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Count me in!

13 (61.9%)

No, but maybe I'll watch

8 (38.1%)

Total Members Voted: 20

[Tiruin]

Could I suggest a specialized ship, instead? Something that accommodates our crew size and...with a lack of giant size and such? Thinking along the scale and technology of Mass Effect's Normandy (and its successor ship).

Just that large ships and large crews...while obviously a good standard against enemies and boarding--make me unsure as to what we're exactly facing. Hugo: May we have an example of yours on what we may be facing? Like, example of a pirate ship suited for boarding, general stats please (population, crew capacity...engines...)?

[kj1225]

Could I suggest a specialized ship, instead? Something that accommodates our crew size and...with a lack of giant size and such? Thinking along the scale and technology of Mass Effect's Normandy (and its successor ship).

Just that large ships and large crews...while obviously a good standard against enemies and boarding--make me unsure as to what we're exactly facing. Hugo: May we have an example of yours on what we may be facing? Like, example of a pirate ship suited for boarding, general stats please (population, crew capacity...engines...)?

The Normandy is a pretty good starting place. OH! And there could be a bar eventually as well!

[~Neri]

Enterprise is a very light ship. It isn't dense Tonnage doesn't = size. (also enterprise is tiny~) There's a scale chart somewhere that compares the sizes.

[WillowLuman]

Could I suggest a specialized ship, instead? Something that accommodates our crew size and...with a lack of giant size and such? Thinking along the scale and technology of Mass Effect's Normandy (and its successor ship).

Just that large ships and large crews...while obviously a good standard against enemies and boarding--make me unsure as to what we're exactly facing. Hugo: May we have an example of yours on what we may be facing? Like, example of a pirate ship suited for boarding, general stats please (population, crew capacity...engines...)?

I'll remain tight-lipped on the contents of the Dark Star.

In the setting in general, though, there are everything from military capital ships, to tiny (compared to ships) self-sufficient space-faring robots. The preferred method of piracy (due to logistics) are hijackings, which take a lot of clever planning and foreknowledge, whether the method is interception/boarding via lighter craft or stowing away/infiltration. Such a boarding craft would either approach for rendezvous/docking under false pretenses or be small, fast, and maneuverable, designed for getting near enough to the hull to allow a small, forced entry. It's not entirely unheard of for larger, heavily-armed pirate vessels to threaten ships with obliteration unless they rendezvous and transfer cargo, though.

Enterprise is a very light ship. It isn't dense Tonnage doesn't = size. (also enterprise is tiny~) There's a scale chart somewhere that compares the sizes.

The enterprise I'm talking about is the 990m one. Very close to 1km. Also, (not an avid fan though) it seems to support a fairly large crew and a few large facilities.

[Peradon]

Ok, I see several probems with the concept, so before I even start makeing a guy, I'm gunna point them out.

First: The backstory of the universe is very vague. We know nothing of empires, republics or any other major political entity. Is it like Star Wars, where species does not matter, or is it more tribal, with every species having its own political structure in the stars? What are the most common species? What are these species cultural backgrounds? Questions like these matter when roleplaying. I would need to know what my character would know about these, that way I could mention a common political issue among the galaxy to start up a conversation, or I would know if my species has had wars in the past with another species, that way I could show that in my roleplaying.

Second: All the people I have seen applying have had very little or no backstory. Backstory is what defines who you are, what your motives for joining the suicide mission might be, or how you became an officer in this empire we know nothing of... The list is endless. You need a backstory to roleplay!

Third: Way too many species... WAY WAY too many! I, personally, dont believe in evolution, but if it were true(Which I'm assuming is your basis for the amount of species...), the number of different species would be very low. You may get 6 or 7 different intelligent aliens in the galaxy, but with the amount I have seen in the first 5 pages, its really not very feasable. Keeping the number of species down helps with my first problem also. Sure, you can have the odd unique alien that came from a distant part of the universe, but having everyone unique just doesnt seem right.

Anyway, call me picky, but those seem pretty major to me. If you fix those, I may join in, but not as it stands.

[~Neri]

Again. Very light ship. Enterprise takes up very little space compared to the Rorqual. Both are similar length. Rorqual is like a giant flying brick. Enterprise is like a plastic toy car. If you make a rectangular prism based on both ship's dimensions, Rorc fills almost all of it. Much less space in the rectangle taken up by the enterprise.

Peradon, likely number of sapient species in Galaxy is billions. If not trillions.

[WillowLuman]

1&2) Background is left murky on purpose, leaving it for the players to fill in. I will supply new lore as needed, but as of right now most of it is just about the Dark Star itself and that there's a semi-dominant empire who's standardized measurements most people use. Players really ought to supply more backstory, though. The wider setting isn't really the focus, as this game is about exploring the unknown. Entities in space can be organized in a diverse number of ways, from species-homogenous to not.

