Mission 10 Community Discussion

[Llau]

With Mission 09, A Hairline Fracture slowly coming to a close, the staff and I have decided to lock it as soon as Faclan 's HVT is captured, and if Remnant is able to post again...though, I'm not so sure if he will or not, unfortunately. We would like for it to continue, yes, but not too long, since we don't want to drag it longer than we have been allowing it to go. 

Anyway, due to the amount of active players we currently have, we were wanting to gather everyone opinion on what Mission 10 will be. Rather, what you guys want it to be about. Depending on how many of you participate, it won't be a large scale operation, like mission 09. The UNSC and the Covenant players will have one objective to complete for their faction.

Now, the question is...

Do you want Mission 10 to be about Reach? Or do you want Mission 10 to be about something completely different?

Either way, they will be both small-scale ops. The difference will be, for Reach, no one is going to make it; more so on the human side, I think. The same can be said about Alpha Halo when we get to that point, but if you don't wish to have your character you've made die on Reach, then I suggest for you to make a character specifically for Reach if enough people would like to RP it. If you do, then you won't really have to put too much into the said character's profile.

The staff and I won't be asking for much from anyone, and we'll come up with a character template for it before we launch it. That is, if Mission 10 will be Reach, instead of something else. If you want your character you already play to die on Reach, then go for it. I won't stop you because that's completely fine and up to you. They are your character, after all. 

Once I know what everyone wants Mission 10 to be, then we will discuss about what will it entail further. 

EDIT: After discussing about survival on Reach a little bit with Kill, I've decided to make being killed optional. He is right. Many personnel were killed on Reach, and your character will most likely die during the battle. Yet, if you can make their retreat believable, then your character will make it. You may still be able to create a character for Reach, but you will now have more than one option to choose from. 

- Llau

[Cabel]

You've provided an interesting explanation, and I do appreciate that. With Mission 09 coming to a close, we do need to decide what will happen next. As much as I enjoyed the campaign for Halo: Reach, I don't really want to play that out again. I mean, it's fine to leave that open for others to leap in if they want.

I think I'll step away from the notion of playing out on Reach. I may create another character, but it won't be for a while at least. With Mark, I don't plan on having him die on Reach. Matvey's the same as well. I do plan on having Mark retire, and probably with Matvey too at least when the War comes to an end. I'm not sure what Mission 10 will involve, but as you did mention it will involve a smaller scale I'm partially intrigued. Mark's been on SpecOps before, mostly through either the MarineForceRecon or ONI meaning he's not a stranger to that. I'm not saying I'll be up for a SpecOps-type deal. I don't think that'd allow room for most, if not everyone.

I can't think of many settings we could go with, as we've used most of them.

[tento125]

Hmmm, well we do know that during the battle for Reach, there were other smaller scale battles on lesser known planets as well. Perhaps we should go into that direction? Have us battle it out on some unknown back water planet of sorts.

As for the scale of the mission, I would prefer it being a little grand in scale (being our #10 mission and all) but I can understand if we're not going to be able to do so.

I would have to agree with Cabel on the spec ops thing. Simply being that most of our characters wouldn't have the experience or training to conduct such an operation. However, I can see the MEU being deployed in support of a spec-ops mission, like as a diversion for the strike team or something. Just a thought :3

As for the setting for the mission... hmm lets see if I can come up with something new......

Protecting civilians as the flee from the alien slaughter? too cliche.

Capture of a Covenant ship? I see we've done that already....

Errr... fighting to secure a forerunner installation? Yup, Refuge.

Destroying/defending a mining installation? Did that, Boooring....

Capture a HVT the--- oh wait, that's M9

Umm.... err.... I give up. I'm sure we'll come up with something eventually.

[Llau]

Guys...I never said anything about "spec ops" now did I?

Smaller-scale missions will work best for such a small group of active posters we have right now. If the mission is too big, then it'll become stale and boring, fast. It happens with a lot of our large-scale missions, which is why they never seem to finish due to people dropping out of them for whatever reason, and leaving very few active posters left in it until that main mission is locked due to a lack of activity or no activity at all.

I also said that the size of the mission depends on how many active posters we will have and who will be interested in role playing in M10 with either Reach or elsewhere.

