"Are we qualified for this?" - Fixing Ready Player One

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > "Are we qualified for this?" - Fixing Ready Player One

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

Paingod556 posted:

gently caress yes.

So, first question- are we dystopia / post apocalypse or not?

And going from there-
Is OASIS responsible or a side effect, people using it to escape the lovely reality? Is it symbiotic, where economy crashes -> people stay in OASIS -> decline in spending -> it gets worse -> more people in OASIS and so on.
How does it's money factor into the economy, as the original had it being more valuable than any nations currency due to it's stability
If society isn't functioning, how do the servers and internet remain intact to support a system like this?

My thoughts on the broad history of OASIS for the rewrite-

OASIS is released and is massively successful as a highly indepth, immersive and fleshed out VR-MMO. The first rigs were basic and cheap, with a VR visor, haptic gloves and a built-in processing unit. 20-year-in-the-future PC tech jargon goes here. As it captures the market and remains the #1 game, other vendors join GSS to develop new tech which actually has time to mature, bringing new tech that gives greater user feedback and control- full body suits, eye-motion inputs, and suspended rigs to have full mobility.

Then *story* happens, the government jumps in, pushes forward with full synaptic link tech so it can be used for military training or e-war stuff. This gets refined and released, with new visors able to detect some neural activity for control inputs. At the same time, OASIS itself expands to cover more non-adventuring activities and becomes the best place to be for anything- socialising, education, almost all forms of art and entertainment. This is also the start of the 'let OASIS be the babysitter'.

More *story*, maybe IOI gets it's start with the neural tech as they develop a more rugged and reliable design that can 'divert' motor controls to VR, and also channel sensations directly to the users brain. They do this with some questionable experimentation, but it's all ok'd by the government so it's fine. It's not a secret though, which adds to everyones distrust of the company (though not enough to not use the gear, 'ethical capitalism doesn't exist' and all that) This helps them get a monopoly on hardware for OASIS and gain a massive market share, though still not enough to muscle out GSS.

When the story starts, Wade has his basic-bitch OASIS through school, which has the older neural inputs so he had to jury rig haptic gloves to get as much out of it as he can (one thing to keep that Cline forgot about after the first chapter- have him be handy with electronics, scrounging for old parts and getting them running as his means of living) Meanwhile Aech and Artemis have the full neural sets, and IOI is revealed to be actively using models that were denied sale- full on Matrix kit, plugs and everything, at first just for a select few but then during the Easter Egg hunt they become mandatory.

I've got a bunch more scattered thoughts, but that should just about cover how OASIS evolved (not just 'it came out and everyone played it and nothing else) how people control the VR without it being dumb (loving voice commands to move, or 'to run in game you must run in real life'? gently caress off) and how the IOI can be as expansive as it is, why they have an advantage, but also the direct relationship with GSS that prevents direct fuckery because contracts. The main problem is how interwoven the real world situation is. It may require something like Idiocracy, where it's clear the automation running social services (built by much smarter people) are good enough to keep people alive without them having to do anything, so the vast majority are practically Dolists, to borrow the Honorverse term.

I'm going to vote a massive CAPITAL R Recession.

The economy is slumping because of the Oasis. Enough people are addicted to it that it seriously affects the global economy. Also, people are more willing to convert their money to in game currency than the other way around removing wealth from the global economy. Maybe an underground economy that accepts whatever the gently caress the in game currency is as a de facto currency.

# ¿ Apr 5, 2018 17:22

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# ¿ Apr 19, 2024 23:28

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

Renaissance Spam posted:

That being said; a Death Star run as one of the climaxes would be a very cool set piece; maybe instead of the assault on the birthday rave, the Sixers bring in a world killer of some kind and the partygoers have to destroy it?

That is an amazing idea! To keep it in the 80's make it Death Star II so they have to fly through the superstructure.

Although that raises the question of why IOI would not use a completed Death Star. But then again Death Star II is fully functional.

# ¿ Apr 5, 2018 19:36

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

If we're going to include Goonsquad/Goonfleet/Goonswarm, I definitely want a scene where there's like sixty or so just jumping around in circles around some poor schlub in a non-PvP zone chanting "I'm not touching you! I'm not touching you!"

Oh, and a Goon Bolo that's also been hacked to jump and every time it does it sends a shockwave through the ground that shoots everyone in a 500 yard radius shooting 20 feet up.

Oh and a lot of playing "Pretty Princess Dressup" a la Guild Wars 2 Goodsquad.

Proteus Jones fucked around with this message at 19:42 on Apr 5, 2018

# ¿ Apr 5, 2018 19:39

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

chitoryu12 posted:

This just in: BravestOfTheLamps contributes nothing.

God drat it. I knew he was going to show up.

Fucker doesn't want anyone to ever have fun if the killjoy himself doesn't think it's fun.

# ¿ Apr 5, 2018 21:37

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

chitoryu12 posted:

I think the characterization works if all of the characters have different problems with reality that they must overcome to live outside of OASIS, rather than simply adding flavor and flaws that never have to get worked on:

Nolan Sorrento is a strong opposite to this. He doesn't have any problems with social interaction, and is in fact a highly charismatic and intelligent person that can easily slip into any crowd he needs to. Whereas the protagonists need their experiences in OASIS to help them learn how to operate in real life, Sorrento already knows how to operate and hates OASIS for what he thinks it's doing to people. He never cared about the game until he needed to get revenge for his sister.

