New efforts!

[Arcana]

Weren't Sheridan and Lockley Captains and not a commanders?

I was wondering if somebody was going to language lawyer that. But when you're talking about "commander of a station", it's little 'c', not big 'c'. Just like the Navy uses 'captain of the ship' for whoever is in command, regardless if their actual rank is Captain or not.

Army/Air Force bases have commanders, but those branches doesn't even have a Commander rank. The closest thing would probably be a Lt. Col as they're both O-5, though IIRC even Majors have been known to command smaller bases.

As far as I'm aware, Sinclair held the rank of Lt. Commander when he gained the post of commander of Babylon 5.  Sheridan held the rank of Captain when he was the captain of the Agamemnon and later when he was appointed to the post of commander of Babylon 5.

Earthforce in Babylon 5 appears to have had branches comparable to the army and the navy with similar ranks: Babylon-5 characters held the rank of General and Admiral.  Both Sheridan and Sinclair were in the branch associated with commanding fighters and capital ships which appeared to parallel naval ranks and customs.

Babylon 5 should have been commanded by someone from the branch more parallel to the army, as you suggest, and in fact in the show the command should have gone to a Colonel (army-style rank) but both Sinclair and Sheridan gained the post through unusual circumstances.  Sinclair, because the Mimbari had veto rights on the command post and wanted Sinclair, and Sheridan because he was the most recognized war hero from the Earth-Mimbari war.

Come to think of it, I'm not sure if I've ever watched Season 5 all the way through. I've seen the first 4 a bunch, as well as Sleeping in Light and some of the movies, but that kind of covers the big story arc and most of season 5 seems superfluous.

I don't think you miss anything ultra critical if you miss S5 except of course for Sleeping in Light which is mandatory.  S5 contains the beginning of the telepath war, the fall of the Centauri empire, and Penn and Teller.

[Twisted Toon]

I was wondering if somebody was going to language lawyer that. But when you're talking about "commander of a station", it's little 'c', not big 'c'. Just like the Navy uses 'captain of the ship' for whoever is in command, regardless if their actual rank is Captain or not.

I know, I just like to be odd at times lawyer things up a little. I wonder if that has anything to do with my lack of friends... 

[Sinistar]

I don't think you miss anything ultra critical if you miss S5 except of course for Sleeping in Light which is mandatory.  S5 contains the beginning of the telepath war, the fall of the Centauri empire, and Penn and Teller.

Season 5 was the "winding down" of the series and it showed the characters embarking on some new paths in life, while other characters would take over such as Vir becoming the Ambassador for the Centauri to B5,  G'kar's replacement, Captain Lockley taking over the station, etc.

It also had the beginning of the Telepath War (they REALLY needed to make a movie about that),  the ascension of Londo to Emperor of Centauri Prime and the start of the fate that would await him, and more.

I highly encourage the reading of the following B5 novels as JMS has stated they are canon and are based on some of his notes:

Babylon 5 novel #7:  this novel shows the backstory of Sheridan's wife, Mr. Morden and how the Icarus found the planet of the Shadows and what happened.

Babylon 5 novel #9: this is the story of Sinclair as he settles into his position as Ambassador of Earth on Mimbar and how he becomes Ranger 1 and starts to rebuild the Rangers. It also brings back his fiance from Season 1 of the show.

The Passing of the Technomages Trilogy of novels: want to know the origins of the Technomages? Want to know how deep a game Elric was playing with Londo in Season 2? Want to know about the origins of Galen the mage that gathered everyone to fight the Drakh super weapon in the tv movie and who would appear in the Crusade spin off? This is the trilogy for that.

The Telepath Trilogy: Want to know the origins of Psi Corps and why it was created? Want to know the tragic origin of Bester?  Want to know Bester's life story a bit?  The first two novels take care of that and the third is after the Telepath War and Bester's fate is revealed.

Legions of Fire: this trilogy covers the reign of puppet Emperor Molari and how Vir must save his world.
Yes, that's right. I said VIR must save his world.

However this scene from Season 5 shows that perhaps Vir does have a bit of anger in him after all....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8MjQ5Z7ZNo

[Arcana]

It also had the beginning of the Telepath War (they REALLY needed to make a movie about that),  the ascension of Londo to Emperor of Centauri Prime and the start of the fate that would await him, and more.

Not to trivialize those stories, but we did already know Londo and Vir's ultimate fates from War Without End and Sleeping in Light (and a couple other places).  The scene where G'Kar forgives Londo is significant, but I think it is redundant in the grand scheme because we know how their relationship ends and in approximately what state.

Incidentally, I consider "War Without End" (and its prior companion Babylon Squared) to be time travel done right in fiction, in that it isn't used as a gimmick, but as a well thought out and crucial part of the overall story, and its consequences are interwoven in the fictional timeline reasonably well.

