RE: [HoE] Lost Colony

["Erik Kjerland (S&T Onsite)" <a-erikkj@microsoft.com>]

I hadn't thought of that, but I'd like to entreat the Most Holy Deities of
Imminent RPGs (whoever they might be) to STOP such a plan in it's tracks.  I
definitely do not want to see a space RPG with only only one alien race
available to player characters and one alien race as an enemy.

Of course, this assumes that LC will be a space RPG.  It may not involve
space travel at all, which would be unfortunate and misguided, IMHO.

Mostly for myself, but maybe others would like to speculate on the possible
LC settings, I've come up with the following settings:

1.  Jay Treat's theory based on Hoe hints: the Humans discover a not-so-nice
alien
race and they fight and then another alien race ten times nastier than
anything you've ever seen comes and the humans and aliens#1 have to set
aside their differences to resist mutual annhiliation at the hands of the
aliens#2.  Please, please, please, NO!  This is essentially an Aliens RPG.
Aliens is a tiny subset of space scifi.  Please let's have a larger superset
available, and then each star marshal can decide if he wants to have an
Aliens campaign.

2.  My hope: Full-blown, multi-civilization, interstellar
exploration/discovery, multiple alien race space opera.  I'd like PEG to
come up with a good competitor for Alternity.  A few hundred years after the
BigBang the Lost Colonists have created a small interstellar/planetary
society on a few planets and/or systems.  They've encountered a small number
of aliens.  Now, they suddenly improve space travel and a SpaceWard
Expansion begins.  Tunnel technology has been lost, and some try and get
back to Earth in starships.  Most, however, just want to explore and expand,
exploit the resources of other planets, and bring human civilization to the
alien savages (even if those savages are technologically superior).

3.  Interplanetary lost colony.  Here, the colonists have limited
interplanetary capability, but are "lost".  They lack the advanced tech that
enabled their colony to exist, and slowly degrade technologically.  This is
essentially a "stranded" scenario (but on a larger scale), and feels too
close to Hoe.  Please don't do this.

| 
	Yeah, but what worries me (and I apoloize if people have already
made this observation) is that it sounds like it's going to use the old
three races gimmick.  You know, the Humans discover a not-so-nice alien
race and they fight and then another alien race ten times nastier than
anything you've ever seen comes and the humans and aliens#1 have to set
aside their differences to resist mutual annhiliation at the hands of the
aliens#2.
	They did it Starship Troopers, they did it StarCraft, they did it
Star Trek, and who knows how many others.

	While I am really intrigued by Lost Colony, and the idea of
playing other races is always cool, I'm really concerned that PEG will use
this gimmick (go on, tell me why it's not a gimmick.  I'm just using that
word 'cause I can't think of a better one.  You know what I mean).
	'Course, they might use it and do it really really well as is
PEG's want, but who knows.

____________________________________________________________________________
_
Jay E. Treat III
jayson@ccat.sas.upenn.edu