The Real World

I always told that the real world can be a cruel place if not prepared, it can true but after seeing aforums and my own experiences I realize that it is not all that bad. Humans aren't bastards or saints, the world can be a lonely place if you don't have any friends or family and we will die one day, good or bad. Sometimes I wonder just what exactly is 'real' about it? Everyone goes through it eventually and they realize it is not all that bad. Real life is Nintendo Hard and sometimes it can be hellish for some but I wodner why is it called the Real World? do I need to adopt a Huey Freeman nihilistic mindset for that?

I think that Gamespot's review of Real Life is spot-on.

Myself, I really like it, I just wish that the dev team relented a little bit on the whole "no spoilers" policy (seriously, what's the deal with the respawning policy?) and perhaps did something to prevent griefing...

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

"you're relegated to playing as a human character"

I don't see how this part makes sense.

Have you seen many elves, dwarves or similar around recently?

There may be the possibility of respawning as animals or perhaps even as some other kinds of beings, according to some spoilers that may or may not come from the dev team and that are contradicted from other spoilers, but apart from that it seems that all known Real Life PCs belong to some variety of homo sapiens.

edited 27th Sep '10 6:05:41 AM by Carciofus

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

Have you ever thought that that could be because only homo sapiens can only voicechat with other humans? It isn't really possible to tell who is and isn't a player character.

>> Real life is Nintendo Hard and sometimes it can be hellish for some but I wodner why is it called the Real World?

Shitty American Culture

>>do I need to adopt a Huey Freeman nihilistic mindset for that?

No

WHASSUP....... ....with lolis!

Yeah, dude, to roll Neanderthal you had to get in on the beta.

And that was, like, hundreds of years ago.

edited 29th Sep '10 12:19:06 AM by LullTheConqueror

the dice are loaded, the deck is stacked, the game itself will hold you back

This topic is simultaneously very intelligent and very amusing. I approve. :)

Yeah, I've never understood the whole "The Real World is harsh!" thing either. It depends more on you than any other factor.

Well, if you are aiming for 100% Completion then the Real World is well past Nintendo Hard...

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

^It's hard to do a completion run of virtually any game that you've never played before.

But yes, regardless of how many times you've played, the sheer number of objectives and the absurdly short time limit (relative to the amount of material) make it pretty much impossible. Heck, I'm not sure anyone has even visited all the map locations.

What exactly is 'real' about the 'real world'?

It exists?

WHERE THE FUCK IS MY ROMANTIC SIDEQUEST?

ALSO WHY THE FUCK IS THE TECH TREE SO SHITTY? I MEAN THE GAME'S BEEN GOING ON FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS AND WE'RE JUST NOW UNLOCKING THE EXOSUIT UPGRADE. WE DON'T EVEN HAVE INFANTRY LASERS YET.

ALSO ALSO Nerf NUKES.

FURTHERMORE I AM GOING TO KILL THE BASTARD WHO DIDN'T GIVE THE GAME A SAVE FEATURE.

SOME GUYS WITH BOOKS WITH PLUS SIGNS ON THEM TELL ME HOW TO SAVE BUT IT ISN'T QUITE WHAT I THINK I'M LOOKING FOR. REALLY, WHAT THEY'RE OFFERING IS MORE LIKE A SAVE GAME BONUS. SOME OF THEM ALSO TELL ME IT'S DEPENDENT ON MY MORALITY STAT. I DON'T GET IT.

ALSO, GIMME A FUCKING WARP WHISTLE. IT TAKES TOO LONG TO GET ANYWHERE ON MY CURRENT SERVER, MOSTLY BECAUSE THE WEATHER INSTITUTES TOTAL PARTY KILLS EVERY TIME THE ADMINS TRY TO UPGRADE THE SERVER ARCHITECTURE.

edited 2nd Oct '10 10:39:31 PM by Charlatan

I've heard that the difficulty is largely determined by the map area you start in, but there's no way to control it. I like Real Life, but I happened to spawn in a good area.

I tend to have problems with the social aspect. That's true with any game. I'm having a lot of trouble with the Romantic Sidequest, and as far as I can tell so far, that's the only part of the game a enjoy very much.

I tend to spend most of my time on Mini Games and Fictional Documents.

The economy in it is pretty cool. It's like EVE Online, but better.

