XCarbornBladesX
05/01/15 11:52 AM
98.16.201.114
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Hey, i am new to the BattleTech universe and would like a explanation of the Dark Age. I looked it up on the wiki, but it didnt have enough detail. Also what type of mechs where used at the time.
Edited by XCarbornBladesX (05/01/15 03:32 PM)
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Cray
05/02/15 09:44 AM
97.101.96.171
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Quote:
XCarbornBladesX writes:
Hey, i am new to the BattleTech universe and would like a explanation of the Dark Age. I looked it up on the wiki, but it didnt have enough detail. Also what type of mechs where used at the time.
The 'Mechs used were "all of them." They leaned toward more advanced than the those of 31st Century, using more of the advanced gear found in experimental designs in the 3070s. There is a published, "Record Sheets: MechWarrior Dark Ages" with example designs.
The Dark Age is an overly dramatic name. A short historical overview:
1) Following Word of Blake Jihad, 3067-3083, a hero of the Jihad proposes taking the most-ravaged core planets of the Inner Sphere to form a new nation. This is accepted to varying degrees; the Capellans were fighting the idea decades later. However, it results in the "Republic of the Sphere" based on Terra and a group of worlds near it.
2) The Inner Sphere goes on. For the 50-year period from the 3080s to the 3130s, the Inner Sphere recovers, prospers, and has multiple wars (like it always does).
3) For reasons unknown, c3130, all the HPGs in the Inner Sphere shut down and the network is slow to recover. The fractured and ethnically segregated groups in the Republic of the Sphere think this is a great time to seek independence; join their original parent House; or take over the Republic; or all the above. Gradually, the various Houses and Inner Sphere Clans agree and attempt to take over chunks of the Republic.
So, the "Dark Ages" (maybe, "A Few Years When the Phones Aren't Working" is more correct) is a time when you have endless opportunities for combat with your favorite design of 'Mech against your favored factions. It's not quite on the scale of a Succession War, but it covers everything from small unit conflict to planetary invasions with multiple regiments.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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 Drasnighta
05/02/15 11:06 AM
198.53.98.65
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Quote:
Cray writes:
(maybe, "A Few Years When the Phones Aren't Working" is more correct)
This is inspiration for my new Campaign name. Thankyou.
CEO Heretic BattleMechs.
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Karagin
05/02/15 01:06 PM
70.118.139.48
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Nice way to explain it Cray...avoiding all the silly stuff.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Retry
05/02/15 04:11 PM
76.7.238.104
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Quote:
Karagin writes:
Nice way to explain it Cray...avoiding all the silly stuff.
I'd hold your tongue there. HPGs going down "for some unknown reason" is probably not the result of some regular maintenance routine.
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Karagin
05/02/15 04:14 PM
70.118.139.48
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Wrong silly stuff Retry.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Cray
05/02/15 04:34 PM
97.101.96.171
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Quote:
Retry writes:
I'd hold your tongue there. HPGs going down "for some unknown reason" is probably not the result of some regular maintenance routine.
No, the collapse was detailed in MWDA novels. [edit] After a short review: only the effects were detailed, not the cause. It remains a mystery, but seems like a planned move by someone planning evil deeds. It didn't work out, though, since the Republic got torn apart.
There's 30 novels about MWDA, XCarbonBladesX, and I notice I didn't really expand beyond the Sarna wiki. What did you want to know about MWDA?
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
Edited by Cray (05/02/15 04:56 PM)
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His_Most_Royal_Highass_Donkey
05/02/15 05:39 PM
172.56.8.227
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Quote:
Cray writes:
No, the collapse was detailed in MWDA novels. [edit] After a short review: only the effects were detailed, not the cause. It remains a mystery, but seems like a planned move by someone planning evil deeds. It didn't work out, though, since the Republic got torn apart.
OK I confess that I did it. I dropped a penny behind the master computer and when I took the cover off I broke the mother board. I did not want to be blamed so I just put the cover back and acted as if nothing was wrong.
Why argue if the glass is half full or half empty, when you know someone is going to knock it over and spill it anyways.
I was a Major *pain* before
But I got a promotion.
I am now a General *pain*
Yay for promotions!!!
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Cray
05/02/15 07:37 PM
97.101.96.171
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Quote:
His_Most_Royal_Highass_Donkey writes:
OK I confess that I did it. I dropped a penny behind the master computer and when I took the cover off I broke the mother board. I did not want to be blamed so I just put the cover back and acted as if nothing was wrong.
LOL! Happens to all of us.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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His_Most_Royal_Highass_Donkey
05/03/15 11:33 AM
172.56.9.180
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Quote:
Cray writes:
Quote:
His_Most_Royal_Highass_Donkey writes:
OK I confess that I did it. I dropped a penny behind the master computer and when I took the cover off I broke the mother board. I did not want to be blamed so I just put the cover back and acted as if nothing was wrong.
