Hey folks!
YWU has been kind of dormant for the past year or so, and it hasn't really lived up to the hype or potential I see in it as a collaborative lore and writing project. In the past, when I've attempted to tackle updating YWU, I've found it incredibly daunting and overwhelming, and I'm the one who came up with the idea, so I imagine it's far more daunting for the average newcomer who wishes to explore/add/etc.
2021 for me, was a year of addressing larger topics within roleplaying and thus not being able to focus on YWU as much. As you have seen, 2021 was the year of the Roleplay Revamp, Roleplay Month, and brainstorming for LSS Round 2. All three didn't involve YWU, and took up much of my time, so YWU was put on the back burner for the most part. However, I did spend time brainstorming issues within YWU and potential solutions to them.
2022 is implementing those solutions.
This is going to be a long, arduous process, so I'm making this thread to keep everyone updated on what's going on and stay transparent about the situation.
YWU Overhaul 2022
6 posts in this topic.
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First Up!
The Issues
For me, there are three large issues that requires addressing for YWU.
-Accessibility
-Leadership
-Sustainability
Accessiblity
Acessibility is the main thing limiting this from being a larger project than it is. New people cannot easily read, write, plot, or navigate YWU, with how high its barrier of entry is.- Not Newcomer Friendly
- Club, Discord, forums, where to start
- Where to easily access stories?
- How to easily add lore?
- Brand Issues
- What is YWU?
- What is the image?
- How to advertise?
Leadership
YWU is behemoth in scope of writing, lore, and admin side things. If this was my only aspect on this site, I'm sure I could easily keep up with it, but unfortunately it's not.- Not enough project leads.
- Make tools easier for current and future leads
- Streamline to lessen workload
Sustainability
Another large aspect that is keeping YWU from becoming bigger and better is how much work goes into every little step of the project, from the smallest lore entry to larger projects, like events or new roleplays.- Adding lore, story, plot, is super difficult and time-consuming.
- If everything must be updated before moving forward, how can it move forward?
- Not Newcomer Friendly
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The next two major posts in this thread will be:
The Solutions
andThe Timeline
Those will take time to write, though! In the meantime, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or more, this thread is and will always be open for discussion ^^ -
The Solutions
-Addressing Accessibility
When I first created YWU, I had no clue how to create something so large and connected while making it easy to navigate and easy to join and create. So, I created basic info dumps with no real clarity and consistency. There's also multiple areas that are dedicated to the same resources, so where to begin? Another issue that I didn't really think about was branding issues. YWU - what is it? Can you describe it with one sentence/one picture? Honestly, the answer is no, unless you already know about it.
So, here are some preliminary plans:- Lore Hub Overhaul
- The Lore Hub is the heart and engine of the YWU. Everything will go through this at one point or another. The plan is to revamp the lore hub to focus on useful information first. This will be separated into three major areas:
- General World Information
- Timeline
- Country Breakdown
- General World Information
The lore hub is the heart of the YWU. It is the foundation for all aspects of the YWU, so if the foundation is faulty, then everything else will be faulty. This will take time, as there are quite literally hundreds of thousands of words to go through when developing the foundation of lore. Everything starts here. So, the overhaul shall start here as well.
Beyond the lore hub overall are some general goals for the YWU in general.- Add a clear start here guide and more consistent/easier navigation
- Have a clear hub for YWU, either in a club or in the forums.
- Adding Colored Lore Additions
- To make lore additions easier to add and easier to explore, lore additions will be color-coded by the writing project it came from. For example: lore additions from Aether's Heart will be red. Lore Additions from On Stolen Wings will be purple. There will be a color index in the lore hub for easier navigation.
- Add authorship lines and source material lines.
