D'ni Ages vs. Our Ages: Resolution

[Trylon]

Well, perhaps they won't have any trouble with a new writer finding such an age, and studying it to learn the art (which could also result in a couple of journals lying around).
After all, not everyone learns the same, some will want to write something and see what happens, others will read the rehevkor and "the art for dummies" first, and some will want to study a working book in and out before writing something themselves.

[belford]

I agree that we can write Ages and then (IC) discover new things in them -- buildings, civilizations, histories.

One element that we shouldn't rule out: discovering Linking Books. Staying away from D'ni history doesn't mean staying away from all forms of the Art. Our (OOC) invented worlds could include lost Books, or lost Bahro tablets, or subsidiary Writers (perhaps lost scions of the D'ni culture). (Or people who *found* lost scions and learned from them -- a distant connection is safer.) They can even include Books that exist without clear explanation. (A valid technique for not stepping on Cyan's toes: don't explain anything!)

Why do I stress this point? Because Linking Books are valuable for story and puzzle design. I don't want to forswear all use of them.

We may wind up inventing our own shared civilization of Writers, or at least world-travellers. A lot of work, obviously, and I don't recommend starting down that road right away.

[Chacal]

That civilization would have started when the D'Ni, fed up with the ever-annoying Writers, sent them all to a remote Age named "Mayflower" without ink or paper and burned the book.

[Whilyam]

Also, some Ages have no influence on the official Cyan storyline. Rich D'Ni families had heirloom Ages for entertainment or study, we could do any of these.

Unfortunately, that's what GD was referring to. The age I was asking him about had no impact on the Cyan storyline, even had similarities (greed, pride, etc.). But he said specifically that we are the new writers. We shouldn't make ages that the D'ni would have seen or had seen.

I do agree with the Atrus similarity and love the idea of that potential. Yes, this is a restriction. But I see it more as a wood-chip taken from the great tree of possibilities. Think of the civilizations your ages could have, both living and dead, that could be made even more interesting than the D'ni.

[Zimt]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the way I'm reading it is this: Cyan only wants us Writing descriptive books to our own Ages, not rediscovering/writing linking books to Ages that were supposedly already crafted by some D'ni chap.

I actually like that stance. If we were to come up with stories of how we're rediscovering/linking to Ages old D'ni writers already wrote, it could potentially rip any hope for story continuity to shreds. Sure, it would start with an Explorer rediscovering some D'ni family's private Age, but you still have to decide who wrote it, who the family was, what they used the Age for, etc. Any or all of those things could conflict with some content Cyan might want to bring out in the future. It's not just about Cyan wanting to keep our grubby hands away from their intellectual property, it's also about providing us a history of the D'ni that is as internally cohesive as possible.

It's far safer in terms of continuity to let the past be the past and concentrate on new Ages.

[MustardJeep]

Building a Age is a challenge that is limited only by the software at the moment.

But crafting the mythos of the Age is as easy as breathing taking only time and continuing imagination.

[Justintime9]

Yesssssss! finally we have this annoying gnat of people wanting to make D'ni ages off our backs well now we can acually do something, rather than stealing stuff from cyan

[Tyion]

Ditto what Justin and MJ Said. I love this announcment! It opens that very door! In fact i have an Age i could build that is based off of an Audio Series i am currently working on! Oh this is going to be fun!