Author Topic: Trying to track down the authors of "Battletech 3000" (Read 14867 times)

BirdDog · « **on:** 02 July 2012, 21:58:05 »

Years ago, I found a website called "Battletech 3000". The site was that of what appeared to be a small, dedicated group of roleplayers who used emails as a means of writing their story.

The story was fantastic...and is still, IMO, some of the best fan fiction I've seen. I was fortunate enough to save the entire story (892 pages on word) to read on a vacation...several months later, the website went down and disappeared. I've had this saved on a disc for about 8 years now, give or take a bit.

I'm hoping that someone here may know the parties who wrote it, or is one themself. I'd love to be able to post their story on their behalf, being truly a work of art, but I won't do that without their permission.

worktroll · « **Reply #1 on:** 02 July 2012, 22:03:50 »

I don't know who did it, but it was an excellent read! The writer(s) blended into the canon universe very well - kept peripheral to the main timeline, with the occasional encounter with the movers & shakers (the CO made a pass at Katrina Steiner at one point IIRC). The cheese was kept to an acceptable level, but the characters got into their share of trouble.

Someone who knows how to use the Internet "wayback machines" might be able to help here.

W.

BirdDog · « **Reply #2 on:** 02 July 2012, 22:30:52 »

Glad I'm not the only one who read it!

That's why I enjoyed it as much as I did, I think. The story was just "epic" enough to keep you reading, while staying within the realm of reason. I do remember the CO making a pass at Katrina Steiner, but it was on two occasions during a brief stint at a gala...which, honestly, I would say is believable.

Tiki Monkey · « **Reply #3 on:** 18 November 2012, 20:23:15 »

I loved this as well, had the whole thing printed out(work supplied computer and paper...I'm sure they didn't care ;)) 2 big ol' binders of goodness. If I ever remember who I lent them too.. I would love to read it again.

worktroll · « **Reply #4 on:** 18 November 2012, 21:03:43 »

I did a bunch of googling at the time of the OP, but with no luck :(

Black Mist · « **Reply #5 on:** 19 November 2012, 07:38:02 »

Hey Birddog,
Would you mind pming the story to me? (I promise that I won't post it or anything . I just really want to read something good.)

Atlan · « **Reply #6 on:** 19 November 2012, 12:45:57 »

Yeah, could you send me a copy too?

idea weenie · « **Reply #7 on:** 19 November 2012, 16:03:58 »

I'd like a copy too. At this rate, would it be better to put it up on a file sharing site?

Dave Talley · « **Reply #8 on:** 19 November 2012, 16:11:44 »

I think it could be posted here, just put a disclaimer in front,
and check with the admins of course, if not put me on the list too ;-)

Necrosiac · « **Reply #9 on:** 19 November 2012, 16:34:58 »

I concur with Dave Talley. I wasn't around when it was posted the first time, but I love a good read, and can't think of any group of people whose judgment I'd rather take regarding where to find quality BT reads.

worktroll · « **Reply #10 on:** 19 November 2012, 17:02:23 »

If you have a copy, and make it clear that it's a copy and don't try and claim it as original work, and give whatever attribution you have, then I'd say post it.

W.

Black Mist · « **Reply #11 on:** 21 November 2012, 16:40:02 »

"Help me Bird dog. You are my only hope."
No, really man. You are the only hope for an extremely Battletech deprived individual. (I usually don't beg, but.......
Please post the story. O0

David CGB · « **Reply #12 on:** 21 November 2012, 22:40:18 »

Quote from: Black Mist on 21 November 2012, 16:40:02

"Help me Bird dog. You are my only hope."
No, really man. You are the only hope for an extremely Battletech deprived individual. (I usually don't beg, but.......
Please post the story. O0

Please post the story, will find children that I have had and sell them to get the story

RunandFindOut · « **Reply #13 on:** 21 November 2012, 23:33:46 »

Same here, I had that at one point but lost it in a hard drive failure about 5 years ago along with some other stuff. And the Wayback Machine appears to have only archived bits and pieces of it.

BirdDog · « **Reply #14 on:** 26 November 2012, 09:32:10 »

Hey all,

Sorry for the long delay! I haven't been on the forums for a bit now (holidays are always hectic for Security types).

