The Factory Floor

FoxElemental

00:06

Gotta go.

See you

Gryphon

See ya, Fox

ClaireBookworm

07:04

Wow, I'm always lost when I come onto this chat room

Secespitus

@ClaireBookworm Welcome to the Factory Floor! Anything in particular that makes you feel lost when you are around here?

ClaireBookworm

Nah it's just a joke

I have no idea what people are talking about

I saw your question on the forum, it's a very complicated question and I'm trying to work it out.

Don't know if I can do it, though.

Secespitus

Yeah, the werewolves/etc. are giving me some headaches.

ClaireBookworm

Ha

What is it for?

Secespitus

Maybe for an RPG. It depends on what my players decide to do though :D

Anything you are working on?

ClaireBookworm

07:15

Well, I'm writing a few stories, constructing a few backgrounds for some worlds I'm programming... not much

School's starting and I'm cramming to get an edge

Secespitus

If you ever want to share your stories you could look for example at the inofficial WB.SE blog. An overview over the stories that were posted there can be found here and the chatroom for the blog is called the Universe Factory.

ClaireBookworm

Cool.

I heard there was this round robin story building thing going on?

Secespitus

That's the story-go-round. For some background you can look here.

ClaireBookworm

Thanks for the help ;)

Really appreciate it

Secespitus

No problem, have fun on the site!

ClaireBookworm

07:22

Thanks! Good night!

At least for me

Secespitus

For me the day is just starting, but good night :D

Tim B

10:00

@Gryphon On the bright side though you're working your way towards a very rare badge :)

AndyD273

12:51

@ClaireBookworm Hi! I was just curious where you heard about it from? Wondering how far the word has spread. After the initial rush participation seemed to dwindle to me and one or two people from chat.

Gryphon

@TimB Which one is that?

Hey, @Hosch

How are you?

Hosch250

Hi.

Great, how are you?

Ash

@Gryphon Probably the Legendary one

Gryphon

Thanks, Ash. Although rep over the cap doesn't actually help with that.

@Hosch, not bad.

Hosch250

@AndyD273 Nice ninja :)

AndyD273

13:07

@Hosch250 Ninja?

Hosch250

Story-go-round.

Secespitus

@Ash Thanks for the numbers. Finding anything about that topic is quite hard...

Hosch250

I was just trying to give Brokhem a scene.

> "Here, Brokhem, you're the one who studied mineralogy; you take my phylactery and set off the charge. Remember, we only have one." Brokhem dove into the water, looking for the place to set the charge. A vein with a fissure would work best; the purer the mineral the better. A structure that would encourage water cavitation would increase the strength of the blast.

It'll still work, but it has to start with a comment from Niardul about where to place it.

Ash

@Gryphon No but the more 200 rep days you have the closer you get.

AndyD273

@Hosch250 "I think this is the place. About 10 feet down" She pointed.

Gryphon

13:08

@Ash True. I had no idea that that answer would turn into something that big. It's likely to generate another 200 rep for me today.

Secespitus

@Ash Do you have the sources for the numbers to my werewolf question?

Ash

@Secespitus Yeah I was amazed how easy it was to get hunting success rates but how hard it was to get a prey density number, yeah I'll link them in the answer for you.

Secespitus

Thanks.

Ash

@Gryphon What are you get an avalanche of rep for anyway?

AndyD273

@Hosch250 And then it could be "Here, Brokhem, you're the strongest swimmer"

I'm just wondering how they will set it off without getting caught in the blast and underwater shock wave.

Gryphon

13:13

@Ash This, and I have no idea why it's so popular.

Hosch250

I got it posted.

AndyD273

I guess they could use the fire slime, but I was also thinking that would be really useful for smelting the ore afterward. Maybe just a little bit

Hosch250

I'm trying to give Brokhem a scene here since he's just been tagging along so far.

@AndyD273 They have to go back to the pit to charge it, no?

Maybe they could pick up more slime on the way back?

Also, maybe the shadows could fire it off, although, who knows what the heck "normal" challengers would do.

AndyD273

@Hosch250 That's not specified. It could also be part of the next challenge in a new area, which is also unspecified.

Hosch250

True.

ArtificialSoul

13:15

@Secespitus Just saw the thread regarding the Meta rep requirement and i totally agree. Currently we are closing like 50% of all questions asked, if not more. It would be nice to lower this.

