Adventures in Utopia?

Trachmyr · 04-05-2010, 07:24 PM

Thanks for the feedback guys! Much appreciated.

Stoob: The idea presented is an interesting one... because it doesn't go against any of the base cultural views of the Selk. If the selk would have known ahead of time what was going to happen when humans first arrived, they probablly would have immediately attacked the newcomers.

The difficulty is in how the prophet came to her knowledge, one possible way is through the AI (the ship is still in orbit even when the refugees arrive in Alpha Centauri). It can't communicate with the selk in a normal fashion, but a message in the bottle dropped from orbit may suffice. If the AI detects the approaching vessels, it may become worried about it's progent, and try to send a warning. (The AI does devolve into a case of multiple personalities as time passes, so this is feasible).

Have to think about this one, but it may work fairly well.

Edges: I like the first idea quite a lot, although the upheaval wouldn't be as extreme as it would from humans. The Selk know they are from space, they know they were created by NYX (the AI), an intelligence beyond their own, they know that the world (or at least it's ecology) was made for them. It wouldn't be a surprise or shocking, but they are curious about who they are and their "Star Mother". Finding Tech is interesting. It could even be tied into Stoob's prophet idea with ease, increasing the complexity of the plot... especially if it's a comm to the AI.

As for other Panhumans, this doesn't fit with the history that the Players have come to know. That there has been no "Selk Wars" before humanity was a common theme, and fairly proven to be true in one previous game. The AI was very careful to get things right the first time (and hadn't split it's program into multiple personality shards yet), and she destroyed a lot of embroys that weren't up to her standards. There are dangerous creatures, some fairly intelligent, but the selk are the only Sentient species until humans arrive.

knarf: Quite right, the selk get along very well compared to humans, especially at the Community Level, but they disagree, argue, have rivalries (Most selk consider other selk of different clans but the same generation to be "friendly rivals"), and occassionally even fight. But this is on an individual basis, on any larger scale, the selk work to find consensus and cooperation.
Even where individuals conflict, it simply won't go to the extremes that humans would. You might want to beat your rival, or prove her ideas wrong, but you wouldn't want to really hurt or humilate her.

Consider the ramifications if the Primary Motivation of Humans was changed from "Self-Preservation" to "preservation of the Species". Now add in the fact that basic language and cultural concepts are hardwired into genetic memory. Even as the selk spread out into the world and become increasingly regionalized, they still share the fundamental core to both language and culture.

thedot:
Mutations are actually quite rare (the AI programmed significant DNA repair and failsafes, as the AI considered them perfected... thus natural evolution was undesirable), and even so cannot spread into the gene pool except through direct decendants... these individuals would likely die unless isolated from all other Selks. The reason is that Selk frequently swap antibodies (using their own lactate in communal foods), these carry antibodies to fight off not only disease, but destroy any cell that does not carry the same DNA.

The Selks themselves all have identical DNA, they are in fact a race of clones, but they express individual uniqueness through variations in the Dominancy/Recessiveness of their 81 genes.

A mutaion in a single faimly line is possible, but they would be disconnected from Selk society as a whole. This could lead to conflict, but it is unlikely to be on a large scale.

As to would they be accepted... if they "fit in" to Selk Society in terms of openess, cooperation, ecological responsibility, and peacefulness... then yes. Some of the human refugees "went native" and were given a place in Selk Communes. But if they display an isolatist philosophy, or become aggressive, disruptive to the environment, or become uncooperative... then there would be a problem.

Mysterious Dark:
You are ofcourse correct as to the Orion Drive and that the ship could arrive far earlier than 400 years, especially with Fusion Tech. However, those designs are incredibly expensive and transpot only a fraction of a percent of their mass as payload. With the corportatization of the world, how could they justify such a major expense that offer no return on the investment. The time and speeds I use take this into account, a relatively cheap vessel using cheap Hydrogen fuel achieving just over 1% C, transporting about 10% of it's mass as payload. This project can be taken on as a relatively trivial expense to someone who is extremely wealthy who happens to have an interest in space and is looking for some publicity. The Human refugees that arrive later on do so much more quickly, but they see a payoff for their investments.

The GRB in question is a Short Burst GRB (less than a tenth of a second), from the collision of two nuetron stars. From what I've been reading, the Earth would survive... though loose significant amounts of Ozone, and technology would fry out. The long term environmental effects of increased radiation would be disasterous. And Alpha Centauri was indeed hit, but Thalasia did not have any Ozone to begin with, and life there was anerobic life in the seas... thus the die off was not a cataclysm (the AI would do that later with the introduction of photosynthetic life).

The Ship is another question, the AI core (fiber optic) and genetic library were highly shielded both by matter and magnetically to protect against long-term exposure to cosmic rays, but a certain amount of handwavium is probably required to keep it from being completely destroyed.

----

Thanks for the link to the Blue Planet book... I've never even seen that one, I hope it's available on e23, because I deffinately want to check it out.

Yes, I've used Ice Age to flesh out some tech and environmental threats. I hope Low-Tech comes out soon ;)

An Illuminati campaign sounds interesting, perhaps tied into the earlier ideas of Prophecy and Technology falling from the sky. Hmmm, that might just work.

