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singularityooc2012-07-19 09:56 pm
cmdr_renegade) wrote in singularityooc2012-07-19 09:56 pm
Opinion time!
So, for those of you like me, who don't have the plots post tracked, I just tossed up a request for a plot I've wanted to do for a long time. Shutting down Hypatia.
Now, unfortunately, this is sort of a huge thing. I didn't talk to many people while writing this up, but not because I didn't want to. I just wanted to post it and get opinions! I wanted to talk to everyone as a group so no one felt or had a chance to be excluded.
Let's all get in on this.
I want everyone involved and excited for this! If you have any ideas, suggestions, planning, whatever, please let me know!
Your Name: Hiku
Character Name: Commander Jane Shepard
Character Journal:cmdr_renegade
Nature of the Action: Shutting down Hypatia.
Explain in more detail how this will work:
Shepard will gather one or (more likely) several teams in secret, brief them, arm them, and then mount a surprise assault on Hypatia and the maintenance ring of the station. The specific tactics will have to be arranged IC by the final group of characters who intend to carry out or be directly involved in carrying out the action, but it will go something along the lines of:
Find transport to the maintenance ring of the station.
Dramatic speech.
Infiltrate that ring like it's a geth dreadnought.
Shoot everything that gets in the way.
Shoot everything that looks important/related.
Deactivate Hypatia's main interface and backups. (Ideally, this should be accomplished without buggering everything else.)
Inevitably bugger everything else.
Escape. (Probably before some large explosions of some kind.)
????
Profit.
When do you expect this action to be carried out?
Ultimately, it will have to take place after the next trip to the planet. Shepard won't risk gathering a team, forming a solid plan, or disseminating any detailed intel until she's certain they're out of Hypatia's mechanical earshot. While they have the firepower, this is still going to be a military strike against an unknown quantity and there are far too many unaccounted for variables already. After a trip to the planet, the speed with which this plan is put into action will rely mostly on how quickly they can secure transport (of the variety that can't be easily destroyed by Hypatia) and square away any additional aspects of the mission. (Guns, medical, civilian prep, etc.)
In an OOC sense, it would be nice to do it as soon as possible. Perhaps late August? But I would not object to a longer timetable if everyone is on board but needs more time for shenanigans before we do this.
Is this illegal and/or sure to have negative consequences? Oh, most certainly. If this isn't illegal or likely to result in negative consequences, I can't think of what would be.
If so, do you have a plan for what's going to happen to your character? Mission specific casualties and injuries are completely open for discussion. For Shepard, in particular, I will accept a wide array of personal injury, disfigurement, or what-have-you. If/When Hypatia turns herself back on, any additional consequences would be acceptable.
Does this involve characters other than your own? Yes. All of them, in fact.
If so, have you gotten the other players' permission? Specifically, no. However, after completing this submission I intend to write up and post an OOC post to the comm. I debated whether writing this first or that first would be most appropriate but I think both, in tandem, would be ideal. Unfortunately, suggesting game-wide-plots like this isn't a simple matter, but I don't want to seem like I'm trying to circumvent either the other players or the mods in the process. If there's a real objection to this plot, in either forum, I more than understand.
So, before anyone gets upset, either by my hubris or otherwise, please hear me out.
Lately I seem to get the feeling that general enthusiasm within Sing is waning somewhat. I could be wrong, really, but I don't think I am. I don't think this has any specific cause, really I don't, but I think it is something that can be easily fixed.
The problem Sing has slowly developed is a decided lack of direct conflict. When there is conflict, the consequences are negligible. Death is reversible, shouting on the network results in hurt feelings, and occasionally Hypatia flays someone alive to get her point across. For as wonderful as all of you are as writers, and you are, there's just so very little to do when there's nothing at stake. To compound this problem, almost every character currently in Sing is, originally, a very driven character, the kind who doesn't sit idly by for anything, else they're the sort of character who only steps up when danger is present, and that's a problem. They've had to sit idly by for a long while now, with only player plots (and I love these plots, don't get me wrong here, they're awesome) to inspire them.
What I propose, to shake things up, is that some of our characters finally do something about this situation.
There's a homicidal AI. It has proven that it is homicidal. It kills people. A lot. No other person on the station has killed quite so many people, quite so gruesomely or publicly, and has gotten away with quite so much impotent rage. She even installed a security officer and a psychiatrist to handle the population. The gall. I think it's about time that our characters called enough and Shepard, who has all the data and plans prepped and ready to go, will take all comers in this assault.