Hosch250

But there is a comment about charging phylacteries at that pit already.

in Story-go-round, Dec 18 '17 at 3:57, by kingledion

@Bellerophon The sun was not yet visible above the horizon when the group approached the stone pit. A pale blueish glow, matching Thor above, was visible over the lip in the dim early morning. The pits were formed by rocks falling from the sky. One could not stay too close to the pit for too long, and especially not standing above the lip, in the direct line of sight of the deadly radiation of the stone from the heavens. Yet, to pass the third challenge, the Challenge of Light, a future Void-traveler must charge their phylactery in the stone's deadly rays.

AndyD273

@Hosch250 I think that was just to supercharge/energize them. Maybe that would happen once the new ones are made

Hosch250

Hmm. I guess they charge it to power the explosive.

Secespitus

@ArtificialSoul I don't think this change would reduce the amount of closed questions measurably. It just might help a few new users and make it easier for us to write comments pointing to meta.

Hosch250

The hardest part is keeping the story consistent :(

Secespitus

13:17

@Hosch250 "The last half an hour was just a dream." and start over ;)

Hosch250

Ummm, LOL.

AndyD273

Also, if the phylactery interfere with shadows by design, using one to set it off would be hard. Maybe a shadow could get close and drop a rock on it

Hosch250

@AndyD273 Ohh, right.

I think they need a fuse.

AndyD273

No! Bad @Secespitus, bad!

Hosch250

Something that burns on land and under water.

Or burns slow under water so they can get out.

AndyD273

13:19

@Hosch250 Maybe just dip a stick or something into the slime jar

Bellerophon

Is the explosion caused by the release of the energy the phylactary absorbed in challenge 1?

ArtificialSoul

@Secespitus might not be, but i think if people would have a nicer first experience than asking a question that gets -1 to -5 downvotes and getting their questions closed as being too broad or opinion-based, people would probably stay for longer. Because i feel like most of them don't return.

Hosch250

@AndyD273 Long stick.

Secespitus

@AndyD273 Ohhh.....

Hosch250

I put it a ways out to make it harder specifically.

I think that stick needs to be like 40-50 feet long.

Ash

13:20

@Gryphon It's a good answer, it deserves the kudos, I just can't quite understand why the question is so popular but you never know what'll get people's attention some times.

Secespitus

@ArtificialSoul That won't change. We currently don't have any means to advertise the Sandbox or other features on the "Ask a Question" page, so they will still get their question downvoted if it's bad and just have a chance to use the Sandbox directly for their second try, even if they were downvoted.

AndyD273

@Hosch250 Well, the stick is dipped in, coated in slime. and then they dive back under, which makes the slime burn a little less fiercely. Then they rub the slime on the phylactery and swim back up before the slime can cause it to explode

Secespitus

@Ash Humans are weird. <--- It explains a lot.

6

ArtificialSoul

@Secespitus Good point. But i guess it is unlikely that we get the sandbox featured in the tour, or could that be possible?

Secespitus

@ArtificialSoul They would have to find the Sandbox first in order to have the free-form "Let's work on this draft for a while first" experience. Plus, many people don't want to wait.

AndyD273

13:22

@Bellerophon Yes. That is the current idea

Gryphon

@Secespitus Truth!

Secespitus

@ArtificialSoul There is only a little bit we can actually change about the help center and tour. Theoretically we could ask our mods to basically open a case with the community managers, but I don't think we will get advertisement space for the Sandbox.

AndyD273

@Hosch250 That's true even for a single author. That's why there has to be an editing phase.

Which has to happen after the writing phase

ArtificialSoul

@Secespitus Thought so. That'd be great though. Because the sandbox is great and would benefit new users immensely.

Secespitus

And I am not sure if the people that actually read through everything will have so many problems. It's more often those that don't read anything. (Granted, a few people trip with the more gray opinion-based zone, but still: adding more text to the tour to point to a different format of getting your question up to speed doesn't seem to be the best way to go for me.)

ArtificialSoul

13:25

@Secespitus might be true. I doubt most people are as enthusiastic about this place as i was when i first randomly stumbled across it.

