I had an idea stemming from the film drones in the Arena plugin. I was thinking about missions based on the photojournalist idea. The pilot has to go and cover stories and grabs video or sells video to the different news agencies around the galaxy. A press pass could be used as a rank or a license and of course censorship plays into politics. I see a lot of possibilities. Suggestions or comments anyone?
- Chris
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What ever doesn't kill
you makes you stronger -
or bitter
Very interesting...
Perhaps you could also play into the player presenting things certian ways to further his causes, whatever they are. Ultimatly, any news we have access to is doing that to some extent. There's no reason to think that it would be different in the future - it hasn't been in the past.
This would also allow for more plot and for the plug to split off into many different directions baised on what the player decides to support.
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Reciting back thier facts and numbers
that don't make you smart
There's much more to intelligence
And thinking for yourself would be a start -Justin Sane
Quote
Originally posted by roninuta:
**I had an idea stemming from the film drones in the Arena plugin. I was thinking about missions based on the photojournalist idea. The pilot has to go and cover stories and grabs video or sells video to the different news agencies around the galaxy. A press pass could be used as a rank or a license and of course censorship plays into politics. I see a lot of possibilities. Suggestions or comments anyone?
- Chris
**
This sort of sounds like a related topic near by that asks about a misn that observs a spob. YOu might want to follow that thread to see how it goes. If you are sent to some system that has a space station and you are supposed to "take pictures of that dead station" (i.e. observe it) you might have problems.
Just a thought.
Neat idea though.
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Power corrupts. Absolute power is kind of neat.
--John Lehman,US secretary of the navy
I was thinking more about interviews of people, covering live events (like a fleet battle, border skirmish or bad robotic bands), reporting a story on a little league sports team - that kind of thing. As for furthering the causes - oh absolutely! I had not thought of it that way before. I was taking it from the standpoint that causes were the outcome of being a reporter - not the other way around - but a most excellent idea 21st! I will checkout the other thread and see what I can learn from that too. I know I do not have the experience to write this alone (yet).
- Chris
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What ever doesn't kill
you makes you stronger -
or bitter
Quote
Originally posted by roninuta:
**I was thinking more about interviews of people, covering live events (like a fleet battle, border skirmish or bad robotic bands), reporting a story on a little league sports team - that kind of thing. As for furthering the causes - oh absolutely! I had not thought of it that way before. I was taking it from the standpoint that causes were the outcome of being a reporter - not the other way around - but a most excellent idea 21st! I will checkout the other thread and see what I can learn from that too. I know I do not have the experience to write this alone (yet).
- Chris
**
This sounds quite exciting. I like the idea of a mission path that takes you into much danger and strange places yet does not require you to shoot anything but film.
Apropro, do you know matinee hero Errol Flyn's son Shaun was a combat reporter in Vietnam? He was more than gung-ho; he had been observed to lead a squad himself when things were going a little slow for him.
From the reading I have done, the media does have a spin, but it is typically given at the home office. Very few field reporters have the freedom to broadcast exactly how they see an affair -- they bow to many levels of editors before their clip gets aired.
In any case, looking forward to seeing where you go with this. I might be able to lend more of a hand in a couple months.
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"I know the stranger's name."
Turandot
This photojournalist idea has a lot of potential. You could have the player work for one of the companies that is cited in the bar holovids, and perhaps even try and set up a cron reasource so that after a certain news item is covered by the player it shows up as a holovid in bars around the galaxy. 
That last part may be difficult, but your idea is clever and different from the other types of storylines. The assignments could simply rely on the player hypering into a system and scanning the various vessels, or boarding a specific derilict ship to accomplish the goals.
There is even potential for missions to include creating fake news to boost supscriptions to your company, or govt manipulation of the press through "wag the dog" style politics...
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Don't let my post count fool you.... because it fools me all the time.
Twitch: he doesn't say much, but what he does say is better than nothing.