This is, of course, not to say that everyone has to be Pro-Destroy-Hypatia. Frankly speaking, it's not even a good idea, at that, given just how much of the station she controls. Knocking her offline will inevitably take out the environmental controls, teleporters, medical automation, respawn, and any myriad of other comforts and necessities. Taking her out will force the people of the station to react to immediate needs as a collective, to patch holes in the hull together, to interact, to barter, to deal with the every-day inconveniences and needs of life while still keeping the scenario relatively sci-fi. It will give great power to technological prowess, let all our technically skilled characters do more than just hack credits to make life comfortable. It will give crime and a criminal underbelly time to blossom and appear, giving our villains, morally grey characters, and vigilantes something to do. More than that, it will allow for a real schism to appear between the characters and groups of characters.
Player character conflict can happen on a real scale. Decisions that might effect one character or another aren't just tangental to life any more. Joker messed with Gem? Now Gem can refuse him food, or shelter, or kill him in his sleep. It gives real consequences to actions and encourages people to band together. The last time something like this was in Sing, we had the Spartans v. The Normandy Crew and it was glorious. Let's give everyone a scenario where they can do that again, where it's encouraged. Without the AI mitigating, the other NPCs can shine, as well. Tria will earn more trust, Semley will be more hated or relied upon in equal parts, Etan can really become the lynchpin of the whole scenario. The players can gain access to the Insurgents on the planet and those jobs and needs can be integrated into station life and, even if Hypatia is reactivated, those relationships will remain and add spice to the overall workings of Sacrosanct.
I admit, it may seem like I'm trying to have a Self-Indulgent Mass Effect Cast party over here, as they will likely join her, with Shepard flipping major tables with no immediate repercussions, but I really just want to see some more variety in Sing's activity. Something that isn't just the rush of new people arriving, the hopeless rage at someone being eviscerated after a player plot, or the occasional progression of in-cast CR. This won't be opt out, but it will force every character, insular or not, to go outside of their cast for CR, or whole casts in general to look to others for aid (or in some instances, maybe attempt to destroy them). It's an interesting opportunity, but it's also a big change that will have long lasting consequences in game.
Just please, everyone, think it over before deciding.
And if you have anything you'd like to suggest, be it a change to the barebones plan, more character integration, actions after the fact, mob justice, whatever you can dream up, please, I'd love to hear it. This is an event that should and will hopefully encompass the whole game and inspire everyone again.
So, what do you all think?
EDIT:
Oh goodness, so many awesome questions and suggestions! When I am off work today I will summarize the points that have been made in the main entry so no one has to search the stack of comments below (unless they really want to).
I will also try to respond as quickly as possible to any comments here, but again, work.
Have a nice day everyone!
Now, unfortunately, this is sort of a huge thing. I didn't talk to many people while writing this up, but not because I didn't want to. I just wanted to post it and get opinions! I wanted to talk to everyone as a group so no one felt or had a chance to be excluded.
Let's all get in on this.
I want everyone involved and excited for this! If you have any ideas, suggestions, planning, whatever, please let me know!
Your Name: Hiku
Character Name: Commander Jane Shepard
Character Journal:
cmdr_renegadeNature of the Action: Shutting down Hypatia.
Explain in more detail how this will work:
Shepard will gather one or (more likely) several teams in secret, brief them, arm them, and then mount a surprise assault on Hypatia and the maintenance ring of the station. The specific tactics will have to be arranged IC by the final group of characters who intend to carry out or be directly involved in carrying out the action, but it will go something along the lines of:
Find transport to the maintenance ring of the station.
Dramatic speech.
Infiltrate that ring like it's a geth dreadnought.
Shoot everything that gets in the way.
Shoot everything that looks important/related.
Deactivate Hypatia's main interface and backups. (Ideally, this should be accomplished without buggering everything else.)
Inevitably bugger everything else.
Escape. (Probably before some large explosions of some kind.)
????
Profit.
When do you expect this action to be carried out?
Ultimately, it will have to take place after the next trip to the planet. Shepard won't risk gathering a team, forming a solid plan, or disseminating any detailed intel until she's certain they're out of Hypatia's mechanical earshot. While they have the firepower, this is still going to be a military strike against an unknown quantity and there are far too many unaccounted for variables already. After a trip to the planet, the speed with which this plan is put into action will rely mostly on how quickly they can secure transport (of the variety that can't be easily destroyed by Hypatia) and square away any additional aspects of the mission. (Guns, medical, civilian prep, etc.)