Ash

@Secespitus It does indeed, I've put those data sources in, the second one is for South African semi-seasonal grassland so it won't be a perfect fit but it gives you a baseline to work from. You can probably use the numbers as they are for perennial grasslands since the wet season high will probably even out with the dry season low.

Secespitus

@ArtificialSoul Honestly, it's okay for some people that are willing to listen to feedback and are patient enough to really work on their draft for a while. For many people the Sandbox is simply something that would slow them down and they don't appreciate to be slowed down. They want immediate results. And it's quite different from the SE style, which often confuses regulars from other sites.

ArtificialSoul

@Secespitus BTW: I saw you bet me to placing a bounty on my question! I wanted to do that earlier and you already placed one.

Secespitus

@Ash Thanks, I'll check them out later.

@ArtificialSoul Too slow :D

ArtificialSoul

@Secespitus yeah, the biggest difference probably being that it is way simpler to get your questions closed by asking them incorrectly. Being too broad or too opinion-based mostly. But i think it is mostly people who also don't frequent other SE sites. Most do not have the association bonus yet.

Secespitus

13:29

It looks like your answer is already at the top of what people around here would come up with. There is basically no activity on your question/self-answer apart from a couple of upvotes as far as I can tell.

@ArtificialSoul Many other sites have quite similar phrasing-problems. At least for some sorts of questions. RPG.SE with homebrew questions for example. Or IPS.

ArtificialSoul

@Secespitus yeah, i think so, too. I am not that happy with my answer though. I feel like i have most likely missed something major. Hence the estimate differences from 44 to 98 MJ. That is a factor of 2. And if i have missed a major point it might be even more than that.

Secespitus

@ArtificialSoul That might be. But if nobody on this site can tell the chances that somebody else will call you out on such "mis-calculations" are pretty small.

Hosch250

@AndyD273 Think this is good? worldbuilding.meta.stackexchange.com/a/6451/39548

ArtificialSoul

@Secespitus yes, i kind of expected it. But i am not that confident in my biochemistry skills and would have liked someone to correct me. ^^

Secespitus

I'd love to see the Ask a Question Wizard on WorldBuilding to help new people ask questions.

@ArtificialSoul I am trying everything I can to bring people to nitpick your solution :D

ArtificialSoul

13:34

@Secespitus you mean with a guide telling you what your question needs and what it should looke like?

Gryphon

@Secespitus That would be excellent!

ArtificialSoul

@Gryphon agreed. that'd be awesome

Gryphon

I honestly think that a simple outline like that could reduce the number of questions we close by 10-25%.

Secespitus

@ArtificialSoul Yeah, currently we have the standard text of "Be specific", which is... completely useless. If we could make an example like "In one sentence: what problem did you encounter while building your fictional world?" and then "Which aspects related to your question are different in your world?/ How does your magic system work?" plus maybe "What solutions have you thought of and why won't they work for you?" we could help new users a lot.

Hosch250

I'm going to post this if nobody has any objections:

0

A: Sandbox for Proposed Questions

Kidnapping Fire-Slugs I have a slug. Not an ordinary garden slug; this slug is special. This slug's slime is violently reactive with the atmosphere on my planet, and explodes into flame on contact with the air. This slug continually grows, with mature young ones being the size of a beaver and an...

ArtificialSoul

13:37

@Secespitus @Gryphon I think that could actually work decently. At least if people care to read what it says.

Secespitus

@ArtificialSoul The chances of people reading the faded text in the "Ask a Question" box are probably a lot higher than the chances of people reading a sentence or two from somewhere in the tour, let alone the help center.

ArtificialSoul

@Secespitus @Gryphon maybe it would help to draw attention to it by actually placing a wizard-character there :D

Gryphon

@Hosch250 I'd say the section on phylacteries is kinda pointless, as they won't be breaking them then anyway.

Hosch250

@Gryphon I wanted to make sure nobody said "The shadows pick it up and carry it with them."

Secespitus

@Hosch250 The "(Andy?) part should probably be removed.

Hosch250

13:39

@Secespitus It will be, when Andy approves the speed.

Secespitus

I found that it's often a good strategy to write the question in the title, at the beginning and at the end in increasing amounts of details. Maybe changing the first sentence to something like "I have a slug that I need to kidnap." could be useful.

And I agree that the phylacteries should be removed. That looks like the normal "You apparently have a magic system, but you are not telling us anything about it - close as unclear." You have two humans, no need to tell people that you have two wizards that could do magic, but don't do it.