Honestly, there are more and will be more, but a lot of the ideas I have are dependent on having more leadership and easier capacity for leadership opportunities within the YWU. For now, we must start broad strokes. So many things will depend on the lore hub overhaul, so that will be my main focus. Once the lore hub is overhauled, YWU will be in a much healthier space. - Lore Hub Overhaul
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Overhaul Part One: a new format
Approaching the lore hub overhaul is a daunting task, so I approached it with a template first. I knew what I wanted and I knew how I wanted to break it down, but I had no idea how to approach it. So, I sat down and reconstructed my original lore hub template, pivoting it to a layout that focuses on each country. I shall share it here because, if you are looking to revamp or include your own country into YWU, this is the template you'll want to use:Spoiler
- Country Breakdown
- Land
- Brief Country Description
- Country Map
- Cities
- City Description
- Notable Architecture
- Landmarks
- Natural Landmarks
- Created Landmarks
- Biomes
- Notable fauna/flora
- Climate/temperate
- Resources
- Natural Resources
- Technology
- Transportation
- Life
- Species
- Race Relations
- Culture
- Class System
- Family Structure
- Fashion
- Religion
- Mythology
- Organized Religion
- Fables & Folklore
- Government
- Government Structure & Style
- Economy
- Governing Body
- World Status
- International Relations
- Education
- Medicine
- Punishment & Rehabilitation
- Organized Crime
- Ruling Leaders
- Criminal network
- Government Structure & Style
- Military & Magic
- Military
- Government Military
- Local Military
- Common Weapons
- Magic
- Common Magic
- Magic Culture
- Magic Education
- Forbidden Magic
- Common Magical Weapons
- Military
- History
- Country History
- Governing History
- Military History
- Magical History
- Cultural History
- Land
Right now, I am focusing on building the two main countries in YWU using this new format: Asturia and Synilas. - Country Breakdown
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Overhaul Part Two: a new map
I am a visual person. So, when approaching the World Overview section of the lore hub, I wanted to reference a visual aid when I work. However, early on I realized that the map of YWU is extremely outdated and an eyesore. So, what better way to usher in a new era of the lore with a new map?
Using Inkarnate, I set out to update and refine the map of Runeheim. Before, Runeheim was split into obscure lands with room for expansion on the borders, but I quickly realized that it would be best to just make a map of the world and actually create borders to that world. So, I set out to recreate the existing maps and give a bit more realism to my internal maps.
My original internal map of Runeheim with known and explore countries
As shown above, the original map of Runeheim had a lot of room to expand, as was intended. However, the continents weren't explicitely declared and the map itself was a dreadful looking gray. It just wasn't fun or compelling to look at. I started my journey on a new map by faithfully recreating the existing borders.
Progress on the new map, including a new northern part of the continent that mimicks existing terrain (think Canada)
As I created the new map, I knew I wanted to create actual borders to the continents and not just let them run off the map; the map is meant to be complete for internal use even if it is not explored just yet. I started by removing the large landmass to the north of Asturia in favor of a glacial landmass that looks close to Canada's northern lands. I then set my eyes on the bottom border of the continent that Asturia and Synilas is on.
Welcome to the entire continent.
The southern part of the continent now actually has a border and a southern tip. You may have noticed that there are countries to the right of Asturia that have yet to be officially introduced to the lore. They are a work in progress and they were looking a little small with the new map's dimensions. Let's fix that.
Giving the landmass a bit more to it on the right.
With that, I started to fill in the existing country borders and notable natural landmarks. Rivers, mountains, country colors, and town locations.
Now the map is starting to look like an actual map.
I then focused my attention on the right continent. This land is fully unexplored within the lore, but I wanted to future proof it so I don't have to remake the landmasses again in the future. I added borders to the continent on the top right and then connected the landmass on the bottom right to form one large continent. It looks a bit weird so I then split it up and added some natural rivers, lakes, and islands, to give it more definition and character. With that, I now had a template for the world of Runeheim.
Welcome to Runeheim.
Add some town names and center the map on explored regions and ta-da!
The new map of YWU.
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