[Codewalker]

Not to trivialize those stories, but we did already know Londo and Vir's ultimate fates from War Without End and Sleeping in Light (and a couple other places).  The scene where G'Kar forgives Londo is significant, but I think it is redundant in the grand scheme because we know how their relationship ends and in approximately what state.

Incidentally, I consider "War Without End" (and its prior companion Babylon Squared) to be time travel done right in fiction, in that it isn't used as a gimmick, but as a well thought out and crucial part of the overall story, and its consequences are interwoven in the fictional timeline reasonably well.

War Without End is hands down my favorite episode (two-parter) for exactly that reason. It's just such a huge payoff for all the foreshadowing and hints sprinkled throughout the first two seasons. If that doesn't sell you on long pre-planned story arcs, nothing will.

[Prism Almidu]

Not much for television very often, but two instances where I've appreciated use of temporal mechanics are in the Legacy of Kain video games, and the webcomic Homestuck. Yeah, I know the slow start turns a lot of people off of the comic, but if you can get past that, the later parts of the story, when the action starts picking up, are pretty good. And temporal shenanigans are such a vital aspect of the story, with many actions having consequences reaching into several points of time. Helped by the fact that certain characters exist in dimensions that are not linked second by second.

[Dev7on]

I had another dream last night. I made 2 City of Heroes accounts and I was playing them back and forth. I also had the ability to transfer my characters to my second account. 

[Arcana]

Not much for television very often, but two instances where I've appreciated use of temporal mechanics are in the Legacy of Kain video games, and the webcomic Homestuck. Yeah, I know the slow start turns a lot of people off of the comic, but if you can get past that, the later parts of the story, when the action starts picking up, are pretty good. And temporal shenanigans are such a vital aspect of the story, with many actions having consequences reaching into several points of time. Helped by the fact that certain characters exist in dimensions that are not linked second by second.

The time travel comic book I recommend the most (unfortunately not a webcomic) is Meanwhile by Jason Shiga.  I discovered Meanwhile after first reading Fleep which believe it or not I stumbled upon via its TVTropes page.

Meanwhile is Matt Groening adapting Philip K. Dick as a choose your own adventure story.

[Sinistar]

Not to trivialize those stories, but we did already know Londo and Vir's ultimate fates from War Without End and Sleeping in Light (and a couple other places).  The scene where G'Kar forgives Londo is significant, but I think it is redundant in the grand scheme because we know how their relationship ends and in approximately what state.

Incidentally, I consider "War Without End" (and its prior companion Babylon Squared) to be time travel done right in fiction, in that it isn't used as a gimmick, but as a well thought out and crucial part of the overall story, and its consequences are interwoven in the fictional timeline reasonably well.

You are quite right in that we know what will happen with G'kar and Londo and with Vir.

But we did not know all the why's and wherefores as it were. Much like with the Star Wars prequels, we knew what was going to happen: fall of the Jedi, rise of Vader, etc. But again all the reasons were not really known.

Yes, War Without End was well done. An excellent story of past/present/future all colliding with each other with the fate of the galaxy hinging on the outcome, all wrapped up in a nice paradox free bow.

Of course there is one question that only JMS could answer: back in the Battle of the Line at the end of the Earth/Mimbar war, there were some Vorlons on Delenn's ship as I recall from one of the movies. Delenn picks the fighter that Sinclair was flying to be captured and the pilot interrogated. Did the vorlons give her a mental nudge to choose his ship knowing what they did about Sinclair and his destiny? Or was it a lucky random guess?

I would also reiterate from my prior post that the Babylon 5 novels I listed are worth the read.
Granted we know what is to happen with Londo/G'kar/Vir in the Legions of Fire trilogy but the books are still worth it.

The telepath trilogy is also worth it, especially for Bester's final fate and Garibaldi's rather humorous last laugh on Bester.

The Technomage Trilogy and the things learned in it do a nice job of expanding the episode where Elric had to contend with Londo and their reasons for withdrawing to avoid the upcoming Shadow War.

[Arcana]

Of course there is one question that only JMS could answer: back in the Battle of the Line at the end of the Earth/Mimbar war, there were some Vorlons on Delenn's ship as I recall from one of the movies. Delenn picks the fighter that Sinclair was flying to be captured and the pilot interrogated. Did the vorlons give her a mental nudge to choose his ship knowing what they did about Sinclair and his destiny? Or was it a lucky random guess?

The Vorlons did give Delenn a "nudge" in the usual Vorlon cryptic way:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTI-4OJ-z5E

"The truth points to itself."  As with all Vorlon pronouncements, this one has multiple meanings.  But one of them is that Sinclair's starfury made a kamikaze run on her ship at a critical moment: he stood out among the other defensive fighters.  He pointed to himself, and it inspired Delenn to capture his ship.