Hosch250

There. I made a note that magic exists, but these two don't have access to it, in case someone reads part of the story.

AndyD273

@Hosch250 Since when did I become the fire slug expert? :) That being said, 5 meters (~15 feet) an hour seems slow, but we both had different ideas of how big they are too. And since it's not specified by anyone yet, why not be the one to finalize that?

Secespitus

@Hosch250 Looks good to me.

AndyD273

Also, a full grown slug might be horse sized (or might not. It's not specified.) but that doesn't mean that there aren't young ones too.

Hosch250

13:55

@AndyD273 That's exactly how I put it. A young adult is a beaver-size and an old one is a horse-size. They never stop growing.

AndyD273

@Hosch250 Got it. sounds good. So a small one would move slower than a big one, so 5 meters an hour is reasonable.

Hosch250

There. I threw myself on the mercy of the WB regulars :)

Got a problem at work. TTYL.

Secespitus

@Hosch250 Good luck :D

Hosch250

TFW your predecessor is looking someone up by name instead of unique ID...

And it causes a bug in prod.

FoxElemental

14:14

@Hosch250 Please shorten the draft to "Posted:(Link)" and delete. I can add it to the wiki for you

Hosch250

OK.

@FoxElemental Add what to the question? About the stones?

FoxElemental

Any additional info

Added the link to the sandbox wiki

Hosch250

OK.

FoxElemental

Nice. Now delete. If you find the thread of comments annoying, you can mod flag and ask for them to be purged

They can still do that to deleted posts

Hosch250

I don't mind it, but if they bother you, go ahead.

FoxElemental

14:18

Well, I won't see them once they're deleted :). Only high-rep users will

Hosch250

I added the bit about the stones to the question, in case someone wants to use them for transportation.

FoxElemental

Thanks

Hosch250

I'd already mentioned the trees were fire-resistant, and forest fires regularly occur on stony mountains, so that doesn't really affect it too much, I don't think.

FoxElemental

Mmkay

Secespitus

A question that involves getting something somewhere else alive seems to be quite difficult here on WorldBuilding.SE :D

FoxElemental

14:27

Somebody who was in the new answers queue is just

god

worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/119666/…

No vote, no edit

Didn't see a comment except from @Hosch

But they didn't hit skip either, because I was in the queue and only saw this afterwards

I mean

There's even a new post about comment scripts

Gryphon

It really annoys me when that happens.

FoxElemental

It takes 3 freaking seconds to copy and paste one!

Secespitus

@FoxElemental And if it's only ever copied it's meaningless. If you review you should try to tailor it to the post and read the whole thing. If you only go through the queue to copy-paste the same comment it doesn't help anyone. The queue is to find problems or exceptional posts.

ArtificialSoul

@FoxElemental Well, the post is 7 minutes old. I am not checking the queue in that frequency.

FoxElemental

@Secespitus That's why I copy+paste, review the question . . . . and if I don't have time, I simply skip

ArtificialSoul

14:32

@Secespitus I fully agree. Copy-paste-comments don't help if you don't add a note to that.

FoxElemental

I've reviewed a decent amount, but I usually skip because I either don't want to upvote or downvote because it's a new user

Secespitus

@FoxElemental And I am not sure what you mean at all. If one person reviews the post it disappears from the queue. You wouldn't see it in the queue if somebody reviewed it and decided that "No action needed".

FoxElemental

So I modify the script slightly with other links and then hit the "skip" for "unsure" so someone else reviews it

ArtificialSoul

@FoxElemental if i am not mistaken then you were the very first one to see it in the review queue. Were you not? Where exactly is the problem then?

FoxElemental

@ArtificialSoul Misunderstanding. I didn't see it in the queue because it had already been reviewed without so much as a comment/edit, which it needed

I only saw it because I was checking something on the question it answered and happened to see it

Secespitus

14:38

@FoxElemental You know, answers don't go immediately into the queue. There is always a little delay between being posted and being in the review queue. Here is the review. It happened after your comment.

ArtificialSoul

@FoxElemental Ah, okay. Yeah, sorry. then i misunderstood you. You are right. Somebody should have commented on that. Especially because i think it does not qualify as an answer to the question as the provided solution is most likely going to kill the slug.

