Dystopia - Planet Side

[Mandaz]

I just want you all to appreciate how fucking time consuming it is to make maps out of THIN AIR.

Click the Thumbnail for FULL DYSTOPIAN MAP


Some info about the Dystopian map:

Purple = pre-existing nations, also marked with their names.
Blue = Lakes, Seas, and Oceans. Though not marked, there are existing rivers, swamps, and other bodies of water.
Dark Green = Dense Forests or Jungles
Light Green = Forests. Though not marked, plains and other areas of plant life exist on Dystopia.
Light Blue = Colder Climates
Super Light Blue = Ice Climates, nearly uninhabitable.
Reddish Brown = Deserts
Triangles = Mountains

The Ruins:
Consider what is not marked in purple to be parts of the ruins. Though they may presumably still hold small towns and cities they are no longer tied to individual nations. If you are interested in staking claim to the free land there is a bit of a process, we won’t just give you your own nation (unless it’s a special circumstance.)
There are a few ways to go about it. First would be to let me or another Admin know of your interest and where on the map you’d like you nation to be. The prospect will be discussed and presented to the other Administrators. This would probably be a very easy decision, considering how much free space there really is, but our main concern is preventing dead nation clutter.
Next would be to stake the claim ICly. How you go about this is completely up to you. However, once this is done it is every other member’s right to oppose it ICly as well. What good’s getting land if you don’t have a little scuffle over it? After all is said and done it’s up to the Admins to give you final approval and add you to the map and forum. Be advised that we’re only interested in members who will actually use their nations for intuitive roleplay purposes. If you want a nation just so your nation can go kick the tar out of your worst enemy’s nation, then leave it stagnant after that…we may not decide to give it to you. However if you’re interested in building a unique form of government, culture, and want to record the process of building a nation from ruins to prosperity, that’s the kind of stuff we like.

Other:
The Rift- The Rift is a special circumstance. The yellow triangle is there to map out its general location. Think of it as the Dystopian Bermuda Triangle. Somewhere in The Rift is the island Persistencia, however the island itself if not located on this map or any other viable Dystopian map. This is because The Rift is a sort of…wrinkle in time. Ships can pass through it without ever coming across Persistencia, or even knowing they were in The Rift at all. It’s said the only way to get to Persistencia is to become extremely lost or to be invited by its ruler. So, unless you really want to go there, pay The Rift no mind.

Leblos- Leblos is not located on this map because it is too far south, away from everything else. Since Leblos is uninhabitable I didn’t think anyone would mind. (I ran out of paper room, sue me) If you’re feeling brave enough to go there I’ll probably draw its own separate map eventually. Until then pay it no mind.

That’s…about it. Enjoy the map. And if you have any questions please feel free to PM me.

[Clint M.]

Nice job.

[Zombzeh Nayt-o!]

Holy damn. That's better than anything I could ever do. Ever.

Also, regarding the Ruins, there are a ton of ways that someone can "stake a claim," like already running a village or something, and going after some more territory. Anyways, we'll make it as simple as humanly possible, so not to stifle anyone's creativity. Maybe even make some exceptions here and there, all depending. As Manda said, it's just so we can avoid clutter and unused space. We had some troubles with that on the old board.

[marvel.]

I meant to say this when you posted this up, but:

That is damn sexy. :3

[Alex]

I just want you all to appreciate how fucking time consuming it is to make maps out of THIN AIR.

I'll be honest, I didn't think much of this comment until 3 days ago where, for some reason or another, I thought it would be a BRILLIANT IDEA to add cartography to my list of hobbies. Let me tell you now: I. Appreciate.

Regardless, contributing to the thread with a map of Cizok, which I based on your world map.

[Iskander]

What programs are those maps made in?

[Alex]

I made mine in GIMP with some photoshop, but they're similar programs.

[Zach Kaiser]

I just want you all to appreciate how fucking time consuming it is to make maps out of THIN AIR.

Impressive! Most maps I see are made out of paper and ink!


...But seriously, that is awesome. (And now I have some idea where stuff is taking place.)

While it's probably part of the overall ruins now, I'm curious as to where on the one continent the Uncharted Territories would have been before the End.

[Zombzeh Nayt-o!]

