So, I've been playing Sentinels for quite a while, but have been daunted by the task that others have worked on before me - trying to (re)construct the Multiverse storyline. In working on this, I've read lots of the impressive stuff that others have put together, but from reading this stuff, and from the ARG, it's become clear to me that there must be information sources beyond what I am operating with.
As of right now, I'm assuming that the following are canon:
1. Information in the character/villain bios in the rulebooks with the base game/expansions and on the >G website (?).
2. Information in the flavor text on all cards.
3. Information in the art on all cards (though I know that this does not NECESSARILY match up with the art on the card).
4. Freedom Four Annual #1 on >G website.
5. The panels that were released as part of the ARG (?)
Beyond those things, what else is considered to be a canonical information source?
In asking this, I recognize that I am admitting to the (perhaps) heretical sin of not having followed absolutely everything on the >G website/blog/podcast/streaming/TV/movies/etc. ... ;) Until very recently, I enjoyed Sentinels primarily from the perspective of game mechanics, and considered working out the story to be too much of an endeavor. I know, I know. I liked the characters and the art very much, and it was a big part of my enjoyment of the game, just the idea of trying to put everything together was a bit ... much.
Thanks for any help you can give!
BLM
P.S. Though I know that there's lots of very good (what would be considered) secondary sources out there - assembleages of info from other people - what I am really looking for here is what other primary sources there are, like those listed above. Thanks!
Christopher or Adam will occassionally pop in with a tidbit on these forums. For instance, here we learned about Haka's work with children. This is canon.
Also, there's a LOT of information on the flavor texts. You're very unlikely to notice everything without looking at secondary sources.
I'm pretty sure that the covers released during the ARG are canon. I'm less certain about the panels in between the covers.
I figured that there was probably a decent chunk of possibly-canonical flavor information that had been revealed over time in news posts or forum postings. A related question, therefore ... was there a forum prior to December 16, 2014, which is the current "Last" post on the forum? If so, are those posts still obtainable/findable? This is the worry of getting in late on an endeavor like this in the internet age - stuff can just disappear on you.
Thanks!
BLM
There were definitely forums before that date, and it was this software. I think that around that date there was a forum reorganization (changing the categories), so posts may not be where you expect. For instance, the last discussion in the "General Discussion" forum is from August, 2011.
(Going back to look was fun: Ronway's first post, and Jodie from before she was a GtG employee.)
But that's an incredible amount of material to go through. Is there something specific you're looking for?
I know some of the wiki's links still point to the forums that were at sentinelsofthemultiverse.com/ instead of here.
BurningStickman7 on Steam.
My first novel: "Brothers of the Curled Isles"
The C-Team Podcast
I remember it was some of the strategy guide links on the hero bio pages, but I can't remember which ones. It's been a while since I noticed it.
BurningStickman7 on Steam.
My first novel: "Brothers of the Curled Isles"
The C-Team Podcast
Not only was it my first post, it was the first post made other than the forum rules.
Well, ideally I'd like to find and centralize all of the canonical flavor information that has been provided, but is not currently available "in one place". Kinda a flavor-version of Spiff's Rules and Clarifications. I agree that it's kinda a big piece to bite off. I'm trying to make it more manageable by shrinking what I need to look at from "the whole internet" to "a couple little corners of the internet" ;)
Also, I have been unable to find a way to search the forums so as to, for instance, see only Christopher's posts, which might be a good place to start. I took a look at the Advanced search, but (unless I'm missing something), you don't seem to be able to search as to poster.
Here's something that will really bake your noodle.
How do you know whether any given flavor text or image is from the "main timelines" or from one of the infinite realities brought together by NightMist?
Lead Bit Flipper, Handelabra Games
Developer of Sentinels, Bottom of the 9th, and Spirit Island
I'll bake your noodle if you keep asking questions like that...
