Guidelines for Official Story/Age Creation

Alahmnat · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:14 pm

Jamey wrote:

RAWA wrote:

Jamey wrote:

You see, in my age, I have a linking book to the hood instance of The Great Library in Ae'gura. It is not a custom instance I made myself, it would just lead to the hood instance Ae'gura like the book on your Relto bookshelf in MOUL did. Would this be against the rules because I have it in my age in general, or is it allowed since I didn't make the instance of the age myself (a custom instance)?

So you essentially just found a second copy of the City Book in your Relto? Off the top of my head, it seems like that should be OK.

My journal that is in my age actually says I wrote the book on the surface and brought it to my age, but I think it would still work for my age either way. (correct me if I'm wrong)

Thanks a million again RAWA

Strictly speaking, I suspect that getting into any specific existing instance of an existing Age would be entirely permissible under these rules, as you could have brought a blank Linking Book with you, and written it at the location you wanted to link into, thus enabling you to return to that instance directly, just as with any other D'ni Linking Book (which, unless the rules have changed, always link to the place they were written, unlike Descriptive Books, which link you to an Age other than the one in which you were currently located). It's getting into new instances that causes issues.

Correct me if I'm wrong, RAWA

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Dalken Starbyne · **Joined:** Wed Jun 21, 2006 11:06 pm **Posts:** 152

Tweek wrote:

Another question, whilst players don't have Yeesha skills in Writing, it is safe to assume that there will be "experimentation" with the Art, which could account for some oddities in an Age (for example I had been working on a concept of an Age written by 4 people, as a result some issues popped up resulting in an anomaly in the Age that could Link a person to a different point in time when the anomaly was created. Would this kind of thing again be ruled out or is it open to interpretation?

My question kind of goes along with this one, but I couldn't find an answer that completely answered my personal question. I have an idea that goes like this: my character would write an Age, and, while it doesn't have stuff like Yeesha's powers (no time travel, or instances, or weather control, or stuff like that), it has an oddity in it more along the lines of the Catherine-style of writing (That's not to say that it would be an Age written by Catherine, but one written by my own character that has oddities that would be similar to that of a Catherine Age in general.). Sorry about being so general, but I'd like to keep the specifics of my Age secret to all except those involved in the approval process at this point in time. I am fine with sending a PM if you'd like me to be more specific.

Thanks in advance,
-Dalken

RAWA · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:14 pm

Whilyam wrote:

So I could have an area with a view of the lake, but if there were a contradiction I'd be responsible for changing it to reflect that.

It depends on how strictly the rules are interpreted, which, in turn will depend on how much effort is going to be available for making sure FCA remains in compliance if/when changes are made.

The safest way would be to say "no lake", so that once the area is approved, those approving the areas don't have to worry about contradictions with the lake later. But that's less than ideal. If it's going to be feasible for those approving the areas to make sure that released areas remain in compliance, then maybe things like the lake can be allowed.

I don't know the answer to that at this point.

Ahvree · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:18 pm

JWPlatt wrote:

I suspect your idea would be okay (but don't take my word for it) if the canon your were pretending to introduce turns out to be a lie, unless the revelation of the lie implies a truth which goes against RAWA's policies. But what I really find interesting about this is if we know these OOC policies, the red herring is inherently exposed because we know the direction we are being led will not be possible.

Yes, that is the issue. What if the storyteller, in trying to make her/his story as close to "real fiction" as possible, inadvertently lets some cat out of a bag? This is particularly cumbersome when the storyteller is dabbling in prediction. And it is a question that would never come up in the nice, simple and all knowing linear world of fiction. If an author in those cases stumbles into knowing the intention of another author, we call that scholarship. If the "fan fiction" writer stumbles into something, it is generally called in the first place spoiling, and in the second place something worse, like infringement. Whatever you call it, it is new territory, and it is what makes this thread so interesting.

