How does Mystery Pond (008) determine what is and is not a fish? Cladistically, mammals (and, indeed, all tetrapods) emerged from fishes and so are fish as well. If I, hypothetically, pushed a fellow player into the pond would a another person appear the next day? Would it be another distinct human or a clone of the fellow player? Have you considered the ethical ramifications of cloning players without their explicit consent? Furthermore, would the same hold for NPCs? How are they classified by the game's internal logic? If 'fish' is limited to paraphyletic definition (cowards), which extant groups are considered? Do you account for extinct fish which through unnatural means may be manifested within the game? Are Galgaida (1217) and Chidon (7018) fish or, due to their nature as game constructs, classified differently. Have you considered that differentiating them from True fish might be discrimination?
How does Mystery Pond (008) determine what is and is not a fish?
The definition of fish that we are using goes as follows
The creature must be a vertebrate
They must be aquatic
They must be lacking terrestrial locomotive members
They must not be descended from any land tetrapods
Since tetrapods have terrestrial locomotive members, they are not considered under the taxonomy of what we designate a fish.
If 'fish' is limited to paraphyletic definition (cowards), which extant groups are considered?
There are six distinct modern lineages of fish which were considered when classifying which organisms can show up:
Mixini (hagfish)
Cephalaspidomorphi (lampreys)
Chondrichthyes (sharks & rays)
Coelacanthimorpha (coelacanth)
Dipnomorpha (lungfish)
Actinopterygi (bony fish)
Do you account for extinct fish which through unnatural means may be manifested within the game?
Here are the extinct lineages we took into account.
Ostracoderms (jawless fish)
Acanthodians (spiny sharks)
Placoderms (plate skinned bottom dwellers)
The only extinct fish which appear within Mystery Pond (008) are ones we have substantial records of in order to recreate.
Are Galgaida (1217) and Chidon (7018) fish or, due to their nature as game constructs, classified differently.
Galgadia (1217) and Chidon (7018) do count as fish that can be spawned within the Mystery Pond, however, the cards for these fish cannot be acquired by catching them through mystery pond. These fish can be interacted with but if they are spawned by the pond they are considered to be part of that card, not their own distinct cards.
And now for the more philosophical debate of comments made above.
If I, hypothetically, pushed a fellow player into the pond would a another person appear the next day? Would it be another distinct human or a clone of the fellow player? Have you considered the ethical ramifications of cloning players without their explicit consent?
While players cannot be cloned through the methods stated above, there was an interesting argument we had regarding the insertion of a cloning card. Through our beta testing, we came to realize a few things.
If the clone gained sentience, there was always a confusion of which was the original and which was the clone, as both people had the memory of using the card, and every memory prior to that. The extra confusion came from the fact that the clones were spawned holding a copy of the same card, which gave them resonable suspicion to believe they were the original. This caused a huge ethical issue for the beta tester, who at the time wanted to de-spawn his clone, who had run off and gained new experiences thus becoming a new person.
Is it ethical to be able to de-spawn a person? Would that not be the same as killing?
Therefore, we had to classify any new life as life and not an NPC
Shadow List is still running around Greed Island to this day, we cannot apprehend him.
Furthermore, would the same hold for NPCs? How are they classified by the game's internal logic?
NPCs are beings made of nen that we have full control over. They function as more of an autonomous nen beast until control is needed, in which they can be shut down, edited, or set back into free range motion. Some NPCs have the ability to achieve more structural autonomy in a long form of conjuration, which can happen if the player who wins the game suggests to take an NPC card out of the game. While the NPC will not technically be "alive" in the same way you or I will be alive, that will fullfill the nen condition that makes them fully autonomous from us. However, they must have a constant source of aura or therefore they will start to despawn, therefore they need to eat plant or animal matter from the real world. So long as your NPC will eat, they will live.
-Ging
