FrozenDahliaRose - Human Lore Deputy Writer Application

[FrozenDahliaRose]

BYOND Ckey: FrozenDahliaRose

How long in the community: 6 years (since 2019)

Why are you applying for the position of human lore deputy writer? Why do you think that you would be good in the position?

I’m applying because I’ve been in the community for six years now, and I love the people here and I love the world that’s been created. I’d love to play a part in the creating, and I’d love to be able to give back to the server and community. I think I would make a good fit because of both my ability to work well as a collaborative effort with others and also my passion for writing and eye for detail.

What is your favourite part of Human Lore and why? If you submitted something for canonisation that was indeed canonised you may not select that as the answer to this question.

My favorite parts of the lore currently are Sol’s planets and Dominia’s planets, particularly Mars and Caria respectfully. I adore the setting that’s been created on Mars, and especially the Violet Dawn event and its ramifications. For Caria, I love how unique the setting is, with both the perpetual twilight and also the common appearance of Carians. Combined with the rest of Dominia’s attitude towards Carians as a result of perceived witch involvement makes for a great amount of potential when creating characters within the setting.

What do you believe are ways that the Human Lore Team could best implement the phoron scarcity to our various factions and locations throughout the setting that would reflect the gravity of the in-character situation without grossly compromising the out-of-character things that make each faction and location unique and compelling?

I think the best way the lore team can implement the phoron scarcity is by focusing on the tangible effects it’s having on the different factions throughout the Spur, and how the different communities are affected and reacting to it. As it’s been made clear that a lot of the Spur’s economy is centered around phoron and bluespace technology, one focus of implementation should be how different economic factions are responding to and dealing with the changes that the shortages are bringing. An economic downturn will affect, say, a wealthy Lunan a lot differently than a working class Jintarian, or an already struggling Martian. Another great focus would be further development on how different factions are looking into alternatives to Bluespace technology, or alternatively how they’re not looking into alternatives and instead are putting more focus into finding more phoron.

What do you believe are the current strengths and weaknesses of human lore? Why? What would you do to improve upon the weaknesses? Please do not mention offworlders in your answer to this question. We know that they are a weak spot and that they require action and would prefer to hear perspectives that do not highlight this area of human lore.

I think the biggest strength of human lore is its variety. There are so many different and cool factions and locations around the Spur for someone to make characters from. The different cultures, the different climates, the differing histories all culminate in a wide variety of spots, each with so much potential. On the flip side, one weakness of human lore would have to be the lack of depth in some of the locations. While some pages really go into the fine details about daily life for humans in their respective locations, some are incredibly vague and don’t give a great foundation for character creation. While leaving some aspects of an area open-ended can be great for allowing for creativity, a lack of direction can also be stifling when making a character or forming their backstory. Personally, to improve this, I would focus on details and fleshing out existing locations, instead of introducing something new. This can tie into the current focus on the phoron scarcity as well, as the phoron scarcity and its impact on an area’s economy, as well as how the residents are affected can be a great way to breathe more life into an otherwise lacking page.

What are three projects (medium-to-large size additions, arcs, or reworks) that you would like to complete during your tenure as a Human Lore Deputy writer? Please do not mention new locations or factions in this answer.

Three projects that I would like to work on would be:

- Further fleshing out the planets in the Sol system that may need a bit more, especially in the way of information that would be helpful for character creation. While history is great, adding details about what daily life may look like for someone from that location can be incredibly helpful for someone looking to add depth to their characters.

- Further developing the relations both between different human factions, as well as between factions and megacorporations (even on a more individual planetary scale in some cases).

- An arc that explores Dominia as a growing power in the Spur, and how that brings the Empire into further conflict/tensions with Elyra and the Coalition

What is an idea for a future arc that you would like to have a part in writing and organising in the future? If you provided an arc(s) as part of your answer for question 3, you may expand on the ideas for that arc(s) here, or you may provide another idea.

As mentioned prior, I think it would be really interesting to explore an arc based on Dominia’s growing power and influence in the Spur, and especially how that affects the relations between Dominia and its neighbors as well as the Spur at large. I think it could make for some interesting situations in antag rounds as well as interesting interactions between members of the crew. If the Horizon became involved in any way, it’d be interesting to see the Horizon and crew taking a mediating or supportive role, rather than taking one side or having a clear enemy to face.

Have you ever been subject to any warnings, strikes, or bans from the Aurora moderation team? If so, how long ago were you and for what actions did you receive moderation action for? Answers for this question should include actions taken on the game server, discord servers, and forums.

