PLOT ENGAGEMENT (ARCHIVED)

[larkers]

> PLOT ENGAGEMENT (ARCHIVED)

What is Plot Engagement and how does it work within Meadowlark? This is the page where players can come discuss with us how to facilitate plots within the setting. However, there will be occasions where a plot doesn't work within Meadowlark's world, and we'll suggest alternative routes. For small worldbuilding or gameplay details, please direct your question to the FAQ. If you're ever not sure if you're at the right page, don't worry—we'll help you get it sorted out. We know we have a load of info!

WHEN WILL YOU HEAR BACK?

◉ All Plot Engagement answers go out on Sunday, except during events.
◉ The deadline to submit a question and ensure you'll hear back from us on Sunday is 11:59 PM UTC on Saturday.

PLOT ENGAGEMENT INCLUDES

◉ Player plots! If you'd like your character to become a mafia boss, this is your place to start. Typically, this involves anything that could impact the setting or other player characters.
◉ Character career advancement that gives the character additional power or status within the setting.
◉ Metaplot exploration and information! We plan all events to give characters something to explore after the event ends. This is the place to do it!

SUBMISSION TIPS

◉ Specify what your character is looking for when they're investigating. What questions are they asking and what angle are they trying to explore?
◉ If you have a specific goal in mind but don't know how to reach it, please let us know.
◉ If you link a thread to us, please summarize it! That helps us process the plot in question.
◉ Don't worry about not knowing the setting like the back of your hand before you submit the plot—that's up to us! We're here to help you with any adjustments to get you on the right track.

NOTES & THINGS THAT YOU CAN HANDWAVE

◉ Characters always start out in entry level positions. Characters can update their skill sets to the 2512 standard through paid apprenticeships or internships.

◈ If a character is advancing within a major corporation (as noted on the Setting or Locations page) or one of its subsidiaries, we will need to approve this advancement.
◈ If a character becomes a supervisor at a local bar or other small business, we do not need to approve this advancement.

◉ Joining the police force within a city requires three months of IC training (six months OOC).
◉ We'll approve whether someone has social media fame, but we will not be providing social media follower counts. Once you have a plot for how to use those followers, that's where we step in!
◉ All Morningstar business goes on our Morningstar page. Please feel free to discuss specific plots here (including joining), and go there for signups and anything else.
◉ Characters getting jobs, finding apartments, participating in the fighting rings, getting married, making workplace friends, the creation of minor NPCs, etc. do not need to be run by us. Please let us know if these expand into player plots or other plot bits!

QUICK LINKS

◉ FAQ: For small worldbuilding or gameplay details.
◉ Setting: Our setting page! We'll update as needed.
◉ Jobs: A reference for who's working where!
◉ Locations: Both major and minor locations within New Amsterdam, as well as outlines for other megacities.
◉ Mod Contact: For wider game concerns.
◉ The Story So Far: Gamewide plot events up to current (your CTRL+F best friend!).
◉ NPC page: Includes NPC blurbs and inboxes.
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> NAVIGATION

Comments

[selfimage]

Hey mods,

I've got a few questions for you. Some of them are related to Loki's exploits and a few are just general inquiries!

General things that tie up into other things:

1. The setting page says there's no paper, manuscripts, or books. Is there a way to access information to check the history of the world, political documents, and general, um, fictional romance novels??
   
2. It's mentioned on the wrap up that the videos of those who took down the monster were taken off of social media. What kind of social media is there? Is it like YouTube, Twitter, or some mix of the two? Can someone get an account through neural implants?
   
3. Is there a Norway? If so, is it ... ok ...?? Or is it one of those dead parts of the world?

My idea for Loki was to start him at one of the larger companies as an (eventual) understudy, or somewhere that he can really profile the more devious parts of his personality. I'd be looking for a way for him to eventually hit the underworld by starting somewhere on the corporate ladder. Specific to Loki's interests:

1. What do normal, entry-level jobs look like? Baristas, waiters/waitresses, is there a need for retail/service/stock workers? Do workers work on contract, or do they gain full employment?
   
2. What kind of qualifications would one of the larger companies be looking for to start somewhere with the promise of moving up? What's the corporate atmosphere like?
   
