A splendid idea!

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Heretic
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A splendid idea!

Post by Heretic »

I'm not sure if anyone thought of this, but what if, for Christmas (or Hanukkah, or whatever), we are paired in twos (or whatever), and make a universe, and at least one story, together. This will teach us a lesson of teamwork and unity. It would also be a kick if the host pairs up the people himself. Imagine Destructionator and Dakarne arguing about what genre it should be, or Siegetank trying to keep Shroom from adding in a joke during a tragic story. Just a thought that would be nice. Also, this is temporary, so if both partners agree, the universe could be taken off later, or, if they want, be in the ranks of fledging universes. Your choice.

And if this works, do me a favor: Don't pair me up with Malachus or Siegetank. Malachus (or was it Malchus, I forgot) will torture me for infinity with his cosmic horrors. As for Siegetank, let me give you a rundown in my mind on difficulties of universe building.

Easy: Noobish. My rank
Medium: Kamin and some others in Archives
hard: Shroom, and a couple others. Inviticus is within the borderline between this and legendary.
legendary: Artemis and Malchus
Siegetank: Noobs beware: Mind-shattering, ass-kicking, Chuck Norris filled info. Not for untrained minds. If I'm teamed up with him and we were handcuffed, Siege would cut off his cuffed arm, strangle me as if I'm dead weight, regrow his severed joints while strangling me, hang me on joust training pole, and use me to relieve stress by stabbing me, riding his T-Rex cyborg and wielding a custom-made laser spear, made out of cow manure, two magnets and a match. While getting laid and writing 40 stories an hour.
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Re: A splendid idea!

Post by Destructionator »

Heretic wrote:Imagine Destructionator and Dakarne arguing about what genre it should be,
This has kinda happened over yahoo messenger. He and I have had our share of flamewars there and on other forums in the past. (A lot of which descend into flames simply because one or both of us are nitpicking, stubborn twats :P)

Anywho, believe it nor not, but the ASE-verse actually has a separate (and no longer equal) fantasy aspect to it too, one I don't talk about much here, partially because I'm preferring the whole tech approach to their development (hence the no longer equal). In its early days (which I'll be writing up some OOU stories about as I have the time), it was more fantasy than sci-fi, and some of that influence still exists.

For example, the AW years which I use in the timelines originally meant "After Warning", referring to a warning from cosmic forces that the embodiment of evil would manifest itself in the physical universe in 1,000 years hence (and furthermore once every 1,000 years). The start of the third interstellar war in AW 3000 was originally the date of the third incursion of said evil into the real universe, and that evil was what the war was really about. Now, the secular reasons for the war are the only and actual reasons for it. The A'millian holocaust was also the work of the super evil as their last push of revenge after losing the war - the holocaust remains in the canon-verse, but is now done by humans, justified with secular reasoning.

(An interesting fact about the third war is the A'millians now lose that war in the canon-verse: it is a war of independence by one of their allies' colonies against said ally. Those colonies end up winning their independence. But it is a loss on good terms with almost everyone - but the guys not happy about their involvement at all are willing to take extreme measures to ensure they don't interfere in anything ever again.

Previously, the war was fought to contain the evil thing, which was using a number of the human nations. Ceding their independence to them was one of the terms to enlist their help in a more important goal: containing the evil, which they successfully did... but not before the evil agents set the holocaust in motion.)

Other pure fantasy elements included a scene in the old canon where A'millian starships actually blasted their way into Heaven and the Royal Knights marched on Hell! (The mortal (including the main characters) / heaven / hell interaction was quite dynamic over the years as everyone's true motives finally started coming into the open. All three sides had their good and bad aspects, all having some honourable and dishonourable individuals, etc.)

Then there was a bit of fun soft-tech/magic, which sent the author insert forward in time, where he saw destruction and of course worked to prevent it. But because I love immutable timelines, unbeknowst to him and the other (mortal) characters (God knew better, but he was such an asshole about it that no one believed him), it is his very efforts to prevent it that kicks that into motion...





A lot of that is pretty fun stuff; I've been tempted to revive it in a separate but actually equal version now, and then go back and see how well it integrates; sadly, integration for the big fantasy stuff into the sf is probably impossible now; they've diverged quite a bit.

However, I do reserve a tiny portion of the magic for the canon, and all of its background and relatively rigourous magic system (even my fantasy magic has strict rules for how it works and what it can do) for non-canon adventures including any kind of fantasy cross-over.


In short, me teaming up with Dak would probably give better results than you might imagine. :)
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Re: A splendid idea!

Post by Heretic »

Interesting...

Still, that doesn't destroy the fact that I'm doomed if I team up with Siege or Malachus (or Malchus).
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Re: A splendid idea!

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

Heretic wrote:Easy: Noobish. My rank
Medium: Kamin and some others in Archives
How about...

Cuddly Wuddly: Kamin
Medium Well: You
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Re: A splendid idea!

Post by Dakarne »

Shroom Man 777 wrote:How about...

Cuddly Wuddly: Kamin
Medium Well: You
I prefer my Heretics Medium Rare, not Medium Well... and where's those Fava Beans and that bloody Chianti I ordered? [/Lecterism]
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Re: A splendid idea!

Post by Malchus »

Me, legendary? I don't think so. Unless you mean legandarily lazy (alliteration, sweet!), with maybe some stretches of sudden, short-lived inspiration. I have easily one of the lowest 'verse outputs due to my procrastinating tendencies, and my writing has a lot of improvement needed.

As for the idea itself, it would make for an interesting variation for the next Secret Santa...
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Re: A splendid idea!

