The Factory Floor

overactor

6:10 AM

we had 19 questions in the last 24 hours O.o

and in the last 21 hours too

overactor

7:43 AM

4

A: Community Promotion Ad

I'm happy to announce that we made it past the threshold on three sites now: Physics.SE RPG.SE Scifi.SE The ad has also been posted at: GameDev.SE (1 more vote needed) Gaming.SE (6 more votes needed)

Some more votes needed

doppelgreener

@overactor it's over the gamedev.se threshold now

overactor

@doppelgreener sweet

666 rep

Seems appropriate for this site

doppelgreener

in RPG General Chat, Oct 8 at 3:32, by doppelgreener

wait a minute

[squints at room tags]

[checks room owner]

now i remember BESW administrates this room too XD

Mourdos

8:38 AM

this question is difficult. On one hand, I love the question it references, on the other, it could allow others to slip in off topic questions.

overactor

I don't think it should be a habit

I would even lean towards disallowing it

The amount of unanswered questions at the moment is unacceptable!

Mourdos

I modified my answer, you made a good point

overactor

The line is unfortunately too thin I believe

Mourdos

8:55 AM

The line is thin, but the community gets to decide if they want a question or not.

As I said, if it becomes prevalent, we would have to place a ban on them

overactor

@Mourdos Keep in mind, new users might not know where the line is

Can we put some sort of disclaimer on that question?

A Historical lock doesn't seem appropriate

since it IS a good question

We need a "don't try this at home" flag

"This question is unconventionally written but undeniably awesome, don't try to replicate this asking style without proper training; you will be downvoted into oblivion."

Mourdos

Not really. We either need to close it as off topic or allow it for now.

Historic is when the site changes policies, or a question is super popular.

overactor

@Mourdos I know

Tim B

9:33 AM

I don't see a problem with the question

the question was clear and understandable, the fact that it was made "IC" added flavor but didn't actually change the question

overactor

0

A: When to use in-universe point of view?

This type of writing is only acceptable as a supplement to a normal question. This type of question could spawn a bunch bad questions trying to replicate its success. While I too love this particular question, I believe it sets a bad example as it is. The biggest problem is that new users might...

Me, playing devil's advocate

Tim B

yeah I saw

honestly I don't think it's something to either encourage or discourage

questions are either clear or not

on topic or not

stylistic choices don't alter that

overactor

I do see your point

I suppose it's not a big problem as long as we don't get a huge influx of bad questions in that format

Tim B

which hasn't happened

replied

Fulli

moring builders

overactor

9:46 AM

hi

4

Q: Use Physics to prove Ragnarök has already occurred

This question asks what would happen to the solar system if the sun vanished for about three days, the mass and energy of the sun simply ceasing to exist. This answer (as of this question, anyway) notes that for the most part, the solar system will remain unchanged. If Ragnarök has already happe...

Should that be moved to physics?

It's not that it is necessarily off-topic

Mourdos

I don't like it

overactor

but without knowledge of panetary motion before the event, figuring out if the event occurred is incredibly difficult

Mourdos

Its a physics (or possibly astronomy) question

Yep

overactor

It seems like a problem top physicists would work on

Mourdos

I don't think its a good question, since the answer doesn't solve an actual worldbuilding problem as written

overactor

9:51 AM

@TimB how confident are you about your answer?

which one?

The ragnarök one

fairly - why?

If you are then I guess the question could be in the right place here

Tim B

physics/astronomy would close it on the basis that it's not based in reality

I agree it's borderline but you can spin it to on topic

since it's history of a world and what the inhabitants of that world are able to find out from it

Mourdos

9:55 AM

SE sites don't care if a question is on or off topic for other sites. My main problem with the question is that it doesn't actually relate to worldbuilding the way its written and is thus currently unsuitable.

overactor

Hmm, you could add to your answer that unstable orbits could be sufficient proof in a world where the existance of gods is a known truth.

Since it becomes a matter of statisctics

Mourdos

You would actually be better off ignoring how they ask you to answer the question. Looking a permanent shift in the climate (maybe via ice sheets) that can't be explained by anything other than a shift in distance from the sun

Tim B

yeah, there's a good answer there...although note that average sun distance wouldn't change by much at all, it's mostly eccentricity that increases

and that should show in the archeological record

Mourdos

I guess I'll write it up at lunch.