@Secespitus good to know.

Hosch250

Let's just hope the beer isn't flammable. I think Separatrix's answer is the best so far.

FoxElemental

@Secespitus Now I feel embarrassed. But that's better than I thought it was

@Hosch You mean Separatrix

Not Secespitus

Hosch250

Yes.

Secespitus

@Hosch250 I haven't answered your question.

@FoxElemental If it needed a comment why did you not mention anything specific that the OP needs to address?

FoxElemental

14:43

I meant at the very least a comment with a tour/help center link

Secespitus

@FoxElemental Why? They have seen that just now before posting their answer. If they have such big mistakes in their answer that you feel they need a comment you should mention what parts of the answer are so desperately in need of being edited. I am all in favour of posting links to the tour and help center as additional nice links to new users to remind them to have a look at them, but if you feel there is something that needs to be addressed you should address it.

FoxElemental

I didn't feel it needed much more. There was a misunderstanding that had already been adressed by the OP

Which took precedence over a guidance comment

BRB

Hosch250

Got a 30-min meeting now, and again in an hour. Going offline for a while.

AndyD273

My comment to the set bonus sandbox question makes me happy.

On a side note, I got to thinking, why are fantasy stories almost exclusively set in medieval settings? Even Harry Potter never got past the 70s (as far as I can tell from the cars and stuff). Why are there no (or very few) real future world fantasy stories?

ArtificialSoul

15:04

@AndyD273 You are correct in that most are medieval in their setting, but i think it might be convenient for writers. There is not much physics knowledge in that time. And stone age might not be interesting enough to most people. If you introduce magic in the current world you have to account for people who try to use it for machinery. Engineering would look a lot different if you introduce new possibilities for mechanisms.

Secespitus

@AndyD273 Because often you get into "How does the magic interact with technology?" questions and many authors don't seem to like that. The medieval age has also been romanticised a lot, which makes it easier to tell heroic tales. But there is the genre of urban fantasy, so I wouldn't say that there are no real world fantasy stories.

AndyD273

Ron looked up at the bright streak rising up in the sky. "When did the muggles start taming dragons?" he asked.
Hermione looked at him pityingly "Oh Ron, don't you know anything? Those are rockets. Taking people to the colonies on the moon, mars, saturn's moons, the asteroids, and generation ships to other stars. Muggles have pretty much conquered the solar system. But at least we have quidditch."

3

Secespitus

@AndyD273 Grand magical battle happening Voldy: "Now, Harry, I will show you what true power-" Harry: "Let me introduce you to this thing we call a 'Gun'."

3

ArtificialSoul

@Secespitus That'd be a nice plot twist. Let's call the spin-off "Harry Potter and the shotgun massacre"

AndyD273

@Secespitus That's actually part of what got me wondering about it. I saw a video about how avada kedavra is a really stupid spell. The death eaters use it almost exclusively. They might as well all have been using pistols.

Secespitus

15:12

@AndyD273 It's probably because the target audience doesn't expect everyone to run around with a gun in their hands.

AndyD273

You are correct. It is just one of the very few places that the author showed a lack of imagination, except for places that killing the target would be inconvenient for the story.

Secespitus

It's also boring when you want to read about epic magical wizard battles.

Never bring a gun to a wizarding contest - it's just not fair...

2

FoxElemental

326

Q: Why don't Muggle-born wizards use Muggle technology to fight Death Eaters?

We know that wizards in Harry Potter universe are subject to regular physical harm (e.g. witness injuries from being hit by Bludgers or just colliding with things when playing Quidditch). Therefore, it's almost a certainty that an average wizard would be vulnerable to, say, a bunch of bullets. ...

AndyD273

@Secespitus Especially when used in tandem with magic.

FoxElemental

The comments on that are really good

Secespitus

15:16

@FoxElemental "Okay, put the gun down: I'll learn how to pronounce Leviosa, I swear!"

FoxElemental

Oh, for those who didn't notice, I'm back

@Sece Haha

That said: The mental image of Harry putting a 9mm up to Voldemort's forehead and uttering a certain line from Dirty Harry before blowing him away, is beyond enjoyable. — DampeS8N Mar 23 '11 at 11:28

@DampeS8n - I was going more for Trinity's "Dodge THIS" line in my head :) — DVK-on-Ahch-To Mar 23 '11 at 13:09

Hosch250

15:34

My question is #6 on the hot questions :)

65.341 hotness points.

