Wow I can't believe I read the whole thing! and agree with much. How about we battled for the tower, we lose the tower, get scattered into smaller groups and form a plan (Battlestar Galactica ) to retake the (city) tower While you're out saving the game, how about some interstellar travel? Planet seeding (colonizing) / firefly A Nother unifying idea would be finally getting close to restoring the traveler. But then you probably already have that planned don't you?