The extended intro has been stated as canonical by the developers, so there's no point arguing about it unless you want to write an AU fiction.
If you don't want to believe it, think it's stupid.. you are entitled to your opinion. However, it's canonical.
As for sleeper ships.. I saw a grand total of 5. They named them all, showed them all, and they all escaped. Furthermore, Australia and New Zealand would either be part of the Coalition's Asian contigent or of Bretonia, as neither are world powers in any sense.
Also, the Italians would have been part of the Hispania, likely.. else, there is going to be a MAJOR shakeup in Outcast RP. Not saying that discredits the notion, just noting it.
The only sources on these sleeper ships are old developer documents which haven't been stated as canonical or non-canonical and contradict canonical material (the intro) and a rumour from a single bartender. Originally, Darth Vader was going to be called Prince Valorum, and it would focus on the adventures of a guy called Luke Starkiller.
Think as the extended intro of Leia being Luke's sister, and the 8 sleeper ship thing as there being a sequel trilogy about finding Luke's sister, or having a Skywalker-Kenobi-Amidala love triangle.
If you think a single bartender on Malta is a reliable source on the amount of sleeper ships in a destroyed system generations before he was born.. well, you might as well have the crazy cat lady down the road writing Tacitus.
It's the word of people who actually witnessed the battle itself vs the word of a bartender.
Quote:The extended intro has been stated as canonical by the developers, so there's no point arguing about it unless you want to write an AU fiction.
Where was the intro actually stated as "canon" by the developers? And if it is canon, why therefore was it cut? Things are usually cut either through lack of space (extremely unlikely in this case) or because its decided that they no longer wish to use it.
You really can't believe there were 8 ships, can you? Well, ok then, like you said, you're entitled to your own opinion. I still believe there were 8 ships though. As for the France, Italian, and Australia thing...I was the one who posted that on the Freelancer Timeline topic, but I wasn't completely sure if those countries were correct (probably should've said that), but a lot of evidence points to it. I know I heard somewhere that Australia was part of the Alliance, but I can't remember where. Maybe the other ships belonged to Brazil, India, and Denmark, or maybe Norway, Finland, and Greece, I'm not sure! I picked France, Italy, and Australia, because I knew they were in the Alliance. The other ones I said are unknown. Actually, we know France had a sleeper ship because Igiss heard it on the Freelancer Bonus Disk.
Also, how can you say that the developers documents are non-canonical if they were written by a developer on the Freelancer team who obviously wrote part, if not all, of the Freelancer story?
Carlos Rivera: Corsair Brotherhood Pirate - Retired, shifted to Tripoli Shipyard's Research and Development engineering teams Anthony Cameron: Guild Core Bounty Hunter - Killed in Action, committed suicide after being trapped in Omicron Minor following its destruction Juan Ruiz: Outcast Ghost of Razgriz Pirate - Killed in Action, killed by the Sirius Coalition Revolutionary Army during Bretonian piracy raid Michael Winchester: Liberty Security Force Agent - Missing in Action, likely killed during Rheinland espionage mission or trapped in Rheinland Space Eric McCormick: Order Pilot - Retired, shifted to planetside training of new recruits
@Kuraine; It was stated as canonical on the Bonus CD. It's not "cut" if they actually canonize it, and remember the game itself was rushed ahead for monetary purposes by Microsoft.
America, Britain and the Commonwealth, Japan and Germany are all major countries (so is France) on a diplomatic, military and economic scale. Australia is, today, part of the Commonwealth and at best a power within Southeast Asia.
Ok.. if the Bonus CD does state France had a sleeper ship, I'll accept it.. but I'm against the idea of any other sleeper ships. It contradicts what we actually see in the canonical intro, and it makes no sense to me. You are entitled to your opinion, and I'm entitled to mine.
Plus, given we only see 5 ships launch in the intro.. France wouldn't have much time to launch it's own ship before Sol went kaboom.