Metroid-based NRP?

[Kalamadea]

An idea just suddenly popped into my head to do an NRP based in the Metroid universe. I figured since there's only a few sentient species actually described in detail within this setting, it would have ample room for some custom species. Canon nations such as the "Big Three" (Chozo, Galactic Federation, and Space Pirates) will be off-limits, especially the Chozo due to the fact that they ascended. The Luminoth and Ing will also be off-limits (I'm setting this around the time period of Metroid Prime, or possibly slightly after so Samus would be open for some NPC stuff).

Our nations will mostly be budding galactic powers, preferably on good standing with the Galactic Federation so things can go a bit smoothly, at least at first, but it would always be interesting for there to be tensions. Just keep in mind that the GF is the biggest galactic power, so it wouldn't really be wise to piss them off. I will also be open to nations allied with the Space Pirates, but those will most likely be fewer in number due to the attitude of the Space Pirates.

I'm always open to suggestions, and I'll also be seeking a couple of co-GM's, as this will be the first NRP I've ever run, so help will be greatly appreciated.

Any takers?

[Cpt Toellner]

Points for creativity, I'll give you that.

I'll be watching this.

[Kalamadea]

Lol. I'm actually kind of surprised it hasn't been done yet (that I know of). It just randomly popped up in my mind and I basically said, "Yeah, I'll do this."

[CrimsonWarrior55]

What IS an NRP?

[Kalamadea]

Nation RP... (This is kind of in the board for nation roleplay, lol)

[CrimsonWarrior55]

Oh... But how would that work? I can control people and one time I DID control an entire Empire. But that was just the Emperor and his main 3 advisors. Would it be like that? Or... what? I'm having a hard time envisioning how this would work out. And I'm interested because I fucking LOVE Metroid. (Even Other M)

[Kalamadea]

The vast majority of your nation's people will be completely inconsequential. What you'll be putting in a post are decisions made by the leadership, negotiations carried out, etc. There's a lot of creating characters on the fly without filling a form, and it takes a lot of thought to be able to think on a national level. However, I find that the challenge is greatly welcome.

And I actually haven't played Other M. I watched all the cutscenes and don't like the story, but I heard the gameplay saved it from being totally horrid. I've heard the gameplay is amazing, and it certainly looks amazing from what I've seen. But my favorite Metroids will always, and I mean always, be the Prime Trilogy. And since Metroid is my favorite franchise, that makes my three favorite games of all time the Prime Trilogy, with my favorite game of all time being the second one, ironically, especially considering that it's the least popular Prime game.

[CrimsonWarrior55]

Mine is Prime 1, followed by Zero Mission, and then Other M. And yes, the gameplay is great, but I find too many people hate the story. My only problem with it is that Sammy needed a better VA who conveyed more emotion. But being the person she is, I understand the lack. Sammy WOULD have zero emotion in her voice and in theory it works. Just not delivery. I would have liked the taunting, bored tone she had in Super Smash Bros Brawl.

[Kalamadea]

Yeah, it's mainly how Samus is depicted that really grates on my nerves. They make her seem like it's her very first mission, when it's supposed to be her penultimate mission (followed by Fusion, after which she retires). But even in Metroid/Zero Mission, she was the strong and silent type, so in order for her depiction to make sense, it would have to have been during her time in the Galactic Federation. And what really irritated me was that Samus had all of her upgrades the whole time, but you had to wait for Adam to authorize them to use them. It's a very stupid way of pacing the game, and they should have done it the standard way and have you find them in the environment. If Samus were depicted correctly, she would have gone, "Screw you, Adam. I'm activating them all right now."

[CrimsonWarrior55]

Meh, I can see it as a respect thing. The problem is, everyone glorified Sammy's persona waaaaay beyond what I think Nintendo had in mind. Which is fine, but they underestimated just how much different the fan ideal Samus was from their idea.

But I did find a damn good argument for her behavior by a professional psychiatrist online. That's the theory I use.

[Kalamadea]

When you spend time in a hot setting constantly taking damage, and you have a way of avoiding that damage but someone you respect hasn't said you can use it yet, would you take survival over respect? The system of gaining upgrades is a bit broken.

I don't glorify her personality. Yeah, I think she's supposed to be the strong and silent type, but she's still flawed. I see her as tending to be kinda cold, actually, and very blunt, often taking that bluntness too far.

Prime 3 did a really good job of characterizing Samus despite her not speaking. The game was fully voice-acted (anyone that says Other M was the first fully voice-acted Metroid obviously never played Prime 3), yet she still didn't speak. Just that silence alone does a ton of characterization for her, as she had plenty of opportunities to speak, but always chose not to, going with nods and other forms of body language for her communication. I just hope Retro picks up Metroid again, because they do Metroid a lot better than Nintendo does. Nintendo didn't have any involvement with the Prime Trilogy except for their name being on it. Retro did all of the work for those, and they turned out amazing.

[CrimsonWarrior55]

Hey, I didn't say it was smart, just that I can see the angle they were going for.

