!!! PLEASE TAKE THIS WITH SOME GRAIN OF SALT AND DOUBLE CHECK THIS YOURSELVES !!!
The Beginning
With all great stories we have to start with the origins of the world, it's creator and his perception of the world. With that, let's start with Dr. Allen Stroud (Doctor of Philosophy). Dr. Stroud, in the early parts of 2013, worked on six guidebooks that would help the current writers with fleshing out stories that would fit the narrative of the Elite universe. What is in the books is not publicly accessible and yet we can atleast get some idea of how the mind of the Dr. Stroud works, what is his interests and how they are reflected to the game.
Available here are some publications that I will be referencing and his PhD thesis.
PART 1 - The origin of the Elite Dangerous story flow.
What Dr. Stroud did was create, and in Elite's case fleshes out, the mythology of the Thargoids, Guardians, Humans, Biology and such. This practice, called mythopoeia, create the bases of the universe of the story. In the publication "Developing Elite Dangerous" Dr. Stroud explains that there is a need to define the composition and origin of the environment that the player will exist in. This is attributed to Hesiod, who compiled and tied together the Hellenistic pantheon. This process is complicated by existing stories which causes the "macrotext" (framework that can be used to output multiple stories) to be constructed in such a way to include the circulated stories into the framework. Think of the different player created stories and novels and the need to incorporate them into the macrotext of Elite, which is then tied together with the rest of the mythology. Macrotext also evolves with the outputs of the story it plays so it is ever changing to the situation. CG's, player factions, player event and such a driving force for the writers.
In a sense, Elite Dangerous story exists plotwise but it moves within the outputs of the players and writers. The universe breathes and the writers react. So what we are, possibly, seeing are rough ideas of goals for the main plot and then changes to them.
In his journal "The Myth Misunderstanding: How to make stories linger..." Dr. Stroud makes the point that myths are read and interpreted by the players which in turn lets the writers create, possibly, more interesting and creative story premises. We are, in essence, the creators of stories that inspire the writing team to continue the work. Although that will never be the case if the fan is left without a sense of closure or movement of the story. A case study is shown in the series Lost. It engages the viewers in speculation and such outlets like Lostpedia creates fan engagement causing generation of theories, ideas and community. J.J. Abrams even created websites and easter eggs for the viewers to decode and create theories. But, after frustration and tiredness from questioning the story, the fan stops enjoying the fiction that he has was so immersed in. In brief, myth are a driving for passionate theories, communication, theorycraft and valuable inspiration for writers. Giving too much of this can cause a problem - fatigue. It's known that a part of the community has had a enormous interest in hunting down Raxxla and at the same time there have been many who have given up on this idea out of sheer frustration. Although it is unfair to place Raxxla in this situation as it is a end-of-game objective that needs not to be revealed without fruitful needs.
A practical view of the stories and myth misunderstandings are right here. Think about Raxxla, Guardians and Thargoids. Raxxla, as a myth of the community, has spawned thousands of pages and posts on this forum and other platforms. There is a massive search for it. Guardians and Thargoids are still a point of interest in the lore research groups. The Thargoid Device in of itself is a massive myth creation device with players speculating, experimenting and devising ideas about its purpose.
In his Thesis "Investigation and Application of Writing Structures and World Development Techniques in Science Fiction and Fantasy." Dr. Stroud goes into heavy detail about writing worlds. The most important part, in our context, is the creation of mythology, mega-text, macrotext and the story. The Mythology is the bases of the world we exist in. Starting from the planets, to the stations and to the ships. Mega-text is what we identify as a species - our shared experiences, understanding and perception. Mega-text is the shared subconscious narrative of a genre (starships, space travel and such). Sometimes they break with traditional aspect of, in this case, the space genre and something they follow it. It is a case of the developer and the player creating a dialog where they both agree the universe they crafted is believable to them. In the "Developing Elite Dangerous" publication, Dr. Stroud describes a need of balance between fun and logical. While we should hear sound in space, fun is a critical aspect and not having fun doesn't really create a good game. Dr. Stroud here, referencing to the clash of the difference in science fiction acceptance within the community, explains that not all megatexts are equal for all - "For me, docking the spaceship with this moving structure was a rite of passage in the old games and a requirement in the new instalment. When, however, this information was released to the wider backer community, forum comments suggested many people seemed to have difficulty in accepting a rationale of ‘no artificial gravity’. The familiarity of the novum from other science fiction works meant that if we did not use it, but a different method, the latter would jar with audience expectations."
