h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Want to discuss the h2g2 Law of Continuity? Or perhaps you'd like continuity clarification on an issue. Post your questions here.

Excellent work Redbeard. One little niggle. Read the forum's page and the entire thread to get an idea of who is there, see what the place is like, and get an sense of the local customs.....
.....should read
Read the forum's page and the entire thread to get an idea of who is there, see what the place is like, and get a sense of the local customs.

Thanks, Loony!
Got it fixed.

Very nice work... although, it should be noted, that there are exceptions to the law of continuity, such as those forums dealing with exploration, i.e. a new house, a party (mutated ones especially), or a bus trip.

Thanks.

Interesting observation. Certainly there are threads that are less or more dependent on strict observance to the Law of Continuity, based on the purpose of the thread and the wishes of the thread's 'leader', yet to some extent, the law still applies. Remember, the law does not prevent anything from being created or imagined, regardless of how improbable or impossible. It only deals with the consequences of that creation within the context of the thread.

I would assume on the bus trip you suggest, that if someone said that the bus had broken down, the rest of the group would have to deal with that creation. On the other hand, they could, if it was appropriate within the context of the thread, imagine a 1,000 metre tall cockroach on the side of the road during their travels without worrying about what to do with it afterward, because it doesn't remain in the world of the thread (although I imagine it would probably show up again if the same bus trip were taken at a later time with repeat customers ). I would think, though, that if someone on the bus had a missile launcher aimed out the window and took out the Aroma Café, that would be a cross-thread continuity problem.

Just thinking out loud... haven't been in enough mutated threads to be completely sure.

Redbeard

I believe that those sorts of things (rocket launchers @ the cafe) are acceptable- just as long as they stay in THAT forum. Kind of like infinite possiblities, a what if...

It is only when *ahem* some people try to carry those sorts of things over that problems arise

There are different forms of "thread bleed".

One that I liked was the 40-ton snowball, which may still be in operation, actually. Redbeard, you can ask to have a 40-ton snowball delivered to the user page of your choice, optionally with a message attached. Ever so popular.

Another sort was something I ran into maybe 10 days ago: an expedition quest up the side of Mt. Sandeverest had encountered some giant mutant rabbits. It was determined that the only recourse was to plant a forest, so members of the expedition came to the Arome Cafe page, in order to collect acorns in our Magic Forest. They created their own thread, did not impinge on existing threads, collected their acorns and departed. And there is now a forest of giant trees on the slopes of Mt. Sandeverest which I christened Moxon Wood.

Afgncaap5 plays a bit closer to the edge. He will arrive in the middle of a thread as the locus of some unexpected action, and depart swiftly. That was indirectly how we got Ook; Affi rushed in, pursued by demons as usual, borrowed some parts from the IIEM and rushed out again. He returned the parts later, but not before Vlad ordered a Blue Sumatran.

I think if a thread on another forum were to act out a missile launch that destroyed the cafe, then that thread would become logically incompatible with previous active threads pertaining to the cafe (not to mention the cafe's continued existence on the front page as a busiest place). And in that case, the attacking thread would have to be shunned. They could continue as long as they liked, but would be understood that they had put themselves into a tangential dimension.

Is that what you mean, Sporky? It could be a point worth including, as a sort of corollary, what do you think Redbeard?

Ad then there's the matter of shunning and its creative and destructive applications...

Well, After reading the discussion I'm becoming more and more aware of how weird and wonderful a place h2g2 is... myabe once my exams are truly over ill venture into the big bad world outside the cafe and take a peek?

Anyways, thank you to redbeard for clarifying the law of continuity :o)

~ m

That is indeed what I was thinking of, lil

Looking back at what I said from a slightly more rested perspective, I think shunned isn't quite the right word. I would think it better to say "declared ineffective". This wouldn't stop the out-of-continuity thread or bar others from joining in. But it would be no use referencing the OOC thread from anywhere else.

Does that make sense or do I need still more sleep.

I have an ambition here. I would like to be Judge Lil of the Circuit Court of Continuity, and appoint sheriffs and process servers as needed. I aspire to this because in a de facto way I have already been consulted a number of times about continuity in other threads.

There is something deliciously paradoxical about being the Continuity Police. Imagine a helicopter suddenly appearing in the sky of whatever went on, searchlights sweeping and bullhorn blaring politely, to detail the offense. But Continuity raids would have to be sanctioned unanimously by all officers of the court.

Brainstorming invited

I agree to your idea of creating a court. However I must ask that all CotTB matters be held internally as I have come to realize that I could never keep up with those threads myself! I can hardly require my followers to keep things straight.
marv

Like Vatican City?

Indeed. I must declare my sanctuary errrm sanctuary. The laws of man stop at the door. Don't worry about carefree goings on. I have the inquisition to police my church.

OK, I've made a couple of changes based on this discussion.
- Added the last 2 sentences of the first paragraph
- Added the section called 'Advanced Continuity Concepts'
Let me know what you think.

Judge Lil sounds great!

Redbeard

In that case, you really need to become Pope Marv the Grate, Patriarch of the Church of the True Brownie. Only a Pope has the authority to enforce this. We can't have archbishops declaring autonomy all over the place.

But I would have to put that to my flock. I cannot just declare myself pope. Being an archbishop I get most of the benefit of the papacy without all that paperwork.

Marv, delegate. If you have to put to your flock, then do.

Redbeard, excellent! But caveat, there may be more to come I just this moment encountered a most jarringly rude thing, in Courtesy 38's Zen Garden of all places --
http://www.h2g2.com/forumframe.cgi?forum=41137&thread=53425
Look for TIMELORD.

I wonder if this researcher was spamming a bunch of fora or whether he walked right across the rake marks in the garden?

I think he was fora spamming. I saw a similar message elsewhere he posted. It happened a fair bit during the early life of H2G2 and was discouraged as these social norms (some of which described above) evolved. I don't like it and so it's why I go for the nickname advert. That and getting proper adverts sanctioned by the authorities (PTWVH).

Marv, time for you to hold a synod and get the ecesiastical lawbook into order. It seems that all church organisations have their own lawbook and legal system to uphold all that is whatever they feel the need to uphold so why shouldn't the CoTB do the same

Courtesy has done a wonderful job there. I just loved the way he handled his first guest, who then turned out to also understand Cha-Do. Fantastic!

TIMELORD showed up in another thread this morning, touting his science fiction quiz. Irv had posted to me about a detail of continuity, and TIMELORD popped in to say "Speaking of questions, ..." followed by the spam.

Irv isn't here often enough these days to realise that the fellow was wearing a sandwich board, so he answered civilly enough. And if I hadn't had the encounter in the Zen garden, perhaps I would have thought little of it too.

It's a breach of threadiquette, let alone Continuity, but if the case came before me I would vote to convict