From: Daniel Allard [dan@puente.jpl.nasa.gov] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 11:46 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Ack! It's too quiet! > > Did I get get dropped from the list or is my Email on the fritz?! I > hear no voices discussing problems, views, and outlooks. It's lonely > out on this stupid floating weed-patch. Somebody say something! > > Daque "Never chase a poacher through the storm belt" Kendall. Hmm, I posted a longish message regarding the wormhole and the nature of the Blue Planet universe - did anyone else see this? dan *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Reggie [rqlii@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 11:34 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Ack! It's too quiet! Did I get get dropped from the list or is my Email on the fritz?! I hear no voices discussing problems, views, and outlooks. It's lonely out on this stupid floating weed-patch. Somebody say something! Daque "Never chase a poacher through the storm belt" Kendall. _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Daniel Allard [dan@puente.jpl.nasa.gov] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 11:47 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - BP Thoughts (fwd) Ok, as it turns out, I *did* mail this to the wrong address. Damn. Anyway, here's what I wrote the first time... > > > Ok, some more thoughts for you BP'ers, but since this is "Access Denied" > information, I'll add some spoiler space... > > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > > Ok, that should be enough. Anyway, I was going over the section > on the Creators and their legacy and thought... hmm. The Creators > travelled the universe, creating wormholes to hop from one > life-supporting planet to another and encouraging the development > and growth of life on each. Earth and Poseidon are, therefore, just > two planets out of the many that the Creators have explored. Also, > the AD section indicates that they left behind stable wormholes > rather than take them down when they left (as evidenced by the existance > of the Earth-Poseidon wormhole). > > My conclusion to this is, there *must* have been at least one other > wormhole leading into either the Solar or Serpentis system. Not > only that, but it's even more likely that there are two more wormholes - > one leading out of the Solar system, and another leading out of the > Serpentis system. And where do you look for these wormholes? Well, > I'd check the region of space directly opposite the first wormhole > (with the sun in the center), since the collision of two wormholes > is likely to have rather cosmic consequences... > > Taking this logic even further, what you're going to find on the other > side of these two new wormholes are two more systems with life-supporting > planets, possibly (even likely) with sentient life present at some > stage of development. > > There are, of course, some other possibilities. > > Perhaps the Creators didn't actually hop from one system to another > in a "line" - perhaps it was more economical to build a "road" of > wormholes leading from one "hub" to another, with branches leading > off to the life-supporting systems. So, the Solar and Serpentis > systems might be at an end of one of those branches. Still, you will > expect to see at least one other wormhole leading out of one of > those systems toward the hub... > > Now, as far as BP is concerned, this opens up two rather signifigant > possibilities: > > Once humankind finds that other wormhole or wormholes, the universe > becomes open for exploration. Not only that, but almost every system > will have a colonizeable planet, and there is always the possibility > that more Long John can be found... > > The other possibility is that some other sentient race, perhaps more > like humankind then Poseidon's aboriginies, has already figured this out. > Perhaps they've reached a higher cultural milestone and are not > interested in taking the planetary resources of others, but are > only interested in exploration and discovery for it's own sake; maybe > they're already here, and have just been keeping quiet except for > the occasional alien abduction or two. > > Or maybe they've just found one of the other wormholes into the > Solar or Serpentis system, and are about to drift through in ships of > war like humankind has never seen... > > Then again, there is at least one other possibility - that the Creators > foresaw this possibility and intentionally "shut down" a few wormholes > behind them. If they had a "wormhole road", maybe they just knocked > out the road and left the branches intact, and the Sol/Serpentis combo > really is a one-way dead end street. Or, perhaps a wormhole will shut > down on it's own over time - perhaps mass absorbs the energy of the > wormhole as it passes through, so that the wormhole eventually becomes > unstable and collapses. > > Any other thoughts? I'd be particularly interested in hearing what > Biohazard thinks, since this could have a pretty huge effect on the > game universe... > > dan > > *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Jim Heivilin [ccbanzai@showme.missouri.edu] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 