cyrvans as the "first converts" or are they just using them to gather information and sow discontent among the Humans, so they can swoop in?

[Spoon]

So the Cyrvans want to Humans to lay down their arms and leave their defense to the Cyrvans, but they didn't tell the Humans? That seems rather... unorthodox. Are they waiting for a better point in time to make that "offer"? Kinda "we show them how helpless they are compared to us and then offer to take over the defense." or somesuch?

That was the T-C war in old WoD lore. Are they still fighting for the same reasons? Who knows! (Well, I know, but I don't wanna spoiler even minor things  )

How is the general population of the Cyrvans thinking of this war? Is the majority for it, against it or just doesn't care?

A begrudging for, because of reasons.

And how do those pro-Cyrvan smugglers play into it all. Are they seen by the Cyrvans as the "first concerts" or are they just using them to gather information and sow discontent among the Humans, so they can swoop in?

The heralds of tomorrow deal with the Cyrvans for the profit and the Cyrvans are simply using them for the information. They aren't so much Pro-Cyrvan as just willing to deal with whoever.

[-Norbert-]

Did the Cyrvans ever officially declare war on mankind, or did they just swoop in and attack systems without warning?

Did the colonies (or at least some of them) ever unite to attempt a serious offensive against the Cyrvans in answer to their aggression?

If so, just how badly were they beaten back?

[FrikgFeek]

Have any of the human factions started development on faster and better boarding vessels? With how outmatched they are ship-to-ship it seems like the best possible quick fix, as Cyrvans suck hard at CQC.

Just how good are the MCWS supposed to be? In the old wod they were lightyears ahead of Terran fighters at the time of the T-C war, even Cyrvan newbies should've been able to smoke a Terran ace. This is obviously no longer the case in nuWoD as even non-player characters are able to take them down in cutscenes.

So are they comparable in power to the Ray3 and the Kaze or were those pilots just that good?

[Spoon]

Did the Cyrvans ever officially declare war on mankind, or did they just swoop in and attack systems without warning?

I already answered that above 

Did the colonies (or at least some of them) ever unite to attempt a serious offensive against the Cyrvans in answer to their aggression?

If so, just how badly were they beaten back?

The fringe systems did not have significant enough military presence for a united front to be worth anything.

Have any of the human factions started development on faster and better boarding vessels? With how outmatched they are ship-to-ship it seems like the best possible quick fix, as Cyrvans suck hard at CQC.

Yes, definitely.
The Shilo's that the pirate forces were using to board in the Ostfront mission, are refitted second generation DD bombers. Not exactly speed monsters.

Just how good are the MCWS supposed to be? In the old wod they were lightyears ahead of Terran fighters at the time of the T-C war, even Cyrvan newbies should've been able to smoke a Terran ace. This is obviously no longer the case in nuWoD as even non-player characters are able to take them down in cutscenes.

So are they comparable in power to the Ray3 and the Kaze or were those pilots just that good?

A combination of amazing pilots and cinematic explodiness 
In actual gameplay, a Kaze with VX-02's would take roughly 18 seconds of sustained fire (not using missiles) to destroy a CSA Verian. Which is an eternity in Freespace dogfight time. Naturally, that wouldn't make for a very interesting cinematic so.

Even the new 4th gen fighters aren't comparable to MCWS' yet.

[-Norbert-]

Any chance we could get a list or chart of the Human factions and how their interrelationships are with each other?

[General Battuta]

Isn't there one in the campaign? I recall a lengthy conversation about it.

[Spoon]

Any chance we could get a list or chart of the Human factions and how their interrelationships are with each other?

I'll get on this.

Isn't there one in the campaign? I recall a lengthy conversation about it.

The ingame conversation is kind of a tl;dr version that doesn't really go into depth much.