PlaneShift
Gameplay => General Discussion => Topic started by: Bubba on August 11, 2008, 04:26:19 pm
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I joined PlaneShift because I was specifically seeking Role-Play. I've played many so-called MMORPG's over the years, yet most of them are really just MMOG's or MMOFPS's. From the very first time I logged on to PlaneShift, I noticed it was different, and I liked it from the start. Finally, real Role-Play in a 3-D environment! \\o//
To fully submerse myself in the RP, I chose to play a Kran. And I have come to like my Kran very much. I like the Kran city (Gugrontid), Kran art and the Kran ethos. In fact, I like everything about the Kran people. I just find myself wishing that there was more information on it.
For example: Do Kran have specific naming customs? Do they have their own unique form of greeting? Do they greet fellow Kran differently than they do members of the other races? What are the details of their faith? Are there factions within that faith? Why do some Kran have such poor linguistic/cognitive skills, while others seems rather wise and well-spoken? Are there Kran schools? Or perhaps substantial differences in social class which then effect social integration? How do they refer to the different 'skin'-tones within the Kran race? And why do they find the brighter colours to be particularly beautiful? Etc., etc.
I would love to dive into my Kran character, but I feel like I know too little regarding them to do so in a way that would not alienate other players - particularly other Kran - during RP. In my experience, good RP involves knowing a lot of universal backstory and finding your character's place in that story. The universal aspect is adequately developed on the PlaneShift website. But there is very little regarding the Kran people, despite the fact that they have so much potential.
(The story relating the founding of Gugrontid is a big exception to the above. It represents precisely the kind of thing I think there needs to be more of. A big 'thank you' goes out to whomever came up with that little gem. :))
I understand that the PS development team has a lot to do, and that, in the bigger scheme of things, coming up with backstory for the Kran people is probably not very high on the list of priorities. However, just as people are invited to help in developing code, finding bugs, etc., why not allow people to volunteer in helping develop backstory? Of course, everything would have to be checked over by Game Masters to ensure that it doesn't conflict with other parts of the universal backstory. But I think a good deal could be contributed by individuals if they were made aware of the specific framework within which they can create.
The ideal as I see it would be to create a true Kran subculture within the PlaneShift world. Subcultures have existed for some time in MMORPG's, usually in the form of guilds or clans. However, I am not proposing the creation of a new guild or clan for use in-game. Instead, I am proposing we put together a small team of people interested in the Kran for the sole purpose of developing more backstory for Kran civilization, including (but not limited to) history, religion, philosophy, society/social organization, education, art and language. We could start by collecting all the known information relating to the Kran, and then slowly build from there.
The idea is to develop a RP culture primarily for people who enjoy playing Kran characters and to give them more backstory and cultural details to spice up and deepen the quality of their in-game RP experience. I don't expect it to directly influence the game itself (e.g. I don't expect NPC's to mention any of the backstory we develop), though, if done well, it could perhaps influence future developments. The land around Gugrontid is pretty much an empty canvas with lots of potential, and I assume more development will take place here in future updates and releases. (For example, there are two little patches of wood off to the North-West of Gugrontid itself which can only be reached through narrow valleys - perfect places to situate a hovel or two. And I think anyone who has spent any amount of time in the Temple of Talad has noticed the gateway in the expansive territory behind Gugrontid. Although no adventurer has found a passage through the hills and returned to tell his tale, who knows what the future holds...) We could also work towards building up the Kran-related pages on the PS-Wiki (http://pswiki.xordan.com/index.php/Main_Page).
If you would be interested in participating in this 'project', please post below (and please mention your Kran's name if you have one). When we get together a team of 5 people or more, I could set up a site where we can discuss backstory and develop aspects of Kran civilization.
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Nice idea. Couldn't say how much of anything you do would become official though.
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Hi Parallo,
Thanks for commenting. I don't plan on trying to get it officially recognized for all of PlaneShift. But it could gain a certain degree of attention from players with Kran characters, and (provided we set up a site) could serve as a good starting point for new Kran looking to build up their characters within the framework of Kran society. (And when I speak of 'Kran society', I don't mean the "official", i.e. NPC Kran society. I mean Kran society as established by the people who actually play Kran characters in PS. For our purposes, these are the "true Kran" of Gugrontid, and they decide how the PvP RP culture is lived in-world.)
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I was delighted with that reply until I reached the end. There should really be no difference between npcs and pcs in cultural terms. We all share the same world. That said, it doesn't matter so long as there are no contradictions between what you devise and what is already there. But none the less, good luck. Should I ever decide to make a Kran I know where to go now.
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Welcome to PS Bubba. It is wonderful to have a new role player about. Have fun!
/me looks all the way up at Ogul askingly, can you please pick an apple off the tree so I can break my fast?
