Heroes In Their Own Minds: Worldbuilding
Oct. 18th, 2015 01:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tuftearsOkay, found the perfect title for this RPGfic I have in mind. I'd had in mind soliciting superhero suggestions but it occurred to me that I should lay out the world first.
As I alluded to in my previous post, I wanted to tap into the Marvel X-men vibe rather than the DC 'oh hey, we have random superheroes running around the world with all kinds of different origin stories, boy, our universe is such a mess that we need to have multiple Earths to explain them all.' So, think 'mutants vs humans.'
The 'real world' is a near-future world that has seen disasters reshape the surface of the Earth and etch deep the divide between rich and poor. VR RPGs are the opiate of the masses, and until ten years ago, "Mu Factor" was a cult classic that featured mutants at war with one another for the fate of their world. Unfortunately the company producing "Mu Factor", Programmable Reality Inc., was bought out by a larger VR RPG company, then their game was shuttered and its code base absorbed to make their other games better. [*]
"Mu Factor" featured an Earth in which a few mutants had been born before the Ecoclysm, a real world disaster in which the sea level rose dramatically and acid storms dominated the earth, causing a massive population crash and destruction of societal infrastructure. In the fictional history of "Mu Factor", two leaders emerged among the mutants, splitting them into rival camps, and their secret struggle brought on the Ecoclysm. In the throes of the disaster, the nations of the world agreed that only 'licensed' mutants would be permitted to operate, and only with supervision; all other mutants would be detained and restricted to special enclaves for their own safety. Child mutants would be separated from their parents and raised in special schools.
Naturally, this plan did not fare well with all mutants. Mutant society stratified into two factions: the Licensed, who were rich and privileged, going to special schools like Professor Xavier's School for the Gifted, and the Rogues, who grew up in the ghettos that had sprung up around the arcology-cities, working for criminal elements or citizens who needed special services that needed to go unreported to the Powers That Be. The Licensed were ruled by $EVIL_LEADER who believed that mutants would, over time, take the reins of authority and become the new leaders of the world, and the Rogues looked up to $GOOD_LEADER who believed that sharing and equality were required to bring the world into balance, and that eventually the "Y Gene" would spread to everyone, so everyone would be a mutant, just to varying degrees.
From there... Well, there'd be about ten years of tumultuous struggles as "Programmable Realities Inc." entertained their players with successive content patches. The Civil War would go from secret to world-shaking. $EVIL_LEADER would unleash the Guardians that would turn on their master and shatter the solidarity of the Licensed, leading to the rise of the Disbarred and the Redeemed, which allowed members of both mutant factions to cross the line and serve on the other side. An alien invasion would occur that would unite both sides temporarily to fight it. Artifacts would be discovered that could empower mutants, allowing them to gain 'epic powers' so long as they possessed them.
And then "Mu Factor" was shut down and all the players' shared dreams and hopes were dumped into the Great Bit Bucket In The Sky.
Ten years later, one lone genius believes that he has worked out a way to recreate "The Mu Factor". With the help of dedicated fans, he has secured rights and permissions. Now he has sent a call to all its former players, inviting them to come back and participate in the game reborn. Old heroes will be brought back, new heroes will be born.
What could possibly go wrong with this plan?
So, want to make hero or villain suggestions? Major characters that played big roles in shaping the history of "Mu Factor", minor characters that might have shown up here and there and become fan favorites, or just random character ideas that might crop up as former and new players? Even $GOOD_LEADER and $EVIL_LEADER are up for grabs! Or maybe just tell me what superheroes and villains from comics and such were your favorite.
(Note: "The Y Factor" has been changed to "Mu Factor" per feedback)
As I alluded to in my previous post, I wanted to tap into the Marvel X-men vibe rather than the DC 'oh hey, we have random superheroes running around the world with all kinds of different origin stories, boy, our universe is such a mess that we need to have multiple Earths to explain them all.' So, think 'mutants vs humans.'
The 'real world' is a near-future world that has seen disasters reshape the surface of the Earth and etch deep the divide between rich and poor. VR RPGs are the opiate of the masses, and until ten years ago, "Mu Factor" was a cult classic that featured mutants at war with one another for the fate of their world. Unfortunately the company producing "Mu Factor", Programmable Reality Inc., was bought out by a larger VR RPG company, then their game was shuttered and its code base absorbed to make their other games better. [*]
"Mu Factor" featured an Earth in which a few mutants had been born before the Ecoclysm, a real world disaster in which the sea level rose dramatically and acid storms dominated the earth, causing a massive population crash and destruction of societal infrastructure. In the fictional history of "Mu Factor", two leaders emerged among the mutants, splitting them into rival camps, and their secret struggle brought on the Ecoclysm. In the throes of the disaster, the nations of the world agreed that only 'licensed' mutants would be permitted to operate, and only with supervision; all other mutants would be detained and restricted to special enclaves for their own safety. Child mutants would be separated from their parents and raised in special schools.
