Ignore This!

[Pseudo_Unicorn]

 

((This was a bad joke, so just ignore it and move along))

 

 

*sharp inhale* SO.

 

Uh, yeah, I've kind of had this in the works since Vulpkanin came out, but, well, life finds a way happens. I've run this by Fox a few times just to make sure it's on the right track, and I feel at this point it's okay enough to gauge the forum's reaction.

 

Please do tell me what you think/provide feedback and criticisms/make awful Vulvakin jokes.

 

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The Vulpkanin are a species of mammalian humanoids, distinguished by their tails, pointed ears, and coats of fur. Vulpkanin come from the world of Altam, an Earth-like planet and its surrounding colonies. With technology roughly on par with the Skrell, they are expansionistic and eagerly promote technological and scientific advancement.

 

Additional Information: Altam, the Vulpkanin home world, in the Vazzend System. Their three largest colonies are Eis, Einode, and Angriff, a trio of terraformed planets in the same system.

 

 

OVERVIEW

 

NAMING

Vulpkanin most often have naming conventions that are strikingly similar to those of humans. Often times their family names are complex and multisyllabic.

 

BEHAVIOUR

To say Vulpkanin are often 'clique-y' is an understatement. Group loyalty and closure is often of great importance. The average Vulpkanin is a social butterfly, competitive and proud, with a nasty streak that's just as likely to result in a foul rumor being spread as it is a punch to their nose.

 

Games of one-upmanship are common amongst them, as are friendly (And not so friendly) rivalries, many of which can go completely unspoken and entirely one-sided.

 

Often times Vulpkanin may come off as frivolous and easily distracted, and they are often eager to drag their friends (Or those who's friendship they wish for) off to partake in their revelry.

 

Older, more traditional Vulpkanin are not only less common outside of their own solar system, but also lack the frenetic energy and enthusiasm of their younger compatriots. More often than not, they are concerned about the image they might give those of other races, and put on airs of refinement and professionalism. Rarely is it that they will deign for a job or task that is ‘beneath them’.

 

BACKGROUND

First contact with the Vulpkanin was made by Humans and Skrell. An advance Sol Gov exploratory research team was captured and held for three months by a Vulpkanin fleet, during which occurred furious negotiations (And whispers and worries of potential war). This was made increasingly difficult by the language barrier. Though the research team was released, tensions remain moderately high amongst the three species.

 

Though association with the Sol Government is troublesome at best, Vulpkanin have gladly brokered deals and contracts with corporations such as Nanotrasen, far from Solgov's prying eyes. Breaking the isolation that endured throughout their last war, many enterprising young Vulpkanin have spread to the furthest reaches of the galaxy. Already used to the corporate lifestyle, many of them have, of course, flocked to the likes of Nanotrasen.

 

POLITICS

Initially an assortment of monarchies, democratic republics, and dictatorships; After the explosive deaths of most of Altam's world leaders, all during the tragic crash landing of its space-faring flagship into its capital city, the planet's many corporations stepped in, prepared to render aid and to rebuild the now war-torn planet

 

Indeed, nowadays united Altam could officially be considered a corporate republic, one that holds a very strict 'Vulpkanin-run only' policy on its surface. Non-Vulpkanin wishing to engage politically and economically on Altam's surface often find themselves up to their necks in red tape and paperwork.

 

MILITARY

Altam, after its last civil war, has found itself largely without a standing army and instead, is host to a vast number of mercenary companies, many of whom are on the payroll of the planet’s many corporations. Many Vulpkanin over the age of forty are war veterans, male and female alike, and for a high percentage, military life is largely all that they've known for most of their adult years.

 

It is mostly known for its wet-work tactics and acts of sabotage. Indeed, the Altam royal fleet crash site (Former site of its largest city, and now the planet's largest crater), stands as a lasting testament to this.

 

CULTURE

The Vulpkanin, still recovering from the aftermath of a planet-wide civil war, have also found themselves amid a shift in culture and outlook, particularly amongst their youth. Adventure and 'seeking one's own fortune' are lauded, an optimistic upturn from the somber reality that had been the civil war. Neon seems like it will never go out of style and indeed will often be incorporated into their clothing and hair colors. (Indeed, expensive glowing tattoos and hair implants are all the rage amongst the youth.)

 

Music with anti-war sentiment is popular, as are songs that are critical of Vulpkanin politics and government. Musically, they favor it loud and percussive, no matter the genre. If your ears aren’t ringing by the end, you aren’t doing it right. Their national anthem is a three hour long opera which includes a re-enactment of their twenty fifth civil war and a battery of cannons fired in sequence.

