From: Heivilin, Jim [banzai@missouri.edu] Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2000 9:43 AM To: 'blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com' Subject: RE: [BLUE PLANET] - Cetaceans > -----Original Message----- > From: Adam Lewis [mailto:adamswork@yahoo.com] > Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Cetaceans > > During a game I usually picture cetaceans all looking > about the same. Maybe different nose lengths and > various scars but for the most part almost identical. > Looking through a book I have laying around I notice several things about the differences between various species of dolphins. Sometime the dorsal fin is smaller or a different shape (the Chinese River Dolphin is a good example), sometimes the melon is shaped differently. Coloring is another factor. Size, shape or position of the flukes. Shape of the tailfin. Like that. > 2) I read that there are 81 known species of > cetaceans. Can we assume in BP that many of these > specific species could have been "raised" to the level > of intelligence to become characters? Or is it > restricted? > Now this isn't necessarily "official" but IIRC nearly all cetacean species have died off prior to the current time. Orcas and several species of dolphins are all that remain. I'd have to check with Jeff to be sure. Looking over the timeline though does show a couple of things; pg 001.14 2043 The humpback whale, last of the great whales, is declared extinct. Which implies that all the baleen whales are gone. I don't see any other notes in the timeline that specifically address which cetacean species survive. > This is more of a setting idea than a question, but > could they return to land with a little help? It > seems to me to be the natural step in human thinking. > That they are "handicapped" and we need to "help" > them. The research into hybrids may have provided the > technology already. > As far as game play is concerned the main way cetaceans interact with others is via remotes. Jason's character from our Red Sky playtest campaign was a dolphin named Patterner who proved invaluable numerous times when his remote pulled us out of trouble. Jim *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Jason Hockley [jason.hockley@skynet.be] Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2000 9:17 AM To: Blue Planet Mailing List Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - New Edition concerns Okay, I know there are other people here also on the Fading Suns mailing list so I apologise if this is repeating things people have already said. Anyway, this was somebody's complaint in a discussion about reprinting books. Some of it seems due to lack of information, but the rules question seemed a little different to me. I'm sure there are people who don't want to buy new copies of the books to get the new rules when there's so much material that's simple reprints (personally, I'm planning to buy it if only for the fact that it's hardback). Are there any plans to make some amount of the rules available to people through other means as I can see a lot of people coming up against this problem? Also I suppose it would be helpful to know which of the books the new bits of material are in. If it's mostly in the player's guide I doubt people will worry so much. After all, most groups are happy to have an extra copy or two of the bits relevant to players around if they can afford it. Jason ----- Original Message ----- > *Allow me to rant here a moment about Blue Planet since we're talking about > old stuff and new material. I was reading a Game Trader mag the other day, > and I see that BP is returning in the form of a 27.95 Player's Guide and a > 27.95 GM's Book. Now, don't mind me, but I bought the old game and every > sourcebook that came out for it (all one of them). Yeah, it was a good > game, but quality of support means a lot to me. They release one > sourcebook, then they want me to plop down $55.90 to buy the new stuff > (since I'll be GMing...) which is a new system tacked onto stuff I already > own? They should support the old game, or do what Eden does and release the > new rules in a supplement, or at least spare me the extra 27.95 for a > frikkin' Dungeon Master's Guide and bundle it all together. > Now _That_ pisses me off. I try to be sympathetic to game companies > that make good games, but I just can't bring myself to waste another penny > on BP, sight unseen. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Jason Hockley [jason.hockley@skynet.be] Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2000 10:37 AM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Cetaceans and possible spoilers ----- Original Message ----- > At risk of having people give me page references from the rule book, has > anyone worked the idea of reintroduction of cloned species into their game? > These need not be long-extinct species, esp. given the ecological > catastrophe in _Blue Planet_'s future history. I imagine that a wide > variety of, for instance, blue whale cell samples must exist in the _Blue > Planet_ setting. > > Jack I wish somebody *would* give me page references. I'm sure I remember reading a bit somewhere that said some group had managed to clone or (if it was the Aborigines) grow a whale somewhere on Poseidon. I can't remember if it was an Aborigine thing or even a secret laboratory somewhere. I just remember seeing something like that (possibly on a web page?) yet I've spent ages looking and can no longer find any references to it. Jason *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: BIOHZD@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2000 12:12 PM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Various and sundry... Hey All, Here's a shotgun style response to recent posts: 1. Ack! Kahiki is out/going out of buisiness?!? Crap! Anyway, sounds like Saturday night is the best bet for our BP list get-together. Those that want to participate should meet at the Biohazard booth (#110) just before the dealer's room closes (let's say 5:45pm) and we will go from there. If Kahiki is already gone, we can pick someplace else then. 2. The first few paragraphs on page 56 address the pre-uplift status of the cetacean species. Effectively, bottlenosed dolphins and orcas were the only species uplifted in any numbers. There is no reason however that you could not inlcude a few other species in your games, as it is possible that we may in future pubs. Don't forget Desmond, the cloned sperm whale at the Sea Dreams Biogene marine park in El Dorado (BP 177). 3. There are essentially no physiological differences between dolphins and porpoises. The only distinguishing feature consistently noted is that dolphins have a protruding rostrum. and porpoises have a curved, rounded "face". Orcas are actually porpoises under this definition. 4. The coupon/sig plate preorder copies of V2 will only be available to those that come to the Origins booth. The new books themselves will be available at GenCon, and most likely at the cool con discount. Sorry, but we want to offer something special at Origins for those that had been counting on getting V2 there. 