[OOC] ATLAS (A True Cooperative Worldbuilding & Roleplay Game)

[TalijaKey]

Earth in shambles no bueno.

But otherwise, I'm liking it. So start with the discovery of magic through technology. Next would be a golden age of expansion. Then we'd need conflict of some type, whether natural or human made, to end the golden age.

Off the top of my head, maybe because of the distances involved, magitech evolves on different paths, leading to differences in philosophy. Some would focus on augmenting humans themselves with magitech, and others would focus on changing worlds and environments. One side that has god like individuals, and one side that has the power to create nearly anything.

@xCRAZYxFACEx

I like that.

I dont mind doing it more light, I am most hyped for the different philosophize/schools of magic anyway. XD And making up magic machines used in space.

[VitaVitaAR]

I honestly want to push for this to be really crazy if we can.

[Duck]

I honestly want to push for this to be really crazy if we can.

@VitaVitaAR

Crazy as in...?

[VitaVitaAR]

Like, people using magitech to grow swords and fight spaceships with them. Magitech staffs that shoot giant lasers. Punching satellites...

It would be really fun to worldbuild something crazy like that.

[Duck]

That sounds more like silly and less like crazy to my ears. Gotta be honest with you, I don't like that idea at all.

[VitaVitaAR]

I'm not sure how stuff like that is too silly for a setting with literal space magic. What do you think crazy would mean then?

[Rin]

I'm starting to get the feeling that half of us want something grim and gritty, whilst the other half want something that's over the top and filled with magic robots. Might be a little tricky to mesh this together, but we'll see how things turn out I guess. ^^;

[Rhymer]

I think we can make this work. Star Wars is both dark and fun. (Luke loses a hand and its grim, C-3po loses an arm and its funny) We just have to follow the steps in the OP.

[Duck]

I'm not sure how stuff like that is too silly for a setting with literal space magic.

@VitaVitaAR

I don't think space magic is silly. On the contrary, I think it's kinda cool. Fighting spaceships with enormous swords is, however, extremely silly-sounding. Punching satellites is, too.

I'm starting to get the feeling that half of us want something grim and gritty, whilst the other half want something that's over the top and filled with magic robots. Might be a little tricky to mesh this together, but we'll see how things turn out I guess. ^^;

@Rin

I'm not so much into grim and dark as I am in having a nice conflict and avoiding sillyness.

[VitaVitaAR]

I don't really see how it's inherently silly. Sure, over the top, but there's plenty of good stories that have over the top things in them. It doesn't make conflict impossible at all, definitely, given what most things with over the top stuff in them end up like.

This is a setting with magic and technology, we could use the magic to do more crazy things then just power ships and guns or whatever. As of now it just seems like we'd be doing generic sci-fi but calling the power source for things "magic" instead of anything else.

Why not have magitech swords designed to take out space ships? It's magic, you can probably figure out how to do that. Why would having the ability to shoot giant lasers from magitech staves be a bad, "silly" idea? Why not have huge wave motion guns from ships using magic, and using magic to empower your body so you can do things like damage a satellite by punching it.

[TalijaKey]

Hm... *likes the challenge of mixing things*

I more interested in the magic influencing personal lives of people. Imagine how the television would change in a era where magic/tech is common XD The reality programs is a place I can lot of this fun silly things happen.

Imagine magitech arena becoming the new wrestling, for example.

Then 'survivor' where the people who are in it try to survive and gain animal magic themed tech as prizes for challenges. Or temporary becoming some animal.

When it comes to punching in space, how about magic powered robots that summon pickaxes to mine asteroids? Throw in a salt of conflict and you have some person/group of people hack/do some spell and we have rough robots punching communication satellites out the space? Maybe fighting with gigantic summoned swords? How to stop it, space ship with magic laser? Or something else, like magi people enlarging themself and punching rough robots?

I think a big question would be if we are gonna have portal magic tech. If there are portals then no distance is too far. In that case would we reach other planets and with help of magitech colonize them and if so ... aliens yes/no?

