Minor Annoyances...am I the only one?....

[maxvale76]

Okay; I'm having a lot of fun in the current adventure; but I've got two quesitons about a couple of minor things that are annoying me; and was wondering if I'm the only one....

First: We're supposed to be playing 22nd Century Marines....NOT MODERN US/WESTERN Military members; so some of the modern 'military-ese' slang being used in this setting (which was NOT used int he movie) I really don't find appropriate. Am I the only one?


Second: Are people just coming up with any ideas they want and writing them into the story? I.e. the "block" for the door....this is a good idea; and quite cinematic....but was it cleared with NIck; the GM? Maybe I'm just a grumpy old GM; but when I play/run games; it's the GM's call as to what exactly is in the room and what can be done. Now, maybe this was cleared with Nick; and if so; my apologies; but if not....what's to stop us from saying; "Oh hey....My character uses these handy remote mines we find in this room that were never spelled out as being there by the GM; and sets them up by the door to trigger when the Xenos get close...."

I'm sorry if I'm coming across angry or whiny or yelling at people in particular; I'm not trying too...I just wanted to see if I'm the only one with these feelings. If so; I'll be happy to shut up and just enjoy the ride.

[Apachetear]

I don't know about the current group of players, but in the past we've had players with military experience. I guess using phrases or 'military-ese' would feel more natural. Also, we may be soldiers of the future, but if we can only use film canon military terms that might feel quite limiting in some situations that simply might not have occurred in canon. I don't think using modern day military terms harms proceedings in any way. I personally don't have a military background - so im using the vocabulary I know. I cant do more than that.

As for the second point. I agree. You are acting in a scenario where you are a cog, not a creator. Let Nick throw up the speed bumps, we just have to deal with them.

[Sarge]

I have no idea what the fuck's going on anyway. I'm just going along with what I know about the aliens universe.

[maxvale76]

Sarge: LOL...I understand; been there amigo....still there, most of the time!


Apache: Yeah, I see your point about being too constrained by the limited amount of dialouge actually heard in the movie and I agree....I just sometimes get taken out of the 'big picture' of being Futurisitic Marines fighting Aliens on a Space Station by modern-day language....I guess it's just me; I'll just try and get over myself!

[Apachetear]

Feel free to pm me with any instances or types of phrases that are causing this - if they're me - and ill do my best to avoid phrasings, things like this are all about immersion, and id like to do what I can to not break yours

[Morse]

I reread the starting turn post numerous times to make sure I have an idea of what's surrounding us, and the only comment I'll make is just on the area itself, but rarely is there interaction with it - namely cus I don't like to make things appear out of thin air.

But I think the idea of the 'technology' bothers me a bit more. The equipment we use here isn't modern military equipment. Like the grenade thing everybody's screaming about. I checked them and they only do damage of five meters really. Remember Ripley fired a whole bunch all around her, and she wasn't hurt, and there didn't seem to be any structural damage. We gotta go off of those rules.

[maxvale76]

A-men amigo.....AND we're all behind cover...AND in a different room...AND I mentioned I was shooting it 10 meters into the other room......etc., etc.

[Sarge]

Yeah-I think I'm going to toss my incindiary bomb.

[Quinn]

That's because Ridley Scott, like most sci-fi writers, don't have a concept of scale within their own universe.

Most of us here (from the earlier days), as Morse said, have experience as either military or police. And seeing as the characters we're playing are supposed to belong to at least a para-military organization, it's what we fall back on. There's a whole host of reasons I could bring up about why it could be like that, but that can fall into another post or thread.

As to the usage of modern lingo, on my part at least, is because we're being given so little knowledge about how slang and terminology changes within human language (something which almost ALL sci-fi neglects to deal with) after a few hundred years, it's what I used. And at the time, I was pretty out of it from aspirin and some rather severe vertigo. I'm glad the post came out somewhat coherent. Sorry about that.