11:59 To: 'blue_planet@MPGN.COM' Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Ack! It's too quiet! On Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 11:34 AM, Reggie [SMTP:rqlii@yahoo.com] wrote: > Did I get get dropped from the list or is my Email on the fritz?! I > hear no voices discussing problems, views, and outlooks. It's lonely > out on this stupid floating weed-patch. Somebody say something! > I think everyone is still out of breath after that long cloning discussion! Jim *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: D. Baughn [dbaughn@cadence.com] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 12:08 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Ack! It's too quiet! I don't recall. At 09:45 AM 4/15/98 PDT, you wrote: >> >> Did I get get dropped from the list or is my Email on the fritz?! I >> hear no voices discussing problems, views, and outlooks. It's lonely >> out on this stupid floating weed-patch. Somebody say something! >> >> Daque "Never chase a poacher through the storm belt" Kendall. > >Hmm, I posted a longish message regarding the wormhole and the nature >of the Blue Planet universe - did anyone else see this? > >dan > >*************************************************************************** >To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line >'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. > > *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: JASON KUCHERAWY [yu143298@yorku.ca] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 12:16 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Ack! It's too quiet! Well I for one have been busy with papers for my Anthropology courses... Good luck to all of you who are writing exams! ### Jason Kucherawy ### ### Come climb my Treehouse at: ### http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/8557/index.html ### ### "Nature abhors a hero." ### -Solomon Short (from the novel"A Matter For Men" by David Gerold) *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: D. Baughn [dbaughn@cadence.com] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 13:05 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - BP Thoughts (fwd) Hmmmm...yes. Biohazard can really run with this, but I think right now they should concentrate on just getting the Archipelago supplement out. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting impatient. Which, in the RPG biz, can be a good problem for Biohazard to have -- but not for too long. At 09:47 AM 4/15/98 PDT, Daniel Allard wrote: >Ok, as it turns out, I *did* mail this to the wrong address. >Damn. Anyway, here's what I wrote the first time... > >> >> >> Ok, some more thoughts for you BP'ers, but since this is "Access Denied" >> information, I'll add some spoiler space... >> >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> >> Ok, that should be enough. Anyway, I was going over the section >> on the Creators and their legacy and thought... hmm. The Creators >> travelled the universe, creating wormholes to hop from one >> life-supporting planet to another and encouraging the development >> and growth of life on each. Earth and Poseidon are, therefore, just >> two planets out of the many that the Creators have explored. Also, >> the AD section indicates that they left behind stable wormholes >> rather than take them down when they left (as evidenced by the existance >> of the Earth-Poseidon wormhole). >> >> My conclusion to this is, there *must* have been at least one other >> wormhole leading into either the Solar or Serpentis system. Not >> only that, but it's even more likely that there are two more wormholes - >> one leading out of the Solar system, and another leading out of the >> Serpentis system. And where do you look for these wormholes? Well, >> I'd check the region of space directly opposite the first wormhole >> (with the sun in the center), since the collision of two wormholes >> is likely to have rather cosmic consequences... >> >> Taking this logic even further, what you're going to find on the other >> side of these two new wormholes are two more systems with life-supporting >> planets, possibly (even likely) with sentient life present at some >> stage of development. >> >> There are, of course, some other possibilities. >> >> Perhaps the Creators didn't actually hop from one system to another >> in a "line" - perhaps it was more economical to build a "road" of >> wormholes leading from one "hub" to another, with branches leading >> off to the life-supporting systems. So, the Solar and Serpentis >> systems might be at an end of one of those branches. Still, you will >> expect to see at least one other wormhole leading out of one of >> those systems toward the hub... >> >> Now, as far as BP is concerned, this opens up two rather signifigant >> possibilities: >> >> Once humankind finds that other wormhole or wormholes, the universe >> becomes open for exploration. Not only that, but almost every system >> will have a colonizeable planet, and there is always the possibility >> that more Long John can be found... >> >> The other possibility is that some other sentient race, perhaps more >> like humankind then Poseidon's aboriginies, has already figured this out. >> Perhaps they've reached