I noticed that some people in the IG pictures thread were discussing whether or not construction should be done in character or not and the pros and cons of both. In an effort to keep that thread on track I made this one so that people can discuss what they think should be done about construction in Antares. Personally I think it would be cool to role play out the construction of a colony and have the buildings half built for about a week or so before finishing them. If you have any thoughts on the matter go ahead and post them below.
Well usually people build something OOCly and then wait a few IRL days and open it. But if such a small issue required a discussion I'm all for it.
We'd need to have people who are builders, or make it a rule that needs to be enforced to attract builder RP. Or npc yeti construction crews. We'd also need to clarify what counts as construction and what doesn't. Like say, changing the decor, but saying it was always meant to be like that. It's something that'd need serious ironing out to be enforced, but for general non-strictly enforced RP, it'd basically be as background as the actual construction. It might make the process of building a little funner, assuming of course it doesn't hinder your progress. If we are wanting to RP things such as gathering supplies, that'd also be something that would need to be enforced to encourage people to play miners and gatherers, otherwise it'd be background as usual. All in all, it's a decent idea, but to have it really enforced, the rules on colonies and such would have to be much less laid-back than they are now.
I feel like we do indeed need engineer and architect characters as well. Things that should be RP'd (in my opinion): Architect(s) planning the build Buying the equipment to construct and paying the engineers Realistic time frame (ex. finish building it Y day, would have to OOC/ICly wait X days to react to it's finished product IC) EDIT; Training in becoming said architect/engineer? That was just off the top of my head. IMO, if people really want to RP the entire scenario of construction it, be my guest.
All of this is assuming we have the manpower for this in-depth building RP. We don't have the players for these amounts of characters. We'd end up with construction alts which would only be used when construction needs to be done and then they're never seen again, the non-combat equivalent of throwaways.
It's mostly because nobody has the time to do such a thing. Building takes time. Most people have outside lives, work; etc etc.
I'm not saying it should be required, or even rp-ed out as in depth as mentioned above. I just think it would be interesting to see done, it might also encourage a more primitive/not perfectly built style which would be a change from the usual. To be honest it's a thing that could go either way
I literally just started making a shanty town. It's not much because I just started but the thing is I want it to grow naturally as people move in, not be built massive and then opened. Also I do not really want it be owned or controlled by any group or faction, at least not at the start. Let it build its own population organically and then if factions want to take control that's up to the people that live there
I'd love to help with that if you wanted or needed someone's help with it. I've been wanting to do something like that for a while now but I figured it wasn't a good time to make a new colony due to all of the surplus/empty colonies that have been popping up lately
One thing I've been doing with my friends is effectively building our home ourselves. Starting out with a skeleton (a human settlement) everyone has been pitching in to build it. It caused us to grow attached to the place and for it to develop naturally as we invite people before it hopefully ends up open to the public. If you just build something up from the ground OOCly and do not participate in it... It just loses it's meaning and you have no incentive to keep it going, which might result in the many abandoned colonies spread around.
Things like this are the issue. Where are you finding an army of invisible construction workers to do your bidding? The answer is probably: You aren't. Cities don't appear overnight, and while we can take some luxuries, there have got to be massive tears in the time-space continuum from how entire rooms get redesigned in minutes, how cities appear in a matter of days-weeks, how glistening metropoli just pop up on planets with no history or prior backstory or wear and tear. I get it, I mean, people want to make something that looks amazing and get wrapped up in the concept of the place before it even exists. "I want to build 'x' colony. Or I want 'x' type of settlement." But sometimes the best thing to do is offer a base (such as a crashed ship, ruined city, or open plain) and build together. Not just does it build character and aid in interaction, it creates character and attachment to the settlement. Instead of people living on their ships and visiting a settlement, they live on the settlement and have loyalty there. IF the settlement falls, it's less of a 'well, better rent a new apartment' and more like your character has just been robbed of their home, work and opportunity. In a time like this, chances are they would be forced to form even closer bonds with the people around them, instead of just moving to the next concept colony. Looking back, settling into the ruins of New Chicago was (while perhaps fool-hardy) a great opportunity for a group of people, with limited means to create their own colony and safety, to cooperate to build a place where they could live together while slowly patching up the buildings and surroundings. In contrast, the fall of Asani was met with a general "meh, another one bites the dust" that has become characteristic of colonial abandonment. Even by the owners. TL/DR: The players that build together, develop together. A colony that appears overnight is a commodity/venue of interest that will always be taken for granted except by the most dedicated of people.
Not to throw any sort of kindle into a fire, but are we just ignoring the existence of the Matter Manipulator?
I use IC but not as powerful as it is ingame. I use it as a way of carrying single objects heavier than a character could move realistically, and not all my characters own one.
Personally I only, whenever I rarely use it, is to move things from point A to point B that human bones would cringe under carrying. Or, like you said, as a very weak low-tier type of multitool. Like a smelter. Or just to burn open holes in metal or something. HEY, I'M GIVING IDEAS HERE.
There is a time and place for most types of development roleplay. It depends on the people involved and whether or not the roleplay revolving around doing tasks that may be menial actually add to the experience. I have done building rp, mining rp, and crafting rp, all of which are rather boring if not done in the company of other people as window dressing or a cooperative task. I don't believe every instance of things like this need to be roleplayed unless they can be given weight and made interesting ventures for the people involved. Not every faction/colony is made to start in the dirt and rise up. You will certainly have a lot more people invested in it if you make it a roleplay driven development rather then an ooc one. Its a give and take that people need to decide how to handle for themselves, as neither is wrong.
As with most things like this, I believe the best approach is 'let them do it if they want to, but don't force them to if they don't.' I mean, of course the building needs to be justifiable IC and an entire colony can't pop up from nothing run by a hobo (and things like this need to be squashed quickly if they crop up), but forcing people to rp things they don't want to is just counter-productive and drives development down.
