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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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no subject
1. Yes, a researcher position is totally doable! They'd have some concerns about faking any kind of medical education credentials, so that's off the table, but as long as Stephen isn't looking to get into doing any actual surgery or related, they'll be fine with giving him a complementary background to his previous experience.
2. Nothing that we haven't already covered in the information about the neural implants on the setting or FAQ posts! If you have any specific things Stephen would be looking for or would strike him as interesting, please let us know.
3. Research will be similar to modern day neurological research, though somewhat further along and with a focus towards progression in developing better communication between the brain and the neural implant (it may be pretty instantaneous for users, but as with all tech, development is always pushing to be better!) In this there are different fields which work with the tech side of things, the medical side of things, and those that spend more time in the middle. For Stephen to work in this field, he will have to find a position at a project and apply for it, following the usual recruitment process. It would probably be best to aim somewhere only a rung or so above research assistant, as he won't necessarily have any real experience or past projects under his belt, though he may prefer to start at the bottom and work his way up naturally!
4. To join Morningstar, Stephen will need to express an interest to the NPCs (this can be handwaved!) which they will then pass on to their higher-ups. He will then enter something of an informal provisional period, where he will be tapped for jobs and tasks, and slowly earn more trust as he completes them.
He doesn't need to establish a position before he does this, but if he would prefer to wait before joining, please just let us know when he would!
5a. Much like viewing a text message or receiving a voicemail on a smartphone, the message will be remembered by the brain while also stored digitally (unless deleted). So yes, Stephen could potentially pick up on the memories of messages!
5b. As this is a question regarding a potential future development of Stephen's power, we'd prefer to leave review of it for when you come to request it using the power level ups!
6. Yes! The options would be either removal of the hands and replacement with cybernetics, or nanite treatment. The latter would essentially be a permanent, as the nanites would have to stay in his system in order to support the damaged nerves and muscles.
It would definitely be notable to others that he has not had treatment, especially if he goes into an industry so closely tied into the medical industry. He would not really be able to pass it off very easily and would continually have to navigate it, but it wouldn't make things completely impossible if he chose to forgo treatment.
no subject
Stephen's going to have got himself a job as a research assistant in some neurological/neurotech facility. Could we hash out what sort of project he may have been hired on to assist with? It'll help a lot to have a solid idea just in case it's anything I can interact with directly/have him discuss with others - or any career progression path I can plot around it.
Also, how quickly will Stephen realistically be able to gain trust within the company/gain permission to use equipment for his own research etc? If he's constantly proactive and clearly a lot more experienced with neurological research than his job role gives him credit for.
I'm tailoring his history (if this is okay) to suggest he completed his training in neurology with a view to later undertaking medical training to become a wetware surgeon specialising in the neurotech field but that this path was interrupted by an accident in which he badly damaged his hands - and then didn't get them fixed. If asked he'll elaborate that this is because he wanted to chart how his brain interacted with/was affected or changed by the injury & recovery given that extended nerve damage-related research is so rare now due to the advances in medicine. SO. That's the bullshit story of a daring eccentric neuroscience nerd that he'll be giving to anyone who sideyes him at the office, but - and here's question 2 - is it reasonable to assume provided that I plot this out with the characters in question that we can design our own apps etc via the implant? And if so would it be feasible that they whip up a programme that would allow Stephen to falsify the data he's supposedly collected? (By feasible I mean does it cost Money to design things like that as an independent or if you've got the expertise can you just dive straight into coding things?)
If faking the data with a little help from his not-quite-friends isn't possible and he instead approached Morningstar about it, would they help him with this?
That's it for this round of questions, I'm so sorry I didn't even manage to number them or really even separate them out from the text walls of my musings this time. Thank you so much you're wonders and I deeply appreciate your time and all the effort
no subject
We would prefer to leave Stephen's project up to you to decide! That way, you can determine which path is most interesting for you and Stephen.
As for his advancement once he has a project - assuming Stephen is able to help with insights and breakthroughs, you can have him start having more time to himself in the labs within a couple months. As he will still be a lab tech, he'll have to touch base with his employers, but good work will grant him more independence as they come to trust him.
When it comes to developing an application and falsifying research, Stephen and other characters would be able to create apps for the implant. However, the key here is expertise. Anyone involved in this project would have to bring themselves up to date with the world's technology, which would take time, and then they would need to find a way to utilize the application so that Stephen's research information looks legitimate. There would be a number of steps in pulling this off, but it is certainly feasible!
no subject
Couple more things:
1. Do Morningstar have access to medical/forensic labs or equipment that would allow Stephen to do his own neurological and biochemical research?
2. If they do, what will it take for them to allow him access and how long is that likely to take? He'll approach someone about this sometime during this event: if the answer to 1 is yes and there's even the possibility that he'll be able to access this stuff faster than he will by being patient at work, he'll join up to Morningstar on the spot as impotence throws patience and caution to the wind
no subject
Morningstar does not have a lab of their own. They have a lab contact who's affiliated with Morningstar, but they wouldn't be willing to put Stephen in touch with them. If he has any specific questions or tests that he'd like to run, he can send it with any samples!
As a result, we assume he would not be joining Morningstar! Please let us know if he might so that he can begin to earn their trust for future circumstances. He still wouldn't be able to get into the contact's lab - as that's their place of employment, and they do projects for Morningstar on the side - but he may be able to communicate with them more directly once he's proved himself to the Morningstar higher ups.