Community Vote: Progress in the Future & You!

[crocodilesmiles]

We're asking for two things to go up to vote, as detailed below, along with information on why only two!

First order of business:

Adding a "!open" and "!closed" tag to the Log Community.

The function here would be to allow people to choose to tag their posts as open to all, or closed to a pre-selected group. This then allows people to search through for logs with the "!open" tag if they're looking for new things to tag into.

This is a yes or no vote, with an option for "other" if you have strong feelings in some different direction. These tags will not be mandatory, but they would be highly suggested.

Second order of business:

Voting on the Official "Return to Exsilium/Reshaping Exsilium" Plan

Based on what we've seen as themes in the suggestions so far proposed, ICly and OOCly, people want to address these three things most: the genetic technology and cloning development that allowed for kidnapped Transports to be cloned and, in the future, have their unique characteristics spliced into the clone soldier pool of the United Earth Armed Forces; the development of alternative energy sources to pull past Earth away from the reliance or use of Nuclear Energy, particularly weaponized; and the influencing of Artificial Intelligence development, up to and including depositing some of the Initiative's current AI into the predecessor of the United Earth's AI to better curb and protect the interests of the Exiles, the Initiative, and the Transports through the last two hundred years of history.

Note: Each of these arcs requires smaller missions to run first in order for the big game-wide mission and/or event to be triggered, along with any and all large, game-wide changes each arc completion will bring about. These smaller missions may be run simultaneously. We are asking you to vote which arc be completed first!

1.) Development of Sustainable, Renewable Energy Sources outside of Nuclear Fusion

This has been started in part already by missions run to help improve the solar panel technology upgrades to the Moon Base, and can be furthered by introducing specs for advanced energy technologies to earlier points in history. It may or may not include any of the following possibilities:

• Instigating nuclear meltdown
• Locating and setting off stockpiles of nuclear weaponry in the course of United Earth history
• Attempting to cut off the development of nuclear technology
• Introducing technologies comparable to the Arc Reactor, or other world versions of sustainable and renewable energy source
• If they wind up blowing up a lot of older stockpiles of nuclear weapons, looking into things like geothermal energy or projects PACER or Gnome that previously were either not as applicable or were just shelved
• Furthering notions of green energy in both developed and developing countries
• SENDING TRANSPORTS TO TESTIFY AGAINST DONALD TRUMP VS SCOTLAND OVER WINDMILL TECHNOLOGY
• Taking action against governments and companies attempting to weaponize these alternative energy sources
• Finding an alternative means to ending WWII
• Continuing to curb the use of chemical warfare as a "non-violent" form of controlling insurrection (as begun with the series of missions run by Kanaya)

2.) Altering and Controlling the Development of Cloning Technologies and Genetic Alteration Technologies to delay or prevent the execution of Project Chimera

This arc focuses on the last three hundred years of Exsilium's world history. There would be smaller missions run at the forefront to lead into the main target, requiring all sorts of skill-sets in order to finally influence the course of events in a New Las Vegas Cloning Technologies Conference. Jaime Reyes has been gathering information in regards to Project Chimera. Side missions will be run to deal with the genetic alteration considerations over time. It may or may not include any of the following possibilities:

• Capitalizing on the most recent historical conference on Cloning and Genetic Manipulation Technologies in order to sabotage, blackmail, and negotiate with the individuals responsible for the most extensive research
• Pauper and help prosper those companies following the models which are preferred by the Transports some of these companies may develop into ne’erdowells when money/power is slid their way
• Introducing and enforcing a code of ethics within a stable population
• Investing in the companies whose stock options will rise and mortality rate could drop depending on how dangerous the medical lobby/old guard can get

3.) Finding the Origin Point of the United Earth AI, and Influencing its development and the Development of Artificial Intelligence in the last few centuries

Initiated by Soldier Blue as he looks to make initial contact with the United Earth AI and pinpoint a probable origin for when it was crossed over from a back-up system to the entrusted leader of the United Earth, placing part of the Initiative AI in the system will buy time for all these other actions to take place. The next step of this phase would include investigating the UE AI itself, influencing the development and perceptions of Artificial Intelligence in Exsilium World History in the preceding few hundred years, and ensuring the survival of companies with policies that lead away from militarized AI's and toward more empathetic constructs. It may or may not include any of the following possibilities:

• Track down the origin point of the UE AI
• Inject a portion of the Initiative AI into the young version of the UE AI in order to buy time for Transport activities in the future
• A mission to the future to consult with the original benefactor of various organizations/inventions
• Influencing events in a key year for Artificial Intelligence development
• Pauperizing or bolstering the companies holding with the objectives the Transports find most profitable
• Introducing back-doors into the United Earth's technological developments and firewalls

We’d like to see a player vote to decide which of these routes, alongside an ongoing series of missions for funding known as Operation Vegas, would be completed first. We will be eventually running all plans, but the order of them is up to player discretion! Which would you like to see go live first?

