Line #53 VideoGame/Skyrates


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/skyrates.png]]
2	''Skyrates'' is a now-defunct [[UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash Flash]]-based [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame [=MMORPG=]]] set in the world of [[WorldInTheSky Skytopia]]. This world consists of 30 something [[FloatingContinent Skylands]] which the player fly to and from in search of profit. Although it is a MMORPG, it is unusual in a couple ways. The only way to influence other peoples is economically, depriving them of trade routes and messing up the supply and demand of a specific Skyland. Another difference is the presence of "Sporadic Play" game design. This game design has allows the player to ignore the game at lengths of time, your character following a route that you have planned beforehand. With specific builds of planes, this sporadic play concept can get to almost absurd levels, people having queued up to 1600 hours in a single run.
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4	The game was first released in 2005, and was only shut down in 2021 with the death of Flash, making it a real long-runner in the world of Flash games. It is also notable to having a small but very involved fan community. The developers have utilized the fanbase for the creation of a [[Roleplay/SkyratesRoleplay strong Roleplaying aspect of the game,]] and the fanbase maintains a wiki and forum.
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6	The game effectively shut down on New Year's Eve 2020 due to Flash being discontinued; for a time, the game's site including its announcement forum could still be found [[http://skyrates.net/index.php here]], but it seems to have gone offline as well.
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8	!!''Skyrates'' provides examples of:
9	* TwoDSpace: Ships can move in any direction on 2-D plane, but they is no way to currently ascend or descend.
10	* AbilityRequiredToProceed: To gain access to farther and farther away locations, one has to either put on various upgrades, or to purchase new planes with greater range.
11	* AcePilot: Your main character, and several {{N\|onPlayerCharacter}}PCs, including Captain Remy Sans-Barbe whose kill count is in the thousands. In the literal sense, [[note]]Any pilot with 5+ kills[[/note]], pretty much any non-mook character is.
12	* AirborneAircraftCarrier: The Scarlet Blade, Fuseli/Crimson Dawn, Azure Horizon, Great Bounty, Hidden Fleet Platforms and Carriers, Alpha Platforms and Fuel Skylets.
13	* AmbiguousGender: The Shining One, Grand Artist of the Court of Violets.
14	** To the point of the devs alternate pronouns every time The Shining One is referred to. One sentence will call The Shining One "he", and the next, "she".
15	* TheArtifact: The Court of Violets. With little in common with Skytopia, no shared history and a fairly vague faction concept, they're a fifth wheel when it comes to most storylines. During the Hidden War, the Court's RP Guide was a dev because none of the players wanted to do it.
16	* BerserkButton: Seizing a faction capital is a great way to piss people off.
17	* BlackMarket: This is where Grog and Catnip is ostensibly sold and purchased.
18	* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Each faction is represented by a different color.
19	%%* CoolAirship
20	* CoolBoat: The Jade Fan.
21	%%* CoolPlane
22	* CrewOfOne: Your character can fly their aircraft all by themselves, even if it's a massive Zeppelin. However, having a crew is highly beneficial. Crews will grant you bonuses in trade and combat, and reduce flight time.
23	* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: The Pirates which you face know that it would be unprofitable for them to kill you. When you are shot down in Aerial Combat, they simply take a portion of your cargo and allow you to continue on your merry way. (and currently cargo loss in not implemented, making the only negative side effect of losing combat a minor hit to crew morale)
24	%%* DieselPunk
25	* DisproportionateRetribution:
26	--> "You've been doing pretty well for yourself. Tell you what though, some pirates have been shooting at the tavern. One of them knocked over my drink, and I don't take kindly to that. Why don't you go teach 20 of them a lesson in manners?"
27	* {{Egopolis}}: Fuseli, Eltsina, Islo, and Kadath.
28	%%* EndlessGame:
29	* EveryoneIsBi: A stereotype of the Court of Violets. Even if not true, new Courtiers do feel some pressure to try and experience everything, so it wouldn't be surprising.
30	* {{Expy}}: Several of the planes one can fly look suspiciously similar to actual planes.
31	** Other planes look like fictional ones, such as the [[https://skyrates.fandom.com/wiki/Ingersoll Ingersoll]], nicknamed the [[Anime/CowboyBebop "Swordfish of the skies"]].
32	* GRatedDrug: Catnip acts as one.
33	* GlobalCurrency: Because forcing players to perform regular currency conversions would have been a step too far.
34	* HatedByAll: Will happen in the reputation game if you attempt over time, or instantly on the capitals of a specific faction.
35	* HiddenAgendaVillain: The Hidden Fleet.
36	* {{Metagame}}: Player created tools have been created to allow players to plan their ships and their designs. Also most trade routes can be planned out well in advance for maximizing profit with simple, if prolonged mathematics.
37	* MoreDakka: Autocannons, which possess the fastest rate of fire in the game.
38	* PlayerVersusPlayer: Averted. The only ways for players to ''directly'' influence one another are via economic measures, or the influence game.
39	* PurelyAestheticGender: Or Purely Aesthetic Species.
40	%%* RandomEncounters
41	* RandomlyDrops: Gunmods' drop rates are entirely random.
42	* SeriousBusiness: The influence war.
43	* ShoutOut: The games creators have noted that their main influences were the ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'' television series and the sporadic play which they found while playing ''VideoGame/EveOnline''.
44	* SkyPirates: The game's name is a portmanteau of the trope, but despite the name, actual pirating does not occur by the main characters. Played straight with the RandomEncounters that one meets during their travels, and the Pirate Faction.
45	** The fluff makes the players out to be privateers and "sky pirates" though. Very few pirate characters ever show up; those that do either have PlotArmor like Remy, or are either NobleDemon/[[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything]] types.
46	* StatusQuoIsGod: No matter how many times you run a mission or shoot down [=NPCs=], the enemy never seems to run out of ships, men or equipment.
47	** Once the Hidden Fleet had taken control of a skyland, it was almost impossible to take it back. Only one or two skylands were ever recaptured, and even then, they fell again.
48	* {{Unobtainium}}: Called Unobtainium, it is portrayed as GreenRocks as a trade good, and is also used in roleplay and player discussion as [[AWizardDidIt a reason for hard-to-explain occurrences]], jokingly or otherwise.
49	* VehicularCombat: The entire point of the game.
50	* WeBuyAnything: Averted - the market is almost exclusively player-driven.
51	* WorldInTheSky: some two hundred years before the game's setting was the [[WorldWarIII Great War]], which resulted in the apocalyptic [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Great Upheaval]] that created the [[FloatingContinent skylands]] and [[TheGreatFlood flooded the surface]]. [[MadeOfPhlebotinum The gravitational forces holding the skylands aloft]] are also [[MadeOfExplodium tearing them apart]], requiring the [[AppliedPhlebotinum unobtainium derived skystone]] to maintain stability.
52	%%* ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld

Context VideoGame / Skyrates