 

A more... Disturbing trend has appeared as the Vulp have integrated into the galaxy at large. The idea that Vulpkanin are less a race and more a 'culture' as a whole. One needn't be born a Vulpkanin to be one of them, they say. Embrace their culture. Interbreed. Maybe engage in a few... Genetic alterations. Anyone can become part of the esteemed Vulpkanin Empire.

 

ETHNICITIES

Vulpkanin most commonly fit into one of three 'sub-species'. They are most often very easy to tell apart. Hybrids, however, do occur. (And are often subject to a plethora of discrimination.)

 

*Vulpini: Usually what one pictures when they think of the Vulpkanin race. They sport a bushy tail and resemble an Earth fox. Many Vulpini pride themselves on their pedigrees and breed.

 

*Canini: Vulpkanin who resembles wolves, jackals, and other such 'wild' canids. A large number of them populate the 'lower class' of Vulpkanin civilization and they are often stereotyped as 'dirty' or violent.

 

*Domestic: These Vulpkanin resemble domesticated dogs, such as huskies or golden retrievers. Most often the 'middle class' of Vulpkanin society.

 

TECHNOLOGY

Roughly on par with Humanity and Skrell-kind, Vulpkanin specialize particularly in terraforming technology, which they have used to great effect during their expansion. Angriff, their latest colony, was formerly a volcanic, uninhabitable planet and nowadays is reported as having a similar atmosphere and climate to the Unathi home planet, a vast, scorching desert. 'Un-ideal', as Vulpkanin scientists have stated, 'but a step in the right direction'. Vulpkanin have found IPCs immensely fascinating, and it is said they have their own line in the works, albeit as 'something more palatable to the Vulpkanin aesthetic', or so says the CEO of Altam’s foremost robotics company, Chelm Technologies.

 

TENANTS OF VULPKANIN SOCIETY:

1. Family

Family comes first. Honor your elders and brothers. There is no greater dishonor than abandoning your blood in their time of need. Avenge harm done to them swiftly and without mercy.

 

2. Knowledge & Technology (Editted for clarity/sensibility)

Knowledge and technology are the backbone of the Vulpkanin Empire and the key to our advancement through the stars. Share them not with the outsider, save for when they offer something equal or greater in return.

 

3. Expansion

The Vulpkanin empire is vast and its people numerous. A constant eye must be kept out for inhabitable planets and systems.

 

4. Dignity

Public appearance above all. Scheming, plotting, and violence are to be kept behind closed doors.

 

Edited April 26, 2016 by Guest

[Arthur_Dayne]

 

Hahahaha no

 

Like dude why don't you just write "they're super cool and are the best at everything lol"

 

[ProperPants]

 

2. Knowledge & Technology

Knowledge is power and thus should never be freely shared. The acquisition of knowledge and new tech is amongst the most noble of pursuits.

The acquisition of knowledge and new tech is amongst the most noble of pursuits.

 

lmao

 

[Pseudo_Unicorn]

 

Hahahaha no

 

Like dude why don't you just write "they're super cool and are the best at everything lol"

... How are they the best at everything? Literally the one thing they do well is terraforming tech.

 

[Pseudo_Unicorn]

 

2. Knowledge & Technology

Knowledge is power and thus should never be freely shared. The acquisition of knowledge and new tech is amongst the most noble of pursuits.

The acquisition of knowledge and new tech is amongst the most noble of pursuits.

 

lmao

What? Seriously, what? Did I word it weirdly or something?

 

[ProperPants]

 

What? Seriously, what? Did I word it weirdly or something?

lolno. I'm just salty because Fox keeps making updates that, regardless of people's opinion of them, literally make research (i.e. acquiring knowledge) and making new tech more tedious and difficult.

 

It's kinda a loose connection because obviously he isn't a Vulp IRL but still.

 

An actual critique is I don't personally like the subspecies thing. Unathi don't have "gecko, monitor lizard, chameleon" subspecies, for example. Skrell don't have "frog, toad, salamander." It just seems too... weird. I generally dislike when alien species in any sci-fi universe are "Earth animal, but with human shape," so maybe it's just me.

 

[Mijhead]

How does a race become technologically advanced if they believe that knowledge shouldn't be freely accessable because "Knowledge = power"? It seems to me that that would be incredibly counter-productive to advancement. Why is acquiring knowledge considered noble in the previous perspective? Wouldn't it be equal to seeking just power with this philosophy?

[Pseudo_Unicorn]

 

How does a race become technologically advanced if they believe that knowledge shouldn't be freely accessable because "Knowledge = power"? It seems to me that that would be incredibly counter-productive to advancement. Why is acquiring knowledge considered noble in the previous perspective? Wouldn't it be equal to seeking just power with this philosophy?

