Topic

Library of Ur - ideas?

We have note poles and lots of space on streets to place em now. I don't have the time to coordinate a group for it at the moment, but I'm interested in helping to coordinate a set of streets into a library, sort of like the resource routes but where the streets are themed to a particular subject - perhaps following the dewey decimal system? So depending on which stop you're at would determine the signposts you're hosting.

The material in the library would be player-generated, whether it's info about things in glitch or poetry, stories, or anything of the sort. I'm not sure that links off site would be a great idea since there's potential for trouble there, but I think something like this could be a lot of fun and a neat attraction for those wandering the neighborhood aimlessly. Sort of the non-profitable stepsibling of the resource routes.

Thoughts?

Posted 6 months ago by Moehr Ossum Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Would any player in this route just be responsible for curating player contributions according to their street's theme, or would they have to create all the content on their street?  (Or some combination of both?)
    Because I'd sure as hell love to curate something like this on my street, but I can't write worth a damn. :D
    Posted 6 months ago by Classical Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Moehr--this is a lovely idea! A library route! Perhaps a neat challenge for folks would be to write stories in instalments, or to write something on a different glitchy theme weekly or monthly. Your idea makes me smile a lot. Thank you.
    Posted 6 months ago by Voluptua Sneezelips Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think I would be a prime candidate for curator of a poetry route ;)
    Posted 6 months ago by EE Cummings Subscriber! | Permalink
  • can it be quotes from outside Ur, or does it have to be player-written stuff only?
    Posted 6 months ago by chilirlw Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Poems and songs for me!
    Posted 6 months ago by AwesomeCardinal2000 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • TL;DR - Ideas! No group needed! Short route for ease of access and travel, add more libraries as needed. 5-8 streets good enough, for now.

    I'm not sure exactly what might be the best way to set this up! On the one hand, I'd love to be able to figure out in advance somehow which stop has the sort of stories I'm looking for. On the other hand, having a home street that I've already posted a contribution or two on, being able to showcase stuff you yourself are interested in on your street is also very attractive.

    I don't really want to run this as a group if possible :). I think the new note posts would enable us to have a sort of "You are here" indicator on a list of names, which could be handled entirely in-game, perhaps. 

    Since we have noteposts it would also be possible to not require any specific spot on the street sign to lead to the next stop, so long as your note post specifies who to click on to stay on the route.

    I'm not going to dictate to people what they can and can't include in their yards, as far as content goes. I would hope if you're quoting things you attribute them to their author if possible! player created things are best since you don't have to worry about IP so much, and second best is things related to Glitch, since it's unlikely anyone on glitch staff would have an issue with us discussing glitch inside of glitch :D.

    Book reviews of real-world material might not be out of bounds. Could also run some of the text-based magazines published in Ur like BOU on a street sign, allowing them to be set up somewhere and collected for people to access publicly.

    I am thinking there's no reason not to have several library neighborhoods that aren't connected. If we could keep the route smaller in scale, maybe 5-8 streets per library, the loop would move along faster. There's a lot of space in yards for noteposts and they don't work like harvestable resources - you could fit a LOT of content in a single street without trying too hard. This would also make it less likely to fall apart.

    I'd be happy to set up a prototype with those who've responded already - Classical, Voluptua, EE, Chilirlw, and AC2000.

    The thing is, while not totally necessary, it's easier to get at the signs if the area of your street that has them isn't too resource-crowded. Since the signs interfere with harvesting a little if you're not careful, if you're already on a resource route, you might want to think twice before jumping in. The signs could prove annoying for you.

    I'm throwing my library area to the left side of the street just to keep it away from my on-street resources, pigs and etc. But how anyone else does it really has to work for them :D.

    I'll also volunteer to put a start point sign for any given library neighborhood on my street, essentially a list of people to friend if you want access to that particular library. I'll need a letter sent in-game to my mailbox though and my playing is erratic right now, so it won't necessarily get updated immediately.

    I'm calling them libraries but really you can get creative with it - a magazine store, for instance, since you can easily copy notes you've written out and sell them to other players. That's not where I'm going with the idea but it's an example of what could be done :D.

    Anyhow, those of you who already responded who'd like to try to hook this together, shoot me a letter and we'll iron it out!
    Posted 6 months ago by Moehr Ossum Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Omgs, awesome idea! What would be best would be some kind of home street, or home. Or even better, a specific TS made place called Library!

    All those notes we've hoarded... someplace to post them without them being taken? Able to borrow, with them automatically going back at the due date? Only the original poster can take them back???!?!

    SO MANY POSSIBILITIES!
    Posted 6 months ago by Palindrome Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I've got the beginnings set on my street, we can work this out via mail and my signpost :D
    Posted 6 months ago by Moehr Ossum Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Another possibility... this made me realize that you can use note poles and signposts to create a "choose your own adventure" game route. You can put a note that reads:

    Glitch Z encounters a sloth.
      + Go to <Glitch A>'s street if you think he should feed it.
      + Go to <Glitch B>'s street if you think he should just ignore it.

    However, that may need a little more effort and an interesting storyline to catch on.
    Posted 6 months ago by roderick ordonez Subscriber! | Permalink
  • !
    Posted 6 months ago by WeavingTheWeb Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Oh that is a great idea, Roderick, though it would seem to call for an army of alts.