AndyD273

@Hosch250 Well, it is a question about fire slugs. Make sense that it would get pretty hot

3

Hosch250

LOL.

Hmm. Ash's answer is good too.

They could carry it in a tub of lard (assuming they can get lard) between them if it was beaver-sized or smaller.

Horse sized would be just too big to carry.

And I'm not sure they want to just "follow" it around.

AndyD273

Seems like the only hard part might be getting the lard. An oil cloth cloak make sense when you're going to be out in the elements for a few days and a tent isn't in the item list.

Lard would be good for cooking, and is shelf stable.

Hosch250

Ohhh.

AndyD273

So they could have a couple bundles of it

Hosch250

15:40

Now they can have hot meals for dinner on a regular basis.

FWIW, maybe they can kill a couple deer and wrap the slug in a wet deer-skin.

IF the slug just smoulders at that stage...

Interestingly enough, they could then A) deprive challengers of a slug, and B) whip the skin off for shock-value.

They could even meet up with the party again, and have lots of slime for forging new phylacteries, although that's optional.

AndyD273

And just because we know what Brokhem brought on the trip doesn't mean that we know what everyone brought. It could be that one of the two in that group likes outdoor cooking, and brought more supplies for that purpose, while other challengers just brought pre prepared ration packs.

Hosch250

Like Samwise Gamgee.

AndyD273

"Hey, your cloak is oil skin, right?"
"Yeah, just like yours, why?"
"Just hand it over." The cloak was laid out on the ground and covered in lard. "Now we just have to wrap up a slug."
"Why didn't you do that to your cloak?"
"Well, it might rain later."

4

Hosch250

LOL.

Literally.

AndyD273

Of course, if it did rain, they'd have to share a cloak, which might get back to earlier ideas we had about that subject...

Gryphon

15:48

@Andy, let's keep this PG-13

Hosch250

Alternately, they could just kill a dear.

I mean, a deer.

AndyD273

@Gryphon The discussion was just about if they were a couple or not. I agree that anything explicit should be left out as non-productive to the story

Hosch250

Heck, they could make a basket from bark.

And coat it in slime.

AndyD273

@Hosch250 Or mud.

Hosch250

True.

Let it dry. Now you have stone (almost).

AndyD273

15:51

@Hosch250 it would make the bark a lot more fire resistant

Hosch250

Yep.

How large is a water recycler?

Fridge-size?

Smaller?

Larger?

AndyD273

You know, there's a really good reason I didn't use an object with a defined size (also, I didn't know if they had horses on that world)

Fridge sized is probably about right though

Hosch250

Then they'd want a sort of sled.

(Not sure I used "sledge" right there.)

Unless they find a different one they can carry, but I'd rather not.

AndyD273

Well, that's when I had the idea of really big slugs. But since there are some that are beaver/medium dog/really large cat sized, it's less of a big deal

Hosch250

Are they on the side of a mountain? They could pull it down, then abandon it when they have to go back up.

I can see it adding a couple days to their trip, but it might have some shock factor. Especially if we show everyone shocked.

AndyD273

15:56

Well, we know that the other group had to descend a cliff to get to where the slugs were. And then they went by raft toward the next challenge, which was in a cave on/near a mountain, so there is probably some up hill terrain ahead of them

But we haven't specified how big the area is, and what range the slugs have. It could be they are in a lot of places, including at the top of the cliff.

Hosch250

Heck, we haven't even specified they got the same slug :)

AndyD273

Right

Hosch250

Even if they are rare-ish, it wouldn't be too hard to find them.

AndyD273

in fact, it seems unlikely they got the exact same slug

Hosch250

Maybe they went right toward the cave where the others are in a bet they'd find a slug near it, instead of going to the nearest slug.

AndyD273

15:58

I think the idea was that you'd probably come across at least one in a day or two of looking

Hosch250

@AndyD273 Easily, since all the smoke.

You could probably tell where they were 20-50 miles away or more.

BBL, meeting.

David Coffron

Does anyone here know the line between a plot building question (off topic from what I've seen) and a world building question on Worldbuilding.SE? I couldnt find a good meta for it (but I'm usually bad at searching metas). Is it more of a case-by-case thing?