Tim B

:)

Mourdos

9:59 AM

Though I dislike answering questions I think should be closed.

overactor

@Mourdos Someone should move in with an edit

Mourdos

Problem is, I don't know what to edit to make it fit

Maybe "How would you leave evidence of Ragnarok having already occured?"

That fits.

overactor

Well, I'd narrow what the ragnarök entails

The sun is gone for two days

And lets say all traces of human society are wiped

And that's all

Hmm the amount of people left should also be specified

Mourdos

I'll leave the editing to you

overactor

Genetics might be the way to go

Mourdos

10:03 AM

No, because that wouldn't prove Ragnarok.

The best you could do would be to prove that people have cross bred with one another.

And then the commonly accepted answer would probably be a creation myth

overactor

@Mourdos I'd make it so that the ragnarök occurring is a given though

Mourdos

Not what the question specifies?

overactor

they know it will occur and might have occurred already

Mourdos

Its a good edit to make though.

overactor

My point

Mourdos

10:05 AM

@Fulli Good morning, sorry, meant to respond but got distracted. How are you this day?

overactor

because otherwise, rogue planets or some unstable orbits in our solar system setting themselves right is always going to be the better explanation

Mourdos

Well, make the edits and poke @TimB then ^_^

overactor

10:19 AM

@TimB @Mourdos suggested edit.

Mourdos

I don't like the last sentence. It subverts the question entirely.

overactor

I see your point

Think i can just delete it?

Mourdos

yes

overactor

done

Tim B

I think the edit is too drastic really

overactor

10:31 AM

@TimB What is our policy on drastic edits?

the problem is that it's close enough to be a dupe if it were a seperate question

So either we leave the question as it was, edit it, or close it and post a new one to replace it

Tim B

that question specifically asks for astronomical evidence

the answer is there are none

a second question looking at archaeological/geological is not a dupe

overactor

It would also ask to include astronomical evidence though.

Tim B

why? that's already been asked

overactor

It also seems like a bit of a smack in the face of the original asker.

@TimB Since astronomical clues could be an important part of teh answer

Tim B

no, just link to the other question and say "this asks about astronomical"

I want to know about arch/geo

overactor

10:45 AM

I'll first see if the edit gets through or not

@TimB @ivy_lynx are you still writing an answer about inbreeding or should I just accept one of the existing answers?

Tim B

accept something :)

even if we were no need to wait

overactor

I'm not entirely satisfied with the answers though

Mourdos

@Overactor my problem is not with them asking for physics. Its that as it stands I don't feel it has anything to do with worldbuilding. The tone is wrong.

Tim B

there have been quite a few borderline questions recently

overactor

I'm not actively building a world, is this noticable when having a look at my questions and does it have a negative effect on them?

Tim B

10:57 AM

we need more of you slackers to hit 3k rep :P

ivy and liath both really close

overactor

I saw, could happen today

There's a big gap after Monty Wild though

kaine is on #10 with 1198 rep

we'll get to those 10 2k users eventually though

Mourdos

I might have to actually answer some questions. Or at least ask some more.

Hey @DannyReagan

overactor

@TimB you're hogging all of the rep, you should hand out bigger bounties

Mourdos

xD

overactor

hi @DannyReagan waves

Fulli

11:04 AM

@Mourdos

ups...

Danny Reagan

Hey!

Fulli

yeah fins so far

thanks for asking

Danny Reagan

All you people in other time zones

Fulli

how do you know we are in other timezones? as far as i know you could be in the office next to me

overactor

@Fulli fins, is someone going to ask another merfolk question?

Fulli

11:05 AM

@overactor what´s a merfolk question?

Danny Reagan

@Fulli You are correct. I really meant TimB and overactor in that statement

overactor

This rooms activity quite neatly follows teh pattern of europeans chatting during office hours

@Fulli a question about mermen and mermaids

Danny Reagan

@overactor I am a crazy early bird American

Fulli

i am only online when i am in the office

Danny Reagan

7am here

Fulli

11:07 AM

@overactor

i did not ask such question

overactor

Is the term mermaid politically correct?

womermen

merwomen?