Gadren · **Joined:** Tue May 09, 2006 12:35 am **Posts:** 747

Dalken Starbyne wrote:

Tweek wrote:

Another question, whilst players don't have Yeesha skills in Writing, it is safe to assume that there will be "experimentation" with the Art, which could account for some oddities in an Age (for example I had been working on a concept of an Age written by 4 people, as a result some issues popped up resulting in an anomaly in the Age that could Link a person to a different point in time when the anomaly was created. Would this kind of thing again be ruled out or is it open to interpretation?

My question kind of goes along with this one, but I couldn't find an answer that completely answered my personal question. I have an idea that goes like this: my character would write an Age, and, while it doesn't have stuff like Yeesha's powers (no time travel, or instances, or weather control, or stuff like that), it has an oddity in it more along the lines of the Catherine-style of writing (That's not to say that it would be an Age written by Catherine, but one written by my own character that has oddities that would be similar to that of a Catherine Age in general.). Sorry about being so general, but I'd like to keep the specifics of my Age secret to all except those involved in the approval process at this point in time. I am fine with sending a PM if you'd like me to be more specific.

Thanks in advance,
-Dalken

I can't remember the quote right now, as I don't have my Myst Reader with me, but I recall the BoA talking about how Catherine's torus Age didn't break the D'ni rules, but rather bent them to their limit. So I guess it would be OK.

Dalken Starbyne · **Joined:** Wed Jun 21, 2006 11:06 pm **Posts:** 152

Yeah, that's what I basing the quesiton off of, and why I was wondering if it was "doable" under the rules or not, since it was technically just "bending" the rules of D'ni Writing instead of actually breaking them.

aloys · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:25 pm

dtierce wrote:

2) Initial Access
If the Nexus is the means for revisiting a new area, there must be a way to get there initially since the area is isolated.

I think these kind of things falls under the "it somehow happened but the actual story will never be told" category. Much like how some explorers managed to understand the Art of Writing Ages (as well as crafting Book, making the Ink etc).. This is not explained, and it could be interesting, but this is not vital. It just happened.

But if we really want an explaination about how some isolated area is discovered it's easy to make up one: some intrepid explorer climbed his way here, or swam through three miles in the lake to get there, or (my favorite) just stumbled upon a buggy Nexus station that linked him here instead of the desired destination. That last explanation might not be the best though

RAWA · **Posted:** Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:02 am

Gadren wrote:

1: What would be the ruling on some minor Age made by the Writers, or a Caterers' Granary Age?

Some of this comes down to presentation. If you say the Age is the only place where the Caterer's got <insert specific plant/ingredient here>, then that is likely to be contradicted. If you say the Age is one of the places where the Caterers got <insert specific plant/ingredient>, then you'll probably be fine.

Quote:

2: Fan-made areas in D'ni must be self-contained. Does this include with each other? Could a group project like Ahra Pahts work to create some D'ni district that is self-contained, but fans are able to set up areas inside it?

The point of "self-contained" is to avoid contradictions with things Cyan or other Writers release. A project like Ahra Pahts would be fine, since it is self-contained, even though different areas within it are created by different people.

Quote:

3: In coming up with new practices of parts of D'ni society, must a sequestered group be denoted as the sole participator in those practices?

No. Others groups in D'ni may have participated in it. In fact, saying that no other D'ni participated in <insert specific behavior> is as likely to cause a contradiction as saying that they all did. Basically, your goal is to not do anything that reveals information about D'ni society as a whole, because those are things that would be most likely to be contradicted.

Quote:

4: I would assume that a newly-designed Prison Age could not have been for a criminal who had attempted an assassination of a King, or some other nefarious deed which had Cavern-wide consequences or effects on the society. However, I assume that a Prison Age for a less high-profile murderer would be OK. Is there a particular limit to the area of influence this criminal could have, or could it be left as a crime of indeterminate effect on society?

Attempted assassination of a King would be an indirect problem, because revealing a new assassin would imply that assassinations were commonplace enough to not be considered "new" information about D'ni society as a whole. Since that hasn't been revealed, that would be a problem.

Trading in illicit Books, however, is something that is known to have been commonplace enough that one would expect to be able to learn about many people guilty of that who haven't been heard of before.

