Greetings!
It has already been a month since my last update and the holiday season is upon us!
Firstly, thank you all that attended this week's special episode. Despite four weeks of planning coming to nothing, and two server hiccups, we still managed to make it through the story - beginning to end - quite literally. If you were there on Saturday and have not yet done so, please leave a vote and drop a comment or two in the discussion thread (http://www.last-outpost.net/forum/index.php/topic,6361.0/viewresults.html). I've said it far too many times before, but will continue to do so - this SRP is nothing without your feedback. Although I can't and wouldn't enforce it - a 100% vote rate, week-on-week, should be easy enough to accomplish, without a post. Additionally, please don't vote if you missed an episode or aren't actually a part of the SRP. That would suck. But it has happened.
Secondly, the season finale is upon us in two weeks' time. I have been well and truly SRP'ed out and wouldn't want to risk holiday interruption - so have pushed the episode back to January, just to be on the safe side. What will it entail? Well - it really is the culmination of the second season's storylines. It was, regrettably, all the way back in August that it all started with a trip to Halkonian Space and David Rush's untimely departure. Their theft of Asteroid Base: Alpha and the D'ni power crystal. The prophecy that the sky would burn and 'they' would return. The reasons why the subspace rift suddenly became active. There's something right in front of you - but you just can't see it yet.
As we approach the end of the second season, planning for the third is under-way. Generally I introduce main character at the start of storylines, but in the case of Captain Mason, I've done it the other way around. Amber Munro and Renee Hampton both arrived with goals in mind, but were forced to deal with increasingly overwhelming odds in order to meet them. Sophia Mason is going to have to leap over the tallest hurdle of them all - just to get one foot in the door. Her introduction to Pioneer has been teased somewhat over the course of the season. Her influential mother was lined up to take over from James Wright in Episode Five. Her appointment was hinted at in Episode Nine. She first arrived in Episode Ten to assist with the Red Dawn situation - while finally making no more than a cameo appearance in Episode Twelve - preparing to take "temporary command" of Pioneer, making staffing changes along the way.
Despite a long run-up, Mason remains an untested character who is far from earning her place in the Accobar System. That, of course, isn't going to happen in the finale - but it's the true start of her story. Season Three, for all my talk of a shift in tone and moving the goal posts, will actually hark back to the first season in more ways than one, with regular reminders of how and why Pioneer Station was constructed in the first place. Incidentally, it will also be the first episode which I have actually been the true CO of, in character, since 'A Touch of Death' - in which I was actually playing Griffiths' Chaplain. We would have to go back to October since I played a character of my own in such fashion! I think this can only help in my efforts to rebuild the SRP from the ground up.
Speaking of which, I would like to address two matters which have been bugging me over a number of weeks now. The first is a plea for members to check their schedules for the foreseeable future. If you have signed up for a senior staff position, what comes with it is a mutual understanding that you will be able to attend the majority of episodes. I have had a very loose grip on the attendance reigns for the entirety of Asteroid Field's run - and it has come back to bite me in the backside recently. Without citing names, some members have vanished without a trace, some rarely give any warning or retrospective mention of absences, and it has been known for members to sign up and either not attend at all - or miss the majority of episodes. It is not the biggest problem ever to face humanity (or Asteroid Field, for that matter), but it can be a real pain during periods of utter inconsistency. I hate to say it - but if you feel you cannot make the timeslot fairly regularly, and hold a senior position, please either speak to me first - or step down, perhaps to a less demanding position.
The second matter is character retention. These episodes and roleplays are extremely time-sensitive so it's important that members attending the roleplay don't spend the majority of the allotted time alt-tabbed or AFK without telling anybody. If you're called away from the computer or have to do something else - that is perfectly fine, I don't care - unless you're doing it silently, regularly. I've seen members play another game entirely while attending AF - and you can go ahead and do that - until a crucial scene is held up for five minutes, or has to be rewritten entirely because you chose to ghost instead. If you're bored, feel uninvolved and can't find anything to do - let me know! I don't want to waste your time or hold you up if you don't really want to be there.
It's a pain that I had chosen to bring these things up, but I have been rather surprisingly hands-off when it comes to micro-management over the last two seasons, and it has all started to pile up. If I'm making a push to revitalise the SRP next season, every little advantage is going to help... that why they're called, you know, advantages. Anyway!
