[Team RP I] General Interest Thread

[Lord Celebi]

Because I just don't know how to say no...

With a recent influx of vets, there's been some murmurings about a Team RP. For those not in the know, Team RP is a style of RPing developed by myself and Neo Emolga. It is basically a fusion of Risk and Dungeons & Dragons. In it, people RP on factions or teams, and build and command armies to take over the world from other teams. PE2K hosted 8 successful Team RPs while PXR has hosted a Team RP-style WAR RP that's still going strong. Unlike the WAR RP, if this were to happen, Neo and I would definitely uphold our age-old rule of never being on the same team. I know I am also interested in RPing a good guy for the first time in my life. Likewise, since no points are given out and the RP is based purely on the flow of conflict, I feel like a lot of people will have a better idea what they're getting into for this one, so battles won't come as much of a surprise as they did in the WAR RP.

If there is significant interest, here are the following questions that need to be answered:
What is the threshold for "enough interest" in order to begin planning a Team RP?
What is the entrance requirement for a team? How many teams will there be?
Modern technological level or futuristic?
Will it be set on the Pokemon-world/Maridia or on a planet(s) of our own creation?
Should project lists be re-introduced?
Do we need to have Pokemon in the RP?

Neo Emolga, Shen, HKim, XaiakuX, Saraibre Ryu, Grassy_Aggron, The Nonexistent Tazz, bronislav84, paperfairy, MC Elesa, Finch, SuperBoy, Akaida, Skiiage, Pokemon Trainer Sarah, Suicune's Fire, Homura, The Frost Dragon, Lightning Dash, Shadow Tracker Max this is relevant to your interests.

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

Because I just don't know how to say no...

With a recent influx of vets, there's been some murmurings about a Team RP. For those not in the know, Team RP is a style of RPing developed by myself and Neo Emolga. It is basically a fusion of Risk and Dungeons & Dragons. In it, people RP on factions or teams, and build and command armies to take over the world from other teams. PE2K hosted 8 successful Team RPs while PXR has hosted a Team RP-style WAR RP that's still going strong. Unlike the WAR RP, if this were to happen, Neo and I would definitely uphold our age-old rule of never being on the same team. I know I am also interested in RPing a good guy for the first time in my life. Likewise, since no points are given out and the RP is based purely on the flow of conflict, I feel like a lot of people will have a better idea what they're getting into for this one, so battles won't come as much of a surprise as they did in the WAR RP.

If there is significant interest, here are the following questions that need to be answered:
What is the threshold for "enough interest" in order to begin planning a Team RP?
What is the entrance requirement for a team? How many teams will there be?
Modern technological level or futuristic?
Will it be set on the Pokemon-world/Maridia or on a planet(s) of our own creation?
Should project lists be re-introduced?
Do we need to have Pokemon in the RP?

Neo Emolga, Shen, HKim, XaiakuX, Saraibre Ryu, Grassy_Aggron, The Nonexistent Tazz, bronislav84, paperfairy, MC Elesa, Finch, SuperBoy, Akaida, Skiiage, Pokemon Trainer Sarah, Suicune's Fire, Homura, The Frost Dragon, Lightning Dash, Shadow Tracker Max this is relevant to your interests.

I'd be willing to make a team for this, FYI. Probably a villain team, but I'm not sure what yet.

I'm not sure on team size, but I think more than fifteen-sixteen people should be the bare minimum for even considering a Team RP in the first place.

On teams: 4 members per team (including the leader), and at least three teams total should suffice.

I think a setting leaning more towards the modern end would be OK, but I'd like two fields of technology that are obviously futuristic due to the sheer level of presence in the Pokemonverse alerady: Psionics and Digitalization. However, I'm game for anything tech-wise, really.

I'm pretty sure having locations everyone can remember would help, so I'm game for another round in Maridia. I'd take it a step further and make it a distant sequal to the WAR RP that's ongoing-not sure if anyone agrees to THAT point, but this would be distant enough that the factions of the original have disbanded, and took their secrets with them so we can start over from scratch. I'm game for most anything, though.

Project Lists I think should remain out of the picture. It's not like we still can't make multiple projects at once anyways, and though I worked with them once, I cannot see the benefit that some coordination can easily make up for in spades.

