kalikilic wrote...
Regards.
Project Phoenix. This is a rather, daunting task, if nothing else. The amalgamation of the ideas would be one of the toughest's tasks, second only to, (I assume) actually having a sensible storyline/plot which can seamlessly incorporate several sub plots, if desired, all the while keeping readers immersed in something that they enjoy, not because it has one particular perspective of Shepard that they like, but rather, because of how ideas were stemmed and streamed from all of you, into a Shepard whose differences (from their own Shepard) they can appreciate just because it's different in the "right" way. Meaning that, for example, it can be easy to just pick and choose a default like, War Hero, Ruthless or Soul Survivor, but it becomes more interesting, more human, if you wipe the slate clean and discuss who your own Shepards were, and thereby create a new person, a new background. You shouldn't really think of it as just "merging two backgrounds." Start with no backgrounds, an empty canvas. And create a background.
PP is not simple, but it isn't as complex as you believe it to be. It is not a novel or a chain story. There will be no,
"You go, I go. You write this subplot, I'll write the main script. You do characters, I do plot. You write this chapter, I'll write the next." None of that.
It will be a collection of polished stories, dialogues, diary entries, emails, whatever-piece-of-writing-describes the life and career Ashley Williams from 2176-2186.
Shepard will be featured as a major character in Ashley's story. Why? Because two games center on their dynamic as a Superior-Subordinate. Lover-Ex Flame. Alliance-Cerberus. There was a lot to the Shepard and Ash relationship in ME2 and ME3 and the execution of that storyarc was diappointing to say the least. And the impact he had on her over three years was significant. It changed her and it changed him. We can illustrate that development.
And I think it's best to go with what you know. Write what you know. We all know the gist each background. Why start from scratch? In-game Shepard has been shaped by those three backgrounds.
And yes, there'll be differences among contributors, but that's because some aspects of the characters would have to be more concrete where they won't be much room for "merging' if you will. If the traits that are to be concrete in a character's personality are not; if s/he acts like an angel in one plot, and then like a devil in the other, and then like a stoic dud in an other plot, semblance of who the person is just falls apart. Your story loses touch, and readers just drift away from the characters. So some things would have to be concrete in order to have a defined direction, or focus. This would also impact on storytelling and is quite different from a character experiencing or expressing a myriad of emotions. What the characters experience and how they react to it would help the readers understand the characters and this again aids in storytelling. Your readers would know what to expect from the characters and in this light, readers can appreciate characters with a difference. Even though they may not relate to the characters personally, because of the fact that they get to know them on a personal level is what Attachment and Immersion is all about. This is what Bioware WAS good at one time. And in order to make this something worth reading, it has to put to the test Bioware's previous work on storytelling. We all know that our simple headcannon nowadays surpasses alot of what Bioware did in ME3.
That is precisely why PP contributors must discuss each topic and communicate with one another before beginning. That is precisely why a template Shepard is being decided. There cannot be several Shepard extremes. It won't work.
If it's Ashley centered though, you still have your supporting cast. And the development of each character impacts on Ashley's development as a character herself in her story. However you meld and create Shepard is an indication of how Ashley views Shepard thereby becoming an extension of Ashley herself. After all, it is her supercannon. You wouldnt want to create Shepard 'A' with a set of traits and then create Ashley 'Z' with a set of traits that would make her hate Shepard 'A' only to have the two of them magically fall in love. We can do that, but then no one would read it and we'd be worse than Bioware...Imagine that...So Z is dependent on A and A tends to be a subset of Z or an intersecting set if you will.
No, Shepard does not need to be an extension of Ashley. I'd prefer a juxtapose them. At their core, they are vaslty different characters. Shepard is an N7 graduate. Ash has spent most of her career on garriosn duty. Shepard is the Alliance Posterboy. Ashley's grandfather is considered a shame to humanity.
But I think it goes without saying that there is a baseline commonality to their relationship as humans, as Alliance soldiers, as friends, and as lovers. Working within those confines the possibility of genrating a Anti-Ash Shepard is slim.
I really do think that the hardest thing would be getting down to the minute of details in all your ideas and from there work your way up into creating a full blown concept for a character or a situation. Once that is down, the storyline becomes that much easier to weave albeit it, keeping it interesting would be the toughest task. Nothing has to be deep convoluted complicated ideas that would lose the reader before they even reach it, but a balance of simplistic yet aesthetic, with contemplative and real ideas would do the trick. Of all things, the supercannon must be human.
No need to be minute. We need realism and cohesion, however. If Shepard breaksdown in one scene he cannot be stiff backed and eagle eyed as though it never happened in the next and breakdown again subsquently. That would be an extreme emotional yo-yo that no one is interested in.
If Ashley served at BFE colony in the Verge she should not be an intelligence officer at Alliance HQ. Things like that. Consistency. The planning period of PP
does not dictate or create storyline to explore in the SuperCannon. It only establishes the facts and a template for contributors to follow in basic characterization in their writing.
From there, you can pick and choose what you want to write about. You want to write about Ash's officer training? Go ahead. You want to write about her becoming platoon guide in bootcamp? Go for it. You want to write about Post SR1 Ash? The details on that time will be at PP for you to use. You want to fill in a glaring ME3 blank, say Ash commenting on the genophage cure, on the return of the Rachni with reference to Shepard's ME1 decision? We got you covered. You want Ash to talk to Shepard about her beliefs and ask him about his - because, y'know, the end of the world is nigh? Don't tiptoe around religion. Press on. PP has a consensus on that. You want Ash to know how Shepard copes so well with the stress of war, and well, hmm, he's been through Elysium and Torfan, you want to explore that? Get on it. You can find out just what it was like at PP. Would Hannah Shepard approve of Ash? Wait, what is Hannah Shepard like? Check PP. What was it like for Shepard growing up with a Spacer background in comparison to Ash? You know where to find details. Maybe you just want to write Ash's dossier. But, wait! What did she do from
here to here exactly? What where her duties? What was her rank? That information will be available.
That's the purpose of PP. Once there is enough content, we will put it all together.
Modifié par Youth4Ever, 22 juin 2012 - 05:59 .
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