FAQ
STUFF THAT'S CHANGED!
Spacer's Guild?
It's only flavor! I wanted to do scifi Ceres this time around, Guild 2 will be almost the same as Guild 1.
Almost the same?
A few changes I've made, from descending order of impact:
- Voting is limited to those who join the event.
- There's slightly more optional information I've asked for from those who join.
- For those who don't want to enter the event, public submissions will be open for those themes that do not win!
Public submissions?
Yes! For whatever themes aren't selected are open to the public for anyone to make a card for, and I'll put them on the rentry in their own section once the event is finished.
NO PUBLIC VOTING? NO STRAWPOLL? SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!
The most voted option in Guild 1 seemed to be the least favorite of the themes chosen amongst botmakies involved, so rather than a potential repeat of that I would like to see how allowing those who are a part of the event choose themes that anyone can suggest. It's how I intended to run Guild 1, but I was concerned there would be very few makies willing to take a chance on an event like it. I'm a little more confident now!
Also there will be a (non-binding, only for whimsy) strawpoll, just because polls are fun and seeing how the public strawpoll and email voting differed might be interesting!
Any other changes?
Nope! If you were there for Guild 1, this one will be ran exactly the same!
Current list of themes?
Space Pirates
Spies, Secret Agents, and Espionage
Scary, Sexy Alien Robots
Marine theme (sailors, researchers, divers, marines, people on boats/ships etc., the entire world could be like 99% ocean)
Psychological Horror
Time Travelers
The Middle Generation of a Long-haul Generational Ship. Never seen where they're from, will never see where they're going.
Social Deduction (Ex: Among Us)
Bloodborne-esque. Or forbidden knowledge and outer worldy horror
Slavic mythology
Special Weapons and Tactics
Uncontrollable/Hard to control powers
An entire team made up members who are all different flavors of chuunibyou
The team is an MMO raid party and the holy trinity roles are literal
The adventurers delve into the bodies of giants/giantesses to help them fight off parasites and magical infections and other bodily invaders, like a more literal Osmosis Jones
Space Whaling
Human Torso, Anthro/Animal Legs
Holy Slut Martyrs
Mobsters
Space Operas and Epics
Private Military Company
Cascadia
Artificially-created. Can range from homunculi to AI to golems, etc.
(Evil) Corpos
Rebels Fighting Something like an Evil AI or Empire
World with a Quirk that Shapes its Societies in a Novel Way
Tiny Adventures
Final Journeys
Practical Adventurers (Bondrewd, Ozen, Lyza, and Srajo from Made in Abyss as examples)
Big Eaters
New Perspective
Nuclear Holocaust
Uncontacted Civilization
Videogame Worlds (the team chooses a videogame universe that their bots are all a part of)
Star Wars (or Star Wars knockoff)
Space Idols and Musicians (Ex: Macross, Interstella 5555, Alien Stage, Etc.)
Cyberpunk
Lone Wolves and Edge Lords
Transportation
Folklores Turned Modern
Mecha
Space Cowboys
SPACE DISCO
Retired Soldiers/Warriors
Bounty Hunters Hunting the Other Event Cards
Entities with nonlinear, nontraditional ways of thinking (like Hiveminds)
Fantatical Purifiers, Determined Exterminators and Devouring Swarms (like in Stellaris)
An Empire in Decline
"I Used to be a 2020 Hyperbrat but Now I'm Stuck Inside a Vending Machine!?" (ex., a mesugaki could end up as a Roomba, or printed out twice and meeting each self)
Weird Space Tentacle-Thing Rulers (ex., humans kidnapped and reshaped by some weird sort of alien hive/overmind and now ruling over an alien society)
Commies in Space™
Space Gangs of New York
Vintage Space/Retro Futurism
Living Lab Experiments
Shrine Maidens
Derelicts
A group where one adventurer has a legally distinct behelit and is looking for friends to sacrifice on some day with an eclipse, and they make it increasingly and hilariously obvious, but the others are either completely unaware or they think it's a funny bit and ignore all the red flags.
Adventurers stupidly going on quests to unseal dangerous, world ending gods thinking they'll be their wives for their trouble
Hags
Corrupt/Crooked Adventurers
Space Cops
Star Fox (ripoff or similar world, space anthros basically)
Symbiotes and Parasites
Steampunk
Mining guild! Miners!
Space exploration! Gunships! Space mechanics! Giant spaceship that acts as a mobile port and small city for spacers!