Sorrento is a character I�m finding more and more interesting with this shift in motivation.

I think it would be good if he genuinely *likes* Wade and desperately wants him on his side. But he has the discipline and resolve to set that aside if Wade works against him. And maybe Wade, if not liking Sorrento, does actually respect him as the person he was when he was Halliday�s number two after Morrow left the band. (So much of that book just ran out of my brain, so if that wasn�t the case, it should be the case).

Sorrento doesn�t pull the death squad as a first or even last resort. He first tries blackmail or extortion, escalating to interfering with their revenue streams and taking out an in OASIS contract on their avatars. As the battle is heating up, he sends a team to capture and physically disconnect our heroes from OASIS. Only when it becomes obvious that he can�t beat Parzival to the Egg does he give the order to use lethal force too take out Wade. Morrow is a multi-billionaire in his own right, and his house is literally a fortress with a small but effective security team and top of the line automated defenses. So as the battle rages in OASIS it�s mirrored in real life.

Oh, and let�s make Daito someone who is absolutely a hard-core VR addict. So rather than Sorrento setting assassins on him, Daito actually commits suicide leaping from his balcony. Make it because his avatar was killed in OASIS by something banal and the thought of being reset back to level 1 with no resources was too much for him to bear. Give Team Wade something to reflect on and inserting doubt that maybe, just maybe Sorrento is right.

Proteus Jones fucked around with this message at 03:59 on Apr 6, 2018

# ¿ Apr 6, 2018 03:55

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

chitoryu12 posted:

I'm working on more of the outline now, but I've got a few points that differ from that. Everyone can discuss and decide what the best option is.

<snip>

* I've removed the stacks bombing (and also changed it from precarious stacks to a more mundane shantytown) and gone with the idea someone had of Wade being accosted by IOI thugs who snuck into his hideout while he was in the interview with Sorrento, giving him 24 hours to agree to help him or else. This gives him just barely enough time to change his identity and flee town. This would also make Daito's murder sufficiently shocking, as now it's more than halfway through the book before Sorrento resorts to murder. I also think it would be interesting for Sorrento's murdering to actually be kept hidden from IOI just like his real intentions to shut down OASIS are. IOI is a typical evil corporation that uses legal or quasi-legal means of getting their way, like blackmail and legal loopholes. Sorrento lets his emotions get the better of him as he gets frustrated.

I can see us butting heads a *lot* in this thread. And I don�t mean that in a bad way or anything. I�d rather have the thread bicker a bit before settling on something than everyone voicing apathetic approval. But I also don�t want to see anyone getting pissy if ideas are discarded. I will always follow the thread majority in decision (even if it�s wrong :colbert:

)

That being said, I think this scene I quoted above is *pivotal* for setting the tone of our �re-write�.

I just think that Sorrento being a stone-cold killer is a hair ham-fisted. I mean I understand the pathos and if that�s the road we travel then that�s the road we travel. I�d like think our version of Sorrento is ruthless, but far more humane. After all he�s trying to save humanity from itself. Sure that can give rise to a zealot, but it can also give rise to a highly competent, focused, and rational antagonist. He�s not a villain because of some feeling of revenge drive him to be. He�s a villain because he *has* to be to save the world.

I�m already working on a second pass of that scene, and I�ll just drop it on the thread when we get to that point in the process. If we end up using all of it, some of it, or none at all that�s fine. I just want the opportunity to persuade, and if it doesn�t go my way... so be it. I�m still excited about what we�ll end up with.

Proteus Jones fucked around with this message at 04:53 on Apr 6, 2018

# ¿ Apr 6, 2018 04:50

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

chitoryu12 posted:

I think there�s room for our version having Aech as trans, but yeah the original text doesn�t have that. Aech pretty clearly explains that creating a straight white male persona is a way to avoid racism and sexism from the world at large and homophobia from people like her mother. Wade continues to use male pronouns in the game because Cline made the ridiculously offensive choice of �Well her avatar is still a dude so...�

So it�s a matter of whether we follow the original character and improve on it or if we reinterpret Aech as trans.

To be honest, Cline has pretty much given us blank slates when it comes to characterization.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2018 12:35

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

loquacius posted:

I vote yes on Aech no on Art3mis

# ¿ Apr 7, 2018 14:48

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

chitoryu12 posted:

My problem with this is that it risks adding an unlikable element to Wade, especially toward the end of the book when he's supposed to be at the zenith of his character development. It's even worse in Cline's book because he never really improves at all so it just underscores Wade being an unlikable dick from start to finish, but I don't want his self-improvement to start taking steps backward.

Heroes are defined by their flaws and how they overcome them.

# ¿ Apr 8, 2018 03:44

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# ¿ Apr 19, 2024 23:28

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

chitoryu12 posted:

Do you have any sample of your writing to show us what it should look like?

Don't engage.

# ¿ Apr 11, 2018 14:40

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > "Are we qualified for this?" - Fixing Ready Player One