a second look at Sufficiently Advanced

[reverancepavane]

One of my favourite books is Maureen McHugh's China Mountain Zhang. The reason why it is one of my favourite books is that nothing actually happens in it – the very ordinary protagonist isn't a hero, their is no potential for societal upheaval, and no epic events threaten the tale. It is simply the life of an ordinary individual who is living in an alternate reality where China has successfully taken over America. The beauty is in the world that it creates, not the story itself. Now this is one of my favourite things about science fiction and fantasy that you don't get with other forms of fiction – the canvas on which the artist paints on. I'll forgive massive mistakes in plotting, story, and characterisation if the universe that is created thereby is original and beautiful enough. And it must be self-consistent and logical (in the sense that consequences must follow, rather than in a Spockian sense), because, at heart I am also a gamer, and this is a vital requirement for a universe to be lived and gamed in. It is no accident that a lot of the background research and data on the mundane details of life in the many popular science-fiction series had it's origins in the work done by roleplaying game authors. After all, it is up to the players to use this setting to create their own stories. Now the game Sufficiently Advanced, by Colin Fredricks, is one of those games where I see the potential of the universe/setting and experience a feeling of rapture. Set in the far future, it explores the concepts of tranhumanism. Humanity has spread out into the Universe (via wormholes) and seperated into a number of different cultures (called civilizations). There are thirteen or so major civilizations and the possibility of countless minor ones. Each of these civilizations has some sort of core values (such as Anonymity, Identity, Humanity, Authenticity, Life, et al), that are important to it and effectively define it, and much of the game is based around the interaction of these core values. This is relatively important in a game where your natural abilities run the gamut from being what we would consider to be an ordinary human to the ability to naturally produce designer plagues, calculate wormhole coordinates in your head, fabricate a customised nanite swarm internally, convince someone that killing themselves is in their own best interest, or invade a planet singlehandedly – and expect to win. In fact these capabilities, the meat and drink of most other role-playing games, are so unimportant that the player is free to pick whatever values he or she likes for them (although certain civilizations have natural limits on the capabilities naturally available to the characters). The brief description of each of these civilizations is accompanied by some wonderful fiction that gives you a real sense of what is like to live an ordinary life in these civilizations. And that is the absolute beauty of this game – the sense of wonder that it can imbue in a glimpse of the most ordinary of lives. Personally, I think my favourite civilization is The Eternal Masquerade, where the inhabitants put on and discard identities as freely as they put on their customary masks, but will only possibly reveal the true identity of what lies underneath to their lover or child. The quote "and my sister is a different person every time I see her, but I still know it is her," typifies this examination of the nature of Identity that this civilization is exploring. Although I also find it slightly scarey to consider that I also find the Cognitive Union quite an attractive civilization too. The inhabitants of this civilization have had behavioural modification programs embedded in their neural mesh (from birth) that make them good citizens and integrating them into a vibrant collective society. The other civilizations are uncomfortable about this, calling them "cyber-slaves," although in truth no one is actually a slave (beyond not having any desire to leave the Union once you have joined), as there are no leaders in this society. [In a posthuman meta-context this civilization explores the nature of Free Will.]

Comments

[maelorin]

free will and identity. two themes that seem to thread under a lot of the stuff i'm tacitly avoiding of late. mostly because it will be heavy once i dive in.

[reverancepavane.livejournal.com]

I think the reason that these two civilizations have such a powerful effect on the reader is that they are exploring these concepts. The other civilizations, have their own core values, but they don't tend to be exploring them to such a degree (and, in some cases, are actively resisting exploration into what it means to be human). Some, such as the Rationalist League, have even realised that they might have made a mistake. It is no wonder that these two civilizations seem to form the core of the two major opposing alliances in the game.

[maelorin]

this sounds like a stupendously interesting game.