The Factory Floor - 2017-12-12

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12:31 AM

Great <sarcasm emoticon>, I just broke the nose pad on my glasses.

@JDługosz been there, done that.

Texas weather: I had to turn on the A/C today, as it was getting over 80° in my working room. Nevermind that I had to use an electric blanket the night before.

Worldbuilding Meta

1:28 AM

0

Q: I edited my last question so please take it of hold

I edited my question what food would be best for growing on mars so please go and give answers.

6 hours later…

Worldbuilding Meta

7:56 AM

0

Q: Down-voting as self-promotion?

Just to be clear, I come to SE for fun. I'm not really in it for the points (although they act as a useful guide to the efficacy of my answers). This question is purely academic. I've noticed that every so often, I get a down-vote on an answer at around the same time a new answer pops up. The do...

3 hours later…

10:36 AM

For those who can't see it, meta question resolved as duplicate

5 hours later…

3:26 PM

The feed from Medium didn't announce our newest blog post:

71

Q: New blog post: Cuban Missile War (Introduction) (previous: Golden Sails, Part 1)

Welcome to the newest post on Universe Factory, the blog of the Worldbuilding community: Cuban Missile War (Introduction) by Future Historian War….war never changes, says the introduction of the 1997 video game, Fallout from our timeline. Nowhere could that be closer to the truth than in the...

discussion blog

@MonicaCellio I think that mostly autofeeds into Universe Factory? We just get the meta ones in here normally...

@AndyD273 new blog posts auto-feed into both this room and the blog room. This time the feed didn't happen, so I'm using the meta post as a proxy for the feed, as a way of announcing "hey y'all, new blog post". :-)

@dot_Sp0T I don't know about a single sentence. But I think if we kept it in the chat character limit that would be good. Roughly a paragraph or two.

5

4:11 PM

Another fun idea in a similar vein would be to do a broken mirror story. People submit a list of seed story premises, one is chosen, and then anyone that wants to can submit their take on that idea. So for instance, a premise might be "A person drinks to avoid nightmares, but they might not be dreams", "A random kid gives a gift with the advice 'Don’t go unarmed, take this'", or 'Robots that replicate by being so useful that people build new versions of them".

Oh my god! I AM SO EXCITED FOR HATS!

@James Did hat start yet?

Later today I believe.

First night channukah tonight

winterbash2017.stackexchange.com The Countdown!

Future Historian

4:15 PM

:D

HATS! WOOO!

So who are we selecting as our main competition this year?

I think it was sci/fi and fantasy last year?

Future Historian

Well, what about some.........alternate history?

For this year.

I will do the blog series of the Cuban Missile War as part of it.

@FutureHistorian There isn't an alternate history stack.

4:17 PM

...dude, don't get your alt history on my hats. I will light it on fire.

Future Historian

Oh. Confusion over what it was.

Oops.

:D

@Separatrix Literature?

I think last year we waited to see who we were on pace with after a couple days and went from there.

Then we can cross post on their meta/chat

Future Historian

So, anyone have opinions on the Cuban Missile War series' introduction?

4:21 PM

@James No no no, we can't wait, we have to act with undue excited haste!

@Separatrix HAAAATS!!! ON FIRE!!!!

Future Historian

Because I am not sure of what to do next for the blog series.

Someone with spare time needs to go figure out a good way to gauge site activity and let us know who our peers on the network are.

Future Historian

What aspect should I start with? The breakdown of negotiations? The initial air strikes? The invasion of Cuba + the German Front? The nuclear exchange? What?

FH, I'd hold those question until you know that someone in chat has read your blog post and engages with you, otherwise it kinda comes off spammy.

(just advice)

Future Historian

4:25 PM

Sorry about that.

So......who has read it?

Just wanting to know.

@kingledion did a great job with the close vote stats, perhaps we should set him on the task

@FutureHistorian I just saw that it was posted, and I am WAAAY behind on my blog reading.

