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On the Mutability of Time
https://silverinsanity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4146
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Author:  Wyvern [ Sat May 19, 2007 9:31 pm ]
Post subject:  On the Mutability of Time

This is a question of gameplay versus realism - where do you, as the players, want me to put the balance?

On the one hand, I can put everything on a game time clock - if two threads are at the same place at one time, and one of them progresses by five game days while another only progresses one, the first thread needs to wait for the second to catch up before they can re-join.

On the other hand, I can put everything on a real time clock - "now" in game time is whenever the most recent post got posted, and if one group of folks ends up taking a week game time to get somewhere, and another group takes a day, they meet up without any problems, having somehow both departed and arrived at the same time.

Or I can aim for somewhere inbetween these two extremes.

The in-game example at the moment is Chapters I and III; Mr. Willoughby in Chapter III scryed on the events of Chapter I. Since then, about three days have gone by in Chapter III, and one day has passed in Chapter I - and it seems likely, given the time compression inherent in long distance travel by horse, that this ratio is only going to get more skewed, not less.

Author:  Mr. Willoughby [ Sat May 19, 2007 10:23 pm ]
Post subject: 

Well, now. We already know the answer to this one! Time is relative, not absolute. In this case, the magic carpet from Chapter 1 travels near the speed of light (which seriously discomfits Twill), while Willoughby, in Chapter 3, possesses only a markedly less speedy horse. The resulting time dilation effects totally account for any apparent narrative discrepancies.

...more seriously, I'd generally put myself down for "game time unless it gets really annoying". Which is to say that I find it moderately aesthetically pleasing to have events in the game line up along a single, noncomplex timeline, but actually playing the game takes precedence.

In the case mentioned, Willoughby is trying to find Lauren as fast as possible, so the time difference shouldn't be all that huge.

Author:  Benabik [ Mon May 21, 2007 2:03 am ]
Post subject: 

I think I'll have to agree with Tristan. The only online game I've run was Amber and I planned to abuse the lack of consistency in timing as much as I can. Here we're all on the same plane (most of the time, anyway), so that's not available.

So, yeah, try to keep the timelines in check but don't let it ruin the game being fun.

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