Reference Interest Measurement Thread

Yes it is. Stargate the Movie is what the 3 tv series are based on. Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver) plays Russell's character in the series and Michael Shanks (Supernatual) plays James Spaders character. Amanda Tapping from Supernatural also plays a major character in the show.



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I am pretty sure you watched the pilot with me about ten years ago and you hated it It was shown on RTL II in Germany. Always Wednesday and on Sunday afternoon Atlantis. Watched a couple of episodes when I was ill, but it was to complicated for me to get into the bigger plot picture.

 

Thats what you get when you sign a contract with Cinemax (or was it HBO) and they want nudity and risque stuff. Thank God the show moved to SciFi after that contract was up.

 

Yeah, here in Germany it was free TV. All is. But that channel usually shows crap, so went in htere with a critical attitude . . . until they bought 24, Homeland, BSG, Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead and actually made themselves some kind of reputation as a good TV Show channel.

 

I think that experience is much the same across the planet, Draco. In TV, as with a lot of other areas of life, you only get what you pay for.

EDIT: In terms of good HBO series, I also thoroughly recommend Rome, which was only two seasons but just as compelling (if not moreso) as Game of Thrones.

 

Deadwood. Or, more accurately: ****ing Deadwood.

Which, okay, is basically Rome in Montana, but it's still good.


But really, this off topic conversation illustrates a good point about the audience here (Smoothest segue ever): we have different experiences with media we've been exposed to, outside of a generally unifying rule of thumb about the Star Wars films. So a game that uses another franchise as a basis has to assume that the new players are completely new to the experience.

 

The Wire. Accept no substitutes

 

There should also be considered, that we have considerable numbers of Brits, Aussies, Germans here who might not watch the same stuff. I am pretty sure SG was not big over here.

 

Yes, that should be a consideration the SG universe would have be basically rebooted so to speak for their benefit. I am guessing most people are familiar with the biblical apocrypha then again they may not be.

Which brings up my question would anybody be interested in bible based apocalyptic RPG?

 

Not I, sorry, but don't let that stop you.

 

...you mean aside from the fact Sins of the Saints was a sort-of-kinda bible-based apocalyptic RPG?

(In passing: it's the Apocalypse, not the Apocrypha. Very large distinction there. The former is the Biblical book about the end of the world, the latter is the collection of books which didn't get into some early versions of the Bible.)

For myself, you'd need a very deft and sensitive hand in order to run it without ****ing someone off. If it's "Bible based apocalyptic RPG", then you're invariably talking about fighting Teh Antichrist, which if he comes from anywhere identifiable as a country or religion is going to offend somebody. You could even wind up annoying wiccans around here if you start talking about black magic and witch covens and whatnot.

If you are also talking about a Bible based apocalyptic RPG you are also talking presumably about a literal reading of the book of Revelations. Now, don't get me wrong, the Left Behind series is one of my guiltiest pleasures and I don't mind saying I feel like I'm coming out of the closet for even saying so, but even a quick Web search about the series' controversies is going to give you an idea of exactly how big this sort of subject can blow up in your face, and that's just within the Christian religion.

In addition ... where's the actual RPG as such? What's the characters to play? Let's look at the most obvious options: angel or demon. Either you play one of God's angels (i.e. godmoding powers, knowledge that you're going to win, knowledge that you can't be blown up and destroyed because the Almighty is your co-pilot), or as one of Satan's demons (i.e. you -- and possibly the character -- know you're going to lose).

And human? Well -- and this is one of the more funny things about the Left Behind series -- if everyone who has sufficient brownie points with Jesus gets Raptured on day one of the Apocalypse, and you can follow Revelations literally to see what's going to happen next, you would have to be a complete blathering idiot to not run down to the supernatural bookie and make Pascal's Wager right then and there. You would be insanely dumb to choose to refuse the existence of the supernatural at that point. Seas turning to blood, days of darkness and whatnot following exactly the Bible are as big a flashing sign as the Big G is ever going to give that "YES, I DO EXIST, AND I'M COMING BACK DOWN THERE IN SEVEN YEARS, SO YOU HAD BETTER LOOK BUSY WHEN I GET THERE OR SO HELP ME ME YOU'RE GOING TO BE IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA* FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY." So where's the character interest? Where's the stakes to play for? All you need to do when the Rapture hits is to start praying hard, and the rest should sort itself out according to Catholic dogma at least.

