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up vote 5 down vote

added by kikjezrous Apr 4 '14 at 4:24

I really wanna answer this question. I feel like this kind of question is a little too vague though, because evenly matched would imply quite a lot. However, it depends on a lot more factors then 'evenly matched' forces anyway. – ranger10700 Apr 29 '14 at 5:04

up vote 4 down vote

added by Kevin Jan 1 '14 at 23:19

up vote 4 down vote

added by dtldarek Apr 9 '14 at 15:27

I think this question is too broad to be a good fit. Questions like this are likely to produce list answers. A better question would be Would aliens be able to communicate via <x> effectively. – Styphon May 1 '14 at 22:20

up vote 3 down vote

added by Donaudampfschifffreizeitfahrt Mar 19 '14 at 8:15

This question is exactly why I want this place to exist! +1 – ranger10700 Apr 29 '14 at 5:02

up vote 2 down vote

added by Neekobus Apr 4 '14 at 18:14

	If you are asking what I think you are asking I like this question. Essentially it sounds like you are asking: What defines a community, what common aspects do all communities share? ...no more votes! – James Apr 9 '14 at 13:14
	Well I'm thinking about properties like : Technological level, Religion propagation, speech freedom, commercial fields, population repartition, ... – Neekobus Apr 10 '14 at 16:59

up vote 2 down vote

added by Young Guilo Apr 7 '14 at 13:29

I think this could be a good question if it was a little more specific. I assume from "a planet with water," you're interested in tidal motion, but it's not totally clear. – Darrick Herwehe Apr 7 '14 at 19:21

@Darrick Herwehe is that better? – Young Guilo Apr 9 '14 at 13:21

@Young Guilo Actually that's even more confusing. Perhaps you mean something like "Would an Earthlike planet without a large moon have tides in its oceans?" – smithkm Apr 15 '14 at 17:07

Actually also the sun causes tides, just not as high as the moon. What we see is the superposition of lunar and solar tides, which is why we have spring tide and neap tide. – celtschk Apr 16 '14 at 5:47

up vote 1 down vote

added by rem Jan 26 '14 at 11:20

Terry Pratchett's Discworld? – kexx Feb 21 '14 at 1:44

I think this means in terms of not having a 3rd dimension, not in terms of lacking curvature. Discworld is flat, but 3 dimensional. A 2D world might have a curved embedding in 3D space, but still be 2D, like the surface of a sphere (as opposed to standing on a sphere in 3D like we do) – smithkm Feb 21 '14 at 22:59

up vote 1 down vote

added by ghorahn Mar 23 '14 at 7:17

	After I wrote that, I envisioned people with stumps for hands drawing huge characters on a rock face, using animal blood as their ink. (^ ^;) Kinda like calligraphy done with those mop-size brushes...but less elegant. – ghorahn Mar 23 '14 at 7:20
	I don't think they'd be able to evolve (survival of the fittest). Opposable thumbs gave us a large edge early on in our evolution. – Styphon Apr 14 '14 at 13:31

up vote 1 down vote

added by Liath Apr 25 '14 at 14:08

up vote 1 down vote

added by FracturedRetina May 5 '14 at 23:25

up vote 1 down vote

added by Joshua Barron May 12 '14 at 20:59

up vote 1 down vote

added by Inbar Rose May 18 '14 at 14:59

up vote 0 down vote

added by ghorahn Mar 23 '14 at 6:25

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added by ghorahn Mar 23 '14 at 6:36

By "otherwise," I suppose I mean things like medical problems often associated with inbreeding, stuff like that. – ghorahn Mar 23 '14 at 6:40

up vote 0 down vote

added by Young Guilo Apr 6 '14 at 15:36

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added by Young Guilo Apr 6 '14 at 15:39

	As far as I know, evolution never stops. – Neekobus Apr 7 '14 at 8:14
	@Neekobus I know it never stops but how long would it take for a trait to be seen like, long beaks in a bird. – Young Guilo Apr 7 '14 at 13:27
	Ok. Maybe you should reformulate your question. And now I think it's a good one. – Neekobus Apr 10 '14 at 17:03

up vote 0 down vote

added by Young Guilo Apr 6 '14 at 15:39

It is possible to remove the salt and bacteria from sea water, but they would likely need the equipment and the knowledge to do that. If it rains often collecting rain water is an option. – john Apr 15 '14 at 5:39

