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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
His aim would be getting the information out, yes, but not putting himself at risk in the process, unless he has no other choice in that.
So, his aim would be sending the information to a third party. Barring that, releasing it himself online.
no subject
There are three factors we'd like to bring up!
First: the scientists all wanted to have their names attached to the articles so that they could further their careers. Although academia is even more exclusive in 2512 than it is now because of the emphasis on learning trades over science for the sake of science, these credentials could land them jobs with major corporations, especially once they landed on their resume. Right now, these scientists are sitting with their work unpublished. William would have likely met some of them while he was there, so he'd be putting their careers at risk.
Secondly, because of this, William will look like he was hired to "expose" this research. This simple act could diminish any credibility these scientists have, and may cost Daenerys' connections and job opportunities, as well. We'll add that these articles have been tabled because of censorship from the government for whatever reason, and William would not have been able to find out about them otherwise (as everyone at the lab would be very sore about it). Moving forward, we do suggest that you work with Kay on whatever you decide!
As for the third thing: following the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in the region, some of these—if not all!—scientists are likely dead. This means that William may be doing an insensitive thing, so we'd like to factor that in.
That said: we're really into this plot. Our proposal is that after William is rejected by both local and global news sources, he begins to look into other outlets—or even a blog—to try to get this information out there. In that time, the monster attack is going to happen. Following that attack, after having previously rejected him, these outlets are going to be far more interested in what William had to offer, and will even be eager to pay him. What William said hadn't been published would obviously be the UN's fault in some way, and it might lead to the UN once again failing to protect their citizens (on a global scale). Some of the same complications come into play (publishing without their permission, potentially causing consequences for Daenerys, publishing on behalf of the dead), so it's up to you to decide how William would deal with that.
Some questions we'd like to have answered would be:
1. Would William rush to get the articles out there via blog before the event hit? There is a different set of consequences that may come with this (the same problem of disrespecting the scientists' wishes, but also William himself being directly linked to it). Obviously, publishing them himself would be a case where the scientists would know who stole their research, so he might need to expect retaliation. Unfortunately, there's also the chance that William wouldn't get any traction because he hasn't built up an online presence, but we're assuming he'd do the legwork to get some clicks on what he put out there online. We're also assuming that he's looking to publish this for the entire world rather than just the Displaced—we weren't sure with your usage of the word "network."
2. Would William touch base with Daenerys about what he found and what he plans to do? We suggest you touch base with Kay regardless of what William does IC.
3a. Would he check to see if all the scientists got out alive before he published their work?
3b. If he checked in, would he get their permission?
Feel free to reach out to us with any questions or if we failed to consider an angle for you! We're hoping that we added some fun consequences and friction to this plot to make it an ongoing thing for you.
no subject
1. While William isn't rushing, no matter what Dany says when he does clue her into his plans won't stop him from releasing the information. He'd do enough legwork to get the world's eyeballs on what he publishes himself - and he's willing to pay for the consequences therein. In this, he'd first reach out to bigger networks, etc, publish himself and hopefully follow your proposal.
2. William is going to clue Dany in but her thoughts won't keep him from going through this the release. Still speaking to Kay and working through Dany's response, but we're handwaving they did have discussions in Antarctica and William is going to bring his ideas to her before the big monster mash. We're playing out William bringing her his ideas now. They also mentioned that Dany can't exactly protest because she'll be a dragon for most of the event and she's open to Dany taking the consequences after.
3a. He'd do a cursory search to see if there's a public record of any of the scientists still alive.
3b. He will not do the courtesy of getting permission.
A few post release post-monster event questions..
With certain outlets suddenly being interested in what William has (and the money offered) could there also be job opportunities, whether they are legit/back channeled.
Is this making a name for himself as a whistleblower to the government (as negatively as it might be taken) but also is it grabbing the eyeballs of anybody out there that might try and cash in on William's skill.
Would his entry level position at Vyonation be in jeopardy?
He'd want to parlay what news sources want from him for real resources. Money and then some.
On top of that, is there a way for him to also connect and release more discoveries/depending on if he, Ian, and Kyna come up with anything actually during the event.
