One Hour One Life Forums

This all really just happened.

I was born in the forest - my mom picked me up and brought me home.

We walked in there were two fresh graves, and one guy who had been stabbed. "Who did this to you? What was his name?" My mom cried.

"I don't know" the man gasped, and fell to the floor.

My mom had another kid, and then ran out the door. When she came back, we knew something was wrong.
"There's no food.." She said with resignation, and moments later, she too fell down dead.

My brother and I looked at each other in despair and huddled by the fire, hoping on the chance someone would come save us. But no one came. Because no one was there. The town was quiet.  My brother died from starvation.

Just then I became of age - I immediately ran outside, and sure enough, all the berry bushes were dried up.
I ran east through the forest, and came upon wild berries. Enough to survive.

I set about restoring the farm - trying to save some of the dying bushes. Soil was plentiful, but the well in the center of town was broken, and I had no idea how to fix it, so I set about carrying bowls of water from a nearby watering hole.

A strange man showed up, and I couldn't understand him.
"Py" he said. "Py" I responded.

We didn't understand.

Time passed. I had a son named Guadalupe. I told him the story of his people.

He was born bilingual, and he could partially understand what the stranger was saying. They spoke back and forth.

My son translated his words - the stranger's village was to the north, and would we like to travel with him?

"Yes" I said. My son told the stranger, and he was pleased.

We began the journey north. I was nervous, but excited. How would we be received in this new town? Would they treat us well?

The jungle stretched endlessly. It seemed to grow thicker and thicker, and the mosquitoes more numerous.

That's when my son came down with the fever, and then our guide. I grabbed a banana and fed the stranger, and went to feed my son.

Too late. He died right there in the jungle.

I tried to feed the stranger, who only could say "L!" "L!"
I got the idea. I fed him, but not fast enough, and he too died.

Right then, I had a new baby. I picked her up, and dodged the mosquitoes as we fought our way out of the jungle.

When we had some space to breathe, I named her "Miracle" and we ate berries in the middle of no where while I told her my story, which was hers too.

I decided it did not make sense to proceed to the town - the jungle was too dangerous, and our guide was dead. Instead I would take Miracle to her homeland back south.

We traveled a very long distance, and finally broke through to the edge of the jungle... just to be lost in a nameless wetland I did not recognize.
We wandered and wandered, and I was beginning to believe we would be forced to wander the wildness for the rest of our lives.

But then miracle said "Over here" and she ran to the left. She had spotted signs of life!
..But in her excitement, she had lost her caution - a rattlesnake bit her in the belly.

"Miracle!" I shouted, "Noo.."

There was nothing I could do. I walked with her into town, and we saw the bushes, bursting with berries.

Suddenly my grief was alleviated by wonder.
"You led us home. I'm glad you to see it."
She seemed happy, as the life faded from her cheeks.
"Maybe this is the miracle."
She left me - in the same town again. Alone.

I ate berries in somber reflection, pondering the irony of this existence. Miracle had found our way, but could not survive to live out her life.

In the midst of my wondering, I heard a voice - "Py"
I turned, it was another stranger, from the same town! He indicated he was traveling north, as if he was inviting me to travel.

For the sake of my son, I couldn't turn down that invitation.

So I went back to the endless jungle, dodging trees, and mosquitoes. My guide was very attentive, turning back to check on me frequently, and when I was bit by mosquitoes, he was by my side, feeding me back into good health. Showing me how one is fed back to health.

We moved forward, and we came upon a sight I was not ready for. My dead son lay under a banana tree, our previous guide beside him.

I grieved over my son's grave, with the shameful realization that I could have saved him, if I only I had known how back then. But our guide was insistent that we proceed on.

We escaped the jungle, and finally came upon the town and made our way to the center. I rested on a bearskin rug, and felt the fire warm my pock marked skin.

I was old now. An old woman.

The village was full of friendly strangers whose words I could not understand. They smiled at me, and I smiled back. Part relieved, part exhausted from my journey, and just grateful to have finally made it, after so much despair.

