Can I just say that I have never deleted so many e-mails as I have
lately I think this point sums up my utter boredom at the moment..........
> 3. You are perfectly at liberty to write your own universe, that's
The main problem with the evil empire was that you felt you had no choice but
to follow the universe as represented in the rules.
So why are we trying to create the same here?
Jeremey
> Can I just say that I have never deleted so many e-mails as I have
hehe yes I know the feeling.:)
> The main problem with the evil empire was that you felt you had no
I'm not sure people are trying to create the same here, though I haven't
been reading _all_ the emails. I know people like having something to
follow, and the canon stuff is a big issue for some people. However as it
states in the rules, people are free to write their own history -
including expanding upon the canon stuff. So I guess trying to stop people
expanding the canon is the same as stopping people expanding their own
histories.
Fortunately, Jon has kept rather quiet in all this debate - wisely as I
see it (bow to you Jon if this is so) because any word out of his mouth is
seen as "canon", and he would be tying himself up in knots trying to keep up.
Some people get all fired up "protecting" their own little empire or
universe or units what-have-you, and thus things may get a little
heated. I find it's always advisable to keep your tongue firmly planted in
your cheek
when reading such list messages - take them too seriously and, well, you
may as well be playing the Evil Empire's rules.:)
> From what I've seen, nobody is trying to force anyone to accept their
Even I, an American, can see this happening. I mean come on folks, as far as
nations go the US is a baby. Let people discuss their views. All it can do is
enrich the setting.
Didn't this whole thing get started because somebody was wanting to add
character to some units they fielded or something.
To be honest, I'd think there wouldn't be much of a change. The NAC would let
the former US units keep their distinction most likely, treating them much
like another unit with its characteristic folklore and fanfair.
Have fun people. It's only a game.
Eli
I'll cheerfully agree that this hasn't been my idea of the most
interesting of threads --
I've been deleting 90% of it myself, only dipping in once in a while to see
how far the
topic has drifted -- there is, as always, only one solution:
Bring up a new topic, something that interests *you*. If I had anything to
offer, trust me: I would. Right now, though, I'm dividing my time between
gluing guns onto Matchbox cars and trying to dry out my thrice accurséd
basement. Stupid backed up pipes.... Good thing I keep all the important stuff
in plastic boxes!
Actually, I do havbe a topic that I've been wondering about: has anyone made a
serious
attempt to design a needle-heavy fleet? When I get some spare time, I'd
like to give it a shot and see how well they fare against more standard
weapons.
[Jeremy- spelt properly said]
> However as it
But this is my point, I'm guessing but the Fleet books were probably the
result of people pestering Jon for "Official" designs for the various fleets.
I personally think that although yes I can come up with my own designs and
history, when there is an official background and designs (like GW do) people
don't like it when you deviate from them.
I have mainly Kra'vak ships, now when I put them on the table people go "so
you've gone for the Kra'vak then" not "so what is your race called then?"
Anyway I'll shut up now through fear of starting another boring thread
:)
Jeremey
...because I personally don't have time to design my own background, and for
me it's just an excuse for 2 sides to line up and shot each other to bits. I
don't play very often and I'm not in a campaign, so having lots of
races/nations etc doesn't actually affect me.
I agree that for people who play frequently, or play in a campaign, then the
background can be a lot more important as it will help generate scenarios etc.
Cheers, Iain.
[quoted original message omitted]
Despite my promise not to post any more, I feel one more comment is
needed -
and that is my apology. I blew things way out of proportion, caused some
hard feelings, and I'm sorry. Chalk it up to my being an over-emotional
person (Curse of being a right-brainer amongst all these logical types).
I
actually like the idea of the NAC, it'll just be interesting to see how it
develops. Hell, with the population distribution, I can see over time a
series of NAC PM's from North and then even South America.
> From a gaming standpoint, the reason I'm designing my own background
Again, I apologize for making so much trouble. can understand the points of
view of the others on the list, and probably would feel the same way if I were
on the other side of the border.
> On Tue, 4 Dec 2001, Laserlight wrote:
> > ...but marginally less entertaining. I refuse to take my gaming
You sort of hope the sanitation is better on Alarish.