(This message has been edited by Twitch (edited 08-21-2002).)
Twitch - you hit the nail on the head. This is exactly what I was going for. I was interested in having a non-combatant in ENV - I know I may be alone in that but I have always liked that type of character (in RPGs and such). I wanted to see if enough people would be interested in something like this - if so I will learn what I need to in order to make a plugin like this happen.
- Chris
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What ever doesn't kill
you makes you stronger -
or bitter
I bet you can come with all sorts of ideas for potential stories. Just remember that the little guys get the small stories, and the big guys get the big ones. You might want to make the player do a bunch of stupid and corny missions first before they move up in the ranks to war zones, politics, and major sporting events. Giving the player a bunch of options would be nice too. Either you take this story, or this one... One leads you to greater fame and fortune (well, what little photojournalists can get early on) but with greater risk and work, and the other takes you just to more small stuff until your next big break.
Don't forget heavy use of the holovid mďsn-activated news, and randomness involved with stories. And prehaps you could even have a few competetors within the company, getting your story first.
Oh, and you'll probably want a few quicktime movies for maximum effect. If you need help with that, I'm sure you can find someone to help. Good luck!
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(This message has been edited by mrxak (edited 08-21-2002).)
mrxak - you are right. I think I had better start a story board for this one already. There is a huge amount of material available here. I'm glad to see the response this is getting. I was worried that nobody would like the idea. silly me.
- Chris
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What ever doesn't kill
you makes you stronger -
or bitter
If you reeeeally wanted to be sadistic, you could expand on the non-combatant theme and set the starting missions to only be availible to pilots with combat ratings average ability or below.
/edit: no that's too mean, and I'm not sure it could work now that I think about it.
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Don't let my post count fool you.... because it fools me all the time.
Twitch: he doesn't say much, but what he does say is better than nothing.
(This message has been edited by Twitch (edited 08-21-2002).)
Quote
Originally posted by Twitch:
**If you reeeeally wanted to be sadistic, you could expand on the non-combatant theme and set the starting missions to only be availible to pilots with combat ratings average ability or below.:)
**
As far as I know, it's only ratings above a certain point, not below. However, you might be able to fake it...
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I like the idea. You could have a futuristic Watergate...
/me has watched "All the President's Men," obviously.
Just an idea.
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Good movie. Good idea.
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Isn't it the reporters job to not get killed? Your combat rating seems to play a large part in many of the story lines. And everyone wants a Starbridge, or Thunderforge or Raven so they can build it up and take out more badguys (or in some cases, anything that moves 
). As far as I understand it, being a journalist means staying out of trouble, and leaving the fighting to others. The only way I could see getting a rating, is if you have to "go under cover" and fill the shoes of a combat pilot, to get a some story.
Programming wise, I see this as a mostly text plugin. When you go to Tichel to interview some captain after a battle, it would be nothing more than text saying that you went in, waited for the battle to stop, then flew in to get the interview.
On the other, other hand, using this as a tie in to say the rebel cause, you might be initially trying to get some story about the rebellion and get wrapped up in their cause(supply missions, etc.)
I still think this is neat, because it takes a look at the game from a completly different direction.
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Power corrupts. Absolute power is kind of neat.
--John Lehman,US secretary of the navy
On the other, other hand, using this as a tie in to say the rebel cause, you might be >initially trying to get some story about the rebellion and get wrapped up in their cause
(supply missions, etc.)
Well that is kinda what I had in mind - I'mnot sure that it could work for all the major plots in EVN - but then again I wanted to throw it out there to let others take a stab at it - I have received so much great feedback and seen things from newer perspectives it would be a shame to not ask.
So any other ideas on how to tie in this to other plots?
- Chris
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What ever doesn't kill
you makes you stronger -
or bitter
Quote
Originally posted by roninuta:
**>
So any other ideas on how to tie in this to other plots?