This is almost a question for the outdoors Q+A site! – Liath May 6 '14 at 9:58

up vote 0 down vote

added by guido Apr 7 '14 at 3:46

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added by Darrick Herwehe Apr 7 '14 at 19:14

	I'm picturing the sun being blocked out by nuclear winter, or humans being driven underground by toxic air. – Darrick Herwehe Apr 7 '14 at 19:15
	Pale skin, lack of vitamin D, less food, less oxygen. – john Apr 15 '14 at 5:41

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added by dtldarek Apr 9 '14 at 15:30

For example whales are able to communicate over 100 miles distances. – dtldarek Apr 9 '14 at 15:33

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added by Confutus Apr 10 '14 at 21:40

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added by Confutus Apr 10 '14 at 21:44

up vote 0 down vote

added by celtschk Apr 14 '14 at 21:57

Probably the best option is to write it all of the laws down and have someone who you think would be interested in your work read your description. If they can't understand it then your readers probably won't either. The more people you show it to the better idea you have. Also ask what they didn't understand and try to clear that area up. – john Apr 15 '14 at 5:49

up vote 0 down vote

added by Kohlbrr Apr 16 '14 at 21:06

up vote 0 down vote

added by Styphon Apr 18 '14 at 8:59

By civilisation in this instance I mean at least 100,000 people. They would be in a completely self-sustaining, closed environment that provides everything necessary for survival. Assume an infinite energy supply is available. – Styphon Apr 18 '14 at 9:02

up vote 0 down vote

added by Terri M. Apr 21 '14 at 12:58

Details, like the society's technological level, the city's population and architectural style, would be included in the description. – Terri M. Apr 21 '14 at 13:01

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added by Liath Apr 25 '14 at 14:06

This question is rather subjective and open to forming lists. A better version would be Would <X> stop electricity from being developed. as it's more specific. – Styphon Apr 27 '14 at 0:03

I think this question is actually ok. Sharing and asking for ideas is absolutely proper here. I guess you have a vision about a world like this, like something very steampunky, and you need a good reason why electricity is missing. One reason could be a superstitious/religious fear of electricity. Or the other reason could be the sophisticated knowledge level of mechanical sciences, which makes electricity not so necessary. – kexx Apr 27 '14 at 13:31

@kexx well you've just given two possible answers right there. This question is far too broad for the SO format. There could be dozens of reasons, if not more. – Styphon Apr 29 '14 at 6:16

@styphon I agree this question could be quite open ended and it would be very difficult to judge the "right answer". I want this how could it happen type questions are a major part of World Building. I think we'd limit the usefulness of the site if we didn't accept them – Liath Apr 29 '14 at 7:14

@Liath there is now - discuss.area51.stackexchange.com/questions/14298/… – Styphon Apr 29 '14 at 11:36

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up vote 0 down vote

added by Liath Apr 25 '14 at 14:10

This is a good question, do you actually want to know the answer or this is just an example? – kexx Apr 27 '14 at 13:16

up vote 0 down vote

added by Liath Apr 29 '14 at 10:17

	I'd obviously include a sample of the language in the question – Liath Apr 29 '14 at 10:20
	I like this question, though I'm not sure if it belongs here. Would this be better on Roleplaying stack exchange? – Styphon Apr 29 '14 at 11:35
	I can see it fitting in either, personally I'd consider language/society/flora/fauna creation to be party of the "world". – Liath May 6 '14 at 10:00

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added by Liath Apr 29 '14 at 10:22

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added by Asraelite May 4 '14 at 22:30

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added by crownjewel82 May 6 '14 at 14:45

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added by crownjewel82 May 6 '14 at 14:50

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added by rem May 10 '14 at 14:13

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added by Xenophase May 11 '14 at 6:15

This is the sort of thing dystopian authors will want to ask - think Hunger Games, Divergent... – Xenophase May 11 '14 at 6:22

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added by Xenophase May 11 '14 at 6:23

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added by Terri M. May 14 '14 at 22:55

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added by Inbar Rose May 18 '14 at 14:55

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added by MC_Hambone May 18 '14 at 19:12

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added by Florian Pellet May 20 '14 at 10:51

The existence of this technology would imply that other ones were developed, but many ways could lead to such technology, each implying different things for the world. When participant P1 might answer that techno T1 is necessary, then leading other users to add other probable implications based on T1, user P2 might go with T2 in which case everything that falls under T1 is invalid. When worldbuilding, there is exponential branching out of implications and consequences, each of which being very specific points of expertise (different users needed). How can we cope with that? – Florian Pellet May 20 '14 at 10:59