[Theme/Lore Discussion] How's the cell service?

Realm & Areas
#1

Is there “official canon” on whether or how cell phones or the internet in general work in Sinder?

When the topic comes up in-world, I’ve seen several folks make the (very reasonable!) assumption that your AT&T SIM card or whatever doesn’t work on the back side of the Rift. But… role-playing having a phone is so fun that I’ve just chosen to take a “Just don’t think about it too hard” approach.

I also enjoy abstracting away how remote direct messages “actually work” IC by assuming that the other party and I are simply using our phones, sending texts, voice clips, or little videos back and forth. Sometimes I even work that into RP; I might be hanging out with someone in a room while DMing someone else, and so pose :thumbs a message into his phone, chuckling softly or the like, just to elicit curiosity and have fun bouncing things off each other.

Same goes for showing people photographs or artwork IC/OOC at the same time. :pulls out his phone and shows you [this cool tree](URL to photo of tree). And so on.

While I feel strongly that folks should individually role-play this level of detail in any way they’re comfortable with, I find myself nonetheless curious how Muckery’s show-runners feel about this topic! Perhaps we should stick an antenna on top of the clock tower and handwave it from there? :slight_smile:

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#2

I like that approach! So far I’ve only ran into people sharing things OOC because its not contextually relevant but I think its perfectly fine and handy to be able to do that IC!

Sinder has enough modern technology around for the sake of convenience, I like the idea of building an antenna! Maybe an actual cell phone tower you can “illegally” climb for fun and love of heights~ (I do love the roof of the clock tower!)

#3

Seeing as I’m pretty sure @Accipiter uses his phone IC quite often, someone in the Rift has figured out cell phones. And I too like to use my phone for the same types of things, texting someone as a message is actually a really clever concept that would otherwise just be telepathy.

I do think it’s humorous to have the more isekai-oriented characters need to get a new SIM that works in the Rift, but overall I think the majority of us that want to RP with a phone do so with the same approach of having no thought if it actually works.

#4

Love it.

And believe me, I take so much meta-delight from the fact that remote messaging/posing has been a feature of MU*s for decades, and it operated with no IC explanation for most of that time, other than “Uhhh, I guess we’re all telepathic too, whatever”. And then, after many years, the real world actually caught up with this magic, and I just can’t not “close the loop” by using newer technology to retroactively explain all this tomfoolery.

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#5

A sexy RP in messages is like sexting IC, which is kind of what it is OOC as well, so really a scene through messages is like sexting about sexting. I love it :rofl:

#6

Accipiter loves his phone! :grin:
Widget hates Accipiter’s phone. :sweat:

No official canon though. I’ve just assumed Sinder has phone coverage. How? Eh. Yes. Let’s not think too much about that, okay?

The IC phone of mine is something I often use in my roleplay to:

  • message other characters
  • show pictures from RL websites
  • check the ‘minimap’ as a map app on the phone
  • remote activate devices
  • activate the teleporter grid with my teleport app
  • use the phone alarm as an excuse when RL things requires my attention
  • etc.

But my roleplay regarding messages sent with the message command varies. They might be:

  • phone messages for those with phones (?)
  • holographic transmissions for @Evamal who once gave me one such transmitter
  • descriptions on how the wolf is thinking about them, for characters without any tech.
  • etc.

You are free to RP your own suitable medium for sending your messages! Same goes with mail.

2 Likes
#7

Speaking about messages, I have to agree with Acci on it. I keep my messages OOC unless certain conditions apply:

-Evamal having a holographic call with Accipiter
-Nari getting a call. (Depending on her wearing her jacket, she might be able to answer or not)
-Setting up scenes with people, who are about to visit (a preparation description)
-Telepathy shenanigans

Nari has a phone, because she is officially employed in Sinder, having access to the tech Acci has to upgrade her phone to have net.
Evamal is a tech-affine genius, her bracelet is able to have holo communications and texts with those she provides with a transmitter. As of now only Acci has one, for whatever reason. It also acts like a regular cellphone if desired via taking it off.

In general I am not opposed to utilizing phones in roleplay as a support device to explain certain acts. If the character has lorebits access to tech, then why not use it. :3

#8

I really do like the “third-person narrative” style of IC messaging, writing short paragraphs to one another about what the two physically separate characters are doing, without directly communicating with one another.

It’s honestly not a technique I ran into before this year, and I always feel classy when someone does it at me, haha. (Usually as a gentle corrective after I blunder in with a p [yourname]=:waves! "Hi ;b" or whatever.) It’s a good thought technology.

#9

And Widget was traumatized by Nutella’s phone! You can do a lot of things with phones.

And some of them are hilarious.

#10

I like this approach! That’s exactly how I prefer to use messages - particularly IC, though with OOC it is whatever it is. With messages coming from a separate area, some people have tried to RP as if we are in the same room, which is really difficult to try to reconcile with when there’s no establishment of how we are interacting through space-time, and I end up treating it as regular messages by default. But I really like the idea of filling in information from the character’s perspectives while using their phones!

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#11

I always use messages as if they’re over a phone. Stormy and the MacQuarie family, residing in Sinder, are pretty modern, but Linseria probably has terrible service.

#12

Well, this actually can be a good idea. Besides Nick owns a Google Pixel 6 Pro and I would love to see him use that phone more often.

Other than that, I have a few name suggestions for phone service.

  • SkyNetwork
  • Serenity Network
  • Jade Mobile
  • Leone Mobile
  • Starline Mobile
  • Aurelia

[Edit A - Aurelia added as a list of suggested mobile provider name]

#13

I am all for Riftel. Or Rift Bell to make Talonstrike happy.

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#14

We could have multiple phone services, such as prepaid.

#15

Hah. Or “Sintel”. Oh… wait. Nooooooo. ;.;

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#16

This idea is still going?