And lastly, Pokemon. This is a Pokemon forum. We don't NEED Pokemon, true, but let's face facts, we want them way too much anyways so we should just assume we need them.

[bronislav84]

I don't think we have enough RPers on Cross to fit fifteen people team minimums. Make four bare minimum for a team. Unless you mean fifteen to sixteen for interest, then yea.

I think near future would be a good setting, and yea as a Pokémon forum it needs Pokémon. That doesn't mean we can't integrate other fandoms, though. I've always wanted to do an Avatar/Pokémon RP. Also Sonic/Pokémon could have worked out, but that just became unnecessarily complicated. It could have been a little different. The idea was sound though.

We keep the relative tech level, but make it so the factions have disbanded yea. Though some things would remain. I'm thinking Amelia would found a whole civilization with her magic, for example.

We don't need project lists, but people can easily develop things just by writing about there being progress made.

I would like to bring back DARK, but if Trainer comes back as a team I'd probably stay with it.

[Dragon Master Mike]

I just wanted to say that I would be interested in this if it comes about.

[Neo Emolga]

I really like RPs, but I'm just not sure where I'll be come a few months from now. But in any case, I could toss in my few cents here.

What is the threshold for "enough interest" in order to begin planning a Team RP?

I would say at least ten people and two teams as the bare bones minimum. Given, the more, the merrier.

What is the entrance requirement for a team? How many teams will there be?

I agree with Bron, I would say a four member minimum. As for number of teams, anything between 2-8 is feasible, and that's a pretty wide area to work with, I feel.

Modern technological level or futuristic?

This is a toughie. I'm leaning a bit more toward futuristic. Because... well... laser explosions!

Will it be set on the Pokemon-world/Maridia or on a planet(s) of our own creation?

World-building gets tricky and the issue there is it often feels smaller than working with the Pokémon world as is. It really depends on what you're going for, though.

Should project lists be re-introduced?

We don't really need them. I'd be okay either way, though.

Do we need to have Pokémon in the RP?

Nah, we don't need them, but if you take them out, definitely consider having something else to fill in the void that's going to be there when no one has the critters to summon. That could be anything between magic, superpowers, abilities, and whatnot. Races has always been kind of a weird area here though. We've tried it in the past and got mixed results, so I'm not sure.

--------

And some other considerations include:

For one, a Team RP with the setting style of Wreck-It-Ralph, I feel, would be awesome. If you haven't seen Wreck-It-Ralph, shut off your bloody computer/phone IMMEDIATELY and SEE IT NOW. Just kidding, but seriously, it's an epic movie, easily one of my favorites. But in a sense, it's a setting where there's an arcade, multiple games are connected via a surge which acts like a grand central station that allows characters from one game to cross into others.

In this scenario, each team would represent their own video game (one that's made up), and the objective there would be to defend their own unique game world, but then try to sabotage the others. Meanwhile, there could be something else going on, such as a computer virus or something that's messing with game code and causing mishaps to happen.

The other idea I've always wanted to try is a Kung-Fu Panda style RP where all the characters are anthropomorphic characters using Chinese or Japanese weaponry and fighting styles in a Feudal China/Japan setting. Incorporate some magic and/or special abilities/powers and I think it could be the recipe for a pretty interesting and fun RP.


So yeah, there's my input.

[bronislav84]

Just gonna comment on a point Neo made. I think rather than making it specific made up video games and having people fit their characters into that, I think it should be types of video games. Genres. Say sci-fi, fantasy, high fantasy, mech, etc. That way we can actually do epic showdowns of characters from games we actually like. It also removes the problem of "Oh I wanna join that team but hate their snuggly bunny game concept" by increasing character variety. You get the idea.

[Finch]

As far as my own opinions on this goes I'm all for it conceptually, but so out of the loop that any input or advice from my end could be a little sketchy to say the least. That said, a few thoughts:

I am with what appears to be a growing concensus supporting a minimum of 2 teams of 4. I wouldn't be against a draft system as has been implemented for PE2K war teams either, to hopefully allow for a degree of team balancing.

Setting, including technological advancement, would be of very little importance to my own interest in the RP. I'd be on board with whatever. While ideas are being tossed around though, I did come up with something a while back that some vets might remember involving a Maridia vs Earth scenario. Some technological breakthrough could lead to one civilisation discovering the other and a conflict arising... you get the picture. Fairly sure it died from inactivity but the concept was solid, could dig it up.

