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Aberrant: The Long March - Table Talk: The Long March


Mr Fox

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Steve, sorry for Genesis reading your mind there and responding to private thoughts, but I was thinking that the thoughts between * * marks were over the link to the group. Which he can hear as if you are speaking aloud, they invented Lorean's communication system after all.

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I am back too. better late than never! With the death of a game over at EON, The Long March is now my longest running game EVER! Congrats!

I am still mind bogglingly busy though. I hope to catch up later tonight or tomorrow. Have a long workshop tonight and need to get reaady. Have 10 pages or so to catch up on!

Yay!

I love you guys... <3

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Ok guys, is everyone just completely mind boggled by the revelations, or are you guys still getting back into the swing of things after the holidays?

SM is working on a Fic to cover what is happening with her. What about the rest of you? Any questions for the watchers? Now is your opportunity to learn more if you want to.

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We've come to the end of the original story that I had envisioned. With this chapter, I think it might be good to evaluate were we stand and where we want to go from here.

I've already had a conversation with Jameson and he feels that Andrew has reached the end of his journey. All of his demons have been put to rest and his goals are accomplished. This would also be a good place for Cody to end his journey based on his last post and a conversation I had with him last night.

That is not to say that everyone wants to call it quits, or that there is an overwhelming need to kill the game. Unless you've all changed your minds from the last time we discussed the games future, the majority wanted to continue beyond the end of my metaplot.

My concern:

This game has been one of the most successful ST run games in the sites history and I would much rather end it on a high note and have everyone remember it with fondness than have it die a slow death. Why might it die? I don't have a metaplot going forward. Sure there are things that you guys can still do. Lots of things, but there is no big story left that drives them. Joani and Meri both have a lot of personal character angst that could drive stories and keep them interested and engaged. Others of you have goals for your characters as well, but there is no longer anything that binds them all together in a team other than their past and friendship. There is no plot reason for them to remain together.

So, with that said I have a few options.

Option 1:

End the game gracefully and on a high note. 5600 posts and a 2+ year run are something to be proud of.

Option 2:

Continue playing the current characters in the LM universe(s), but consider it to be a new game. Allowing those who are ready to retire their current character to create new ones if they wish. The reason I say to consider it a new game is that I really would like to distinguish whatever comes next from what has already past. The LM story is accomplish and is done with the end of this chapter. What comes next would be a new story. Warning: I do not have a new metaplot in mind so the story that evolves would likely be a bit more character driven and more of the burden of engagement in the story would be on you guys.

I am open to suggestions on what to do next.

Possibilities:

- Dealing with Michael and trying to undo what he has done on Joani, Ulric, and Kyria's home timeline.

- Going back to the N-day (or earlier) and presenting the world with the cure to Taint and seeing what will transpire.

- Settling on a single timeline and making it home, be it in a distant past, or at the beginning of the nova age, or at any other point. Lots of story possibilities doing this. This could be accomplished by Lorean (the ship) deciding to stay here and rejoin with the watchers. Thus no more ship to travel the multiverse in.

- I'm also open to suggestions for future stories.

,,

Along with Option 2, if anyone were to drop out I would allow new players in to join the game to replace anyone we lose, assuming you all want to continue the game.

,,

Option 3:

Change the game into an ITB style setting(in the LM universe), in which I retain the role of ST and create stories and even metaplots. It would however, be an open game in the sense that I would allow more players to join the game and you guys would have the option to create new characters, or possibly keep your current ones. If you created new characters you would be given more NPs than those newly joining as a reward for having been here during the original game.

I have to say I'm a pretty big fan of this option. Reason being, it would be more character driven and one of my big talents is to take the ideas of others and expand on them and warp them all to hades and back. It would also give the players the ability to pursue whatever personal goals their characters have without having to fit it in a team environment. That is not to say that characters couldn't form a group and be together, just that it doesn't have to be the case and not all the time. Think of the way people wove in and out of the group scenes in ITB. (BTW, kudos to Titan for pioneering that concept, damn fine game over there. Shame real life got in the way.)

Option 4:

I don't have an option 4, but if you do, I'm open to hear it.

In short, I can't see myself not running a game here on the site. I really like you guys and would like to continue LM in some fashion or other. Please give me your feedback on this so we can decide where to go from here.

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Congrats you guys!

To be frank, I agree that Long March is over. That's a little hurty to me, because I liked Meredith, but I can accept that. I knew it was a latecomer joining when I signed on, so it's all good.