But I bet the people aren't as interesting there!
Thought - unregulated Alarishi genetic engineering - has anyone built
Luggage yet?:>
Incidentially, does 'Alarish' mean anything in one language or another? (it's
Russian for 'insane anarchist loons', right?)
Tongue in cheek,
> > ...but marginally less entertaining. I refuse to take my gaming
Well, maybe a little more structured. Prime Minister Vetinari ensures
that Ankh-Moropork
is a true democracy, one man, one vote. Vetinari is the man and he has the
vote....
Besides, Alrish doesnt ban mimes, does it? And how can you have a truly
civilized culture if you allow mimes?
To be marginally more serious, I did have an idea for an Alrishi colony: A
bunch of academics determined to raise their children as native speakers of
E-Prime, a form of
English that eliminates any use of the verb "to be"
Theyd make a good source of weird tech, methinks, not to mention Illuminati
agents.
> On Mon, 3 Dec 2001 23:38:19 US/Eastern johncrim@voicenet.com writes:
<snip>
> Actually, I do havbe a topic that I've been wondering about: has
Yes, Human and Alien. I can send you Excel spreadsheets from work. They are
NOT complete SSD (or whaterver the acronymn is) but the mass is accounted for.
Costs not computed... yet.
Gracias,
On Tue, 4 Dec 2001 01:13:11 -0000 "Germy & Fizl" <germ@germy.co.uk>
writes:
> Can I just say that I have never deleted so many e-mails as I have
Some of us aren't...
Yes, I have been known to stir a pot to see if anything usable jumps out, why?
Gracias,
> Germy wrote:
> >However as it
My two öre:
If you play in the "canon" GZGverse, accept it for what it is. You're free
to fit your own creations into it - but if you change the "canon" bits -
eg. because you find them incredible or unpalatable - then you're no
longer playing in the GZGverse! Unless you manage to bludgeon Jon T. into
changing the "canon" to fit your opinions, you're playing in a different
universe of your own design.
Which is of course entirely OK - virtually all of my non-playtest games
are
set in a homegrown background stemming from an old Starfire campaign -
as long as you realize that that's what you're doing and don't try to force
others to play in your universe if they don't want to!
> I have mainly Kra'vak ships, now when I put them on the table people go
That has nothing to do with the Fleet Books though. The KV have been KV ever
since More Thrust was published (or since the models were first released,
whichever came first)! Just like the Phalons were known under that name as
soon as the models were released; they didn't have to wait for
FB2...
Later,
In message <3.0.3.32.20011204210109.006f119c@popmail.voicenet.com>
> John Crimmins <johncrim@voicenet.com> wrote:
[snip]
> ...but marginally less entertaining. I refuse to take my gaming that
[snip]
Yes!! Do It!!!!! :-)
> In message <3.0.3.32.20011204210109.006f119c@popmail.voicenet.com>
<Evil Cackle>Mwa-ha-ha-ha!</Evil Cackle>
The proper way to do it, mind you, would be to get a plastic turtle and four
small plastic elephants, and then glue them all together with a disk shaped
world being supported by those elephants. Hmmm a use for some of those Aol CDs
that Ive been accumulating?
Damn, now I have to do this -- its too cool an idea. Plus, Pratchett
first used the idea
in a science fiction novel called _Strata_ -- a parody of Nivens
Ringworld books.
Can someone explain the alarishi for me? I keep hearing this entity bandied
about, but still have no idea just what it is. Can anyone.anything be
Alarishi?
Confused,
Brian B2
"The Irish are the only race of people on Earth for which psychoanalysis is of
no use."
- S. Freud
> From: johncrim@voicenet.com
> --- Brian Bilderback <bbilderback@hotmail.com> wrote:
> jingoism, than a boredom with
Since it's fiction anyway? It's pretty much reality. I mean, the trend in
recent (50 or so) years has been largely towards fragmentation of old nations
(Checks and Slovaks, Former Yugoslavia, Former Soviet Union, Eritrea, et al).
