January 3, 2007 Wizmeet Log: Introduction of Thread during Interval

At the table, Dyane says "Good evening everyone. First of all, please forgive any long pauses or delays - I am having network issues so I may be in lag or non-response land without notice."

At the table, Dyane grrs and smacks her network again. She will try to get through the first part of the meeting as quickly as possible so she doesn't have to keep you guys in pain with her computer issues and turn it over to S'rist who has the second part. "First point - hold applications are due on 01/15/07. If you are interested in being a LH, please drop an email to get an application.

At the table, Dyane says "There are a few crafts that have been opened to leadership to anyone in the craft applying. If there are no takers in the next two weeks, those crafts will be open to the general populace for application. We will make the announcement on global and general."

At the table, Dyane says "Just a reminder that PernMU* has staff that is open to anyone on the game withsome experience. Basic coding skills are necessary but we are looking for friendly, open and willing-to-help folks that are willing to put those skills to use helping newbies and established folks. Please read +info policy staff if you are interested in applying."

At the table, Dyane sighs and apologizes again for her network issues. "Tc, S'rist, R'il and I are approached often with questions from staff, leaders and general players in regards to game policies and canon on a constant basis. We've seen a rise in the numbers of questions and complaints.

At the table, Dyane says "We are aware that there are quite a few new leaders on the game and we will have more in the future with the applications. It is the responsibility of all the current and future aware of game policy and canon. Please read 'news', 'info encyc' and 'info policy' for more specific information."

At the table, Dyane says "For example, 'news books' lists the Pern books that Anne wrote and notes which books this game acknowledges. If you have questions regarding weyrlinghood, '+info policy weyrling' has a brief description. If you want to know what is acceptable behaviour in a game or area, +info policy behavior is the place to go."

At the table, Dyane says "We allow each area to be autonomous as far as how it will be run by its leadership UNTIL there are complaints or we discover there is game policy or canon violations."

At the table, Dyane says "If there is a policy that you wish to have reviewed that affects the entire game, you need to petition the wizcorp for it along with detailed and logical reasons for the suggestion. If it is something that affects a specific group (weyrs, crafts or holds), you have to petition that council (Weyr Council, Holder Conclave or Craft Council) via email to the list. If it passes them, then it is presented to the wizcorp. We ask that procedures are followed."

At the table, Dyane whimpers but valiantly continues, "If you are applying for a leadership position or currently have one, it is important to note that by doing so, you accept the game policies and canon. The wizards very very rarely will make an exception to any rule. We want everyone to have fun."

At the table, Dyane is going to hand the rest of the meeting over to S'rist lest she makes another call to get notice to folks. :P "Okay, based on all the suggestions we received over the past year and doing research with physicists and astromers, we have found a way to keep folks in the same timline (not jumping forward and losing characters by starting over) as requested in addition to giving the majority of what the townhalls and individual requests were seeking. We apologize for the delay in coming to this but we wanted to make sure it was realistic, possible, fit within canon and not violated anything we have. S'rist, please take over. :)

Acadia gets excited about this part.

At the table, S'rist says "Thankyou Dyane. I'll cover this in two parts, the first is just a quick layman's version of what's happening. The second will be just what kind of impact it will have on our Pern, and what kind of opportunities will result."

At the table, S'rist says "First, the astronomical events that have been going on, and will proceed over the next approximately two turns. As is known, the red star will project space travel worthy spores of thread towards any astrological body that it gets sufficiently close to. In our upcoming event, the initial object is a comet that is on a long orbital timetable (~500 turns) that is currently inbound for it's close pass near Rukbat. The comet will have been in close enough proximity to the red star to cause thread spore launch for multiple months. However, the comet itself has no atmosphere in which to cause the normal entry heat that activates the thread strands. So while a large number of the spores are just lost in space, a significant quantity will get caught up in the comets gravity well. (more...)"

At the table, S'rist edits his last statement, where he says 'two turns', he meant '2 years'

At the table, S'rist says "This comet will then continue in to orbit around Rukbat, with it's orbit in the same elliptical plane as Pern's, but just slightly larger. Over the next 2 years, the comet will become a visible night time spectacle, and for brief periods when the orbits are particularly close, even visible in daylight. And while the comet will be quite pretty, and quite a sight, there is a downside. Some of those thread spores that are trailing after the comet will be drifting away from it, and into a decaying orbit towards Rukbat. For a lot of them, it will be a trip that won't stop till Rukbat burns them up. But for some, we here on Pern will just blithely plow into their decaying orbit, causing the spores to go active as they enter the atmosphere and falling as thread."

At the table, S'rist says "This fall of thread will be rather unpredictable, both in time, duration and intensity. This leads into part 2... the roleplay events this will allow. The comet will become initially visible as it comes closer in on its orbit at some point in late January. The first instance of the unexpected threadfall will be in Mid-February. These two events will be scheduled. After that point, each weyr area will be free to schedule roleplay events and threadfall instances based on this for the next 1.5-2 years, until a point where it will be announced that the comet has gotten too far away, and the spores left behind have been in deep space too long to still be viable."

At the table, S'rist grins, "If there is enough interest, I have done a fair bit of the technical research on the mechanics of this, and can provide more detailed information on that side of things. It would just take some time to write up."

At the table, S'rist says "Now, I'll open the floor to questions, if you have a question, page me and I'll put you into the queue."

At the table, S'rist says "Question from V'lano: Will this sort of mini-Pass affect queen clutch size, or anything else about biological mechanisms of dragons?"

At the table, S'rist says "Answer for V'lano, the dragon's biological mechanisms are tied to the red star, and it's presence in near orbit creates the changes on Pern that trigger those responses. So the appearance of thread from this unusual circumstance won't impact clutch size or frequency. Another issue/concern for all to RP around."