LOL! Happens to all of us.
Hey, I wanted my penny back! And if that causes the entire human civilization to crumble, well a penny is a worth something.
LOL
It would be as funny as all hell if it became cannon that it was something so trivial that caused the HPC system to crash.
Why argue if the glass is half full or half empty, when you know someone is going to knock it over and spill it anyways.
I was a Major *pain* before
But I got a promotion.
I am now a General *pain*
Yay for promotions!!!
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ghostrider
05/03/15 12:15 PM
76.89.120.217
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Those of us with out an inside track to the story line, it would appear the organization that did this could have succeeded, especially if their goal was to break up the republic.
They may have gotten there asses handed to them in the initial fighting, since most good hackers normally aren't that good in a fight.
Even sticking with the normal story lines, once they took down the network, their employer had them eliminated.
Another line could be someone in the clans did it. Since they had the original programming codes to the hpg's it would not be that big of a stretch to find the back door into the system from the star league era. Or find an exploitable glitch. Not only did the clans fail to take terra, but a strong central government evolved without them.
And that isn't going into other organizations thinking they could take over if the instant communications were taken down. Raiders and terrorists work better when defenders can not communicate. They can drop a regiment in a local area and have overwhelming force for that job, but not be able to match the numbers the entire planet, much less system could bring to bear. With out the comms, that is a whole lot easier.
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Cray
05/03/15 01:21 PM
97.101.96.171
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Quote:
ghostrider writes:
(lots of stuff)
Excellent analysis.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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the_tick_rules
05/04/15 02:56 AM
68.62.55.57
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What I'd like to know is if the storyline will ever advance and we'll know what happened?
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ghostrider
05/04/15 03:06 AM
76.89.120.217
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As long as they are making money off the game, you can expect the story to advance. Granted, coming up with fresh ideas isn't easy. There is only so many times you can have a new threat come out worse then the old ones.
Having the interstellar comms shut down is going to be interesting to beat in a new story line. Only thing left is an alien invasion, or so it would seem.
Only other story line I can think of at the moment is the everyone is one big happy family and a death (assassination or normal) causes the same thing the death of cameron from the star league era.
You would think they would have the succession line written in the stars by this time.
But then without the conflicts going on, there is no game.
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Cray
05/04/15 07:13 PM
67.8.171.23
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Quote:
the_tick_rules writes:
What I'd like to know is if the storyline will ever advance and we'll know what happened?
There's already been rumbles of advancing the storyline to 3250.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Frabby
05/05/15 05:42 AM
87.164.158.133
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Quote:
Cray writes:
There's already been rumbles of advancing the storyline to 3250.
Yeah, but the proposed advancements were officially redacted/shelved after an insufficiently enthusiastic response by fans. Seems like we're going to linger in the Dark Age for a bit longer. Which is a good thing. I like the depth and quality of how Catalyst has been covering the Jihad and Republic era so far.
The pace of BT needs to be slowed down dramatically if you ask me. And frankly, further upheavals to the universe would probably alienate me more than make me buy more. After the IlKhan sourcebook comes out, I really don't need yet another new era with yet more stupid new toys. I've barely digested the Civil War era right now and never played with any of the Jihad or later era units so far.
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Karagin
05/05/15 06:39 AM
70.118.139.48
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Wait hold the presses, did you just say that non enthusiastic fan reaction caused them to shelve plans? Wow...too bad that didn't work with the Jihad/Dark Age stuff.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Cray
05/05/15 06:31 PM
67.8.171.23
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Quote:
Karagin writes:
Wait hold the presses, did you just say that non enthusiastic fan reaction caused them to shelve plans? Wow...too bad that didn't work with the Jihad/Dark Age stuff.
Once a clear picture of the Jihad got out the fan reaction generally changed. Most initial complaints were based on the very vague picture of the Jihad given in MWDA material.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
Edited by Cray (05/05/15 06:38 PM)
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RockJock
05/21/15 01:19 AM
68.32.96.220
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Lots of loose ends that still need to be tied up in the Dark Ages, or at least cauterized. Everything from hidden armies to insane rulers.
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ghostrider
05/21/15 01:38 AM
76.89.120.217
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tie up the loose end of insane rulers, and you kill the entire game.
Without them, you have no real conflict.
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RockJock
05/21/15 02:05 AM
68.32.96.220
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You have a point Ghostrider. I was specifically thinking of Harrison's welp and the aftermath of Palmyra that has to be cleaned up if we are going to have the States. The Home Clans are another issue, plus all the little things like the ups and downs of Comstar after the Blackout.
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