Imperium Communication Examples?

[totgeboren]

I remember reading somewhere that astropathic messages can be traced, that each Astropath that relays the messages sort of adds their signature to the message they send on.

I have also read that they enter a sort of trance when relaying, and since all Astropaths undergo the same training, they might all have a standardized system for common things like numbers and such.

So conveying a time and date could still be done by visions and emotions, and the end result would be a sort of fax-like message. Though perhaps the emotions of the Astropath might contaminate the message?

Say he or she is calling for aid against Orks. The images and visions that make up the text message might be jumbled in a green sea with axes floating like driftwood. A skilled Astropath would be able to separate out the contamination due to the astropaths emotions (fear of the orks), but a newb might get confused.

 

I sort of like the standardized vision-transmission system, it feels more warp-and-40k than them working like precise fax machines.

[Eddie Orlock]

The header info shows up in lots of the old 2nd/3rd Ed books, but I don’t know of any online. Here’s an example I did recently that’s based off of the formula from those books, tho:

++++Transmitted: Johnseh Reach Research Station

+++++++Received: Gehenna Prime

++++Destination: Karteg’s World

+++++++++++Date: 3799984.M41

Telepathic Duct: Astropath-terminus Belphagor

++++++++++++Ref: Aeth/20486211/RV

+++++++++Author: Interrogator Cardoc Io, Theta Class

Encryption Type: CIIX5-802b.237

 

Thought For The Day: Obedience is its own reward

Okay, I usually interpreted those not as the actual astropathic transmission, but as the quasi-STC file header attached to the logged interpretation of the transmission. Or, more generally, the quasi-STC header attached to most official documentation of the Imperium.

 

I also figured that an enormous amount of communication in the Imperium is done by essentially snail-mail. Routine reports are loaded into physical databases and those are semi-regularly collected and distributed by some mix of dedicated Navy couriers and chartist captains in the course of their normal rounds.

 

A trace artifact that the setting was written in the 80's and that while you might sometimes send an urgent fax (astropathic transmission), if you wanted to send a book, or even just a post-card, you just put it in the mail and everyone waited.

 

--------------------

 

Also, the linguistic drift in High Gothic can fairly easily be assumed as controlled because all Astropaths are trained in the centralised system near Sol where, during their graduation, their eyes get burnt out by unmitigated exposure to the Emperor's magnificence.

 

Speaking of this, is there any mention of how they plan to get new astropaths to the Nihillus? Does this simply mean they've got maybe a couple of centuries before they can't rejuve their existing astropaths and it finally goes dark and is functionally lost, broken upon the rocks of poorly contemplated plot advancement?

[Kinstryfe]

I actually imagine that just like the Ecclesiarchy monitors societies for purity of thought and deed regarding the state religion, and the Arbites for purity of adherence to Imperial state law, there must be a similar bureau in existence which monitors linguistic drift in the Imperium and makes sure that all human worlds maintain an ability to communicate. Low Gothic and local languages, who cares, but I imagine that High Gothic is the only official state language. Want to apply for a writ of transportation to get licensed to carry cargo from one world to another? I'm sure the forms are written in and responses accepted only in High Gothic. Sending a request for munitorium aid due to high rates of fighting off Xenos raiders? Again, probably only in High Gothic. Anything else is likely dismissed as gobbledegook and the request ignored. I can honestly imagine agents of the Officio Lingua routinely inspecting schools, interviewing high ranking officials, and ordering purges or reeducation of any populace who carries a risk of linguistic drift or fostering inability to communicate with the rest of the Imperium...

 

And just like that, I think I need to model up and create an Inquisitorial Warband based on that premise...

[Azekai]

I can just imagine Radical Ordo Lingo inquisitors making use of feared and reviled sanctioned Esperanto speakers.

[Kinstryfe]

I can just imagine Radical Ordo Lingo inquisitors making use of feared and reviled sanctioned Esperanto speakers.

Really? I'm imagining radicals embracing the dreaded emoji. I'm thinking a smiley face with the 8 chaos spikes coming out of it. Especially with it being canon that certain human producable sounds are capable of exploding with warp energy via Nuncia (sp?). Though it makes you wonder what old, warp addled astropaths end up sending now and then.

