Minutes of the Port Luskan OOC Meeting on January 25, 2011
Note: Items in brackets [] were added as clarification or follow-up during write-up of the minutes; these were not stated specifically during the meeting.
The meeting convened at 12:20 pm SLT, 3:20 pm EST, 8:20 pm GMT (only 20 minutes late). Present were (in order of arrival):
Marae (chair)
Celelond
Steph
Glenn
Linaya Swansen
Arcane Vhargon
KW Jie
Keldrahir
Kume
Purpose of the meeting was stated by Marae:
"The main reason we're meeting is because we have a few people from Everwind who would like to get back to Port Luskan." It was further noted that "addressing some of their questions might help other people who are also just coming back into things. Which is actually kind of all of us."
Basic concept of the Forum was stated by Marae:
"There is a post in the Docks area that explains the history of Port Luskan. Basically, to make a long story short, we have all dispersed since the island was doing whatever it was doing, and now, for some reason, we are coming back together again. Cel issued a call to us from the Plane of Dreams, and when we come to this forum, that's where we are."
It was noted that Port Luskan in Second Life might be seen (at least by some) as the waking world, as opposed to Dream. However, as Celelond noted, "Although it is the dream plane, if, like Cel, you live here, reality is kind of moot." Marae added, "I think for some of us, it's like having two homes."
Merits of using SL for RP were discussed. It was noted that although SL isn't "necessary" to the RP, some players do enjoy or even prefer rping there, and we do have the resources to continue the rp there.
Considerations for continuing the RP in Second Life:
Land: Arcane has a full sim he is selling since he can't afford the tier payments, so it is "not useful." Marae has holdings on two adjacent sims in SL. The builds include "a forest, a meadow, an arena in case we want it, and a few other things." One of the sims has been claimed for use with DCS2, with the Port Luskan configuration. The decision was made to attempt rp on Marae's land. [It has been noted that there are publicly available areas in SL which the RP could make use of on occasion. Landmarks are being accepted for consideration, but what, if any, we decide to use will depend on the story.]
At a later point in the meeting, Marae listed the existing builds: "a faerie woods, a faerie meadow, an ordinary meadow with a stream, a tree house, an arena, a garden, a cave, and an island in the sky." There is also the build of Windang Hall, her private home and headquarters for House Windang. It was also noted that the tree house is Marae's OOC private home; the top level would generally be off limits for rp. According to the Goddess Steph, this is actually a sex palace, hence the restriction. One is tempted to ask, since it is a private home, how would she know? But of course, she's a goddess. [The meadow with the stream is designed as an outdoor music venue, complete with stage. Added since the meeting is a plain 2-prim skybox for Alyra's Dance Studio, which could also be used for other things.]
Keldrahir noted that "in SL we can always add or change things when it might become useful later"; in other words, builds are flexible and as Arcane noted in an earlier context, "form follows function."
[Later in the meeting, Kume asked how much land we had. The actual answer is: 8210 square meters on the sims of Hyun and Iseul with 474 sq m available for group land purchases at the current tier level. 1523 prims are supported on Iseul (the sim with DCS2 and the greater amount of land), with 251 available. Hyun has fewer prims available and I prefer not to add any more permanent objects there if possible. Iseul is where I would consider purchasing additional land and making new builds if we decide we need or want to.]
Combat: We discussed combat systems. The following were proposed: 1) DCS2, which we had used last in Port Luskan and for which we have a configuration in place on Marae's land; 2) Spell Fire, which has a version 2 out now, and which many of us have used before; 3) no system, using text descriptions of actions taken and a dice HUD for determining outcome.
DCS2 has the advantage of being a known quantity (until the next update), and we have invested a lot of time and energy in configuring it for our use. Marae noted that she would need to "check some things with DCS" before promoting it as her system of choice. [Specifically: It has the disadvantage of requiring placement at a specific attachment point (the chest), which will be a problem for people using SL viewer 1.23 if they want to attach anything else at that point. Marae has subsequently verified that using a 3rd party viewer (Ascent) mimics the 2.x viewer and allows more than one attachment at a given point. She further verified that items so attached show correctly to others using viewer 1.23.]
Spell Fire is also a known quantity, as it was used in Port Luskan prior to DCS2, and was also used at the A&C Hotel. According to Linaya, there is not "enough stuff" out for the new version (SF2) yet. If the old version is not still available, we would need to look at the new version and evaluate it.
Option 3, no system, is preferred by those who played in Everwind. [It would require finding a suitable dice HUD and determining rules and protocols for combat (and possibly other) rp.]
It was decided to table the decision on combat systems for the time being.
Story: Arcane asked, "What stories exist if any besides the dream world?"
Marae did a recap: "We have the entire back story of Port Luskan as our foundation, for starters. Once the island went wherever it went, some of us were yanked to an alien universe, but we managed to portal ourselves back (by sheer luck) to this one. Many of us had already left for the mainland, so those who were not in on the restarted PL as their original characters, you have stories to write of what you did during that time. Now, those who returned to this world from the other universe came via the Age and Country Hotel, where we established ties with Faerie. Faerie is one of the builds on my land. So we can use it as that if we want to, or make it represent something else."
Several people conveyed their stories of what happened to their characters since Port Luskan disbanded.
Time frame was discussed: How long has it been since the island dispersed? We decided that the actual amount of time will remain unspecified, because it has come out differently for our different characters.
For Cel, it has been three to four years. For Alyra, who cares about such things, the dates work out to about a year, although a good deal of that time was spent in Dream or in her own plane, or (significantly) in Faerie, so it may have been a lot longer. For Linaya it has been nine years. For Arcane, it felt like only a few days. Marae suggested, "We could invoke the 'time flows differently in different places' clause... I think it is fair for each of us to determine how much time has passed in your own experience. When we meet in Dream, i.e. the forum, especially, it could be at any time in the waking world."
Arcane summed it up nicely when he said, "So time passed different for us all, we meet in dream and find some older, some younger, and others unchained in the land of faerie, and in dreams we are whatever we wish."
[It is a safe bet that when Alyra starts up the paper again, she will use the current date as we all know it in Real Life for each edition of the paper. This is purely for the RL editor's convenience.]
At this point, Kume arrived and joined the discussion. He asked specifically how much land Marae has, and the prim limit. Since finding out involved logging into SL and looking, the answer given at the meeting was, "a lot." [For the actual answer, see under Land above.]
How do we get rp started again in SL?
Marae suggested that since the biggest problem seems to be getting more than one rper in the same place at the same time, we schedule weekly or bi-weekly rp sessions, when we would gather on the land and interact as we encounter one another. There followed a discussion of time zones and convenient days/times for meeting.
It was determined that midday on a Sunday would be a good time (at least for the non-Australians - apologies to Budster). So our first rp gathering will be this Sunday, January 30, 2011, at noon SLT, 3 pm EST, and 8 pm GMT. Rp can continue until we all get tired and go away, so if you can't make it at the beginning, come in when you can. Someone will definitely be present for at least an hour after start time.
[We can try different times and days for scheduled rp in coming weeks. A topic will be posted for announcing such gatherings, so keep your eye on it!
]
The meeting adjourned at 1:45 p.m. SLT, 4:45 p.m. EST, 9:45 p.m. GMT.
Respectfully submitted,
Marae
Login
FAQ
Search