The center continent. The uncharted territories was in that massive space north of Algeroth and such.

I'm totally digging all this cartography, by the way. I encourage the creation of more.

[Iskander]

Is it possible to get a map of old Utopia?

[Herald_of_Fate]

I had a question which I consider of some importance. Many of my characters originate from places removed from the Utopian/ Dystopian realm, oftentimes from other universes with their own cultures. While my primary method for explaining these origins is ICly, slowly unveiling their backgrounds over the course of a RP, this cartography has inspired me. Should I fully explain the origin worlds of my characters with maps and such or are chars and such limited to being purely Utopian in nature?

[Zombzeh Nayt-o!]

I'd prefer it if all characters were from Dystopia proper. As far as the logistics of Dystopia goes, there are no alternate universes. Dystopia is not part of any multiverse, therefore no extrauniversal existences, be they characters or items, are real things. You can by all means have your character claim to be from another universe, but he'll be nothing more than a raving lunatic. There is no, nor will there ever be, an existing connection between Dystopia and other universes. You can, however, play up those sorts of themes in the Miscellaneous RP section, where some roleplays acknowledge the existence of other realities. Just make sure it's fine with topic creator, is all.

For roleplaying on Dystopia proper, it's usually best to reinvent an old character or make a new one.

[Herald_of_Fate]

May I inquire as to why? It seems restrictive in many aspects and I dare say such restriction is what has largely lead to some of the threads that were so active at some point going dark, no disrespect. Also it would seem that is the reason for it seeming like the same groups of people rping together, sometimes to the exclusion of other members. I mean no disrespect; it is merely a truth I've faced in sites like this one in the past. I enjoy my time here but there doesn't seem to be any clear direction to much of the roleplay I've seen here or when they start to gain some, they inexplicably die. I would merely appreciate knowing some of the reasons behind boxing certain chars and scenarios instead of fostering creativity.

[Zombzeh Nayt-o!]

There's neither boxing nor creative hindrance, actually. Reinventing a concept to work in a different setting invites all manners of creativity. You can take an old concept and reuse it in a way you never have before, take a character that developed into a villain in one setting and play him as a hero--things like that. The current limited number of players and dropped threads has nothing to do with the setting at all, rather some of our old devoted players personally moved on with their lives and families, and can no longer keep up with an intensive hobby.

As to why: a connection with other universes damage's the main universe's integrity. Marvel and DC comics are probably the best examples of this. I enjoy an alternate universe take on something, but once they begin to mingle, you lose the integrity the universe once had. Additionally, some genres just don't mingle well. Sci-fi, for instance, doesn't work in conjunction with low fantasy unless it's written into the raw plot of the setting, which in this case, it's not.

Which is why we have the Miscellaneous RP forum, actually. If dark fantasy/low fantasy isn't what a player wants from his or her roleplays, then there are still places on the forum where they can roleplay.

[Herald_of_Fate]

Well, if you insist that I point one out, the kalmarden thread is one that fairly immediately come to mind. I stated my char came from a place not pictured on any map of Utopia and once he was sent on a mission away from Kalmarden and decided to visit his homeland, the thread died rather abruptly.

Also, by implying that Heaven/ Hell and the like are separate and distinct worlds, it implies that Dystopia (the physical realm) is a plane, a universe of its own. One cannot blow something up in Dystopia, even when connected, and have it effect Heaven, right? Other than the possible displacement of souls, it would fail to scar the fabric of Heaven's reality. Thus, isn't Dystopia already part of a multi-plane, multi-verse system? And if so, where is the justification requested in my first post?

It seems that there are simply a lot of restrictions I'm not in the way of understanding. BTW, the rules link is broken...
If someone would care to explain, I'd likely be very willing to comply. But it doesn't make much sense to me. I mean, just how important is it where a character originates from?

The truth is this ruling kinda busts up a plot I've been perfecting for over a year, which I'd hoped would develop into a long-running storyline that would draw in the whole of the members (the active ones in any case). It's pretty crappy to me that I have to scrap it. It kinda of centered on the End event and continued it a bit, which is the single most important event in the Dystopian history. It just seemed like that major point was kinda left hanging. In any case, I'll continue along till I get some sort of answers. Nice to know that people are encouraged to question the establishment.