Further details of each arc will be announced upon completion of the prior arc. (But as a bonus hint, the Cloning and Genetics Arc will cumulate in a New Las Vegas conference that'll totally blow your mind! Probably! Come on, it's New Las Vegas!!!)

Poll #14615 Exsilium Vote November 2013

This poll is closed.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 114

I believe having an "!open" and "!closed" tag on the Log Community would be helpful.

Yes
86 (80.4%)

No
15 (14.0%)

Other, explained in comments below
6 (5.6%)

I would like to see the following mission arc completed first in reshaping Exsilium:

Development of Sustainable, Renewable Energy Sources outside of Nuclear Fusion
42 (37.8%)

Altering and Controlling the Development of Cloning Technologies and Genetic Alteration Technologies
47 (42.3%)

Finding the Origin Point of the United Earth AI, and Influencing its development and the Development of Artificial Intelligence
22 (19.8%)

Voting will be closed on December 5th, 2013, 11:59PM EST. Please ask questions below in the "Questions" thread so that we may make sure to see and answer those questions in a timely manner. This post is also an open space for discussion and/or brainstorming on different small plots and/or plot elements which could apply under these three broad arcs.

Comments

QUESTIONS

[crocodilesmiles]

Re: QUESTIONS

[shelkethetransparent]

that 'notyourutopian' account that voted is me. Whoops.

[angel_of_death]

Not a really question-- but if people need some help with research on nuclear stuff regarding WWII, or consequences of switching tactics, I'd be happy to help when the time comes.

Re: QUESTIONS

[unholy_rebirth]

ER OOPS SORRY "READYTOBE" IS ME HAHA

[shelkethetransparent]

I had a thought. With the world changing the way it has, between going to the moon and now returning to a place where the Initiative barely exists, has anything changed with the supplies they were able to provide to people who needed them to survive?

IE: Is shelke still getting her mako.

[crocodilesmiles]

No, she is not continuing to get her mako at this time!

[shelkethetransparent]

Oh.

Hmm.

I imagine she probably stockpiled some but she'll die without it. Fairly quickly. Like, the day after she runs out.

[crocodilesmiles]

Then I suggest she start looking for solutions pretty quickly! As in feel out and around for something that will similarly work/assist/keep her healthy and alive, see what resources are had among Transports, or try to code the Transport Pad in to what her mako is and see if she can get the tech guys to run it through a "call" program to bring in more mako with the newbie rush at the start of December.

[irritating]

so this may possibly be a bit off the point here but it's sort of relevant so I WILL JUST ASK HERE I GUESS I'M SORRY

but yes so basically what's happening now is people will start moving back down to Earth after the 1st, right? So I'm curious about all the missions for supplies/etc, like will they still need supply runs and/or will they still be able to pretty much stroll up like sup send me to China or whatever, or will things go back to being just specific missions with a goal set by the Initiative? 8|a or... both, since obviously there will be goal oriented missions during the three arcs but yes I'm just wondering about what kinda mission stuff people can get up to now, basically.

[crocodilesmiles]

We'll have that system better outlined once we know the community vote, since the Transport Pad will have to be taken apart and moved down and reconstructed again once a suitable space and power source is found in Winter Wonderland Exsilium.

Currently, the Transports are the sole possessors of the technology, along with the 4 Old Initiative employees. I cannot foresee any reason why the Transports would turn this technology over wholesale to the New Initiative, so there will be no Initiative dictation unless ICly desired. (Seriously, who would even go for that among the Transports?)

However, we will be maintaining a loose, as you please mission system, like most missions have run while on the moon base, separate from the goal orientated missions of each arc. So the short answer is: both will be available, only not Initiative goals -- these are Transport goals. If they happen to line up with the Initiative... yay! If not, the Initiative is currently not the group in control of the Transport Pad.