So, really, this will depend on everyone's answers and those who are willing to keep active for M10 for it to either be a large-scale mission or not. So far, you guys don't seem too keen on the Reach idea, but we will have to see what everyone else thinks.

Again...if not for Reach, then please state if you would prefer another planet.

If you guys need examples for another planet, the staff and I are working on vague mission ideas that we will post about in this thread later.

[Faclan]

Well at least for my main person these days (Kael) Reach would mean horrendous losses for her and her Entourage - and likely would be one of the main factors of her leaving Covenant employ as I suspect they would mostly be left to fend for themselves while attention was focused elsewhere. So I would vote for not doing Reach as that would be something I personally would like to do by myself or with very few people to make a better story. Not have people chomping at the bit to be the ones gunning down her friends and allies.

We also got very few active people these days so doing a big story event wouldn't be a good idea. I would instead suggest something that would involve something like one smaller ship from each side's forces making movement. Something kind of like Kills old Isolated thread where fighting between the two factions wasn't the main goal survival and resource gathering was.

At least thats my thoughts on it.

[Cabel]

May 20, 2017 14:25:45 GMT -6 Llau said:

Guys...I never said anything about "spec ops" now did I?

Smaller-scale missions will work best for such a small group of active posters we have right now. If the mission is too big, then it'll become stale and boring, fast. It happens with a lot of our large-scale missions, which is why they never seem to finish due to people dropping out of them for whatever reason, and leaving very few active posters left in it until that main mission is locked due to a lack of activity or no activity at all.

I also said that the size of the mission depends on how many active posters we will have and who will be interested in role playing in M10 with either Reach or elsewhere.

So, really, this will depend on everyone's answers and those who are willing to keep active for M10 for it to either be a large-scale mission or not. So far, you guys don't seem too keen on the Reach idea, but we will have to see what everyone else thinks.

Again...if not for Reach, then please state if you would prefer another planet.

If you guys need examples for another planet, the staff and I are working on vague mission ideas that we will post about in this thread later.

I know you didn't say anything about a "Spec-Ops" type deal. I just happened to throw that out there given that Mark has had experience, and training in leading two of them or at least leading one and co-leading the other. I know you said it possibly might involve Reach too.

I had time to think about it, and came to a few rough ideas that could possibly be used for Mission 10. This also depends on the amount of players, as Llau explained.

Ideas:

1) Ruins: These ruins could be Forerunner, Precursor, or Ancient Human. The UNSC could either deploy to reinforce or retrieve a science team/archeology team that happened to be sent to that planet. I could work on the idea more, but it was just a rough start.

2) Vacation Resort: A plush, posh (whatever the term you want to use) vacation resort on some planet comes under fire first from Insurrectionists followed, albeit accidentally, by the Covenant. This resort could be host to the big wigs, to those seeking a quiet place to go to, tourists...etc. etc. and the UNSC would have to either accommodate them or not. It would entirely depend.

[roachman34]

I have read everything and I want a spooky horror mission. Dunno why just seems like fun. Also don't have much time to write so.

[Llau]

May 20, 2017 17:59:27 GMT -6 Cabel said:

May 20, 2017 14:25:45 GMT -6 Llau said:

Guys...I never said anything about "spec ops" now did I?

Smaller-scale missions will work best for such a small group of active posters we have right now. If the mission is too big, then it'll become stale and boring, fast. It happens with a lot of our large-scale missions, which is why they never seem to finish due to people dropping out of them for whatever reason, and leaving very few active posters left in it until that main mission is locked due to a lack of activity or no activity at all.

I also said that the size of the mission depends on how many active posters we will have and who will be interested in role playing in M10 with either Reach or elsewhere.

So, really, this will depend on everyone's answers and those who are willing to keep active for M10 for it to either be a large-scale mission or not. So far, you guys don't seem too keen on the Reach idea, but we will have to see what everyone else thinks.

Again...if not for Reach, then please state if you would prefer another planet.

If you guys need examples for another planet, the staff and I are working on vague mission ideas that we will post about in this thread later.

I know you didn't say anything about a "Spec-Ops" type deal. I just happened to throw that out there given that Mark has had experience, and training in leading two of them or at least leading one and co-leading the other. I know you said it possibly might involve Reach too.

I had time to think about it, and came to a few rough ideas that could possibly be used for Mission 10. This also depends on the amount of players, as Llau explained.