*squint* Hn, fair point. I believe I worded that quite poorly.

 

They certainly don't HORDE such things, it's simply not freely shared. Maybe it's just best if I take that tidbit out, since I uh, can't quite figure out a decent way to word it that doesn't sound paradoxical.

 

[NTSAM]

 

...and it is said they have their own line in the works, albeit as 'something more palatable to the Vulpkanin aesthetic',

 

*audibly winces*

... and i thought human body parts were bad enough

 

emp it all

 

Edited April 26, 2016 by Guest

[Pseudo_Unicorn]

 

...and it is said they have their own line in the works, albeit as 'something more palatable to the Vulpkanin aesthetic',

 

*audibly winces*

... and i thought human body parts were bad enough

They'd be horrible.

 

Polished silver, near-featureless fox robots with LED seams.

 

[LiquidNightfury]

This is gross. Way to embody everything wrong with the vulpkanin trend in a bare wrapping of light fluff.

[FlattestGuitar]

 

UHHHHH.... please no?

My thoughts:

 

BEHAVIOUR

blerb

 

Lore cannot dictate behaviour in any way. We can't force Vulpkanin to be "cliquey" and we definitely shouldn't encourage that.

 

ETHNICITIES

blerb

 

Can we not make them dog people? As silly as that sounds, their looks should be everthing they have in common with actual dogs. Saying an ethnicity of Vulpkanin "pride themselves on their pedigrees and breed" is taking the gimmick WAY too far.

 

TECHNOLOGY

blerb

 

I don't even know what's happening here with the vulpkanin IPCs... make it go away.

 

CULTURE

The idea that Vulpkanin are less a race and more a 'culture' as a whole. One needn't be born a Vulpkanin to be one of them, they say. Embrace their culture. Interbreed.

(????????)

 

Why would something like this be mentioned on our beloved PG-13 wiki? I don't think that's how space genetics work anyway, soooo, yeah....

 

Don't take it personally - I really dislike the whole thing.

 

Also, we already have a lore here waiting for approval, which Neca said is somehow progressing.

 

[Pseudo_Unicorn]

 

H'okay. Flattest.

 

1. I'm just writing some basic 'stereotype' shit. It's not some ground rules on how Vulpkanin have to behave.

 

2. .... They're fucking animal people. It's like saying Tajaran aren't cat people. Give me a break.

 

3. It was some fun fluff. I'm not aiming for actual IPC additions. Christ. It was just some musings on Vulpkanin society being egotistical.

 

4. Whoops, my mistake? Oh no, a race breeds. It's not like I was detailing their damned mating rituals or whatever.

 

'S funny that you're saying there's lore awaiting approval. I've spoken with Fox, you know, one of the dudes that designed the race? He didn't seem to know anything about that.

 

Aaand Liquid. Good critique. Excellent. Lovely.

 

[LiquidNightfury]

 

I shall elaborate, then. A piece of lore should not exist to stereotype, restrain, or explain the behavior of the players of the topic in question, and this has done all three. The term pandering comes to mind, but even if implemented this document would ultimately result in zero sum as you have provided naught to the picture save for naming conventions and a political standpoint summed up in two paragraphs.

 

A well-written piece of lore should be elaborate and broad enough to encourage and spark inspiration. THIS is the thing this piece lacks. While you provide a well enough list of traits to explain the current population onboard the cyberiad, there is no hint of inspiration here, and nothing to spark interest or creation in a player looking for a hook from which to hang their design.

 

In short, there is nothing here. The generality of the piece provides mere sentences of variation and unique traits, and what is generalized isn't interesting. They do not feel remotely as foreign as any foreign body from space would. They could be human if you shifted a few dozen terms. For example, the diona were found in the form of a massive spacefaring cluster around a star. The IPC race are in the latter stages of a civil war for recognised rights. The vox are born as LARVAE, and evolve into strange bird creatures within hidden arkships in deep space, capable of uploading the minds of the dead into new bodies.

 

Comparatively, your article provides stark little to base a character off of, whether it be culturally, historically or behaviorally. The word pandering comes to mind, and in short, it is not a favorable trend that your article pushes.

 

[Pseudo_Unicorn]

 

There, was that hard?

 

It's so fucking irritating that people can't be arsed to actually say anything outside of shitty, insulting one-liners.

 

Anyway, this was clearly a mistake. So, whatever.

 

[LiquidNightfury]

 

I apologise, and I don't mean to offend when I say this, but it is very difficult to regard this as legitimate.

 

Perhaps you should actually take the feedback of people who have given it and improve your piece instead of simply declaring this a mistake and moving past it.

 

[MindLeaker]

 

First and foremost, I feel there's no need for this as official lore by admins is "in the worksTM".