If we dont have portal we should have/or about to build several bases around the solar system, maybe even resorts/holiday spots. Come and ski on Pluto! Swim in the clouds of Saturn!

so how does it look? Any interesting ideas?

p.s. what are you guys ideas/thinking on magic dimensions?

[VitaVitaAR]

@TalijaKey: I really like the idea of using non-lethal magitech in an arena-style thing.

As for weaponry and stuff, well... it's magic hybridized with technology. For say, the swords, I was thinking... having a melee weapon that you can use magic to go from anti-person size to anti-spaceship size seems pretty useful in a military application.

Then there's stuff like, I don't know, aerial combat magi and stuff who can fly and shoot lasers from their staffs, there's so many things you can do using magitech since you don't have to ground it the same way as if you're trying to do pure-sci-fi(unless you're doing extremely soft sci-fi).

But we're not doing sci-fi, it's a magitech space opera, so we had a whole ton of room. Like magitech robots like you mentioned.

[TalijaKey]

As for weaponry and stuff, well... it's magic hybridized with technology. For say, the swords, I was thinking... having a melee weapon that you can use magic to go from anti-person size to anti-spaceship size seems pretty useful in a military application.

@VitaVitaAR

A bit like in ant-man but instead of a suit its a enchanted item that does the size changing on a spell word? XD

The military would want the most advanced magic using tech for themself first and foremost. And such things could lead to a new kind of arm race... hm...

some more ideas because I have fun thinking about them, and which are probably too much in detail for this stage of debate...

* Astral projecting youself in your favorite phone game.

*Ads. If the big corporation have money to spend I so can see them using some big scale spell that let a TV ad air,for example a hot guy/woman drinking some random beer. The spell making phantom figures that interact with viewers, until the spell wears off. XD After that weird episode I soooo can see people insisting on better regulation of such things XD

*How would magic impact the clothing industries? Would instead of just looking at the materials, look at the enchantments as well? Fire resistant dresses, shinning undies,moving pictures/design on shirts. Would styles like in the many rpgs and jrpgs become popular XD? SO many funny possibilities.

*Conflicts that could arise are the same nature as the one coming from mass production and making things cheaper.

*super fast growing plants, to stop world hunger.

and I will stop for now, I tend to over do things especially when I get hyped for a interesting world XD

[Duck]

As of now it just seems like we'd be doing generic sci-fi but calling the power source for things "magic" instead of anything else.

@VitaVitaAR

I don't know where you're getting that from, but to me that's certainly not the case.

A lot of the rest you've posted this far is about weapons or combat. I personally don't find that too interesting. How magic has changed peoples lives, on the other hand, and what philosophical differences there are regarding its use, that really does interest me. That and mixing it up with tech. That'd be crazy in itself - living in a seemingly rational world of logic and technology, and having to deal with magic all of a sudden. Not jumping around punching satellites like some comic-book character.

[VitaVitaAR]

Er, well... given what you described there sounds a lot like any one much more mundane philisophical sci-fi series... which are not necessarily bad but not what seems to be the popular direction in this thread, um... That's why I see it.

There's no point in involving magic if you're not going to go all-out and actually let it be magic. Besides, didn't you say you wanted conflict? While philosophical stuff is interesting, sustaining an entire RP, especially one with so many different people planning it, solely on that would be difficult if not impossible.

Besides, who said magic was sudden? It could have been here the whole time. Certainly long enough to establish space colonies and a great deal of technology around it.

On top of that, explaining weaponry is a good way to give an idea of the kind of magic/technology in-setting.

[Duck]

There's no point in involving magic if you're not going to go all-out and actually let it be magic. Besides, didn't you say you wanted conflict? While philosophical stuff is interesting, sustaining an entire RP, especially one with so many different people planning it, solely on that would be difficult if not impossible.