@kingledion YO!

We have a hat related job for you sir.

Future Historian

Oh.

Well, remember: that is just an introduction into context regarding the situation in our timeline and this timeline.

Considering your complexity that is probably a good place to start.

Future Historian

Agreed.

I want to provide the reader with some understanding of what happened, what the plans were in case of a direct conflict, and what the point of divergence was.

4:29 PM

@James If I start a room, do I get to moderate it?

@AndyD273 try it and see

@dot_Sp0T Any story premise ideas?

@AndyD273 very good, I was thinking about a limit of 3 or so sentences, but the character limit would be grandious

@AndyD273 none at all, the story would unfold while it is written. Shall I create a meta-post?

You could start with one of the standard set that's going round

You're the monster under the bed and your child has just been kidnapped type things

@dot_Sp0T I was thinking of starting it as a new chat room, so it could be moderated if needed, and it would be easier to keep the posts in order

♦ Story-go-round

Lets write a story together. Meta: worldbuilding.meta.stackexc...

4:42 PM

Oh, hello @James

It doesn't have to be done that way, but it seems like an easy way to do it.

@AndyD273 no i would have def used a chatroom in the end. but I would have created it after having a commitment of n people for one session. then do a session in the chatroom with the order in which people post predetermined. Otherwise what keeps people from writing at the same time?

I think we could make it a little less formal than that. Just make it so that people can only post very infrequently. If I have to wait for you before I can post, and you take off for a few days, then this will probably fizzle.

the once every 6hrs idea is nice, good thinking

what would you think about announcing that you are writing currently? e.g. like calling dibs on the next paragraph?

Your claim would be forfeit after some 10minutes or such

@AndyD273 how many more rules do you wanna write before we start? Also do you want to take the first paragraph or may I?

@dot_Sp0T I think I'm done, unless anyone has any suggestions on something that I missed?

4:50 PM

can we force using the reply function?

Then we might be able to export the data using a bot if we wanna be fancy

That would also allow use to make multiple stories that can be easily distinguished

@dot_Sp0T I think we should do one story at a time... easier to keep track of

If you're done I'll star the rules from the last to the first

I wish we could impose an order on these stars....

The fault in our stars indeed...

heh. Ok, you should do the first one, since it was your idea

got any wishes regarding subject?

oh neat, found a bug

when you declare me a room owner while I'm typing then my typerie gets lost

oops

4:55 PM

There we go, that should be sufficiently ambiguous

Whats up

and I shall be out for half a 24th as my typing device has nigh no charge left

@kingledion Starting a story. Care to contribute?

hey, @dot_Sp0T, since I see you here, did you like my answer to your space travel question from a few weeks back.

I was so proud of my answer and then got zero votes, so I'm looking for validation

@kingledion We were plotting to use your l33t statistical skillz to select our competitors for the hats

4:58 PM

@Separatrix Oh yeah I can work on that.

I have two finals wednesday, and after that its all Stack Exchange number crunching till january

That data explorer is so fascinating, it is definitely negatively affecting my grades

Better leave off until after Wednesday then :)

Ok, gonna type up my paragraph

@AndyD273 I do want to contribute to the story, but is there some commitment in time that should be made? Because I might not be online for a few days at a time over the holidays

I don't want everyone peeved by missing my turn in the story for 72 hours or something

@Separatrix Yeah, if you have any stats question, please do post them in meta and I'll see if I can answer them.

@kingledion No turns or anything. Just make a comment in here that you're posting, and then do it. We're just limiting it to 1 post every 6 hours so no one person can dominate the story, assuming it gets a couple people working on it.

Does the story have its own chat room?

5:04 PM

♦ Story-go-round

Lets write a story together. Meta: worldbuilding.meta.stackexc...

7

:)

5:24 PM

@kingledion I have started reading it during classes and then might have forgotten about it, it is very much and what I have read was very good. I shall read it fully at my earliest convenience!

