Foudnryseries. Want some opinions

agarwaencran · October 2015

Hello, fellow Foundry-Authors,

I think, it could be interesting to here some opinions from people with whom I don't talk that much, but who are also great foundryauthors.

First the background (all plays between the klingon war-storyline and the cardassian-storyline):
I've a german foudnry-series, called AST - Agars Star Trek (yeah, I know. egozentric title

) whish have right now 5 finish and published missions and whish should be more like a real series, with "alien of the week"-episodes and not one big story. But with a thread, whish combines the alien of the week-missions.

Story until now:
In part one you meet Q again. Not the Q from TNG or VOY, another one. From him, you learn about a second Q-subspecies, whish more like personifications from natural laws and who wants to record all. All universes, every little subatomic particel. But life is chaotic. There isn't a predictable pattern how it moves like at atoms. So this other Q-subspecies, called "Prüfer" (Examiners, Inspectors) hates life. But 'cause of their near to the natural laws they can't intervene directly, but they can affect intelligent beeings. So they try to cause the people to kill themself. and, as a Q-subspecies, they can block influence from the Q, so that they can't just swing the finger and all is okay. So Q needs us to stop the Examiners.

After that part, you have some "alien of the week"-stuff in whish you again and again found informations about an so called "Project Chrono", but you doesn't know exactly, what they are. In AST5, you become new officers but it turns out, that one of them is an agent from Project Chrono. More specifically, he is an officer from the mirror universe and after he killes one of your officers he flees back in his universe. You follow him to learn more about PC and to catch him as a murderer. After a little fight against his captain, Q shows up again and declared, that you shouldn't go home. PC is to dangerous and must be stopped.

In AST 6 and 7 you learn, that the terrans build an devise whish could stop time, so that they could conquer an entire sector in lower than a second. Of course, the examiners are behind this idea and the devise wil not be controllable. once started, time in all universes will stand still. For a perfect stocktaking of all that exists. you came to the devise but it is to late. time stand still. but because of Qs help you can interact outside of time, so that you can stop the devise and fight against the examiners in the Q-continuum untill the Q can capture them.

After the devise is destroyed and because of his nature it seems like it have never existed. only you, your crew and the Q know, that there was a milisecond in that it existed and worked. but for the rest there wasn't even the idea, project chrono never existed (and so the missions can be contradict to the cryptic-story but fit to the cryptic story).

And now, my problems are beginning

I doesn't know, how the thread could go on. I thought that it could be an idea to bring in the mirror-borg or something with the timeagents from the 31. century. any ideas? And suggestions about the examiners-thread?

Greetings from the old world

duncanidaho11 · October 2015

The one thing I'd recommend (and this is very much just my own point of view) is to try to compartmentalize. Connecting everything together has a certain thrill to it but it can very easily get out of hand. Every new thing adds complication and unless you deal with that complication very, very well it can easily start to weigh down your intended series (it all just gets too big to work with).

So if you want to deal with mirror Borg I would introduce them as their own story. Don't try to make them connected to Q and time travel unless there's an important reason for making that connection. If there is, by all means do it. But don't feel you have to make a big, sprawling epic when there's other, more easily handled options available to you.

If you do want to carry something over, try characters instead (its what my missions are all based on) and try to do it in such a way that completing past missions is not an absolute requirement (since its possible for players to come at your series from any order, particularly if they're browsing missions through the sector block.)

As for what to do with mirror Borg (which does sound like a fun idea), I'd first look into other mirror Delta quadrant species. Start out with, say, a mirror Talaxian leading you on a chase and then introduce the mirror Borg as a new discovery (which are then unleashed onto that part of the galaxy).

agarwaencran · October 2015

Well, the idea with the mirror-borg is more, that it could be that way, that Q brings you not back to your univers but to the mirror, where you must flee from them (a little bit like in Q who). after you are back home the MU-borg finds a way to the sto-primeverse and want to assimilate it (maybe work together with the prime-borg). the connection to Q would be this "on the way home, you face them and they follow you).