Fulli

and i will not hit the enter key bevor writing after the @ again

overactor

@Fulli try pressing up

Danny Reagan

@overactor I like to think of it like "The Race of Men"

So Mermaid is actualy gender neutral

overactor

@DannyReagan That's fabulous

Fulli

11:08 AM

brb

Danny Reagan

Just the name of the species, really

@Fulli kk

@overactor .....

ok

i

need

to

close

chat

till

images

scrolled

off

DonyorM

11:12 AM

joining

Tim

B

overactor

i

must

say

it's

less

SMASHING

than

DonyorM

much better

overactor

I

Danny Reagan

No

Keep typing

overactor

had

imagined

almost

Danny Reagan

11:14 AM

Yes! it's gone!

overactor

gone

sufficiently gone now

sorry

oh god

Danny Reagan

Keep

typing

Fulli

an beck

back

overactor

@TimB edit got through

Tim B

edits get auto-approved a lot

overactor

11:17 AM

I feel like that gif is actually less disturbing though

@TimB You've got edit powers, feel free to rollback

Fulli

what movie is that from ?

overactor

@Fulli The princess and the frog I believe

Well, except for the face of course

Which is from the wild thornberrys

or something like that

Fulli

never heard of one of them

both i mean

Tim B

that's ok, I rolled back the eidt :P

overactor

The princess and the frog is a decent recent disney movie

Tim B

11:22 AM

the content of the image wasn't the problem so much as having an (especially edited) animated giff moving around on my screen

overactor

The wild thornberrys is a gold nick series

Fulli

i dont like disney... they killed the star wars game

Tim B

my first rollback anywhere

Fulli

@DannyReagan is that an otter?

Tim B

had to google how to do it :D

Danny Reagan

11:24 AM

@Fulli It is

Fulli

fury cute little bastards

Danny Reagan

dailyotter.org

Fulli

this blog is very obsessed with otters, why do i need to think of rule 34?

Danny Reagan

Well it is a blog about otters so...

overactor

0

Q: What proof could Ragnarök leave?

Ragnarök is the norse interpretation of the apocalypse. A major event during this apocalypse is Fernir devouring the sun. If we assume that the sun and all of its influence disappear entirely for 3 days, this could have serious effects on the environment. Another side effect of Ragnarök for the ...

science-based apocalypse

@TimB

Danny Reagan

11:41 AM

@overactor Ragnarok is apparently a thing now, isn't it.

overactor

@DannyReagan T̡҉̤̬̳̦͇ḩ̠̗̣̟e͓̕r̠̺̟̦̹͜͠ȩ̻͉͕̞͕̥̠͠ ̡̡̖̻i̷̙͖̰̝̙͞͝s͈ ̬̜̫̰͡͡n̳̳̮͈͎͖̙̱͖͝o̦̙͡ ̫̫̘̯̝̺̦͜e̗̭͈͍͔͇s̨̙̥̲̖̳̲͇̺c̩͈͙̗̞̕͟á̶҉̯̬̼̜̳p̧͉̦͓̺͇̺͘ị̱͍͍͓͚̙n̥͕̟͉g͏͝҉̭̯̳͍͔̣̖̻ ̪̘̀i̭̤͔͎͕͞t̶̸͙.̡̫̹̼̀

I͢͏҉͎͚̱͈̘͔̖̲̻T͢͏̖̪̮̳̝̞̲̗̮̹̩̜͎͇̟̬̥̱͞͡͞ ̶̛͉͉͍̣̳͚͎̟̦̩͇̪͕͘͢C̶̨̻̻̭̜̦̼̦̬͙̹͕̙̫͈͖̦̫̬̀͟͝ͅƠ̡͏͚͍̼̜͎̪̝̳̲͍̺̱̺̟͎͜M̸̨͉̞͉̰̗̫̘̺͓̗͢Ę̶̲‌̦̦̞̘͇̲Ș̵̫͈͙̼͇͓͖̻̦̥̀͘

