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DonathinFrye · 03-17-2010, 10:15 AM

Atonement RPI is Roleplaying-Enforced.

It is set in an original, fictionally-envisioned real world timeline. The action (up to this point) has not taken place anywhere recognizable, because the players are on a large space vehicle. The design of the vehicle itself is not inspired by any particular pop-culture design, but we do go out of our way to make subtle (and sometimes, blatant) references to fiction, philosophical writings and pop-culture as a means to envoke a parallel response in the players - sort of an easter egg meant to make the players think about the mysteries around them.

We wrote a detailed staff historical timeline that spans well over 1,500 years, and sometimes use special "timeline events" to let the players get chances to play a day as a one-time character in the past or future, at the point of some event that is both historically significant - as well as significant to the ongoing mysteries in the main timeline in which PCs play. We include many historical variables in this timeline, so that the players' actions in the "timeline events" actually have an affect on the main timeline and history as a whole.

Currently, player-characters themselves suffer from amnesia, and so are privvy to a much more sparse timeline on the website. For story-telling's sake, we have a section for short stories on the site that acts much like the "timeline events" in that the stories all show glimpses of the past or future that are relevant to the ongoing storyline of the actual game. Some of these stories are player-written contest winners, and so have affected our canon's historical variables at key points.

We started out with the setting/s in which we wanted the players to take part in, and then wrote the extensive history around that desired setting. As we wrote more, our specificity had an equally profound affect on the shape and scope of the setting itself.

We designed the history specifically to suit the theme and storyline. We play around a lot with the theme of repeating cycles in history, so there is much parallel in both the short and long-term in the way of how events play out. We are of the opinion that this is very similar to real-world history as well, but causing/breaking cycles of history becomes a major theme in the game.

There are definitely many opposing viewpoints that we have included in the game, without coming right out and suggesting that the characters should support one side or another if they desire to be the "good guys". You see themes of capitalism versus communism, democracy versus fascism, religion versus cultism, Destiny versus Free Choice, etc, etc. One of the major themes of the game is to play on what is good and what is evil, with the ultimate point being that the line between good/evil is entirely blurred and moral ambiguity becomes the norm in a pure, harsh survival scenario.

03-17-2010, 10:15 AM	#6
DonathinFrye Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Name: Donathin Frye Location: Columbus, OH Home MUD: Optional Realities Home MUD: Atonement RPI Home MUD: Project Redshift Posts: 510	Re: Creating Game History Atonement RPI is Roleplaying-Enforced. It is set in an original, fictionally-envisioned real world timeline. The action (up to this point) has not taken place anywhere recognizable, because the players are on a large space vehicle. The design of the vehicle itself is not inspired by any particular pop-culture design, but we do go out of our way to make subtle (and sometimes, blatant) references to fiction, philosophical writings and pop-culture as a means to envoke a parallel response in the players - sort of an easter egg meant to make the players think about the mysteries around them. We wrote a detailed staff historical timeline that spans well over 1,500 years, and sometimes use special "timeline events" to let the players get chances to play a day as a one-time character in the past or future, at the point of some event that is both historically significant - as well as significant to the ongoing mysteries in the main timeline in which PCs play. We include many historical variables in this timeline, so that the players' actions in the "timeline events" actually have an affect on the main timeline and history as a whole. Currently, player-characters themselves suffer from amnesia, and so are privvy to a much more sparse timeline on the website. For story-telling's sake, we have a section for short stories on the site that acts much like the "timeline events" in that the stories all show glimpses of the past or future that are relevant to the ongoing storyline of the actual game. Some of these stories are player-written contest winners, and so have affected our canon's historical variables at key points. We started out with the setting/s in which we wanted the players to take part in, and then wrote the extensive history around that desired setting. As we wrote more, our specificity had an equally profound affect on the shape and scope of the setting itself. We designed the history specifically to suit the theme and storyline. We play around a lot with the theme of repeating cycles in history, so there is much parallel in both the short and long-term in the way of how events play out. We are of the opinion that this is very similar to real-world history as well, but causing/breaking cycles of history becomes a major theme in the game. There are definitely many opposing viewpoints that we have included in the game, without coming right out and suggesting that the characters should support one side or another if they desire to be the "good guys". You see themes of capitalism versus communism, democracy versus fascism, religion versus cultism, Destiny versus Free Choice, etc, etc. One of the major themes of the game is to play on what is good and what is evil, with the ultimate point being that the line between good/evil is entirely blurred and moral ambiguity becomes the norm in a pure, harsh survival scenario.