5. OK - I do not want to start another looooong discussion about roleplaying game book prices - been there done that. I would like to say that we *are* sensitive to the fact that lots of you have BPV1, and that except for the new rules, there is a limited amount of new material (about 20,000 words and a bunch of art) in V2. I would like to point out that V2 was a requirement of our new relationship with FFG, and that the primary intent of V2 is to expand the BP market, not to get more money out of you guys. An expanded market is a *good* thing for players because it means we can afford to support the line with a realistic release schedule. I doubt we will be able to provide all the new rules in some alternative form, but we intend to provide converisons for FluMech. etc, so that folks that would rather play V1, and not buy the new books, can do so. BTW - *all* of the new rules are in the Player's Guide and the Moderator's Guide is all setting. OK - I can't resist entirely. I would like to point out that the average game book cover price is approximatly the cost of two large pizzas. I do not know about your groups, but my gaming group can inhale two pies in seconds, and do just that at almost *every* session. As a relative value, game books are a much better buy, but you seldom hear gamers bitchin' about the price of pepperoni... Well, we are off to Origins in the morning, so most of us will be offline until next week. We are looking forward to seeing as many of you there as possible so be sure to stop by. Later all, Jeff Barber Biohazard Games *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Jason Hockley [jason.hockley@skynet.be] Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2000 3:06 PM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Various and sundry... ----- Original Message ----- From: > Hey All, > > Here's a shotgun style response to recent posts: > > 2. The first few paragraphs on page 56 address the pre-uplift status of the > cetacean species. Effectively, bottlenosed dolphins and orcas were the only > species uplifted in any numbers. There is no reason however that you could > not inlcude a few other species in your games, as it is possible that we may > in future pubs. Don't forget Desmond, the cloned sperm whale at the Sea > Dreams Biogene marine park in El Dorado (BP 177). Aha! I knew I'd seen it somewhere. Why the hell couldn't I find this when I was looking for it?!? > 4. The coupon/sig plate preorder copies of V2 will only be available to those > that come to the Origins booth. The new books themselves will be available at > GenCon, and most likely at the cool con discount. Sorry, but we want to offer > something special at Origins for those that had been counting on getting V2 > there. Fair enough. I'll just continue to curse my student budget. > 5. OK - I do not want to start another looooong discussion about roleplaying > game book prices - been there done that. I would like to say that we *are* > sensitive to the fact that lots of you have BPV1, and that except for the new > rules, there is a limited amount of new material (about 20,000 words and a > bunch of art) in V2. > > I would like to point out that V2 was a requirement of our new relationship > with FFG, and that the primary intent of V2 is to expand the BP market, not > to get more money out of you guys. An expanded market is a *good* thing for > players because it means we can afford to support the line with a realistic > release schedule. Since it was my email that sparked this comment off I thought it only fair to respond and say that I used these very arguments in defending you to the person who had the concerns. The explanation seemed to satisfy him. > I doubt we will be able to provide all the new rules in some alternative > form, but we intend to provide converisons for FluMech. etc, so that folks > that would rather play V1, and not buy the new books, can do so. Actually that's a good point. The strength and emphasis in Blue Planet books is defintely the setting. Archipeligo had practically no rules stuff at all beyond the NPC stats. If you still provide token coverage for BP1 rules in future books I think it would be a very popular move. Presumably it's unlikely to take up large amounts of space and it eliminates one of the biggest complaints players have about new editions of games, namely that they feel they're being forced into buying nwe stuff to keep up. > BTW - *all* of the new rules are in the Player's Guide and the Moderator's > Guide is all setting. Also good news for the reasons mentioned above. I'm impressed with the way this is organised. > OK - I can't resist entirely. I would like to point out that the average > game book cover price is approximatly the cost of two large pizzas. I do not > know about your groups, but my gaming group can inhale two pies in seconds, > and do just that at almost *every* session. As a relative value, game books > are a much better buy, but you seldom hear gamers bitchin' about the price of > pepperoni... While I agree on the general point (and food in England is a lot more expensive than in the USA) most of the people I play with are students, many of whom technically live below the poverty line. As I say though, I agree that roleplaying books are far better value than most things out there. My copy of the BP rulebook has given me a few years entertainment, as compared with the cost of a meal or even a computer game I get tired of after a couple of months. > Well, we are off to Origins in the morning, so most of us will be offline > until next week. We are looking forward to seeing as many of you there as > possible so be sure to stop by. I hope you all have a good time. My jealousy knows no bounds. Jason *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Heivilin, Jim [banzai@missouri.edu] Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2000 3:20 PM To: 'blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com' Subject: RE: [BLUE PLANET] - Various and sundry... > -----Original Message----- > From: BIOHZD@aol.com [mailto:BIOHZD@aol.com] > Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Various and sundry... > > 5. OK - I do not want to start another looooong discussion > sensitive to the fact that lots of you have BPV1, and that > except for the new rules, there is a limited amount of new > material (about 20,000 words and a bunch of art) in V2. > Although I'd like to point out that IIRC V2 will *also* have the stuff in Archipelago. So if you have the V1 rulebook but don't yet have Arch, then you would get that material (some 128 pages of Watery Goodness as it has been described previously) in addition to the new rules and the 20k words plus art. And if all you really want is the new rules, they would be in the player's book so you wouldn't *really* have to buy both. (although I am sort of loath to say that since it may be seen as not that much of a value: pages vs. cost) However, don't construe this as an attempt on my part to get all of you to go out and buy the new books. I ran into the same situation with Deadlands when they released their 2nd edition. I had the main rule book but didn't have the additional background material book (The Quick and the Dead). When they released the 2nd Ed they reorganized and now there's a Marshal's book and a Player's book with background material from TQATD in both. So what do I do? Jim Disclaimer: none of these comments are in any way "official" *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.