User talk:Matt Hadick

Guided Tours: Space Opera

 * Hey Matt! Sorry it took a couple days. If it’s not too late, here are my responses.


 * 1. Tell me a bit about yourself and your involvement with the Stargate wiki. When I first came to Stargate Wiki in early 2008, there were less than 2000 articles and really just a skeleton crew of a community. Even though there was already a well-established way of doing things on the site, Stargate Wiki was the first wiki I edited and so there was a definite learning curve. I was eventually able to become an admin later that year. Five years later, we now boast over 9,000 articles written by a dedicated community.


 * 2. How did you get into Space Opera? Into Stargate? Stargate was the first space opera that really interested me. I started watching during Stargate SG-1’s 6th season in 2002. What really appealed to me about it is that it doesn't take itself too seriously; You get the sense that it’s written by real people and not some computer algorithm trying to cram in as much cheesy action or bad drama as physically possible, which is often the case with some of the more short-lived space operas.


 * 3. How would you recommend a beginner get into Space Opera? Any particular books/movies/comics/TV shows/games/etc. that would serve as a good starting point? Stargate would be a great show for beginners. There are a large number of stand-alone episodes, and so it’s easy to jump in wherever and still have a grasp on what’s going on. Furthermore, having 354 episodes spread between 3 different series (Stargate SG1, Atlantis, and Universe), the Stargate franchise pretty much covers all the bases in terms of what you’d look for in a space opera. I would also recommend the games of the Halo franchise, as well as the tv series Farscape and Battlestar Galactica (2004).


 * 4. Anything you wouldn’t recommend? In most sci-fi franchises, there is a plethora of secondary media such as novels, short stories, audiobooks, etc; All of which I would avoid if you’re a beginner. In most cases, I’ve found them to better serve as supplements to the show for the more hard-core fans, rather than as stand-alone installments for casual fans.


 * 5. Any additional advice you’d give to someone new to Space Opera? For me, one of the defining characteristics that make space operas good are Big Honking space battles, and Stargate has no shortage of those. This is another reason that supplemental media sometimes just falls short – While a great space Opera will be able to hold its own regardless of special effects, sometimes you just can’t help but want to gaze in awe as a frenzy of lasers and superheated-plasma tear through an alien ship in the most violent way possible.


 * 6. What resources on your wiki might be useful to an aspiring Space Opera fan? One of my favorite pages, titled “Stargate franchise”, provides a comprehensive overview of the entire series; I would definitely recommend it to any new to Stargate or Space Opera fan. Furthermore, I recommend that anyone check out the articles listed in our “Featured articles” category.


 * http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Featured_articles
 * http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Stargate_franchise

-Anubis 10545 (talk) (Contribs) 09:46, August 19, 2013 (UTC)