Arrow Gamer
America's Dictator
I probably should have added in "quickly". Point stands though.
New NESes, ideas, development, etc
- Thread starter das
- Start date
I probably should have added in "quickly". Point stands though.
Fifty thousand years from now, no one will remember this party.
thomas.berubeg
Wandering the World
I prefer Smith, in general. Less two-tone in terms of emotion.
Grandkhan
Telvanni Master Wizard
You people and your Moffat-loving 
Seriously though, on of the biggest humps with Story NESes is people joining up and then never writing stories. Its a race to see if the people who do write stories care for long enough.
Seriously though, on of the biggest humps with Story NESes is people joining up and then never writing stories. Its a race to see if the people who do write stories care for long enough.
Terrance888
Discord Reigns
Like I said, StoryNESes live by momentum. Interest is 100% the key. The average story can be written in less than an hour. The average coopt story can be written in less than 3 days (depending on how well they work together). If the players are commited to write something everytime they check the thread (which is likely 1-2 times a day you are aiming for) you better give them something to see when they do. If no one is writing, better write something. If someone is writing, better respond with something. Momentum.
Gem Hound
Deity
If you are going to do a Doctor Who style one, start at BASE ONE. That means soon after the Tardis claims Doctor Who.
Neverwonagame3
Self-Styled Intellectual
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I'm definitely not doing a Doctor Who style. I would do a Time Travel Stat NES, but I'm having trouble coming up with a good ruleset for it. What's I'm asking about now is Story v.s Stat NES partially, and how to implement each.
EDIT: I'm also going to come up with various premises and see what people think of them. Some bits are in slashes, as they can be done various ways.
Since a Story NES isn't that much work, I may as well try both a Story and a Stat NES. However, I'll have to find an appealing premise for both first.
Idea 1: Clash of Ideologies
Earth is an obscure planet on the edge of the universe. It is primarily relevant because of a bizzare quantum anomaly, which draws time travellers to the planet around the year 2013 and traps them there. They can still time travel within Earth's history, but there's no way back for them.
Equipped with advanced technology and knowledge from Earth's own history, these aliens attempt to change Earth's culture. Some wish to take power for themselves. Others wish to do what they believe is right. Some sit back in their Temporal Storage units for fear of their lives... but they're not part of this game, mostly.
(NOTE: In this version, extreme Butterfly Effect would be in play. I'd consult with historical experts in the NESing forum who aren't actually playing in order to get as plausible an outcome as I can. Butterfly Effect can be used to undermine your opponents in other time periods. The aliens don't have Ripple Effect Proof memory, but do have records of previous timelines on their computers stored automatically.
You would be able to compensate for opponents undermining what you're doing, however. First- you create contingencies for your characters to dictate how they might act if the timestream has come out from under them. Second- you have acess to Temporal Storage, a sort of suspended animation where agents can look on the time stream before going in. Agents can still be killed in the points of the timeline where they are, however. Third- time travel backwards takes Chronoenergy, and more Chronoenergy the further back you wish to travel.) Fourth, of course, you can alter events to save your agents.
Everybody has the ability to disguise as a human, and automatic ability to understand any Earth language they bother to take from their database).
In the event of a paradox, time becoms Circular. Events fluctuate update by update between the two possibilities until player actions remove the paradox.
Idea 2: The Corruption of Power
Earth, 2013, Meran City, U.S. The side-effects of a scientific experiment lead to large numbers of people gaining a mysterious form of time travel. This allows them to mentally travel on their personal timelines, seize control from their younger selves (who are still aware and conscious of what's happening), and set events on a new course.
But power corrupts, it is said. The power these figures wield is enormous, and new. Their memories may be Ripple Effect-Proof, but their bodies aren't. Can these once ordinary people use their powers responsibly, or will they be a blight upon the world?
This one is intended to be as similiar to real Earth as possible (pre-time travel) except for the existence of the fictional Meran City in the United States, fictional state Meran. This way, players can have fictional versions of themselves easily slip in.
The idea is basically ordinary people, add time travel. However, these once-ordinary people are powerful enough based on their Time Travel to do extraordinary things.
Idea 3: War of the Psions
A bizarre quantum event transports large numbers of people from one Earth in roughly 2013 to another one, in 4000 BC. Despite the fact that the same mysterious quantum event gives them knowledge of at least one local language, most of the survivors die or fail to do anything of importance.
Those who manage to survive at least ten years, however, discover two second gifts. First, they don't age. Second, they can Time Travel...