For a new game, I'm pretty open. Whether or not Meri will be appropriate depends a lot on the power level and premise of the new game. My initial thought is 'probably not.' It'd be fun to try another character with her basic powerset though, since I never really got to -do- much with her. smile

2 and/or 3 sound fine. I'd even be fine with a whole new game setting and premise. Doesn't have to be a spinoff of Long March, after all. smile

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Fox,

I agree with SalmonMax. I like Kyria and we discussed several fun ideas with her situation, but I do agree that the LM main plot is over and done with. I'd love to continue with this character and be able to play with the group in another storyline, personally. I'm up for any option other than just walking away. smile

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Originally Posted By: Adrian Moss
The end of the game was kind of a let down.

Maybe Option 3. The concept sounds good.


I have to second Adrian/Ulric there. Aside from that it's been a great time and I enjoyed this game a lot.

Whichever Option is going to be taken, I'd continue playing Joani and I already got an idea how her story will go on/reboot. I also thing we should all find some kind of wrap up since the ending as it is now is too vague to my liking. I need something like a "farewell" thread/post or whatever suits best. Just my thoughts on it.

I want to thank you Fox and the other players for this great game. This game introduced me to the site and I've made quite a bunch of good friends ever since I joined. I hope we'll share more fantastic and entertaining stories in the future in this constellation. It's hard to find people that 'click' with eachother in RPGs (my private experience) and whom you can trust without condition or having to constantly argue about rules or other trivial things. I'd like to stay in touch with you all no matter if it is going to be in a LM 2.0 or any other incarnation.

Lets play and have some fun!
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Quote:
I also thing we should all find some kind of wrap up since the ending as it is now is too vague to my liking. I need something like a "farewell" thread/post or whatever suits best. Just my thoughts on it.


Yeah, that's why I wanted to have this conversation now, so that I could figure out how to proceed and wrap things up.
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For my part I rather enjoyed the revelation of the watchers though a nice wrap up post(s) would tie the ribbon on top. As for moving forward I think I'm done with Andrew. At this point I'd be fine with stepping back and allowing him to be an NPC, he's pretty much set up to be the end all be all on Nova Biology and medicine diverging from that to tell a new story or stories doesn't feel right.

If Option 2 were to happen I may consider a new PC if I could come up with something worthy. If option 3 I think I will bow out completely at this time, I tend to prefer having a meta plot to follow/uncover.

Either way congrats on a well run cycle Fox!

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RE: The Watchers

I liked them. Infinite time plus infinite lifespan equals infinite experience which leads to Q10. Without Taint as a limit that's the result (and *someone* had to roll the dice just right so that they wouldn't be messed up with that).

On a side note with the cure in hand this is our eventual fate as well. Either we gain infinite power or we die en route... and there's not much that can kill us (including time).

RE: Meta-Plot

I've never really cared about the meta-plot... or rather it's existence or lack there of. What's important is what the characters themselves know, and most of them don't have a clue. Steve will putter on... although he might have Loriean look into the distant past and try to figure out how the meta-human genetics got in there.

RE: Options.

I like 3 too.

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I think Omar is the only one we haven't heard from yet? Looks like Option 3 has the majority support.

I'm thinking of some ideas right now in terms of new stories. I also think that in order to avoid the serious nihlistic feelings of being helpless to make a difference in the vastness of the multiverse, we need to settle on a timeline, or at least make the travel between timelines much less of a focus.

Lorean (the ship) has just discovered that she is a watcher, she just might want to stay and learn more about what that means. Of course she'd be happy to drop you guys off where ever you want to go before she returns to Atlantis.

How do you guys feel about that?

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I agree that we need some kind of „base“ or „hub“ where we can have access to each other (I don’t mind if it’s some kind of portal that opens once a year or if we actually get something like a „lift“ we can operate to meet at one specific destination and leave messages or make direct contact).

The idea I’ve got for Joani would place her on her own, very specific timeline where she would try to “fix” her life. Going back to the “original” timeline from where they left (the one that leads to Michael’s supremacy) is not an option for her. We should maybe discuss – either ooc or in-game about our future plans and see if we all go our own paths or some stay together.

I’d sent you my idea via PM, Fox, since it involves a lot of tweaking and finetuning on Lorean’s behalf. My idea is not original but the opportunity is more than convenient and I’d like to explore that with her.

So who is keeping is PC and who would make a new start? Will the game open up to new players? If yes, maybe these should consider connections with the existing PCs. What about the general powerlevel? Some of the original PCs have reached Q6 or are close to it. I think the majority is somewhere around 70+ NPs. I think these questions should be cleared before you plan to continue the game with option 3.

Most important to me is that you feel comfortable with your decision. You shouldn’t choose an option that you don’t like to put time and energy into.