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

Come on, put the Crosspoints story back on, maaaaaaaaaaaang!
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Re: A splendid idea!

Post by Malchus »

I'm just waiting for the Comix! universe to fill out (with subforums, if we're getting them) before I start mass transferring my Comix stuff.
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Re: A splendid idea!

Post by Mobius 1 »

Hrm, I don't know. Beyond Heretic's odd obsession with ranking everyone, old Secret Santa was only two years in and still pretty cool, last time I checked. Those people who want to get together and produce original collabs, go right ahead. You don't need us for that. Half the point behind Secret Santa and the summer projects was that you guys didn't need it to be a special program or special time of the year (tm) to get together, collaborate, or just write up a giftsnap if the fancy hits you.
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Re: A splendid idea!

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

I hope I can score higher in Heretic's ranking levels by constipating REALLY HARD and screaming a lot.
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Re: A splendid idea!

Post by Peregrin »

Where am I in that hierarchy? *does puppy eyes*

I think this sounds like the end results could be pretty damn entertaining, but probably not in the way Heretic hopes they will be. :| ;)
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Re: A splendid idea!

Post by Heretic »

I know anyone could co-op an universe, but I mean, the host can choose the couple. Of course, I haven't even done one Secret Santa, so i should wait until Easter or something.
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Re: A splendid idea!

Post by Booted Vulture »

We already have a Chrismas tradition (well we've done it twice anyway) The Secret Santa 'verse swap and since last time we tried that, well, the vast majority of gifts are still incomplete and well below the set word limit. (I know mine is. :oops: Sorry Malchus) I don't think anyone's up to making an entire universe for Chrismas. Even in pairs. Which I think would hinder development even more. Unless people originally spawned the idea together, its not going to work. Simply due to differing styles. I could never do a 'verse with say Mobius because we're entirely different. He'd be all like: AKSHUN! and I'd be like "No! That ridicolous! No man can survive that! Besides, where's my grim and gritty minimalism!."

So in principle it might be a neat idea. But its never going to spawn decent results.
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Re: A splendid idea!

Post by Siege »

Apart from a few minor objections surrounding my typification in the OP (seriously, only 40 stories?), I think the main problem with Heretic's proposal is that the whole Secret Santa concept revolves around the story being a gift to a specific author. Sure, you could argue that making a universe and story would be a gift to the entire forum, but I like the personal present concept better: it's a literary present to the universe's owner.

Besides, I've done a few collaborative stories in my time (sayeth Gramps) and it's not something to underestimate. Even when the two people in question are on the same exact wavelength concerning storyline etc. it's difficult enough to make it work when they're multiple timezones apart and enjoying radically different life-rhythms (college, work, internships, having to spend time with family/girlfriend/friends/etc.) -- now imagine all those problems and not being on the same creative wavelength in the first place.

Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

That isn't to say I don't think it would be a nice challenge, but really... It's a bridge too far if you ask me.
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Re: A splendid idea!

Post by Heretic »

Okay, I guess you are right, but I don't want to be paired up and right a Santa story for you, cause when I try disassembling the universe you have, horrors from the deep will drag me down with gross tentacles and devour my soul. Oh wait, that would be Malchus. You would probably have a bunch of nuclear pandas or something in Coulda, Shouda, Woulda.
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Re: A splendid idea!

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

This is a fein example of an collaboration.

The problem though is that these things, like the SS, are hectic and time consuming and draining and sometimes it takes a while for us to get our jizz right and work back on our old projects.

I am still suffering from the derailing caused by writing Felis Navidad.

Goddamn that was an awesome story, though! :lol:
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Re: A splendid idea!

Post by Destructionator »

Accepting submissions from other users to a universe is pure awesome and should be encouraged any time of year.

A universe is a big thing; one person simply can't really show (or tell) it all. Having other authors throw a bit in helps flesh it out in ways the main author never thought of, never had the time to do, or simply never had the skill to do by himself - it makes for a better product.

Of course, the universe head guy would be the ruthless editor to ensure consistency and whatnot, so you still have a sense of a unified vision behind it all.

This is why I've been pondering a couple things that would have lots of wide appeal (hopefully) in my 'verse (the old thread where we argued about the course of action given the human situation, my ASE world idea (not yet posted in detail) and now the hard sf Star Trek one) and had a quick statement in my new general info thread that user submissions are welcome: it is just too potentially good to pass up.
His Certifiable Geniusness, Adam D. Ruppe (My 'verse)
Marle: Lucca! You're amazing!
Lucca: Ain't it the truth! ... Oh, um...I mean...
Marle: Enough with the false modesty! You have a real gift! I would trade my royal ancestry for your genius in a heartbeat!

"I still really hate those pompous assholes who quote themselves in their sigs." -- Me
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Re: A splendid idea!

Post by Peregrin »

By the way, I have an idea for next Secret Santa time: If you don't know what to write, you can go for a feghoot... if 300-500 words is below the limits, there's probably ways of getting around that.
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Re: A splendid idea!

Post by Invictus »

I'm not sure what I did to warrant one foot in the 'Legendary' tier, but I still step belatedly into this thread to largely agree with everyone's opinions so far! Building a universe is far more effort than writing a story, even and especially when more than one person is involved. It might seem easy at the beginning when you throw up the overview and the initial articles, but fleshing the whole thing out is a labor of years, as Siege and co. can attest. Ultimately, writing an epic arc is even easier.

As for DINO EATER, I volunteered segments for the Reckoner's POV and a bit of editing. I can't say I didn't have a vested interest in writing the first story appearance of that character, even if it was in someone else's story. That's more of the already collaborative nature of OZ Comix! than anything, though.
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