12-14-2011, 04:15 AM
[html]Alright, so, sorry if replying now is kicking a dead dog. I've been meaning to reply to this thread since it first popped up, but I've only had the chance to sit down and collect my thoughts on the matter now. I apologize in advance if some of my responses and opinions have already been stated - I read various chunks and skimmed others, because a lot of them were TL;DR. But I think this is a wonderful point of interest, and really pretty relevant to the RP situation within 'Souls :3
Firstly, I'd like to say that I agree with the majority of what Zero has stated (and factually supported) regarding our current trend of playing winter as a lean time being unapplicable to the majority of wolfpacks that inhabit areas where heavy winter would pose a problem to most other wildlife, including traditional human beings. Zero has provided a very broad and well-researched front on this matter.
BUT, I also feel that there are a lot of factors not being taken into account.
While a fully-functional wolf pack may find food bountiful in the winter months, I think it is essential to recognise that within 'Souls, we are not dealing with 'fully-functional wolf packs'. now, I emphasised that pretty weirdly, but I do have reasons for this.
Wolves, particularly grey wolves, are evolved to take advantage of the heavy winters that their breed may be exposed to; But, as mentioned in other posts previous to this one, we are not dealing with a solidarily wolf-based population. I am not certain, but I assume by now that a large quantity, perhaps even the majority, of us play wolf-hybrids or other. This significantly hinders the relevance that statistical data has towards the ability for grey wolves to make the most of the cold season. Plenty of the species played in 'Souls are foreign to the area, including domesticated dogs. Not only could their physical adaptations lead to a weakness in winter, they would also possess different hunting and predatorial mannerisms, which might better suit them to prey that does not become easier to take down in snow.
That was my first point, but as I've noted, it was already recognised previously. So, I will now move on to the detail that occurs to me as being overlooked in this discussion - If I have skipped over a section where it was dealt with and mentioned, then I am sorry, and please do look over this c:
I would like to note that while we consider Luperci to be wolves, it seems to be very much ignored in this discussion that most of us play them, in the majority, as being humanoids - Both possessive of physical and mental human benefits, such as bipedalism and intelligence, and human flaws. The culture of being humanoid has dramatically changed the evolutionary mannerisms of our characters - In most packs we are seeing a dramatic difference in social structure and interactions. We are playing them like primitive humans, for the most part, not like true wolves. This is really massively important to the debate on whether or not winter is played as a lean time, and I will explain why.
When looking at snippets of the data that Zero has provided, it seems pretty difficult to deny that if we played our characters as quadrupedal, normally-functioning lupines, we would struggle to find reasons to play winter as a lean time. However, the fact that we play them as humanoid poses significant behavioural and realistic changes to the natural ability of wolves to flourish in winter. Firstly, if we played them as such natural wolves, the majority of our threads would circulate around hunting. We would basically be having pack hunting threads 80% of the time that our characters are not asleep. But, because our characters have developed humanoid methods of gathering food - Traditional hunter-gather, including trapping, fishing, some omnivorous tendancies, as well as farming. A lot of our current packs have a current reliance on livestock, and these domesticated herbivores tend to have a reliance on food that is only bountiful during warmer months. For them to provide adequate sustainence for our Luperci during winter, stores of grain or hay would have to be made as preparation for winter, suggesting that winter would be a lean time for the gathering of this supply.
Our characters have become suffienciently humanoid, notably to such a degree that we very infrequently have full-pack hunts. The animals that would be snared, or hunted in the mannerisms of primitive humans individually (based on the assumption that, as we do not have many full-pack hunt threads, thus assuming a change in culture where these are no longer prominent) are more likely the animals that become scarcer during winter months, or remain equally as ellusive. We are talking about hares, types of birds, and fish here, basically. While larger ungulants may be at a disadvantage during winter, as Zero's sources have indicated, what Luperci frequently hunts such large prey on their own (and is successful)? Realistically, very few. Thus eliminating these creatures from a primary food source, as they would have been in a fully-functional wolf pack.
I know I've rambled a bit, but I think that when you reflect on how much we have changed the Luperci species' entire habitual profile since the virus opened them up to such humanisation, it becomes easier to understand why it is viable to play winter as a lean time. I mean, not only is it somewhat realistic when you consider the change that being Optime provides, it is also, simply, much more fun to play it as a lean time. Roleplay is more enjoyable when we have environmental diversity - Our human nature associates winter with more survival-based hardships, and I know that it gives me a certain degree of satisfaction to include endeavors such as stocking up on prey for winter months into my threads and plots. I mean, considering the points that Zero raised, it wouldn't be unrealistic to play it otherwise; It would be easy enough to play winter as an abundance, with people hunting in groups in their lupus forms and bringing down snow-encumbered prey. But that doesn't sound as much fun to me as utilizing the pre-historical abilities of humans to preserve meats and berries and nuts, and to go through the seasonal changess with an ebb and flow of bounty. In my mind, that is the more preferable option.