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There should really be no difference between npcs and pcs in cultural terms. We all share the same world.
I agree completely, Parallo. Culturally there should be unity. But, as you probably know better than I, there is also a good deal of RP interaction you can have with PCs that simply is not possible with any NPCs at this time. (I noticed there are active threads on the topic and I will attempt to help out regarding the NPCs in Gugrontid.) All I want to do is to help develop aspects of Kran culture (that doesn't conflict with any known PS backstory) so that RP for players with Kran characters is richer in detail and even more enjoyable. What I mean by the distinction between NPC culture and PC culture has to with things like going for a drink in the Gugrontid tavern, i.e. things no NPC can do.
If you ever do create a Kran, please do sign up. :)
Thank you for the welcome, Mathy.
* Ogul looks down at the small figure in front of him, and a broad crack erupts across his face. "Mathy hungry?" He streches out his massive right arm and grasps the tree by the trunk, giving it a firm shake which sends nearly every apple in the tree tumbling to the ground below. "Mathy eat. Apple much good food."
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You can always apply to the settings team and contribute from there. There might be other tasks that you'd be assigned to first but if you push for it and work on Kran culture on the side, it should be ok.
Also, make sure you visit Jayose's library. There are books about the physical and cultural differences among the sentient races in Yliakum there. Sure, it's not that much information but the answers to some of your questions are there.
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Have you spoken much to the Kran of Gugrontid or other cities? Do some work for them and I think you might learn a great deal about their culture. I'd also suggest visiting Jayose's library in east Hydlaa. He has a few books on their history and culture.
Creating settings yourself is fun and all but the moment the real settings team releases their settings you can usually start all over again. So if you're going to create something, make sure you've drilled into and exhausted all current sources of settings-provided information: NPCs, books, quests, right-clicky descriptions, etc. If there are still things you haven't found, ask the team: a request from the settings team (http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=28285.0) and it'll probably appear in-game.
Of course if you really want to create you can always just apply for the settings team yourself, they always need people who can write and think creatively.
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/me smiles and says thanks Ogul for the apple and leaves the rest for all the other wonderful people here in our fine city.
(Please do not become a dev we need you as a role player. I look forward to seeing you in game Ogul.)
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(Please do not become a dev we need you as a role player. I look forward to seeing you in game Ogul.)
::| If nobody applied to the team, the game would never see progress. Please don't discourage people from doing something for the game (it kills RP).
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I'm on the team and I RP plenty.
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I know several Devs that RP. GMs too :)
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I was kidding here folks. Lighten up.
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Ummm... then maybe use any of these next time:
:) ;) :P :innocent: :lol: :sweatdrop: ::)
By the tone of your other posts it was hard to tell you were joking.
*Dajoji lightens up: "weeeeeeeee" O--)
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Good thing Dajoji keeps chillpills handy!
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I highly encourage you to apply for the dev team if you wish to do this in earnest.
We have 12 cultures to develop including languages, customs, ethics, speech patterns, racial weaponry, racial weaknesses, diseases, religion, history, popular icons etc etc etc.
This task is not trivial and we do in fact need help.
Mathy I don't want to see you discourage people from joining the dev team EVER again.
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/me hands smiles to everyone.
:D :) ;D
This is a great game Ugol and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Again welcome.
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Greeting Bubba. I have always thought as you do now, but found the only way to actually make a large impact on the lore of the game is to join the team.
For the information you are seeking, I assure you there is text already written and coming. It is quite a process to make sure there are no conflicts with existing ingame info and internal reference documents.
After looking over your post and what you ask asking for, I can give you a few brief bits of info that are already known publicly, but not yet in an easy to digest form (but will be).
Kran do not have their own unique language, but share a common one with Lemurs. This is now the 'Common' tongue spoken ingame today. Due to their long history with the Lemur and their natures, the two races have almost always existed in friendship, and have been the 'glue' that helped bring the other races together. That history will be expanded on as well. You can see the basic Kran art style in the design of Gugrontid. Religion, obviously, is predominantly Talad, and the worship style is not unique to Kran. There will be books similar to the Laanx book ingame now to further explain the religion, Soon(TM). Education will be similar for all races.
I know that is not much, but I hope it assures you that we are working towards bringing you the information you desire.
By the way, Devs still roleplay... we just get bigger toys. ;)
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Thanks to everyone for their positive comments and suggestions. I will probably spend the immediate future learning everything I can about the Kran. I've done many of the quests which start in Gugrontid, and I think I've talked to all the Kran NPC's both in Gugrontid and elsewhere. I've spent hours in Jayose's library, and I think I've read every book available on the subject (though I would love to break into the Gugrontid archives! :D ).