[Ohioknight]

Not to trivialize those stories, but we did already know Londo and Vir's ultimate fates from War Without End and Sleeping in Light (and a couple other places).  The scene where G'Kar forgives Londo is significant, but I think it is redundant in the grand scheme because we know how their relationship ends and in approximately what state.

The stories from Season 5 seem peripheral and like an afterthought for a very good reason. 

When JMS started the show he had the entire show plotted from first to last season with all the events paced and spaced out to tell a tight and structured long-form story. 

Because B5 was a creation of the monster dysfunctional deal known as the PTEN (which defies quick description -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Time_Entertainment_Network), when it collapsed in 1997, JMS suddenly had to complete the series in season 4.  He therefore had to pack all the critical events of season 5 into the season 4 episodes in order to complete his story (you may notice it seems a tiny bit rushed). 

Late in the 4th season, a deal was made with TNT to host a fifth season, but by then it was far too late to change the scripts or move any of the events from the end of 4 to 5 except that they could move the already made "Sleeping in Light" to the end of season 5 from 4 (which is why Claudia Christian is in SIL) and replace it with a cobbled together "postscript" episode.

Also JMS was in total burn-out after his unprecedented episode-writing marathon and got other writers to do a lot of the scripts.

Edit] Oh, and also as I understand it, the PTEN insanity is also why the series isn't available for sale to streaming services -- the intricate cat's cradle of rights ownership across all the participating partners (many of which have changed corporate form) make trying to work a deal for the thing a nightmare.

[Legion of One]

As a loyal 8 yr vet of CoH who has tried to follow the various efforts to keep it alive but who doesn't live on these forums (which seem to have dissolved into a giant chat room, making information sharing impossible), can someone:

1. Point me to an update if there is still an arcane deal being made with NCSoft after all of this time
2. Tell me if is still possible to get into Atlas Park, and how that can be done

It's difficult to maintain hope after 4+ years, but also frustrating when I seek out information and it's so hard to find. 

[Tahquitz]

As a loyal 8 yr vet of CoH who has tried to follow the various efforts to keep it alive but who doesn't live on these forums (which seem to have dissolved into a giant chat room, making information sharing impossible), can someone:

1. Point me to an update if there is still an arcane deal being made with NCSoft after all of this time
2. Tell me if is still possible to get into Atlas Park, and how that can be done

It's difficult to maintain hope after 4+ years, but also frustrating when I seek out information and it's so hard to find. 

Completely understandable.  In order of your list:

1. Depends on when you last checked in.  The only place you'd see absolute news without any of the peanut gallery is in this thread: Wake Me Up When There's News!  Unfortunately, the last "ping" of a deal attempting to be struck was back in 2015.
2. Paragon Chat is the best way to get into Atlas Park and talk to other people.  But at it's heart it is a chat program with a few mini-games such as badges, ski slopes, etc., and the whole game has NOT returned.  If you're fine with that, you can learn about it here.

[Carnada]

How many badges total are available now?

[Kelltick]

How many badges total are available now?

I'm fairly certain I have all available at the moment, and I'm at 463.

[Sinistar]

The stories from Season 5 seem peripheral and like an afterthought for a very good reason. 

When JMS started the show he had the entire show plotted from first to last season with all the events paced and spaced out to tell a tight and structured long-form story. 

Because B5 was a creation of the monster dysfunctional deal known as the PTEN (which defies quick description -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Time_Entertainment_Network), when it collapsed in 1997, JMS suddenly had to complete the series in season 4.  He therefore had to pack all the critical events of season 5 into the season 4 episodes in order to complete his story (you may notice it seems a tiny bit rushed). 

Late in the 4th season, a deal was made with TNT to host a fifth season, but by then it was far too late to change the scripts or move any of the events from the end of 4 to 5 except that they could move the already made "Sleeping in Light" to the end of season 5 from 4 (which is why Claudia Christian is in SIL) and replace it with a cobbled together "postscript" episode.

Also JMS was in total burn-out after his unprecedented episode-writing marathon and got other writers to do a lot of the scripts.

Edit] Oh, and also as I understand it, the PTEN insanity is also why the series isn't available for sale to streaming services -- the intricate cat's cradle of rights ownership across all the participating partners (many of which have changed corporate form) make trying to work a deal for the thing a nightmare.

Not to mention all the technical obstacles that prevent a blu ray version of the series.

[Hagoroth]

Cheer up guys. At least the Patriots are back in the Super Bowl

[kierthos]

Cheer up guys. At least the Patriots are back in the Super Bowl

Why in Zandru's Nine Hells would I be cheerful about that?

[Dev7on]

Why in Zandru's Nine Hells would I be cheerful about that?

Exactly. A very successful team who is willing to cheat to win games.

[Tubbius]

Tubbius is very tired, but he has to be at work soon.