Ach, sorry.  Consider it the first thing said when he bumps into Quentin next time, since we're dropping into summary narration.

I will be on when I can, but I'm helping someone move tomorrow and have a lot of errands, so might be evening time before major work gets done on my part.

Don't let that stop you from interacting though, I'm sure you probably have a lot to say to one another.  Grav is with Sol in the capital, and they haven't really talked at all so far in the game, and the team in Bunia is moving along toward its goals, and might even have some time to talk while they apply themselves to reconstruction.

Also, feel free to add whatever you like to the set pieces at this point, baddies are gone, and you are in charge of building, sooooo...  Yeah, it's your sandbox right now.

A one year timeskip? This brings some new and interesting possibilities to the fore. I'll have to give this some thought.

Huh.  That's convenient.  I approve.

I can tell you one thing: Comstock's probably one of the first to head into southern Iraq to see what the hell happened down there.  I'll make a vignette about that.  As of 2003, what's the region look like?  Utopia Terraforming project?  Still empty?  Nothing but bogs, marshes and desert?  First Quantum tainted wasteland?  Because if no one else wants it, it seems awfully close to Bahrain.

Wow, and with Splash dead, hmmm, looks like t2m Asia or Europe will need a leader...I nominate Comstock.  So, a 1 year time skip, alrighty, a question, would you like this in one big post or a couple three smaller ones?  I've got a few vignettes thought up, that are very different.  At least that's the form of things rambling around in my mind right now.

Hey!  Solitaire and Impetus have just as much ability as Comstock.  Let's not be too hasty here.  (though I see your point)

Multiple or single, either way, though if you do them one at a time it will allow people to build on your exploits.

I'd like you to give certain things some thought when working with your vignettes:

1)Who does your character become after this, on the inside?
2)What did you learn?
3)What does the world see?  You are a brand, an archetype, and a media idol all rolled into one, so in addition to the "real" you, what do the people that sell your toys have to say about you? (best answer to this question sells the most toys, and gets a movie deal)
4)What is the nature of your relationships in this year and a half of downtime?  With each other, and with family, friends, etc.  With the nova world?
5)What does it mean to be a nova?  A baseline?  What about the long ago conversations with Raoul about becoming "something more"?

You don't have to answer all of this of course, I'm just interested in these as it will help me build more plot, and it will help you relate to one another.  And it will help the new players develop more connection to the game.  Speaking of which...

)))))

I have two new players.  I will start them probably sometime next week.  The will be introduced at the Utopia Christmas/Winter/Kwanzaa/Hanuka/Solstice party, and we will probably pick up there sometime at the end of next week. If vignettes aren't done yet by then, you will of course be able to continue them at your liesure (the entire point of the vignette, and a system of storytelling I am very fond of, especially after the wonderful work I've seen in this game so far).

xxxx

As far as the death cloud and the conversion of the desert to more hospitable terrain... well, I can say a few things.  First, Anteus' terrain modification program, while highly successful when perfected, was also a disaster to several smaller ecosystems during testing.  His program has been deployed early, over quantum tainted, poisoned wastelands.  Hmmm... there might be some unforeseen consequences...

The Bahrain complex will go up.  For now, they are attempting to expand the teraforming project to cover the bulk of the middle east.

0000

You are T2M America.  You graduated.  I need to make a vignette of this.  But you should know that, so that you can act accordingly in your vignettes.

VVVV

I will probably start revealing more plot elements regarding how the world has developed, what's going on, that sort of thing.  Pertinent details to the setting especially need fleshing out... Can you perhaps ask questions on this thread regarding things you'd like me to cover?

If you're interested in adding more than just 2 players, you'd probably get an unholy fuckton of applications if you posted on RPOL's "Wanted - Players" forum - just be ready to sift through a bunch of apps.

Looking back over things, I am a bit amused at the death of Firefox and Makara.  Do we have a grudge against married couples?  *grin*

Edit: really though, this brings us up to speed nicely and adjusts the setting for current events that diverge from Aberrant standard.  I'd imagine that warfare on that scale and a major disruption in the Persian Gulf caused some major economic shocks that precipitated weak markets and depressions?  Or was there a Mega-Intelligent Nova somewhere that tricked everyone into early investment in new technologies, weakening the demand for fossil fuel consumption?

Also, I think there's probably room for a vignette here where everyone with Mega-Int fleshes out the improvements to the T2M: Las Vegas Base.  It may be time for that geothermal power to at least be in testing stages.

Edit Edit:  Alright, for my own benefit and everyone else's...


Timeline
March 18, 2001 ----- The Team First Arrives at T2M: Nevada, a base purchased from the USFG.

April XX, 2001 ----- Equatorial Wars Begin (?)