[Ryltar Thamior]

To echo what's been said earlier, for 'visual formatting' references I'd probably be looking in White Dwarfs from the mid-late 3rd Edition era [so, lik,e 240s, 250s, 260s, 270s etc.] ; I definitely recall a few instances of exactly what the OP's talking about cropping up in those. The general rubric was a 'header' in the style that Lexington posted, and with a customary visual presentation of Matrix-green text on a black field, overlaying a much fainter-green grid - all often encased in a faux-metal border of some description, possibly to represent a data-slate

I might go fossick round for a trip down memory lane in my archives later, but I definitely recall some missives appearing in White Dwarf in that general style in connection with the Voice of the Emperor plot-element from the Eye of Terror worldwide campaign. 

Now as for the questions about keeping High Gothic intelligible across a reasonably broad swathe of the Imperium ... I would note that there's quite some real-world reasonable precedence for the  elements which owuld make such a thing possible.

I mean, the obvious example which springs to mind is Sanskrit - while there *has* been a certain amount of linguistic evolution over the millennia, RigVedic era Sanskrit is still pretty intelligible to a modern listener [provided, of course, that one speaks Sanskrit]; albeit with some issues around a) the complex portmanteaus in it (which can make for difficulty working out when something's one word versus a conjuncted two or more words meaning something different), and the precise meanings of a number of the idioms, mythological allusions and suchlike found in the ancient hymns. 

Although even notwithtsanding point , you still have a situation today wherein particular tracts - and their somewhat more modernly (i.e. Puranic/Post-Puranic era)-imported/interpreted meanings - can be instantly conveyed by quoting the relevant phrase (often replete with embedded theological commentary via those aforementioned mythological references in the text being quoted itself). Even, and perhaps especially if both parties are somewhat ignorant of the line's original meaning

Which is arguably how communication in High Gothic would work in the Imperium at large. It doesn't necessarily matter if the 'content'/meaning communicated with given elements of form has wildly shifted over the intervening twenty thousand years or however long it's been since High Gothic became a thing during the Dark Age of Technology , provided that i) the *form itself* remains reasonably consistent and ii) that the scope and span/spectrum o finterpretations to agiven kernel of "form" are finite and rationally derivable from shared starting points. 

Now that will, of course, leave ample scope for two forge-worlds at opposite ends of a stellar realm starting an internecine civil war over their respective deeply embedded ddifferences of interpretation based around their respective Canons of Interpolation, even if htings actually work out meaning the same thing *anyway* ... but that's 1) very appropriate for 40k, and 2) pretty much par for the course with historical religious instances here in the real-world, so excellent storytelling opportuniies abound.

And in any csae, half the time High Gothic bits and pieces seem to be being used less for communicating meaning than for either putting into ceremonial stuff like architectural relief etc. , or for interfacing with high-technology that requires a command language [or, at the least, which hteo peratoor *thinks* requires a command language...] 

Oh and the other potential precedence is French - wherein quite some effort goes into maintaining the 'purity' of the language and preventing L'Hovercraft or "Le Weekend" etc. from becoming the norm; replete, if i recall, with not just an Academe officially charged with working on this sort of thing, but legal provision for fines and such for people who choose to use the "unapproved" calques of things instead of the officialy sanctioned forms. 

Bringing it back to astropathic communication in the dream-sesne for a moment .. I think i might recall mention in fluff somewhere of Astropaths being issued with symbolic dictionaries of sorts [oneironics? ] , containing standard symbols and interpretations of dreams in a manner that would, i suppose, possibly owe something to Jung et co [if you wanted to get creative with your in-universe fleshing-out project]; however I think the same book noted that some Astropaths would have personal 'signatures', or specific spins on symbols, and it could be an interesting way to pass a 'secret' message embedded in a plain(er) sight(notwithstanding the blindness thing) one. 

This actually has some workable parallels in the operation of Old Norse [which, in a manner similar to Sanskrit, remains surprisingly intelligible to modern speakers of its closely related descendent-tongue, Icelandic - thus producing some pretty cool idiomatic usage for modern technology, althoug hI digress], wherein the art of the Kenning - the poetic allusion or metaphor used in lieu of a direct mention or the name of the thing itself is extremely common and creatively employed. 