a higher cultural milestone and are not >> interested in taking the planetary resources of others, but are >> only interested in exploration and discovery for it's own sake; maybe >> they're already here, and have just been keeping quiet except for >> the occasional alien abduction or two. >> >> Or maybe they've just found one of the other wormholes into the >> Solar or Serpentis system, and are about to drift through in ships of >> war like humankind has never seen... >> >> Then again, there is at least one other possibility - that the Creators >> foresaw this possibility and intentionally "shut down" a few wormholes >> behind them. If they had a "wormhole road", maybe they just knocked >> out the road and left the branches intact, and the Sol/Serpentis combo >> really is a one-way dead end street. Or, perhaps a wormhole will shut >> down on it's own over time - perhaps mass absorbs the energy of the >> wormhole as it passes through, so that the wormhole eventually becomes >> unstable and collapses. >> >> Any other thoughts? I'd be particularly interested in hearing what >> Biohazard thinks, since this could have a pretty huge effect on the >> game universe... >> >> dan >> >> > >*************************************************************************** >To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line >'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. > > *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Reggie [rqlii@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 13:29 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Whew! Thats better. Ahhhhhh!!! Ok, 1) My condolences and good wishes to those in finals, term papers, and other general hell. 2) Cloning - Heh, heh, heh... 3) Wormholes - Maybe, but what if the Creators left the Sol-Serpentis wormhole as a shortcut, but didn't really need it. Like, thay could bop around space free as they needed, but there was something common between the two that made them unique enough to link them together. Like putting all your socks in the same drawer for convenice. Eh, maybe...maybe not. :) 4) Long John - It is interesting to note that Long John has not been located on Earth...yet. I'm sure they've looked when they found out how useful it is. Perhaps, the Poseidon project needed it, but the Sol project needed something else entirly. Daque "Haven is too far to swim to from here" Kendall _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Daniel Allard [dan@puente.jpl.nasa.gov] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 13:38 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - BP Thoughts (fwd) > > Hmmmm...yes. Biohazard can really run with this, but I think right now they should > concentrate on just getting the Archipelago supplement out. > < More spoiler space... > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Actually, I was wondering if Biohazard had thought this out and if they could let us GMs in on the secret (that is, whether or not there is a second or third wormhole). The way I see it, someday a group of PCs is going to learn the "ultimate truth" about Poseidon and the wormhole, and is going to follow the same line of reasoning as I did. And soon after, they're going to start looking for them... Now, about basing future products on this, well, that would be cool too. dan *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Daniel Allard [dan@puente.jpl.nasa.gov] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 14:26 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Whew! Thats better. > > 3) Wormholes - Maybe, but what if the Creators left the Sol-Serpentis > wormhole as a shortcut, but didn't really need it. Like, thay could > bop around space free as they needed, but there was something common > between the two that made them unique enough to link them together. > Like putting all your socks in the same drawer for convenice. Eh, > maybe...maybe not. :) Could be, could be... Though I thought that that particular "Access Denied" section (I forget the title) made it pretty clear that the wormholes were the Creator's preferred means of system-hopping. If that is correct, than this solution would require a bit of change in the BP universe background (which prompts the question - if the Creators could travel around without wormholes, then what the heck did they use the wormholes for?) > 4) Long John - It is interesting to note that Long John has not been > located on Earth...yet. I'm sure they've looked when they found out > how useful it is. Perhaps, the Poseidon project needed it, but the > Sol project needed something else entirly. A good question, one that I wondered about when I read that section. I kind of get the feeling that the Earth was an "abandoned" project compared to the Poseidon project, and so the Creators didn't have any good reason to leave their tools lying around on the Earth - there was no one around who was trained to use them like the aboriginies. dan *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Reggie [rqlii@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 14:38 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - BP Thoughts (fwd) ---Daniel Allard wrote: > > Actually, I was wondering if Biohazard had thought this out > and if