No this isn't some postulation about how we create a better world out of the one we live in, you know by now that I am far too much of a pessimist to care about any of that anyway. Instead I intend for this to be a raising of that most timeless of questions: If you could live in any fictional world, which would you live in? Yes, I know it's a bit of a cliche for a gamer to be wondering about life under different circumstances, but it's a thought I like to raise with myself now and then with some interesting connotations. I say this because there actually aren't a great deal of fictional worlds in gaming that really support such a train of question, for the very same reason that makes them such fun worlds to play in. They are often violent, death-filled expanses where life is cheap and bullets are cheaper, making this question less about one's ideal getaway and more about which place they'd feel most likely to survive in.
As such, I've selected a bunch of different game worlds all based around titles that are either renowned for the simulated worlds or too interesting for me to leave out of this list. The idea is to try and find some positive about residing in a world as an everyday normal human rather than a super powered protagonist with the power to freeze time whilst they chug several gallons worth of cheese wheels. (Guess that already gives away one of the games I'll eventually look at.) I feel like that's an important stipulation to make, as most of us on the planet Earth are really little more than just the mindless NPCs who flitter about life aimless and purposeless until we find ourselves stepping directly into our own graves. (Yeah, I'm just full of cheer and happiness today!)
Firstly I decided to go with a video game world that I've spent a considerable amount of time within, and that would be Fallout's Wasteland. Now Fallout takes place in a universe where the world hit an explosion of technology and productivity after the world wars resulting in a huge leap forward in what humans had at their disposal. Suddenly ideas that were once thought of as Science Fiction became the everyday and people were living in the world of tomorrow. Unfortunately, this also meant that the cold war lasted a little longer and grew a little hotter, this time with America and China in opposite corners of the ring. Their hostilities grew so all-consuming to each respective country's cultures that neither of them realised that the world they both shared was heading towards a resource collapse until it hit. Suddenly America had to develop a particularly authoritarian slant to their government, annex Canada, and fight off a budding Chinese invasion. That was until a surprise nuclear strike kicked off full global thermonuclear warfare.
Now I know what you're thinking. "In what way is that world supposed to sound like an appealing holiday destination?" but bear with me. You see, not everyone was killed when those bombs fell and in fact the remnants of humanity that did survive crawled out the debris and started remaking the world around them with whatever the had to hand. Some choose to model their lives on the same values as the old world, but most realised that such had led them to destruction and the way to rebuild was to form something new. One could look at this as a sort of grand resetting for the Earth, similar to the ideals that Tracer Tong preached in Deus Ex. (For the purposes of this analysis, I choose to focus on New Vegas' Mojave Wasteland as that's the closest this series has ever come to representing a functioning society.)
Now the most obvious reason to want to live in a world defined by it's collapsed society is thus, freedom. Fallout is a world in which there is precious little infrastructure or rules that folk are expected to adhere to aside from the absolutely necessary. (And even then there are some settlements that don't even functional lawmen.) This allows those that wish it to pursue that which they wish to achieve the most in life, like becoming one with nature and starting a farm, or vowing to travel the country and see every state. There are no ties that bind and I'd imagine a lot of people wish for a chance to be that responsibility free. Of course, there also the chance that such a freedom will overload your perception of what is possible and lean you towards the extremes, likely resulting in you regularly risking your own wellbeing or actively threatening others', but we're getting close to negatives here, let's still with the pluses for now. Another result of a society raised in the Wasteland is that is breeds a hardy folk of people who scavenge many of the space age tech of the land before them, some that stuff is even more advance than what we have today whilst still being 200 years out of date in their world. Heck, they have floating robotic servants, mini nuclear reactors and automated 'Auto-doc' units that can repair practically any injury. (Or lobotomise you if they're programmed incorrectly. You should really double check with that one.)