For instance, the relatively straightforwad use of terms like "whale-road" instead of "ocean"; and quite an array of interestingly blood-spattered terms for swords, warriors, and the like - as one would presumably expect.

Now where this becomes arguably relevant for your purposes, is if you want to flesh out messages via the 'astropathic dream-transmission' method, so t ospeak, it might be quite a useful source of inspiration for dream-metaphors to go through a list of Old Germanic kennings ['knowings'] to render in evocative and illuminative imagery in a dream-journal of sorts for an Astropath. 

[M@verik115]

This is more varied than you think. 
There are thousands if not millions of languages in the imperium, but there are 2 primary ones which bind it. 
These being high and low gothic. 
High gothic is the official language of the imperium, which is usually only spoken by the elite of the imperium's society (governors, commanders, astropaths etc.)
The common imperial citizen is expected to know low gothic, which is what makes world to world and regiment to regiment communication possible. 
Low gothic is our version of english in that most of the world's population speak it, but then they have their own languages to boot. 

[Kinstryfe]

This is more varied than you think. 

There are thousands if not millions of languages in the imperium, but there are 2 primary ones which bind it. 

These being high and low gothic. 

High gothic is the official language of the imperium, which is usually only spoken by the elite of the imperium's society (governors, commanders, astropaths etc.)

The common imperial citizen is expected to know low gothic, which is what makes world to world and regiment to regiment communication possible. 

Low gothic is our version of english in that most of the world's population speak it, but then they have their own languages to boot.

 

True, but it would be virtually impossible and nearly pointless to keep spoken Low Gothic understandable from world to world. Very likely High Gothic as well but to a lesser degree. With the example of English, even in the same general geographic area vernacular can creep in that starts making no sense outside of it, and can cause permenant changes over time, and one thing the Imperium makes great use of is time. I'm a native English speaker, and it's quite likely I could either barely read or not at all read English as it was written a couple hundred years ago, let alone speak with someone using it as such. Add accents from local languages into the mix, and I have to imagine that your average Imperial citizen probably speaks any form of Gothic absolutely horribly. Though it does raise the question of whether your average citizen is even literate, or do they just speak the local language? I think the best case scenario would be that a highborn citizen of World A and a midlevel factory manager from World B may be able to pass some written notes along, but I don't know how much else it would entail without translator servitors. Or maybe everyone does just get Gothic beaten into them from a young age and the Imperium has cured illiteracy :) That would be a nice twist in such a crummy setting.

[Lord_Caerolion]

Just take a look at cockney rhyming slang for how much languages can change, while ostensibly remaining the same.

 

In regards to the literacy question, the previous 40k rpg books (Dark Heresy etc) certainly didn't portray literacy as a given. I think it'd be a case of any members of the Adeptus Terra would be certain to be given literacy training in Low Gothic and potentially High, depending on their rank. General civilians are probably more dependent on the local customs. After all, it's not like those Death Worlds are going to have good schools, or those Underhivers either.

[apologist]

Another one of my silly projects involves simulating long-range communication between Imperium outposts - think world to world or capital ship to station style messages.

Are there in-universe examples of this style of communication? How does it LOOK? What kind of language do they use? The only lore example I have access to / knowledge of is the brief messaging back and forth at the beginning of the Space Marine video game. How consistent is this portrayal to other lore representations?

 

With the proviso that 'it's a big sandpit', so you can pretty much make anything up; visually speaking, you can rely on standard sci-fi tropes – glowing text on black screens, a flashing cursor etc. – mashed up with mediaeval visuals: messengers scurrying around with hand-lettered scrolls etc. I always liked the idea of musical communication, myself – a harmony makes it easier to identify corruption; and a message with an overlaid chant is both atmospheric and would serve both a practical and spiritual purpose.

 

It also depends on your definition of long-range. I'd picture ship-to-ship communications as outlined above, but if you want to go beyond communication within system (i.e. instead across astronomical distances), then the visuals disappear a bit. One of the themes of the galaxy is the sheer size, isolation and fragility of the Imperium. Just as all inter-system travel is predicated on the Navigators, so any and all communication between systems is via astrotelepathy only:

 

The Adeptus Astra Telepathica are commonly known as Astropaths - their role within the lmperium is one of communication. As the Imperium is so vast the only practical means of communication is by telepathy, and telepathy over interstellar distances can be achieved only by the Astropath.