Fulli

your words are leaking

Danny Reagan

They do that sometimes. I think he's too close to Cern or something

overactor

Í̺͙̪̪ ̩͚̳̪̺̘͢Á̛͉̳̰͘M̩̣͎̗̹͇͜͝ͅ ̶̨̰̤̦͉̥̣͚͜I̧͓̺̱͚̣̥̺͝N͏͕͚̱̤̝̥̼͚̀ ̤̰̗S҉̘͙W̩̦͎I̡̛̫̹͚̜̙̞T̝͈̹͎͍͇̼͡ͅẒ̣E̮̼̯̳͉R͏̟̳͍̬̺̖̙L̗̭̯̠̟̙A҉̻̻̯̥͙̭̤̀͟N̢͏̷͚̙͔̺D̨͈̼͓ͅ ͖̯̪͔̖́A̴̢͍̺̬̬̙̤ͅͅF̼̗̺̦͍̳̫͝T̝̬͚̭E̷̤̤̼̬̜̞͖R̻̮̺͉̰̱̤̟A̷̟̩̭͙͡L̢̻̩̭̩̱̗L̨̡̬̼͝.̗̩̰

Danny Reagan

Too close. Much too close.

Being that close to cosmic thingamajigs does things to you

overactor

11:48 AM

Ḭ̸̡͎̹̪̞͕ ̴̰̤̣̼̤͔̦͉̤̪̻͈̺̳́͡T҉͔̦̩̻̩̫̬̰͢H̡͏̤͙͔̬̣̰̜̳̯̩̭͔̻̪͍I̷͡҉̵͚͙͚̦̠̦͈͍͍̲̦͚͇͕̟̲͜ͅŃ͘͞͏̖̠̫̮͍̬‌͇̟͖̘̝̘ͅḰ̢҉̘̰̘̗͈̞͈̣͙͙ ͏̤̼̯͕͙̣̟̱̜͇̖͓͘I̵̢̮̺̗̙͠T̷̛͈̦̪͍͚͇̗́́'̨͕̼͉̫̤͎͓̲̳̤͓̲̭̫͈͎̟͇̕ͅS̛̰̪̻̝̦̩̻͚̖̪̀͘ ̡́͢҉̭̠̤̳̩̬G̼̤̘̥̯̰̘̼͍̻͈̫̺͔͖̲̳̗͙̕͟͝͡Ȩ͕̥͍̠̙̞̙̝̦͉̱̥͓̼͙̯͔T́͘҉͙̯̖̲̩̟̰̗̭͇̹̝̭̩͓̀T̸̴̨̗͢͠‌̫̩̮̫͔͖̠̫Í̡̫͚̘̘̺̩̫͙̭̫̗̮̗͙̫̮͖͟ͅN͘͏̘͙̪̗̦̬̟̠͉̗̳̘͖͕͇̥͕G̴͠͏͝͏̙̘̝̤͈̫̠̪̞͚̪ ̨̢̦̮̘̼̥̀B͝͠͏̗͓̹̙E̷̢̡͕̠͕͕̙͙͉̞͓̺ͅṰ̸̢̠̹̬̱͚̬̘͓͘T́҉̦̮̝̮̫̩̫̺̫͕̬̣͍̦͇̻́͝ͅE̴̖̰̜̮̥̰̜̞͜͝͝͞‌̰R̶̨͍̙̱̲͔̟͍̦̲͉̯̙̮͙͇̀ͅ

enough fun

go away leaky text!

Mourdos

12:00 PM

Don't make me flag you :P

overactor

I'm done, I swear

Tim B

Z̨̤̤̙͍͞a̶̛̠̠̳l̴̻̟̺̘͠g̤̺o̸͉̺̺̗͈̭ͅ ̡̨͉̲́F҉҉̶̠͓̠̯͎͈T̵͈͝L̵̜̘

It's amazing what one throw-away comment about Ragnarok can spawn

we now have what 3? 4? questions about Ragnarok

whats ragnarok?

:o

@Fulli \o/

12:15 PM

you put your hands in the air? thats ragnarok?

Tim B

What do you know of Norse mythology?

Fulli

norse?

Tim B

Vikings?