Why should project lists ever be re-introduced?

Do we need to have Pokemon in the RP? Again, not of massive importance personally. Would consider any scenario.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

I fully support this if you guys get enough interest! :) Just want to point out that we have quite a few people interested in more casual RPing. I know that's not what you guys like, but if you're finding it hard to get interest, it might be an idea to consider making it more newbie friendly/less intimidating and get some of those guys involved.

Hope this works out. Just let me know if you need anything from the staff side! :D

[Lord Celebi]

I fully support this if you guys get enough interest! :) Just want to point out that we have quite a few people interested in more casual RPing. I know that's not what you guys like, but if you're finding it hard to get interest, it might be an idea to consider making it more newbie friendly/less intimidating and get some of those guys involved.

Hope this works out. Just let me know if you need anything from the staff side! :D

Pokemon Trainer Sarah, what would you recommend to make this event more casual friendly?

[bronislav84]

I would like to say I'm very much against drafts and/or ceiling caps. While it does make for fairness overall, it creates unfairness for individual players.

If I can't join a team with my good friends and have to join a team I don't like just cause the one I like is full, I feel sad and might be less inclined overall to participate.

If I don't get drafted to a team with my good friends and either somebody wants me that I don't like or I'm at my refusal limit (If there's such a thing) I'm stuck writing for a team I don't want to be on if I want to participate at all.

You get the idea.

[SuperBoy]

Here's my two cents.

I'm on board with the two team concept. Four members minimum is perfect. You'd be surprised what a team of four can do. Add that with a second team of four, and you've already got eight RPers. Of course this is just the minimum requirement, and maybe if enough interest is generated amongst those who have never RPed as well, you can build a third and fourth team. That's hopeful thinking though. Two teams, four members minimum. Also, I like Finch's notion of having a draft. It switches things up and makes things all the more interesting, but that's just a personal preference.

As far as the setting goes, I don't really care. Maridia would be ideal simply because most of us already know the location well enough. However, I'm game if the setting is different as well. It doesn't matter to me. I'm just there to RP.

Project list would be nice, but mainly for newer RPers. However, since the majority of us participating are vets, I think we can do without them. I'm good with whatever.

Personally, I'd prefer if Pokémon are involved. Great way to engage the enemy besides all of the weaponry. And c'mon.. they're Pokémon! Why would we not include the critters?

Anyways, there you go.

[Finch]

In case anyone's interested/nostalgic, my old concept: http://www.pokemonelite2000.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94769

[bronislav84]

That's actually quite good Finch. Needs updates for new generations and maybe teams changed to account for teams created if this becomes the Team RP, but it's a good idea. Dunno how I missed it when it ran.

Oh and the teams are hilarious!

An idea like this was my original idea for the Sonic/Pokémon RP, but people wanted a melding of worlds and there were other issues in how it was handled.

And I'm still against drafts/ceilings.

[Neo Emolga]

Yeah, I wouldn't do a draft or a ceiling. While some might see it as a good opportunity to try something new, I think most people don't really bother giving it a chance and just head off to do other things.

[Lord Celebi]

My thoughts:

First of all, I don't want to jump the gun too much. I'd really like to finish out the WAR RP.

What is the threshold for "enough interest" in order to begin planning a Team RP?
12-16 people seems fair.

What is the entrance requirement for a team? How many teams will there be?
I'm liking the 4x2... system we're talking about right now.

Modern technological level or futuristic?
I kind of want to go futuristic.

Will it be set on the Pokemon-world/Maridia or on a planet(s) of our own creation?
What if we had each team create and control an entire dimension? So one team could be a future dimension, one could be a magic dimension, one could be the Pokemon dimension... etc so that everyone sort of gets to do what they want and we can do something of a scale not yet done.

Should project lists be re-introduced?
No.

Do we need to have Pokemon in the RP?
See above. I'm just getting a little tired of the little critters, that's all.

[bronislav84]

I'd also like to finish the current War RP before this gets started.

I think making up entire dimensions is a bit ambitious. It could take weeks or months to make, not to mention look overwhelming and going into the mind blown area. If we do that, let's stick to, at max, a planet per team and planets in a single solar system. Reminds me of that one Team RP from before where we did that after War 5. I still have the Calmencia map.