they could let us GMs in on the secret (that is, whether > or not there is a second or third wormhole). The way I see it, > someday a group of PCs is going to learn the "ultimate truth" > about Poseidon and the wormhole, and is going to follow the > same line of reasoning as I did. And soon after, they're going > to start looking for them... I just thought of something, what if the Creators actually intended for us to go to Poseidon ? Maybe its the next step in our evolution. We develop here, when we are advanced enough for interstellar travel the wormhole is there to provide us a "easy" (relative term) method of reaching our 1st colonization process. It would explain there being just one wormhole. A leg up so to speak. Daque "If I were a squid, I could be home by now" Kendall. Licensed Warden (Diver Genie) _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: D. Baughn [dbaughn@cadence.com] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 14:56 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - BP Thoughts (fwd) Yeah. I thought that when reading that section as well. >X-Authentication-Warning: phaser.Showcase.MPGN.COM: majordom set sender to owner-blue_planet@lists.MPGN.COM using -f >Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 12:38:17 -0700 (PDT) >From: Reggie >Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - BP Thoughts (fwd) >To: blue_planet@mpgn.com >Sender: owner-blue_planet@phaser.showcase.mpgn.com >Reply-To: blue_planet@mpgn.com > > >---Daniel Allard wrote: > > >> >> Actually, I was wondering if Biohazard had thought this out >> and if they could let us GMs in on the secret (that is, whether >> or not there is a second or third wormhole). The way I see it, >> someday a group of PCs is going to learn the "ultimate truth" >> about Poseidon and the wormhole, and is going to follow the >> same line of reasoning as I did. And soon after, they're going >> to start looking for them... > > > >I just thought of something, what if the Creators actually intended >for us to go to Poseidon ? Maybe its the next step in our evolution. >We develop here, when we are advanced enough for interstellar travel >the wormhole is there to provide us a "easy" (relative term) method of >reaching our 1st colonization process. It would explain there being >just one wormhole. A leg up so to speak. > >Daque "If I were a squid, I could be home by now" Kendall. > >Licensed Warden >(Diver Genie) >_________________________________________________________ >DO YOU YAHOO!? >Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com > >*************************************************************************** >To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line >'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. > > *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Daniel Allard [dan@puente.jpl.nasa.gov] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 14:55 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - BP Thoughts (fwd) > > I just thought of something, what if the Creators actually intended > for us to go to Poseidon ? Maybe its the next step in our evolution. > We develop here, when we are advanced enough for interstellar travel > the wormhole is there to provide us a "easy" (relative term) method of > reaching our 1st colonization process. It would explain there being > just one wormhole. A leg up so to speak. > > Daque "If I were a squid, I could be home by now" Kendall. > Now there's a thought. (Maybe we should compile a list of answers to the question "Why is there only one wormhole?") And maybe the Aboriginies forgot the last message that the Creators left for us Earth folk: "Try not to screw this one up." dan *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Greg Benage [gbenage@ix.netcom.com] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 16:36 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - BP Thoughts (fwd) -----Original Message----- From: Daniel Allard To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Date: Wednesday, April 15, 1998 12:46 PM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - BP Thoughts (fwd) >< More spoiler space... > > >. > >. >. >. >. >. >. >. >. >. >. >. >. >. >. >. >. >. >. >. >. >. >. > >Actually, I was wondering if Biohazard had thought this out >and if they could let us GMs in on the secret (that is, whether >or not there is a second or third wormhole). The way I see it, >someday a group of PCs is going to learn the "ultimate truth" >about Poseidon and the wormhole, and is going to follow the >same line of reasoning as I did. And soon after, they're going >to start looking for them... > >Now, about basing future products on this, well, that would be cool too. We are well aware of the implications loaded into that Access Denied section. In the development of the Blue Planet line, we are trying to balance two broad concerns: 1) we want the story arc to unfold gradually, and 2) we don't want your campaign to be rendered obsolete by the products we publish. Sometimes this is a difficult task to manage, but I think we're in pretty good shape in this particular instance. I'll discuss with Jeff what we can and can't say, but at this point, I'll divulge the following information and let you do with it what you will. 1. Unless there is some major breakthrough in physics during the life of the product line, we are unlikely to introduce any new means of faster-than-light travel, even for the Creators. 