Ideas:

1) Ruins: These ruins could be Forerunner, Precursor, or Ancient Human. The UNSC could either deploy to reinforce or retrieve a science team/archeology team that happened to be sent to that planet. I could work on the idea more, but it was just a rough start.

2) Vacation Resort: A plush, posh (whatever the term you want to use) vacation resort on some planet comes under fire first from Insurrectionists followed, albeit accidentally, by the Covenant. This resort could be host to the big wigs, to those seeking a quiet place to go to, tourists...etc. etc. and the UNSC would have to either accommodate them or not. It would entirely depend.

I know your character has, Cabel. I'm just telling you that it won't have anything to do with "Spec Ops", as I know not many people have those kinds of characters. I would like to try to accommodate everyone's playstyles; though, I know I won't be able to please everyone...doesn't mean I shouldn't try. Reach is an option, and despite reading The Fall of Reach and playing the campaign, there's probably still some things we can do for that mission that we could come up with. In my opinion though, I would rather we skip it, and go for something we can make up and call it our own. Regardless of my opinion, I'd rather keep Reach on the table, in case some members would want to have it as a main mission. Or even a side mission. 

As for your ideas, I like them, even though they've been done more than once, so-to-speak. Well, more than one Forerunner artifact/ruin type of mission, at least, and jungles...which some vacation resorts are usually on some tropical setting. We tend to have a lot of missions on a tropical planet or a cold one. It'll be good to change things up a bit. But, I don't think we've done a vacation resort yet.  

[Llau]

May 20, 2017 18:29:31 GMT -6 roachman34 said:

I have read everything and I want a spooky horror mission. Dunno why just seems like fun. Also don't have much time to write so.

I would like to, actually, but not sure how many others would go for a horror mission. Maybe for a small side mission though, tbh.

[MrKill]

I don't see why you have to kill your character when you participate during the Battle of Reach. Sure, plenty of UNSC servicemen and women were killed during the engagement, but there were quite a few that were able to get off the planet and back to the SOL System... only to participate in the Battle of Earth. On the flip side, however, I also see why any character participating in the Fall of Reach would be killed off.

I would say make it optional, though, but staff determined. If anyone is still alive after the planet has technically fallen - WITHOUT leaving - then yeah, they're dead. However, if a character is able to secure transit on a warship or transport leaving the battle - then it is believable they could survive the battle.

[Llau]

May 20, 2017 22:55:18 GMT -6 MrKill said:

I don't see why you have to kill your character when you participate during the Battle of Reach. Sure, plenty of UNSC servicemen and women were killed during the engagement, but there were quite a few that were able to get off the planet and back to the SOL System... only to participate in the Battle of Earth. On the flip side, however, I also see why any character participating in the Fall of Reach would be killed off.

I would say make it optional, though, but staff determined. If anyone is still alive after the planet has technically fallen - WITHOUT leaving - then yeah, they're dead. However, if a character is able to secure transit on a warship or transport leaving the battle - then it is believable they could survive the battle.

I always remember you saying how people who don't wish to have their character killed off during Reach when we get to that point in the timeline, is that they should create a character for it. That's the only reason why I said it, because I remember you saying that.

Though, I do like the idea of making it optional, and if they are able to get off the planet on a warship or transport. That sounds better tbh. 

That also could be what the mission is about. UNSC could rendezvous, and then secure a spaceport or two, while the Covenant attacks them. 

[MrKill]

May 21, 2017 1:40:05 GMT -6 Llau said:

May 20, 2017 22:55:18 GMT -6 MrKill said:

I don't see why you have to kill your character when you participate during the Battle of Reach. Sure, plenty of UNSC servicemen and women were killed during the engagement, but there were quite a few that were able to get off the planet and back to the SOL System... only to participate in the Battle of Earth. On the flip side, however, I also see why any character participating in the Fall of Reach would be killed off.

I would say make it optional, though, but staff determined. If anyone is still alive after the planet has technically fallen - WITHOUT leaving - then yeah, they're dead. However, if a character is able to secure transit on a warship or transport leaving the battle - then it is believable they could survive the battle.

I always remember you saying how people who don't wish to have their character killed off during Reach when we get to that point in the timeline, is that they should create a character for it. That's the only reason why I said it, because I remember you saying that.