The macrotext, as said before, is the framework that weaves together the previous elements to create the inner core of Elite's world. As Dr. Stroud himself says "The macrotext defines what exists and what cannot exist. It provides mutable rules in a fictitious world of make-believe so that, in some sense, it operates as a hyperreal construction." After that has been established, the story, which sits within the macrotext, is the element that we experience. Macrotext is more pronounced as a background description of all the things that have happened, are happening and will happen. Elite Dangerous has six guidebooks that contain the mentioned elements that create the world. They are frameworks to help the writers create a logical output within the context of the crafted universe. Thargoids, Guardians, Character details, notable plots and their results, effects on X or Y. The guidebooks, as understood from the publications, are the driving force for the universe. It is the reason we see what we see. But, as previously stated, the plot revolves around our actions as players. An example would be the killing of CMDR Salome. The story, built within macrotext, was ready for multiple outputs. Part of the players were trying to save them and parts were trying to kill them. The story, aligned with the macro text, created multiple theories, myths, story outputs and even evolved the macrotext.
In conclusion, the story of Elite Dangerous is an ever changing one. What, for others, seems like a space opera plot with no seeming rational is actually a framework based story that has multiple choice outputs per every story that is unravelling. It's a combination of the players that are the driving force of the persistence of myths, creations of fan theories, world exploration and FDev, that is the dungeon master of the E: DnD game, who ties it all together - The Hesiod of our game. The last, notable story concluded after the fall of Jupiter Division and the Trial of Jupiter Rochester. While it is purely speculative what would have happened in another timeline, the current one is the output of the players and their shared goals. Dr. Stroud state this specifically - "In Elite: Dangerous the supportive fiction projects become ‘microplots’ (ones that involve personal changes to the characters) to the ‘macroplot’ (the world changing consequences) of the game world itself. They mirror the role of the player, who also is a microplot contributor to this vast macro-game environment of a procedurally generated galaxy. The writers can use this perspective, allying their characters with the experience the player will get in the game, thereby invoking specific imaginings. In the accompanying fiction, writers interpreted this relationship in different ways. Some were inspired by the vast expanse of the promised playing field; others looked to the histories of factions or corporations and personified them in the scheming machinations of their characters"
PART 2 - The Greek Mythology and how it flows in Elite Dangerous.
With many discussion within the Elite: Dangerous community, there seems to be an unnoticed interconnection of Greek Mythology and the current Elite universe. Some can, probably, be related to chance but on others it is really symbolic.
First case study, which was the first thing I noticed when studying past story lines, was The Oracle.
Galnet article from 15 JUL 3303 (2017)
As the number of newly discovered Thargoid structures continues to grow, reports from the Pleiades Sector IR-W D1-55 indicate that the Oracle, an Ocellus starport, has relocated to the system in order to study the region’s Thargoid structure.
An oracle, by itself, isn't much of a clue that can cause some type of meaning full answer. Oracles, in Greek culture, refer to priests or priestesses that utter predictions. They are also thought to be portals/vessels of gods that wanted to speak directly to people. Fast forward to December - the first major Thargoid attack on Humanity. The target was The Oracle that suffered heavy damages and many casualties ( Reference - Source: https://twitter.com/EliteDangerous/status/941307088365596672
). Some time after the attack, we notice that Pleiades Sector IR-W D1-55 does not exist. Well, it does but it is now called - Delphi. That seems like a very significant symbolism about the games mythological following. So why is it significant ?
Allow me to explain. Delphi is a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, a major priestess at Delphi, who was also known as the Oracle of Delphi. The Oracle was highly regarded due to the belief that she channeled prophecies from Apollo (The god of prophecy), while steeped in a dreamlike trance. The Oracles were primarily women from higher-class families, were educated and well-read.
In a sense, the developments of December 14th were the start of the 2nd Thargoids war on humanity that began at The Oracle of Delphi, whos purpose it was to research the Thargoids surface site. It seems as a prophecy itself of the coming future in the universe.
The second case study is Adamastor, the ghost ship. Now first of all, there is a Adamastor, but it is not a true Greek mythological character but rather inspired from Greek culture. He is a creation of Portuguese poet Luis de Camoes and was first mentioned in 1572. Adamastor, the giant, is a character symbolizing the dangers of sailors navigating dangerous waters, manifestation of storm and the dangerous of nature. The ship represents the same function - it is a representation of the dangers of exploring unknown space, a manifestation of the brutal reality of unknown forces (Thargoids).