2. One of the current theories describing the creation of traversable wormholes involves expanding microscopic, "quantum wormholes" to macroscopic size and stabilizing them. The problem is, the diameters of quantum wormholes can approach the Plank length, and are therefore very difficult to detect, let alone manipulate, at the level of technology enjoyed by humans in 2199. 3. The tenth product on the current BP release schedule is entitled, simply, "Wormhole." It will either be a large campaign book or a boxed set. Have fun, Greg Benage Biohazard Games www.biohazardgames.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: tun kai poh [poh@cis.ohio-state.edu] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 15:54 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - BP Thoughts (fwd) Greg benage said: > We are well aware of the implications loaded into that Access Denied > section. In the development of the Blue Planet line, we are trying to > balance two broad concerns: 1) we want the story arc to unfold gradually, > and 2) we don't want your campaign to be rendered obsolete by the products > we publish. Sometimes this is a difficult task to manage, but I think we're > in pretty good shape in this particular instance. I'll discuss with Jeff > what we can and can't say, but at this point, I'll divulge the following > information and let you do with it what you will. That's very cool. As long as campaigns take place primarily on Poseidon itself, I don't really see problem 2) happening with that particular Access Denied. So it's no biggie. Spoilers ahoy... > 3. The tenth product on the current BP release schedule is entitled, simply, > "Wormhole." It will either be a large campaign book or a boxed set. Gack! Zowie! Now how the heck are we supposed to wait that long?!? And what about those hints you and Jeff dropped last year at Origins about Aborigine player characters? How many books away is that? My interest is piqued. Best of luck with the work on Archipelago... I'll be voting for BP in the Origins Awards (Blue Planet, not Babylon Project). Kai Poh Otaku no Bataku *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: William Hindmarch [hindmarc@stu.beloit.edu] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 16:27 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Whew! Thats better. > > 4) Long John - It is interesting to note that Long John has not been > located on Earth...yet. I'm sure they've looked when they found out > how useful it is. Perhaps, the Poseidon project needed it, but the > Sol project needed something else entirly. Or, for those who aren't willing to rule out religions entirely, the Creators didn't literally *make* both world, just played with them when they found them. I was lead to believe that Poseidon's ecology exists just because the Creators did their work. Earth, I suspect, was visited but not quite as engineered. Maybe Poseidon was intended by the Creators to be our first colony, our foothold to interstellar travel, and that's why the wormhole is there. There's a thousand different ways it could go and, personally, I'm not interested in knowing the truth yet. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: D. Baughn [dbaughn@cadence.com] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 15:56 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - BP Thoughts (fwd) spoiler space (since everyone else is doing it) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wow! There are going to be at least ten products for Blue Planet? What's coming after the Pacifica Archipelago source book? At 03:36 PM 4/15/98 -0600, Greg Benage wrote: >-----Original Message----- >From: Daniel Allard >To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM >Date: Wednesday, April 15, 1998 12:46 PM >Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - BP Thoughts (fwd) > > >>< More spoiler space... > >> >>. >> >>. >>. >>. >>. >>. >>. >>. >>. >>. >>. >>. >>. >>. >>. >>. >>. >>. >>. >>. >>. >>. >>. >> >>Actually, I was wondering if Biohazard had thought this out >>and if they could let us GMs in on the secret (that is, whether >>or not there is a second or third wormhole). The way I see it, >>someday a group of PCs is going to learn the "ultimate truth" >>about Poseidon and the wormhole, and is going to follow the >>same line of reasoning as I did. And soon after, they're going >>to start looking for them... >> >>Now, about basing future products on this, well, that would be cool too. > >We are well aware of the implications loaded into that Access Denied >section. In the development of the Blue Planet line, we are trying to >balance two broad concerns: 1) we want the story arc to unfold gradually, >and 2) we don't want your campaign to be rendered obsolete by the products >we publish. Sometimes this is a difficult task to manage, but I think we're >in pretty good shape in this particular instance. I'll discuss with Jeff >what we can and can't say, but at this point, I'll divulge the following >information and let you do with it what