 

An Astropath is an Astro-telepath, an individual capable of communicating with others of his kind over vast interstellar distances. In the Age of the Imperium, where worlds are light-years apart, this is the only practical means of communication. For this reason the network of Astropaths is very important to the lmperium, and every spacecraft, research station, outpost, etc, has its own Astropath. Even small planets need hundreds of these useful servants, while large worlds may have thousands and Earth itself is home to tens of thousands.

 

The form this communication takes is vague. The nearest description we get is some colour text for the Astrotelepathy psychic power:

 

[Astrotelepathy] is an extremely long-range telepathy that permits Astropaths to receive and transmit messages over distances up to so thousand light years. The message must be brief, taking a single turn to transmit and receive, and being no longer than 10 words. The use of this ability is successful only 50% of the time. Messages are often distorted or lost.

 

Since then, we've seen astrotelepathy depicted in more detail, particularly in the more recent Horus Heresy novels, as relying on interpretation of emotional concepts. Just as the warp is portrayed as maddening and indescribable to all save a navigator, so astrotelepathy is a qualiative experience, that cannot properly be described to a non-astropath beyond vague descriptions of emotions and images. In terms of visuals, then, it's like describing 'red' to a blind person – impossible without reference to itself.

 

Whether you prefer the latter approach of emotions to literal interplanetary text messages, I suggest that you use the datascreen/scroll approach and explain that it's an interpreted summary ready to present to a non-astropath.

 

+++

On a related note, Rogue Trader contained the following author's note on language:

 

The common language of the lmperium is represented in the book by English, proper names have been rendered in an anglicised form. Many of the titles of ancient institutions and organisations are presented as Latinised English (such as the Adeptus Terra). This represents an older tongue, itself a development of Twentieth century languages, not necessarily Latin as such.

 

This older tongue Is known in the lmperium as 'Tech', being a version of the language In which technical manuals and ancient works are recorded. This language developed during the Dark Age of Technology (in fact a golden age from the point of view of science - it Is only dark in the minds of the men who now fear it). It derives from the common tongue of the time, an assimilation of English, European and Pacific which developed over many centuries in the American/Pacific region. This was the universal medium of written record until the Age of Strife, and was spoken as a first language by many and as a second language by almost everyone. Its idioms and vocabulary now appear archaic and mystic, many of its words have acquired religious significance over the years. It is the language of the techpriests and of forbidden books.

 

The common tongue of the Age of the lmperium Is spoken as a first language on almost all civilised planets, and is accepted as a second language on planets within Imperial control with the exception of some medieval and feral worlds. This is a bastardised version of Tech, combining additional elements from several of the oriental languages of Ancient Earth. Over the millennia it has changed greatly, and now bears almost no resemblance to the tongues from which it derived. Although a common language, it varies from planet to planet (and even from region to region) so that it Is not always easy for two characters to communicate if they are from different worlds.

 

Medieval, feral and worlds suffering from long periods of isolation may have several indigenous languages derlved either from Tech or one of the ancient Earth tongues. lt was quite common during the Dark Age of Technology for worlds to be settled by small communities of 'isolationists'. These eccentric groups were often self-financed and their journeys unrecorded, many were of racial minorities attempting to recreate a sense of national identity away from the overpopulated Earth. Some of these groups made a deliberate attempt to revive long dead or moribund languages, perceiving them as a source of national identity and communal strength.

 

This is, of course, very much of its time, so take it cum grano salis, but the basic premise of 'Tech', 'bastardised Tech' (later changed to High Gothic and Low Gothic) plus local languages remains the same. As M@verick115 says, they're equivalent to (but not literally) Latin and English today – the former is a near universally-accepted method of communication (for example, in botany, biology and ritual), but not day-to-day speech for anyone beyond exceptional cases – the Vatican City for Latin and Terra for High Gothic; while the latter is spoken by the majority of the galaxy; though this may vary from fluency to a second language to a vague pidgin, depending on the region/planet.

[Eddie Orlock]

... it's like describing 'red' to a blind person – impossible without reference to itself. ...