No, I haven’t 

[The7thLain]

Hi! Thank you for your application. Please pardon my delay in posting these questions, it's been Thanksgiving and I've had little time to get to responding to you and the other candidates. I've read it over and I have a few questions for you to answer at your earliest convenience, but preferably by the end of this weekend if you can manage it. If you do not answer by then, I will move forward with making a decision on your application without the information sought by the questions below.
1. When you mention fleshing out the daily life for what planets in the Sol System might look like, what do you have in mind? I don't need a full explanation for all the planets (that would be too much work for just this question), but I would appreciate some specifics that are illustrative of the trend you would want to write out.
2. A Dominian arc focused on the colonial empire flexing its muscles is something that holds a fair bit of potential in my opinion, to the point where the concept has been thrown around every now and then within the human lore team itself. It's an interesting idea for sure, but I would like to know a little more about what your narrative goals would be for an arc like that, should you have a part in writing it. What do you want to achieve in the story?
3. A lot of what you have mentioned here is very setting-wide and big picture. A wide outlook is good for writing something as large as human lore, but we also write this lore for a game that we all play set on a ship flying through space. How would you want to see these changes or impacts that you've proposed effect the Horizon and its crew? You can pick whichever ideas that you've already mentioned and apply them to answering this question.

[FrozenDahliaRose]

7 hours ago, The7thLain said:

Hi! Thank you for your application. Please pardon my delay in posting these questions, it's been Thanksgiving and I've had little time to get to responding to you and the other candidates. I've read it over and I have a few questions for you to answer at your earliest convenience, but preferably by the end of this weekend if you can manage it. If you do not answer by then, I will move forward with making a decision on your application without the information sought by the questions below.
1. When you mention fleshing out the daily life for what planets in the Sol System might look like, what do you have in mind? I don't need a full explanation for all the planets (that would be too much work for just this question), but I would appreciate some specifics that are illustrative of the trend you would want to write out.
2. A Dominian arc focused on the colonial empire flexing its muscles is something that holds a fair bit of potential in my opinion, to the point where the concept has been thrown around every now and then within the human lore team itself. It's an interesting idea for sure, but I would like to know a little more about what your narrative goals would be for an arc like that, should you have a part in writing it. What do you want to achieve in the story?
3. A lot of what you have mentioned here is very setting-wide and big picture. A wide outlook is good for writing something as large as human lore, but we also write this lore for a game that we all play set on a ship flying through space. How would you want to see these changes or impacts that you've proposed effect the Horizon and its crew? You can pick whichever ideas that you've already mentioned and apply them to answering this question.

Hi! Thank you so much for your time with these questions. Here’s my thoughts:

1) With Sol’s planets, one of my go-to examples would be Earth. While Earth’s page goes very in-depth when it comes to its history, it lacks a bit when it comes to the sort of details that would help making the current, 2460s Earth feel more real. Current Earth culture, how being from different parts of Earth would have an impact on how an Earther character would act, and how Earth’s history shaped the lives and behaviors of its inhabitants, even centuries after the environmental crisis. All of which, I think, could really help make Earth a fascinating origin for players’ characters. While Earth is my primary example in that regard, I think the idea of developing a culture that’s lacking can be applied to other planets in Sol too. For another example, I currently play a character from Pluto, and while there’s a good amount to work with already, I think there could be more on how Plutonians interact with their unique form of government. How the everyday person feels about their situation. Things like that.

2) If I had a part in writing such an arc surrounding Dominia, I would want to make it a development that involves the rest of the Spur (or at least the human parts of it) and especially the Horizon as much as possible. Particularly, I feel that eventually developing a conflict between Dominia and Elyra could be incredibly effective with the aftermath of Elyra’s current arc. Something I’ve noticed during my time on the server is that Dominia, and Dominians in general as a consequence, has developed a reputation as a interstellar bad guy, and while that’s not entirely unfounded, Dominia coming into conflict with an Elyra that’s rapidly declining in public opinion with the whole NCP situation, in my mind, could really help make deciding who to “support” as your average Horizon crewmember less of a foregone conclusion. This, in turn, holds a lot of potential for the Horizon’s involvement, with any involvement, whether to act as a mediator on behalf of Biesel/Tau Ceti, or just involving themselves in the conflict at all making waves with the opinions of the general crew. 

3) I touched on this aspect a bit in my previous answer, but I think big-scale contributions can definitely impact the crew in a meaningful way without holding back any creativity — particularly by providing more to work off of. Personally, I think the best way to do this would be to take the Spur as a whole into consideration when writing. So while when working on general lore aspects of different planets, this could be achieved by writing on international relations and how the nations and planets’ goverments interact with each other, when writing conflicts, the best way to involve as many characters as possible, even when so far away, would be focusing on the ramifications of both the conflict itself as its being written by the team but also the ramifications of alternative outcomes. To better explain with an example, I’ll use the Dominia vs Elyra conflict. While the team may have a specific plot in mind, and the effects that will happen as a result of that plot, it would also be a good idea to highlight, say, the potential consequences of a different outcome. Maybe the team would want things to work out, but if the Horizon is on the other side of the Spur from the conflict, what’s changed for them? Well, in my mind, if we highlight the potential threat of say, a giant imperial interstellar power now having control over a big portion of the Spur’s phoron, that would help make the conflict more of a tangible threat, even across the Spur. Sure, at the end of the arc, it wouldn’t happen, but if for a time, it felt like it could happen? I think that’d allow for more engagement with the arc and interstellar events/conflicts in general.