Ah, and that's how you view her. I see it more as the Chozo taught her their ways, and she had to stumble on her own to learn the GF ways, so she kinda just says (lol) fuck it, I'm not gonna say anything. They can figure it out from there. She had zero friends until Adam, Ian, and... that black dude (Who I thought was pretty cool). Adam became her third father in a sense, and I think that argument over Ian's death hit her really hard. Hell she wasn't even 18 yet. In her mind she lost her real parents, then Old Bird (Father #2) as well as the entire people she grew up with (and later had to annihilate the whole fucking planet she was raised on), and now Ian (who MIGHT have been her boyfriend, I'm reluctant to admit it, but it IS possible) AND Adam. Her whole lone wolf thing comes from the fact that everyone she comes across goes away. Why bother? And I know that because I had that mindset for a long time. That also explains her attachment to the Baby Metroid. By now she's matured, reflected, and, most likely, regretted her past actions toward Adam, and seeing the baby (alone survivor of a now extinct race, with no one to help) she probably saw herself. So it hurt even MORE when it was killed (by that point Sammy probably felt like a Mother too) and those feelings of loss that made her a lone wolf came back HARD. Hence her behavior in Other M. She doesn't want to lose anyone else, has a chance to make things up to Adam, and is constantly remembering the baby, like a grieving Mother. Also I think she had PTSD from the attack as a child, and her unstable mental condition (by now she's running of muscle memory) leads to her freezing when Ridley attacks. With Prime no longer canon, she thought that fucker dead for sure, and yet, POOF! Here he is! Also she may have WANTED to die for a bit there. All this eventually culminated in her mental breakdown when Adam died. She latched on to her mission as a way to cope, finally letting go when she went back and got his helmet, allowing her to return to who she is in time for fusion. Basically, they picked the wrong damn time in her life to show off her personality. And if you don't think she's mental... ask this. Why is she talking to herself like someone's there?

I maintain that under all that, she just needs a hug... I'm available at your convenience, Sammy.

When they say fully-voiced, I think they mean Sammy herself

Finally. Prime Trilogy is best, all hail Prime Trilogy.

[Kalamadea]

Yes. The Prime Trilogy as a whole was easily the high point of Metroid.

And that does make sense, but I still was pretty disappointed by how late in her career they did that. If it were right after Zero Misson/Metroid, then I would feel far differently. But Metroid Prime is still directly after Metroid 1 (that includes both the original and Zero Mission), so I guess we'll just have to deal with that.

I'll still always prefer to think of her as blunt and cold, and being driven that way by the fact that her first father was killed, her second one ascended, and her third was driven away from her and then sacrificed himself. I just feel like, despite everything, Samus would have understood that it was necessary (though, I'm not sure what happened to the unfreezable metroids, because that explosion would not have destroyed them if they were unfreezable. An unfreezable metroid maintaining immunity to everything else like standard SR-388 metroids would be completely indestructible, so some explosion wouldn't destroy them). Since I've always thought of her that way, it's pretty difficult for me to shake my opinion of her depiction in Other M.

Anyway, if you know anyone that would be interested in this, please ask them if they'd like to join up. I'd like to get this thing rolling.

[CrimsonWarrior55]

Yeah, sure I'll ask. I'd like to see what it would be like before I commit though. But just in case, I am working on how the politics work for my race.

[Kalamadea]

Well, I'll be taking control of the three main factions from the game (the Galactic Federation, Space Pirates, and Chozo), and I'll just let the Luminoth and Ing be NPC's for people to use whenever they're needed.

[CrimsonWarrior55]

Yeah, I got that part, and maybe I'm thinking too small... But what's the point? With individual characters, you can go on grand adventures... But with nations... What are we gonna do? Discuss intergalactic peace treaties? I just don't understand, so I wanna observe a bit and see what you have in mind. If it's awesome, I'll join.

[Kalamadea]

Well, peace treaties are one option. You can also wage intergalactic war and enact massive-scale battles that you just can't do on a single-character basis. I'm not forcing any single path of diplomacy, so pretty much any reaction to another nation is fair game.

There are also going to be a few opportunities to have individual characters. Due to the fact that we're set in the middle of the Phazon War, there's a pretty big threat hanging over us that should be dealt with, and the phazon threat will present opportunities for at least one or two segments were a few individuals from each race are being RP'd.

Most of all, there's a lot of on-the-fly character creation, and I don't require a form for spur-of-the-moment characters like ship captains.

[CrimsonWarrior55]

You know what? Fuck it, I'm in. Can I use my Crystonians from a previous RP?

[Kalamadea]

I'd have to see a form when this gets going, but I am pretty much open to anything, especially if it fits Metroid's overall dark and mature theme.

[CrimsonWarrior55]

Well, their hierarchy is based on power, and the previous two Emporers were bloodthirsty, siding with the pirates, the current one, Onyx, is not that bad. He prefers peace and is trying to work with the GF to repair relations with his people.