Rep

Although some areas in the Eclipse Phase world still rely on a traditional money based economic system, many others use a new system called Rep. In simple terms, Rep is your reputation with a specific group. If you have a high Rep people will happily give you stuff and help you out, if you have a low Rep they wont. The reason it differs from a regular money based system is that it isn't a set "thing X is worth 12 Rep" kind of a system. Rep is based on scoring systems in several all pervading social networks. Having someone give you a thing because you have a high Rep wont necessarily cause your Rep to go down, but constantly asking for stuff and never giving anything back absolutely will. Similarly, your Rep could go up or down based on things you say or things you don't do just as much as transactions and jobs you complete. Its a measure of your worth to society, and those who are worth more get more in return.

There are a few different Rep networks, and its not always clear which ones you should be part of, so here is a bit of a breakdown:

@-Rep: also known as "Circle @", @-Rep is used by anarchists, Barsoomians (the guys who live on Mars), Extropians (anarcho-capitalists who go in for money and property but not government/hypercorp control), Scum (kind of tribal space nomads) and Titanians (socialists who colonised Titan). Concentrate on this if you are a free-wheeling, "fight the Man!" kind of character, or a space pirate. More useful the further out to the edge of the system you go. You want the Autonomist Networking skill to go with this.

C-Rep: CivicNet rep, used by the Jovian Republic (Fascist conservatives, also known as the Junta), the Lunar-Lagrange Alliance (corp backed group that live in orbit around the Earth and want to take it back), Morningstar Constellation (The controlling government of Venus, split off from...), The Planetary Consortium (a big group of hypercorps) and many other hypercorps. Get this if you want to work with big business or government types. Its basically the opposite of @-Rep, and is more useful the closer in to the core of the system you are. You want the Hypercorp Networking skill to go with this.

E-Rep: EcoWave is used by the ecologists, the Green types and the people who want to take back earth and return it to its glorious old natural past. Get this is you are a tree loving hippie, or an uplift thats wants to go "home". You want the Ecologist Networking skill to go with this.

F-Rep: called Fame, pretty self explanatory. Socialites, artists and the media are all over this. Get it if you either want to be famous or want to be known by famous people. You want the Media Networking skill to go with this.

G-Rep: Guanxi is used by the triads (the predominant form of organised crime in the EP) and...well, all the other crims. Get this if you want to be an Al Capone type or the Wolf from Pulp Fiction. You want the Criminal Networking skill to go with this.

I-Rep: The Eye is only used by firewall. A high I-rep means people in the organisation know you, trust you and believe you when you say that the fate of humanity relies on giving you that thing you are asking for right the hell now. It wont be useful that often, but when its useful it could be the difference between everyone lives or humanity is doomed. You want the Firewall Networking skill to go with this.

R-Rep: RNA (Research Network Affiliation). Its used by all the science types, whether that's a hypercorp lab-tech or an entire Argonaut habitat (Argonauts are a science based society who have very strong beliefs about open source, shared information and so on.) Do I really need to tell you who should be getting a good dollop of R-Rep? You want the Scientists Networking skill to go with this.