Though, I do like the idea of making it optional, and if they are able to get off the planet on a warship or transport. That sounds better tbh. 

That also could be what the mission is about. UNSC could rendezvous, and then secure a spaceport or two, while the Covenant attacks them. 

Yes, but when I said that, I had less... perspective than I have now. If it makes sense, experience changed how I look at things, not just on here but in applications to real life as well. Don't get me wrong, I still think PC characters should die during the battle of Reach, as over 700 million people were killed during the Fall of Reach.

The UNSC Military only had 385 million manpower assets, so obviously a large chunk of that 700 million would be killed UNSC personnel, as the 'large majority of ground personnel' were killed during the fighting; however, I also know that the UNSC retreated to Tribute (another planet in the same system) and defended it until they had to retreat from there as well.

In total, not many UNSC personnel or assets returned to Earth, I'd say under 5% of the total assets were actually recovered. (By assets I mean men, guns, ships, etc, etc)

Just the sheer number of casualties would say 'Hey, your character will most likely die, but if you can create something believable we will allow him to live.'

[Llau]

May 21, 2017 13:32:29 GMT -6 MrKill said:

Yes, but when I said that, I had less... perspective than I have now. If it makes sense, experience changed how I look at things, not just on here but in applications to real life as well.

That's understandable then.

May 21, 2017 13:32:29 GMT -6 MrKill said:

Just the sheer number of casualties would say 'Hey, your character will most likely die, but if you can create something believable we will allow him to live.'

Very true.

Thanks for your opinion, Kill.

I've edited my first post in regards to this additional option.

[Guardian Cat of Yappa's]

If we do vacation resort I actually already have a planet I created with that kind of enviroment!!!! So im down for vacation resort and now that I'm in summer sesh for college I'll be able to become more active again!!!

[roachman34]

May 22, 2017 9:15:15 GMT -6 Guardian Cat of Yappa's said:

If we do vacation resort I actually already have a planet I created with that kind of environment!!!! So I'm down for vacation resort and now that I'm in summer sesh for college I'll be able to become more active again!!!

The vacation world idea is cool and I like it though I don't think there has been a horror mission on the site and it could be quick. Like with real horror the type that is frail and feeble and you can kill easily the true horror about it being that it keeps coming back. Dunno if it seems like a good idea for anyone else besides me and Llau, but I'm cool with whatever.

[Llau]

Horror is hard to write for a lot of people in general, roachman34, and it won't be much of a horror mission if there are a bunch of people in that thread with characters running around with guns.

The elements of horror are subversion, admonition, fear of the unknown. Horror is about fear and tragedy, and whether or not one is capable of overcoming those things. Your character must make mistakes. Big ones. Mistakes that put their life, as well as their sanity, in jeopardy. We recoil at mistakes made by loved ones, and this is true when these mistakes put their lives, souls and sanity in danger. Put your character in danger BUT don't have this danger thrust on them. Have the danger descend on your character because of a choice they made. Have the decision that puts your character in danger be either selfless or smart (or at least not blindingly stupid). <.< This a personal pet peeve I have with some horror movies and horror games these days. The main character(s) never seem to have a credible reason to go out and face dangers, after hearing an ominous noise and investigate, for example. 

In Obscurum, if anyone has been reading it, I have Mike and the other agent looking for Dr. Peterson, who has information they need, and also looking for Dr. Harper to get answers from him. There, we have two valid reasons so far, for them to keep going, despite what they've encountered at the facility (so far). Danger is gradually descending upon both protagonists in my story, and I'm sure mistakes will be made eventually, probably by the little shit, or by Rajskub even. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Oops, sorry. I rambled. 

Anyway. It would be better for a small side mission for two people (three at the most), and not a main mission where everyone can be involved. 

If you really want a horror type of side mission, Roach, then I can come up with one, no problem.

The main mission, on the other hand, will be different. 

[roachman34]

May 22, 2017 14:16:45 GMT -6 Llau said:

Anyway. It would be better for a small side mission for two people (three at the most), and not a main mission where everyone can be involved. 

If you really want a horror type of side mission, Roach, then I can come up with one, no problem.

The main mission, on the other hand, will be different. 

