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Good points, I am going to go back and change the length of time I left Heidi hanging for. What is the general vote on weapon of choice then? I could change it to a Phaser....
I was thinking of something more cruel. Like the cruciatious curse from Harry Potter.
Seriously, I saw a documentary of a woman who was hurt by this "hidden" technology and it wasn't an "instant" stun of a phaser or even a cruel ten minutes or so of cruciatus.
She was stalked, quietly, from the comfort of her living room.
The "stun" idea is easy. To kill people is easy. But if someone wants knowledge, they don't always want to kill the person. They want to either pull them willingly to "their" side or control them and use them. That's the whole idea behind advertising and of course, propaganda and that keeps things moving in a good way as well as a bad.
I think for 2048, we should move beyond shot guns and even beyond phasers. What could possibly exist beyond the phaser?
Maybe the answer lies in the fact that for our concept of life to exist, we need obstacles.
The minute obstacles disappear, so too does life. (At least our conception of life.) Complete bliss disappears to nothingness after it continues unended-- therefore, we need Shiva, the destructor. We need Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva together. Creator, Sustainer and Destroyer.
Sorry if I'm being too serious here, but I'll try and write a comedic short to make up for it.
I love words and the fact that when the page is blank...there's nothing there until words are formulated in my brain. Those thoughts...rushing through my viens and out my finger tips, find "life" on the page.
When people and places come to life...that to me is exciting.
MBCgirl =) My finger nails should look nice while I type - Red works!
I have to agree with Jeff and say I think phasers are a bit much. I set it in 2048 because it's not that far away. People will still be driving cars, just like there were cars around in 1958. They might look a bit different and they probably won't use the same fuel - but there will be cars.
It's likely that weaponry would have gone through some changes as well, but these changes would be for the massive weapons used during the petroleum wars. The petroleum wars, if anything, would likely have caused a decrease in technology or a new movement of Luddites.
Rifles would still be around, like they were 50 years ago. Again, they would probably be a bit different but not much.
I'm sure what I'm saying here sounds like I don't think there would be much new technology. But that isn't true, there would be some. I just don't think that in 50 years it will affect the common man, especially when they are just coming out of an ecological crisis. I think that the ecological crises itself would be a reason for common people to shun new tech and return back to the earth as much as possible.
Either way, I don't think new technology should be the focus of this game.
I have to agree with Jeff and say I think phasers are a bit much. I set it in 2048 because it's not that far away. People will still be driving cars, just like there were cars around in 1958. They might look a bit different and they probably won't use the same fuel - but there will be cars.
It's likely that weaponry would have gone through some changes as well, but these changes would be for the massive weapons used during the petroleum wars. The petroleum wars, if anything, would likely have caused a decrease in technology or a new movement of Luddites.
Rifles would still be around, like they were 50 years ago. Again, they would probably be a bit different but not much.
I'm sure what I'm saying here sounds like I don't think there would be much new technology. But that isn't true, there would be some. I just don't think that in 50 years it will affect the common man, especially when they are just coming out of an ecological crisis. I think that the ecological crises itself would be a reason for common people to shun new tech and return back to the earth as much as possible.
Either way, I don't think new technology should be the focus of this game.
I completely disagree. I think it's stupid thinking. Thirty years ago, it was 1978. We had computers, but they were the realm of only a few.
There were no "virtual communities". No Warcraft groups. No heart monitors, no abilities to keep 1 pound infants alive, which I have experience with.
For you to say that in 50 years, you don't think much can happen makes me wonder where you're coming from Michael! Seriously!
Just think 1800's and 1900's and it's night and day.
It's night and day just thinking about my (and your lifetimes) and we're not that old! Are we??!!
Sandra, while what you say is indeed correct I think Michael makes a very valid point. There is a school of thought in some examples of the genre that in a post-apocalyptic "near" future, science and technology would actually decline. After a cataclysmic event for example we might actually see the internet an unworkable technology, mobile phone networks become disjointed and unreliable. New technologies that require certain fuels, charges etc.. would simply stop working if people were too busy surviving to actually manufacture and service the things.