Regarding the other ship - HESPERUS (Hesperos), the evening-star, is called by Hesiod a son of Astraeus and Eos, and was regarded, even by the ancients, as the same as the morning star, whence both Homer and Hesiod call him the bringer of light, heôsphoros (Il. xxii. 317, xxiii. 226; comp. Plin. H. N. ii. 8; Mart. Capell. viii. § 882, &c., ed. Kopp.) Diodorus (iii. 60) calls him a son of Atlas, who was fond of astronomy, and once, after having ascended Mount Atlas to observe the stars, he disappeared.
While I believe in coincidences, it is overtly similar in story rather than just a name.
The third case study is Sirius and the current event.
Homer, Iliad 22. 26 ff :
"That star [Seirios (Sirius) the Dog-Star] which comes on in the autumn and whose conspicuous brightness far outshines the stars that are numbered in the night's darkening, the star they give the name of Orion's Dog (kynos Orionos), which is brightest among the stars, and yet is wrought [made] as a sign of evil and brings on the great fever for unfortunate mortals."
The passage put next to the current events in Sirius seems like a telling of the current scenarios many space stations are experiencing.
Now there are probably more connections that can be made but these are the 3 I am aware of.
One, which I plan on exploring, is the idea of Orion, the giant and great hunter, his dog - Sirius, and Merope, where a Thargoid probe was found.
PART 3 - The Past, Present but not the future.
The future is written in conjunction with the players and writers, unbeknownst to the players themselves. Therefore, no one can predict the future until it comes.
But regarding the past and present, there is reason to believe that Greek mythology is a heavy influence on the macrotext of the game. Dr. Stroud references the Greek Hesiod in his publication. He also references reading interesting history books when he was a younger lad. While purely speculative, with the current base of the mythology of the world already built on some Greek cultural ideas, it isn't radical to believe connections to Elite and ancient myths.
With this thread, I hope to let other explorers, both physical and literary, to look in many different directions on the story at hand. Symbolism is rampant in film and literature, showing connections that are hidden from sight. It is a reward of the mindful and sharp observer. So go forth, explore and thank you for reading this little piece.
The Beginning
With all great stories we have to start with the origins of the world, it's creator and his perception of the world. With that, let's start with Dr. Allen Stroud (Doctor of Philosophy). Dr. Stroud, in the early parts of 2013, worked on six guidebooks that would help the current writers with fleshing out stories that would fit the narrative of the Elite universe. What is in the books is not publicly accessible and yet we can atleast get some idea of how the mind of the Dr. Stroud works, what is his interests and how they are reflected to the game.
Allen Stroud
pureportal.coventry.ac.uk
PART 1 - The origin of the Elite Dangerous story flow.
What Dr. Stroud did was create, and in Elite's case fleshes out, the mythology of the Thargoids, Guardians, Humans, Biology and such. This practice, called mythopoeia, create the bases of the universe of the story. In the publication "Developing Elite Dangerous" Dr. Stroud explains that there is a need to define the composition and origin of the environment that the player will exist in. This is attributed to Hesiod, who compiled and tied together the Hellenistic pantheon. This process is complicated by existing stories which causes the "macrotext" (framework that can be used to output multiple stories) to be constructed in such a way to include the circulated stories into the framework. Think of the different player created stories and novels and the need to incorporate them into the macrotext of Elite, which is then tied together with the rest of the mythology. Macrotext also evolves with the outputs of the story it plays so it is ever changing to the situation. CG's, player factions, player event and such a driving force for the writers.
In a sense, Elite Dangerous story exists plotwise but it moves within the outputs of the players and writers. The universe breathes and the writers react. So what we are, possibly, seeing are rough ideas of goals for the main plot and then changes to them.
In his journal "The Myth Misunderstanding: How to make stories linger..." Dr. Stroud makes the point that myths are read and interpreted by the players which in turn lets the writers create, possibly, more interesting and creative story premises. We are, in essence, the creators of stories that inspire the writing team to continue the work. Although that will never be the case if the fan is left without a sense of closure or movement of the story. A case study is shown in the series Lost. It engages the viewers in speculation and such outlets like Lostpedia creates fan engagement causing generation of theories, ideas and community. J.J. Abrams even created websites and easter eggs for the viewers to decode and create theories. But, after frustration and tiredness from questioning the story, the fan stops enjoying the fiction that he has was so immersed in. In brief, myth are a driving for passionate theories, communication, theorycraft and valuable inspiration for writers. Giving too much of this can cause a problem - fatigue. It's known that a part of the community has had a enormous interest in hunting down Raxxla and at the same time there have been many who have given up on this idea out of sheer frustration. Although it is unfair to place Raxxla in this situation as it is a end-of-game objective that needs not to be revealed without fruitful needs.
