Looking for opinions.

[Caine]

So, I created a character for the new timeline and out it to an admin and received approval. This character is part of bond where he is linked emotionally and mentally to several woman through the force essentially creating a hive mind along with several npc women. As a hive mind they have a single shared will so this character is essentially 1 being controlling 4-5 bodies at the same time.

Before I go any further I want to state. I will never under any circumstance use my character having multiple forms to give me an unfair advantage over any other player in a fight unless that player requests that I do so.

To explain.The male body belongs to the character Dante and will be ran as my main character, the women's bodies on normal missions will likely work with him as a single being. They'll accomplish the same mission you would as 1 person but they'd act together as a single being to do it.

Now, if I ever enter into a PvP thread where I face another player unless that player wants to fight multiple bodies he/she will face only Dante, the male body. The women's bodies will be missing or busy fighting random npc enemies or something and will have 0 infuence on the outcome of the fight to ensure that I would have no unfair advantage. If Dante losses then I'll consider the other bodies to have died in battle after him so that I still only have 1 life like any of you.

I'm intending as the character develops for children to be born, essentially this little hive mind is a family and like any other family they'll have children.


I've made this to see if this is acceptable to all of you as other players. If anything was unclear or you have any concerns or would like to make a comment or suggestion by all means do I'd love to hear from you.

 

[Bee]

As a player, I think the whole concept is kind of creepy. You're not really making a hive mind, you're making a harem.

 

[Caine]

That idea didn't actually occur to me until it was pointed out to me a few days ago.

But the women in question are Zeltron, a race that have no understanding of the concept of monogamy and spend there entire lives dedicated to pleasure in any form they can find it whether it be sex, gambling, Violence or any other.

 

[Bee]

Yeah, I still think its creepy. This is my opinion as a player, not an admin, for the record.

I feel like the fact that they're Zeltrons makes it worse. Again, you aren't talking about a hive mind. When you bring in sex/pleasure/reproduction, its a harem. Your character essentially has a bunch of concubines following him around, and while the idea of slavery and the like isn't uncommon in Star Wars, the concept still makes me uncomfortable. I can't speak for other people, but I've noticed there's a growing trend of disposable women as NPCs to prop up male characters and drive their story, and in my opinion its gotten pretty stale.

The fact that you're referring to these characters as bodies makes it seem like they're just set pieces, puppets on a string, what have you. They're basically objects who do nothing but prop up your character, and the added sexual aspect just makes it really uncomfortable. For me, anyway.

 

[Loco]

Yeeeeeah, I'm pretty much of the same opinion as above. Is it totally unreasonable as a concept to be explored in science fiction writing, or even in a star wars setting? No, not at all- I'm sure we've all read far stranger things. Is it appropriate for this setting and this collective interactive audience though? In the way you have it presented currently, that's an absolutely unqualified NO from me. No. Not even. Nu uh.

Just my 0.02 creds.

 

[Caine]

I'm not explaining this very well.

It's not a harem or slavery, they left the Zeltron world followijg a man which is not unknown amongst them. He ditched them and Dante found then and intended to take them home after he'd completed his job.

He used telepathy trying to get a read on them to see if they were ok and they did the same to him and he never put his mental shields back in place. Over a period of months of constant exposure to each other's minds they lost the ability to close there minds off to each other.
Then slowly lost the ability to even register themselves as individuals, essentially they're minds became connected to the point that they think of themselves as a single being not individuals. They're connected to each other on a mental and emotional level, no slavery or harems involved.

For all intents and purposes a hive mind. A single combined consciousness formed of there combined minds which they're incapable of separating, a new being was formed of there combined life experiences and minds and they're all see themselves as being a single being with multiple physical forms. Hence why I referred to then as bodies and the hive mind.

As they are now sex is purely a function to reproduce and in doing so strengthen the hive as a whole.

 

[Bee]

If there's canon precedent for a bunch of Zeltrons mind melding with someone, I've never heard of it. They're empathetic, they're gullible, and they like having a good time, but that's really it.

You make it sound like he's picking up a bunch of kittens and puppies on the side of the road, then having babies with them. If they view themselves as one being, why would they reproduce within the group?

I'm not saying you have bad intentions or anything like that - I'm just saying it's kind of creepy. It gives off a similar vibe to the big bad from Fury Road. The women are his wives, his "possessions", and nothing more.