This NES would play out mostly like a vanilla Fresh Start NES, except with one unique feature- Time Travel. E.P could be spent to travel back a number of Updates, whilst the Protagonist character is able to make a jump of 24 hours back in time once per in-game year. The Butterfly Effect exists, but to prevent headaches this version would have no paradoxes.
Technically speaking, there would also be a second unique feature- each Time Traveller gets to choose some facet of technological knowledge beyond 4000 BC's knowledge to keep for themselves.
EDIT: I'm also going to come up with various premises and see what people think of them. Some bits are in slashes, as they can be done various ways.
Since a Story NES isn't that much work, I may as well try both a Story and a Stat NES. However, I'll have to find an appealing premise for both first.
Idea 1: Clash of Ideologies
Earth is an obscure planet on the edge of the universe. It is primarily relevant because of a bizzare quantum anomaly, which draws time travellers to the planet around the year 2013 and traps them there. They can still time travel within Earth's history, but there's no way back for them.
Equipped with advanced technology and knowledge from Earth's own history, these aliens attempt to change Earth's culture. Some wish to take power for themselves. Others wish to do what they believe is right. Some sit back in their Temporal Storage units for fear of their lives... but they're not part of this game, mostly.
(NOTE: In this version, extreme Butterfly Effect would be in play. I'd consult with historical experts in the NESing forum who aren't actually playing in order to get as plausible an outcome as I can. Butterfly Effect can be used to undermine your opponents in other time periods. The aliens don't have Ripple Effect Proof memory, but do have records of previous timelines on their computers stored automatically.
You would be able to compensate for opponents undermining what you're doing, however. First- you create contingencies for your characters to dictate how they might act if the timestream has come out from under them. Second- you have acess to Temporal Storage, a sort of suspended animation where agents can look on the time stream before going in. Agents can still be killed in the points of the timeline where they are, however. Third- time travel backwards takes Chronoenergy, and more Chronoenergy the further back you wish to travel.) Fourth, of course, you can alter events to save your agents.
Everybody has the ability to disguise as a human, and automatic ability to understand any Earth language they bother to take from their database).
In the event of a paradox, time becoms Circular. Events fluctuate update by update between the two possibilities until player actions remove the paradox.
Idea 2: The Corruption of Power
Earth, 2013, Meran City, U.S. The side-effects of a scientific experiment lead to large numbers of people gaining a mysterious form of time travel. This allows them to mentally travel on their personal timelines, seize control from their younger selves (who are still aware and conscious of what's happening), and set events on a new course.
But power corrupts, it is said. The power these figures wield is enormous, and new. Their memories may be Ripple Effect-Proof, but their bodies aren't. Can these once ordinary people use their powers responsibly, or will they be a blight upon the world?
This one is intended to be as similiar to real Earth as possible (pre-time travel) except for the existence of the fictional Meran City in the United States, fictional state Meran. This way, players can have fictional versions of themselves easily slip in.
The idea is basically ordinary people, add time travel. However, these once-ordinary people are powerful enough based on their Time Travel to do extraordinary things.
Idea 3: War of the Psions
A bizarre quantum event transports large numbers of people from one Earth in roughly 2013 to another one, in 4000 BC. Despite the fact that the same mysterious quantum event gives them knowledge of at least one local language, most of the survivors die or fail to do anything of importance.
Those who manage to survive at least ten years, however, discover two second gifts. First, they don't age. Second, they can Time Travel...
This NES would play out mostly like a vanilla Fresh Start NES, except with one unique feature- Time Travel. E.P could be spent to travel back a number of Updates, whilst the Protagonist character is able to make a jump of 24 hours back in time once per in-game year. The Butterfly Effect exists, but to prevent headaches this version would have no paradoxes.
Technically speaking, there would also be a second unique feature- each Time Traveller gets to choose some facet of technological knowledge beyond 4000 BC's knowledge to keep for themselves.
Symphony D.
Deity
I think the bigger problem is that unless you constantly invoke a Doctor Who-like "timelock," the narrative of time-travel rapidly becomes impossible to understand. Most media about the notion only treats one or two cycles of a closed timelike curve. When you start to have multiple overlapping curves, like in Primer, the material rapidly becomes incomprehensible.
Being the actors in the loops (players) might make it more intelligible than being objective actors looking at the loop (viewers, readers, etc.) but there's still an organizational overhead headache, and a stiff barrier to mutual comprehension by other players, let alone lurkers. Given these are intractable issues related to the concept, I'm not sure they could be overcome.