Naturally, this plan did not fare well with all mutants. Mutant society stratified into two factions: the Licensed, who were rich and privileged, going to special schools like Professor Xavier's School for the Gifted, and the Rogues, who grew up in the ghettos that had sprung up around the arcology-cities, working for criminal elements or citizens who needed special services that needed to go unreported to the Powers That Be. The Licensed were ruled by $EVIL_LEADER who believed that mutants would, over time, take the reins of authority and become the new leaders of the world, and the Rogues looked up to $GOOD_LEADER who believed that sharing and equality were required to bring the world into balance, and that eventually the "Y Gene" would spread to everyone, so everyone would be a mutant, just to varying degrees.
From there... Well, there'd be about ten years of tumultuous struggles as "Programmable Realities Inc." entertained their players with successive content patches. The Civil War would go from secret to world-shaking. $EVIL_LEADER would unleash the Guardians that would turn on their master and shatter the solidarity of the Licensed, leading to the rise of the Disbarred and the Redeemed, which allowed members of both mutant factions to cross the line and serve on the other side. An alien invasion would occur that would unite both sides temporarily to fight it. Artifacts would be discovered that could empower mutants, allowing them to gain 'epic powers' so long as they possessed them.
And then "Mu Factor" was shut down and all the players' shared dreams and hopes were dumped into the Great Bit Bucket In The Sky.
Ten years later, one lone genius believes that he has worked out a way to recreate "The Mu Factor". With the help of dedicated fans, he has secured rights and permissions. Now he has sent a call to all its former players, inviting them to come back and participate in the game reborn. Old heroes will be brought back, new heroes will be born.
What could possibly go wrong with this plan?
So, want to make hero or villain suggestions? Major characters that played big roles in shaping the history of "Mu Factor", minor characters that might have shown up here and there and become fan favorites, or just random character ideas that might crop up as former and new players? Even $GOOD_LEADER and $EVIL_LEADER are up for grabs! Or maybe just tell me what superheroes and villains from comics and such were your favorite.
(Note: "The Y Factor" has been changed to "Mu Factor" per feedback)
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no subject
Date: 2015-10-19 06:14 am (UTC)Plot quibble: Keeping the same _name_ for the fan-implemented game is a great way to get sued. I'd be hesitant to believe that IP laws would be relaxed. If anything, tough times would cause those corporations who retained assets/IP to strengthen their grip on them.
Plot quibble: If the game features similar cataclysms to ones that actually happened in-setting, there's be a whole lot of Too Soon among the player-base. Even today, you'd get quite a lot of backdraft for publishing a game that prominently featured airplanes flying into the World Trade Center. A good rule of thumb would be that you'd want one generation's distance from it. Alternatively, the game might be popular among people unaffected or in countries that benefitted economically from the disaster, or the RL-disaster may have been much less severe.
Plot problem: After the disaster, civilization is presumably fairly authoritarian by necessity (and probably militaristic to prevent raids from have-not countries)... and your premise pitches a game that has the group that rejects authority and colludes with shady criminals as the _good_ guys? That would fly about as well as a "defend Iraq against the American infidels!" game would today. The game's pitch, and its plot, would have to be one that appealed to the society to whom it was pitched, and be acceptable to the authority structures of that society.
Lastly, if you were thinking about going with a plot along the lines of, "AI running the game decides to run the same revolution scenario in the real world using the players as its loyal minions", it might be worth re-thinking that plot. The minions aren't going to be terribly well suited to RL shenanigans, "Robin Hood" scenarios are a harder sell these days even _if_ you manage to bring the evil guys into full Snidely Whiplash villain territory, and the "AI tries to change the world's government" plot has been recycled enough times that you'd have to pull out something truly unusual to get a fresh take on it.
Hopefully I'm just jumping to conclusions with all of that =^.^=. There are certainly a lot of interesting stories that can be written about AIs, and about the search for personal identity and direction/meaning among humans in a new environment.
no subject
Date: 2015-10-19 07:59 am (UTC)Regards 'the same name', I'm employing a bit of handwaving. There are important plot-related reasons $LONE_GENIUS_AND_BACKERS wanted to revive the game itself without filing off names, and Dantech Corporate may have been willing to cut them a break, unlike the real world NCSoft's recalcitrance with City of Heroes. (in the latter case, there's at least one fan-based revival being attempted, 'City of Titans')
Regards 'too soon'-- the Ecoclysm happens in the 2030s (an echo of the Great Depression) and the initial launch of 'The Mu Factor' happens in the 2060s, with the reboot attempt happening in the 2070s. So, a generation of distance as you suggest.
Re: authoritarianism versus 'free thinkers'-- in the story I don't plan to clearly identify them as $GOOD_LEADER or $BAD_LEADER. Both should be charismatic, sympathetic, but shadowy and powerful individuals with their own agendas that will not be entirely clear even to their most trusted lieutenants. I think it's interesting to imagine what Professor Xavier would be/do if he were the one having to run a 'back alleys' operation and what Magneto would do if he were secretly running things for his convenience. Though, once again, I haven't settled on who or what these leaders will be.
Re: 'AI running the game decides to run a revolution scenario in the real world'-- the focus ought to be on the game and what happens in it, and what players do in the real world that reflects back on the game. I'm not planning a stereotypical 'AI run amok' scenario.