3)There can be as many intelligent species as there are habitable planets (and more might come from the same one, if they don't kill each other), and there can be thousands of habitable planets in a galaxy. There is an upper limit on the size of interstellar interaction, since FTL technology has only been around so long and thus there's only been enough time for those with it to explore a fraction of the galaxy, but even a tiny fraction of a galaxy contains hundreds of millions of stars. Assuming even a tiny distribution of habitable planets, that's enough for thousands of homeworlds. Not to mention new ones can arise from artificial life (whether organic or mechanical), species splitting off once they're in space (even if it's only political division). I do not want to cause a theology derail*, but even Creationism doesn't put such a limit on the number of species.

*Don't do it!

[Harbingerjm]

1&2) Background is left murky on purpose, leaving it for the players to fill in. I will supply new lore as needed, but as of right now most of it is just about the Dark Star itself and that there's a semi-dominant empire who's standardized measurements most people use. Players really ought to supply more backstory, though. The wider setting isn't really the focus, as this game is about exploring the unknown. Entities in space can be organized in a diverse number of ways, from species-homogenous to not.

3)There can be as many intelligent species as there are habitable planets (and more might come from the same one, if they don't kill each other), and there can be thousands of habitable planets in a galaxy. There is an upper limit on the size of interstellar interaction, since FTL technology has only been around so long and thus there's only been enough time for those with it to explore a fraction of the galaxy, but even a tiny fraction of a galaxy contains hundreds of millions of stars. Assuming even a tiny distribution of habitable planets, that's enough for thousands of homeworlds. Not to mention new ones can arise from artificial life (whether organic or mechanical), species splitting off once they're in space (even if it's only political division). I do not want to cause a theology derail*, but even Creationism doesn't put such a limit on the number of species.

*Don't do it!

And that's leaving out the fact that existing species could create new ones; the species I worked up (well, technically several very closely related species) was a result of SCIENCE! that went wrong ("wrong" in that the experiment went on for (much) longer than intended because someone else killed all the people running it, huzzah!).

[Peradon]

Well, I dont think I can roleplay very well without at least general background for the galaxy.

Also, evolution requires a heck of a long time, and not always with perfect results. To get intelligent species would require several billion years, and that would create less than perfect species, due to the pure randomness of it. Taking into account habitable planets, extinction, and undeveloped life-holding worlds, the numbers drop like a rock. Granted, I'm not an expert at this, so I'm probably wrong, but a butt-load of conditions need to be met for life sustaining planets(e.g. atmosphere, distance to the star, water as a resource...) Anyway, that was just an argument to keep down the number of species, mainly because of the difficulty to roleplay in that environment, so even if I was wrong about the number of evolved species, it still stinks for roleplaying...

Also, as a Christian, I can say Creationism does limit intelligent life, but not alien animal life. I could say why, but then trains would collide...

Suffice to say, I dont think I'll be playing this RP. I'll probably end up reading it though!

EDIT: Yeah, Harbingerjm, I was going to do one of those species as well, so no problem there!

[WillowLuman]

We're talking about billions of stars, so even tiny percents mean lots of people out there. You don't need to worry about RPing with all of them, just the ones aboard the ship with you.

[AoshimaMichio]

And this is not about our reality. This is HugoLuman's reality, with his rules, so don't worry about details of evolution or probabilities.

[~Neri]

Planet hasn't been around for more then a few billion and life hasn't been around for a few million.

Also we have plenty of proof of evolution within our lifetimes. Overfishing has resulted in small fish that can slip through nets surviving. Fish targeted by trawlers have been getting smaller and smaller.

Life most certainly does not require an earthlike planet to evolve, infact, life could potentially be on both Europa and Titan, both are moons in our solar system. Sapient life doesn't require too much time either. The precursors to primates didn't pop up till about a million years ago, mass extinctions set back the clock several times before we lasted long enough to develop sapience. Mind you, Dolphens are likely sapient and also appear to have a language, Wolves are almost at the criteria for sapience, Ravens are similar to Wolves, Octopi are quite likely, and several types of Primates. All of these are likely to attain sapience within the next couple centuries.

We have discovered a number of earthlike planets via the Keplar program, among others. We have also discovered a number of planets that would support alternate biochemistry. All of these are within a few hundred light years from earth. Based on these statistics, there should be quadrillions of potential life bearing planets, even if one percent of those hold sapient life, it's still an absurd number. This isn't counting life that developed in space. (This is by the way, something that is extremely likely.)

[WillowLuman]

I'm going to put the kibosh on debating evolution in the real world, because that can only end in tears. For the purposes of this game let's assume it happens. Whether you choose to take that as a diversion from reality is up to you.

[Peradon]

Your example of the fish is Microevolution, which is fine in my opinion. Macroevolution is an extrapolation of data for 50 years over 3 billion years, which is kind of a stretch IMO.

ANYWAY! This got off topic really fast! I was just saying that its hard to roleplay the interactions of tons of different species. Sorry that I mentioned evolution in the first place, I was simply trying to make a point. I will now stop arguing my position! Lets get back to the game!

[WillowLuman]

(Further discussion on evolution IRL must be taken to PMs)

Anyways, as I've said, only one species per player is represented on the ship, fewer if anyone decides to be the same species, and you'll be interacting on the individual level.