A mother of the village had a baby, and placed him down next to me. I remembered my own son, with his quick mind and ability to pick up strange tongues. And I began to tell my tale. The whole thing, about the murder, my mother, the farm, the stranger, my son, the jungle, my daughter, the rattlesnake - everything. The little child listened on intently - signaling his emotion at the right moments. Letting me know he was listening without interrupting my memory.

When I got to the end, I knew that my life was truly at an end, and I could tell he was moved. I asked him to pass on the story. He said he would.

And after that, with my journey complete, with my tale all told, I laid back on the bearskin rug, felt the warmth of the roaring blaze, and thought of my mother who had fed a fire once, which gave me a chance at this life, so many years ago.

http://lineage.onehouronelife.com/serve … id=5017417

Casual Genocide

I haven't experienced swords in the game yet, but from what I'm hearing it sounds like swords are not being used by rival villages in order to get at one villages resources, or to end some inter generational conflict, but rather for individuals to engage in the joy of mass murder (violence for violence sake), or - if the opponent is armed - in war for war sake.

In advanced societies, there's a way to make sure that individuals don't draw an entire society into war - one can't just pick up a gun and go invade a neighboring territory.

The recent discovery of an ancient battle ground concluded this:

Of course this is an obvious thing to us - in our history, great bloody conflicts have a great cost, and so the gain must surpass that cost. Right now, the gain is pleasure of killing in the consequence environment of a game that lasts an hour.

I think there's a lot of potential in this feature but it needs to be refined in a way that doesn't result in what can be called "casual genocide" - an unthinking execution of a an atrocity for no real purpose.

Asymmetric Violence

I woke up this morning thinking about fences. How I would set up fences to protect an entire town from the threat of casual genocide. I would create a few rooms near the entrance with pieces of paper instructing visitors to drop their backpack by a door, and then move away. Their backpack would be inspected and then given back to them and then they could enter. That way new visitors could be safely allowed entry into the society.

That's when I realized that I had recreated TSA.

Even given the threat of onslaught by a neighboring civilization, it seems an unreasonable leap to our present state of assuming everyone foreign must be treated like a dangerous killer in order for the safety of everyone else.

Really, that only came around when people had the ability to engage in massively asymmetrical violence. Bombs and automatic weapons.. In a real civilization, 2 people with swords would not be able to take down 20 people without swords. Because for humans even a tree branch can be used as a weapon - meaning in desperate times, even a farmer can have some combat effectiveness.

An army should be required for most aggressive combat, or waging a war with an advanced civilization, but everyday people should have some measure of defense.

Call to Arms

Someone had mentioned a watch tower to observe an approaching enemy - what if there was a "call to arms" bell that you could ring, which would render tall objects (gardening hoe, straight shaft) useful as defensive weapons which could disarm people brandishing swords for a short period of time? This could reduce the asymmetry of these weapons..

If a culture with little interest in war could still fend off an attack with this simple bell, then war would likely require a greater army to be successful - so perhaps this could work..

War Drum

While I'm playing armchair game designer, another thing that would make war require more consensus could be the addition of a war drum - you can't go to war without a war drummer!

He is the weak point of the attack - in order for swords to be used again, they must hear the beat of the war drum. If he's killed, the attack will pretty much have to be ended, and without him, any one individual is going to lack effectiveness.

Mass Sword Ownership

People have mentioned sheath for swords, which I like, but of course it can't be the only thing. It mirrors a society where you walk down the street and everyone has a gun with a holster. Far from feeling safe, you have the knowledge that at any moment an incredibly violent scene could break out with bullets flying all over the place. And even if it doesn't, that threat is always there.

I think the effect of living in a village where everyone has sheathed swords would be the same - a constant anxiety about the threat of genocide which manifests itself as hyper vigilance against invisible enemies.

Reasoned Conflict

Hmm.. Looking back, I'm realizing none of this addresses property, which is of course the goal of much of these changes. Yes we can use fences and private ownership to fend off genocidal terrorism - but that's a rather extreme use case!

I really am interested to see what happens if different civilizations are capable of harvesting different items from the earth. In that case, the only way other civilizations would be able to get certain things would be be from theft or trade, which seems to me a good recipe for private property.. and for reasoned conflicts among civilizations.