At the table, S'rist says "Question from Jenna: A two parter: Have you decided on a venue yet for the first threadfall and will people have some notice as to what the 'scene set' might be? Will there be 'blackdust/crackdust' or any other clues other than: oh, pretty like in the sky - hey, what the SHELL is that?!?"

At the table, S'rist notes for those asking to be in the queue, don't page your questions till I get to you, I'm getting spammed :)

At the table, S'rist says "Answer: We haven't set the time/place for the first fall. Any area leader that wants to volunteer to be considered for this dubious honor, please send in a +mail to the wizards. And currently, the plan is that there will be little to no notice of what's coming."

At the table, S'rist says "Question from Acadia: Did you say it's two years until this roleplay with Thread starts, or it starts next month and runs for two years?"

At the table, S'rist says "Answer: It starts next month and runs for two years."

At the table, S'rist says "Question from Nolee: Will the 'fall's be somewhat mappable or predictable by the riders, as they are during a normal Pass (except at the very beginning and very end when they tend to vary) or will they be more difficult to predict when/where/duration of fall, etc."

At the table, S'rist says "Answer: The falls will be very unpredictable, perhaps even more so than the beginning and end of a pass."

At the table, S'rist says "Question from Junni: Knowing Anne's reactions to changes in the environment of her worlds, is there any need for approval for this change in Threadfall and Pern life?"

At the table, S'rist says "Answer: We are following the guidelines of her agreement with us regarding the game. We are not violating anything regarding the red star, thread or her viewpoint on gravity. We just used Real world equations, research, etc. And for the real world side, we did consult with outside physicists and an astronomer. As well as our own scientific background."

At the table, S'rist says "Question from Satiet: With the unpredictability of Thread, this potentially means devastation and boom across Pern - including death, ravaged fields etc... While this is great for Weyrs, Halls, and Holds with active leadership, for area and plot purposes what of the areas that are effectively NPC? In case of High Reaches, places such as Crom? Can the Weyrs that oversee those area claim some sort of stewardship of area-effecting plots and RP-related to those places?"

At the table, S'rist says "Answer: We hope to have the areas that are not closed with active leadership in place prior to the start of threadfall. For those areas that are NPC, they will follow the same existing rules for an area affecting plot, in that any long term or permanent impact to those areas through a roleplay event need to get wiz sign-off."

At the table, Dyane beats on her connection for a moment to add. "So if you want to burn down an NPC Hold or secondary craft hall or let it go to waste, it has to be approved.

At the table, S'rist says "Question from Satiet: I haven't been able to do all the calculations right now, but in the last 2300 IC turns or so, there has to have been a time when the comet falling hasn't coincided with a current Pass. If this happens every 500 turns or so, will there be any records of this event at all?"

At the table, S'rist says "Answer: There have been some records of the comet in the past, the cycle isn't exactly 500 turns. The key factor is that this is the first time since colonization that the comet has passed close enough to the orbit of the red star to pick up the trailing cloud of thread spore before nearing Pern's own orbit."

At the table, S'rist says "Question from Satiet: After 2 RL years/8 IC turns of this, give or take, will we be reevaluating again what will happen theme-wise on the game, or will there be another year or two added so people can deal with the aftermath?"

At the table, S'rist says "Answer: It's intended that the last .5 year of the 2 years will be aftermath and then we'll reevaluate from there where we go. Our purpose is to keep canon and game agreements intact while allowing folks to continue to enjoy rp."

At the table, Dyane says "We are trying to give the majority of the game players what they are seeking in a realistic yet canonically feasible manner."

At the table, S'rist says "Question from Satiet: with Thread as unpredictable as it is, does this mean there's potential for double-Thread, as in Thread falling in more than once place at once? Also, with it not being the Red Star dropping Thread, does this open up the possibility for Threadfall at night, as Anne has indicated on various occasions that flights and Thread only happen during the day."

At the table, S'rist says "Answer: Late night and early morning events would be much rarer than morning, afternoon and early evening times, based on planetary path through the decaying orbit of the spore cloud from the comet. According to the scientific model, it could fall almost anytime. As for falls at night, there are examples of thread falling at night, so we wouldn't be violating Anne Science on thread. So night falls are possible, they would just be rare."

At the table, S'rist says "Answer (cont.) As for multiple locations at once, it would be possible, just keep in mind if you do plan such an event that the quantity of spores would be from the same segment of orbital decay, so the quantity in total would not be more than any one heavy fall."

At the table, S'rist says "Are there any other questions?"

At the table, R'il sneaks in and passed out cookies.

At the table, Dyane waves to R'il and takes a cookie. :)

At the table, S'rist says "Question from V'lano: You said NPC non-on-camera areas would require wiz approval for major damage from Threadfall. I am guessing that PC areas' leadership is basically at liberty to do damage to their own area as appropriate (correct me if I'm wrong?). What about minor, everyday damage? A burrow, a lone death, whatever? Do we have liberty to invoke non-on-camera NPC areas for a general sense of disruption of life and safety, on a small scale?"

At the table, S'rist says "Answer: No, major damage that goes against the canon, is not to be done without approval for both PC and NPC areas. Minor everyday damage is the same as it was done during the Pass. Which is, yes, minor, everyday damage can be invoked."

At the table, S'rist says "Any other questions?"

At the table, S'rist says "Alright, thank you all for your patience. This concludes the January 2007 wizmeet. A log will be posted."

At the table, R'il smiles and waves!

At the table, Dyane apologizes for her connectivity issues. Reconnecting 17 times has to be a record. :) "If you have further questions, +mail the wizards. Thanks for your patience in this 2.5+ hour meeting.