For a while now I’ve been considering writing a piece of Panzer Dragoon fan fiction; although I won’t get around to doing this anytime soon, I’m curious to hear what your thoughts on fan fiction are, as it’s not something I’ve seen discussed here before. Do you read fan fiction in general, and what do you like about it? For that matter, do you write it? Do you prefer fan fiction to be in the same style as the story it’s inspired by (e.g. a PD fan fic being an epic advanture story), or isn’t this important? Are you OK with fan fiction introducing major new storyline elements, or do you think it’s best to stick to existing continuity? I’m not so much asking for advice (as I’m pretty set on what I’ll be writing for this PD fiction, if I ever get around to it), but I’m curious…
Well if you actually get to writing it, you can obviously post it here on Solo’s site and there are many sites out there that support Fan Fiction, like www.fanfiction.com
I seldom read fan fictions myself but that is mainly because I really dislike reading long stories on the computer screen, I would print it out but I dont have a printer with me currently.
I was writing a fan fiction on PD myself, or rather a comic of it, Lack of time has really made me delay it. In my case it was a completely different story set many many years before the actual games in a different land. The world is massive place I told myself, and there are other stories that could be told.
My personal thoughts on Fan Fiction is just simply a Fan’s appreciation of a series. I feel that it doesn’t have to completely fit into the games’ story, like a dragon always being mentioned, a Dragon Rider always have to be a main character, etc. If you wanted it to be realted to something like Zwei or Saga and use the characters that is fine by me, there are some really great fan fictions out there that use the main characters well.
I once created a PD story about a caravan family traveling across the land with their few coolias, the story did not focus on Towers, Dragons or the Empire, it was more rather the Family’s story of Survival.
Write what you like Lance, any new stories would be welcome obviously. =)
I will admit that I don’t really like reading fan fiction that much.There’s one fan-fiction that I like once in a while but it’s kind of rare.It might be well written and all but I don’t usually like non-official fiction on an already preconstructed world.I don’t have such trouble when reading original fiction from anyone tho.
Still I started writing a PD fanfiction sometime ago for pd.net.I reckon it’s not good(altho I liked the 2nd chapter I wrote) but I still plan on writing some adicional chapter sin the future.
You’ll notice the difference because I like to keep chapters small.I don’t like big chapters by default.
I started Scourage about 4 years ago. Still isn’t finished. University work, games, employment etc keeps getting in the way.
Fanfiction is a double edged sword. XD On one hand it can be a fun addition to an existing universe, or an amusing what if story, or a parody on it.
On the other hand… oh all those bizarre coupling fics. >.<
Haha, yeah, just avoid turning Panzer Dragoon into a gay romance story and we’ll be greatful 
(although now whenever I think of those, I think of this comic strip: http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=126 
I haven’t really read that many fanfics, but usually I like it more when they stick to the same general feel of what they’re based on. This doesn’t mean it has to be the same type of story, I could easily see a Panzer Dragoon fanfic about a soldier in the Empire or a family living in a dangerous environment, but as long as it captures the same type of atmosphere that the material it’s based on is about, you usually won’t get many complaints. It’s fine adding new elements or even coming up with a brand new story in the same universe, just remember that the point of fanfics is to expand on an already existing story. If it’s radically different from the source material, it would be better off as a stand-alone story.
I don’t read fanfiction anymore for lack of time, but I used to. I primarily like it when a story addresses something not covered in the games themselves and expands upon it. While I don’t mind original characters, I prefer to read about existing ones because those are what drew me to the game (or anime, or whatever) in the first place. And, I prefer that the pre-existing characters stay in character. No yaoi/slash/gay romances that exist only for the convenience of the writer. 
New storylines might or might not be okay, depending on how they handle prior continuity. I dislike fanfics where the writer decides “Well the big bad guy wasn’t really dead and he’s coming back a second time!” I’m less concerned with keeping in the same style. It doesn’t have to be epic, just because the source was epic, but if it’s a shorter story it should feel like a selective slice taken out of the larger universe. We never saw what it was like for Azel to awaken for the first time, but if someone wanted to make that the sole point of a PD fanfic then that would be fine with me even though it’s not epic.