The only unifications I can think of have been among nations artificially
partitioned.
The only movement towards unification has been the EC, and even that's
sketchy. There doesn't seem to be much disagreement on the basic principle of
free trade and travel between members, but every bit of unity
beyond that has been met with foot-dragging and
referendums and threats to quit.
> Mr. Atkinson wrote:
> Since it's fiction anyway? It's pretty much reality.
Well, I meant since MY history is fiction - no matter ho real/unreal it
may be.
> Can someone explain the alarishi for me? I keep hearing this entity
> Alarishi?
This page:
http://www.angelfire.com/va/laserlight/alarish.html
..has all of the answers.
Brian2 asked:
> Can someone explain the alarishi for me?
No. Even I can't. :-)
> I keep hearing this entity bandied
The Alarishi Empire was dreamed up some years ago by a lister whose
connection with reality is a bit erratic/tenuous. It is believed that
"Alarishi" derives from al-Arish, which is IIRC one of the first
cities the Iraelites came to as they left Egypt.
The AE controls three M-star systems (Huy Braseal, Coronado, and
Alarish), and claims a fourth system (Cibola). Alarish (the star) has
a brown dwarf planet/secondary star, which in turn has moons, one of
which is Alarish (the planet). Like all other AE territory, Alarish
has no external atmosphere--everyone lives either underground or
inside, depending on your point of view. Most of the citizens of the AE
inhabit planetoids, habitats, or ships.
The overall government is a libertarian monarchy. Within this framework, any
definable territory can establish itself as a sovereignity with its own
constitution, courts, legal code, enforcement powers and penalties. The wide
collection of sovereignities under one overall government is what makes it an
empire
(not size or population--the AE has a bit under 40 million people).
There's really no such thing as a "typical" AE sov but a few of them are: the
Fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon (aka Templars); the
Radical Lesbian Collective; the People's Democratic Socialist Republic of
Marxgrad; Foward Power (antimatter engineering); Reynolds Shipbuilding and
Skydock; Han Bank; SARCo (Search and Rescue Co, also known as Vultures R Us);
the University of Alarish; Jack Old Ron (population 1); the Planet of the
Geeks; Murphy's Lawyers; the
Kinetic Elench (who use K-guns on their ships); the Turing Republic
(artificial intelligences, credit to Tom Barclay); el Nuevo Pueblo de Nuestra
Senora de los Angeles y Todos Santos (New L.A. and a pod of dolphins);
Genetech; Musashi. And there are some peculiar ones too.
AE is noted for excellent vacuum/zero gee troops (all powered armor),
antimatter engineering, biosystems, and a few other advanced technologies. It
is also neutral ground and a meeting place for spies, mercenaries, agents,
hustlers, grifters, diplomats, and so
forth--similar to Istanbul or Casablanca in WW2.
To become an Alarishi resident you have to conform to Imperial law, such as it
is (mostly "pay your lease on time and don't blow up your neighbors"); don't
run afoul of IBIS (Imperial Bureau of Intelligence and Security); and ideally
you'll have an interesting (or bizarre)
> --- johncrim@voicenet.com wrote:
Not even half of them...
As a sidenote: I've actually met Chris (crashed at his place twice, in fact)
and he doesn't look like a lunatic. Honest. His kid's pretty crazy (Hi,
Bear!), but he looks like Mr.Normal if there ever was one.
:)
From: John Atkinson <johnmatkinson@yahoo.com>
> As a sidenote: I've actually met Chris (crashed at
Even wore a tie throughout GZG ECC. Which proves looks can be deceiving.
And Joshua warns that you'll be doing a different sort of crashing, on
> --- Laserlight <laserlight@quixnet.net> wrote:
> And Joshua warns that you'll be doing a different
Heh. So he thinks he can play with that
grownups--does he do vector yet?
Either way, we'll find out come... early Feb, probably. I might hit your place
en route to Florida.
Interesting place. The Turks should get along with them just fine.
Brian B2
"The Irish are the only race of people on Earth for which psychoanalysis is of
no use."
- S. Freud
> From: johncrim@voicenet.com
> bandied