That sound's good to me and yeah now that I read all that it makes sense. So yeah a horror side mission sounds like it would be really fun.

[LaxKnight]

So I have a question that I'm sure will eventually come up. Since Reach is pretty much the largest gathering of SPARTANs since their training, would it be possible to play a SPARTAN that is going to die on Reach? If so, what would the criteria be?

[Llau]

May 22, 2017 21:23:18 GMT -6 LaxKnight said:

So I have a question that I'm sure will eventually come up. Since Reach is pretty much the largest gathering of SPARTANs since their training, would it be possible to play a SPARTAN that is going to die on Reach? If so, what would the criteria be?

Not sure right now, but I'm thinking that the criteria can be a certain amount of posts the player has, if they have other characters, and if they can deal with the responsibility of higher-tiered profiles (T5+). It's somewhat similar to how the old system was when I first joined when a player wanted a SPARTAN character.

This might change the closer we get to finishing up M9, and while the staff, guardians, gurus start working on M10.

Of course, I'll let everyone know what's up before mission 10 releases. Again, it depends on if it's Reach or not, but if a few people would like to RP Reach with the mission idea I have for it, we can still do that; especially if people are going to RP different characters for M10, since it looks like more of you guys so far want an original mission idea and setting. Currently, the staff and I are still working on a nice size list of mission ideas and the planet they will be on. No names or anything yet, but enough information to peak interests. We'll let you guys look at it once it's finished, and then I'll create a poll later for the community to choose their favorite idea to RP for M10. 

The player templates I mentioned earlier will be different btw, and require shorter information, but will also be graded differently; similar to how we create character templates for the side missions in the Other RP and Stories board. How grading and accepting will go is, we won't worry too much about spelling and grammar, but they will still be important. What will matter is how well you RP that character, but only if it's a high-tiered profile and the responsibilities it carries during a mission. 

[Caramel Raccoon]

Alright, so going along with that horror idea that is currently being tossed around...what if we kind went with the Halo 3: ODST approach? Instead of the battle for Reach, it takes place after the battle has been lost and Reach is either presently being glassed, or for the most part has already been glassed. The UNSC members who are going to partake are those who have survived the ground invasion somehow (to be figured out at a later point if people like this idea), and the Covenant participants are those who are now part of the mop up crew. We could keep it cordoned off to a small part of the planet, perhaps a site deemed too valuable, for one reason or another, to immediately glass.

The UNSC would have the objective of finding a way off of Reach and safely out of the system before the Covenant choose to glass the sector, manage to kill them all off or capture them. The horror aspect would come purely from the tension of knowing they have no support, no assured escape, and are completely surrounded by the enemy on a dead world burning all around them. Stealth would likely play a large role in their portion of the RP, as well as careful coordination and a lot of checkpoints where they need to do things such as re-establish communications, figure out a way off world, secure the means of transport, etc.

As for the Covenant, their objective would be to either successfully wipe out all UNSC personnel, or capture some and kill the others, and perhaps secure whatever valuable item or information they're after that caused them to spare this location in the first place. While they would have the advantage of superior firepower, numbers, and tactical advantage, the rest of the fleet is busy burning the planet, and they aren't dealing with wiping out an army, they need to dig through the rubble, upturn every single stone, to find the remaining personnel while also attempting to secure this hidden item of value.

It wouldn't be a horror RP, but it would definitely be a tension-filled one. It would force both sides to expose themselves to dangerous situations just to even have a chance of achieving their goals. The UNSC has to escape with their lives, and while death isn't highly enforced in this scenario, it is very likely your character could be RPed into a corner where there's no reasonable explanation for how you'd survive. And as for the Covenant, we'd all have to partake in the search, and with our numbers and resources dwindled from a long and hard battle, it wouldn't be hard for a small team of desperate marines to pick us off from the shadows.

I dunno, just something cool I think we could do with the Reach idea that isn't necessarily the whole invasion thing we already know like the back of our hands.

[Llau]

May 20, 2017 2:13:53 GMT -6 Llau said:

Now, the question is...

Do you want Mission 10 to be about Reach? Or do you want Mission 10 to be about something completely different?

No offence to any of you, and I hate to be a party-pooer, but I'm not looking for mission ideas. The staff and I just want a general idea of what the community wants for M10. If you want Reach, then say you want that. If you want a mission that takes place on a different planet, then state that instead.