A practical view of the stories and myth misunderstandings are right here. Think about Raxxla, Guardians and Thargoids. Raxxla, as a myth of the community, has spawned thousands of pages and posts on this forum and other platforms. There is a massive search for it. Guardians and Thargoids are still a point of interest in the lore research groups. The Thargoid Device in of itself is a massive myth creation device with players speculating, experimenting and devising ideas about its purpose.
In his Thesis "Investigation and Application of Writing Structures and World Development Techniques in Science Fiction and Fantasy." Dr. Stroud goes into heavy detail about writing worlds. The most important part, in our context, is the creation of mythology, mega-text, macrotext and the story. The Mythology is the bases of the world we exist in. Starting from the planets, to the stations and to the ships. Mega-text is what we identify as a species - our shared experiences, understanding and perception. Mega-text is the shared subconscious narrative of a genre (starships, space travel and such). Sometimes they break with traditional aspect of, in this case, the space genre and something they follow it. It is a case of the developer and the player creating a dialog where they both agree the universe they crafted is believable to them. In the "Developing Elite Dangerous" publication, Dr. Stroud describes a need of balance between fun and logical. While we should hear sound in space, fun is a critical aspect and not having fun doesn't really create a good game. Dr. Stroud here, referencing to the clash of the difference in science fiction acceptance within the community, explains that not all megatexts are equal for all - "For me, docking the spaceship with this moving structure was a rite of passage in the old games and a requirement in the new instalment. When, however, this information was released to the wider backer community, forum comments suggested many people seemed to have difficulty in accepting a rationale of ‘no artificial gravity’. The familiarity of the novum from other science fiction works meant that if we did not use it, but a different method, the latter would jar with audience expectations."
The macrotext, as said before, is the framework that weaves together the previous elements to create the inner core of Elite's world. As Dr. Stroud himself says "The macrotext defines what exists and what cannot exist. It provides mutable rules in a fictitious world of make-believe so that, in some sense, it operates as a hyperreal construction." After that has been established, the story, which sits within the macrotext, is the element that we experience. Macrotext is more pronounced as a background description of all the things that have happened, are happening and will happen. Elite Dangerous has six guidebooks that contain the mentioned elements that create the world. They are frameworks to help the writers create a logical output within the context of the crafted universe. Thargoids, Guardians, Character details, notable plots and their results, effects on X or Y. The guidebooks, as understood from the publications, are the driving force for the universe. It is the reason we see what we see. But, as previously stated, the plot revolves around our actions as players. An example would be the killing of CMDR Salome. The story, built within macrotext, was ready for multiple outputs. Part of the players were trying to save them and parts were trying to kill them. The story, aligned with the macro text, created multiple theories, myths, story outputs and even evolved the macrotext.
In conclusion, the story of Elite Dangerous is an ever changing one. What, for others, seems like a space opera plot with no seeming rational is actually a framework based story that has multiple choice outputs per every story that is unravelling. It's a combination of the players that are the driving force of the persistence of myths, creations of fan theories, world exploration and FDev, that is the dungeon master of the E: DnD game, who ties it all together - The Hesiod of our game. The last, notable story concluded after the fall of Jupiter Division and the Trial of Jupiter Rochester. While it is purely speculative what would have happened in another timeline, the current one is the output of the players and their shared goals. Dr. Stroud state this specifically - "In Elite: Dangerous the supportive fiction projects become ‘microplots’ (ones that involve personal changes to the characters) to the ‘macroplot’ (the world changing consequences) of the game world itself. They mirror the role of the player, who also is a microplot contributor to this vast macro-game environment of a procedurally generated galaxy. The writers can use this perspective, allying their characters with the experience the player will get in the game, thereby invoking specific imaginings. In the accompanying fiction, writers interpreted this relationship in different ways. Some were inspired by the vast expanse of the promised playing field; others looked to the histories of factions or corporations and personified them in the scheming machinations of their characters"
PART 2 - The Greek Mythology and how it flows in Elite Dangerous.