I've witnessed 'Red' described to a blind man at a post secondary level. It was a fairly technical discussion that mostly revolved around physics concepts and analogous wavelength variations. To provide a working analogue a tone generator was used to compare it to sound and the relative map of the perceptible audio spectrum to the commonly perceptible visual one. I'm given to understand that partially from that framework my fellow student successfully passed that portion of his coursework.

 

Though it does raise the question of whether your average citizen is even literate, or do they just speak the local language? I think the best case scenario would be that a highborn citizen of World A and a midlevel factory manager from World B may be able to pass some written notes along, but I don't know how much else it would entail without translator servitors. Or maybe everyone does just get Gothic beaten into them from a young age and the Imperium has cured illiteracy That would be a nice twist in such a crummy setting.

So, I got some good news for you, if you examine much of the older setting artwork, you'll find relatively frequent instances of graffiti using intelligible language. Which implies that the social strata which would be inclined to graffiti things in the first place, your street punks, at the very least generally possess basic literacy.

 

Regarding interplanetary communication, would it surprise you to learn that the Adepta Sororita has an entire branch of their organisation devoted to studying and facilitating this? The Ordos Dialogous. Specialists, among other things, in the translations of the myriads of common lounges of the Imperium and beyond.

 

If you were writing an RPG, how would you handle the question of your random assortment of planet hopping characters communicating with the locals? I vaguely recall that SpellJammer just extrapolated from normal D&D and presumed everyone was fluent in 'Common'.

[Azekai]

This discussion is getting weird.

As for whether Imperial citizens can typically read/write, I think that is wholly dependent on the nature on where they are located. On civilized worlds, sure. On a feudal world the ability to read or write not likely a to be a common skill. 

[Mileposter]

The header info shows up in lots of the old 2nd/3rd Ed books, but I don’t know of any online. Here’s an example I did recently that’s based off of the formula from those books, tho:

 

++++Transmitted: Johnseh Reach Research Station

+++++++Received: Gehenna Prime

++++Destination: Karteg’s World

+++++++++++Date: 3799984.M41

Telepathic Duct: Astropath-terminus Belphagor

++++++++++++Ref: Aeth/20486211/RV

+++++++++Author: Interrogator Cardoc Io, Theta Class

Encryption Type: CIIX5-802b.237

 

Thought For The Day: Obedience is its own reward

I've seen a few of these type things in the Liber - I would infer that this is the inspiration for those.

 

I'm almost ready to showcase what has been built with this project, but before I do I really would like to see a few additional examples of this header style used or a breakdown of what information is included.

[Mileposter]

So here's the project that I'm putting this thought and information into:

 

http://indexmechanicus.com/servitor/feed

 

It is only beta-live at the moment, so only this link/address will work at present.

 

Based on the information and feedback here, I've gone for a 'datafeed' style appearance from a Comm Relay Servitor. So this should be after the Astropaths have already received the communication, and it it's part of the feed as the Astropaths dictate it to the Servitor.

 

The project only currently has three Lorem Ipsum comm messages, one commentary by the Servitor, and three data alert style messages. It's a testing phase, after all. The system randomly selects a message to display (everyone sees the same message), then waits between 30 seconds and 5 minutes before selecting another at random to transmit.

 

Right now, all of the information is one sided - that is, it's entirely the Servitor's transcriptions. The feed doesn't show any responses to communications that could be received or any results thereof. This is the part of the 'look and feel' I'm trying to decide on what to capture. There is also currently no color in the formatting. It's bare bones, basic, testing beginnings.

 

How dumb an idea is this? How can I improve it? Is this something that looks interesting to you?

[Mileposter]

... Lack of dream sequences kills the thread?

[Bryan Blaire]

What are you intending this for?

 

Personally, if it's something a servitor has already entered, then it should just come up whole.

[Lord_Caerolion]

It looks pretty good, so far. 

[Mileposter]

What are you intending this for?

 

Personally, if it's something a servitor has already entered, then it should just come up whole.

I don't know what I'm intending this for. I have no clue what I'm doing. It's something that was in my head and I had to build it to get it out. If it really isn't something that can be made into a fun gimmick or interactive cool thing, I'll toss it - practice, if nothing else.

