So people just try to role-play on the forums? Or does Roled want to teach me how it's viewed in-game so I don't mis-remember my lines?
It looks like I'll need to go in-game and find those books, all of them, before continuing...much. Could I get a mild spoiler about how much time/difficulty it will take to find all these books? Beyond finding the records/library/bookstore that is.
Might seem disgusting, but what do you mean by the creatures "dispos[ing] of it"? The matter has to go somewhere, and in some form. If biological, the preferred form is fertilizer for farming, and that stuff was collected for the purpose far back in European history all the way to...today. Yliakums would not have to deal with: biodegradless plastic; excessive, chemically treated paper, or an abundance of harmful chemicals and minerals (do you know that many computers contain lead?). They would not dump metals, for they can be re-forged when broken, and are hard to refine. They would not dump stone, for what to use for building? But I guess they would
definitely dump corrupted, chaotic, or wild magic; that stuff'll kill you, and it's pain to clean up.
Truthfully, Rigwyn, that metaphor didn't come to my mind until you posted it. I know a decent amount about internet communities in general, but very little about this one, for I doubt what I've read is all-inclusive (but the rules...augh). I don't really want to get into it, but here's a few examples of forum rules;
Short,
Short n' Sweet,
Long,
Verbose. It's not necessarily strict, but instead unbalanced, seemingly leaving overlapping areas of encouragement and forbearance.
The Brick Wall Learning Curve
IM (Internet Mark)! =D So, instead of making a tutorial that doesn't really teach you the game; make
the game itself ridiculously complicated. Since you guys enjoy thoughtful realism (or Sense, since magic isn't real), it becomes really easy as the game is developed to add numerous useful controls that a practiced player loves and a newbie is confused by. Every time I've seen this happen (a control/detail flood), the trolls never reach the forums; they look at the manual and their hot little minds don't have the patience to do it, however epic it may be. So, nearly all players entering the community are of the patient kind, and this often implies nice, even if it can't guarantee it. You know, it seems like all the nice communities have some kind of filter, and that filter determines the community. Do you want a barbed fence, ring of fire, brick wall, force field, or something else entirely?
"Caring"...that's the first step, isn't it?
It will be the Phoenix; reborn from the ashes.
(Oh, and 5 hours of sleep 20 hours ago this time.)