|
I was suggested tothis message list by Alison
Looney. I believe that this is how to post on your forum. I am
computer illiterate (I do not understand common computer terms and vocabulary),
and I hope this gets to the right people. If not please reply and tell me
where my message went. Thank you.
Dr. Looney,
I recently visited your web
sight to discover your team working on a similar project to my own: a resulting
card to represent September 11th, 2001. I admit to not having an answer to
your problem, namely what the linchpin would alternate, due to the fact that I
never saw the date as a linchpin, but as a ripplepoint. And I do know
which linchpin affect it.
The ripplepoint would be an
'or' ripplepoint, affected by two dates, either one alternating the
ripplepoint. The first date would be '1936: Adolph Hitler Assassinated
(yes, another 1936 ripplepoint) and '1981: Reagan Assassinated. Why?
I'm glad you asked.
In regards to the 1936 date, If
Hitler was to be assassinated, then Israel would not have been founded.
This is outlined in your own game. If Israel was never founded, the U.S.
would never support it. And if the U.S. never supports this now-fictional
Jewish state, Middle-East relations with the U.S. might not be as
strained. This could allow a possible world alliance between U.S., France,
Britain, and Palestine. The Jewish influenced state of Germany could ally
with all previously listed except Palestine, with the common allies working to
settle differences between the two for a corner on the Engineering/Oil
trade. Would Palestine entertain an alliance with a world power so
obviously encroached with Jewish favoritism? They might, seeing it isn't
their land this nation sits on. This leads to the patch that would repair
the 2001 ripplepoint that I will speak of later.
The second date to ripple 2001
would be 1981. What would Reagan's death do to prevent such an
disaster? The answer is: reorder the flow of power. Many would argue
that the World Trade Center attack was caused by the animosity of the U.S.
presidents who share the same name. No, I don't mean Roosevelt.
Anyway, due to the Sr. president's term being cut short by Mondale's election
(also illustrated by your game), the events concerning the Gulf Wars may never
take place. Without the Gulf Wars, Arabic opinion may not be as harsh
against the U.S., allowing a possible interaction with Middle-Eastern
nations.
This leads me to my patch
idea. If either one of the aforementioned linchpins were to alternate,
2001 would ripple to paradox. The new patch would read: "2001: Middle-East
Talks Disintegrates: Peace summit between world powers ends without a
resolution." Sure, this is not an uplifting alternative, but just a less
horrifying one.
I would designate this
ripplepoint a D-9(for Uberchrononauts).
In writing this missive, I
looked on your concept of making the 2001 date a linchpin instead. The
alternate side could still be the peace talks dissolving (but with possible
collusion opportunities, see below). A chononaut informs the president
that the only course to prevent an attack on U.S. soil is to sit down with the
other Arab nations and convince them to police their own if they are to remain
friendly with the U.N. This may not solve anything (in fact it doesn't)
but it changes the Arab view of the U.S. from a playground bully to a sniveling
peace monger, unworthy of their notice or scorn, like France. But what
would this change? Several things.
First, the card (2001) would be
designated E-1. E-2 would be a second linchpin would be '2005: Hurricanes
Ravage NO. American Coast: A series of tropical storms cause gasoline production
to falter, raising the price at the pumps." The alternative would be
'2005: Star Wars Program Useful: The newly refitted satellite defense system
evaporates weather conditions with space mounted lasers." A possible time
traveler identity could feature a New Orleans orphan, seeking to save his/her
parents, time-traveling to the future to gain valuable laser technology use for
many things, including weather control. He/She brings back the plans and
sells the plans to U.S. government, boasting stronger defense capabilities
and weather control. "Weather Control Satellite Schematics" could also be
a possible artifact for the game.
E-3 may be a ripplepoint
involving the result of the 2001 attack. The card could read "200X: U.S.
Opens New Complex in Baghdad: The American government reveals the
military/embassy campus to strengthen support to Iraq." The patch could
read "200X: Arab Nations Unite: Middle-east countries combine to form new Arab
coalition with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as notable exceptions." This is a
lead in to a later ripplepoint.
E-4 combines the "2001" linchpin
with the "2005" linchpin in this one ripplepoint. The ripplepoint will be
an 'and' ripplepoint, needing both dates to alternate it to the paradox
side. The patch may read "200Y: Arabian and American Discovery:
A sharing of U.S. laser technology and old Iraqi nuclear program yields new
power source." The original time line may read "200Y: U.S. Attacks Syria:
American government continues anti-terrorism campaign in the Middle-East."
This suggests the WMD were not just smoke and mirrors, and were possible
smuggled out of the country in our history.
These four idea is half a time
line. You could make E-1 either a linchpin or ripplepoint, that would tie
in E-3 and E-4 to Hitler or Reagan. E-4 may become an 'or + and' ripple
point, needing one definitive linchpin (2005) plus one of two others (1936 or
1981), if E-1 was a ripplepoint. You may want to release bonus packs one
row at a time as future events play out to keep the game acurate to our history,
and create replacement cards to fill in for previous unavailable information (
such as adding 2001 to the list of what 1936 and 1981 ripples if you make 2001 a
ripplepoint). Which brings me to my second topic. The Cuban Missile
Crisis.
In Early American Chrononauts,
the 1867 patch has the U.S. purchasing the island of Cuba. If we own Cuba
in 1867, how can we have the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. I have
contemplated this paradox and came up with the possible solutions.
One: Paradox. In
Uberchrononauts, the 1803 linchpin should also ripple the 1962 ripplepoint into
paradox. This would not alter the patch requirements which would still
require that the 1943 and the 1957 linchpins to be on their alternate setting,
but you could not unparadox 1962 until you return 1803 to it's original
state. In fact, the patch for 1962 could not be played without 1803 being
on it's alternate setting even if you have met the requirements for the patch,
making world war 3 even harder to play.
Two: Alternate Historical
Facts. In Uberchrononauts, the 1804 patch states that Russia buys the
Louisiana Territory. The 1803 ripplepoint affects both 1803 and 1867 and
causes the alternate histories. The Cuban Missile Crisis still occurs but
the missiles in middle America are Russian in nature and the missile on Cuba
belong to the U.S. Its still the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Both of these options can be
placed on your website, so players can choose to enhance Uberchrononauts or
leave it as is (with alternat historical backing).
One last question. If
the Russians buy the Louisiana Purchase and the Alamo is razed, would the
Mexican Federales burn down the Branch Davidian Waco Compound? My wife
says yes. 1995 locked. No paradox. Case
dismissed.
Thomas Robert Moresi II, The Count of St.
Charles
Floyd A Grecko, The Silver
Otter |