Re: [OFFICIAL] Background thoughts...

Ground Zero Games wrote:
> 
> I've been reading the various threads on "our" background over the
last few
> days with both interest and amusement, and thought I'd like to share a
few
> thoughts with everyone.
> 
> The FT/DS/SG background (or "GZG Universe" if you like) certainly
seems to
> generate some very polarised reactions, and rattles more than a few
> patriotic cages in several parts of the globe! While most of the
comments
> seem to be in the right spirit (ie: very tongue-in-cheek), I do get
the
> feeling that just a few people are genuinely miffed by the way their
> respective countries are treated in the timeline!! So, to clear up a
couple
> of things first:
I think everyone here wasn't being serious. At least I hope so.
 
> 1) We (that is, myself (Jon) and Steve Blease, a friend who
contributed a
> great deal of the original timeline ideas) wrote the background when
FT was
> still a small system destined (we thought) to sell most of its copies
> within the UK; this was long before our distribution deal with GeoHex
to
> cover the US, and the game was written mainly with the UK market in
mind.

Oh, sure, forgot about us eh? ;-)
 
> 2) Like any author of an SF novel, we designed the timeline to suit
the
> sort of military/political situation we wanted to end up with; in our
case,
> to give lots of excuses for various nationalities to still be fighting
each
> other 200 years in the future, with enough variety and racial
variations to
> allow maximum flexibility both for us as writers and for the players.
We
> specifically DIDN'T want to have a simple two-sided war situation, of
the
> "Earth against the Colonial federation" type, or a two-superpower
faceoff
> with all the other players in very minor roles. The idea was that
humanity
> is to be just as fragmented as it is now (maybe even more so), so that
> players could take virtually any two fleets/powers and find at least
some
> reason, somewhere in the timeline, for them to need/want to fight each
> other!
> So, that is ALL the background is: a SEMI-serious set of excuses for
loads
> of fun battles!! If we can have you all accept FTL travel, then I'm
sure
> you can accept the NAC.... :)
> 
> Oh, and it is Free Cal-Tex because a) it is easier to say, and b) it
> doesn't sound so much like an oil company....
OK, we give.:-) One thing though, in the timeline the only states
mentioned are Texas, New Mexico, and California. What happened to
Arizona?
> On the subject of the NAC, we chose CNS (Confederation Navy Ship) as
being
> just a bit less Anglo-centric than HMS, though on reflection we could
> always revert to HMS when we do FTIII (hey, it's our universe...).
> Incidentally, NAC was originally going to stand for New Anglian
> COMMONWEALTH rather than Confederation, and even I'm not quite sure
how or
> when it got changed...
Navies (most military services in fact) are strong traditionalists, so I
think HMS probably would continue. 
> There were several powers/nations/parts of Earth that were "left out"
in
> the FT timeline - some by accident, some deliberately and some because
we
> just couldn't fit everything in! As has been mentioned, Scandinavia is
one
> such area - the ideas of a Scandinavian Commonwealth/Federation/League
> sounds a good one, and any further feedback from the residents of
these
> countries on the list would be very useful.
> 
> I'd quite like to detail a bit about religion within the GZG universe
as
> well as politics (especially as it is responsible for so many wars),
but I
> realise we're treading on tricky ground here - I don't think we can
> approach this with the same tongue in cheek attitude as we do the
political
> side without risking actually upsetting some people, which I certainly
> don't want to do. Opinions, anyone? [Vatican MegaCorporation, with its
> Military arm, MafInc. .....hehehe]
> 
> Someone mentioned that the ideas behind the formation of the NAC were
> "silly"; sure they are - as I mentioned above, they were the means to
an
> end. However, I think they are a good bit less "silly" than the sort
of
> situation in (say) Star Trek, where all the peoples of Earth live
happily
> and peacefully together with no greed or rivalry.... yeah, right.
> 
> One important point about the GZG timeline is that there are NO
GOODIES OR
> BADDIES (at least not in an absolute sense). Even though it might seem
that
> we soemtimes treat the NAC (and more specifically their British side)
as
> the good guys (hey, I'm as nationalistic as anyone), the assumption is
that
> ALL powers have good and bad in them (OK, maybe not the French... ;) -
all
> the governments are probably corrupt to a greater or lesser extent,
and NAC
> Military Intelligence have likely as not had their sticky little
fingers in
> many cases of "political unrest" elsewhere in settled space.... As
they
> say, Guy Fawkes was the only man ever to enter Parliament with honest
> intentions...!!
> One good friend even suggested to me once that of all the powers, the
> Islamics are probably the most "moral" (by their own standards) of the
lot,
> because they would be most likely to adhere unwaveringly to their own
> beliefs and ideals rather than resort to underhand and hypocritical
methods
> for their own gain!
The NAC explanation isn't silly, just needs to be better explained. And
your universe IS a lot better than the "faschists with smiley faces" of
Star Trek.
 
> Just don't take ANY of this too seriously!

What? Tha GZG rulebooks aren't the Holy Grail? ;-) 

> OK, there are a few thoughts. I'm working on "fleshing out" the
background,
> both for future publication and to provide writers' guidelines for
anyone
> who wants to submit anything in the way of scenarios and/or fiction
set in
> the "official" timeline. If any of you would like to submit any ideas
on
> how you see your personal favourite powers in the background, please
feel
> free to email them directly to me - everything will get read and go
into
> the general melting-pot from which hopefully something will emerge in
due
> course!

One of the things that I would like to see is an explaination of how big
human space is, i.e. how many inhabited planets there are etc.

> Jon (GZG) - feeling especially patriotic right now, having been
watching
> the Funeral most of today.... Goodbye, England's Rose.

I would like to express my condolences to all fellow list members,
indeed everyone from the UK who is feeling the loss of Princess Di right
now. Are hearts go out to you.