Perhaps one thing we could touch on is how the cars are fueled. I can throw out that the patent for the hydrogen car was filed in the 30's. The demonstration was done in Detroit where someone drove the vehicle to the Detroit River, "Refueled" by using water from the river, and then drove it away. About the only thing preventing the coming of water cars is the oil companies not wanting it to bite into their twinkies and having the clout to control the happening. Sure. it's considered an techno-urban legend, but the scientific concept is actually quite sound.
Another thing we're bound to see the rise of is the electric car. California has had solar charging stations where electric car owners could plug in and the surplus energy from these solar chargers fed into the power company's grid. The technology exists for an electric car that is solar-charged, despite the naysayers. Now a solar charger built into the car might take awhile to charge it, but most cars spend all day in the sun, and in forty years, it's not unreasonable to think that the solar technology and battery technology would increase to the point of it being usable.
After all, this crisis is only a month or so old at the most, right? This means that life went on up to that point. We don't need to focus on the technology, but we should at least have some items that are commonplace to these people that we might find interesting. Reasonably, my character should probably have been reading The Stand on a palmtop that he downloaded before the wireless network came to a crashing halt. But then, who's to say that some of the greater technologies wouldn't continue for weeks or months without intervention. Computers would be unaffected by the virus and the animals would have no access to the systems that control them. Little by little they would go down as people wouldn't be available to resolve failures, but it would take some time before that happened. Our people could have handheld computers with more power than a modern desktop that could access a free public wireless network. The cars would likely have touch screens in them as well as personalized secure starters, so one obstacle our people would encounter would be finding a car they COULD steal. If they use a thumbprint, perhaps doing the unpleasant task of keeping the owner's hand on hand would be something necessary.
What other issues would technological dependance cause if current technologies make a reasonable improvement in the next 40 years?
I was just about to leave for the gym but decided I didn't want to wait until I get back as I have a busy afternoon. So if I may interject...
First off...Now children...Mary Poppins would like everyone to have a spoon full of sugar. I feel a few feathers have been ruffled and that is not what this exercise is about...it's about working together and finding a way to do that so it compliments all of us.
Sandra, I read back through and I have to say that I don't see Cornetto saying "end of discussion." I do read that this should "not be the focus of the game." I agree with that and I know that you agree with that too. I understand that this is just a discussion...and that is a GOOD thing!
I think that it's good to bring in the visuals of the times and the things we would use to protect ourselves...but I sort of feel that man in survival mode would revert to the things that are easy to get his hands on, in an outdoor store as menioned above by GM. Many of the more technical weapons willl still not be available to the common public unless on the black market...or through the military. Is there a military base anywhere near where we are? Maybe they could find a stash of missle firing or the like type of weaponry.
George makes some good points, but certainly we don't have to get down to trying to "futurize" the story with telling about what cars are being fued with...maybe that story could be better told when they are trying to locate gas for their vehicles...as opposed to the vehicle itself and how it works.
I do like the idea of hand held computers because in essence we have that now with our wireless phones...and we could go on and on in this direction but I think it takes us away from the focus of SHIVA and it's certainly not worth upsetting this wonderful "apple cart" we are in.
All of this lends support to the situation we find ourselves in. Our characters are developing well...I feel like I can invision them and I want to see where the human emotion side goes with them...to me, technology is an "oh by the way" because right now, in this imperfect world...all I would care about is food, shelter, safety...protecting myself from the animals and trying to find other people. I did bring up CB's because if everything went down...AM channels would still be used as a backup...even 40-50 years from now and I had Albert the 71 year old bring it in as it would be something he was experienced with.
Initially when I brought up the thing about the rifle versus the shotgun it was just to help with a small technicality along with hanging upside down for that long.
SHIVA to me is a story about "lives" and how they survive the destruction...and as has been mentioned, destruction brings about change...Is SHIVA a positive or a negative influence in this change and who will figure it out and write the final scene - and that is our main focus and direction.
Let's keep moving forward and not get bogged down right now. Deep breath everyone! Exhale and we're good.
How's that sugar working for you? MP wants to know?
I love words and the fact that when the page is blank...there's nothing there until words are formulated in my brain. Those thoughts...rushing through my viens and out my finger tips, find "life" on the page.
When people and places come to life...that to me is exciting.
MBCgirl =) My finger nails should look nice while I type - Red works!
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Shiva - Discussion Part 1
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