He will have a first hand account of being possessed by a slug as well. William is used to being in the spotlight and being the person articles are written about, so he'll have no problem being the center of this.
Is it possible to erase an electronic trail for where he lives? With money, he'd want to move out of the safe house, especially if he gets notoriety/if there are consequences. But he wouldn't want to be easily found personally. Obviously, his electronic signature is on everything - there is no way to erase who he is - but is there a way to make it harder to find where he actually lives. While he lived the public life back home, he also liked being private (where he lived, if he dated, the personal things...) Please let me know if you need any clarification. I'm trying to use clear language (such as 'the world' vs network.)
no subject
In the meantime, can you have Kay check in once you're done talking to them? We want to make sure everyone is on the same page so we can plot that fallout with them moving forward.
Thanks!
no subject
Commenting to say I reached out to them and let them know to contact you, the mods!
And, an amendment. William did try to see if there was any trace of surviving scientists post Antarctica. But, he passes on the information to Dany. She wanted to take the responsibility.
no subject
Dany carries a pretty hefty amount of guilt for having to leave the scientists behind SO. Once discovering his intentions, she would have made good faith to at least ping the contacts she DID have (via social media, or through Aramis, regardless of whether or not they would see the messages while trapped in Antarctica...or while dead) with the information that William had stolen their findings while in Antarctica and was going to make attempts to publish them.
Because of the way William framed his intentions (as in, planning to publish no matter what anyone says), she would frame these messages in such a way that suggests that he acted without her knowledge or blessing (even though that is...perhaps only half true).
But she is obviously going to be occupied w/ the event and also going to end up a dragon half way through the plot so she will likely be unable to follow up after those initial attempts to warn/contact/communicate with them. RIP employment.
no subject
Daenerys will definitely be out of a job thanks to everything that's gone down. Not only did she bring William along for the expedition, but she didn't do anything to screen the people that were coming with her. Of course, there may not be much of a job left to go to. As you guessed, most of her contacts were killed during the earthquake. If she reaches back out to EcoFriends, they won't be pleased with what she did leading up to the expedition, and will just want to cut ties. It will be very clear that William's inclusion was a major oversight on her part.
Let us know if you have any other questions!
no subject
no subject
A few notes here since we covered a bit of this in the aftermath, instead of going down these points one by one:
1. One or two of the scientists listed as authors on the papers William released were still alive when he would have looked, though that information would have been difficult to confirm before the event! After all, it would've been a matter of who got out of the Antarctica earthquake alive, especially given the condition of the neighboring cities. These scientists won't be pleased that their work is getting muddled in government conspiracies, even if they also aren't happy that the UN blocked the publication of their work.
2. Since this is William's first whistleblowing endeavour, he will not be known for it just yet! Let us know if you have any ideas for other things he can look into (via hacking, of course). There will be some conspiracy theories who run with what this information shows about the government, citing it as proof that they have always been concealing large swaths of information that could potentially put their people in harm's way. We suggest that you take a look at the aftermath post, as well as have William reach out to the Displaced for ideas about other whistleblowing endeavors! Keep in mind that there could definitely be consequences for this, especially when it comes to employment.
3. Unfortunately, William won't be able to discover anything that wasn't immediately released by the UN about the creatures, tying their DNA structures back to the monster that appeared in our first event. That said, William will be losing his job because he brought the monster back to Vyonation and because he helped publish data that was illegally obtained. Vyonation is a data security company at its heart, so William will reveal that he's not to be trusted.
4. William likely can't erase where he lives currently because he'd need to sign some legal documents. If he ends up living with someone without being on their lease, that's possible, but there would be accesses granted to him for building privileges via his neural implant that could still be traced. So: how to get around this? He might want to reach out to El. El is known to the Displaced as a security AI. Ze might be able to give William some pointers. (Thanks to the technical know-how required here, we're happy to handwave the thread and figure out what's been covered here in this thread since we're not programmers or advanced security AIs ourselves.)
We hope this gives you enough to get started! Reach back out to us if you have any other questions.