The Energon Pub

Not sure if I just missed this or not, but is there a back story, yet, as to why there will be Maximals and Preds in v2? Are the two groups still on Seibertron or do they battle on a different planet? Maybe a bit of Beast Machines "technorganic" Cybertron in the mix?

I think this is the only thing we got so far its in the V2 faqs

11. What role will the 4 factions play story-wise?
Maximals -
They have been in charge for thousands of years only to see order disintegrate before their eyes. The High Council's diplomatic ways of handling conflicts are no longer keeping the peace and now they have to organize themselves as a military power on Cybertron in order to survive.
-----Lawful Good. The years in power have taught the Maximals that the best way to maintain order on Cybertron is through well-documented procedures and manuals for handling anything. They view the coming storm of the Decepticons as nothing more than a Real Time Strategy game, with set objectives and specific ways to get there. The return of the Autobots en masse worries many Maximals due to their slightly more chaotic look at war and many Maximals would silence the Autobots if they could in order to make sure that no chaotic elements are thrown into the war.

Predacons -
Only a small political lobby on Cybertron for the better part of a thousand years, the Predacons have waited for the time when they can overthrow the Maximal High Council and take over Cybertron. The recent activities of the Decepticons have opened up the opportunities they have been waiting for.
-----Lawful Evil. What started as a small dissenting voice on the maximal Council of Cybertron slowly grew into the Predacon faction. They are still a small voice on the council but are massing an army on the sly. They see the Decepticons not as allies, but as a threat to their plans. The Decepticons wanton destruction means that when the Predacons take over, there will be nothing to rule. The predacons view Warfare as a precision instrument that kills the enemy, but leaves the surrounding area, and most innocents, standing.

Decepticons -
Since the dawn of the second Golden Age of Cybertron, the Decepticons have been reduced to nothing more than criminal activities. They are mainly viewed as a criminal organization on Cybertron but in truth they still have as much military strength as the Maximals. Being influenced by unknown outside forces, the Decepticons have come out of the shadows and are attempting to re-establish the Empire.
-----Chaotic Evil. The Decepticons have returned to a Cybertron fully rebuilt and run by a government reminiscent of the Autobot Council that, inadvertently, started the First Great War billions of years ago. The Decepticons, living up to Megatron's vision, are out to destroy every thing and every one until they control Cybertron, what's left of it. They view the Maximals as the autobot council of old, and the predacons as spineless; not willing to take the steps needed for victory. The Autobots are of course their most hated foes.

Autobots -
For millions of years the Transformers true to the ancient Autobot faction have been well known throughout the stars. They have travelled far as explorers, protectors and peacemakers. Since hearing of all the brewing conflict on Cybertron, The Autobots spread throughout the galaxy along with the few still on Cybertron have been rallied by an ancient leader to defend the homeworld from impending doom.
-----Chaotic Good. Soldiers from all over the universe don't care for councils, or rules or subsection 43-2-beta of the iacon precidence document, or whatever you call it. They are used to following the bot right above them in rank and all Autobots answer to one Autobot: Prime. They came back to Cybertron to fight their ancient enemies the Decepticons, who have made their return by unknown means. Many don't care for either the Maximals or The Predacon forces. To some warriors they are the same force. However if they interfere in the Autobots' mission to stop the Decepticons, many autobots will shoot first and ask questions later.

Storywise, who are the "faction leaders"?

EDIT: I meant not actual players, just characters, NPCs



So, the preds are lawful evil and the decepticons Chaotic evil?
note to myself: -1 point to predacons, +1 point to decepticons

Chaoslock wrote:Storywise, who are the "faction leaders"?

So, the preds are lawful evil and the decepticons Chaotic evil?
note to myself: -1 point to predacons, +1 point to decepticons

We've yet to decide. Personally I'd love to create our own characters to represent the new continuity. Maybe have 5 key figures for each faction.

I already have ideas for the Autobot and Decpticon Leaders

Mkall wrote:

Chaoslock wrote:Storywise, who are the "faction leaders"?

So, the preds are lawful evil and the decepticons Chaotic evil?
note to myself: -1 point to predacons, +1 point to decepticons

We've yet to decide. Personally I'd love to create our own characters to represent the new continuity. Maybe have 5 key figures for each faction.

Well, why give them particular leaders anyway? Why not keep it vague enough for players to create their own stories? That was one of things that made HMW 1.X interesting.

Thunderscream wrote:

Mkall wrote:

Chaoslock wrote:Storywise, who are the "faction leaders"?

So, the preds are lawful evil and the decepticons Chaotic evil?
note to myself: -1 point to predacons, +1 point to decepticons

We've yet to decide. Personally I'd love to create our own characters to represent the new continuity. Maybe have 5 key figures for each faction.

Well, why give them particular leaders anyway? Why not keep it vague enough for players to create their own stories? That was one of things that made HMW 1.X interesting.

*in Starscreams voice* I nominate myself as new leader of the Predacons

I'll support any Predacon leader strong enough to untie our forces and ruthless enough to strike terror into the hears of the enemy.

Symbiote Spiderman14 wrote:

Thunderscream wrote:

Mkall wrote:

Chaoslock wrote:Storywise, who are the "faction leaders"?

So, the preds are lawful evil and the decepticons Chaotic evil?
note to myself: -1 point to predacons, +1 point to decepticons

We've yet to decide. Personally I'd love to create our own characters to represent the new continuity. Maybe have 5 key figures for each faction.

Well, why give them particular leaders anyway? Why not keep it vague enough for players to create their own stories? That was one of things that made HMW 1.X interesting.