Obviously a fair question, and one of those that (probably) we'll have to kinda guess at unless we finally get to see behind the curtain. I'm just trying to focus on actually FINDING all of the information before I worry about putting it into buckets ;)
One of my base meta-assumptions for this whole thing is that >G is trying to tell the story of the Multiverse through the cards, flavor text and "et ceteras" (rulebooks, forum chat, etc.), not unlike the Wizards of the Coast attempted (arguably less successfully) with the Rath story in Magic. Core to that assumption, or to my assumption at least, is that most comic books have a "main" timeline, and several other alternates/other realities/etc. GENERALLY speaking (and there are, of course, exceptions), if you take a random sampling from that comic book over time, mostly you are going to hit the main storyline, with only the occasional deviation. Now, you can skew the probabilities on this, of course. Without having done any of the work on Shattered Timelines yet or Infernal Relics yet, I'd assume that there is going to be a greater incidence of non-main-timeline stuff due to it being Shattered Timelines and (in the case of Infernal Relics) partly Nightmist.
That's just a statistical argument, though. While >G could, theoretically make a mess of this thing by making almost every card be from alternate realities, that's kind of counter-productive if the whole point is to tell a fairly cohesive story in the first place.
TL;DR - Always a risk. I'll take my chances that it's worth doing anyway ;)
BLM
Did anyone else notice that Ra was noticably beardless in the comic where he and the ennead confront the cosmic entity? Is he still Horus? Or did he shave after being captured by Set and saved by Fanatic in "Trial by Fire"?
BurningStickman7 on Steam.
My first novel: "Brothers of the Curled Isles"
The C-Team Podcast
And he had apparently regrown his missing nipple.
His beard was there to remind him of his defeat... he had sworn to refrain from shaving until he had bested The Ennead. That's why he was shaven in the end.
The nipple is a prosthetic, he found that it was too distracting when he was trying to save innocents in peril... he found that nobody would listen to his warnings until he had taken the time to explain why he was a one-nippled freak and it was delaying his rescue attempts to the point that they were endangering people's safety.
Not sure why the discussion about Ra ended up in this thread?
Aside from it incidentally being a prime example of potential non-game content, canonical material, me either ;P
BLM
Because people care deeply whether or not other people have nipples and beards. Can you blame them? There is no incorrect time or place for such a discussion.
99% of everything (story wise) on the wiki (sotm.wikidot.com) comes from an 'official' source and is linked when possible. When putting it together it either was copied out of rulebook or cards, or off Kickstarters or official websites. Some of it is hearsay from GTG employees at cons/events and some of it is forum posts by GTG employees. Conjecture is very clearly marked Conjecture.
That being said, it still is missing a lot and is a bit scattered. If and when you do this, I'd love to make it part of the wiki, as that is what i/we started it for. Let me know (pm is best) if you need any help with the wiki, in navigating or finding or anything!
Lynkfox.
http://sentinelswiki.com/ The Sentinels of the Multiverse Wiki
http://mindwanderer.net/sotm/ - SoTM Statistics! Updated DAILY!
PM me if you're interested in playing with the Statistics Data!
Just from reading some forum stuff, it does seem like there is more than a little, literally, word of mouth stuff out there. Hard to get that stuff or confirm it. :(
I have, however, made it through about 10 pages of the General Discussion board looking at all of Christopher and Adam's comments. I've definitely found some neat stuff that I didn't know (When Spite goes into Monstrosity mode, it takes lots of life force to do so, therefore, unkilled folks "hurt" him) and some stuff that either currently exists from other sources or confirms pretty obvious speculation. I'll post some of it when I get a bit further.
BLM
Huh, I didn't know that about Spite. I hope those links get up on the wiki.
Yes, me too! Please get the links for all that you find - if you don't want to edit the wiki, feel free to PM or email me what you find and I'll put them up!
And there is a lot of 'word of mouth' stuff. I tried to find what I could, but you know... there is a lot. Good luck!
Lynkfox.
http://sentinelswiki.com/ The Sentinels of the Multiverse Wiki
http://mindwanderer.net/sotm/ - SoTM Statistics! Updated DAILY!
PM me if you're interested in playing with the Statistics Data!