you will. > >1. Unless there is some major breakthrough in physics during the life of the >product line, we are unlikely to introduce any new means of >faster-than-light travel, even for the Creators. > >2. One of the current theories describing the creation of traversable >wormholes involves expanding microscopic, "quantum wormholes" to macroscopic >size and stabilizing them. The problem is, the diameters of quantum >wormholes can approach the Plank length, and are therefore very difficult to >detect, let alone manipulate, at the level of technology enjoyed by humans >in 2199. > >3. The tenth product on the current BP release schedule is entitled, simply, >"Wormhole." It will either be a large campaign book or a boxed set. > >Have fun, > >Greg Benage >Biohazard Games >www.biohazardgames.com > >*************************************************************************** >To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line >'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. > > *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Daniel Allard [dan@puente.jpl.nasa.gov] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 17:59 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - BP Thoughts (fwd) Cool, I managed to dig some information out of Biohazard... ;) > >< More spoiler space... > > > > >. > > > >. > >. > >. > >. > >. > >. > >. > >. > >. > >. > >. > >. > >. > >. > >. > >. > >. > >. > >. > >. > >. > >. > > We are well aware of the implications loaded into that Access Denied > section. In the development of the Blue Planet line, we are trying to > balance two broad concerns: 1) we want the story arc to unfold gradually, > and 2) we don't want your campaign to be rendered obsolete by the products > we publish. Good, and yes, always a tricky thing to do, especially for GM's who run campaigns of a more "epic" scope. (I've been running Earthdawn since it's conception, and I've had to ignore about half of the new material coming out because of incompatibilities with my campaigns). > Sometimes this is a difficult task to manage, but I think we're > in pretty good shape in this particular instance. I'll discuss with Jeff > what we can and can't say, but at this point, I'll divulge the following > information and let you do with it what you will. Well, I won't expect much more in the way of "official" replies to these comments, but just for the sake of list discussion... > 1. Unless there is some major breakthrough in physics during the life of the > product line, we are unlikely to introduce any new means of > faster-than-light travel, even for the Creators. Wormholes it is, then. > 2. One of the current theories describing the creation of traversable > wormholes involves expanding microscopic, "quantum wormholes" to macroscopic > size and stabilizing them. The problem is, the diameters of quantum > wormholes can approach the Plank length, and are therefore very difficult to > detect, let alone manipulate, at the level of technology enjoyed by humans > in 2199. Which really means, humankind won't be building a path to the stars in the same way that the Creators did any time soon. Which of course still leaves the one remaining question - is there a second (or third) wormhole to be found within the Sol and Serpentis systems, and if not, then why not? (A reason has not yet been given for the Creators to *de*stabilize an existing wormhole). > 3. The tenth product on the current BP release schedule is entitled, simply, > "Wormhole." It will either be a large campaign book or a boxed set. Where, hopefully, all of my questions will have answers. Or not... > Have fun, > > Greg Benage Thanks for the reply, dan *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Auberon [fskln1@aurora.alaska.edu] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 18:22 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Whew! Thats better. Daniel Allard wrote: > > > > > 3) Wormholes - Maybe, but what if the Creators left the Sol-Serpentis > > wormhole as a shortcut, but didn't really need it. Like, thay could > > bop around space free as they needed, but there was something common > > between the two that made them unique enough to link them together. > > Like putting all your socks in the same drawer for convenice. Eh, > > maybe...maybe not. :) > > Could be, could be... Though I thought that that particular "Access > Denied" section (I forget the title) made it pretty clear that > the wormholes were the Creator's preferred means of system-hopping. > If that is correct, than this solution would require a bit of > change in the BP universe background (which prompts the question - > if the Creators could travel around without wormholes, then what the > heck did they use the wormholes for?) Well, even if they do have some method of FTL travel, there's probably something to be said for expending a whole lot of energy once, and then just building a mass driver to send the equipment and such to the project team. Even assuming "magic" tech, that's got to be cheaper (in terms of energy) to just fling stuff than accellerate to FTL speeds. > > 4) Long John - It is interesting to note that Long John has not been > > located on Earth...yet. I'm sure they've looked when they found out > > how