We're only asking because I feel that there will be more interest for that mission when it's available; thus, people will be more active in it (can't help it when RL gets in the way, but can try with hoping this will work for main missions). The staff teams in the past tried to include the community with creating missions, and I think it didn't work out for some (probably awful) reason. So, here we are, trying to include the community as a whole in with what the staff team wants to do for M10, but one thing at a time. 

Maybe down the road, I'll ask the community for ideas for future main missions and use the best one, since a few of you have shared interesting ones so far. For now, the staff, guardians, gurus will handle the ideas for the main missions since we write everything for them for you guys to hopefully enjoy. As I stated earlier, the staff and I are currently working on ideas for M10, which we will be sharing as soon as we're finished with them for you guys to read through, pick your favorite, and vote. The mission with the most votes will be used for M10. 

We do have user-created side missions for both canon and non-canon in the appropriate categories/boards. If you want to RP your own ideas, you're more than welcome to create an i-check, see who is interested, and create your own mission. Just remember to pay attention to the dates when it's canon Human-Covenant War or Post-War; particularly if they occur during the same time as a main mission (your character can't be at two places at once...at least for now, while the timeline is linear).

[Caramel Raccoon]

May 23, 2017 9:05:24 GMT -6 Llau said:

May 20, 2017 2:13:53 GMT -6 Llau said:

Now, the question is...

Do you want Mission 10 to be about Reach? Or do you want Mission 10 to be about something completely different?

No offence to any of you, and I hate to be a party-pooer, but I'm not looking for mission ideas. The staff and I just want a general idea of what the community wants for M10. If you want Reach, then say you want that. If you want a mission that takes place on a different planet, then state that instead.

Oh, alright, in that case, I would like to do something at least somewhat involving Reach, but I'm not opposed to doing something else instead.

[Faclan]

At work so quick responses;

The horror thing I think would work great as a smaller mission with only a few peeps, not a main one.

And why don't we have a series of missions for reach? Or like a site 'reach time' where missions relating to reach can be made by the members so like some space some ground open battles some tense escapes. I think that would work better than trying to shove it all into one mission.

Hope everyone's day going well <3

[Llau]

May 23, 2017 13:34:02 GMT -6 Faclan said:

And why don't we have a series of missions for reach? Or like a site 'reach time' where missions relating to reach can be made by the members so like some space some ground open battles some tense escapes. I think that would work better than trying to shove it all into one mission.

Hmm. We probably could. Since the battle on Reach lasted from July 25, 2552 to August 30, 2552. There were also isolated skirmishes on July 23 and 24; final skirmish on September 7. Caramel Raccoon's idea would probably fall in around September 7. The main mission idea I have would be around July 25th.

[Caramel Raccoon]

May 23, 2017 13:53:51 GMT -6 Llau said:

Hmm. We probably could. Since the battle on Reach lasted from July 25, 2552 to August 30, 2552. There were also isolated skirmishes on July 23 and 24; final skirmish on September 7. Caramel Raccoon 's idea would probably fall in around September 7. The main mission idea I have would be around July 25th.

Once I spoke to someone about how running a side mission works on the forum and made an I-check, I would totally be down for running my idea as a side mission if we wanted to do that "Reach Period of War" idea. Unless that would be run by the staff, which is fine too

[Llau]

May 23, 2017 14:36:59 GMT -6 Caramel Raccoon said:

May 23, 2017 13:53:51 GMT -6 Llau said:

Hmm. We probably could. Since the battle on Reach lasted from July 25, 2552 to August 30, 2552. There were also isolated skirmishes on July 23 and 24; final skirmish on September 7. Caramel Raccoon 's idea would probably fall in around September 7. The main mission idea I have would be around July 25th.

Once I spoke to someone about how running a side mission works on the forum and made an I-check, I would totally be down for running my idea as a side mission if we wanted to do that "Reach Period of War" idea. Unless that would be run by the staff, which is fine too

Sorry for the late reply, but here you go. 

[Washington]

Reach sounds fun, I would be fine with it. Any consideration of making the fall of Reach take place over the course of 1 or 2 Main RPs? It's such a big event with so much to explore that I think it may be interesting, if not, just an idea!

:D