With many discussion within the Elite: Dangerous community, there seems to be an unnoticed interconnection of Greek Mythology and the current Elite universe. Some can, probably, be related to chance but on others it is really symbolic.
First case study, which was the first thing I noticed when studying past story lines, was The Oracle.
Galnet article from 15 JUL 3303 (2017)
As the number of newly discovered Thargoid structures continues to grow, reports from the Pleiades Sector IR-W D1-55 indicate that the Oracle, an Ocellus starport, has relocated to the system in order to study the region’s Thargoid structure.
An oracle, by itself, isn't much of a clue that can cause some type of meaning full answer. Oracles, in Greek culture, refer to priests or priestesses that utter predictions. They are also thought to be portals/vessels of gods that wanted to speak directly to people. Fast forward to December - the first major Thargoid attack on Humanity. The target was The Oracle that suffered heavy damages and many casualties ( Reference - Source: https://twitter.com/EliteDangerous/status/941307088365596672
). Some time after the attack, we notice that Pleiades Sector IR-W D1-55 does not exist. Well, it does but it is now called - Delphi. That seems like a very significant symbolism about the games mythological following. So why is it significant ?
Allow me to explain. Delphi is a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, a major priestess at Delphi, who was also known as the Oracle of Delphi. The Oracle was highly regarded due to the belief that she channeled prophecies from Apollo (The god of prophecy), while steeped in a dreamlike trance. The Oracles were primarily women from higher-class families, were educated and well-read.
In a sense, the developments of December 14th were the start of the 2nd Thargoids war on humanity that began at The Oracle of Delphi, whos purpose it was to research the Thargoids surface site. It seems as a prophecy itself of the coming future in the universe.
The second case study is Adamastor, the ghost ship. Now first of all, there is a Adamastor, but it is not a true Greek mythological character but rather inspired from Greek culture. He is a creation of Portuguese poet Luis de Camoes and was first mentioned in 1572. Adamastor, the giant, is a character symbolizing the dangers of sailors navigating dangerous waters, manifestation of storm and the dangerous of nature. The ship represents the same function - it is a representation of the dangers of exploring unknown space, a manifestation of the brutal reality of unknown forces (Thargoids).
Regarding the other ship - HESPERUS (Hesperos), the evening-star, is called by Hesiod a son of Astraeus and Eos, and was regarded, even by the ancients, as the same as the morning star, whence both Homer and Hesiod call him the bringer of light, heôsphoros (Il. xxii. 317, xxiii. 226; comp. Plin. H. N. ii. 8; Mart. Capell. viii. § 882, &c., ed. Kopp.) Diodorus (iii. 60) calls him a son of Atlas, who was fond of astronomy, and once, after having ascended Mount Atlas to observe the stars, he disappeared.
While I believe in coincidences, it is overtly similar in story rather than just a name.
The third case study is Sirius and the current event.
Homer, Iliad 22. 26 ff :
"That star [Seirios (Sirius) the Dog-Star] which comes on in the autumn and whose conspicuous brightness far outshines the stars that are numbered in the night's darkening, the star they give the name of Orion's Dog (kynos Orionos), which is brightest among the stars, and yet is wrought [made] as a sign of evil and brings on the great fever for unfortunate mortals."
The passage put next to the current events in Sirius seems like a telling of the current scenarios many space stations are experiencing.
Now there are probably more connections that can be made but these are the 3 I am aware of.
One, which I plan on exploring, is the idea of Orion, the giant and great hunter, his dog - Sirius, and Merope, where a Thargoid probe was found.
PART 3 - The Past, Present but not the future.
The future is written in conjunction with the players and writers, unbeknownst to the players themselves. Therefore, no one can predict the future until it comes.
But regarding the past and present, there is reason to believe that Greek mythology is a heavy influence on the macrotext of the game. Dr. Stroud references the Greek Hesiod in his publication. He also references reading interesting history books when he was a younger lad. While purely speculative, with the current base of the mythology of the world already built on some Greek cultural ideas, it isn't radical to believe connections to Elite and ancient myths.
With this thread, I hope to let other explorers, both physical and literary, to look in many different directions on the story at hand. Symbolism is rampant in film and literature, showing connections that are hidden from sight. It is a reward of the mindful and sharp observer. So go forth, explore and thank you for reading this little piece.
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