Oh boy, I am looking forward to my turn in 5hrs 30min

@dot_Sp0T hehe

We should star the link to the chat room

How much do you folks hate the name of the currently assumed protagonist?

@dot_Sp0T It isn't super pronoucable

@dot_Sp0T It's fine IMHO. I don't really think that we should get all that picky about names so long as they don't obviously break the flow.

Things like that can be fixed in editing without too much trouble, if it becomes a problem. At least he wasn't named peekaboo...

I actually defined gender in the very first line sadly...

I wanted something that people need to think about twice to pronounce

5:37 PM

Gotta start somewhere

@dot_Sp0T Yeah I was totally wrong, good thing my statement has been deleted

Now i'm going to keep that chat window open all day to see if anyone stumbles into the story

You know if I am quick enough this will degrade into a space-opera

Future Historian

Not happening on my sight.

>:P

OH BOY! I can write my next part at midnight local-time

Future Historian

I will turn this into a hard science fiction space opera.

>:)

5:39 PM

Oh man, I was totally going for a final fantasy style world of light and color and over-sized swords

Future Historian

Hmmmm.

@FutureHistorian be my guest

If you guys can turn it into a space opera of any kind without reality breaking changes that'll be interesting

@FutureHistorian You can make the next post if you'd like

@AndyD273 I can explain to you what I was going to write and you'd be gasping for air

Future Historian

@dot_Sp0T? How many moons could Upsilon Andromedae d have anyway?

5:41 PM

idk

Future Historian

I am thinking that the story is set in a habitable exomoon orbiting the real gas giant of Upsilon Andromedae d.

Upsilon Andromedae d

Upsilon Andromedae d (υ Andromedae d, abbreviated Upsilon And d, υ And d), also named Majriti, is a super-Jupiter exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the Sun-like star Upsilon Andromedae A, approximately 44 light-years (13.5 parsecs, or nearly 4.163×1014 km) away from Earth in the constellation of Andromeda. Its discovery made it the first multiplanetary system to be discovered around a main sequence star, and the first such system known in a multiple star system. The exoplanet was found by using the radial velocity method, where periodic Doppler shifts of spectral lines of the host...

This planet in particular.

That could be intersting

feel free to gently nudge it into that direction if you are so inclined

Future Historian

Now, I wonder what kind of backstory we could have for the colonists on Upsilon Andromedae d m VII.

But always remember: The story goes first. If it isn't agreeable with the story it doesn't go into it. If you want to define the setting some more, fit it into the prose.

5:43 PM

As much as you can do in a single paragraph... That's actually a weird kind of limiter

Yeah, note that this planet has moons of its own already, so lets not get carried away

Future Historian

That is the initial designation of the moon Bremdag lives in.

@AndyD273 it's a great limiter, it forces you to concentrate on what you think is important and do a triage

@kingledion It doesn't actually say that they are the moons of this planet, just that they are moons that are visible

It's a bit like DnD, but isntead everyone plays the same character

Future Historian

5:45 PM

Hmmmmmmm. I wonder how the view of Upsilon Andromedae d would look like from a habitable exomoon.

Especially in the morning.

might as well be evening, the sun in his back

@AndyD273 I only just got the pun

@FutureHistorian The great thing about prose is that it is art, not science. A sea can be famously 'wine-dark' even though there isn't too much in common between wine and the ocean. You should focus on being descriptive, that will be what makes the story fascinating.

Future Historian

I know.

I am trying to find a description that is scientifically consistent.

@FutureHistorian Also, it's probable that the natives won't call it Upsilon Andromedae d

Future Historian

Exactly.

So, how do we call it?

5:48 PM

Even if they are originally from earth, they'll name it something else when they get there.

Future Historian

Well, that is true.

Don't know yet. The planet is over the horizon still.

Future Historian

Also, Upsilon Andromedae A is an F-class star.

So, how would a sky look like under such a star?