[irritating]

Oooooh okay yeah I didn't consider that (lmao obviously), that makes sense. Thank you for answering! c:

Re: QUESTIONS

[momijizukamori]

oh uh. I think I voted on this account and not Nate's whoops.

WHO PAYS ATTENTION TO WHO THEY'RE LOGGED IN TO ANYWAY.

[lar]

While I voted for the second one in the mission's section, I wanted to mention that Charlie Dyer (falla) will be wanting to do something a lot in the same vein as the third option, although she's not as interested as messing with the AI as overall changing/stopping/deleting the UE as a whole through understanding the chain of events that made it what it currently is.

I'll have something of a draft on the first week of November, so I was wondering if this is something I can bring to the mods and have it discussed? I think they could go hand in hand since Charlie is more into gathering intel, so at one point she will probably realize they can actually change things through the UE AI.

Ideas?

[crocodilesmiles]

Missions related to each arc will be able to be run simultaneously. I suggest you speak with Elle, player of Solider Blue/Jericho/Martin Darkov, since she has been planning and moving forward on with regards to the AI conundrums. Charlie likely would have noticed, given his network posts and inquiries, let alone the call out made by Collette on her post.

We welcome any write-up for review, and as Elle now is part of the mod team as a Plot Mod, discussing with her will be beneficial overall.

[speakveryclearly]

Okay casually putting out my two cents on these hot issues, raise the roof guys

First of all I voted "No" on the !open and !closed tags, though "Other" might be more accurate. To be precise I think that an "!open" tag could be useful for those seeking new logs to tag, i cannot see an advantage to the ability to browse through all "!closed" logs and project that tag only being inconvenient. So I would vote yes for just an !open tag.

Then for the first goal poll I voted for the second option, Project Chimera. While I am personally most invested in the first option, to me it appears that option can more easily be divided into smaller milestones completed concurrently with Chimera or AI being checked twice and finished entirely. I also think it would raise morale the most as Project Chimera is very personal even to transports who arrived relatively recently, and I have seen wider-spread IC concern compared to the other two.

Finally for any of you not in the know, that stuff about "chemical weapons" already being started by "Kanaya", that is this character! See the specs for some of these missions here: http://exsiliumooc.dreamwidth.org/565246.html?thread=21489918#cmt21489918

If you're interested I would be happy to plot whether in this comment, on Plurk, or over AIM (my username is Lengachan on both of those services). On Dreamwidth, I wrote an FAQ here (including guidelines for making up your own mission because you can easily use this goal and format without interacting with specific characters): http://girlsinspace.dreamwidth.org/3306.html

[small_berserker]

I've picked other, because as speakveryclearly has said, an !open tag would be useful, but a !closed one doesn't seem like there's any real benefit to it.

[salvagedsoul]

I voted for hindering nuclear development because I feel like that would be the most logical, most immediate first step of the Transports. Cutting off the UE's super soldiers or nipping their AI in the bud also makes sense, but not being immediately re-nuked all over again feels like a more pressing concern to address first. But that's just me!

from a meta standpoint, I wonder if it would be interesting to implement IC consequences for choosing to go after one mission first over the other? Like there can also be cons to each choice, if that makes sense.

Also, I agree with the above discussion about a !closed tag.

[irritating]

I also picked other, for the same reasons others have said above! A !closed tag doesn't seem like it would helpful because closed logs are only relevant to a few people who probably already know what's up anyway (or down the road when they're looking for old logs it's easier to use character tags instead anyway), whereas an !open tag would be lovely for people looking for something they can just jump into on their own accord. So yay to !open, nay to !closed.

[ringthenoise]

Voted "Yes" for tags but agree that a "!closed" tag is probably not necessary.

Didn't vote on the mission order because I am happy to go with whatever the majority decides and have no strong opinions on the matter.

[lar]

"Other" on the tags one, because of what's been said already. However I think it could be useful to have a !finished tag instead, for the sake of knowing when a log is finally done and you can go and check it out.

[biwinning]

as per the above, seconding "!finished" as an alternative solution instead of !closed.

[highhealplz]

seconding all those people about having only !open, or !open and !finished

[promises_to_keep]

^ #same