[MUD-Dev] Virtual worlds meet LARPs

[Lee Sheldon]

From: Richard A. Bartle

> I haven't tried it out myself, but if the thought of making Dutch
> people run around in real life appeals, go ahead.

This brings back two memories...

  Two years ago at GDC I was approached by somebody from Ben Afleck
  and Matt Damon's prouction company.  I forget the name.  They were
  working on one of the next generation of reality shows at the
  time.  One contestant was going to try and make it across the US
  from the west coast to the east.  The others would try to track
  him down.  They wanted someone to create additional puzzles,
  games, obstacles etc.  It never sold.  One of the reasons, as I
  understand it, was the potential for lawsuits from civilians.

  Many years before a former college mate of mine, Michael Pressman
  (now a producer/director) and I wrote an idea for a TV series
  called Danger Games about a company that put customers into
  stories of intrigue and danger and romance that played out in the
  real world.  Right after that Fantasy Island appeared from the
  same network we'd uncessfully pitched our idea to.  Years later of
  course a Michael Douglas film called The Game showed up.

I think there is something very intriguing (and dangerous) in
breaking down the boundaries between fiction and fact for
entertainment purposes.  The Dutch game sounds fairly benign.  If it
is sucessful however I expect we might see more edgy variations,
just as the bastard children of Survivor expose more and more of the
dark side of human nature.


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