04-05-2010, 07:24 PM	#14
Trachmyr Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Florida	Re: Adventures in Utopia? Thanks for the feedback guys! Much appreciated. Stoob: The idea presented is an interesting one... because it doesn't go against any of the base cultural views of the Selk. If the selk would have known ahead of time what was going to happen when humans first arrived, they probablly would have immediately attacked the newcomers. The difficulty is in how the prophet came to her knowledge, one possible way is through the AI (the ship is still in orbit even when the refugees arrive in Alpha Centauri). It can't communicate with the selk in a normal fashion, but a message in the bottle dropped from orbit may suffice. If the AI detects the approaching vessels, it may become worried about it's progent, and try to send a warning. (The AI does devolve into a case of multiple personalities as time passes, so this is feasible). Have to think about this one, but it may work fairly well. Edges: I like the first idea quite a lot, although the upheaval wouldn't be as extreme as it would from humans. The Selk know they are from space, they know they were created by NYX (the AI), an intelligence beyond their own, they know that the world (or at least it's ecology) was made for them. It wouldn't be a surprise or shocking, but they are curious about who they are and their "Star Mother". Finding Tech is interesting. It could even be tied into Stoob's prophet idea with ease, increasing the complexity of the plot... especially if it's a comm to the AI. As for other Panhumans, this doesn't fit with the history that the Players have come to know. That there has been no "Selk Wars" before humanity was a common theme, and fairly proven to be true in one previous game. The AI was very careful to get things right the first time (and hadn't split it's program into multiple personality shards yet), and she destroyed a lot of embroys that weren't up to her standards. There are dangerous creatures, some fairly intelligent, but the selk are the only Sentient species until humans arrive. knarf: Quite right, the selk get along very well compared to humans, especially at the Community Level, but they disagree, argue, have rivalries (Most selk consider other selk of different clans but the same generation to be "friendly rivals"), and occassionally even fight. But this is on an individual basis, on any larger scale, the selk work to find consensus and cooperation. Even where individuals conflict, it simply won't go to the extremes that humans would. You might want to beat your rival, or prove her ideas wrong, but you wouldn't want to really hurt or humilate her. Consider the ramifications if the Primary Motivation of Humans was changed from "Self-Preservation" to "preservation of the Species". Now add in the fact that basic language and cultural concepts are hardwired into genetic memory. Even as the selk spread out into the world and become increasingly regionalized, they still share the fundamental core to both language and culture. thedot: Mutations are actually quite rare (the AI programmed significant DNA repair and failsafes, as the AI considered them perfected... thus natural evolution was undesirable), and even so cannot spread into the gene pool except through direct decendants... these individuals would likely die unless isolated from all other Selks. The reason is that Selk frequently swap antibodies (using their own lactate in communal foods), these carry antibodies to fight off not only disease, but destroy any cell that does not carry the same DNA. The Selks themselves all have identical DNA, they are in fact a race of clones, but they express individual uniqueness through variations in the Dominancy/Recessiveness of their 81 genes. A mutaion in a single faimly line is possible, but they would be disconnected from Selk society as a whole. This could lead to conflict, but it is unlikely to be on a large scale. As to would they be accepted... if they "fit in" to Selk Society in terms of openess, cooperation, ecological responsibility, and peacefulness... then yes. Some of the human refugees "went native" and were given a place in Selk Communes. But if they display an isolatist philosophy, or become aggressive, disruptive to the environment, or become uncooperative... then there would be a problem. Mysterious Dark: You are ofcourse correct as to the Orion Drive and that the ship could arrive far earlier than 400 years, especially with Fusion Tech. However, those designs are incredibly expensive and transpot only a fraction of a percent of their mass as payload. With the corportatization of the world, how could they justify such a major expense that offer no return on the investment. The time and speeds I use take this into account, a relatively cheap vessel using cheap Hydrogen fuel achieving just over 1% C, transporting about 10% of it's mass as payload. This project can be taken on as a relatively trivial expense to someone who is extremely wealthy who happens to have an interest in space and is looking for some publicity. The Human refugees that arrive later on do so much more quickly, but they see a payoff for their investments. The GRB in question is a Short Burst GRB (less than a tenth of a second), from the collision of two nuetron stars. From what I've been reading, the Earth would survive... though loose significant amounts of Ozone, and technology would fry out. The long term environmental effects of increased radiation would be disasterous. And Alpha Centauri was indeed hit, but Thalasia did not have any Ozone to begin with, and life there was anerobic life in the seas... thus the die off was not a cataclysm (the AI would do that later with the introduction of photosynthetic life). The Ship is another question, the AI core (fiber optic) and genetic library were highly shielded both by matter and magnetically to protect against long-term exposure to cosmic rays, but a certain amount of handwavium is probably required to keep it from being completely destroyed. ---- Thanks for the link to the Blue Planet book... I've never even seen that one, I hope it's available on e23, because I deffinately want to check it out. Yes, I've used Ice Age to flesh out some tech and environmental threats. I hope Low-Tech comes out soon ;) An Illuminati campaign sounds interesting, perhaps tied into the earlier ideas of Prophecy and Technology falling from the sky. Hmmm, that might just work.