As the result of countless daydreaming, I have come up with an idea for an age that IMO, would work well with the guild of writers. It can be believably implemented as an age written by the new guild of writers, rather than being a D'ni-written age discovered the guild. I haven't thought of a name yet, but there will probably be one soon.
The age is a relatively large island, mostly covered in forest. Towards one end is a mountain, from which you can see the rest of the island if you climb to the top. The coastline varies greatly throughout the age; Parts of it are sandy, parts of it are rocky, and parts of it are a mix of the two. There are trails which run around the whole island. Please note that I am saying trails; Not a single trail which winds around the whole island, but multiple trails which meet and separate in different areas. The trails will be helpful in keeping players from getting lost, but by no means will players be limited to walking on the trails; They will be able to run unguided through the forest, and there will be some very interesting things to find off the trails, as well as on the trails.
The link-in point is in a small clearing. From there, you can see a small, hastily-constructed wooden building with solar panels on the roof. This is the visitors center. The inside is lit with fluorescent lights and has a carpeted floor. There is a table at one end of the room and a bulletin board at the other. On the table, there is a notebook, a map, and a pamphlet. The pamphlet contains an introduction to the age, and a welcome to newcomers. The map, for the most part, is very basic, and only shows the basic layout of the island. There are, however several areas of interest marked in red on the map. These areas aren't labeled, though, so you will have to visit them yourself to know what's there. The notebook contains information on the island's climate, geography, and wildlife, and at first glance, seems to be nothing more than an interesting read. The bulletin board is constantly updated to contain recent news on the ages development.
After a little bit of exploration you will find another a much larger clearing with a massive ditch in the ground, and next to it a huge pile of dirt. This is the future site of the age's community center. Despite appearances, nobody really dug this ditch, and it is, in fact, naturally formed. It was written as part of the age to make the adding of foundation easier. When the age is first released, all that will be there is that ditch, but every few days there will be a small update to the appearance of the construction site. After a few weeks, you will see the building's framework start to emerge, and several month's after that, the building will be officially opened to the public. What will be inside the community center? Well, I will explain that later in this post.
Now to the age's puzzles. There is a cave entrance on the island which is blocked by some kind of obstacle (strong vines growing in the way would be a suitable barrier, but its open to debate.) There would one or more puzzles that you have to complete to eliminate this obstruction, at least temporarily, so that you can enter the cave. The puzzle(s) would require some understanding of the ages flora and fauna, and you would find vital info about their behavior and traits from the notebook in the visitors center. You will also need to visit several of the landmarks on the map to finish the puzzle.
Inside the cave, you will find the entrance to a huge network of catacombs which extends deep underground and far past the boundaries of the island. These tunnels are man-made, but not build by any explorer. It appears that this age was once inhabited (or perhaps it still is. hint hint: possible story arc.) The civilization used a kind of luminescent crystal to light the tunnels. The tunnels might be, in some ways, similar to those in this topic, except the ladders and hallways won't be so long. When the age is first released, only a small portion of the catacombs will be open, and the rest will be barricaded off. As time progresses, we will "restore" more and more of these tunnels, allowing deeper exploration. Updates to the tunnels will not simply be a few rooms per release, but a much larger, more satisfying area to explore. There will probably be little-to-no puzzles in the tunnels. Their purpose is mainly to have an enormous area to explore.
Now, what of the community center? Well, this place will have several areas. There will be a game room, with games such as chess and backgammon to play with other explorers; There will be an auditorium, for announcements and events; There will be several places to hang out and just chat with friends; and there will likely be areas which can be suggested that can be added too.
This age will have both public and personal instances. I am thinking about maybe making the public instance available only to those who have accessed the cave in their personal instance, so that the solution to the puzzle doesn't get spoiled to people who are newly arriving. I'm still not sure whether or not to add a day/night cycle yet.
Please comment. Constructive criticism welcome. I'm taking suggestions on how exactly the puzzle might work.
Guild of Writers
Why don't you ring the doorbells of some of these non-Age-Writing-involved people and ask them to join you in working on your project? Everybody loves a personal invitation!