Crap, maybe I should rethink a certain plot element I was considering using for an HL2 mod…
most important to me in any creative outlet is an interesting and unique concept. if you’ve got that, you can get the rest (better storytelling skills, better dialogue writing) but no amount of writing skill can make a stupid idea into a good one.
as for how i view fanfiction… i know there must be some well written work out there, but i don’t have the attention span to sift through all the poorly crafted, cliche ridden, angsty, gay romances.
that said, a while back i started working on a PD fanfic (never before and probably never again). i thought i had a really interesting idea but i felt the pacing was off and i didn’t have that much time to devote to it so i reluctantly put it in limbo.
i had communicated with solo about it a few times but he might not remember.
if you’re interested in hearing about it, or possibly collaborating on something else, you can PM or IM me.
I’ve got a half finished fanfic up, which I’ll get around to finishing one day I hope. But there are some other things I want to finish off first.
Anyway, do I read fan fiction? Occasionally. I don’t go out of my way to look up fan fiction on the Internet, but if someone points me in the direction of a fanfic for a story I like, I’ll read it sure, and some of them are quite enjoyable.
The fanfic should (IMO) portray the world in a similar style as the original story, unless it’s purposely not meant to be in that style (for example, it could be a humorous take on the original story). I don’t mind if the actual story is not in the same style though, but it needs to be consistent… no cars driving along the road in a Panzer Dragoon fanfic for example.
As for new storyline elements, I think that’s one the best things about fanfics. It’s basically like saying “what if?” It’s best if the author doesn’t try to change things that are supposed to be set in concrete, but instead expands on what we have not been told.
I remember It was quite a good idea too, although there are some parts of it that I’ve forgotten.
I, like pretty much everyone else it would seem, was planning a PD fan fiction at one point. It was just going to be a short story, not a long epic or anything, but I wanted it to really capture the style of the PD world. Unfortuntately, it got burried under a tonne of other projects that I want to work on, such as a Sci-Fi RPG (somewhat similar to Phantasy Star) that I wanted to write from scratch, and an RPG built using the Morrowind construction set called Bannkreis (based on an idea that a freind had for a campaign based RP board that he is currently working on). These projects, in turn, got burried under a tonne of homework and study. 
Now… an easier idea would be to make a well directer Panzer Dragoon RPG and then when it’s done slap all the posts together, edit it mildly and voil?, insta-fanfic. XD
Well, i like fan-fiction thats not really base on the game
well i guess thats… not … really fan-fiction then is it x.x
but i don’t really read fan fiction tbh, i guess i might do one day =)
I might write a book in the future though…
It will be a very very sad day if I ever see a PD fan-fic yaoi…
whats a yaio =S
I believe it’s a Japanese term for a gay (male) fan fic. And I mean that in the literal sense.
I can’t remember what the female equivalent is. Yari?
Yari’s a type of spear. So no. The american otaku came up with the term Yuri… which in actual japanese just means “lily”.
I once heard that yaoi was short for YAmate, Ore no ketsu ga Itai. Or “stop, my ass hurts”
But there seems to be subdivions in homosexual manga really. On one side there’s the shoujo or shounen-ai, which is more romancy stuff relating to a couple of the same gender. While yaoi/yuri features all out quasi-reproductive activities.
I plan on writing a Pac-Man fanfiction.
Pac-Man is a speed addicted morbidly obese man with an eating disorder who always wears a yellow jumpsuit. I haven’t decided if it would be better for Ms. Pac-Man to be Pac-Man in drag or his wife who he constantly abuses and leaves him for the Dig-Dug man (who knows how to blow her up the right way). Pac-Man dicovers his house is built on a sacred Indian burial ground and their vengeful spirits torment him.
…GENIUS!