The idea of Suffrage, the collected works of one Robert Anson Heinlein as told by me with rose tinted glasses, the idea of choose your own adventure novels, the knowledge of how to make my favorite drinks, and of course I’d write a whole bunch of poetry they’ve never seen the like of before.
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Human rights and the social contract.
Also, I’d make a side trip to Ethiopia and Yemen to grab coffee beans a couple centuries ahead of schedule.
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@Hearts I’m afraid you’ll probably need a big boat and an imperialist mindset to have much chance of getting chocolate! 
Interesting that you mention games, I’ve just recently included that as an additional hobby choice (not yet in the demo) and if you choose it then you’ll have a handful of AR games downloaded to your implant so you can indulge in a guilty anachronistic pleasure now and then!
@anon8836198 Ooh, D&D is good and easily arranged in any setting! I wonder how medieval knights would take to it…
@Hazel Yes, I’ve had some fun already imagining the results of non-artistic characters trying to recreate all the famous artworks of history! Although it won’t affect much in the short time period the game deals with, I also find it interesting to consider the cultural power of artistic movements. In the next chapter, you find Viv has been teaching local musicians how to play jazz, blues and rock and roll - it’s beyond my power to speculate but I’d love to know how that would change the medieval world if it caught on…
@Lycanthromorphic I’ve included the chance for the player to promote modern ideas of suffrage when they come to run their own fief. It strays uncomfortably close at times to violating my vow to remain unbiased and non-judgmental, but it’s been interesting to speculate on the difficulties of introducing these principles into a staunchly feudal society…
@Ramidel As with suffrage, I’ve been tying myself in all kinds of knots by trying to give the player a chance to introduce the concept of human rights. I don’t regret doing it though, as it has gradually become apparent to me that these sort of questions are at the heart of the story. What do you want from the future? How do you go about building that? Do you have a responsibility to try?
Oh, coffee… I’ve already scratched out a passage about coffee when I found that the Middle East didn’t have it in the 12th century. I’d personally have to make that side-trip too…
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@Wiwyums - I thought about this for a bit …
The most important thing to me to ensure to keep alive would be my loved ones’ names and personas from that future homeland of mine. (including my dog 
) … I’d invent some additional King Arthur stories involving them, so one day, my sisters would see themselves in medieval stories during their high school English lit classes – Guinevere, move over for Princess Caitlin of Disneyland … etc.
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You’ve hit the nail on the head. The ground isn’t really ready for a significant sea change in politics (the new tech liberated knightly women, but not peasants, and the cultural change in Islam now allows for patriarchs and concubines of either gender). If I were to try to spread suffrage effectively, I’d try to establish chartered free cities with their own archon knights, similar to Italy or Spain, and build a nation around them. It’d be harder but not impossible to do this on the Islamic side, since the concept of free cities is a new thing there. (I don’t see an English style Magna Carta without a nation at least as stable and well-defended as England, personally.)
Alternatively, you could attempt (one or the other, obviously) to introduce the concept of the state and the centralized monarchy, with the majority of archons in Outremer belonging to the king or caliph and built and maintained by royal factories. The technology easily supports this; all you’d need to do is to build a single governing power through devastating victory. Easier but not by much on the Muslim side.
Random thoughts as always.
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Equal rights. For everyone.
That, right there, 
Beyond that, well, chocolate, as mentioned by @Hearts - we shall bring it to everyone! 
The dream of reaching the stars. It is, after all, the future of humanity.
CoG/HG. 
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Start with long-range sailing ships. 
Personally, I’d go for a centralized state first and democracy later, but that’s me. Especially if I was in charge. 
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So, a big ship with a centralized state looking to become the chocolate centre of the world it is. 
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Sounds fun!
(The comment on sailing ships is because, if you want chocolate, it’s the same as wanting French fries or other potato products: you’ve gotta find a route to America.)
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(Yup. First one ship, then two and so on. City of Sails. (Anyone up to writing that CYOA? 
))
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I get seasick just thinking about it.
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Yes, many people really miss the sea… That is what you meant, no?
Oh, and ice cream must be preserved. Chocolate ice cream, mmhmm! 
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@Eiwynn I’m glad you mentioned the desire to keep loved ones ‘alive’ - that’s something I’ve thought a lot about. In fact, (big spoiler for the late game here): one of the moments I’m proudest of so far is when you meet your old crewmate Oleg, now an elderly man and an unsympathetic character in both time periods, and get a glimpse of both his humanity and the motivation for his later inhumanity when you discover that he’s named his new 12th century sons after the ones he ‘lost’ when he wiped the 21st century from existence…
@ramidel Ooh! I think, with your permission, I might be poaching some of those ideas! So far, any desire of the player to establish democracy or human rights is limited to eccentric experiments within their fief. I’ve assumed that any broader change would be impossible to introduce within the game. But your suggestion of free cities makes for a very sensible starting point, and something I could implement relatively easily… Thanks!
@Taylor_Enean The good news is they had ice cream! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastani_sonnati
The bad news is still chocolate…
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Poach away, I’m glad to see my ideas take root in this harsh soil!
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Progress update:
- Chapter 10 well in hand. The end is in sight!
- Chapter 9 overhauled mercilessly. Much happier with it now.
- Two new minor ROs introduced after I realised that every RO so far is essentially as mad as a box of frogs. The two new ones are a bit more level-headed for players who enjoy a quieter life!
- Loads of the helpful suggestions from this thread now included in game, especially the ideas for 21st century things players might like to keep alive.
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Have you considered mad as a Teacup of frogs, or a Truck of frogs?
rock on
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African or European? 
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What, i don’t know that…ahhhh!
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Okay, hold up.
@Drakeye I don’t know what size the teacups are in your household but my teacups would only hold a single frog, and even then not very comfortably. A single frog wedged into a teacup is to me suggestive of quiet dignity under trying circumstances, not the sort of frantic mania I had in mind. As for your other proposal, besides being logistically difficult and exceptionally concerning from an animal welfare point of view, I would posit that the notion of a truck crammed full with frogs goes too far the other way. It implies an almost apocalyptic level of chaos far beyond the scope of ordinary madness. To be frank, and I hope you don’t take offence at this, I think you’re as crazy as a sackful of ferrets for even suggesting such things.
@Taylor_Enean Good luck trying to get either of those into a box! Every good herpetologist knows that under stress African frogs will secrete a toxin capable of dissolving the very toughest cardboard or wood (unless you meant a metal box but I’m not even going to entertain such an absurd notion). European frogs, on the other hand, have a natural terror of corners, bred into them by centuries of urban persecution, that makes them equally unsuitable for box storage (unless you meant a round hat-box but, again, I find this so unlikely as to seem ridiculous). Please don’t take this personally, but it should have been clear to anyone who wasn’t as barmy as a basketful of badgers that I meant Asian frogs.
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Your honour, @Wiwyums is badger-ing the witness, calling them a basket case!
https://youtu.be/EIyixC9NsLI
That’s a load of croak.
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