History Literature / Steppe

''Steppe'', written in 1972 by Creator/PiersAnthony, was not published in the US until 1985. It predicted many of the elements of the MMORPG.

* RoaringRampageOfRescue: Kokachin (after marrying Temujin/Alp) is kidnapped by another player. Alp's response? ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Raise three armies and go get her back]]!!''

'''Steppe''', written in 1972 by Creator/PiersAnthony, was not published in the US until 1985. It predicted many of the elements of the MMORPG.

''{{Steppe}}'', written in 1972 by Creator/PiersAnthony, was not published in the US until 1985. It predicted many of the elements of the MMORPG.

* CovertPervert: Audience ratings are a large factor in determining the players final score when his part ends. The Machine flat-out tells Alp that audiences enjoy any illicit thrills they can get, brought on by the liberating setting of the Game and the fact that players have their awareness of the audience blocked out while they are actively playing.
* TheDeterminator: For Alp, losing the Game means expulsion back to the real world, where he will be sent back to the past to die at the bottom of a gorge.

* SexyDiscretionShot: After Alp and Kokachin are reunited.

* FailureIsNotAnOption: For Alp, losing the Game means being expelled back to the real world, where he will be sent back to the past to die at the bottom of a gorge.

* LateArrivalSpoiler: For anyone who ever studied Central Asian history [[spoiler:and knows that Jenghiz Qan aka Genghis Khan was born with the name Temujin]]. Regardless, it's a thrilling read.

* BadassCrew: Alp, Uga, and Pei-li in their first alliance. Alp (as Temujin), Qasar, Subotai, and Jelme later on.

* FireForgedFriends: Uga, the first player Alp meets in the Game, and Pei-li, Uga's aide, become this to him after an adventure in the China section of the Game.

* HubWorld: Alp's entry into the Game coincidentally seems to be in one of these. [[spoiler:It's not a coincidence; the Game Machine arranged for his arrival.]]
* ItWasHisSled: For anyone who has studied Central Asian history [[spoiler:and knows that Jenghiz Qan aka Genghis Khan was born with the name Temujin]]. Regardless, it's a thrilling read.

* LateArrivalSpoiler: For anyone who has studied Central Asian history [[spoiler:and knows that Jenghiz Qan aka Genghis Khan was born with the name Temujin]]. Regardless, it's a thrilling read.
* MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRoleplayingGame: The Game is a live-action version. Players pay to enter parts, act them out, eventually die, then enter new parts if they were successful enough to have points left over. Minor parts are played by people who want to earn points for their first "good" character.

* RoaringRampageOfRescue: Kokachin (after marrying Alp!Temujin) is kidnapped by another player. Alp's response? ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Raise three armies and go get her back]]!!''

* FireForgedFriends: Uga, the first player Alp meets in the Game, and Pei-li, Uga's aide, become this to him after an adventure in the China section of the Game.

* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Alp arrives in the future ''sans'' clothes. He steals some and mentally comments on the endowments of the man he robs. Later, after having to ditch the stolen clothes, Alp starts knocking out and stripping everyone he meets, so there is a wave of nude people fleeing for cover to confuse the police.

* OverworldNotToScale: The Game-world is meant to be a representation of Earth, but it is spread across the whole Galaxy. Horses are one-man spaceships; rivers are dust-nebulae; star clusters represent mountain ranges.

* RoaringRampageOfRescue: Koka (after marrying Alp!Temujin) is kidnapped by another player. Alp's response? ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Raise three armies and go get her back]]!!''

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Alp's friends Uga and Pei-Li contract this as the Game reaches its final stages [[spoiler:and one of them must become Jenghiz Qan.]]

* FireForgedFriends: Uga, the first player Alp meets in the Game, and Pei-Li, his aide, become this to him after an adventure in the China section of the Game.

* LikesToWatch: Audience ratings are a large factor in determining the players final score when his part ends. The Machine flat-out tells Alp that audiences [[CovertPervert enjoy any illicit thrills they can get]], brought on by the liberating setting of the Game and the fact that players have their awareness of the audience blocked out while they are actively playing.

* RecycledInSpace: In a variation, the Game recreates ancient Earth by cordoning off parts of various planets and sections of the Galaxy to represent a stylistic version of the Asian Steppe. The scale is much bigger, but time is compressed so that one Day in real life represents a year historically. It all works out somehow.