Consequentialism: The belief that doing the right thing makes the world a better place. Check out the Felicifa forum for more about Utilitarianism and other Consequentialist ethical theories.

I really like the skill tree, I rarely saw anything so open-ended. Sure, the Level Grinding can be a bit tiresome, but you can execute the A Spoonful of Sugar special maneuver to resolve this issue...

edited 3rd Oct '10 2:52:03 PM by Carciofus

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

Keeping with the life as a video-game theme going here:

Real life is full of luck based missions. Character creation is also luck based. Those who roll poorly on character creation may end up, or more likely start up, as slaves for life.

Also, is there a trope for a randomly timed Game-Over out of nowhere?

This game can, theoretically, totally suck.

I'll think of one later

I realized that people who make the wrong choices ona certain route may end up with the bad ending. Usually said choices are short term but they may your character in the long run as the Macguffin is lost forever.

I like that real life is extremely interactive, there is a limitless list of activities and destinations provided that you meet the requisites and obtain the knowledge. The nervous system™ is a double-edged sword though. You get extremely realistic feedback from everything. Sensations touch your very SOUL. All pain is real. There's no way of switching off real life. As the review says, you don't choose your genetic attributes or your family. There are some things that player characters can't change. Other players can be complete jerks who will will keep harassing you. I hate that players will get suspicious if you idle or run around in circles, and that you will get criticised for trivial things.

Does it really help to see life as a game? If I took the notion so seriously I might convince myself that there were save points and respawn. But you only get one life. The crucial difference between real lives and video game lives is that the former is finite. Virtual Reality immersion could possibly simulate real life in perfect detail. Yet to do something to that extent, you would need to disconnect your senses from the physical world, and give in to a closed illusion. The main reason the real world feels so real, is because our senses make it so. Also, characters die and you never see them again.

edited 4th Oct '10 7:03:57 PM by Shichibukai

Requiem ~ September 2010 - October 2011 [Banned 4 Life]

I have a theory that Real Life has something similar to Save Points: there are Split Points. Whenever I die Real Life splits onto 2 servers, one in which I really did die and another one in which my death was somehow avoided.

The 2 servers have exactly the same game state at the time of the split, and all players except me will continue to play on both simultaneously.

I'll think of one later

Obvious conclusion: Buy machine gun. Set up machine gun to aim at yourself. Fire several hundred rounds at yourself on film and in front of many spectators. In one universe, you will not die. In that universe, you will be apparently immortal. Start a cult, or something even more creative.

"Reality hacking" just got a sexier meaning

edited 5th Oct '10 12:22:12 AM by Tzetze

[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.

First, the avoidance of death might be because the gun did not work, or I was too stupid to use it correctly. That wouldn't start a great cult.

Second, maybe in the universe I survive I am still horribly wounded and in great pain?

I'll think of one later

The randomly timed Game Over is one of the most interesting concepts of Real Life, I think - it really adds a sense of urgency to the game, and forces people aiming for a high score to make complex tactical decisions (especially since there appears to be no reliable way to check the current score during the play!)

Personally, I would like the overarching plot to be a little more straightforward: I mean, Wide Open Sandboxes are well and good, but it is really difficult to keep track of the main plot points (although, that may be partially due to Real Life having Loads and Loads and Loads and Loads and Loads and Loads and Loads and Loads and Loads and Loads and Loads and Loads and Loads and Loads and Loads ... and Loads of Characters).

edited 5th Oct '10 6:53:33 AM by Carciofus

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

Sometimes there's a rare chance of a person being spawned with something known as an ASD, or an autism spectrum disorder. These individuals tend to specialize in one trait, often becoming experts at it, while other skills, primarily the social stat, fall by the wayside.

Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.

People who have been looking at the source code are pretty sure that it isn't actually a randomly timed Game Over: it's at least somewhat deterministic, but the huge number of health-related variables (and the difficulty of checking them) makes it seem random.

I think the lack of overarching plot is the beauty of it. In most games, there are just two kinds of things you can do: stuff that relates to the main plot and unimportant stuff (getting the high score on a minigame, etc). Real Life is the only game I've ever played where the overarching plot is actually built entirely out of players' individual actions. No wonder it can seem disjointed and poorly planned: it isn't planned!

edited 5th Oct '10 11:41:06 AM by jewelleddragon