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I will second what Joani just said. I actually said the same thing to Fox over chat that the big question is what stories are going to motivate him to invest himself.

As for Cody...In a way a bit of a let down but for personal reasons.

See Cody started off just as powerful but he was limited in his advancment by his taint. I have been banking up a buttload of NP and XP for when the cure came about. I wanted a chance to play him through that, regaing his eyes and his voice etc. and I have enough to go to Q6. Oddly enough I never advanced his actual dots very far save for his mega mentals. On paper he looks kinda weak in terms of ratings but he is very capable and diverse.

The thing is though, within the context of the story over the last 150+ years IC, his nature shifted from his initial survivor to explorer. Out of everyone in the group save Meri and Lorean, he and Kyria are most suited to stepping up to Wather-ness. They have already experienced something like the Sharing with the gestalt of the Human Race. So in light of that experience and in finding the answers to the mysteries that have driven him for the last several lifetimes he has lived, I can't see Cody passing up the opportunity to truly ascend. It just makes sense. Of course he then gains infinite power and is retired to NPCness.

So yeah. Looks like I would be making a noob...which is also always fun! Maybe I should bring back The Fool...heh firedevil

Option wise, the third seems the best or even the fourth which would be to have Fox just start a whole new unrelated game. The problem with option 2 as i see it is that now that we have reached this pinacle of knowledge and essentially met god...any stories we tell from here on out are going to be of lesser scope and feel small in comparison. Narratively speaking the only way to move forward is if Fox "upset the status quo" with a Wather War or something that would be even "bigger" than what we have.

Essentially the game would become Amber, for those of you in the kow. However Fox does not want to do that.

So either Option 3 with a new me, or Option 1 where LM retires and we proceed to option 4: Fox loves us so he comes up with a new game/universe/story.

If we go with Option 3, i want to make sure that Fox has a solid idea of what the setting and themes are going to be so we don't end up in lingering limbo that almost always results in the slow death by disinterest in the game.

No matter what...it's been an honor and a pleasure... smile

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I think Option 3 is going to win out, it is what I am most motivated to do. However, Jameson doesn't need to dispair, Option 3 can include a meta plot. I just have to come up with one. grin

I do need to know who will be keeping their current PCs though and who will be doing new ones.

Keeping:

Kyria

Joani

Max? Depending on what you decide you could keep your same character. You can always have the Watcher-you spin off a mundane version that is just you, like you were suggesting in chat.

Steve?

New character:

Sky

Possibly Andrew if he decides to stay?

As for power level. You guys whether you start a new character or keep your current one will be rewarded in some fashion for being loyal returning players. My only concern about power level is that it becomes harder to challenge you the more powerful you get and you guys are pretty buff. I might need to recruit someone to be an assistant ST in terms of combat scenes and such. One of the places I know myself to be weak as an ST is in combat scenes. There should be more of them! smile

Sky,

What can I say, you picked a pretty bad time to disappear. smile I was looking forward to seeing you play out those changes too, but I think outside a fiction piece it is too late.

Joani,

I really like the idea you have of going back to your own history. Not sure how we will work that in, but it sounds very interesting.

Out of curiosity, how many of you guys are Stargate fans?

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Why does everyone forget about Omar? smile

I had hoped that we would have gotten back to our original timeline and tried to prevent the asteroid from hitting earth. That meant dealing with the aliens (which we never did on our timeline, although we did arm Lorien to the teeth).

I was going to advocate for option 3 after the story was finished, though I would like to continue using Omar. I understand that his power level is high and that he's really buff, and I am willing to work with you on that.

As for Stargate... I own the first and last movies. I have watched 80% of the episodes of both SG-! and Atlantis. You could say I am a fan.

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I liked Stargate too.

RE: Lorean and reduced power.

Perhaps we could/should lose Lorean and introduce a non-sentient "Star Gate" that would allow only limited access to timelines... aka "Fringe-Worthy" or "Star Gate"... possibly including "non-real" timelines like Middle Earth and the like.

With Lorean (and her allies) in the picture I just don't see what can really challenge us.

Note "Star Gate" doesn't *have* to mean, "access to everything".

In Fringe-Worthy you only have access to "close" timelines (6?), and the gate's idea of "close" isn't ours. Two might be modern earth like (say one with novas and one without them), two others might be way out there (dinosaurs or water world), and two others might be non-real physics.

This set up is easy to expand since every timeline has 6 branches. Move to another Earth and you have 1 known (the one you walked in on) and 5 new ones... some of which might (or might not) lead to other known worlds.

EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fringeworthy

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