[SuperBoy]

The dimension idea, although clever and a new frontier that we haven't tackled yet, would require a semi-large amount of RPers in my opinion. I can't see it flourishing with just two teams, you know? It can work, but I'd much rather have 4-5 teams each in control of their own dimension rather than Team A and Team B in charge of two separate dimensions. With two teams, I feel like we have to go on a smaller scale.

[Finch]

The dimension idea, although clever and a new frontier that we haven't tackled yet, would require a semi-large amount of RPers in my opinion. I can't see it flourishing with just two teams, you know? It can work, but I'd much rather have 4-5 teams each in control of their own dimension rather than Team A and Team B in charge of two separate dimensions. With two teams, I feel like we have to go on a smaller scale.
It could always be a 2 dimensions, multiple factions within each type affair. A team could choose their starting dimension/location within it (still using my old example for reference here) and backstory/goals could vary wildly. Just a nice way to interweave the Pokemon world with ancient, modern, or futuristic real-world combat.

[SuperBoy]

It could always be a 2 dimensions, multiple factions within each type affair. A team could choose their starting dimension/location within it (still using my old example for reference here) and backstory/goals could vary wildly. Just a nice way to interweave the Pokemon world with ancient, modern, or futuristic real-world combat.

Just read through the link that you posted above. It's very interesting. An idea like that works because it's two dimensions, so two teams would definitely flourish. I was just referring to an idea with multiple dimensions with my statement above. Anything with 3+ dimensions wouldn't work out in my opinion with just two teams; however, an idea like yours is solid.

Can't believe I missed out on that RP.

[bronislav84]

Finch and Cold you're thinking of planets. Pokémon world is one planet. Earth is one planet. That's what I suggested. Entire dimensions are like entire solar systems, universes, and galaxies. There's no way in a million years somebody can design an entire dimension.

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

Finch and Cold you're thinking of planets. Pokémon world is one planet. Earth is one planet. That's what I suggested. Entire dimensions are like entire solar systems, universes, and galaxies. There's no way in a million years somebody can design an entire dimension.

At best, we can have neighboring solar systems, with each team getting a starting planet or something like that in a group of three so everyone has a planet and there are a lot to expand to as well, even if we have six teams or so. We can start with two as a bare minimum, then add an extra with each two teams. Anyone like that idea?

[Finch]

I'm quite familiar with the astronomy, Bron. It was just my trippy sci-fi way of linking two planets instantaneously without wormholes or FTL travel. Please also bear in mind that this was written before I took university level physics.

[bronislav84]

I had a great reply here and the forum ate it. Let's see if I can recreate it.

Tazz, do you have ANY idea how much work it would take to create just one planet? Just one. Look at how much room we have on our world. Now imagine using that as an RP. At most we would use like a couple of cities at best. Example: Look at how much of the Pokémon world was actually used in the recent War RP, and that's just one planet. There's a ton of room on just one planet. It's just too much work to create more than one planet per team just to leave the majority of each underutilized. It's too complicated. All we need is one planet per team in the same solar system, and just give them different world rules (Pokémon or no Pokémon, medieval or star trek like and so on), because a planet can have a ton of room especially with RP space being arbitrary. I urge you to look on the Aqua forums for the solar system designed before. It's huge man, and one planet per team was plenty.

Oh, well in that case Finch I see your point. Technically they could have both been Earth so you're not completely off, but there's really no need to suggest making entire dimensions. One planet per parallel dimension being linked to is plenty, as you did in your RP.

[Finch]

Which, again, was my exact suggestion. You only need to create a playable part and leave the rest untouched to have both a massive, "epic" feel but keep the narrative and practicality more than manageable. How much of Coruscant has any of us actually seen in the Star Wars franchise, even including all the extended universe and spin-offs? Tuchanka in the Mass Effect trilogy?

[SuperBoy]

Which, again, was my exact suggestion. You only need to create a playable part and leave the rest untouched to have both a massive, "epic" feel but keep the narrative and practicality more than manageable. How much of Coruscant has any of us actually seen in the Star Wars franchise, even including all the extended universe and spin-offs? Tuchanka in the Mass Effect trilogy?

This.