*in Starscreams voice* I nominate myself as new leader of the Predacons

Which makes sense since I'm going Pred

Original Sin wrote:

Symbiote Spiderman14 wrote:

Thunderscream wrote:

Mkall wrote:

Chaoslock wrote:Storywise, who are the "faction leaders"?

So, the preds are lawful evil and the decepticons Chaotic evil?
note to myself: -1 point to predacons, +1 point to decepticons

We've yet to decide. Personally I'd love to create our own characters to represent the new continuity. Maybe have 5 key figures for each faction.

Well, why give them particular leaders anyway? Why not keep it vague enough for players to create their own stories? That was one of things that made HMW 1.X interesting.

*in Jetfires voice* I nominate myself as new leader of the Predacons

Which makes sense since I'm going Pred

oops sorry my bad i didn't mean starscream fixed now

I vote for Mister OS for the Primus's spot. I vote JP for the Unicron spot Of course I will be the pink bunny !


forever

Thunderscream wrote:

Mkall wrote:

Chaoslock wrote:Storywise, who are the "faction leaders"?

So, the preds are lawful evil and the decepticons Chaotic evil?
note to myself: -1 point to predacons, +1 point to decepticons

We've yet to decide. Personally I'd love to create our own characters to represent the new continuity. Maybe have 5 key figures for each faction.

Well, why give them particular leaders anyway? Why not keep it vague enough for players to create their own stories? That was one of things that made HMW 1.X interesting.

We want to be able to incorporate noncanon characters in the story-telling aspect of the game, but we can't necessarily use player characters - I mean, we'd have to quibble over who gets in and who doesn't, and the owners might wind up not appreciating how we handle the characters.

Nevertheless, I think the story will remain vague enough that players could easily write a back ground for their team without it conflicting with the story.

Mkall and I have both thrown in various Autobot and Decepticon characters for consideration, and I've contributed a Predacon that I really hope makes it to the final draft.

She's based on a really twisted idea that's been cooking in my brain for about a month. I think the Pred players would be proud of her.

Symbiote Spiderman14 wrote:

Original Sin wrote:

Symbiote Spiderman14 wrote:

Thunderscream wrote:

Mkall wrote:

Chaoslock wrote:Storywise, who are the "faction leaders"?

So, the preds are lawful evil and the decepticons Chaotic evil?
note to myself: -1 point to predacons, +1 point to decepticons

We've yet to decide. Personally I'd love to create our own characters to represent the new continuity. Maybe have 5 key figures for each faction.

Well, why give them particular leaders anyway? Why not keep it vague enough for players to create their own stories? That was one of things that made HMW 1.X interesting.

*in Jetfires voice* I nominate myself as new leader of the Predacons

Which makes sense since I'm going Pred

oops sorry my bad i didn't mean starscream fixed now

The names Skyfire Spidey

*Skyfire and Starscream open fire on Spidey*

Say you introduce leaders for factions. What is their purpose in terms of gameplay? Will they be player controlled or will it just be ther names at the top of the mission page? (In the style of "Attention, this is Starscream, hell in a cell etc etc" and he ones we have now)
If player controlled, how do you decide which player controls them?

I have a feeling it would be more for the storyline of the game, but if not that is a valid question.

The nice thing about TF lore, is that there are so many glitches in history that we could all run around with Matrixes and Hairy Chests and no one could complain.

I think some of the fembots might complain about the Hairy Chests

no fembot could resist a hairy chest and matrix on a gold chain. 60% of the time, it works all the time.

Daneki wrote:Say you introduce leaders for factions. What is their purpose in terms of gameplay? Will they be player controlled or will it just be ther names at the top of the mission page?

They would not be player controlled.

Most likely, they'll just be referred to in Mission Briefings and Faction Announcements.

Though it would be cool to have them occasionally show up as NPCs like the Quintessons and The Fallen, I think it is unlikely.

I say Razorclaw as the ancient wise supreme leader of the Predicons.

Starscream as the Imortal leader of the decepticons.

Optimus Prime as the leader of the Autobots, that is if he is still alive, Star Sabre is cool too, or somone new could have become the new Prime.

I have no idea if the Maximals have a supreme commander, They could get orders directly from the council, or a few main generals or somthing.

GreenLantern of Cybertron wrote:I say Razorclaw as the ancient wise supreme leader of the Predicons.

Starscream as the Imortal leader of the decepticons.

Optimus Prime as the leader of the Autobots, that is if he is still alive, Star Sabre is cool too, or somone new could have become the new Prime.

I have no idea if the Maximals have a supreme commander, They could get orders directly from the council, or a few main generals or somthing.

Razorclaw was my first thought for the Predacons too.

Starscream, as commander of the decepticons... Could work.

Autobots: Just one wish: Not Rodimus Prime. Kill him somehow. Please

Maximals: Maybe Lio Convoy?

So the plan to some how adhere this to canon continuity has been abandoned in favor of a unique HMW continuity?

Either way, I don't see why there needs to be any particular bosses. "Decepticon/Autobot Command" has worked fine so far. As has incorporating canon characters into mission texts, why screw with things now?

And better yet, why does it need an ongoing storyline?

GreenLantern of Cybertron wrote:Optimus Prime as the leader of the Autobots, that is if he is still alive

If theres anything we learn about Transformers is that Optimus Prime dead doesn't stay dead for long.

Optimus Prime will be brought back when HMW page hits rapidly declined following his "death".

Burn wrote:And better yet, why does it need an ongoing storyline?

Because HMW is full of roleplayers who want a structured command, a leader to follow and a feeling of achievement after completing a certain task as opposed to the current monotonous growth with no particular success measure.

In layments terms; Plot to follow.