The Species Restriction Order¹⁾ was a Star Army of Yamatai order issued in YE 29 from Taisho Yui to all members of the Star Army, ordering them to upgrade to NH-22C Yamataian or NH-29 bodies. Those who refused were denied promotions or even discharged from service. It became controversial and was repealed a year later, after many officers and soldiers left the military rather than change bodies.

OOCly, the order was a successful part of Wes's strategy to assist the newly-formed Nepleslian faction by defining the differences between the two and sending more players who wanted to play humans to Nepleslia.

At the time, the Star Army of Yamatai was trying to get all soldiers to transfer to the newly-released NH-29 Nekovalkyrja or a species with a digital mind.

According to Hanako, the order was at at least partially provoked by Nekovalkyrja supremacists who used the First Mishhuvurthyar War as justification²⁾.

The Star Army ordered personnel of to re-sleeve to bodies with digital minds and flight capabilities. The order was as follows:

1. Members of the following species are eligible to serve in the Star Army of Yamatai:

• Nekovalkyrja NH-27 (recommended for combat arms)
• Nekovalkyrja NH-29 (recommended for all positions)
• Nepleslians (recommended for non-combat jobs) until YE 30
• Yamataian NH-22 (recommended for admin and technical jobs)

2. Members of all other species should seek immediate upgrades to one of the above species. Most Star Army ships, bases, and Star Fortresses should have the capability to provide upgrade services. Failure to obey these orders will result in disciplinary action. Nepleslians have until YE 30 to upgrade.

3. Nepleslians and members of species not included in section one who wish to join the Star Army of Yamatai may apply for a free upgrade. Nepleslians, for instance, would have to upgrade to Yamataians during the recruiting process.

4. Other species may permitted with permission on a case by case basis per soldier.

5. Geshrins and Nepleslians refusing to upgrade are not eligible for promotions or any new starship-based assignments.

Senator Maximillian Alphonse submitted a proposal to repeal the order in the senate at the request of Taisho Henry Chen³⁾ but it was defeated⁴⁾.

Manpower in the Third Expeditionary Fleet was affected⁵⁾ and Taisho Henry Chen resigned.

In YE 30 the Species Restriction Order was repealed.

In YE 35, Ketsurui Yui issued a similar order⁶⁾.

The origins of the Species Restriction Order came from a thread started by Fred called “Why are people reluctant to switch to a Yamataian body?” which complained that players were not dealing with the issue of body-swapping from an in-character perspective⁷⁾.

In October 2019, Wes explained “People give the Species Restriction Order a lot of flak for good reasons but it was well-intentioned and written by Yui, a neko, so it was reasonable for her to be like “everyone transfer into supersoldier nekos bodies or no promotions.” On the other hand it was culturally inept, but Ketsurui Yui was literally raised by a war robot so it makes sense she's a good warrior but not the greatest at human politics. At the same time, on the OOC side the SRO did exactly what it was supposed to do: It jump-started the fledgling Nepleslia when we were trying to make the first non-Yamatai faction by diverting players who wanted to play humans and stuff towards Nepleslia for a while. Nepleslia's success paved the way for other factions. If the SRO didn't happen Star Army could still be a site where only the Star Army of Yamatai is played.”

Fred added “Wes also gets a lot of flak for the Species Restriction Order; when I was the co-admin that actually pushed for it. I expressed annoyance that Yamatai was getting plenty of Nepleslian characters whom where then being liabilities in neko plots; there were more Nepleslian PCs in Yamatai plots than they were in Nepleslia itself and they brought with them disgusting smoking, gum and tobacco chewing and somehow could rarely adhere to the rules to not consume those while on a tour of duty because - of course - rebellious edgy character flaws. And I was like “Why don't they go on thier own ships?!”

Wes saw the silver-lining on that, and was moved to implement the Species Restriction Order in order to kill two birds with one stone: standardize the Star Army crews to Nekovalkyrja even on the player average; while having an active funnel of players that wanted to play Nepleslian characters be funneled towards the Nepleslian plots. Nepleslia's FM and GM at the time, Tom, was an amazing roleplayer, referee and animator for the Street War plot he had going… but unfortunately relatively unknown and unsung. This gave him that chance to step up and create one of the more wonderful plots SARP has known - the NSS Alliance - which was the Ark that birthed the whole Nepleslian renaissance and directed the DIoN towards what it is today.

Unfortunately, the participants carried a lot of OoC vitriol along, somehow remaining very adversarial with Wes (and me) at the time. Watching for hidden barbs or veiled threats when the truth was that we both wanted Nepleslia to be successful (Wes was happy to have a more engaging setting, while I was happy one of my own roleplayers - Tom - was enjoying a mindblowing degree of success).”