- Chris
**
Well, I don't see it for the Vellos. That one is a "take you by suprise type string. Unless of course, you went to interview one of the Vellos, and then he sent you to his boss (Krane)... I think you'd have to rewrite some of the initial text for that string, so that it fits the reporter character.
Shorten the initial part of the Polaran string. You have a lead on someone from polaran space who is hanging out is Auroran bars. You start the interview, and she ask you to take her to Kania to pick up some stuff, and suddenly you are drawn into the Polaran problems (Think of the story once you get back to Earth!!)
The Aurorans want a blockade runner.....ummm no.
Someone else come up with ideas for the Feds and Pirates, I have no idea
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Power corrupts. Absolute power is kind of neat.
--John Lehman,US secretary of the navy
Sounds like a very cool plug (a needed change from the many fighting orientated plugs). Another possible idea, is that you are not the principal character in the storylines. For eg., in the Polaris string, you could be a reporter that had been assigned to follow Ory'hara's travels through the universe and make reports on them. Or, in the Rebel string it would be the same thing, you would hear about Ory'hara's travels and misns and have to report on them.
This would mean making entire new strings though which would be a lot of work, (of course the strings you would make would be based upon other strings, making it a little easier).
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What did I tell you about making those corny signatures??
Quote
Originally posted by mac_man:
**Sounds like a very cool plug (a needed change from the many fighting orientated plugs). Another possible idea, is that you are not the principal character in the storylines. For eg., in the Polaris string, you could be a reporter that had been assigned to follow Ory'hara's travels through the universe and make reports on them. Or, in the Rebel string it would be the same thing, you would hear about Ory'hara's travels and misns and have to report on them.
This would mean making entire new strings though which would be a lot of work, (of course the strings you would make would be based upon other strings, making it a little easier).
**
I also prefer this direction. As a history buff, what has always attracted me are the side stories; the individuals caught up in the chaos of war, the non-combatants, etc. I toyed for a while with the idea of writing a novel about a USO-type troup during some epic space war.
New missions strings are, at least, less work than creating a TC's worth of new graphics. Mission strings parreleling the original strings would be harder, but in my opinion the most amusing; I love the idea above of being a reporter trailing and at times hanging out with the Ory'hara. Or following the Vell-os thread through extra-careful sneaking -- a non-psychic in a world of hostile mind-readers. Messing around in the Aurora threads calls for a dare-devil reporter, like Hunter S. Thompson of Hell's Angels fame, or the archetypal "Papa" Hemingway.
In re the co-opting of the news;
As a news person reporting on a war you can accept the protection of one side and get easy access to their top leadership as well as timely press releases from the source. The trade-off is that you get a canned version of events, and you are escorted through Potempkin Villages and away from the hamlet of Mai Lai. If you strike out on your own to find the unvarnished truth you go into danger at the front and you face rancor at home ("How dare you make our troops look bad! Do you want your country to lose this war?") And, since the home office bows even more deeply than you to political pressures, you may lose your job.
The trade-off is organisational, too. CBS gets prime access to White House, "an unnamed source close to the...", pristine gun-camera footage, and so forth, but only so long as they play nice. The Boonville Times does not have this access, has a much smaller circulation, and can afford to pay their stringers much less. But they can cover stories CBS wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole.
So if you are going to go deep into Polaris space to get their story, chances are UNN won't be footing the bill. You'll get out there with a little scout ship paid for out of your own pocket, and maybe a hundred credits advanced from National Geographic or something. But if you get that million-credit photo/vidcapture, you can write your own ticket home...
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"I know the stranger's name."
Turandot
Ok now I have a more simple question. For those people that have designed long winded plugs, how did you keep track of the missions? I am not having too much luck finding any kind of story/script software. Any suggestions? I don't want to have to resort to writing it all down in a note book...
Thanks in advance,
- Chris
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What ever doesn't kill
you makes you stronger -
or bitter
