Because we all love being gods who control the lives of lesser beings, amiright?
Anyway, I've tried a much more complicated, much more scientifically accurate, much slower version of this on the old guild, and predictably, it died in days. Not the best way to open an interest check, but there you go. So I'm thinking of fusing a roleplay circling around species evolution with a concept that's been done more successfully in the past- Deity roleplays. Let's look at how this'll work, shall we?
Each player acts as a god that takes command of (at first) a single taxon of organisms, each with their own goal in mind for what they're going to do with the shared Earth-like planet- No shared goals allowed, although you don't have to always act against another player/god. These goals can be anything, but make them interesting and reasonable- e.g. to beautify the planet (according to your idea of beauty), to create a tripping-balls biosphere that seems random and nonsensical, to subdue all other life and make the planet monotonous, whatever. These gods can not communicate with each other directly, and at first, are completely unaware of each other's presence- They probably assume at first that their own life is the only life that is being controlled by a higher power. What they can do is influence the growth and diversity of their species. You can push your species to evolve in whatever direction you choose, and you can make it branch off into other species- Plenty of potential for this, considering that we'll all start from humble amoebic beginnings (but hopefully move on from there quickly).
But the deal with your evolution is this: Your field of influence is limited. The harder you push your species, the fewer species you can keep in your sphere, and if a species is unattended for long enough, it slips away from your power and goes rogue, its only goal to continue surviving, just like on Earth. Once a species is rogue, it is under the control of no god, and any player with influence to spare can begin to take it under their wing (if players compete for a rogue species, it divides into two species under the influence of each). So there will eventually be a lot of NPC organisms that just adapt to what they're given. Another key note is that your field of influence is destructible. If a species under your control goes extinct, whatever influence you had invested into it dies with it, and you cannot redirect the attention you paid it into other species- Your field will recover, but it will take time depending on how much of it you lost. Considering that solar flares, supervolcanic activity, and meteor strikes do exist and are under the control of yours truly (MWAH HA HA), you need to be careful with investment. Bear also in mind that no single family can fill every niche. There may be a measuring system for how much influence you have, or it can be a blob of wishy-washy vagueness. Not sure yet.
Anyway, with all this said (and I probably missed a lot), the idea here is to take the format and use it to roleplay. Create drama. Make mistakes. Be lucky or unlucky. Interact with the dynamics of other species, and mess with them as you think is appropriate. Make your posts pretty, or badass, or fascinating. Have FUN. If science is a problem for you, just take a few examples from real-world species, spend a minute or two looking at Wikipedia, and cough up some plausible bullshit that reads nicely. If time is a problem for you, just give us some dot points on what you would have done in the post and we'll read fun stuff into it (try not to do this if avoidable).
Is that all? Probably not but this is an Interest Check so whatever. Please ask questions if you're interested- The more you ask, the more wrinkles I can iron out. If anything here is confusing to read, do tell. Thanks and all glory to the gods.
Anyway, I've tried a much more complicated, much more scientifically accurate, much slower version of this on the old guild, and predictably, it died in days. Not the best way to open an interest check, but there you go. So I'm thinking of fusing a roleplay circling around species evolution with a concept that's been done more successfully in the past- Deity roleplays. Let's look at how this'll work, shall we?
Each player acts as a god that takes command of (at first) a single taxon of organisms, each with their own goal in mind for what they're going to do with the shared Earth-like planet- No shared goals allowed, although you don't have to always act against another player/god. These goals can be anything, but make them interesting and reasonable- e.g. to beautify the planet (according to your idea of beauty), to create a tripping-balls biosphere that seems random and nonsensical, to subdue all other life and make the planet monotonous, whatever. These gods can not communicate with each other directly, and at first, are completely unaware of each other's presence- They probably assume at first that their own life is the only life that is being controlled by a higher power. What they can do is influence the growth and diversity of their species. You can push your species to evolve in whatever direction you choose, and you can make it branch off into other species- Plenty of potential for this, considering that we'll all start from humble amoebic beginnings (but hopefully move on from there quickly).
But the deal with your evolution is this: Your field of influence is limited. The harder you push your species, the fewer species you can keep in your sphere, and if a species is unattended for long enough, it slips away from your power and goes rogue, its only goal to continue surviving, just like on Earth. Once a species is rogue, it is under the control of no god, and any player with influence to spare can begin to take it under their wing (if players compete for a rogue species, it divides into two species under the influence of each). So there will eventually be a lot of NPC organisms that just adapt to what they're given. Another key note is that your field of influence is destructible. If a species under your control goes extinct, whatever influence you had invested into it dies with it, and you cannot redirect the attention you paid it into other species- Your field will recover, but it will take time depending on how much of it you lost. Considering that solar flares, supervolcanic activity, and meteor strikes do exist and are under the control of yours truly (MWAH HA HA), you need to be careful with investment. Bear also in mind that no single family can fill every niche. There may be a measuring system for how much influence you have, or it can be a blob of wishy-washy vagueness. Not sure yet.
Anyway, with all this said (and I probably missed a lot), the idea here is to take the format and use it to roleplay. Create drama. Make mistakes. Be lucky or unlucky. Interact with the dynamics of other species, and mess with them as you think is appropriate. Make your posts pretty, or badass, or fascinating. Have FUN. If science is a problem for you, just take a few examples from real-world species, spend a minute or two looking at Wikipedia, and cough up some plausible bullshit that reads nicely. If time is a problem for you, just give us some dot points on what you would have done in the post and we'll read fun stuff into it (try not to do this if avoidable).
Is that all? Probably not but this is an Interest Check so whatever. Please ask questions if you're interested- The more you ask, the more wrinkles I can iron out. If anything here is confusing to read, do tell. Thanks and all glory to the gods.