Of course, on the flip side there is the little issue that living in the Fallout Wasteland would open you up to the many dangers that an American Fallout citizen faces on the daily. This includes having to handle roving band of raiders who are eager to shoot you and play with your corpse, Super Mutants who want to kidnap and eat you, Deathclaws who want to eviscerate and probably also eat you, and on rare occasions, Aliens who want to abduct you for some vague reason that's never quite explained. Then there is the residual nuclear fallout that resides due to the weaponized material that exposited it. This results in deadly patches of nuclear radiation in the world as well as the odd nuke storm that may blow in now and then. These rads have made their way onto almost every food piece of food you'll find and water source that you drink from, and unless you've been born into this world you won't have the inherent resistance that those natives have built up, meaning you'll likely fall apart in no time. So if you can get past having to scavenge for your food, beating off raiders and mutants who happen upon you, and screening every snack through an anti decontamination chamber before consumption; then the Fallout Wasteland is the ideal consequence free dream land for you.
Next up is a world that I don't exactly think was designed to be all that sensible and feasible to reside within, but nonetheless I'm willing to ask the question anyway. Would you want to live on the Borderlands? Now, 'The Borderlands' is a term that I use to refer to the border reaches of space that make for the setting of the 'Borderlands' series of games. You see, these are the planets that various corporate entities sought to colonise as soon as they first expanded into space, likely believing themselves smart for scooping up as much real estate as possible. Unfortunately there were a lot of factors that ended up making these places not the smartest purchases, the most primary of them being because these planets were all infested with an unhealthy amount of man eating monster that made life virtually impossible. Some tried anyway, but most just pulled out and left these planets alone, likely writing them off as a failed venture, and leaving all those early residents behind. Pandora, the setting of the first two Borderlands games, is one such place.
Now you're likely thinking the exact same thing as last time after that summary, but there's a little bit more to the tale. You see, whilst the majority of the workers who were left behind eventually found themselves going insane and resorting to banditry in order to make ends meet, some choose to capitalise upon this 'Wild West' in space and that led to a few sane settlements starting in this no man's land. There was even some talk of a mysterious vault being somewhere on the plane of Pandora, which drew in a lot of outside interest as the last vaults that were opened led to various priceless items and technologies falling into the palms of whoever was the lucky opener. This means that a thriving bounty hunter community started to form on Pandora as well as a little bit of money from companies looking to strike themselves lucky off of what was initially considered a disaster of a planet.
Straightaway you'll see the parallel's that this world has to Fallout, only with a lot less dire circumstances. The majority of the establishment has abandoned the people of Pandora and pursued their interest elsewhere, leaving the folk of Pandora to their own devices. Once again this could be see as a licence to do whatever you want, but Pandora is known for being a infertile wasteland that is comically overly hostile in every possible way. (Aside from it's atmosphere, I guess, which human's can inexplicably breath) I guess if there is one immutable benefit to this world that I cannot take away it's that fact that this world is full of so many attention grabbing heroes and Vault Hunters, that if you're a nobody you'll literally be at the bottom of the list to be mugged. Bandits wouldn't even want to spend the cost of a single bullet that it would take in order to loot your corpse, because that's how worthless you are.
On the side of negatives, do you remember when I said that the Fallout wasteland was dangerous? Imagine that, but amplified to a ludicrous degree. Pandora is so dangerous to live in that there is an in-universe respawn mechanic of questionable canonicity that allows for vault hunters to be cloned the second after they die, because there has to be something like that in a world where your more likely to trade bullets with your neighbour than words. In fact, this place is so deadly that an entire spin-off game, 'Tales from the borderland', was built from the grounds of this very same proposition; "What if you were a nobody in the deadliest planet ever?" Anyone who does manage to survive Pandora looks miserable to be doing so, and I cannot imagine a single reason why anyone would live there willingly. Heck, the only mildly stable large settlement we see in this game is Sanctuary, and that place gets blown to hell and back repeatedly for the crime of having Vault Hunters even around them. So if you've literally come to terms with death and want to know what it's like to live life on hard difficulty; Pandora and the Borderlands is the hellscape for you.