 

If I create a good selection (read: a large amount) of messages and data bits, perhaps it would be a good interactive storytelling device. Regular planetary reports shows the progress of a planetary uprising, a xenos incursion, or an inquisitors investigation - or all of the above plus a few, given the relay nature It wouldn't be too difficult to built an add-on that allows people to send their own messages through the 'Relay' into the fictional Marilith Zone or something. Potential minor roleplaying applications?

 

Perhaps if I reworded site updates to feed through it as well? Both practical and fun? I don't know.

 

I think that's part of why I needed the questions to explore. To see what I can build this into. Which is odd for me, because usually I have a goal before I start on the building process. But this just had such a hold on me. :P

 

Can you elaborate on "Come up whole"? Don't think I follow.

[Bryan Blaire]

If it’s a whole transcribed message, then it seems like it shouldn’t feed in as a line or two at a time.

 

I think it could have functions as an RP thing for games - feed in your location of battle, the forces arrayed, etc. Then it generates a bunch of info around it (Administratum funds needed to keep the battles going, tithe that may be lost, rebuilding needs, things like that).

 

Or maybe it could be a “generate a narrative for your battle” for pick-up games and the like where you don’t normally have a narrative?

 

Something that tells a whole story might be good, but unless you are going to regularly write new material, then something interactive would probably get more use.

 

Those are just my ideas - don’t toss it unless you want to. You never know when you might want to reuse some part of the code.

[apologist]

It certainly looks very pretty; nice interface. I agree with Bryan Blaire that the more interactivity you can build in, the more interesting it’ll be for people.

 

I like the idea of an astropathic hub - you can watch and see messages come in (sent by other visitors to the site). Sometimes they arrive intact; other times subtly changed - and sometimes all you get is screaming!

 

If you can add a form that generates some random 40k-esque planetary/system name (perhaps loosely based on the visitor’s IP?), and a date translator based on the one from RT (reprinted in... 6th edition?), you’ll quickly fill in those ‘random’ strings and codes.

 

Stuntwedge did something loosely similar for the PCRC’s Antonia Australis sector website - in addition to the pseudo-Inquisitorial interface, you have a Thought for the Day generator and Reports from the Front.

[Mileposter]

If it’s a whole transcribed message, then it seems like it shouldn’t feed in as a line or two at a time.

I think you have a fair point. The idea was that the 'feed' is the Servitor's real-time output. So if you were seeing it, it's because he's in the middle of transcribing it. I'll change the wording from 'incoming' to 'transcribing' to try and make that more clear.

 

I think it could have functions as an RP thing for games - feed in your location of battle, the forces arrayed, etc. Then it generates a bunch of info around it (Administratum funds needed to keep the battles going, tithe that may be lost, rebuilding needs, things like that).

... I think that's an awesome idea and even if it doesn't work for this thing here I'm totally going to build one of those at some point. >.>;

 

Something that tells a whole story might be good, but unless you are going to regularly write new material, then something interactive would probably get more use.

I like the idea of an astropathic hub - you can watch and see messages come in (sent by other visitors to the site). Sometimes they arrive intact; other times subtly changed - and sometimes all you get is screaming!

Something that tells a continuous and ongoing story is not something I have any trouble with, if it makes sense for this project. New material is not something I've had any trouble with, and there's enough unique content that can be provided with user contribution to make it interactive - let them contribute/continue what's going on by adding in their own messages and such. I guess my question on this one boils more into 'is it the right fit'. I'll ponder on that one.

 

If you can add a form that generates some random 40k-esque planetary/system name (perhaps loosely based on the visitor’s IP?), and a date translator based on the one from RT (reprinted in... 6th edition?), you’ll quickly fill in those ‘random’ strings and codes.

If I do something location-based, I'll likely keep it around the fictitious Marilith Sector that my other projects have been based in. Not because I have an overabundance of ego or of content to share but because it helps keeps things narrow (which makes projects easier to actually get done) and keeps me from stepping on anyone else' toes (including established lore). But the rest of the pseudo-random parts, definitely will have some generation to them. Right now what is displayed is entirely Lorem Ipsum style placeholders.

The Marilith Zone thing also reall helps if it goes the storytelling direction, because the little details are something I really pay attention to - and can be important when you're telling a letter-style story. If an Inquisitor's messages have a different encryption type every single time, it helps tell about his care and intricacies, for example. Or if the 'from' is the same on the same day each week for a given character, it gives you clues. The like.