    I'm vaguely thinking of setting up the University of Ur, or at least founding a department therein.  :x
    Posted 6 months ago by Meromorphic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This is a fantastic idea.  I have lots of things I could write and put on poles on my street.  I would be a non-fiction section telling people how different things in the world work.

    Also, for choose your own adventure you could do it all on one street by just giving the poles numbers (the same way the book tells you page numbers).  Multiple streets would be incredibly impressive, but one street might be more practical for someone who actually wants to implement it.
    Posted 6 months ago by Humbabella Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yeah, I was thinking that it would take a lot of streets (and alts) to implement. Humbabella's suggestion of using a number of note poles on one street does make it more easier to do. Maybe instead of referring to another pole by number, they could be referred to as "pole beside the bean tree" or something that easily marks their location.

    I can't play regularly, but I do plan to litter my home street with note poles. I find this "Library of Ur" initiative very interesting (Yay! Something to do in-game besides grinding). I hope it does take off, because for sure it would be one of the routes I'll be visiting.
    Posted 6 months ago by roderick ordonez Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think the library is already taking off!

    As for the "Choose Ur Own Adventure" idea, that one is worthy of it's own thread Humbabella! The thought had occurred to me as well with sort of a treasure hunt on a secret route with clues and such, but I also love the choose your own adventure idea.

    On the other hand you COULD do it on your own street, if you think of the signposts as a grid. You can set them up in rows and columns since three signs can be placed in one vertical column by using different heights. Then just go "row X column Y" in place of page numbers. A single-street story would be a good fit for the library idea.
    Posted 6 months ago by Moehr Ossum Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'd really like to curate a library of Glitch-related flash fiction by many authors--or possibly any other short fiction, or maybe a few longer stories in multiple pole-parts.  If anyone has something they'd like to submit that they've written themselves... or any note they've found in Ur that they'd lend to the cause, I could get my street started with that!

    Other ideas I could see happening: a collection of interesting/humorous quotes from Glitchens, regular writing prompts and posting the submissions (with prizes for the best), a serial radioesque drama where a new chapter of the story is posted weekly...
    Posted 6 months ago by Classical Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Classical - just shoot me a glitchmail detailing the things you wanna do and point one of your signs at Miss Bobbit, who's doing a poetry collection!

    I'm going ahead with the bios and memoirs of glitchen and their adventures on my street, and sending poems I find to Miss Bobbit. I'll forward any fiction to you, if'n that's cool?
    Posted 6 months ago by Moehr Ossum Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I really like the "make your own adventure" idea. The library idea is pretty cool too. 

    The other night I was thinking about the quests I used to do in the virtual world There. There were player-made quests that were a lot of fun, even if some of them were just following a paper trail of notes. =)
    Posted 6 months ago by Lylliannah Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I saw a fantastic piece of Glitch fiction the other day. It was called When Alph Imagined Time: A Story of the Calendar . If the author is ok with it, I think this amazing piece of work belongs in the library!
    Posted 6 months ago by Misty Power Subscriber! | Permalink
  • beautiful! i have a collection of cool notes i found on the streets of ur, it would be a good way to display them
    Posted 6 months ago by awdrone Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If you find something you'd like to commemorate written by someone else that's fine too. Just provide a link to their glitch profile in the note you generate (each page, preferably) so that people can follow the link to see the author.

    Also, when generating multi-page notes, please in the note title list pg x/y, where x is the current page and y is the total page count, so we can keep track of how many note poles need to be grouped together to hold the story on the street :D.

    For the time being you can send me anything you find and I'll send it out to people who are helping, until the organisation fleshes out more.
    Posted 6 months ago by Moehr Ossum Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I've got a couple of original Jimothy Novelishes on my street if you'd like to add me to the route! 
    Posted 6 months ago by Tribeca Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'll try to create a few poems and work on a story. I'll be travelling this weekend, so I won't be anywhere near a computer, but I'll send Moehr a message if I come up with something interesting.
    Posted 6 months ago by roderick ordonez Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Tribeca - sure! Send me a letter in-game and we'll work it out.
    Posted 6 months ago by Moehr Ossum Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I started a library prototype on my home street a while back, but it's still notes on the ground. It contains six-word stories by famous authors, here's a sample:

    Gown removed carelessly. Head, less so.- Joss Whedon

    Longed for him. Got him. Shit.- Margaret Atwood

    Come check out my street! 
    Posted 6 months ago by Dagny Taggart Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Dagny! That's right! I'd love to add you in, and if posible, could we get you some note poles for some of those notes, so that they don't wander off?
    Posted 6 months ago by Moehr Ossum Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I love this idea! Not sure I could manage to join myself but I think it's great :)
    Posted 6 months ago by Theremina Lute Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I will start making a bunch of note poles, no donations needed, so definitely add me in please! *hugs self in joy at thought of Glitch library taking off*

    UPDATE: I've added a bunch of poles, looks great.
    Posted 6 months ago by Dagny Taggart Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This sounds awesome. I already know what kind of library I'd set up
    Posted 6 months ago by indiewindi Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Not everyone has to join the route, we need writers as much as we need people on the route, and we could also use some people to help build note poles :D

    Dagny, I'm going to add you in as well :D.
    Posted 6 months ago by Moehr Ossum Subscriber! | Permalink