Post by Avalikia on Aug 30, 2010 16:43:01 GMT -7
In General
The theme of this muck states that humans disappeared over 100 years ago. That does not mean that all the domestic species would have gone with them; left to their own devices, many would have survived. And perhaps they, through stories and traditions, remember the species that used to live with and look after their ancestors. Some of the species, on the other hand, probably would not have survived and will not be allowed. So the following is a partial listing of the species that I’ve thought about, and what the rules regarding each will be. I’ve tried to focus on the ones that will probably be more popular, but if you’re curious about any others, feel free to ask and I’ll add them to the list.
Cats
It is not at all uncommon for cats to go feral or wild, so they’re very much allowed on Hidden Nirvana. And unlike most of the other domestic-gone-wild species they tend to be so good at it that the restrictions can be boiled down to a short list: no obvious purebreds, no curled or folded ears, no munchkin legs, no squish-noses, and for pity’s sake go easy on the long hair. Other than that what humans tend to breed into cats tends to not matter a great deal to their survival and probably wouldn’t instantly be bred out, so unless I’ve forgotten something obvious then you could easily argue that anything else could have survived the disappearance of people.
Dogs
Wild dogs are not as common as, say, wild cats, but it’s something that has happened, could easily happen again, and is actually much of the way through happening in India today so naturally they’ll be allowed on Hidden Nirvana. Now, according to our theme, people have not been around for over a hundred years to care for them. This has many consequences for any dogs they left behind, which I thought that I would outline here for reference.
First of all, forget about any sort of a purebred. Without humans to direct who pairs up with whom, dogs become mutts very quickly. In fact, the dogs that come out of crossbreed pairings are usually stronger and better at surviving than their parents, so any puppies born to parents who happen to be of the same breed are likely at a bit of a disadvantage, so the odds of anything resembling a purebred are, for all intents and purposes, nothing. What this means is that breed-specific traits quickly disappear into very mixed bloodlines.
Secondly, nature tends to be pretty hard on the more extreme traits that humans love to breed into their dogs. Take, for example, the extremes of size; a Chihuahua or a St. Bernard would have a much harder time surviving than something of a more moderate size that is both big enough and agile enough to hunt and protect itself. The shortness of a dachshund’s legs, the lightness of a greyhound, or even the shortness of a bulldog’s nose would make survival for them very difficult. And even if one were to argue that a few of the above would find a way to survive here and there, after a hundred years of survival and cross-breeding those extremes would no longer exist.
So where does that leave us? I’ve just explained what wouldn’t be realistic, so let’s talk about what would be. Fortunately, nature has already given us a few examples of what dogs turn into if they’re left to survive by themselves, so this isn’t so hypothetical:
Australian Dingos: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Dingo
New Guinea Singing Dog: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Guinea_Singing_Dog
Carolina Dog: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_Dog
If you look at pictures of any of those, you’ll see that they’re all medium sized dogs with average features, usually a reddish or tannish coat, gently curved and bushy tails, erect or mildly droopy ears, etc. This is the type of dog that is able to survive without humans caring for them, and wherever dogs go feral they start to look more and more like these.
What this means for the muck is that this type of dog is very, very strongly encouraged. While we’ll be allowing plenty of variation, anything that is obviously an extreme deviation from it to such a degree that you wonder how this dog or the parents that produced it managed to survive all this time will not be allowed. Deviations that make a dog seem a bit more like a wolf will be allowed, as wolves are also found in the area and there’s a good chance there’s been some mixing, but first generation hybrids fall under the hybrid rules so if they aren’t bred in game then they require a special app.
Horses
While horses can and have become wild elsewhere, I do not think that they would have survived in India. The places where they do survive have a distinct lack of extremely big predators; mustangs, for example, have to contend with cougars, but cougars are dwarfed by lions and tigers. Even the wild equines of India, the Onagers and the Kiang, are confined to the deserts and the mountains, respectively, where those very large predators are fewer. However, I do think that wild horses would survive within what I’ll call ‘epic journey’ distance from the muck, so they will be allowed as a special app. character if they’re of a suitable wild type.
Cows
While studying the issue of cattle, I discovered that there are two kinds of domestic cows: zebu and what are called taurine cattle. Zebu are the asian type and, well, just do an image search of them and you’ll see that they’re rather different-looking from what we mostly western-types think of when we picture a cow. Therefore my official ruling on cattle is that wild zebu cattle (once again, nothing purebred) are allowed, while taurine cattle are not. Moo!
