On the Passage of Time in Istaria
During a bit of RP, the amount of time one of my characters has been away came up. Someone stated that they hadn't seen her in a few years, despite the fact that this character had only been created in May, this year. I wasn't sure exactly how to respond, as my own views on the length of an Istarian year differ greatly. So, here is my view taking into account all the evidence I can find.
The length of a year on any given planet is decided not by how long the day is on a planet (and Istaria's are very short), but how long it takes for that planet to orbit its sun. The length of a day is related to how long it takes a planet to revolve around its axis. That said, it appears Istaria has very short days, but a relatively Earth-like year, with Earth-like seasons. We have a Fall and Winter festival during the corresponding Earth seasons.
Further evidence for an Earth-like year comes from the timeline:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Timeline
- 20 A.R. Founding of Spirit Isle (Game Release 2003!)
- 20 A.R. Feladan Reclaimed and Cleansed!
- 20 A.R. Release of the Dryads
- 20 A.R. Construction of the Novo Machine
- 21 A.R. The Gate of Embers is reopened. The lost art of Lairshaping is rediscovered.
- 22 A.R. A Renewed Offensive is begun by the Withered Aegis under the command of the Avatar of Horror near the Spiritous Swamp and Harro. Nielenoss the Tinkerer invents Flying Cargo Disks.
That said, it can be generally assumed (at least if I am correct) that Istarians see night and day very differently than we players do because they are so short. I'm not sure exactly how long the periods of day and night are in-game, but my guess would an hour or two. Assuming two hours, that means an Istarian experiences twleve nights and days over the course of an Earth day. Maybe an Istarian clock would measure time in periods of light and dark instead of hours?
Thoughts?
Re: On the Passage of Time in Istaria
Did you look at the Augh clock once? Whew the time fades away pretty fast!
I think a dev said somewher how long a istarian day is in minutes, I think it was 2 hours or such.
I also asked that myself lately, because the timeline seems to count in earth years, while in Istaira itself the time passes much faster. Maybe a Istarian year is maybe much longer than a earth year. Maybe not 356 days, even 1000 days or more?
Re: On the Passage of Time in Istaria
Time seems to be a vague thing in any game really, here in istaria 1 earth year = one game year. As far as how long a day last, I think it's done just to give you the impression that time is passing. I know the day/night cycle is handled client side rather than server side, so its possible for you to see night while a friend see's day. I'd imagine isitaria has about as many days a year as earth does. I'd like to see day/night cylcle last longer than to hours tho, say 3 game days for every rl day?
Re: On the Passage of Time in Istaria
Oohh, the time passage issue. :p Messy, but/therefore interesting.
I don't like the Istarian years being equal to RL years. If that is true, then the oldest player-controlled Gifted Ancient whose age hasn't been subjected to Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome or set high prior to the beginning of play is only three or four years old. I'm happy to explain a lot of things away using the Gift, but not that.
The amount of development a character can be roleplayed through in three RL years is ridiculously frenetic if it's also three Istarian years. If one were to adhere to the timeline's implication, no relationship would last for a significant time, no hatchlings/children would grow up, etc.
That said, I don't know exactly how Istarian time should be handled.
As for increasing the length of day and night, that isn't feasible because then some players would never see some times of day because of their login schedule.
Re: On the Passage of Time in Istaria
Based on the timeline provided, it looks like there is no correlation between Istarian years and Earth years.
Lairshaping was rediscovered in 21 A.R., an Istarian year after the founding of Spirit Isle. In Earth years, Lairshaping was released at the end of 2005, about two years after release. Based solely on this information, it appears that two Earth years = one Istarian year.
However, if we are currently at 23 A.R., two Istarian years have passed since the rediscovery of Lairshaping. That means four Earth years should have passed. This December will mark the third Earth year since Lairshaping was released.
I think it is safe to say that the Istarian year only changes when the developers say it changes. :p
Re: On the Passage of Time in Istaria
Oh, boy this is a whole new can of worms....
The beauty of roleplay is that time is all based on perception. If those involved all agree to having a thousand years pass between the next login and now for storyline reasons, then why not?
The player that greeted you saying they have not seen you in years might have had a lot going on! Maybe they bonded with someone, had children etc. Moved and rebuilt an entire plot/lair etc. So for them, it may very well have been years as it's somewhat silly to do all that in a few months.
As far as time in earth hours per day, that is also subjective. Even though the 'default' time might be 1 day=2 hours, day/night cycle is clientside. Meaning it's whatever you as a player want it to be.
Quote:
I think it is safe to say that the Istarian year only changes when the developers say it changes.
Also this. The Istarian's time line dosen't really advance until the devs say so.
No right answer for this question, yet all answers are correct.
Re: On the Passage of Time in Istaria
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Steelclaw
Lairshaping was rediscovered in 21 A.R., an Istarian year after the founding of Spirit Isle. In Earth years, Lairshaping was released at the end of 2005, about two years after release. Based solely on this information, it appears that two Earth years = one Istarian year.
Your really can't tell much from just the year.
A child was born in 2007. In 2009, he will be 1 year old, not 2. (born in December 2007).
Spirit Isle could have been founded at the very beginning of 20 A.R. and Lairshaping rediscovered at the very end of 21 A.R. This would make it a lot closer to two years than one.
Re: On the Passage of Time in Istaria
I've always tried to be mindful of timeframes. Specifically, not mentioning them. ;) I tend to reffer to 'a very long time' instead of 'years', or 'it's been a while' for 'months'. Just vague things.
Hrough and his sister Yurie don't have much of a concept of time, anyways.
Re: On the Passage of Time in Istaria
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Xoshara
Oohh, the time passage issue. :p Messy, but/therefore interesting.
I don't like the Istarian years being equal to RL years. If that is true, then the oldest player-controlled Gifted Ancient whose age hasn't been subjected to
Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome or set high prior to the beginning of play is only three or four years old. I'm happy to explain a lot of things away using the Gift, but not that.
The amount of development a character can be roleplayed through in three RL years is ridiculously frenetic if it's also three Istarian years. If one were to adhere to the timeline's implication, no relationship would last for a significant time, no hatchlings/children would grow up, etc.
That said, I don't know exactly how Istarian time
should be handled.
As for increasing the length of day and night, that isn't feasible because then some players would never see some times of day because of their login schedule.
That's pretty well explained by RoP and ARoP. I'm pretty sure that those two merely act as an accelerated alternative to natural growth, especially considering how long it would take naturally.
Re: On the Passage of Time in Istaria
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tathar
That's pretty well explained by RoP and ARoP. I'm pretty sure that those two merely act as an accelerated alternative to natural growth, especially considering how long it would take naturally.
The RoP and ARoP don't accelerate growth, the growth is impossible without them. The RoP itself states that time is effectively stopped for dragons; they cannot age naturally.
Even if the Rites were accelerated growth, they'd still be fairly irrelevant, as there are more than dragons in Istaria and the Rites wouldn't explain growth or time passage for the biped races.
