This is, unfortunately, the issue with releasing information about something that players are going to want and potentially have one day. The longer it is out, the more they make up their minds about how it "is".

The areas on that "map" were the Glade of Happiness, the Vale of Flowers, the Gardens, Ackle Lake and the Shrouded Isle. Seconds later they were specifically mentioned as being not neutral as well as not happy with Serenwilde so they're probably not going to be snugglers despite the Glade, if it is even in the final design. I'm thinking more than a bit of like Punie from "Dai Mahou Touge" this might illustrate http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYl7TajAbfE

Sweet, Innocent, Peaceful... cross them and Mama bear will introduce you to her claws.



Thinking back, there could be a reason for why Jojobo was not mentioned in the taint wars (from memory). That conflict between Sun and River could be still on going and may have driven a wedge between Jojobo and the other communes leaving them on the outside of some trinity the other three had going on.

I'd say this seems unlikely, just based on the three circles. On prime, every area, except for the undervault, connects to at least one of the three circles (the seas, the highways, the mountains) and I think every org connects to two at least, the reason being that these provide easy connection to the majority of areas.

Moving Ackleberry and Jojobo to a separate continent moves them outside that... easy access, plus it feels like it would make them seem almost in a separate world. I would love to see the other continents, but putting a player org on one... well I feel like the continents should have a feeling of distance, the basin feels rather small and the manses have helped with that (my path to the east undervault goes through hallifax via my manse) putting Ackleberry and Jojobo on one would either mean having their manses separated to ensure the feeling that the continents are some far off place, or it just wouldn't feel that far unless you got yourself enemied to both because any mechanism used to get to the continent would quickly go disused once the manses were connected.

What I think is that Jojobo will probably be connected to some yet to be discovered path through the mountains that leads to an open area that encapsulates the jungle. What could be cool is if their home territory includes plains then the "commune" area could maybe be a camp that moves around every so often. (maybe seasonal camp locations)

Yep. Strong sense of community, helping those who need it, loving deeply, and truly striving for happiness and joy are wonderful goals. Making out (or worse) at the Nexus is not. Being a totally pacifist org is not. I don't see Ackleberry as bloodthirsty killers, but as people who love their way of life and will maul you if you threaten that. Like, you know, bears.

I still think it would be a good idea for the Admin to personally recruit and train the first leaders of a released Ackleberry to ensure that bad things that have happened in the past don't happen again.

Sounds like an excellent idea to me.

I dunno. I don't think I'd like for there to be player orgs outside the Basin. I feel like it would invalidate the histories to an extent. I always envisioned like non-Basin areas of the world to be like Mad Max-like. All cutthroat and desperate, with scarce resources. Besides, it's always so cool when npc's come from 'beyond the basin'. It wouldn't be nearly as fun if they were your neighbors.

An inhospitable environment doesn't have to be a wasteland. They can be jungle environments too. When I think of one existing outside of the Basin of Life. It has got to be one of those creepy jungles that are unbearably humid and hot enough to make an individual sweat into dehydration, relatively dark due to the canopies blocking daylight to make you go mad due to losing your sense of time, and filled with crazy exotic creatures who are both dangerous and diverse in form, with rivers filled with flesh-eating piranhas, diseases from gigantic blood sucking insects, and large fearsome predators competing in a contest of survival-of-the-fittest. It's sort of like that jungle from the Peter Jackson's King Kong, with a bit of that sense of madness from the book Lord of the Flies.

I would also envision Jojobo being similar to the Mayan civilization in culture and architecture at the center this inhospitable environment. Imagine towering Mayan-esque pyramids with Sun Druids performing a daily sacrificial ritual on prisoners by beheading them during nightfall so that Father Sun may rise again at Dawn and to prevent Him from going back into 'slumber'.

That sounds awesome lol.

Ask Estarra 1 talks about areas outside the basin. My impression is that life might be harder out there but there are still pockets where survival is possible. Its just that the basin is the largest and possibly easiest place to survive in, potentially helped by its having three forests which have their own protections on top of whatever protections already exist there (Mount Avechna comes to mind).

That being said I have the impression that there are more forests out there, they may not have communes but they might exist, serving as these pockets which sustain life out in the wastelands.

They wouldn't be wastelands if our druids and magi would just get to work on cleaning them up instead of trying to kill each other.

My impression is that only Aquamancers were really cleansers, being druids that found the plane while cleansing waters. Geomancers might be too, but pyros and aeros seem to be steps towards simply being elementalists. Would be interesting to see more history on those though.

Aquamancers weren't druids who found the Water plane. They were merians who were looking for a source of power to cleanse the seas while the druids of the communes healed the forests.

I'd like for orgs to be on separate continents because that would be better for players to have different histories, but those different continent's history might be able to explain more about the Basin. I mean, really, America is directly linked to Britain, because if Britain didn't try to colonize America, there wouldn't be America. So, if there was another continent, it would probably be directly linked to the Basin or vice versa. Secondly, I'd think it be cool to know that people are on other continents.

If you look at the maps, there is still plenty of room for history of different places, but keep in mind that we all came from the Portal of Fate - so our histories from before this time and character memories are typically limited. (Although there is that entire angle of coming from outside of the Basin originally, the conclusion I've drawn is that we go through the Portal, our memories are whiped, and we come to make our own way.)

Sorry for borderline forumrp. >.< It's the only way I can explain things, really.

Oh man, a Mad Max/fallout/you get the idea area would be freaking awesome. A post-apocalyitic wasteland area? Hell yeah.

You visited gaudiguch at all?

Aw, but those are Egyptian pyramids! Totally different purpose! I thought Mayans/Aztec would be an interesting idea for Jojobo to be loosely based off of culturally because those civilizations were the biggest sun worshipers. Plus they're set in a similar jungle setting.

Jojobo will be filled with anorexic aslaran fashionistas, struggling just to be LOVED in the cruel, heartless, soulless world of design an... Wait, wrong type of jungle!

Yeah, I've also been imagining Jojobo as a Mayan like setting, but with a mix of Indian and Thai open air temples on high platforms/hilltops/ atop waterfalls reaching towards the sun kind of thing. Maybe even as an island unto itself somewhere. And lots of colourful butterflies, dragonflies, parrots, poison frogs, snakes and tons of flowers, and cacao trees of course. And.. and.. sun/sunlord faelings!! With dragonfly-flower petal hybrid wings to blend in, maybe an offshoot of flower centric worship since flowers look to the sun. And... a giant quetzal bird or quetzalcoatl petal snake ancestor/wise-person like Grandmother Scorpion... Hee.. Lady Maylea could maybe even be Patron.. if She were ever inclined to do so...

-excited babbling trails off-

It's pretty clear that Jojobo will be aslaran, not faeling.