Character Creation Culture-Sensitive Spawn

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

I'm working on a (surprisingly contentious to some staffers) suggestion for Character Culture Customization. If you do not toggle it off then when you select your home system and citizenship you spawn with unique items or affects dependent on those choices. These items are like custom items - they are meant to both be primers about the lore of the faction or system (showing and not telling) and giving humans a distinct, if small, cultural niche that they can hold onto and sincerely say is theirs rather than something scattershot into the custom loadout.

Home System and Citizenship have their own items, so you can spawn with 2 items in your inventory or on your person if this feature is toggled on. If your home system is sol but your citizenship is Biesel, you will get those 2 separate listed items.

This feature is, at the moment, focused on the human factions. There are several reasons for this. Currently xeno factions have their unique items that only their species can spawn with - whereas human characters have no special items that are inherently theirs. In addition, all items in the loadout can be worn by anyone at any time. Anyone can wear a Dominian greatcoat.

Culture-Sensitive Spawn [yes / no]

If toggled then your character will have different items or affects determined by their citizenship and home system.

Home System

 

 

Unset -

A pile of expired coupons, lottery tickets, and a wrinkled temporary work visa folded too many times. The visa is usually given to NanoTrasen workers to let them work early before their records are fully updated.

Sol -

Sol Photo Album -Jackboot

An album filled with photos of all 8 planets in Sol, sold in shuttleports at a discount to Alliance citizens leaving the system. The photo albums can make even the most disillusioned Solarian feel homesick. Each photo comes with a little informational blurb.

[links to https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Sol]

Tau Ceti -

Spawn with an Odin Moped Rental Voucher. -Jackboot

Issued to citizens born within Tau Ceti, it offers its holder free use of fare-free moped rentals to travel the Odin fast and easy. Beep beep!

New Ankara -

Spawn with a small silver coin with the motto “For Greatness We Strive” -Jackboot

A small token with the national slogan that Elyrans purchase from a non-profit to remember the Lii’dra attacks of 2459 and 2460 and fund recovery efforts.

Epsilon Eridani

Spawn with an augment maintenance kit. -Zundy

This is a small silver box containing micro tools and cleaning equipment suited to maintaining eye augmentations.

X'yr Vharn'p (Dominia)

Spawn with a Tribunal Necklace. -Pegasus

This silver chain necklace has the Eye of the Tribunal clasped on to it, symbolizing the four corners of the universe with the Tribunal watching all. The center may be freely rotated.

Free Frontier

Spawn with a Free Assembly pin. -Zundy

This beryllium copper pin is stamped with the logo of the Free Assembly.

 

Citizenship

 

 

Unset -

Nothing.

Sol Alliance

Spawn with an Alliance Passport -Jackboot

This document is a declaration of allegiance that entitles the individual to the full

Protection of the Sol Alliances’ resources. While all factions give them out, an Alliance

passport is held above all others. Its holders can enter any port and always know their

privileged status above the Colonials, with people thinking twice before trying to commit

injustice against them. At least in theory.

Republic of Biesel

Spawn with an Icarus Drone Bobblehead. - Doc

A bluish-grey, military-grade lethal combat drone with red highlights that shimmer ominously in the light. But this one is only about five inches tall, made of plastic, and bouncing on a spring. Both the bobblehead and the actual combat drone sold by NT everywhere!

Republic of Elyra

Spawn with. . . .

Eridani Federation

Spawn with an Eridanian identity token. -Zundy

This small disk contains bio-metric data of the user for logging into workstations and for general travel identification. It also doubles as a handy credit stick. (maybe have it actually act as an item that can be used to pay for thing like the NT identity cards)

Empire of Dominia

Spawn with a Dominian travel pass. -Zundy

This card authorizes the traveler to leave Dominian space and dwell temporarily within Tau Ceti. It is made of silicone with silver engraved lettering. A chip has been embedded in its center.

 

FAQ

Why are you forcing me to spawn with these items?

You can toggle this feature off.

Why not just add these items to the loadout?

Having them available to everyone, by having them stumble on them in the list of 200+ items already on display, is not the intention of this feature. These are not just additional items to throw onto the pile.

Why can’t EVERYONE spawn with these?

Exclusivity is an element of appeal. People don't wear calvin klein because his clothes are comfortable. If only Elyrans get a special Elyran item, then Elyrans have that sense of having a piece of their own culture that belongs to them. All xeno factions have elements that are exclusively theirs, with special clothing locked behind only them. Humanity lacks this despite being the most prolific race and the default for our players. This both gives them exclusive items and fleshes out our lore in a small way for players to feel a greater sense of belonging for the greater world they’re in.

What is your ultimate goal for this feature?

A new player, with a totally fresh face, selects a random citizenship and home system and spawns with the items and/or stat affects. He does not know what they are, but he notices other people have the same type of item. They look into it, and become hooked on our setting. This feature is for a small, wholesome layer of worldbuilding.

Edited November 16, 2018 by Marlon Phoenix

[BurgerBB]

Honestly these are all nice and all but I kind of really want some of these to be loadout items. I think a better system would be that if a new player selects a random citizenship and home system, the appropriate home system loadout item is added to their loadout.

I like the idea of passports for each system, however.

[VTCobaltblood]

I like these, but not the Sol item. My character has fully immigrated from Sol to Ceti, so he has Sol as his home system, but Biesel as his citizenship - he doesn't travel from Sol to Ceti everyday.