Danny Reagan

@Fulli People with big noses

Fulli

i know there was something in a star trek episode of TNG about ragnarok but i never asked the background

Danny Reagan

12:17 PM

Or something like that

Tim B

Thor, Odin, etc...?

Fulli

ah vikings - i dont know anything about them, not my culture

Tim B

the days of the week are named after them...

seriously, read up on it. They have some of the most fucked up dark mythology you've ever seen

Fulli

montag dienstag mittwoch donnerstag freitag?

i dont want to read fucked up dark stuff, there is enough porn everywhere without it

Danny Reagan

Ironic that they aren't named after Norse Gods in... german is it?

Tim B

12:18 PM

tuesday - thorr's day - friday freya's day, etc

they are

freitag is still Freya's day

Danny Reagan

Yes. Caught that one

Tim B

etc

some days are some days aren't

crowl.org/lawrence/time/days.html

Danny Reagan

Less, it seems, in German

Tim B

yep

Danny Reagan

Curious

Tim B

12:23 PM

Well Ragnarok is the Norse apocalypse/end of times/etc. Only they don't get a happy ever after. Instead Fenrir the winter wolf eats the sun, there is a massive battle where all the main gods die, and the world is swallowed up by water

then afterwards 2 human survivors and a few god survivors repopulate the world (the sun has a daughter that takes her place after the wolf eats her)

Norse mythology is woven through so much though you really should read up on it sometime

Danny Reagan

Ain't no worldbuilding like the worldbuilding done by people who had nothing better to do during 6 months of solid winter

overactor

12:40 PM

@Fulli Donnerstag: Thunderday

So that's still Thor's day

overactor

12:52 PM

0

Q: Is being fond of "a" cat an obsession?

I used to hate cats but life changed in a year when a stray kitten came home. I hated it. But all a sudden, it became my best buddy. I named it "Pussu". Last week the cat went out of our house leaving no signs of returning.It was then I came across a another cat in the street. But I had no emotio...

psychology animals

vote to close as off-topic

as quickly as possible

Mourdos

That makes me laugh

overactor

@TimB @Fulli @Mourdos

Mourdos

flag for mod I guess

I can't vote to close

I only have like, 390 rep

Danny Reagan

I'm ~30 off of being able to close

overactor

Anything to help

@DannyReagan I saw

hence no ping for you

@Mourdos I would have guessed you would have had more than 500 rep : )

Mourdos

12:55 PM

I'm very active on meta.

Danny Reagan

@overactor Well if people want to go vote up all my questions right now, I can definitely help you out. :D

Mourdos

On the main site, not so much

@DannyReagan I think we should lock it as historically significant

Our first massively off topic question

Danny Reagan

Hey look! I now can vote to close questions

And have now done so to that poor misguided user

Mourdos

Quick, give me 110!

xD

overactor

@Mourdos I'll upvote on of your answers and offer you a bounty

give me a few seconds

Mourdos

1:00 PM

I'm pretty sure that that isn't how this is supposed to work xD

Danny Reagan

@Mourdos Probably not

Mourdos

God, that lycanthrope question was awful in retrospect

Danny Reagan

Then go fix it!

Mourdos

As in, a terrible question, not poorly written

Danny Reagan

Ah

Then delete it?

Mourdos

1:03 PM

Gosh darn it. I wanted to write that answer. shakes fist worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/2703/…

overactor

@Mourdos It's not perfect though, it can use some more depth

Tim B

that answer still misses the fact that the increased orbital eccentricity would show in ice cores

and not much could explain that

a few downvotes on that question and I can delete it

overactor

The 3 days of no sun might also leave a detectible trace

@TimB coming up

Tim B

the off topic one

overactor

@TimB Oh, you didn't mean I should downvote all of your questions?

Tim B

1:10 PM

you can if you want, they'll just get reversed as serial downvotes :p

Ok, delete vote is in on that off topic question

unfortunately no-one else can do delete votes

Mourdos

> Geological evidence
A very interesting evidence for how climate has evolved on our planet is through ice core sampling from polar ice or glaciers.

Danny Reagan

4

Q: Could a species benefit from intercourse with another species with no DNA compatibility?

