It appears that The Swarm Cycle and Naked in School are the two universes with the most stories on SOL. I notice that both start with very easily understood premises and a "hook," although neither is completely fleshed out when introduced.
As far as I can tell, NIS was started by a single story that gave only the barest of justifications for a pretty outlandish premise - a few students each week required to attend all school events naked and submit to "reasonable" requests. The idea was bizarre enough that it took me a while to try some of them, but Don Lockwood's stories, in particular, showed the possibilities.
The Swarm Cycle had a bit more structure, but not much in it's introduction. The Sa'arm attacking, the alien race seeking warriors since they are too pacifisitic to kill, and the CAP selection process, pickups, and concubine alotments. This universe got more guidance from its creator, Thinking Horndog, and, as I understand it from the outside, a group of authors that gathered and helped maintain some structure. There, also, the stories range widely, but there have been some that have done "universe building" and others that have explored very human relationships in this bizarre context.
For each of these universes, however, there was a very simple premise and a hook - naked in school and pickups.
Are those the keys to universes that attract a wide range of authors taking a shot? I'm just curious. The similarities in these two popular universes struck me.