Quote:

5: Regarding your mention of making areas that "could be" Faresh's mansion, would Cyan eventually be in the business of choosing if it is or not, as a way of having fans create canon like that with Cyan guidance?

I'm not saying that, but I'm not not saying that...

RAWA · **Posted:** Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:15 am

Eleri wrote:

Is MORE itself canon?

If MORE at some point turns into Something Other Than MORE(tm), we will do our best to incorporate the events of MORE into it as we did with incorporating the events in Until Uru into MOUL.

RAWA · **Posted:** Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:17 am

Jamey wrote:

My journal that is in my age actually says I wrote the book on the surface and brought it to my age, but I think it would still work for my age either way. (correct me if I'm wrong)

A Linking Book to your Library would need to be written in the Library.

nvr2old · **Posted:** Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:22 am

I am glad I am just reading and not getting involved with all that, makes my head hurt trying to understand what you all are talking about. You are fine technical wizards at that stuff, keep up the great efforts.

SeanMc74 · **Joined:** Mon Apr 02, 2007 11:37 pm **Posts:** 26

I know the rules of writing state that you can’t change the descriptive book once you link to it, does that mean we will not be allowed to modify an age once it’s approved and incorporated into MORE? Does it have to be the final version before we can submit the age? Thanks for answering our questions RAWA.

Jamey · **Posted:** Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:28 am

RAWA wrote:

Jamey wrote:

My journal that is in my age actually says I wrote the book on the surface and brought it to my age, but I think it would still work for my age either way. (correct me if I'm wrong)

A Linking Book to your Library would need to be written in the Library.

Ok, so I had written the book to the great library in the great library itself.

Does this mean that I couldn't have written the actual book to my fan-created age, I would have to had found it somewhere like in Ae'gura or something?

Alahmnat · **Posted:** Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:31 am

Jamey wrote:

RAWA wrote:

Jamey wrote:

My journal that is in my age actually says I wrote the book on the surface and brought it to my age, but I think it would still work for my age either way. (correct me if I'm wrong)

A Linking Book to your Library would need to be written in the Library.

Ok, so I had written the book to the great library in the great library itself.

Does this mean that I couldn't have written the actual book to my fan-created age, I would have to had found it somewhere like in Ae'gura or something?

Nope. There are two classes of Books in The Art. Descriptive Books, like the one that would describe an Age that you "penned" yourself (i.e. a new Age, not one that was written by the D'ni), target an Age other than the one in which it was Written. In other words, you can Write an Age description in a Descriptive Book anywhere, at any time. Linking Books, like the one that would be in your fan-created Age leading to the Library, link you to the Age and location in which they were written.

Gadren · **Joined:** Tue May 09, 2006 12:35 am **Posts:** 747

SeanMc74 wrote:

I know the rules of writing state that you can’t change the descriptive book once you link to it, does that mean we will not be allowed to modify an age once it’s approved and incorporated into MORE? Does it have to be the final version before we can submit the age? Thanks for answering our questions RAWA.

It is possible to change the Descriptive Book after you link to it. In the BoA, Gehn radically changed the Book to Age 37, shifting the Link to another, similar Age. The fact that the modified Age 27 had its own "versions" of the people in the original Age 37 indicates that the switching to another similar Age still keeps the Age pretty close to what it once was.

And it's possible to modify the Age itself without shifting the Link. Atrus did this with Riven, having to be careful to make changes that wouldn't shift the Link (so the "real" Catherine wouldn't be lost to him).

EDIT: This makes me wonder about something...
While Linking Books don't have any phrases from the Descriptive Book (RAWA clarified this), they are connected to the Descriptive Book -- Linking Books cease to function when the Descriptive Book is destroyed. I also remember hearing from RAWA that if an Age is changed, then the Linking Books still work. But does this also apply to changes to a Descriptive Book such that the link is shifted? Do the Linking Books point to the new Age, or do they cease to function since they were written in an Age that no longer has a Descriptive Book pointing to it?

Maybe RAWA can answer this while he's here.

Guidelines for Official Story/Age Creation

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