Heya all! Looking forward to participate!

[TracksNineEight]

Long-time sci-fi nerd here and a fan of good worldbuilding.

I first discovered OA around 12~ years ago, just stumbled upon it while bored, long forgot exactly how. But I remember being amazed by how expansive and deep it was, giving an impression better than most fiction that there was an actual world that existed behind this strange digital encyclopedia. I was also struck by how unapologetically weird it was, and admittedly that was somewhat of a barrier, leading me to eventually walking away. But something about it always stuck with me.

Flash forward to the present, and I just happened to remember that this project existed, and decided to look up if it was still up. Was pleasantly surprised to see that it was not only alive, but is still reasonably active. This time I couldn't get enough of it, devouring page after page. To my older eyes, the weirdness was now a feature, not a bug. Not content with just reading, I decided to take a peek at the community behind the project, and then to join it, hence why I'm here now.

I'm still not sure what I can contribute compared to you all who've been here for years. But it will be nice to just talk about the setting, throw in any ideas, and maybe try my hand at some creative writing.

If I had to list what interests me the most about OA, I'd say it's between the galactography, the concept of morphological freedom, and "middle powers" like the Archosaurian Empire.

Anyway, hoping to have a pleasant time here, and thanks for having me!

[Drashner1]

Hi There - Welcome to OA!

By all means, please feel free to jump into any conversations that catch your interest or to start new ones if you are so inclined.

Things are a bit quiet atm, but can get quite busy at times. Also, we have a Discord now and a lot of the non-worldbuilding discussion (and some of the worldbuilding early discussion) tends to take place there of late. Many (but by no means all) of us have memberships in both places. But the actual final worldbuilding still goes on here.

If you have any questions or concerns about any aspect of the project or setting, please don't hesitate to ask. And there's almost nothing in the setting that still wouldn't benefit from fresh eyes and additional ideas being suggested for it, so please don't feel that there's nothing more to be done here. There is so so much left to do (and probably always will be in one way or another - which is all part of the fun).

Hope this helps and once again - Welcome to OA!

Todd

[TracksNineEight]

Thanks for the welcoming response!

I've seen the link to the Discord and will definitely give it a look once I'm more free.

If you have any questions or concerns about any aspect of the project or setting, please don't hesitate to ask. And there's almost nothing in the setting that still wouldn't benefit from fresh eyes and additional ideas being suggested for it, so please don't feel that there's nothing more to be done here. There is so so much left to do (and probably always will be in one way or another - which is all part of the fun).

Will keep that in mind! I've just always stuck to the old rule about internet communities where newcomers are expected to watch more than talk, and I figured that was even more important in one with a history this long. But I'll definitely give input and ideas if I think they're worth considering!