For those that sent a PM, I'll send a copy as soon as I get home today.

I'll also start posting it up in parts on the forums (with disclaimers, of course!)

Unfortunately due to the way I saved it years back, some of the formatting was lost, so I need to edit it a bit (i.e. in the original, inner monologues were done in italics, but it didn't save that way).

It's well over 1000 pages on Word, but I figure I should be able to edit/post it all in a reasonable amount of time.

With any luck an original author will stumble on it so I can finally give due credit!

BirdDog · « **Reply #15 on:** 26 November 2012, 16:53:13 »

Parts 1 & 2 posted.

(i.e. pages 1-13 of 805)

worktroll · « **Reply #16 on:** 26 November 2012, 17:19:36 »

You deserve an Order of the Data Packrat for that, BirdDog! O0

David CGB · « **Reply #17 on:** 26 November 2012, 19:12:13 »

Quote from: BirdDog on 26 November 2012, 16:53:13

Parts 1 & 2 posted.

(i.e. pages 1-13 of 805)

where

Dave Talley · « **Reply #18 on:** 26 November 2012, 22:10:11 »

http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,24892.0/topicseen.html

BirdDog · « **Reply #19 on:** 27 November 2012, 19:10:52 »

Next few parts are posted.

To give you an idea, I've posted up to page 38 out of 805.

worktroll · « **Reply #20 on:** 27 November 2012, 20:14:50 »

Thanks for all the efforts, BirdDog! O0

BirdDog · « **Reply #21 on:** 29 November 2012, 08:19:45 »

My pleasure. Apologies for not getting any of the story up yesterday, I'll make up for it today!

ERS1 · « **Reply #22 on:** 23 August 2013, 13:36:24 »

Well, thank you very much for all your kind words. :)

And yes, I am really the author of Battletech: 3000.

Well, more like the compiler/author. It was originally an RPG I ran over e-mail. Each month my players would send in responses to what had gone before, or mentioned things that they wanted to do, and I would then write them out in narrative format.

I'm glad to see that others than just myself and my friends enjoyed the story, and thank you once again for all your compliments.

worktroll · « **Reply #23 on:** 23 August 2013, 15:41:07 »

ERS1, that was one of the finest translations of play-to-story I've seen. You and your friends deserve the accolades.

RunandFindOut · « **Reply #24 on:** 23 August 2013, 19:29:25 »

Indeed the only better one I've seen is a D&D piece by Shemeska the Marauder on EnWorld. And that's of a quality level that surpasses many published novel series I've seen.

Xenon62 · « **Reply #25 on:** 24 August 2013, 19:28:18 »

I was one of the players in the Battletech 3000 game (my character was LeBeau), and I was the one who maintained the web site way back when. (This campaign ran from somewhere in the mid 1990's to around 2001 or so; it's been a while.) And I still have all the chapters (all 64 of them, plus the "20 years later" epilogue) on my hard drive.

Having sufficient space for the entire archive, I re-posted the archive on my personal web space:

http://members.shaw.ca/xenon62/bt3000/

ERS1 · « **Reply #26 on:** 25 August 2013, 19:29:13 »

Nice to see the old stuff again. Glad you put it back up. Hope anyone who wants to enjoys reading it. And please feel free to comment, positive or negative.

scatcat · « **Reply #27 on:** 25 August 2013, 19:33:14 »

very cool

Xenon62 · « **Reply #28 on:** 25 August 2013, 21:10:33 »

Quote from: ERS1 on 25 August 2013, 19:29:13

Nice to see the old stuff again. Glad you put it back up. Hope anyone who wants to enjoys reading it. And please feel free to comment, positive or negative.

I had no idea that other people had been reading them until one of the other players contacted me and asked if I still had them somewhere. Not only did I have them, I still had all the files from when they were posted online... so I decided to resurrect the site. I also have spent a huge part of this weekend reading them over... some great stuff in there, some good memories. I hope the other readers out there enjoy them as much as we did.

RunandFindOut · « **Reply #29 on:** 25 August 2013, 23:03:36 »

I know I certainly have, I went ahead and spidered the site just so I would have it later to read. I may even compile it into a properly formatted pdf file, but that's hit and miss as I have long working hours and would finish up compiling Shemeska's Planescape story first. And that monster is a few thousand pages long.