Guild of Writers

Oh yeah! It was you who first used the Teledahn/Sharper metaphor.. I'd forgotten.

I think we'll need wholly original Ages as well as restored ones, or we'll be another Restoration Council instead of Writers. There are a lot of people who feel very strongly about sticking to entirely new content, though I personally would want to refer to the D'ni universe myself. IC, Model 4 is where the Guild of Writers writes a new Book, which both the Guild of Maintainers and the DRC approve before it's eventual display in cavern. OOC, it is where an independent development team works on an original concept with little connection to Cyan other than the eventual assurance that the final product is majorly bug free. I don't know if there's anything else to be said about it, it's a more simple case than the others really.

Edited, added model #4 amd a mention of belford's essay.

I like the 4 models very much. I would be very disappointed if we can't discover ages. Backstory tends to be stronger and more interesting if one has to figure out an old age.

When reviewing GreyDragon's comments regarding user-created ages, it seems that model 4 is the only one Cyan will allow.

Well, saying that we can't work in Cyan Ages is not to say that Cyan Ages can't *link* to our work. So "model 1" isn't completely ruled out.

In other words: if player Ages wind up on the same server(*), then they could well appear in the Nexus. They might, as I've suggested, be linked from our Neighborhoods. It's not a great step from there to Cyan putting our Books in the City Library.

(* Maybe they won't be. But that is a technical issue, not a legal or storytelling problem.)

I don't see why this would rule out anything.

GD says "if we have funding". It becomes less of a problem if you have users donating content. Some of these wonderful things Cyan have planned could become reality if we get the job. That’s model 2 (for new Ages) and model 3 (for the City).
Remember the stained glass contests. They do end up in the cavern.

Model 1 still works : you send them your work, free of rights, they take it or reject it.

Also, as I have said elsewhere, Cyan may not be in a position to do everything alone anymore. MOUL needs new content more than it needs flying bahro.