In an OOC sense, it would be nice to do it as soon as possible. Perhaps late August? But I would not object to a longer timetable if everyone is on board but needs more time for shenanigans before we do this.
Is this illegal and/or sure to have negative consequences? Oh, most certainly. If this isn't illegal or likely to result in negative consequences, I can't think of what would be.
If so, do you have a plan for what's going to happen to your character? Mission specific casualties and injuries are completely open for discussion. For Shepard, in particular, I will accept a wide array of personal injury, disfigurement, or what-have-you. If/When Hypatia turns herself back on, any additional consequences would be acceptable.
Does this involve characters other than your own? Yes. All of them, in fact.
If so, have you gotten the other players' permission? Specifically, no. However, after completing this submission I intend to write up and post an OOC post to the comm. I debated whether writing this first or that first would be most appropriate but I think both, in tandem, would be ideal. Unfortunately, suggesting game-wide-plots like this isn't a simple matter, but I don't want to seem like I'm trying to circumvent either the other players or the mods in the process. If there's a real objection to this plot, in either forum, I more than understand.
So, before anyone gets upset, either by my hubris or otherwise, please hear me out.
Lately I seem to get the feeling that general enthusiasm within Sing is waning somewhat. I could be wrong, really, but I don't think I am. I don't think this has any specific cause, really I don't, but I think it is something that can be easily fixed.
The problem Sing has slowly developed is a decided lack of direct conflict. When there is conflict, the consequences are negligible. Death is reversible, shouting on the network results in hurt feelings, and occasionally Hypatia flays someone alive to get her point across. For as wonderful as all of you are as writers, and you are, there's just so very little to do when there's nothing at stake. To compound this problem, almost every character currently in Sing is, originally, a very driven character, the kind who doesn't sit idly by for anything, else they're the sort of character who only steps up when danger is present, and that's a problem. They've had to sit idly by for a long while now, with only player plots (and I love these plots, don't get me wrong here, they're awesome) to inspire them.
What I propose, to shake things up, is that some of our characters finally do something about this situation.
There's a homicidal AI. It has proven that it is homicidal. It kills people. A lot. No other person on the station has killed quite so many people, quite so gruesomely or publicly, and has gotten away with quite so much impotent rage. She even installed a security officer and a psychiatrist to handle the population. The gall. I think it's about time that our characters called enough and Shepard, who has all the data and plans prepped and ready to go, will take all comers in this assault.
This is, of course, not to say that everyone has to be Pro-Destroy-Hypatia. Frankly speaking, it's not even a good idea, at that, given just how much of the station she controls. Knocking her offline will inevitably take out the environmental controls, teleporters, medical automation, respawn, and any myriad of other comforts and necessities. Taking her out will force the people of the station to react to immediate needs as a collective, to patch holes in the hull together, to interact, to barter, to deal with the every-day inconveniences and needs of life while still keeping the scenario relatively sci-fi. It will give great power to technological prowess, let all our technically skilled characters do more than just hack credits to make life comfortable. It will give crime and a criminal underbelly time to blossom and appear, giving our villains, morally grey characters, and vigilantes something to do. More than that, it will allow for a real schism to appear between the characters and groups of characters.
Player character conflict can happen on a real scale. Decisions that might effect one character or another aren't just tangental to life any more. Joker messed with Gem? Now Gem can refuse him food, or shelter, or kill him in his sleep. It gives real consequences to actions and encourages people to band together. The last time something like this was in Sing, we had the Spartans v. The Normandy Crew and it was glorious. Let's give everyone a scenario where they can do that again, where it's encouraged. Without the AI mitigating, the other NPCs can shine, as well. Tria will earn more trust, Semley will be more hated or relied upon in equal parts, Etan can really become the lynchpin of the whole scenario. The players can gain access to the Insurgents on the planet and those jobs and needs can be integrated into station life and, even if Hypatia is reactivated, those relationships will remain and add spice to the overall workings of Sacrosanct.
I admit, it may seem like I'm trying to have a Self-Indulgent Mass Effect Cast party over here, as they will likely join her, with Shepard flipping major tables with no immediate repercussions, but I really just want to see some more variety in Sing's activity. Something that isn't just the rush of new people arriving, the hopeless rage at someone being eviscerated after a player plot, or the occasional progression of in-cast CR. This won't be opt out, but it will force every character, insular or not, to go outside of their cast for CR, or whole casts in general to look to others for aid (or in some instances, maybe attempt to destroy them). It's an interesting opportunity, but it's also a big change that will have long lasting consequences in game.