Anyway, I think I've wasted your time enough now, everyone! I hope my reply is valid enough to be considered - Keep these brain-benders coming! They're always good for some deep thought, anyway <3[/html]
Firstly, I'd like to say that I agree with the majority of what Zero has stated (and factually supported) regarding our current trend of playing winter as a lean time being unapplicable to the majority of wolfpacks that inhabit areas where heavy winter would pose a problem to most other wildlife, including traditional human beings. Zero has provided a very broad and well-researched front on this matter.
BUT, I also feel that there are a lot of factors not being taken into account.
While a fully-functional wolf pack may find food bountiful in the winter months, I think it is essential to recognise that within 'Souls, we are not dealing with 'fully-functional wolf packs'. now, I emphasised that pretty weirdly, but I do have reasons for this.
Wolves, particularly grey wolves, are evolved to take advantage of the heavy winters that their breed may be exposed to; But, as mentioned in other posts previous to this one, we are not dealing with a solidarily wolf-based population. I am not certain, but I assume by now that a large quantity, perhaps even the majority, of us play wolf-hybrids or other. This significantly hinders the relevance that statistical data has towards the ability for grey wolves to make the most of the cold season. Plenty of the species played in 'Souls are foreign to the area, including domesticated dogs. Not only could their physical adaptations lead to a weakness in winter, they would also possess different hunting and predatorial mannerisms, which might better suit them to prey that does not become easier to take down in snow.
That was my first point, but as I've noted, it was already recognised previously. So, I will now move on to the detail that occurs to me as being overlooked in this discussion - If I have skipped over a section where it was dealt with and mentioned, then I am sorry, and please do look over this c:
I would like to note that while we consider Luperci to be wolves, it seems to be very much ignored in this discussion that most of us play them, in the majority, as being humanoids - Both possessive of physical and mental human benefits, such as bipedalism and intelligence, and human flaws. The culture of being humanoid has dramatically changed the evolutionary mannerisms of our characters - In most packs we are seeing a dramatic difference in social structure and interactions. We are playing them like primitive humans, for the most part, not like true wolves. This is really massively important to the debate on whether or not winter is played as a lean time, and I will explain why.
When looking at snippets of the data that Zero has provided, it seems pretty difficult to deny that if we played our characters as quadrupedal, normally-functioning lupines, we would struggle to find reasons to play winter as a lean time. However, the fact that we play them as humanoid poses significant behavioural and realistic changes to the natural ability of wolves to flourish in winter. Firstly, if we played them as such natural wolves, the majority of our threads would circulate around hunting. We would basically be having pack hunting threads 80% of the time that our characters are not asleep. But, because our characters have developed humanoid methods of gathering food - Traditional hunter-gather, including trapping, fishing, some omnivorous tendancies, as well as farming. A lot of our current packs have a current reliance on livestock, and these domesticated herbivores tend to have a reliance on food that is only bountiful during warmer months. For them to provide adequate sustainence for our Luperci during winter, stores of grain or hay would have to be made as preparation for winter, suggesting that winter would be a lean time for the gathering of this supply.
Our characters have become suffienciently humanoid, notably to such a degree that we very infrequently have full-pack hunts. The animals that would be snared, or hunted in the mannerisms of primitive humans individually (based on the assumption that, as we do not have many full-pack hunt threads, thus assuming a change in culture where these are no longer prominent) are more likely the animals that become scarcer during winter months, or remain equally as ellusive. We are talking about hares, types of birds, and fish here, basically. While larger ungulants may be at a disadvantage during winter, as Zero's sources have indicated, what Luperci frequently hunts such large prey on their own (and is successful)? Realistically, very few. Thus eliminating these creatures from a primary food source, as they would have been in a fully-functional wolf pack.
I know I've rambled a bit, but I think that when you reflect on how much we have changed the Luperci species' entire habitual profile since the virus opened them up to such humanisation, it becomes easier to understand why it is viable to play winter as a lean time. I mean, not only is it somewhat realistic when you consider the change that being Optime provides, it is also, simply, much more fun to play it as a lean time. Roleplay is more enjoyable when we have environmental diversity - Our human nature associates winter with more survival-based hardships, and I know that it gives me a certain degree of satisfaction to include endeavors such as stocking up on prey for winter months into my threads and plots. I mean, considering the points that Zero raised, it wouldn't be unrealistic to play it otherwise; It would be easy enough to play winter as an abundance, with people hunting in groups in their lupus forms and bringing down snow-encumbered prey. But that doesn't sound as much fun to me as utilizing the pre-historical abilities of humans to preserve meats and berries and nuts, and to go through the seasonal changess with an ebb and flow of bounty. In my mind, that is the more preferable option.
Anyway, I think I've wasted your time enough now, everyone! I hope my reply is valid enough to be considered - Keep these brain-benders coming! They're always good for some deep thought, anyway <3[/html]