AndyD273

@Hosch250 Maybe, if you could get above the trees high enough. But the trees (at least in one area) are very tall, and they don't burn easily so all the smoke would be from the underbrush. Depending on wind you'd probably have to be within a few miles of one.

FoxElemental

@DavidCoffron I'll take a look through Meta archives later, but you might want to simply look at our help center

Also see

16

Q: Risk Factor Definition: Too Story Based

We're going to look at merging the "Too Individual" and "Too plot based" close reasons into "Too Story Based". Keeping in mind the discussions from Risk Factor definition: Too Individual/Character Based and Are Too Character Based and Too Plot Based the same? here is the proposed close reason. C...

discussion on-topic

and

5

Q: What is “too story based”?

What is the current litmus test and general consensus on a Q being “too story based”? I see many Q's do involve story to some extent but the close reason is “too story based”. I'm using the “Joe” test. If the question postulates a world and does not ask for any guidance in shaping that world, b...

discussion close-reasons

If you're looking for plot building, you should go to WritingSE

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A: Why is my question "Too Story Based" and how do I get it opened?

Rephrase the question to remove all references to individual actions and any "should" or "would" parts of the question. Off topic: Would Joe Marine 17 climb this hill wearing his backpack On topic: Could a well-trained marine wearing a 30kg weight backpack complete a 1-mile route with ...

That's also helpful^

AndyD273

@DavidCoffron I think the general rule is if the question has to do with the actions of an individual (or small group), Vs something that affects the world as a whole.

But there are exceptions

FoxElemental

16:07

But Writing is going to be your best bet if you want to stay on the "on-topic" side of the site

David Coffron

Thanks guys

FoxElemental

No prob

Tim B

@Gryphon Mortarboard, Epic and Legendary. Legendary is the rarest badge we have (ignoring tumbleweed) with only 2 people having it

worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/help/badges/43/legendary

Hosch250

16:23

@AndyD273 Green underbrush produces a lot of smoke, and smoke rises.

But yeah, you have a point.

Gryphon

@TimB Technically, you also have to ignore Tenacious and Unsung Hero, and even then it's tied with Archaeologist, but I get your point.

Oh, it's also tied with Stellar Question.

AndyD273

16:59

@DavidCoffron Also, feel free to run ideas past people here in chat. We don't have much in the way of off topic rules, and can help with brain storming, or narrowing focus to help you get a question that fits on the main site. Also take a look at the sandbox, as it is a pretty useful way to get feedback on a question before having to submit it to the long knives of the main site.

David Coffron

@AndyD273 good advice. I probably could've worded the question I just asked better...

Secespitus

@DavidCoffron You can find the Sandbox here if you want

AndyD273

17:20

@DavidCoffron Looks like you fixed it.

David Coffron

@AndyD273 I suppose the concern people had is that things like humus are still technically organic matter. More context (what I added) shows that it is still tissue that contains DNA (albeit from a recently killed creature)

Anoplexian

Hey y'all. I asked a question about immortality that I can't seem to find a good answer to.

Let me know if there's any clarifications I need to make.

Gryphon

@Ano could you link to the Q?

Anoplexian

0

Q: How can I ensure my existing lifestyle stays the same if I'm immortal?

I'm immortal. Yes, I could give you the secret and also no I won't. unless...that is...you help me solve a bit of a dilemma I'm facing. I recently found out that both me and my wife are immortal, and can not be killed or injured in any way, shape, or form. It's a bit different however, because ...

society immortality daily-life

Anoplexian

18:18

Someone close voted (and presumably downvoted) it for being too broad, but I'm not sure why. It's not as if I'm asking for every aspect, I'm worried specifically about family, friends, neighbors, and civil companies and how to handle them.

Does anyone feel it's too broad and if so, what parts specifically?

AndyD273

@Anoplexian Family (assuming you get along) should be let in on the secret. They'll die off eventually though, and so are not a long term problem so long as they can keep a secret. Civil companies can be handled, especially if there is government cooperation in place. Freelance or start your own business to avoid things like bosses and coworkers. Neighbors might or might not be a problem, depending on things like property size, how often people in that area move, etc.