After reading the question on inbreeding (Could fictional species benefit from limited inbreeding?), I started to wonder if there could be any reasons why an species (intelligent or otherwise) would benefit from intercourse with a non-compatible species (aka bestiality). This could be for any rea...

science-based biology

Hit the HNQ

We get the best questions on this SE

overactor

snort intercourse hehe

Danny Reagan

We actually have two up on the HNQ:

3

Q: How realistic are four legged aquatic animals?

On earth most of our sealife is fishlike (excluding a few other species such as squid/octopus). As far as I'm aware there are no legged creatures which live solely in the sea. In my world I'd like to have creatures like the sando aqua monster from Star Wars, it clearly has four legs and uses it'...

evolution creature-design underwater

overactor

We have 4

Danny Reagan

1:23 PM

Right at the moment?

I only see those two

overactor

Yup

4 in the top 100

stackexchange.com/questions?tab=hot

Danny Reagan

Nice

Not bad for a beta SE

overactor

Well, low traffic sites get the hotness score of their questions multiplied by a higher factor so they can play along

But we do seem to be doing quite well

Mourdos

We aren't a massively low tariff site

2,974 visitors/day

Tim B

we've consistently had 2 to 4 questions in HNQ ever since we went into public beta

Mourdos

1:25 PM

We have double the recommended for a beta public site :P

Danny Reagan

We get nearly twice what Area 51 considers good for a beta

Still low in high rep users

Mourdos

We will get there

Tim B

that's just time though

Mourdos

Yep

overactor

But we're nothing compared to some of the high traffic sites

Tim B

1:26 PM

we have 2 more about to break 3k

Mourdos

We have clearly shown that we are a viable site, we just need to keep it up and steadily improve our numbers

Tim B

questions per day is rising, we're basically ahead of every target they set by a fair margin

overactor

The last two days wre crazy in terms of amount of questions

Tim B

lol, getting loads of upvotes on that question now, can tell it hit HNQ

Fulli

meeting sucks

Tim B

1:30 PM

21 questions in past 24 hours

won't take long to get the average over 15 if it keeps that up

Mourdos

I need to actually write my western marches question

Tim B

0

Q: Can two civilizations on nearby stars develop independently but be at a similar technological level?

One thing that a few science fiction films seem to get wrong: it is extremely unlikely for two civilizations to evolve completely independently and yet be within a few hundred years of each other technologically when they make contact. They are more likely to be millions or billions of years apar...

science-based technology civilization technological-development

Nice question

I'll leave it for someone else, will answer tomorrow if no-one else does

Fulli

isnt a simple yes the answer?

Tim B

nah, it's more complex than that

overactor

I'm trying to formulate something but it might not turn out perfect

Fulli

1:35 PM

i dont think so - if one planet develop life why shouldnt another planet. if the planets in nearby systems it is unusual but because of the almost infite numbers of systems not unplausible

Tim B

the advancement rate is too variable

the question isn't why shouldn't one - it's about why should they reach the same tech level at the same time

Mourdos

> How to design a world for a western marches game?
> [Western Marches](http://arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/78/grand-experiments-west-marches) is a style of RPG game where the players face an increasily hostile world the further they go in a given direction. This can be due to being on a frontieer, on the boarder of a war or for any other reason. The problem is that this is all fairly contrived. There always seems to be a focal point from which danger spreads. A magical explosion that mutated the land around it, the closer you get, the worse it is. A war on a boarder, the further you go t…

Let me know what you think

Tim B

border not boarder

Fulli

sounds like pixle piracy if you ask me XP

Mourdos

Actually, I really hope that someone describes a world that is just getting more and more dangerous as time goes on

Due to something.

Tim B

1:41 PM

yeah that's my thought too in answer to that

Mourdos

But is the question good as is?

Tim B

looks decent, post it up

just fix the boarder typo

I'll answer it tomorrow if no-one does

rep capped today so giving other people a chance :D

Mourdos

0

Q: How to design a world for a western marches game?

Western Marches is a style of RPG game where the players face an increasing amount of danger and hazards the further they go in a given direction. This can be due to being on a frontieer, on the boarder of a war or for any other reason. The problem is that this is all fairly contrived. There alw...