All that is necessary is something playable. Just because a new dimension is introduced doesn't mean that every detail has to be explained. You really can get away with opening up a new dimension and having just a small portion of it be playable for RP purposes. To be honest, it's almost the equivalent of having two different planets in the same system. If someone said Earth was two planets away from the Pokémon world, and another RP said Earth was in one dimension and the Pokémon world was in another, yet both RPs only allowed travel between the two lands exclusively, I don't think it would make a difference because we'd have our primary focuses. Dimensional details only matter if the dimension has specific rules or an ongoing conflict outside of the main plot that could effect the RP.

[bronislav84]

That still just seems like way too much work for little use out of it. Keep it to one planet per team and it still feels epic enough but not overwhelming. Otherwise it's too complicated. That's exactly how we can have what Pokemon Trainer Sarah suggested: Newbie friendly and not intimidating.

And in the subject of Coruscant, go play SWTOR. You can explore a lot of it. Still not all of course, but a lot. They do that with all the playable planets.

[Steel Lunpara]

There's an interesting thing to note about the scale of the world: The larger a universe gets, the less concentrated notable locations will be. When a story takes place in a single country, that single country will be bustling with life, containing all sorts of notable locations, people, and history. On the other hand, when it's on a galactic scale, each planet will only have around one notable thing to it. Now, that's not to say this is a bad thing; Even though each planet would be have less notable culture or locations, if there are more countries, planets, dimensions, or whatever, each one is able to have increasingly different rulesets. If you only have one country, it's doubtful that each town will have different climates, gravity, or even laws of physics. A larger scale allows for those things. Whichever one you chose will have it's own advantages, so I just wanted to point it out.

[Neo Emolga]

That still just seems like way too much work for little use out of it. Keep it to one planet and it still feels epic enough but not overwhelming. Otherwise it's too complicated. That's exactly how we can have what Pokemon Trainer Sarah suggested: Newbie friendly and not intimidating.

And in the subject of Coruscant, go play SWTOR. You can explore a lot of it. Still not all of course, but a lot. They do that with all the playable planets.

I don't think MMOs are the best example to use here. One thing I've noticed about MMOs is that the storyline gets butchered badly. Events and quests have to be reset again and again and nothing really changes. In the meantime, MMOs are more about the community of players and player interaction as opposed to storyline or character development.

When creating a whole planet, dimension, or world, it's really up to you to decide how complex you want to make it. You obviously don't need to describe every nook and cranny of that entire world. Major cities, locations, geographical areas, culture, civilizations, sure, all those need attention and development, but you don't need to go totally nuts about detailing every square foot of this new realm.

I did go into this whole process earlier (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?180-The-Pok%E9mon-Crossroads-Role-Playing-Guide-(Beginners-Advanced-and-Role-Play-Creation)&p=2490&viewfull=1#post2490), but I know everyone has their own style of doing it. All I'm saying is world-building, while a bit challenging, isn't impossible and shouldn't be ruled out as an option for this. Besides, in the past RPs, we've worked with an entire solar system before and it held together.

[bronislav84]

I was just using the MMO as an example, but I see what you're saying. What I mean is exactly what you're saying, at least near the end: We should keep it to a solar system.

[MC Elesa]

Thanks guys for the invite but to be honest, I don't think I have the time to devote to a full Team style RP right now. I have just started a new job and I really like the work that I have been doing for PXR as a writer and want to keep my pace of articles going. Maybe when things settle down a bit then I will try my best to get back into Team/Forum base RPing.

So far all things look great and glad to see many vets and newcommers entering the arena.

[Finch]

I feel a little like I'm repeating myself here but I'll try to rephrase: I am not proposing world building of any sort. The assumption is that extraterrestrial travel/colonisation are out of both Earth and Maridia's technological scopes with the sole exception of interplanetary travel with one another. Call it what you will, but there doesn't seem to be anything complicated about using two already established settings side by side.

[SuperBoy]

I feel a little like I'm repeating myself here but I'll try to rephrase: I am not proposing world building of any sort. The assumption is that extraterrestrial travel/colonisation are out of both Earth and Maridia's technological scopes with the sole exception of interplanetary travel with one another. Call it what you will, but there doesn't seem to be anything complicated about using two already established settings side by side.

Agreed. Sounds simple enough to me.

[bronislav84]

I do like that old RP idea of yours Finch.

[Lord Celebi]

I had a great reply here and the forum ate it. Let's see if I can recreate it.