A few members are recommending that you go and read this (http://www.last-outpost.net/forum/index.php/topic,6311.msg48350.html#msg48350), apparently. I wouldn't know anything about it. But maybe you should listen to them - if you have the time.
This turned in to a much longer post than I expected, so I'll summarise!
- The season finale will answer many an unanswered question from the second season.
- Sophia Mason is properly introduced as Pioneer's Station Commander on January 4th
- Planning for the third season is under-way & will look to play to Pioneer's core values of exploration, discovery & diplomacy.
- Grizz is a hardass and wants you to attend the SRP... and if you do attend, you should pay attention.
- You should check out Accobar: The Full Story, if you're interested in finding out what the whole "six years" thing was about!
Thank you all!
And my friends always complain to me my emails are too long :P. But in all fairness, Grizz has a few imporant points here guys.
QuoteI hate to say it - but if you feel you cannot make the timeslot fairly regularly, and hold a senior position, please either speak to me first - or step down, perhaps to a less demanding position.
This is very true guys ans as a fellow SRP runner I can only enforce Grizz's plea here. You are a part of the SRP as much as anyone else and without you, there wouldn't even be one. It is fine if you miss an episode or 2, but like Grizz is saying, if you know you have an irregular Work/Family schedule which can change at the last minute, please opt in for a less crucial role in the RP. That way should you be absent the RP can go on, but should you be there you can still join in with your department and do your thing!
QuoteIf you're called away from the computer or have to do something else - that is perfectly fine, I don't care - unless you're doing it silently, regularly.
This is indeed another point we face. And its not as big as the previous one, but it can still be quite annoying if everyone in the room is looking at a person who is not responding. Just say (AFK) or put AFK in your name when you, you know, go AFK. That way we know you are not there and we can RP around it accordingly.
QuoteIf you're bored, feel uninvolved and can't find anything to do - let me know! I don't want to waste your time or hold you up if you don't really want to be there.
Again, one of the first things we tell new recruits in RPG-X is "If you have nothing to do, or feel you don't know what you should be doing next, PM CONTACT THE RP CO!". Of course if you are just generally uninterested in what is going on, you are always free to leave the SRP (of course we hope you will only do this as a last resort :) ).
I know that from time to time an SRP can feel more of an obligation then something fun (I've been there myself), because it is always at a set time you might not always feel like roleplaying at that particular moment. But give yourself some time to get into the story and you'll notice you will start enjoying it more and more each episode. Grizz has put down a truly amazing story for us all here which you can enjoy just as much as any TV show. The difference here is that you play a part in it and if you are willing, you can shape the story yourself and make it even more amazing! Personally, I enjoy going to AF every week just as much as watching the new episode of Person of Interest, Agents of Shield, The Blacklist and even Doctor Who. So give it a try, put a bit more effort into it and you will see it will pay off. If not, then no hard feeling, we still love to have you there but please try to do it in such a way that the rest of us can continue to enjoy the RP without some of the hassles mentioned above, it only requires a little effort on your side.
So, as for the story. We all know what is coming int he canon, what has been coming since the beginning of season 1. I feel we are going to close off one story line while jumping directly into the other. Having Grizz play a more permanent CO character might also mean we won't see her drifting in the "Unknown" parts of the station that often... right? I'm also looking forward to some more character episodes. We already saw Alicia struggle with her past with the Klingons and Professor Fox incarcerated for trying to be a good fellow citizen. Daniel Thrace dove in his books again, and this time we where there. But what did he learn there? Whats in the past of our other characters and what did Walter Pierce have on Jemma's father there?
See you all in January!
Thanks for the adds, Martin :) For the record...
Quote from: Martin Thompson on December 23, 2013, 03:44:26 AMHaving Grizz play a more permanent CO character might also mean we won't see her drifting in the "Unknown" parts of the station that often... right?
Absolutely! I'm actually considering writing an episode or two in which I have to do something.
QuoteI'm also looking forward to some more character episodes.
They will be coming!
QuoteDaniel Thrace dove in his books again, and this time we where there. But what did he learn there?
January 4th
QuoteWhat did Walter Pierce have on Jemma's father there?
Maybe we'll just never know. Maybe it will be a question left unanswered from now to the end of the series. Maybe we'll find out in Season Three.
I have dragged this post off the shelf, as I believe it's just as important now for ensuring the future of this roleplay.
I have separated the important part.