Sept. 11, 2001 ----- Nova Terrorists attack New York.  World Trade Center (Presumably) Destroyed.

Feb.  21, 2002 ----- T2M attacks an elite base in Uganda, continues onto the Middle East, precipitates the destruction of the ecosystem of the Persian Gulf.

Mar./Apr. 2002 ----- Treaties signed in Bogota, Ugandan Village, and Baghdad end the Equatorial Wars.  Quickly followed by the Quantum Powers Non-Proliferation Treaty.

December, 2003 ----- New Team Members introduced at Utopia's Pan-Denominational Holidays Gathering.


It might be useful to start dating new threads as they come up.  Our threads are more like chapters than locations anyway.

Drafting this, of course, brings up other questions.  First and most important: the Nova Terrorists that attacked New York on Sept. 11th, 2001 ... did they have a political affiliation?  Al-Quaeda?  Marxists?  Nova-Supremacists?  Did the US invade Afghanistan and Iraq in response to these attacks?  Did they invade both locations simultaneously?

Also, how extensive was the damage to New York?  The ferocity of the American response (and the stability of its financial institutions) could depend on the answer.

Man, almost two years of African Wars to worry about.  I am thrilled.  Lots of room for building out side-stories and past events without slowing down the plot forever.  Another query: in our Vignettes, should we want to interact with Antaeus or Pax or Orzaiz, should we clear it with you or just write for the major NPC and try to keep it in-character for them?  For minor things, mind; anything as big as "hey Orzaiz, can I join your club?" almost definitely demands your attention.  But a chance argument and severe beating at the hands of Pax, for example, seems like it could be written without demanding your time.


Edit edit edit (because I refuse to make separate posts that would just spam the thread): it occurred to me just now that ... good grief with a 'porter amongst us, it's possible that we could have responded to the 9/11 strikes.  How fast did it go down and what sort of force was called back to deal with the problem?  Pax seems a sure bet, but ... who else?
This message was last edited by the player at 22:18, Sat 01 Aug 2009.

I want you guys to be the important people, not the big names in the books.  I actually didn't intend to kill splash, but she is squishy, and would have died in the blast.  Only survivors were those with adaptation, or that were gotten out by teleport/warp.

XXXX

Not sure how I feel about open advertisement... I'll put that up for a vote.  Suggestions?  Anyone have anyone they actually know in RL that doesn't suck?  Or are you ok with random new people?

0000

Yes, definitely worth having a vignette for base building.

))))

Aside from questions about the setting, did you have any suggestions on organization for threads?

I was thinking:

Graduation: HQ
Base building:  HQ
Time jump: Vignettes
Brand Management: About the Characters
Equatorial War Missions: Missions

This work, or more condensed?  I wanted to avoid cluttering up vignettes with a ton of stuff that was only sort of a vignette.  And should I leave 'On the Strip' as is, or should I just convert it into 'Social Life'?


EDIT:
Thank you for the timeline, I suck.  Should have done that myself.  I dub the "The Historian" of our game.

Yes, it was Al Qaeda.  The damage was very similar, as was the attack.  It was novas and baselines.  Baselines flew planes, novas stopped American novas from responding, and finished off the WTC (more civilians were killed in this timeline).

Yes, you could have responded, but it would have been to late to do anything but clean up.

Yes, they invaded both at once.  The presence of American novas gave them a foolhardy confidence.

Yes, there was a deep recession or light depression, depending on where you lived.  But after the fighting ended, the economy spiked hard and then plateaued.  It's now riding on that post war, post disaster high.  Job loss from the new tech is likely coming though, so another recession may hit.  It will be an odd recession though, as most likely there will be a ton of luxuries available... The recession will have the richest unemployed homeless people in history.

Yes, please do speak for the other NPC's as long as you remain in character.  I've tried to set a tone for Anteaus, Pax, Santiago, and Orzaiz.  Try and follow it if you can, but I'm not that picky.  And this will also allow you to flesh out the other characters I haven't touched on.  You can even play with my homegrown NPC's, like ShadowWalker and Frostburn, as you've seen more than enough to have a feel for them, and you can get some more personal interaction that I haven't had time to give (Sol likes Frostburn, probably both because they have some attitude in common, and because of the hole Alex left in her life, but due to story and time constraints I haven't been able to do quite as much with Frostburn as I'd like, for example.  But with the timejump and the characters no longer being trainees anymore, I'm pretty sure the relationship would grow).

Finally, I too am happy that we have all this new room.  It will let people set their own pace a bit more, instead of depending on my writing.  Much more free form.  There will be the primary plot, socializing, the Equatorial Wars follow up, and miscellaneous Vignettes.  People can interact over all of these, or do them individually.  And only the primary plots and socializing have anything to do with me (except minor editing and answering questions of course).  Or, people can just post in the primary, and ignore all the extra stuff if they want.  All depending on their extra time.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:42, Sat 01 Aug 2009.