To the grenades, I'll take the time to explain. Current M67 Fragmentation grenade has a casualty radius of about 15 meters (fifty feet) while using 6.5 ounces of explosive compound. The grenades were the size of 12 gauge shells (because the prop grenade launcher on the rifle was a cut down SPAS-12), but should have an equivalent blast radius, because we're assuming that explosive compounds have accelerated along with the rest of technology. There have been people that have been only 5 meters from a frag grenade and not been hit by fragmentation, but they are the incredibly lucky few.

The reason this could hurt our characters in the current situation is because of the environment that they are in. The hard ceilings, walls and floor channel the explosive force which batters us Marines senseless. Trust me, even when you're behind cover, you feel the pressure wave smack the shit out of you if you're close enough. The reason Ripley was fine could be because she was incredibly lucky, the Alien Queen's embryo sac was muffling the explosion, or most likely, because the director again, has no concept of scale within any given universe.

Regardless, I apologize for my last post, as vertigo messes with my head. It's a tense situation, and I am loving what we're doing here. Hope y'all are doing well, peace out.

[maxvale76]

On the one hand, I totally understand and respect what you're saying Quinn; but on the other hand we are playing a game based off a Science Fiction movie with any number of impossible/highly improbable moments/facets which to me can best be explained by a simple...'It's a Sci-Fi actin movie'.

I guess what I'm getting at is that I don't need or even want an Ultra-realistic; no-cinematic moments version of the Aliens universe to game in; because quite simply that's not what Cameron (Ridley Scott did the first movie) did and I really, really like the feel of the movie and feel it works best for the game. Therefore I don't want to have to worry about why the hell "light armor piercing" was used instead of simply 'armor piercing'; or why the weapons are said to be using 'caseless' ammunition when we obviously see shell casings coming out of the dressed-up Thompsons; or why etc., etc.

And to fall back entirely on one of the oldest, easiest defenses for a Sci-Fi movie showing something that isn't realistic by what we know today....it's the Future; maybe they know more than we do now.

So in this case; perhaps a contained 5 meter blast grenade is certainly possible; who knows. In the end; while I want a certain level of gritty realism to this game; I still enjoy the cinematic possibilities and remember that in the end; it IS a game and not reality; so sometimes you get to do 'gamey' things like use a grenade against a bunch of creatures that can survive in hard vacuum, have acid for blood and grow in size from about a foot long to about 7 feet in about a day.

Obviously; these are all just my own feelings/opinions and I certainly respect the fact that everyone has thier own "take" on things....my apologies in advance if I ever seem to come across as dismissing anyone else's views. (Just thought I'd throw out a CYA there.....I like this site and the folks' on it and would like to remain here for a while! )

[Morse]

I'll back up Sam's view. Because that's just the point. Regardless of 'directors view of scale', this world is based around that view. Don't forget all of our rifles fire case-less bullets the size of BB's and the exit wound they leave is the size of your fist. We don't have items like that today that we mass produce. So as far as the grenades go I don't see a reason to bring the "real world" argument into it since in the real world Aliens don't exist, and I doubt we're going to get faster then light travel in the next hundred years like we're supposed to in this universe.

[Sarge]

Why are you even complaining about this?

[maxvale76]

Sorry....not trying to come across as whiny; mostly I was just curious if anyone else had the same feelings about my first point (Modern lingo throwing me off of the Sci-Fi feel); and a more serious issue with my second point (people just throwing whatever the hell they like into the story).

I got a bit off on a sidetrack with the 'real-life' impact of a grenade vs. the game's impact of a grenade; so sorry about that....though, it's a valid point I think: cinematic/gamey moments vs. 'hard' reality in a Sci-Fi RPG.

[Sarge]

*sighs* Why are you all complaining-just shut up and enjoy the RPG.

[Morse]

Hey Sarge, you've been here for like a whole week, and we've been here for years. Hell Max ran some of my favorite campaigns here. And you did what she's talking about. I don't know where you pulled the firebomb from or what it is. - We're not complaining, we're making commentary, because it helps the game improve and allows us to understand the rest of the general mindset of everyone.