I'm sort of an introvert, and don't actually have any close friends other than my wife, and I'm not all that old. Are adult friendships that last more than 30 years realistic? From observations I've seen, without the aid of outside support, friendships ebb and flow over time as life changes things, and so they would probably turn over periodically, meaning that losing friends is less than a problem. And by the time you are several centuries old, you probably won't have much in common with anyone

Feeds 4026

Sandbox for Proposed Questions - Worldbuilding …: Answer by Ash for Sandbox for Proposed Questions

posted on July 30, 2018 by Ash

Quick solutions to a modern warning for future generations. In response to this question Separatrix pointed me at this gem and another similar question, while neither question addressed my concerns they have made me ask something else that will be useful much later, and possibly elsewhere too; given modern materials what would be the best method for creating a long term record/warning of even…

Green

18:47

@AndyD273 A guiding phrase for my adult life has been "Understand that friends come and go. To only a precious few, you should hold on."

Hosch250

@AndyD273 Heh, you have more than I do, anyway.

23, and no non-online friends. And online friends aren't quite the same.

Family all has different interests, so not super close with them either.

AndyD273

@Green Sounds about right

Hosch250

Hard to talk to someone when neither of you are really interested in the other's topics (computers for me, birds for brothers, etc.).

I like to see birds, but I can't identify them beyond the basic 30 or so in my area.

AndyD273

@Hosch250 That's more than I can anyway. Robins, cardinals, blue jays, chickens... maybe one or two others?

Hosch250

Mallard, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle.

Chickadees.

Few warblers and other ducks.

A sparrow or two.

Juncoes.

And of course pigeons ;)

Gryphon

18:56

@AndyD273 Exactly how many wild chickens have you identified?

Hosch250

See, as long as your friends are all online, just don't tell them you're immortal and gradually fade out of their lives every 10 years.

Or do tell them you're immortal, and they won't believe you anyway.

AndyD273

@Gryphon he didn't say wild, just local. We have 1 chicken. It's very local.

Gryphon

@AndyD273 We used to have chickens. Then we briefly and unwillingly had racoons. Now we no longer have chickens.

Hosch250

@Gryphon Racoon pie, anyone?

It's excellent with Opossum cupcakes as a side-dish ;P

AndyD273

@Hosch250 I could probably identify a few others, if pressed, but I don't know if I could name 30. Oh, we seem to have a sizable turkey vulture population in the area. I can identify them too

Gryphon

19:01

@Hosch250 Unfortunately, we never caught them. The things are crazy good at getting into places.

Hosch250

@AndyD273 Yeah, turkeys/turkey vultures are on my list. Also I know a grebe when I see one; which grebe, I don't know.

AndyD273

@Gryphon animal control around here will let you borrow live traps if you get infested with them. I think they just relocate them further away from people.

Gryphon

@AndyD273 The chickens are already dead, so there's not much of a point.

Feeds 4026

19:50

Sandbox for Proposed Questions - Worldbuilding …: Answer by P.Lord for Sandbox for Proposed Questions

posted on July 30, 2018 by P.Lord

How to prevent internal bleeding in a steel-skeletoned being In my world there are beings identical to humans aesthetically that have steel bones and 9 times muscle density (8 times as strong as humans (steel 2x density of bone)) however they are still killable because of 2 reasons. A) They can still be cut, however it is harder due to high density and I will give them tougher skin. B) Th…

Hosch250

20:20

Going to get Nice Question in a minute or so.

Just got it :)

Got Pop question for it too.

LOL, this is too funny:

> The gun was a 16 inch naval canon, similar in size to a human cannonball.

Hi, @LouisTopper.

I think you need 15 rep on any main-SE site (not SO, SU, or a couple others) to chat here.

AndyD273

20:52

I thought it was 20 rep?

I could be wrong

Universe Factory

21:34

Universe Factory - Medium: Harmony (Harmony, 1)

posted on July 30, 2018 by FoxElemental

The Reaping Note This is the first of a three-part series exploring one of the worlds I’ve built. The second installment will be found here when published.In the beginning, there were humans. There was utopia. We were immortal, med-tech keeping us well past normal years. Our AI were like benevolent dictators, gently guiding us, helping us, keeping us from harming each other. Our hive minds conn…

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Mithrandir24601

@AndyD273 @Hosch250 Yeah, it's 20, although any mod (and presumably the RO) can allow explicit read/write access for individual users below this

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