@FutureHistorian Lavender, apparently, at least at this time of day.

Future Historian

Thank you!

5:52 PM

So I think I know how I'd like to introduce a space element, once the story gets to that part.

In my next part I will sneak the whole spacething in, without actually making going off-planet or anything like that even remotely urgent - that is if it's still possible by then :D

Future Historian

Oh and do we have FTL?

Or not really?

Feel free to introduce it, if it fits at that point

Future Historian

Personally, I am going to avoid the FTL trap.

Just to keep the science consistent.

I'll be off for dinner. But I claim dibs to the first part written after 2300 UTC

Future Historian

5:57 PM

And if we need to, just tell me to make sure we limit the unintended side-effects.

Well, Bremdag is still only a single step outside his front door... Someone needs to move him along a bit before getting too far ahead.

This experience is going to be a great exercise in patience :)

Future Historian

Alright.

@FutureHistorian Which way is he going to go?? Left? Right? We need a direction!

Future Historian

I am ready in three........two..........one.......

Done!

:P

hehe

Future Historian

6:04 PM

So, @AndyD273? What do you expect to happen next?

O_O

Well, I ruined it.

He's gotta get out of the village eventually. If three trouble makers are coming, it's probably a good reason to duck around the corner and head for the hills. Or forest. Or mountains.

Future Historian

Not that!

Check editing.

@AndyD273. Is the staff technically a weapon at this point?

Or what?

@AndyD273? Little help?

Part walking stick, part weapon

Future Historian

I need to fix it!

It's fine as is. Don't worry about it.

Let the next person work it out.

Future Historian

6:08 PM

Oh.

I just meant the part that is supposed to be in Italics.

>:(

Oh, it's because you put the line breaks in

Future Historian

Oh.

So, can you fix it?

Either take those breaks out quickly, or it can just be fixed in editing down the road.

Future Historian

I kind of.........already ruined it.

Room owners have very little moderating powert

Future Historian

6:09 PM

It is past the point of editing.

@FutureHistorian see rule #3

Future Historian

Oh.

breathes a sigh of relief

Hmmmmm.

@AndyD273? FTL or STL?

argh still 5hrs until I can write....

Future Historian

"All we waited for was one word..........attack!"

I definitely hope we don't go all-out-war so early into the story

Future Historian

6:19 PM

We are not.

However, I do plan to have this story be the beginning of some major conflict.

Just don't do any too specific planning too far ahead in time

Future Historian

@dot_Sp0T? I have an idea. What if we had a limited wormhole gate network, that can only be accessed through specific star systems, while everywhere else, we had an STL situation?

@FutureHistorian keep it in the back of your head and use it when you get the chance

Future Historian

Fair enough.

But I just want to point out to see what the rest think.

This is already a great lot of fun, having to force oneself to prioritize what we want to have into the limitation of one post every 6hrs. As well as having the obligation to get the story to progress.

Future Historian

6:22 PM

So, @dot_Sp0T? What do we do with the wormhole gate network (which is limited anyway)?

We will find out~?

Future Historian

Well, what I mean is, how do limit the handwavium?

To keep consistency?

we don't

Future Historian

As in: how do we keep the wormholes from being time machines?

And how do we make sure we do NOT turn them into doomsday devices either?

we go with the flow and trust in each other's ability to judge the situation and restrain themselves

Future Historian

6:26 PM

Hmmmmmmm.

has an idea

Relativistic MISSILES!

laughs evilly

6:36 PM

@FutureHistorian See rule #2

I wonder what would've happened had we used FightClub as an inspiration for our rules

@dot_Sp0T It would either be a very short story, or there would be a lot of rule breakers

Future Historian

6:56 PM

Sorry about that.

Not a serious thing.

7:14 PM

@AndyD273 good thinking with the tagging

@dot_Sp0T @kingledion @FutureHistorian Just a quick heads up. I set the tags to indicate that it's a Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution International licensed story, so that no one person owns it, just in case that ever becomes an issue. If that is a problem flag your post for deletion.