Just please, everyone, think it over before deciding.
And if you have anything you'd like to suggest, be it a change to the barebones plan, more character integration, actions after the fact, mob justice, whatever you can dream up, please, I'd love to hear it. This is an event that should and will hopefully encompass the whole game and inspire everyone again.
So, what do you all think?
EDIT:
Oh goodness, so many awesome questions and suggestions! When I am off work today I will summarize the points that have been made in the main entry so no one has to search the stack of comments below (unless they really want to).
I will also try to respond as quickly as possible to any comments here, but again, work.
Have a nice day everyone!
no subject
Wash would be all for taking shit down; he has a couple contingency plans that'd be really fun to work with - I know he's talked to Delta about running at least a part of the station if Hypatia went offline, so he'd be ready to jump on board.
My main concern is with the organization of a plot of this size. It would affect the entire game and change up the existing status quo (which I love, because it's a lot of new avenues of plot and character development to work with) and it'd need a lot of OOC communication to really be carried out well. Just something we'd all have to keep in mind, I think.
The other thing is that I'd like to see some part of it - idk what exactly, at this point, but just something to really force insular characters to interact and work together, both in and out of casts. It's very easy for characters to avoid each other with the size and scope of the game, so something where they're in much smaller areas (over longer periods of time than, say, prom) would be really interesting to play with.
no subject
As for the size of this plot, I agree. It's going to require significantly more OOC communication than the usual fare at Sing, but I think we can do it.
To be honest, because my schedule is so variable and I know many of you are worried about my ability to keep a handle on a plot this size (as am I, you are not alone in these concerns) I think keeping a lot of ongoing OOC communication and planning is the best situation, anyway.
I don't want this to be the Shepard Show, really I don't, and while it's her violent tendencies/crazy that will spark the assault portion, all of the other aspects of this plot are up for other casts and characters to control as they see fit. Keeping it from falling into old habits (casts not looking outward, etc) will be the real challenge.
Really I had planned it more as a change of scenery with the opportunity to get the game together in a room and talk it out.
But now...I suspect I am rambling. Back on topic!
I had hoped the threat of (eventual) life-support collapse and suffocation (lack of communications, or the teleporters, are options that work here as well) would force everyone to live closer, in the interests of collectivizing, but I think the life support option might not be the favorite approach. I don't want to make the game unplayable, or super dangerous, but a looming and immediate threat (like lack of air) tends to engender very similar reactions out of all characters.
If you have any ideas for alternatives, please let me know!
I know Blue brought up the need for a protocol regarding new people and that could definitely force people outside of their casts. Without a network that the new players are automatically injected in to, it opens up a need for say...a watch in the junkyard, or something similar?
We could also have another space prom. (troll)no subject
I really like the idea of Shepard setting off the spark for the whole thing, and it coming together organically from there. I think it's a good idea to nail down specific plot points to shoot for, i.e. Hypatia gets overthrown for x length of time by x people, etc, but the beauty of a plot like this is how it comes together ICly, and that's what I'm really excited by. I think there are plenty of characters who'd want to get involved, as well as those who wouldn't, and it'd be a ton of fun to see all around.
And yeah - of course, it all depends on what the mods want to do, but even a temporary situation in which characters are forced out of the comfort zones they've settled into (somewhat literally) has huge potential for CR and the kind of gamewide interactions we've never really had in Sing. For example, right now characters mostly arrange meetings or just happen across each other by chance, but if they have a smaller area to work with where they can't just pop to another zone in the blink of an eye might end up a lot differently. Basically, it's just a lot of potential, no matter how long/short the time period.
I also love the idea of someone hanging out in the junkyard for newbies - I wonder if that could be a place for those loyal to Hypatia to clash with those against her, since it's the only point of entry? Like, whoever's there is who you hear the story from first, depending. Obviously this is tossing out ideas on how things could go; I'm most interested in seeing how it shakes out ICly and building out from there.
I think I'm kind of rambling too but tl;dr THIS IS GREAT LET'S MAKE IT GREAT it'd be great.
can we not have to wear suits this timeI agree with everything you said but I have to respond.
No. Suits are mandatory.no subject