Finally for part 1 of this blog, I'd like to take a look at a world that is very similar to our own yet fundamentally different. Out of the three choices that I've picked out today, the one universe that I would want to live in most is Mass Effect's Milkyway (Not Andromeda, screw that) and before I explain why let me define that universe. Now I remember a very long time ago being introduced to this franchise by a article which said "describing Mass Effect often consists of retreating to a dark room for hours whilst you decide where it is to even start", so I find this a little daunting but I think I'll begin in the 22nd century. In 2148 humanity discovers a cache of ancient alien technology on Mars so advanced that it shot their understanding of science forward by lightyears. Before long they'd discovered that their universe was full of actual aliens, and after a brief first contact war against the Turians, they were welcomed into a galactic community full to the brim with various alien races.
The Mass Effect milkyway is defined by the Citadel, which is a huge space facility that holds the council that brokers peace between as many races as possible. As such humanity finds themselves joined by the martial prowess of the Turians, the mechanical mastery of the Quarians, the intellectual supremacy of the Asari and the rapid talking of the Salarians. (I don't know what else is distinct about them. I guess they're really smart too.) Of course, there are still some universal threats to the universe, else this wouldn't make a very good setting for any stories, but the rampaging AI Geth are mostly found on the outskirts of space. Imagine what it would be like to be a human oblivious to everything going on with 'the Reapers' and 'the end of all life as we know it', just living it up on the Citadel.
On the list of positives, this would probably be a world of Utopian accessibility provided that you live in the Citadel, above the poverty line and some time before the coming of the Reapers. (So, just like real life then.) You'll be alive in a time of practically unlimited space travel where you can see all the wonders of the universe without putting oneself in danger and with the help of the Mass Effect Relays you'll be able to see it all within a matter of months instead of decades. Plus there is the fact that your universe will already be home to a bevy of alien races and cultures proving that we aren't alone in the Galaxy and interacting with peoples that were born on an entirely different planet would literally be my most heartfelt dream. (I love getting glimpses of over people's lives and experiences, but this would be a whole other level.) Mass Effect's Milkyway is practically a dream location that I wouldn't just visit but literally move into permanently.
Unfortunately, such a move would come with substantial risks. First of all, yes every race in the Citadel is technically friendly, but that doesn't mean the place can't get a little rough from time-to-time, especially in the lower decks. Humans specifically have a bad rap in the universe for having shown up so recently yet having still managed to worm their way into positions of leadership in no time at all. (We're sneaky like that.) This could make your Homosapien hide target practice for some of the less 'friendly' species out there like the Batarians and the Vorcha. But both those species are vermin who would never be allowed in the Citadel, (At least, not on the Presidium) what you'd really have to worry about are the threats to your life that won't be stopped by a denied VISA. The militarist sentient AI race known as the Geth seem to delight in picking off harmless human settlements for no reason whatsoever, and if they don't get you then maybe the mysterious Collectors will shown up to throw you in a rubber tube and melt you down into grey paste that they'll then fit into their superweapon. But let's say that you've got the funds to reside purely on the Citadel, and on the Presidium also. Well, you'd live a life of safety and prosperity. That is, at least, until a hulking death robot-squid called Sovereign comes to ruin your day by attaching itself to the Citadel tower and summoning it's kin. You might survive that, but from then you have exactly two years to enjoy your space life until a race of deadly human-synthetic hybrid squids come to literally wipe out all life in the Milky Way. So as long as you live your Utopian existence happy with the inevitability that no matter what you do any life you manage to build for yourself will eventually fall apart when death and war comes to your doorstep, you'll do fine. (Or you could sign up to that experimental expedition to slingshot a bunch of random folk off to the Andromeda Galaxy, but I'd probably stay away from that lot. Thinking about them just makes my face tired.)
As you can see I put an unhealthy amount of thought into thinking about the pros and cons of living literally any other life than the one I've been given, but it makes for fun blogging so who needs a psychiatrist? I've still not sure whether it's fair to judge the viability of living in a world on my knowledge of the plot of the games, because in real life we obviously don't know what the state of the geopolitical world will wrought for us in the next 5 years, but with such a silly premise I feel it's fair to approach it in a silly way so I'll keep it up when I pick this up next. There's a whole lot more worlds I want to judge and I look forward to coming back to this fun little thought experiment when I come up with more after this slot. And who knows; maybe I've got you thinking about the same stupid questions too. (Sorry, I had to share my idiocy with something.)
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