Sounds like an interesting story so far.

@Bellerophon have a go at it :D

@dot_Sp0T Yeah, I kinda wish I had thought of it when I was writing the rules...

@dot_Sp0T I might.

7:17 PM

@Bellerophon We gotta get him out of the village somehow!

First you have to deal with the three blokes.

if there ever was a village

@dot_Sp0T Right. Away from the house at least

is it a house?

it might be a jurt

or an apartment in a 200 story arcology

@AndyD273 I have no idea.

7:21 PM

@James you know you want to take part

@dot_Sp0T Well hello.

I didn't actually read any of the context....

@James Apparently the answer is that I can pin stars, but I can't delete anything.

@James there is none

Sorry, I'm just so jacked up for HATS!

when do we go hats?

7:22 PM

@James Short version, read the 4 paragraphs so far, write 1 more.

@dot_Sp0T winterbash2017.stackexchange.com

4 hours 36 minutes

@AndyD273 also there's 5 rules on the starboard (which is, satisfyingly enough, starboard)

@dot_Sp0T Nice.

@James Speaking of which, if I flag the room change posts, does that allow you to delete them?

Just to keep it clean

that was quick

and a tad weird

7:33 PM

@AndyD273 uhhh...

And now I know how to delete posts... move them to trash

anyone participate in the writing?

please?

it's still 3.5 hrs before I can go mad

@dot_Sp0T I will in an hour or so.

@James You've been a room owner for a long time. I can only assume that I must not be explaining myself correctly?

8:15 PM

@dot_Sp0T mad...HATTER :D

@AndyD273 Yeah to be honest I had no idea what you were asking about.

@James I'm just trying to figure out how being a room owner works. I don't appear to have the ability to delete posts that aren't my own, but it looks like I can move them to "butterfly happy land"

2

@AndyD273 Weird...I don't have that option but maybe that's just because I can delete whatever I want to...

@James How did you delete things before you became a mod?

...honestly I don't even remember if I had the power to delete in here. I don't think I did.

I vaguely recall having to ask mods to do that...

Maybe because you're the owner you have the power.

or creator rather.

Heh.

user image

user image

So if I choose move messages I get an option to move them to another chat, and there is a chat called trash that apparently is for messages you don't want anymore

8:23 PM

@AndyD273 Interesting.

@AndyD273 Also. What is butterfly happy land?

That's how Thomas Ward got rid of them...

6 mins ago, by AndyD273

@James I'm just trying to figure out how being a room owner works. I don't appear to have the ability to delete posts that aren't my own, but it looks like I can move them to "butterfly happy land"

Lol, I dont know. I typed out "trash" in quotes

Bwahahahaha

hmm, didn't do it that time

8:25 PM

errr...that's weird.

"trash"

Oh, found the problem:

I wonder if I should break the magic by telling you that IT WAS JAMES

user image

I'm assuming that editing a post is a mod level power, and not room owner... because that could come in useful

Told you we should've elected someone else

I'm a little disapointed that there isn't a room called Butterfly happy land

2

8:40 PM

@AndyD273 ...I feel like you're baiting me. But I don't mind because the wait for the hattening is killing me.

@dot_Sp0T Blasphemy!

(also true)

@James the power has gone to your head

@dot_Sp0T That happened like 14 minutes after I found out. Where've you been?

Just go and write a section of the story already, you know u want to

"'Butterfly happy land' is just what we call it in front of the posts... It keeps them from... struggling... too much when we decide to move them 'to the better place'. It just feels more humane somehow."

@AndyD273 lol

Anyone own a Nintendo Switch.

?

8:49 PM

No. It's kind of on my list of "things to buy when I get enough money". It's a long list.

I think I am going to get one for the boys but I want to make sure I have the proper number of peripherals before I create a tragedy on Christmas morning.