 

My hope is that the admins understand the predicament that the various races are in and plan accordingly, I doubt any of us can do alone what should be done as an entire group. I'm don't want pick on you but this is an example of what happens when lore is decided on by too few people who haven't multiple points of view on how the race should more in a lore sense..

 

I'm trying to put this gently, but this only further justifies the absolutely shoddy quality of various Vulpakanin roleplayers, I'm not saying all fall under that category, but the entire "Behaviour" section reeks of this select group's shortcomings. And I don't think the server would want, or should want to move in that direction.

 

Honestly, and this is advice to any further aspiring lore-writers, not only Pseudo_Unicorn, leave it to the admins, they (hopefully) will rectify some of my worries with their varied opinions and experiences.

 

[KasparoVv]

 

I thought it was a pretty pleasant read, haha. Well written, that's for sure. You guys are much too serious and, as usual, I've found the comments to be a bigger joke than what the actual joke was to begin with. Suggestion section's been pretty edgy lately.

 

I'm surprised you remembered that one comment about the Vulpkanin cybernetics thing, haha.

 

Great work writing this, I thought it was bloody hilarious and that it made a lot of sense in many interesting ways. If all seems lost, this should probably be moved to General so it doesn't get buried and can be enjoyed.

 

I found the part about the 'subspecies' especially interesting. The way you wrote this certainly incorporates many of the current Vulpkanin players' takes on the species and the way you wove all those aspects together into this one piece was astoundingly well done, lmao.

 

No regrets. I think it's mint, regardless of what it ends up as.

 

Edited April 27, 2016 by Guest

[Regen]

 

At this point I don't care if fox likes the outcome of the final lore or not

 

He's had half a year to look over it and never shown any public activity of working on it, only given minor feedback on it.

 

[MindLeaker]

 

At this point I don't care if fox likes the outcome of the final lore or not

 

He's had half a year to look over it and never shown any public activity of working on it, only given minor feedback on it.

 

Good. Nobody should have absolute authority on overturning something. A staff or community consensus is desirable, no matter how much of a fuss the person kicks up

 

Please, get the admins, or even the Wiki Dev team, focusing on this issue, as it's been a problem that has been here for far too long, and as I said only further justified players like the infamous "Rachy Wolfe"

 

[Shadeykins]

 

As a fun side note, we already have a written/reasonably polished lore waiting for approval/feedback...

 

http://nanotrasen.se/wiki/index.php/Shadeyboo

 

Still been waiting on this to be pushed live, or reviewed and given actual feedback on. The only reason it hasn't thus far is because Fox/FoS refuse to even look at it whatsoever despite repeated PM's, direct messages on discord, direct linking through ahelps/bringing it to their attention on OOC, and even getting EarthDivine (and several other admins) to put it forward to them. (Fox just refuses to even acknowledge it/respond to any attempt by any person to make him read it. Why we need his approval, I don't know.).

 

For reference, this has been sitting waiting approval for over five months now without Fox/FoS or a single headmin (aside from EarthDivine) taking a look over it.

 

The "Wiki Dev Team" has been focused on it, but the actual lore page in and of itself is locked and can only be edited by Regens as we're waiting on "approval" or "feedback".

 

AFAIK, the lore as it is has already secured approval from EarthDivine, Tully and Heretic (if I remember correctly). I have received no information/feedback from anyone else on the administrative roster who may have looked at it.

 

[Regen]

 

As a fun side note, we already have a written/reasonably polished lore waiting for approval/feedback...

 

http://nanotrasen.se/wiki/index.php/Shadeyboo

 

Still been waiting on this to be pushed live, or reviewed and given actual feedback on. The only reason it hasn't thus far is because Fox/FoS refuse to even look at it whatsoever despite repeated PM's, direct messages on discord, direct linking through ahelps/bringing it to their attention on OOC, and even getting EarthDivine (and several other admins) to put it forward to them. (Fox just refuses to even acknowledge it/respond to any attempt by any person to make him read it. Why we need his approval, I don't know.).

 

For reference, this has been sitting waiting approval for over five months now without Fox/FoS or a single headmin (aside from EarthDivine) taking a look over it.

 

The "Wiki Dev Team" has been focused on it, but the actual lore page in and of itself is locked and can only be edited by Regens as we're waiting on "approval" or "feedback".

 

AFAIK, the lore as it is has already secured approval from EarthDivine, Tully and Heretic (if I remember correctly). I have received no information/feedback from anyone else on the administrative roster who may have looked at it.

 

This should be resolved once we have cleared up some lore stuff internally, and for the record, Fox / FoS "refusing" the lore is no longer relevant.