Cross-Dimensional Time Distortion

[Yzxstuhl]

The concept is pretty simple; time between dimensions is not relative, and so flows at different paces. This results in a type of Chronological distortion, where when comparing two identical time periods between dimensions, one is longer than the other, whilst the time periods remain the same.
A demonstration of this could be done with a stopwatch, a calendar, and two identical dimensions, however with one going at a slower pace than the other. (B is faster than A.) The watch starts within A, on earth, and records a complete minute, consisting of sixty seconds. The watch is then taken from A into B, where a minute is recorded; again, sixty seconds. However, when the watch then comes back from B to A, it is discovered that while only sixty seconds had passed in B, the calendar shows that a complete month had passed in A; This means that if the watch recorded an entire month in A, consisting of the appropriate 4 weeks, only a minute would have passed in B.

Comments, suggestions, Ideas?

[Kate]

I would think each dimension should have its own time line which is recorded and placed into a topic in the lore so people know the current date. In fact I think this should be a requirement which is put into place. Maybe have a day of the month where everyone updates the current time sheet of every dimension. Not down to the exact day but just the exact month and year.

[Riley Oran]

Something like this, I feel, could resolve any matters that are currently an issue and prevent a lot of future matters from becoming the same, though it feels like a hand-wave too in some respects. I'll refrain from stating more until I see what others think.

In terms of Astral's suggestion, I would hope that all members are already in the spirit of posting their activity in the timeline that can be found in the lore section. Making it a requirement is moot if we can simply encourage the behavior in the community.

[Kate]

Until now we haven't though encouraged it at least not verbally if you know what I mean. Having a day for it though promotes organization and makes it much easier to keep track of.

[Pride]

I've been acting like time passes equally in all dimensions across the universe, but not so in pocket dimensions or anything like the sort, it may cause slight issues here and there but its a much less complex way of doing it and it requires little effort especially for those who are new to this.

[Artless_Artist]

I have also thought the omniverse had a constant idea of time; although i would enjoy this idea as well; as i also agree some worlds are technically older than others.

However, as apt as i am to change my mind; i will wait to place my final decision when all the options have been weighed.

[Sloth]

I'm tired, so I may be misinterpreting Artless' different ages of worlds comment but,

time being constant =/= it being the same year everywhere

[Yzxstuhl]

Realistically, the time-distortion idea wouldn't really change excessively much, it would probably fix more problems than it would cause. Even without cross-dimensional time distortion, the chances of any two dimensions being perfectly in sync would be highly unlikely, like Sloth said. (Meaning that two dimensions could have time pass equally, but one is likely to be an hour behind or before the other, or something of the like.) Plus, it could also be used to add drama to dangerous situations, like an antagonist flees to another dimension where time is slower, literally meaning thst every second the protagonist wastes, the antagonist gets another month to hide.
Plus, it would allow for time skips in individual threads without needing the entire website to experience the timeskip.

[Riley Oran]

Oh my gosh, where do I begin. 

So, I thought about it. Then I slept on it. Then I thought about it some more. So, my opinion is that the best place to start is for me to try and define how I've generally acknowledged the function of time.

While all dimensions had started at different times, I've generally had the thought time across the Omniverse, with the exception of certain places (particularly the Void, the Black, and some pocket dimensions) time progresses at a fairly consistent pace. That assumption permeates the lore, which is why the Omniversal timeline matters. Indeed, a constant breach between Amara and Crisis might break reality if time progressed differently, and Suhb's empire (later Ryuu's) would have been nearly impossible to maintain. Breaches that lead to other dimensions would be dangerous and unstable, as well. 

At the same time this suggestion appears as an easy solution, and by a wave of a hand towards certain questions we can answer a few current ones now. That should not be our conditioned approach. We shouldn't necessarily go for easy if it has the potential to throw other things off balance. As for time skips, that would still affect the other Roleplayers in that world which would still affect continuity, and as a potential measure for the future we should assume that would be a fair amount. Allowing it as a community creates a precedent that it's okay if it only affects a few people, regardless whether or not they had a say in how it affected them at all.

That is not to say that people should never expect the unexpected, but that we create an expectation of what could be unexpected. We could never do this instantly, and by legislating it we merely limit ourselves rather than practice discipline and keep the option open to us at later points. This is why I'm against mandating most things, and would much rather spend a lot of time making our community better rather than creating rules to control one that is not.

On the subject of the time skip: I've thought about a solution. It fixes the current problem, but means that we would have to be careful in the future. It is one that I and a few others suggested yesterday, but due to the stressful situation we were all placed in the idea was not successfully communicated. 

The problem is that time was "skipped". The solution is easy enough, then. Move the timeline backwards. Yes, that same amount of time has passed, but only to catch up to the rest of the site rather than move ahead of it. That would make both topics canon, and mean that the current one could continue and still be in line with the rest of the site.

As for the omniversal time, I feel that variances should be kept to a minimal in terms of dimensions, but on Universal and Multiversal scales time may be very different than in other regions. In terms of pocket dimensions, it depends on the preference of the entity that created it.

Speaking of which, given the interesting depth of this topic I've decided to cover it on the Podcast later today. If anybody with a mic who has an opposing opinion or alternate view wishes to be there, let me know that way we can get your voice heard.

[Sloth]

What I was trying to say was: Just because everything moves at the same rate, does not mean it began at the same point, which is the impression I received from Artless. I was not defending different dimensional clocks.

Anyway, the only issue with moving the topic backwards for their topic would be consistency issues with their characters. Something about Fae only recently being unfrozen and whatnot. I don't know the details, but that was their concern, which is why they wouldn't be able to continue with the topic.

[Riley Oran]

Ah, I see. Unfortunately I can't offer a solution to that at the moment.

What I can do is talk about Astral's timeline idea. I like it. I myself update a general timeline every time I finish a topic that has significant impact on the world I'm in (mainly because personal stories aren't relevant to the world at large until later in their progression). I would greatly encourage this behavior in our member base, because even if a timeline can't be determined a person can see what is happening in that world and I believe such a thing matters.

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