Social Life would be more encompassing, but On the Strip has such a ring to it.  I'm torn.


I like it.  Should I scoot the post I just made over to Missions?
This message was last edited by the player at 23:20, Sat 01 Aug 2009.

Oh, two other things.

David/Prodigal is starting a church with some other angelic novas.  More details after I do some reading.

And aberations are on the rise, far faster than seen in the primary setting.  All that fighting, rapid q regen, and pushing powers to their limits.  Most of the T2Mers in the EW have an aberration from their efforts.  Some were them like battle scars.  They realize that it is the result of their immersion in Q energies.  The public is mixed on their view of them.  Some are actually less alienated by the aberrations, at least on tv, as it increases the nova mystique, and separates the Veterans from the Rookies (nova trading card collectors track these things and actually use those terms).  Others are freaked out by it, and it feeds into separatist and anti-nova philosophies.

Also, in relation to the question about new blood, I know at least one person who'd be game for this sort of thing.  I'll check to see if she's interested.

Out of curiosity, whats our current Backing and Resources now that we've 'graduated' to T2M America?

Whatever it says in the book, and +1 for resources due to sponsors and toys and stuff.

Ah, right, where did my copy of Utopia go... *grumbles, looking through boxes*

In reply to Solitaire (msg #949):

I'd tell you... but then I'd have to find the info myself :)

Said person I asked is interested ... when she gets back from her trip.  A few weeks down the road.  If she misses the window of opportunity, not my problem.

I really can't find anything on what level of Backing our PCs might enjoy.  Two or three?  Certainly not one dot, since that's more trouble than it is worth.  Glad to know that WorldDominationToys has a new Comstock and Dr. Zero action figure set, though.

I can just imagine the giant, $30 package with Phantasm and her phantoms.  Half a dozen toys, and all of them sterilized for the enjoyment of 10 year olds.  Though maybe we could get McFarlane Toys to do a more true to life style set.

Oh damnit.  Now I'm thinking of idiots trying to make our action figures fight with their Sephiroth and DBZ figures.  My brain hurts.

Edit: Whoa ... the OOC thread is nearing the 1000 post limit?  Say it ain't so!
This message was last edited by the player at 20:35, Tue 04 Aug 2009.

Oh god, I don't wanna fight Sephiroth, he'd kick my ass.

The limits 1000? Hahaha. And were not even 6 months in yet.

I'm gonna reply to stuff.  having a few health and logistics issues right now, but i should be on later this evening.

oh, and there's a 1000 post limit?  that's kind of lame, it forces you to clutter up the boards... bleh.

In reply to Rydi (msg #953):

I hope you feel better. If you want to sleep in, please feel free.

First of all: feel better ST, and may good fortune rain down upon you.

Second of all: dear god, Zero's become a rock star!  When does he have time to tour?  Where did he get that suit of robo-armor and that wicked axe?  What malevolent plan does he have using the twisted harmonics of Comstock's mesmerizing voice?  Is death metal the future of world music???

Time skips are wonderful for this sort of thing.  Solitaire loses an arm, Comstock founds a charity, and Zero becomes lead guitarist for Dethklok.  I have to say: I'm liking this future more and more.

My understanding is that the post limit is because of the way their database tracks posts. We can actually continue to post on this thread, but posts will start falling off of the beginning of the thread at some point.

And we don't want to lose posts from the start, I quite like having a complete record of the whole game.

Also, yeah Solitaire had a sort of 'young and invincible' mindset, which I thought would be good to shake up, I'd been planning on it for a while, but nothing ever seemed to hurt her, haha. It also jived with my required Quantum 4 Aberration.

Wow, finally caught up.  You guys have been doing some great posts, and I really enjoyed reading them.  I look forward to the rest of the future you create, as the world building you've been doing up to this point has been wonderful.

Sorry about the delay in posting.  I have had a doctors opointment along with some blood tests to deal with some fatigue that I've been experiencing and a few other things.  I also have a guest from out of town staying with me, so the time I spend at home is... distracted time.  I'm also preparing for another friend to come out on friday, trying to get a couple hours at the gym in every day (summer goal was to lose weight), and trying to squeeze in the various activities I haven't taken care of over the summer before school starts.  Oh, and selling stuff on ebay/amazon.  Not that you guys aren't just as busy... You just deal with it better than I do apparently.

I will be on over the course of the night, updating things, archiving some of the threads, and generally organizing data.  I will also try and get up the first primary plot post after the time skip.  Over the next few days, I hope to put up a few npc vignettes, and bring together some of the disparate threads you guys have set up.  And on that, if you guys want to work some of the other players into your posts, I think that's great, as it ties you together and fills in some of the time skips.