Being the actors in the loops (players) might make it more intelligible than being objective actors looking at the loop (viewers, readers, etc.) but there's still an organizational overhead headache, and a stiff barrier to mutual comprehension by other players, let alone lurkers. Given these are intractable issues related to the concept, I'm not sure they could be overcome.
Neverwonagame3
Self-Styled Intellectual
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Unless anyone objects, I'll get to work on Idea 1 then.
As for Symphony D's counter, the incomprehensibility is part of the gameplay. I'll have figured out (with help from historical experts who aren't in the game) what happens as a result of changes. The players in-game have to try and figure it out.
As for Symphony D's counter, the incomprehensibility is part of the gameplay. I'll have figured out (with help from historical experts who aren't in the game) what happens as a result of changes. The players in-game have to try and figure it out.
Neverwonagame3
Self-Styled Intellectual
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Two things.
1- Requesting advice on how I phrase my ruleset and Backstory. I've made up my mind on the facts of it, but could use some editing for easier comprehension.
2- Requesting one or two people volunteering as Historical Consultants so as to ensure at least soem degree of accuracy.
1- Requesting advice on how I phrase my ruleset and Backstory. I've made up my mind on the facts of it, but could use some editing for easier comprehension.
2- Requesting one or two people volunteering as Historical Consultants so as to ensure at least soem degree of accuracy.
Neverwonagame3
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To have either a good general grasp of history, or to be a legitimate expert on modern history.
Terran Empress
Hornet
I have a pretty good general grasp on history, what would you like help with?
Neverwonagame3
Self-Styled Intellectual
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Trying to figure out the impact of time travel each update.
Terran Empress
Hornet
ah, well, I wouldn't mind helping out with that, but i think it would probably be best to have 2 or three other people helping you out with that, I would be willing to though.
Neverwonagame3
Self-Styled Intellectual
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Agreed. For the moment, I'll wait for interest to pick up, however. A lot of people expressed interest in a Time Travel NES, so I assumed it would exist. If not, I'll just make a Story NES since I could safely conclude Stats were the problem.
Symphony D.
Deity
No, I mean "You will not easily understand the order of events that have led up to the current situation, even if you understand the current situation." That you can make things "historically accurate" doesn't mean much; even if characters are "Ripple Effect-Proof," they will very quickly lose any bearings (due to repeated changes), and the "new history" doesn't matter much, because the main opposition is always and forever going to be other time-travelers, not the new worlds they find themselves in. Unwinding the machinations of the other players has a higher priority than dealing with or enduring those machinations. It's like how Highlanders don't really care about the times they drift through; they hunt and kill other Highlanders. Time Lords do things that amuse themselves and mess with one another; everyone else is a novelty at best.
The history is (fleeting) window-dressing unless it's basically a multiplayer game with a single player focus, because it's always being rewritten. The goal of the game is fundamentally trying to enforce your own version of history, and what history that is doesn't (really) matter. Doing that will very quickly become insane since it will be extremely hard to keep track of who has done what, when, and then going forward with some plan to alter it. Your narrative is basically going to become this:
If you're super-focused on making the "new" histories "accurate," you're focusing on the wrong thing. All that matters until you kill or neutralize opposing time-travelers is killing or neutralizing opposing time-travelers, because otherwise they will always (and forever) mess with the timeline you want to enforce.
Terrance888
Discord Reigns
Still a better love story than Twilight.
Neverwonagame3
Self-Styled Intellectual
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I have considered ways around that. One thing I was considering was Achron-style "time waves", where changes take time to propagate and be responded to. However, I rejected this for three reasons:
1: I don't want to be an Achron ripoff. This isn't Achron NES.
2: Players would be annoyed if I made that a rules-retcon.
3: When thought about in detail the idea of time waves is quite ludicrous. You can postulate a set of physics in which time travel was possible and have it make sense, but not one where time waves happen.
You're right that it's mostly a clash between time travellers, but understanding what's going on in the history is important for the players so they can influence it. Otherwise, their agents get killed. That can be undone, but for that you need sucessful agents which in turn requires understanding the history...
If you have any ideas, I'm willing to hear them out though.
1: I don't want to be an Achron ripoff. This isn't Achron NES.
2: Players would be annoyed if I made that a rules-retcon.
3: When thought about in detail the idea of time waves is quite ludicrous. You can postulate a set of physics in which time travel was possible and have it make sense, but not one where time waves happen.
You're right that it's mostly a clash between time travellers, but understanding what's going on in the history is important for the players so they can influence it. Otherwise, their agents get killed. That can be undone, but for that you need sucessful agents which in turn requires understanding the history...
If you have any ideas, I'm willing to hear them out though.
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