Good morning / afternoon / evening, wherever you are and whenever you're reading this...
Well it's time once again for me to put down some thoughts about where we're at and where we're going. But this is an important one as it's now eight years since Star Trek: Asteroid Base began and this whole thing started. I can scarcely believe that having written posts like this here for the sixth and seventh anniversaries of that roleplay, that I'm doing so again. I'm not sure whether to be proud or deeply concerned - but we'll gloss over that for now.
There is little I can say which I haven't said repeatedly over the last few years, so I'll keep this reasonably brief.
I can still remember the first episodes so vividly that it's almost worrying. There were quite a few similarities to how Asteroid Field began, including a quick trip on a very shaky early version of Ariana. There was a hunt for Romulan spies on strp_fortress. There was the fateful first voyage to Accobar on Serenity (eventually recreated for 'Scattered Reflections' (http://www.last-outpost.net/forum/index.php/topic,6302.0.html)). Then there was the rest of it taking place on a map not designed for roleplaying, with no RPG-X entities or chairs in the Operations Centre. It's probably for the best that we're banned from using it now - but it did force an extreme degree of imagination.
There was even Telex Ferra as XO Telex Ferra alongside CO Grizz (I swear this series has lost all originality). There were ultimately other names familiar like Jenson, Andromeda, Quy, Vanguard, Jantrix, Taisen, Quince (or LynxMukka), Sharpkiller, Jordan, Chris Wilkinson, Bondgadget, Central Plexus, Gregory House and names lost to the ages like Darknight, Thohu, Premonition & Rick Raptor. It's nice that many of these names are either still around or in contact. Others, not so much, There may have been another Chris involved at some point, but I haven't filled out the necessary paperwork to confirm or deny that.
All the way down the line and here we still are, telling the stories of the Accobar System with faces and names, new and old. Asteroid Base: Alpha may have been torn in to a million pieces and Pioneer may be under the control of a mad woman and her private Borg army, but what would this SRP be without such minor incidents? It is a joy to still be able to come up with ideas for this little saga - eventhough I probably ran out of them a few years ago - and it is a pleasure to see these ideas brought to life by such a group of creative and incredibly patient people who connect to the server to see out these RPs.
Preparing for what looks to be the final season has not been easy. I don't know how many episodes it will have, or rather how many I will need to effectively see out my RPG-X career in a way which I and hopefully others would find suitable and satisfying. I don't know what characters I want to bring back, bar one or two obvious M.I.A. candidates. In what state I leave the Accobar System and Pioneer Station is an important decision which I imagine I'll be battling over right to the end.
Until then, we still have plenty of episodes to get through and hopefully plenty of exciting adventures across the stars together. Thank you all so much for your time and your contributions to this ever-expanding, ever-evolving world which continues to surprise even me (...and it still blows my mind that the first season finale here at TLO was attended by 18 people). It has been something of a constant in my life which has been greatly valued and will one day be greatly missed.
(https://last-outpost.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FJvsavId.jpg&hash=d04adb39a2e71e1f246048943a8ff7a2c4d7d56a)
Happy holidays... happy new year... see you on the other side.
Grizz
It is indeed quite a milestone for something, not just an rp but basically anything story related to almost continuusly go on for so long. I can say that I'm happy to take part in it as its a place to vent my limited creativity every week ;)
Looking forward to future episodes and the unevitable final episode of the entire series!
I'm looking forward to new episodes, but not the inevitable ending! :P
Happy New Year Grizzy! See you on the other side indeed.