Opinions on an RP Weyr

[Kitsuneko]

Awhile back during one of the Nexus's downtimes in activity, I started to get into Pern RP Weyrs on forums. I've only stayed with one, but just recently I got some plot bunnies for an idea I'd been kicking around for awhile, and I'm planning to start one of my own now, though I'd like some opinions first. Also, if anyone here is interested in joining when it starts, I'll post a link.

The plot takes place several centuries after AIVAS and the end of thread, and a lot has changed in the intervening turns. Dragons have not declined in population, but stayed rather steadily at Interval levels, while their riders have become self-sufficient and are starting to leave the Weyr structure entirely. Part of the plot comes from just exploring the changes that are occurring across Pern as the dragonriders feel out their new roles in society.

The other half of the plot sends it from semi-normal into weird territory, due to a botched-up First Contact with a (small, fuzzy, lizard-like) alien race. Dragons detect an approaching colony-ship with alien life and mistake it as a dangerous asteroid. They shove it away with telekinetics, aliens view it as an unprovoked attack from what they thought was an uninhabited world, and war breaks out after the ship crashes.

A third plotpoint: Unbeknownst to the Pernese, a rogue group of the aliens started abducting dragons years ago and mucking about with their genetics, leading to three new colors: Purple (female), Red (female), and Black (male). Both female colors can chew firestone and still clutch, though there's a higher rate of dud eggs. But it still has the potential to lead to an overpopulation problem, especially since all dragons have started laying larger clutches due to the perceived threat of the aliens. (I kind of like the system I've got set up for Hatchings: Large gold hatchings once a turn or every other turn, maybe, and smaller purple and red clutches the rest of the time; since there are a lot of red dragons' eggs hatching off-screen one or two at a time all the time, there's also the option to buy a "special" Impression for a given candidate at any time to receive a fully-thought out hatchling without waiting for a festival-style hatching.)

That's a heck of a lot of backstory though, and I think any one of them could be a good setting for an RP Weyr. Here's where I need opinions. Should I go ahead and start the RP after the arrival of the alien race, as I originally planned? Or start somewhere earlier in the timeline and play out the original conflict on-screen, or drop the alien plot entirely? (I like the fuzzy lizard-aliens, but it's a lot of work to set up their society to a point where they could be role-played.)

EDIT: Well, either way, it's up now, if anyone's interested: http://quindellweyr.proboards.com/index.cgi

[weyrwomanrhiannon]

I actually used to run a PBeM myself. Southern Weyr in an Alt 11th pass. It was really interesting and I enjoyed it. I've also been in a few others including Dragonriders of Pern. That one I didn't last long in because of their requirements.

This sounds really interesting to me as I miss rp'ing Pern. I have a hard time though with non-canon RP.

[Dray]

I enjoy more dabbling RP these days, mostly because I don't have a lot of time to keep to continuity. I'm afraid that I'd make a pretty abysmal RP partner... but I'd love to see this take off, or even just to see some more Nexus-based RP happen at all. I liked bouncing my characters off of other folks' ones.

[Kitsuneko]

Unfortunately, interest in it seemed to die off pretty quick after the first few days, so it never really got off the ground.

[Neishai]

I'm mulling this over in my head. I got my dragoning start in RP Weyrs over a decade ago. Hard to believe but it's true! If I were to join in, this would put me full circle.

You've got an excellent idea, how interesting! I always thought it's great that Pern is the result of offworld colonization, plus some other really great sci-fi elements (genetic manipulation, alien cultures, etc.) but I never got past... Masterharper? So my knowledge of anything including/after AVIAS is pretty minimal. I'm also concerned about people having the available time to progress the story. (As for myself, for example, the plan is to move around August/September, and in the meantime I'm taking summer classes--quite a full load!) Since this RP Weyr idea is over a month old, I suppose you're probably already seeing that.

Are there plans to make this part of the Nexus, or separate from it?