Just to satisfy my curiosity, but how many Zeltrons are you talking about? 5? 10? 50?

 

[Loco]

Yeah, I pretty much got that from the first post. That explanation doesn't in any way affect what you've essentially created though, which is as Bee said, basically a hive Harem. I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to a hive mind type character- it sounds interesting and pretty unique as far as things here go (Though the practical effects would depend heavily on Admin rulings). But the way you have presented here is simply inappropriate, in my opinion. While that may not be your intent, from the outside looking in there aren't that many different ways to interpret it.

 

[Caine]

3 maybe 4 max. And the telepathic bonding isn't Canon anymore the concept came from the old EU Jedi Battle Meld. If Jedi used it for too long they were unable to close there minds to each other. Continue using it they're mind would then meld together until they could not differentiate between each other anymore. That would happen in a matter of days. Using the meld for more then a few hours was avoided if at all possible.
Since this is far weaker then a battle Meld I altered it to months rather then days.

As for kids, the personality formed by them mergings primary goal is to grow stronger and survive. Adding more minds to the connection makes it stronger.

 

[Bee]

Sounded like you were trying to imply that it was a Zeltron thing.

If the whole point is to make the group stronger, will there be men involved in the meld?

 

[Caine]

At present no it was just Dante and 3-4 women. He was straight so he'd have no desire to enter other men's minds.
And since this is a character not a faction I had very limited numbers to work with, unless people want to try to create a hive mind faction but I'd have no idea what to do for it really.

The original concept was just Dante and a few women accidentally ended up bonded and then made a family together and it's kinda snowballed.

Dante is also human and telepathic because he's a force user. I picked Zeltron because they're a canon race and telepathic genetically, 3 random force using women would have been a bit of a stretch.

 

[GABA]

As creepy as this is, you were approved for 3 women NPCs with a bonded mind. In no matter was it discussed of a continuous hive mind. Those NPCs cannot be used in a direct PvP setting and any changes will need further admin approval.

 

[Bee]

Okay, so if the whole point of the meld is to make the group stronger, what does sexual attraction have to do with it?

 

[Caine]

When I described the bonded mind I described it as a permanent bond through which they'd lose themselves as individuals.
Isn't that a hive mind?

I can quote the specific message in which I described it to get it approved if you'd like.

@GABA

 

[GABA]

What was described was a bond in the Force to develop Force potential, not a hive mind as you assumed.

 

[Bee]

A hive mind is a group mind with almost complete loss or lack of individual identity. A really good example of a hive mind would be the Stepford Cuckoos from X-Men, or the Borg from Star Trek. Generally speaking, there's nothing sexual about a hive mind. For example, the Borg have no gender, and the Stepford Cuckoos were all female and related by blood.

On the other hand, a harem is a group of female servants, a group of concubines, or a group of females sharing a single mate. As you've described it, your character finds these women who have been abandoned by "their man," and they then imprint/meld with him. He allows this because he is heterosexual and attracted to them. They then reproduce.

My suggestion would be to remove the sexual elements entirely (Zeltron women/having children) because from how you describe it, these women are walking power ups/incubators for your character. That's the creepy part - the pseudo sex slave angle, not the hive mind.

 

[Caine]

That was only described as the final stage of the bond. It was described first as a permanent bond through which they'd lose themselves as individuals and as an emotional and mental bond.

The force bond came far later after they developed force sensitivity through a combination of the bonds current form and Matukai training techniques which are known for that. Only once they were already force sensitive did the bond extend to the force.

I just reread the message to confirm it.

I never actually realized a harem just meant a man with multiple wives. In that case yes it is a harem. But I think I've wrongly connected an emotional and mental bond and hive mind to mean the same thing.

 

[Galad J. Victus]

I don't think it would make a problem balance-wise in a PvP deal. But the whole concept is just.... Weird you know. I mean, what's the point? How does this even remotely contribute to your character development in any way? I fail to see it's use.

 

[Bee]

I'm not sure I understand. I still think its creepy, but I wish you luck with it just the same.

 

[Caine]

Any books I've seen mention Harems did so talking of them as enslaved women.
I didn't know it could also mean simply a man with multiple willing wives.