@VitaVitaAR

I could not disagree with you more. Conflict doesn't have to come from armed conflict. Combat may be a faccet of it, but it's not the combat itself that's important, it's the whys and hows of it. I believe a game focused on real conflict, that is conflict of interest or belief, could be manageable if not easy to pull off.

And the stuff about letting magic be magic; of course. But magic doesn't have to be over the top or silly. I'd almost want to quote myself on this. Magic is magic is magic, same but different in every story it has ever been used in. To me, magic is a force that is strange and mystical, alien almost. It allows people to alter the fabric of existence with their minds. We could have that while avoiding stupid shit.

On top of that, explaining weaponry is a good way to give an idea of the kind of magic/technology in-setting.

@VitaVitaAR

No, it is a way of describing magic and technology, but not necessarily a good one.

EDIT

But I realize that this discussion is stealing the focus from the game itself, and that it might be scaring away other players. I also see that we probably will not be able to reconcile in this matter, so I'm bowing out. Thanks for the invite, Rhymer, I hope to see you in another game again :)

Bye guys.

[Frengo]

Hey, I've just read through this whole thing and see you've hit an impasse. Mind If I add a few words?

What if magic came into the existence after a failed science experiment ripped open the "wall" between two dimensions? Standard earth-like dimension, and crazy-ass dimension. Individuals traveling from magic wonder land lose their powers the moment they step into realism heaven, whilst those from science town gain powers when they cross through. For a time, neither of the dimensions were compatible, but then science town found a way to harvest this new energy source aka magic through the dimensional rift, and started to use it to augment their civilization.

Crazy ass magic wonder land got angry, their world being drained of life, and did some kind of end-of-the-world feat, destroying not-earth in retaliation. The science town refugees then flee, with their knowledge of magic only a fraction of crazy town's, but with science to enhance it. Meanwhile, the crazy magic guys are left with a world that has been irreparably damaged, and must prepare to transcend the rift - by merging the dimensions.

So then at some point, Magitec has to go toe to toe with cocaine magic, in a war of crazy but realistic and logic breaking proportions.

I know this garbage is full of contradictions, but maybe something in there might start people thinking in another direction. Sorry if I'm way out of line for storming in like this lol, no offense intended.

This is all just my two pennies, hate away my friends, and good hunting.

[Rhymer]

Wow this got way off course-apologies I've been distracted with some other stuff. I think the most important thing would be to establish the source of magic before any more plots/ideas/questions are put forward. As far as this worldbuilding game goes-we've gone so far off course I don't know if it's salvageable-although the discourse has certainly been interesting. I think we all have different styles and things we naturally gravitate towards-which is great, I love diversity in a setting.

So then at some point, Magitec has to go toe to toe with cocaine magic, in a war of crazy but realistic and logic breaking proportions.

@Frengo

lol, wut?

[TalijaKey]

most important thing would be to establish the source of magic

@Rhymer

Okay.
I vote for magic always existing as a force. Science started to understand it, or at least started to understand how to harvest it. Discovering new set of laws.
Magic can be performed only by gadgets/machines that were specially build to obey the magic laws.

as in more specific what the source could be in those machines hm... I get two ideas:

*Pieces of mater from earthly origin in special containers (varying in size), inside which magic laws are held active.
I imagine something like star trek ship core, but instead of anti mater and only getting energy as a out put we use earthly matter and have as output something that alters laws of nature.

*Chips, I pull the inspiration from like quantum chips. Something like they can compute alteration to reality and allow the impossible to become reality. Like abusing chaos theory (butterfly flapping its wings effect) and the like XP?

p.s. please do tell me if I am going too deep in things too early.

[VitaVitaAR]

Well, I always like the idea of mana being something internal. Everyone has an internal ability to channel and use mana, to varying levels of power and capability. However, some people are better at it than others, some people are better at different areas than other, and all that.

This also leads into... well, do we want magic to be known for a while but not how to combine it with technology until it got used for space travel, or do we want it to be a recent discovery? Having it be an internal thing could probably work with either.