That's a bit of a ragged series of thoughts, but that's where I see it.

* This reference to Southern Arizona relates to the accounts of esteemed meteorologists like Ramza who report it may in fact have temperatures approximating that of a certain medieval construct appropriate to the roasting of marshmallows and souls. It in no way presumes that Southern Arizona is in fact Hell. Southern Arizona is in fact ten times worse than Hell, the Book of St. Peter The Frustrated Lonely Planet Reporter confirms it.

 

Yeah, although our recently ended, long-running apocalyptic game had quite a unique spin on things . . . I think it´s too soon to let the world end again. I barely recovered from my last Apocalypse

 

I find no interest in a Biblical based apocalyptic rpg, simply because my mind can not wrap around the far fetched metaphors of Revelation that the Left Behind series took literally and that the even more ridiculous Rapture is a man made concept introduced by some wacko American reverend back in the 19th century. Being a college student and having taken a lot of literature courses, you end up looking at writings with a fine tooth comb so books like the Bible end up becoming just stories and then you see people who take the symbolism and metaphors literally and you just want to facepalm.

Now an apocalyptic rpg I wouldn't mind. If someone wants to play a Revelation believing character, fine with me. But I don't. What would make a good apocalyptic rpg is where the villain is trying to make Revelations real. Cause a severe world wide red tide, thus turning the seas to blood. Unleashing seven deadly man made plagues upon the world. Starting a nuclear war. Etc. and the characters or a group of someone realizes its not the work of God but some mad man. I could play that


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I think someone ought to try playing the apocalypse for laughs. You can even crib your title off of Coppola: Apocalypse LOL.

 

And that went completely over my head, Ramza.

 

Oh my that is hilarious and so true (I'm not saying southern Arizona is hell, but from what heard it can feel like it). You get two thumbs up for this.

Yes, I get some peoples apprehension with such an RPG and the madman out to destroy the world is a twist worth considering. As for the rest of you yes the Apocalypse does seem to be done a lot. Yes, there are a lot of road blocks especially for a Revelations based idea. Yes, it could offend people, but everyone has opinions on the subject. I probably wouldn't attempt it for a while or without help.

 

Do we have many Metal Gear fans here? An offhand comment a few pages ago from Ramza got me thinking.

 

I worship at the altar of Kojima, yes.

 

Love MG. Have yet to play MGS4 though.


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I played and loved mgs 2, but never got around to Play any other. So I am not knowing a lot about the universe.

 

Yeah would have to be reintroduced to the concept as it has been a while since the whole thing start and oddly enough I never got around to playing games.

 

Well, I gave it some thought, Winged. Is sneaking a concept that is well translated into p&p rping? I mean, you can make anything fly, but maybe in spirit MSG might not be an RP.

 

That's part of the challenge Sirak! You're right though, it is problematic. I have some rough ideas for how it might work, though it would have to be more mechanic-based than anything I've had experience GMing before.

Good to see some MGS fans around. Like Mitth I haven't played the fourth installment yet, though I am familiar with its storyline. This game would be set apart from the events of the series, anyway. There'd be cameos for sure, but it wouldn't get too entangled in the web of MGS canon. For me at least, the series is about a certain style and accompanying iconic elements (cardboard boxes, armoured mechs, mysterious ninjas, etc) rather than the fine details of its byzantine narrative.

All that said, I just remembered Looper is out at the end of the month, and I suspect that might be ripe territory for an RP in these parts...

 

Also I am a big fan of lightning the aspects of games that are not necessary part of hte gameplay. MSG for example is clearly a military game. I always feel like Crysis one felt a lot like the military part of that same world (until the Aliens arrive) . . . other games would open amazing worlds to other stories. I tried the Horror aspect of ME with Ashen myself. Dead Space is such a rich world somewhere outside those dark hallways you travel, with a religious sect and some infiltrated Government. The politics of Dragon Age, the military aspect of the Walking Dead, the Fall of the North in LotR history, paranormal investigations in Silent Hill ala X-Files, man, the Secret World has created a great world, although the game is kinda flawed. There are so many worlds outside which hold more stories than the limited game narrative. I dream about exploring one or two of those one day myself. But if anything came out of Ashen for myself it was that telling stories from a different angle than the games did actually get´s accepted, as long as you keep true to the world. We do it with Star Wars ALL the time.

 

I played MGS with a fever. Two and three, before Silent Hill took over my obsession-center. A nice world to play in, sure.