Ethnical differences

[Pirog]

This has been discussed earlier, but I haven't seen a specific topic about it.

It would be very interesting if the characters ethnical origin could be shown in the game.
It could be as simple as a sentence in the description page saying:
"Ethtnicity: X"
The X would mark the name of the persons spawn location. If it isn't known to the character who sees him it could only say "foreign".
It could be somehow linked with the name of the location, so that if you discover for example Tircqi the name on every native Tircqian would change automatically.

It would open up for a lot of interesting in-game experiences.

Some people would naturally feel fear or suspicion against all foreigners, regions that for some reason hate each other could permit their enemies to enter their nation, or even kill them.
It would also be harder to plant spies in other governments, since the people they send will stand out as foreign.

It would also open up for more diverse discussion topics, as you can see the ones that are foreign and curious characters can ask them where they come from etc.

[sammigurl61190]

Like, a Quillanoian, or a Naronian. I like that idea. It also would make it more like real life--with maybe racism. Not that that's a good thing, but animals attacking also aren't good.

[Pirog]

Precisly...even if racism is despicable it is a fact IRL and should be able to be expressed in Cantr.

[The Hunter]

Racism is a perfectly normal reaction and serves for self protection really. Xenofobia is one of our instincts. Especially in Cantr where distrust of strangers is widespread.

I'd never trust someone with a Lad. skin tone. Ppl who succeed to get out of lad are suspicious.

[Solfius]

I like this idea, it's simple and easy to implement (I think!), and it can be expanded upon if proper full descriptions of people ever get added

[The Hunter]

I like this idea, it's simple and easy to implement (I think!), and it can be expanded upon if proper full descriptions of people ever get added

And how about genetics? Lad. Father and Sring sri mother?
(lad being blond and blue eyed, (Lad reminds me of nazi germany)) and Dark Sring Sri mother). How would their offspring look like?

[Solfius]

well, that bit is the easy expansion if we get full descriptions

For now we would still have epople spawning, and thus having set ethnicities based on location.

I would love to see some kind of genetics though.

perhaps a simple model like, using eye colour as an example:

possible eye colours: blue (bl), green (g), brown (br)

Father has bl gene
Mother has br gene

so offspring have 50-50 chance of having either blue or brown eyes. It's simple but it would work,

[Jos Elkink]

Yes, I do intend to create some kind of genes system once we have babies spawning. And that should automatically lead to 'ethnicity' ... I don't like the idea of explicitly implementing it, as it is also in the real world a much more complex issue than just place of birth.

[Solfius]

but it is a start isn't it, one step closer, and it's one better than we have currently

[Jos Elkink]

No, it's a step in the wrong direction ...

[Solfius]

I didn't think, but if you say so; what did you have in mind for some sysyem of ethnicity?

I was wondering how it would all be started off, whether everyone would get random genes or some other method

[Rob Maule]

Instead of characteristics like eye and skin color, perhaps new-spawns would be only described by where they were spawned. That way characters aren't descriminated against by what they look like, but where they look like they come from. And when babies are introduced, half from the mother, half from the father. And I like the foreign look idea too.

But what if you could name yourself what someone's origins are, like their name? If refugees left Lad. and had generations of children, they would probably not want to be tied to Lad. I mean, most Americans think of themselves as Americans, not German, or British, or French, Etc.

One more idea, related to parents and origins. If you were born from a mother and father, you would resemble them. So if someone knew your parents (had seen them), they would know you're in the same family. By seeing that you're twenty or so years younger, they could assume son or daughter.

But this whole thing might present a problem if you were to spawn in, say, a desert or forest. Somewhere not in a city. You would be close to a Blojt person of you were in spawned in Blojt Forest (west) since they're one location away. But would you look like a person from Blit Forest? Still one location from Blojt, but with a different name. You'd probably want to a Blit if you were from there. Would people spawned in a desert be a 'desert person'?

[Jos Elkink]

I haven't thought too hard about spawning in this context. But with babies: I would envision that we create some kind of 'gene' that describes hair colour, eye colour, etc. and that when a baby is born, it gets a gene that is partly like its father, partly like its mother.

Now, if in some area babies are born, and that for a few generations, then some genes will become common in this area. And hence, at some point it will be striking that for example in Lad. people are blonder than in Tircqi. That way, you would get regional resemblances, even though I do not program them - I just program that you look like your parents.

In fact, I think this is how real life ethnicity came about. The key is that although people travel and migrate, usually a larger proportion stays, and if they keep reproducing, some genes will become more common.

In addition, we could, once we have weather, for example, program that other than the gene also some other factors influence looks. E.g. browning in the sun, or whitening because you live in the forest only. That way some differences might occur between people from different regions (but these would not be intergenerational, so would have less to do with ethnicity).

In fact, this would be a more interesting way to apply it, because then we can all watch and see whether ethnicities come into existence, without me making the decision to program them. So making it visible where someone is from, is explicitly programming ethnicity, while the alternative is to see whether ethnicity develops, without me programming it.

[Jos Elkink]

Spawning is a bit more difficult. Perhaps one should not look like the parents, but get a combination of genes from a random selection of people on that location ... that would have a similar effect.

[Solfius]

Yea, that would work. When you gonna put it in? :p

edit: Jos posted twice, and the second made my orginal post obselete