I'm also curious if the old games I bought through the Wii store are tied to an account and will be available on the switch.

@James It's quite playable singleplayer right out of the box.

@sphennings So it only comes with one controller?

Also, this.

thinkgeek.com/product/klpt

@James That depends on the game. The left and right joycons can be used individually for some games. I've only used the system for single players so I can't really comment on how well they work.

Mario Kart would probably be the obvious choice.

8:57 PM

@James Since it's a first party game I'm sure that it's been designed to show off all the features of the switch.

The switch is meant as s handheld first

@dot_Sp0T It's perfectly adequate as a console too.

yes, but for a single person primarily

If you go by the commercials, you'll be able to play mario cart two player with the joycons, each person gets one.

Sweet.

9:15 PM

Breath of the Wild has a very melancholic Miyazaki feel to it, the gameplay can get repetitive but it is a incredibly beautiful game.

those joycons are awfully small

@James Who's going to be playing it? Kids or adults?

Well my kids and I...so lets go with kids.

@James get yourself some more controllers

The kids will probably be fine with the joycons for multiplayer games. They make a dedicated controller as well that's a little bit pricey $70 usd. But the reviews are good.

9:21 PM

Thanks

@sphennings Do you know about old games on the store? I bought a few games on the Wii store that I would still like to have

@James I don't. Sorry.

Link to the Past and Ogre Battle.

great games...

@James en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22282/…

dangit. Figures...greedy freaking...

Did you expect any else?

9:39 PM

no not really.

Just checking, what I post in my paragraph/sentence for the story is up to me, there isn't some overarching plot I'm meant to follow.

@Bellerophon Nope, just try to continue what is already there. There isn't a plot or even genre yet. It seems to have started out as a kind of fantasy, but it sounds like it could end up moving toward sci-fi pretty fast

@Bellerophon I think the main thing is to not contradict the existing text. Last thing we want are arguing footnotes.

\* It was a goat
\** NO IT WAS A CHICKEN, AND I'LL FIGHT ANYONE THAT SAYS DIFFERENT.

2

It was a gocken, a chicken goat elephant crossbreed only found on this planet.

9:56 PM

@sphennings Huh, that worked out differently than I expected...

@AndyD273 It it wasn't for that last line. Trouble would be the name of some escaped animal.

@sphennings That also would have been an interesting twist

People looking from animals don't sneak around and I didn't want to write the casual use of stealth into the story.

Someone should write the whole story into a blog post when it is finished.

@Bellerophon That's the plan

10:10 PM

Is there an order for posting in the story-go-round room? Looks interesting.

@Secespitus I don't think so. Just one post per person per 6 hours.

@sphennings Ah, okay.

And I'm a mere 40min away from dropping the spacebomb

oh boy

uhm, anyone got any issues with casual intimacy between the characters? I think it would be interesting from a worldbuilding perspective to have a society that is not like classic earth-humans

10:27 PM

@dot_Sp0T My vote is for a lack of a romance subplot.

@dot_Sp0T I'm fine with anything as long as it doesn't breach the rules. Just don't shoehorn it in.

@dot_Sp0T What exactly do you mean by "casual intimacy"

oh no, no subplots or explicit, timeconsuming romance stuff

I guess I'll just write up my next part in 20min and then we can see if we modify it or keep it - that works?

I don't want to spoiler you, I think it works very well to give a sense of foreignness to the whole thing

a touch of worldbuilding

oh boy, we
got codeformatting
in the chat!

Just remember xkcd.com/483

10:47 PM

8 minutes

4

kablam

11:18 PM

hmmm I think linebreaks mess up the character limit, and I might have messed up the paragraph rule.... I am sorry

Future Historian

11:37 PM

So, who trusts Gandhi in the Civilization series anyway?

Because in that series, I warn you: DO NOT trust Gandhi.

@dot_Sp0T I think if you copy-paste something into the window it basically ignores the maximum character rule.

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