I will seriously consider sending in an application to the settings development team sometime in the future (I also have some experience in writing A.I. scripts for chat-bots similar to ALICE, and I'm assuming the NPCs work on similar principles), but I think I need much more experience and in-world time before I could make any coherent contributions. Right now I just have thousands of little questions, like: Does the fact that Kran 'hear' through vibrations picked up via resonance in their bodies affect the way they express themselves to other Kran? For instance, would they 'laugh' like other beings? Or would they send out a deep, rumbling vibratory wave instead? Or: Seeing as they have a very peculiar digestive system, what kinds of Kran drinks would be on offer at the tavern in Gugrontid? (For that matter, what is the Kranish word for "tavern"?) I could go on for hours... ::|
Who is in charge of settings development? Can s/he be contacted with questions? Will s/he put you on "/ignore" if you ask too many questions? :D
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xillix is the leader of the settings team and most likely you will not find him ingame as he is too busy with the prospects. you want to learn best way is to apply to the team and help.
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Do not ask Xillix questions directly. He has a lot on his plate. You can ask your questions on the forum here: http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=28285.0 . We do read it. :)
On the note of what the 'Krannish' word for tavern is... it is 'tavern'. ;) As I said in my last post, there is not a Kran language. Some of your other questions have already been answered, and will be added to the game in future updates.
I would like to say now that joining PlaneShift is not always about bringing what skills you have, but it is also about expanding the skills you have, or learning new ones. You are not required to be an expert in anything, but only willing to put in your best effort.
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is this project still active ?
I am interested in kran culture and RP and would be happy to exchange with anybody promoting these
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It was never really a project, if you wish to influence the development of Kran culture then please join us (http://www.planeshift.it/recruitment.html) and help :)
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I don't specifically want to influence it, I would like to promote it ;)
If there is people in charge of the kran culture, or trying to developp it, I would be happy to exchange with them. Contributing is not excluded but it would not be serious to apply before knowing the who and what, if you see what I mean. :)
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Read the settings application it give a brief overview of what settings does.
We have tasks that we are continually in the process of doing so discussions outside of the team are often much lower on priority for settings developers.
We do read ideas from the forums, but the sheer amount of work we have to do makes it much better for us to have our discussions within the team.
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Yes, I can imagine you have plenty of work and my purpose was not to disturb you with preview knowledge and special issues.
Just wanted to gather more information about krans, and gather some kran interested players, to have fun RPing them in PS, without using false information or obsolete things.
As I have already been involved in projects, I know it is time consuming, and I don't apply for now, as I think I would not be able to fullfill tasks in time.
Waiting customers in Gugrontid tavern is already time consuming, especially when everybody prefers to dig platinum ;)
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At least you're doing something constructive and supportive, more information on Kran will come out in time.
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Thanks for the reply, I will look forward for new informations :thumbup:
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After a while away, I am back in game, from time to time. I have made again quests, but I am not sure Kran culture have been so far very developped since last time. Is there some promoters around, still ? Or not ? Do the setting devs have enought time to work upon that, with all the new maps and NPCs in Oja and Amdeneir ?
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Welcome back, Kronwag! \\o//
The Settings department changed a lot since. It is not certain for people not involved in it what will stay from the times before... only that it will need more time.
At least it is good to see that there is a little activity around Gugrontid now and then. Mining at the forge. Playing in the Stonehead Tavern. But culture ... well, check the event calendar for possible holidays related to Kran. But unfortunately, it doesn't seem to support "recurring events" automatically, there are huge gaps of not yet manually entered events. The last event which was at least loosely related to Kran and Gugrontid was probably: Sharing Talad's Gifts (http://www.planeshift.it/event15.html?eventdate=1278262800)
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Thanks for the informations. I will look forward for Krans fans in the game, so. I hope to get in touch with some. I have books to share :)
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"Books to share" ==> Knowledge Seekers - books review for Jayose
Still no deadline. Still accepting submissions.
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No, I mean books copies from Jayose, not new ones. I have made all the Kran /Education quests I knew, so I am quite interested in spreading information about History of Krans etc.
I have subscribed to the poetry competition, but I am not sure it will be worth a book :D
I don't mean to developp the Setting myself, I let the Dev create the world and I just enjoy it \\o//
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Well, why not taking part. If you meet the requirements, how about getting recruited as "Settings prospect"?
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Time ! I am afraid I would not be very efficient...
And, by the way, there is no "open positions" written on the Recruitment page (http://www.planeshift.it/recruitment.html)
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take as base that there are always open position.
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By the way, is the book Xillix spoke of in this thread :
http://www.hydlaaplaza.com/smf/index.php?topic=34111.0
has been released ? I would be definitively delighted to read it... I saw nothing in Jayose, apart of "Kran history and origin" specifically about Kran (hope this is not spoiler saying that)