What are the rules of how much earth reference is allowed?

We can't wear jeans because of its threat to immersion, but what about various cultural (or subcultural) styles?

We have science textbooks, but what about sciency bits that use earth names, e.g. Einstein-Rosen bridge, Geiger-Muller counter, Newtonian Physics, Cherenkov Radiation, decibels?

Genetic classifications are in Hebrew and Hebrew abjad has been seen, but what language is it we are all speaking? Are other languages spoken on colonies, or bits or words of them? Do we know Beth is missing as a classification? Etc.

We can all sing and plunk on a piano but with several singers, a lounge, and a dance club possibly on their way what kind of music is allowed?

All of it seems like such a fine line.

From my perspective its always been that when we reference things like 'Einstein Rosen Bridge" we aren't associating these names with people just scientific law.

As for classifications... People (from FI especially) may be WELL aware of the missing classifications and furthermore why.

FOIG on that one... But trust me it was taken into account.

The question wasn't about it being missing, but more about what real world knowledge is available. I, as a human being that has been alive, know that the order is and furthermore I know an easy reason why Bet/Beth would be skipped/missed. The question is more "would characters know this"? It all touches on how much rl knowledge is known.

The way I've been playing a lot of this (including music, especially) is more like bardic traditions.
Music and songs and words get carried on. The meaning may fade or change with time, some things get forgotten, but word of mouth, older books being republished and expanded on, things like that. (And I think those of us who found/heard certain things in FI1 know the reasoning behind the skipping of various characters. Not sure f that'll be touched upon again...?)

I mean, clearly, we're not going to talk about the internet, or television sets, but things like the network and holovids are references. Years from now someone'll still know the words to Fly Me to the Moon, but I doubt in the huge span of time between now and hypothetical future, we might not remember Sinatra being the one who performed it.

Another general rule I know has come up for music before is "aim for the obscure". There are songs some people know well that get sung, and then some they don't.

And there's always the "if unsure, ask Staff, they can rule for it."

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Evelyn "Evie" Bowery
Biochemist, amateur lounge performer
Suddenly Cane Free

The rule I've been using is 'don't break immersion'. Corollary to that would be 'if you use something real-world but you can somehow make it immersive, you're not breaking immersion'.

There was a whole group in FI1 with Fear Factory songs as callsigns. That was mostly OK. If the entirety of game specifically were Fear Factory fans, or if they were using a more popular well-known set of songs as callsigns, that might have crossed a line.

I talk about Chinese cooking in-game. I don't call anything Szechuan*. I reference the scientific name of the specific chemical in Szechuan peppercorns that makes Szechuan food make your mouth numb. Is that real-world knowledge? Yeah, totally. But I sound like I learned my cooking from some Aleph biochemist, not from replicating stuff from Chinese restaurants.

I play a gun dork. I am kind of a Nerf dork OOG (though less than I used to be, honestly). Sometimes I talk about my guns with other IG gun dorks who are also OOG Nerf dorks. I try not to say things like "recon" or "rapidstrike"; I *try* to wrap them in some IG BS like "standard muzzle-loading Firestrike-class personal weapon" or "CS-capable full-auto Rapidstrike-class assault rifle".

Pretty much, if someone's going to be jarred out of immersion by you doing something referencing or utilizing real-world knowledge, think twice. You may do it anyway, it's probably not the end of the world, but at least think about it first. That pretty much stops most of it.

-- Jim
* or sichuan, more properly, thanks Wade-Giles, now go away

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timothy xavier

Yep!

I think Jim has the right idea.

You would probably know what "Newtonian Physics" are, but not that they were named after some specific person on a planet you've never heard of.

You would probably know of Hebrew as some alternate alphabet, but not by the specific name of Hebrew. Any real world 'lore' you know about Hebrew is probably no longer relevant in the world of FI, but knowing all the letters and their names is perfectly fine.

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Brian Paul!
-Prop Boss, Plot Team, Rules Comm, Other Stuff

To address the "what about classification?" question:

If there were Type A1, A2, C, D, and Z people, I'd probably say "Huh. Wonder why there is no B. I guess since there are 2 As they wanted to treat them equally and not have one 'better' than the other. Fuckin Alephs." I might think something like "Wonder if there's a type E person", and I guess I could call someone who's a Z but really super cool a Y, but I wouldn't say "I bet there are 21 hidden classifications, from E to Y, and an additional super-classification that is B, and the classification system's developer explicitly matched it with the mystical 26 letters of the Roman alphabet for, uh, Reasons", because with no other information, that would be stupid. (not to, like, spoil a plot from FI1 or anything)

-- Jim

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timothy xavier

Brian P Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You would probably know of Hebrew as some
> alternate alphabet, but not by the specific name
> of Hebrew. Any real world 'lore' you know about
> Hebrew is probably no longer relevant in the world
> of FI, but knowing all the letters and their names
> is perfectly fine.

This leaves out one very important bit of the language puzzle though: Would we, as colonists, have any reason to be able to translate the language-formerly-known-as-Hebrew? Knowing the letters and what they're called is one thing but knowing that a specific combination of letters makes a word that means "foo" in English/Common/Mother Tongue? is a leap that I was very unsure that I could/should make.

Thank you for the clarifications!

If someone has spelled out an English word in an alternate alphabet, you should have no trouble just translating it back.

Unless the Mistress of Plot says otherwise, I think you're fine.

I guess some people learned the "Ancient Alphabet of Homeworld" in their extracurricular history class.

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Brian Paul!
-Prop Boss, Plot Team, Rules Comm, Other Stuff

Sure.

Or they have robot translators!

Robots are pretty cool I hear.

Yes. Robots are very cool and we should all be nicer to them.