3. Following up with Morningstar, Loki's going to ask who would possibly censor the information about the giant monster?
   
4. Specific to Thor and Loki who are brothers, would it be possible for them to be half brothers, or brothers through another marriage to accommodate their own current story? (Loki has the feeling that Thor's just gonna call him "brother" no matter what they do ... best to work that into the cover somehow.)

I KNOW IT'S A LOT OF QUESTIONS, so let me know if anything needs clarification. I think that's it! Thanks mods!

[larkers]

Hi Veronica! Thanks for your questions. We'll answer them in the two sections as you've split them.

1. The most general answer for this would be "the internet"! Characters will be able to access digital versions of books through their neural implants (more on this in our answer to Eppy here), and will be able to do general research using websites equivalent to today's blogs and wikipedias. If they want to pursue specific fields of information more formally, education is handled virtually, and most higher education is open-source.

2. Social media options are equivalent to today's, with blogging, micro-blogging and video blogging options, as well as the more futuristic option of VR blogging. Accounts are available to anyone with access to the internet, so yes, characters will be able to sign up using their neural implants! The one thing to note is that usernames and generalized anonymity are no longer a thing - as an individual's neural implant is, essentially, their ID, any activity (including activity on the internet) is linked to it. As such, social media accounts are more like (the earlier days of) Facebook, in that they have to be tied to your real name and identity.

3. The countries as we know them don't really exist any more politically, but the land of Norway still exists, and survived the world's rising oceans better than its neighbor, Sweden. The effects of climate change have made it colder, but not entirely uninhabitable. There is one mega city there, New Oslo.

For your second set of questions:

1. Yes, all of those jobs still exist, and more which are the equivalent of entry-level, minimum wage jobs in modern times. Some jobs will be contract and some permanent, some will be salaried and some will be paid by the hour. The minimum wage is high enough for people to live comfortably enough, though not necessarily well.

2. And again, equivalent of today! Corporations are big money and big power, so the atmosphere is very wealth and work oriented, becoming more so the higher up you climb.

3. The government – or most specifically, in this case, the police. As not all videos are being censored, if Loki were to ask Gaby or El, they would theorize that the NAPD are having videos of the player characters defeating the monster removed as they don't want to endorse or encourage vigilante action, as well as that they are likely wanting to look into the individuals who were involved.

4. Half brothers is unlikely, as a parent approved for one child is not likely to be approved for another, especially if they have split from the previous relationship. Step-brothers would be fine, though!

[selfimage]

Thanks mods! This gives me good visualization on some of this stuff.

A follow-up question: Loki will be looking for a corporate job to give him better access to information (and the world at large, and possibly the corrupt corporate underground). He's good at playing the board in politics, even if he's not completely sold on the culture. He'd make this clear when he asks to build a background to wiggle his way into one of the larger corporations as an understudy. He'd ask Gaby/El what might be the most beneficial industry/corporation to start in, as they know the terrain better.

[larkers]

Gaby and El will suggest Vyonation, Giles Bell and Pulsar as three of the corporations with the biggest presences in New Amsterdam! All of them are so large as to have their fingers in quite a few industries and tend to be deliberately ambiguous in defining themselves on that front.

[selfimage]

Awesome, thank you! Loki will most likely be doing a little snooping around and dressing up appropriately to manage his background toward business and climbing the corporate ladder. He'll tell both El and Gaby that he'll probably start with Pulsar, but is going to keep his options open to head in a) other places and b) politics, depending.

Is it possible to get a brief overview of Pulsar and some of those ambiguous basics? Just public facing stuff that might be out there.

- Slogan(s)
- Possible [public] bigshots in the company
- Latest news articles surrounding the company
- Some places where those figurative fingers are dipped

Thanks again!

[larkers]

The large corporations like Pulsar tend to operate by owning many, many other companies, essentially being the center of a web of subsidiaries (on subsidiaries on subsidiaries). As such they don't have slogans of their own, and rarely get brought up in the news directly unless a notable new acquisition or merger is taking place. Loki is more likely to find them talked about in this manner in more casual spaces, like social media - otherwise, in mainstream news, they're an afterword or only closely examined in sources like the Financial Times or Economist. Likewise their execs are rarely named, though he may be able to dig around the equivalent of Linkedin to gather a few names (there will be a lot of them). These corporations are essentially in the business of business, rather than having any areas of focus, so will seem to have at least one finger dipped in pretty much any industry you can think of.

[selfimage]

Awesome! Thank you mods!!