Feel free to ask questions/make comments!
The theme of this muck states that humans disappeared over 100 years ago. That does not mean that all the domestic species would have gone with them; left to their own devices, many would have survived. And perhaps they, through stories and traditions, remember the species that used to live with and look after their ancestors. Some of the species, on the other hand, probably would not have survived and will not be allowed. So the following is a partial listing of the species that I’ve thought about, and what the rules regarding each will be. I’ve tried to focus on the ones that will probably be more popular, but if you’re curious about any others, feel free to ask and I’ll add them to the list.
Cats
It is not at all uncommon for cats to go feral or wild, so they’re very much allowed on Hidden Nirvana. And unlike most of the other domestic-gone-wild species they tend to be so good at it that the restrictions can be boiled down to a short list: no obvious purebreds, no curled or folded ears, no munchkin legs, no squish-noses, and for pity’s sake go easy on the long hair. Other than that what humans tend to breed into cats tends to not matter a great deal to their survival and probably wouldn’t instantly be bred out, so unless I’ve forgotten something obvious then you could easily argue that anything else could have survived the disappearance of people.
Dogs
Wild dogs are not as common as, say, wild cats, but it’s something that has happened, could easily happen again, and is actually much of the way through happening in India today so naturally they’ll be allowed on Hidden Nirvana. Now, according to our theme, people have not been around for over a hundred years to care for them. This has many consequences for any dogs they left behind, which I thought that I would outline here for reference.
First of all, forget about any sort of a purebred. Without humans to direct who pairs up with whom, dogs become mutts very quickly. In fact, the dogs that come out of crossbreed pairings are usually stronger and better at surviving than their parents, so any puppies born to parents who happen to be of the same breed are likely at a bit of a disadvantage, so the odds of anything resembling a purebred are, for all intents and purposes, nothing. What this means is that breed-specific traits quickly disappear into very mixed bloodlines.
Secondly, nature tends to be pretty hard on the more extreme traits that humans love to breed into their dogs. Take, for example, the extremes of size; a Chihuahua or a St. Bernard would have a much harder time surviving than something of a more moderate size that is both big enough and agile enough to hunt and protect itself. The shortness of a dachshund’s legs, the lightness of a greyhound, or even the shortness of a bulldog’s nose would make survival for them very difficult. And even if one were to argue that a few of the above would find a way to survive here and there, after a hundred years of survival and cross-breeding those extremes would no longer exist.
So where does that leave us? I’ve just explained what wouldn’t be realistic, so let’s talk about what would be. Fortunately, nature has already given us a few examples of what dogs turn into if they’re left to survive by themselves, so this isn’t so hypothetical:
Australian Dingos: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Dingo
New Guinea Singing Dog: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Guinea_Singing_Dog
Carolina Dog: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_Dog
If you look at pictures of any of those, you’ll see that they’re all medium sized dogs with average features, usually a reddish or tannish coat, gently curved and bushy tails, erect or mildly droopy ears, etc. This is the type of dog that is able to survive without humans caring for them, and wherever dogs go feral they start to look more and more like these.
What this means for the muck is that this type of dog is very, very strongly encouraged. While we’ll be allowing plenty of variation, anything that is obviously an extreme deviation from it to such a degree that you wonder how this dog or the parents that produced it managed to survive all this time will not be allowed. Deviations that make a dog seem a bit more like a wolf will be allowed, as wolves are also found in the area and there’s a good chance there’s been some mixing, but first generation hybrids fall under the hybrid rules so if they aren’t bred in game then they require a special app.
Horses
While horses can and have become wild elsewhere, I do not think that they would have survived in India. The places where they do survive have a distinct lack of extremely big predators; mustangs, for example, have to contend with cougars, but cougars are dwarfed by lions and tigers. Even the wild equines of India, the Onagers and the Kiang, are confined to the deserts and the mountains, respectively, where those very large predators are fewer. However, I do think that wild horses would survive within what I’ll call ‘epic journey’ distance from the muck, so they will be allowed as a special app. character if they’re of a suitable wild type.
Cows
While studying the issue of cattle, I discovered that there are two kinds of domestic cows: zebu and what are called taurine cattle. Zebu are the asian type and, well, just do an image search of them and you’ll see that they’re rather different-looking from what we mostly western-types think of when we picture a cow. Therefore my official ruling on cattle is that wild zebu cattle (once again, nothing purebred) are allowed, while taurine cattle are not. Moo!
Feel free to ask questions/make comments!