And don't worry, my idea is more Q or timetravels, both together seems like a little to big

But I want a chain of events, not only this "ok, we win. hey, where does that evil guys came from?" It should be evolving, like a big thread with sub-threads (Q and the examiners would be only the first sub-thread). There shouldn't pop up a new threat out of nowhere. a big goal, I know. but I think it could be prevent the "bigger and bigger op-enemies"-problem, many missions (and tv-series, like stargate) have.

But "charaktermissions" could be a good way as well. I introduced some characters and places in the first 5 missions, the could become more deep

And your opinion about the Q/Examiners-thread?

duncanidaho11 · October 2015

agarwaencran wrote: »

And your opinion about the Q/Examiners-thread?

It's a very interesting thread (would very much like to hear Q's opinion on the subject of speciation, since that implies reproduction which was a big issue in the last Q episodes) but it's not something I really know where to go with (because it is an omnipotent, universal question which is hard to approach from the format of a Star Trek online mission.

)

This might be what a character-focused mission could help with. You've got big ideas but need a way to relate them back to the player. We don't know much about 4 dimensional hyperdynamics (which is the best I can do on the subject of Q breeding) but we do know a lot about how people relate to each other. I'd put the Q/Q subspecies question as a problem of two competing personalities who try to influence the player while they try to deal with various problems throughout the galaxy (ex. Mirror borg.

) They wouldn't have any real impact on the outcome, but their evolving perspectives would link together the series.

agarwaencran · October 2015

duncanidaho11 wrote: »

agarwaencran wrote: »

And your opinion about the Q/Examiners-thread?

It's a very interesting thread (would very much like to hear Q's opinion on the subject of speciation, since that implies reproduction which was a big issue in the last Q episodes) but it's not something I really know where to go with (because it is an omnipotent, universal question which is hard to approach from the format of a Star Trek online mission. )

This might be what a character-focused mission could help with. You've got big ideas but need a way to relate them back to the player. We don't know much about 4 dimensional hyperdynamics (which is the best I can do on the subject of Q breeding) but we do know a lot about how people relate to each other. I'd put the Q/Q subspecies question as a problem of two competing personalities who try to influence the player while they try to deal with various problems throughout the galaxy (ex. Mirror borg. )

Thanks

Well, this subspecies has his roots in the time, the Q become omnipotent. There are two groups. One side wants to explore, learn, what can be learned short, that are the Q, we know about. the other group wants to know all, but was fixed on the nature laws and mechanics and became the examiners. there was a big fight in the new build continuum with the end, that the Q could hold the examiners and capture them in the continuum.
But while the civil war in the continuum, showed in VOY, the examiners have free themself an now, they are back in action.
So... the examiners are only new for Starfleet, bat as old as the Q. Nothing with reproducting. And Qs opinium about the examiners is more aggressiv. today I've written a dialogue in whish Q compares the examiners with a depraved stepbrother.
Before the player comes in the continuum he has a little help from a "crazy" examiner (crazy, because he didn't think that they are doing the right). Q wants to kill him instandly (so deep i the hate), but the player can force him to realize, that there is something like "hope", so this examiner could become a Q. In the end, Qs and examiners are more like vulcans and romulans

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea with the charactermissions with the examiner-influence. I think I've ended that to fast, they could have more "projects" or make them.
And if I think about it... now it plays between the klingon- and cardassian storyarc. maybe the examiners could influence the iconian war

I mean... we don't know why the borg in butterfly on the romulus-system... what was going wrong? we don't know... oh, evil ideas ^^

starswordc · October 2015

Just a side comment, the part about the Q subspecies is almost exactly the Auditors from the Discworld books.

agarwaencran · October 2015

starswordc wrote: »

Just a side comment, the part about the Q subspecies is almost exactly the Auditors from the Discworld books.

Caught

I'm a just great discworldfan like I'm trekkie ^^

starswordc · October 2015

Fair enough; me too.

I often do the same thing, except it's usually Firefly and Stargate SG-1 I'm borrowing lines from.

markhawkman · October 2015

Maybe make it a war across time? If you're helping Q fight evil Q, well... they can time travel. There's no reason to assume all of the combat is in the present.

Foudnryseries. Want some opinions

Comments