I'd like to see some martian cultural identity too - can't see the reds spawning with something associated with Sol, I'd imagine they'd have something else instead (loadout item, maybe?). Also, is it possible to enable only one of these? And how is the Free Frontier home system item determined - is it an item that you get when you pick "Other" as your home system?

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

I like these, but not the Sol item. My character has fully immigrated from Sol to Ceti, so he has Sol as his home system, but Biesel as his citizenship - he doesn't travel from Sol to Ceti everyday.

I'd like to see some martian cultural identity too - can't see the reds spawning with something associated with Sol, I'd imagine they'd have something else instead (loadout item, maybe?). Also, is it possible to enable only one of these? And how is the Free Frontier home system item determined - is it an item that you get when you pick "Other" as your home system?

 

Currently we are not down to specific planets within the diverse sol system. I can see the itinerary perhaps not fitting all situations.

How about:

A Common To Basic Phrase Guide

A Travel Phamplet for Biesel

Photo Album of the Sol Planets offered by the shuttleport

Or something else?

[VTCobaltblood]

Currently we are not down to specific planets within the diverse sol system. I can see the itinerary perhaps not fitting all situations.

How about:

A Common To Basic Phrase Guide

A Travel Phamplet for Biesel

Photo Album of the Sol Planets offered by the shuttleport

Or something else?

 

I think the photo album would be sweet. The phrase guide doesn't really fit because Sol isn't the only system speaking Common, and a travel pamhplet feels like a thing that could be on anyone, not just someone from Sol.

What about my other questions, though? Will we be able to enable only one of these? And how will we get the Frontier item? Since, you know, the systems inputted in "Other" could be something else than the Frontier Alliance.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

[mention]VTCobaltblood[/mention] we are going to include the Frontier Alliance or other notable locations when this feature gets going. For frontier systems..... I'm not 100% sure yet. Part of me believes it could be interesting if all frontierpeople spawn with oily shoes, to reinforce the tough and tumble lifestyle they have out in the wilds.

The photo album it shall be for Sol. I might see about the possibility of it being something you can open to see sprite artwork of the major planets.... but we will see about any special mechanics of objects.

[DeadLantern]

I would love to see this.

[Arrow768]

Had a brief talk with [mention]Senpai Jackboot[/mention] about that suggestion.

I believe [mention]BurgerBB[/mention] ´s implementation idea is pretty solid (if expanded a bit):

 

• All home-system specific items are added to the custom loadout (possibly a specific category).
  
• The loadout system is expanded to allow restrictions based on the home system.
  
• The loadout system is expanded to allow to specify if multiple restrictions should apply with a AND or a OR condition (i.e. if you need to be of the correct species and be from the correct home system or only one of those)
  
• If a player changes the home system of their char (or when a new char is created) the proper items for the home-system are selected. (Possibly with a item flag to mark them a default item for a home system / species.
  
• If a char spawns there is (obviously) a check to see if the char still has the correct home-system for the specific item
  

[BurgerBB]

Had a brief talk with @Senpai Jackboot about that suggestion.

I believe @BurgerBB ´s implementation idea is pretty solid (if expanded a bit):

 

• All home-system specific items are added to the custom loadout (possibly a specific category).
  
• The loadout system is expanded to allow restrictions based on the home system.
  
• The loadout system is expanded to allow to specify if multiple restrictions should apply with a AND or a OR condition (i.e. if you need to be of the correct species and be from the correct home system or only one of those)
  
• If a player changes the home system of their char (or when a new char is created) the proper items for the home-system are selected. (Possibly with a item flag to mark them a default item for a home system / species.
  
• If a char spawns there is (obviously) a check to see if the char still has the correct home-system for the specific item
  

 

Full suggestion is that if you change your species in the character editor, loadout items for your species, home system, and citizenship are automatically assigned. This can easily be cleared with "Clear Loadout" and should be non-intrusive.

Passports are separate from the loadout system and are automatically given to the players, with an opt-out setting.

[Butterrobber202]

So they won’t take load out points?

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

So they won’t take load out points?

 

It's important to me that these items do not compete with other loadout items. these will be free in terms of points.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

The sol photo album will no longer just show sprites of the planets but serve as a link to the sol wiki page itself with its information about the planets. This is both mechanically easier for devs and more intuitive and useful for the purpose of being a learning tool.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

We are still working on sprites.

The sol photo album that links you to the sol page.

 

 

A Free Assembly pin.

 

 

The dominian necklace.

 

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Bump.

[ComradeCorbyn]

I love all these thus far, and it would give some sort of distinction between the Humans rather than just "yeah bro look at this flag," and I have my own idea - although not very original. Seeing and recognizing the fact that the Republic of Elyra at this time is extremely militarized and extremely prejudiced against several fronts around their border, I'd just recommend a passport card. Sort of like an ID, except with the user's photo printed on the left-hand side and some Elyran coloring to it. 

[DeadLantern]

I actually forgot this existed.

Again, full support. Love this so much. We need this, it is a small change to putting lore in game.

[ComradeCorbyn]

After second thought and reconsideration after weeks, I think the Elyran "passport" should rather be a badge of some sorts, where all biometric data is available on it. It would be similar to a badge similar in fashion to anything, really. Just needs to look overly-military, or something like that.