How "post-apocalyptic" is the world, really?

[FennecFyre]

Just something I had been wondering for a while. Forgive me if some quest text answers this question somewhere, but has it been revealed yet exactly what it was that killed off humanity in this setting? I was assuming it was nuclear war, but if that was the case, wouldn't exploration-related quests also make note of radioactive environments and the potential sickness it could cause? Also, for an irradiated wasteland the world our scientists explore seems pretty lively, with lots of plant and animal diversity. A lot of quests just seem like we're going on fun little nature hikes. For that matter, where did all these new species come from? A few hundred years isn't really enough for this kind of evolution. 

I'm guessing that the creators of the game are purposefully avoiding going into seriously-dark territory in order to keep the site friendly for younger players, but if Outpost One is the only surviving enclave of humans, I can't help but feel our scientists would be dealing with some existential dread, as well as the knowledge that any friends or family they had before they went into cryostasis are dead, and possibly died horribly at that.

[pinkgothic]

One thing to keep in mind is that 1500 years have passed since the Great War; things have been allowed to recover for that long. Another important aspect is that this outpost was specifically built for "the survival and future of the planet", i.e. whatever destruction happened, they were able to foresee it to some degree. Presumably the people who entered these outposts knew what they were getting into and were possibly even selected for psychological fitness.

We indeed don't know what's happened yet. I assume part of the joy of this site is going to be that things will be revealed bit by bit! :D Could be a grey goo like situation like in Horizon: Zero Dawn, or possibly just a really vicious pathogen that infected all non-isolated humans.

I absolutely agree that evolution doesn't explain most of the creatures here (although we don't know when 'the Great War' was, and that itself might be a long time into the future - but I don't think that makes much of a difference given the humans are still recognisably human), but I assume artistic license. That said, why even restrict ourselves to evolution? This is far enough in the future that the scientists of the outpost are being cared for by automated caretakers, and we've seen some impressive technology used in some of the quests (e.g. the landscape simulator). It's entirely possible that these creatures were genetically engineered, or at least their ancestors were, and what we're observing is a world that's found some kind of tentative equilibrium since humanity stopped tampering with it.

As for dark territory, part of the appeal of this setting for me is precisely how horrible it is if you look below the surface. There's a lot of exciting opportunity for horror plots; maybe not on-site (to keep it friendly), but certainly in private roleplay. I'm pretty excited about it! I love horror. /guilty

[Elodee]

I am new to the site, but I get the distinct impression that there's something »happening« in the background, which I think works very nicely with the post apocalyptic, vaguely-eldritch scifi vibe we've got going on.