 

Stuntwedge did something loosely similar for the PCRC’s Antonia Australis sector website - in addition to the pseudo-Inquisitorial interface, you have a Thought for the Day generator and Reports from the Front.

My main page on the site does have a Thought For The Day generator already - pulls from the Lexicanum's library of them plus the ones that showed up in Dawn of War games, with a few commonly used ones from the vastness of the internet. But I'm really interested in this 'Reports from the Front' idea. On the surface, it sounds like it fits in well with the ideas Bryan's poked at. Can you elaborate?

 

I think there's a cohesive idea brewing on the lines you've both given. Thank you, really.

[Bryan Blaire]

I know it’s been a bit, but with regards to the “Transcribing” idea, I think it would be important to have a “character” thought about that you are reading through the eyes of—who is reading these transcriptions as they are being worked on?

 

The reason I think it is important is that it helps anchor your narrative. The local governor is unlikely to be sitting there at his cogitator reading a slow transcription while a message is coming in, unless it’s an urgently needed response to something that was sent out, and even then, he probably has some trusted underlings for that. In the same vein, a field commander of any kind isn’t going to be waiting around for it to get done, they are just going to want the whole message.

 

Whoever is reading these as they come in allows you to put some little anchors around the screen, or could let you provide some little “notes of interest”, for example: an AdMech comminque staffer might have “Of Note” comments from the noosphere. A lord’s aide might have some “Logged In As” info, and maybe a discarded To Do list partially checked off, with everything else on the list struck through with “Win the damn battle against...” written in bold all caps at the bottom.

 

———————

 

As far as the interaction: it would be cool if you had some different fields people could fill in for their games, terrain type, density of terrain, points per side, points remaining at the end, whether the win was from objectives, how many held per side at the end, even points won per army, etc. and it would make mini-stories for the games. Would be even more interesting if it developed into a campaign maker/tracker.

 

There are a lot of things you could do with something like this that would probably be interesting to the hobby community, it really all depends on what you want to do with it and how much time you wanted to spend.

[Mileposter]

It's never too late to refine ideas, don't worry about it.

 

I do have a more anchored idea thanks to all of the discussion here, so I'll chime in with that when I can provide more hands-on proof of where I'm going.

 

Regarding the 'who is reading' - the theory is that the 'who' is you. The Servitor is just the... 'Service', for lack of a better term, that distributes the data. The who is intended to be as varied as the userbase ends up being. This was the initial reason for looking into things that can reach a wide number of people... But The narrative angle I think hits it right on the head.

Because you're right. If I was going to write text to be forwarded to a specific character, The Avatar Character in this case, then it would be easier to weave stories that tie into the narrative of that character and tell their tale.

However, the reason I'm staying away from this singular character idea right now (it may change if I find I'm unable to realistically achieve my goal) is that presenting the Servitor feed as a 'Service' that a loyal Imperial Citizen of appropriate station can access allows me to weave 6 or 8 stories instead along with the stories of whatever users submit as messages. On the non-narrative side, it allows the Servitor to provide registered users of my site with relevant information on other projects or services I provide within the frame of an Imperial Update (Such as progress in the Nexus War campaign).

 

The hurdles I'm poking at right this moment are how to provide coherent and realistic 'navigation' (again for lack of a better term) of the stories to a viewer, so that people aren't limited to only catching an update if they happened to be right there witnessing it, and providing a reason for people to want to see the stories (And I know most of that will simply rely on making interesting stories).

 

EDIT: Please note, this is not to refute your suggestion, but to instead provide where I've been going thus far.

[Bryan Blaire]

Nah, didn't feel refuted, just wasn't sure if you had come to a concrete decision on where you were going – your work, your code, your will be done! :D

[StraightSilver]

Something that always intrigues me regarding astropathic communication is that astropaths are blind - so images they send would in theory only ever be understood by other atropaths and they must undergo rigorous training to send messages as none of them (AFAIK) will really have visual cues to refer to.

I imagine astrpathic communication to be more like glossia - so a "code" that can be understood by anyone once you grasp the concept, but made from metaphor rather than literal communication.

Obviously astropaths aren't blind by birth but in the Matthew Farrer Shira Calpurnia novels the description of an astropathic station is very detailed - the station is built purely for blind people.