Hello from a relatively new OA fan

[Optimoon]

Hello everyone. While I've known vaguely about OA and it's setting for about a year and a half now, I've only really gotten into it (mainly through the EG) from the start of this year. I've got a grasp of the absolute basics (toposophic levels, overall geopolitics, major events in the timeline such as the technocalypse, etc), but still have a lot to learn about the setting. However, it is already my favourite sci-fi setting by far, with the detail and hard science aspects of it being unmatched by anything else I've come across.

I'll probably remain relatively quiet on the forums for the near future while I become more familliar with OA, though I might be a little more active on discord. I probably won't contribute many ideas (and almost certainly won't attempt to add anything for at least a little while - I know too little), and I doubt that OA needs yet another natural garden world / planetary system that serves little purpose other than 'filler,' which are two of the things I find enjoyable and fufilling to create, as the geopolitics of interstellar empires seem way too complicated for me.

Anyways, loving the journey I'm on so far and can't wait to see what's in store.

[Worldtree]

Nice
I’m glad you’re enjoying the deep dive into the encyclopedia and everything else

Welcome to the forums

(Feel free to comment on any discussions with things you do know, even if you feel you don’t know the canon yet )

[Yoshivert555]

Hello, I was as lost as you when I arrived on the forum, and even today the amount of lore to learn give me headaches...

Honestly, while there's already a pretty large quantity of "filler" systems on OA, I am not against one more, and I doubt the main contributors of the forum are against it either. Only problem, there's already a lot of garden worlds, so if you create new systems try to focus on non-garden worlds first.

Yes, there's is a lot of lore too about the sephirotic empires, what I suggest you is to roll a random number between 1 and 16, pick the sephirotic empire having this order in the main page of the empires, and stick with it until you make your first system. I used this technique several times already for making systems, mostly for personal use.

[Optimoon]

Hello, I was as lost as you when I arrived on the forum, and even today the amount of lore to learn give me headaches...

Honestly, while there's already a pretty large quantity of "filler" systems on OA, I am not against one more, and I doubt the main contributors of the forum are against it either. Only problem, there's already a lot of garden worlds, so if you create new systems try to focus on non-garden worlds first.

Yes, there's is a lot of lore too about the sephirotic empires, what I suggest you is to roll a random number between 1 and 16, pick the sephirotic empire having this order in the main page of the empires, and stick with it until you make your first system. I used this technique several times already for making systems, mostly for personal use.

Thank you for the advice!

[stevebowers]

I see no problem at all with adding extra systems to the encyclopaedia. After all there are more than a billion stars in the Terragen Sphere, and even more depending on which temporal frame of reference you consider.

[Drashner1]

Hi there - Welcome to OA

As an alternative to a Garden World, we are always in need of new inhabited systems mainly consisting of habitats (where most of the OA population lives) filled with interesting cultures and practices and such. This could include genetically engineered or 'neogen' (biological lifeforms created from scratch) lifeforms that could be every bit as strange as an alien garden world. You could also write about a world(s) of such beings that someone or other in the setting has created for reasons of art, culture, religion, or for fun (or maybe the reason is mysterious). This last would let you write up a planetary ecosystem without having to be quite as rigorous as for a naturally evolved garden world. Another option in the same space would be a 'mechology' - an ecology made up of cybernetic lifeforms.

That all said, if you'd like to take some time to get more familiar/comfortable with the setting and/or just take part in discussions that grab your interest, that's perfectly fine as well.

Hope this helps and once again - Welcome to OA!!

Todd

[Optimoon]

Thank you everyone!