Tazz, do you have ANY idea how much work it would take to create just one planet? Just one. Look at how much room we have on our world. Now imagine using that as an RP. At most we would use like a couple of cities at best. Example: Look at how much of the Pokémon world was actually used in the recent War RP, and that's just one planet. There's a ton of room on just one planet. It's just too much work to create more than one planet per team just to leave the majority of each underutilized. It's too complicated. All we need is one planet per team in the same solar system, and just give them different world rules (Pokémon or no Pokémon, medieval or star trek like and so on), because a planet can have a ton of room especially with RP space being arbitrary. I urge you to look on the Aqua forums for the solar system designed before. It's huge man, and one planet per team was plenty.

Oh, well in that case Finch I see your point. Technically they could have both been Earth so you're not completely off, but there's really no need to suggest making entire dimensions. One planet per parallel dimension being linked to is plenty, as you did in your RP.
We can world-build as we go though. We don't need to hone in on each individual aspect of each planet/dimension/city/whatever before the RP. We just need to have a general idea of the geography we have to play with and let people go nuts. That's how I made Ramdyne. That's how Neo made Kazmar.* It worked pretty well for both of us then.

*Ramdyne and Kazmar were the two planets Neo and I created for the solar system in the WAR Season V RP.


That still just seems like way too much work for little use out of it. Keep it to one planet per team and it still feels epic enough but not overwhelming. Otherwise it's too complicated. That's exactly how we can have what Pokemon Trainer Sarah suggested: Newbie friendly and not intimidating.

And in the subject of Coruscant, go play SWTOR. You can explore a lot of it. Still not all of course, but a lot. They do that with all the playable planets.
While I do understand that being Newbie-friendly is desired, there's only so much I'm willing to sacrifice to get there. I still want to do something original that will keep all of our interest while also capturing the imaginations of those not as inundated as us.


Thanks guys for the invite but to be honest, I don't think I have the time to devote to a full Team style RP right now. I have just started a new job and I really like the work that I have been doing for PXR as a writer and want to keep my pace of articles going. Maybe when things settle down a bit then I will try my best to get back into Team/Forum base RPing.

So far all things look great and glad to see many vets and newcommers entering the arena.
Awww Mikey. We've been missing your special brand of insanity in the WAR RP too. :(

I feel a little like I'm repeating myself here but I'll try to rephrase: I am not proposing world building of any sort. The assumption is that extraterrestrial travel/colonisation are out of both Earth and Maridia's technological scopes with the sole exception of interplanetary travel with one another. Call it what you will, but there doesn't seem to be anything complicated about using two already established settings side by side.
I wouldn't feel comfortable doing a Team RP on Earth. Particularly with the crazy military **** we do, in this day and age, talking about things that explode and real life locations gets you put on lists.

[Grassy_Aggron]

I can see this working if it's done carefully and planned well. For the most part I'd limit other solar systems to being curiosities or resources - I generally build solar systems for the heck of it while keeping them moderately realistic, and I might do that for this RP just to at least make the universe feel...full. I would love to use one of my solar systems that I already built though... Well, planet, and sun. The other planets aren't really there currently but XD Always room for expansion!

As for technology, well, having them be on different planets would easily explain that issue. Alternatively, the planet itself could be highly segregated on sides, or perhaps the civilians on the moon developed differently from the planet. There are a ton of possibilities to go with this :3

Pokemon, we can do with or without. Inb4Digimon. He he. I'm not helpful here but people have already have four pages to throw ideas XD I must say the Wreck-It-Ralph idea is pretty neat, too, and I do think at least two teams should be present, but more would be a bonus.

[bronislav84]

You make solid points rusty, and yea I honestly wouldn't be comfortable using a copy of our own world either.

I was saying before that different planets could have different world rules. No need to have entire dimensions, just one solar system. But see, Grassy seems to agree. Reusing a solar system we already have, either by rusty or Grassy sounds like a good idea to me.

[Finch]

I wouldn't feel comfortable doing a Team RP on Earth. Particularly with the crazy military **** we do, in this day and age, talking about things that explode and real life locations gets you put on lists.
A fair point, hadn't even considered that to be honest. I still think the travel mechanic, or something similar, would be a plausible way to connect playspaces without years of spaceflight. Just use different planets I guess.