Toxic Yuri Lesbian Agenda
ALL YOU NEED IS KILL (not the light novel, I mean ULTRAVIOLENCE)
STUFF THAT'S STAYED THE SAME!
Can I join anonymously?
Yes and no. For the event you can go under whatever alias you'd like, but I will need to see a neocities/rentry/chub with your email somewhere on it, just to verify you are you. But we can work it out so where the only person that knows your identity is me, and I will not share it.
When do I find out what my theme/team/role is?
At the end of sign ups on 30th of August, the host will send out emails to everyone who joined with all three.
What do these symbols (⚔️,🛡️,♥️,🃏) beside my name mean?
The role your bot has been assigned within the party, being DPS, Tank, Healer, and Wildcard respectively. Roles are not rules, and if you have an idea for your card you prefer, you can freely disregard it! Consider it an extra prompt on top of your team's theme that you can ignore if you like.
What's this about roles like tank/dps/healer/wildcard?
Like themes, it is another way to encourage variety in what botmakies create and give some direction. The same way teams are randomly assigned, party roles will be randomly assigned. Keep in mind that just because a character is made to fill a role within the party doesn't mean they have to be happy about it or good at it, and that even the role itself is more a suggestion than a rule. The purpose is to encourage creativity and give some direction, not restrain it.
Ok but wtf is a wildcard?
Wildcard means wildcard! A small talking animal! A shadowy familiar the party can't dismiss! The old, bold mercenary that raised the party! I leave it to each member of the Guild to determine if that means the party face, or their shadowy patron, or an orphan that follows them around. For examples, think Meowth from Team Rocket, Splinter from TMNT, Mr. Satan from Dragon Ball, Dante from Limbus Company, the Merchant from RE4, etc.
How and where should we collaborate on our bots?
Anyhow and anywhere you'd like! A shared catbox album and rentry would be a good start to share WiPs and ideas, alongside a mailing list for your team. Beyond that, it's up to your team. And remember to back up everything locally, in case of mishaps!
Do we have to make fantasy bots? Are sci-fi/post-apocalyptic/historic bots ok to make?
Yes! The /aicg/ Spacer's Guild is floating within an extraplanar rift, so anything and everything goes!
What if you end up with a number of entrants that does not permit everyone being in groups of three?
That depends on how short the host is of a full three member party.
As an example;
15 Entrants: Five parties of three.
16 Entrants: Four parties of three, one party of four.
17 Entrants: Three parties of three, two parties of four.
18 Entrants: Six parties of three.
Do we have to keep the members of our team secret until the day of deliveries?
The surprise is part of the fun! But no, there's no rules against it. But you should check with your team before coming out with that information.
Okay but when do we know who got which theme?
They'll be assigned when teams are made. Whether someone joins early or late, they'll draw from the same pool of potential themes that way.
Why do themes at all?
Three reasons.
- Without a theme or request, the deliveries would likely have too much overlap. Themes should both give some direction to those joining and also give the threads some input on what type of parties will be made.
- Requests seem unfair. One person would be deciding what three would make, and the host would either need to pick and choose requests or let chance decide...which would appear from the outside as the host picking and choosing requests.
- The host likes themes and is the one hosting.
I WANTED HALLOWEEN EXCHANGE NOT THIS SHIT
Don't worry about it. Last year the exchange started on the 12th of October. This event will be over on the 22nd of September at the latest. That's three weeks between both, which shouldn't cause any scheduling issues.
How much should I be communicating with my team?
That's up to you! Maybe a single email informing everyone of what you're planning to make. Maybe a hundred back and forths of world building and cooperative botmaking! The "gimmick" of this event is to build a guild full of adventurer parties created by /aicg/, and they can be as stand alone or interweaved as much as each team likes. Though the host would encourage at least ONE email of what kind of character you plan on creating, including things like appearance, mannerisms, what they bring to the party, etc., so you and your team do not end up delivering bots that are too similar.
How interconnected should our bots be?
This is entirely up to you and your team. Three strangers forming a party is as fine as three characters with shared backstories forming a party. If you would like to have lots of lore linking your bots, go at it!
Can I communicate to my team through you?
Please do not. The host plans to inform each everyone who their partners are when teams are assembled, then hand over emails and step back. Aside from that, if you have any pressing concerns you can reach me at aicgguildmaster@proton.me.
My teammate hasn't responded!
They could be sleeping! However, if they don't reply over a period of a few days, please inform me!
If someone doesn't deliver, are they still a grinch since this isn't an exchange?
The host says yes, since they're not delivering for their team.