useful it is. Perhaps, the Poseidon project needed it, but the > > Sol project needed something else entirly. > > A good question, one that I wondered about when I read that section. > I kind of get the feeling that the Earth was an "abandoned" project > compared to the Poseidon project, and so the Creators didn't have > any good reason to leave their tools lying around on the Earth - > there was no one around who was trained to use them like the aboriginies. Or maybe Earth was a different kind of project... Possibility one is that they just seeded it with DNA, tinkered with it a little bit, and let it go, to see what would happen. Possibility two is more intruiging. A biologist friend of mine suggested that the generalization of life on Poseidon indicates that things there developed at a faster pace for less time than they had on Earth. Suppose the Creators got here and discovered us already developing. I'm assuming they too are based on DNA, since it seems easiest to make something like yourself rather than go through lengthy design processes. Now suppose that the Creators themselves weren't the first species to do their schtick -- suppose someone created the Creators? Suppose they had no hint of that until they found us? Wouldn't that be a quite a shock to them? Perhaps enough that the leadership just closed up the project as soon as they realized the implications of our existance, left the Long John on Poseidon to finish their work there, and vacated this *arm* of the galaxy. -- (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*) May God stand between you and harm in all the empty places where you must walk. Auberon *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Greg Benage [gbenage@ix.netcom.com] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 22:01 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - BP Thoughts (fwd) -----Original Message----- From: D. Baughn To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Date: Wednesday, April 15, 1998 3:45 PM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - BP Thoughts (fwd) >Wow! There are going to be at least ten products for Blue Planet? > >What's coming after the Pacifica Archipelago source book? The books we hope to release before the end of this year include: Fluid Mechanics (tech sourcebook) First Colony (Haven sourcebook) GEO Survey (ecozones, flora, and fauna) We'll offer further updates as the projects progress. Greg Benage Biohazard Games www.biohazardgames.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: BIOHZD [BIOHZD@aol.com] Sent: Wednesday, 15 April, 1998 22:59 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - RE: BP Thoughts Hey Folks, I too had been wondering what was up with the list, but to quote BP's very first official fan - GACK! ZOWIE! Kudos to Daniel Allard for getting the list hoppin' again. OK, two comments: 1. Dan Baugh wrote - I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting impatient. Which, in the RPG biz, can be a good problem for Biohazard to have -- but not for too long. Dan, you are exactly right, and I too am impatient. We are very sensitive to the sentiment you express, and we thank you all for your patience. Please bear in mind that the crew here are Biohazard *all* have day jobs on which we depend to pay the bills, and that we are working as quickly as is (trans)humanly possible. Except for a couple of small loose-ends the book is in final edit and layout and will be going to the printer soonest. Feel free to ask for updates as often as you wish - just remember, the more we post here, the less we get done on Poseidon ; ). On the upside, Archipelago is definitely a strong follow-up to the main book and you will not be disappointed. In fact, I would suggest getting your survival gear in order and updating your navigation suite because there is a *lot* in there to explore... 2. In designing BP, we intentionally planned out the life of the entire product line, and yes Kai, the first phase is about ten books! (give or take, depending on some possible side projects like FIN - the cetacean source book). Each plays an important role in terms of the game and the game's background. The story arch along which BP is traveling was specifically designed with the quirky needs of an RPG in mind - plots, mystery, conflict, wonder, motivation, character diversity, etc - and will progress naturally as subsequent books are released. We intentionally tried to provide just enough hints in the first book, without being too expository or cryptic, to get players guessing in the right directions. Based on the rash of recent posts to the list I think we hit our mark just about dead on! (He...he...the Creators are pleased!) Regarding Greg's answers to your rather pointy questions - Well, he had the brain today, but if it had been my turn, I would have said the exact same thing. I am truly gratified that players seem to have gotten into the potential in the mystery and background of BP as this was an essential part of the project for us. I assure you, your interest is not misplaced and that the potential in the BP universe is anything *but* accidental. Patience Grasshopper... Later All, Jeff Barber Biohazard Games *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.