PARANOIA

CrunchGear informs us of Japan's breakthrough in making closed-circuit surveillance more friendly and heartwarming. They house the cameras inside dolls:

One example of a “friendly” CCTV camera is the Daruma surveillance doll. Daruma is a wish doll in Nippon, so that many Japanese people see the little guy in a positive light by nature (even though it says “security camera” on the doll in the video above).

Another solution is to manufacture surveillance cameras with a wooden body. In the video, you can see a traditional Japanese guest house (ryokan) use these cameras in order to give guests a sense of security without interfering with the design of Japanese-style wooden ryokans.

The November 27, 2008 New York Times (free registration required) features the article "Mile of London Tunnels for Sale, History Included," by Julia Werdigier. The British phone company, the BT Group, is trying to sell a mile-long network of tunnels originally built as bomb shelters during the Blitz in World War II:

Appearing more like the set of a James Bond movie than prime real estate, the complex still has a bar and two canteens, not in use, and a billiard room, not to mention functioning water and electricity supplies. [...]

Though some may fantasize about buying the space and living a secret life in a cavernous underground world filled with gadgets suitable for the Bat Cave, the reality would most likely be harsher. The air is dry, hot and stale. The constant rattling of London Underground trains rushing through a separate tunnel system a few feet above and the sound of giant ventilation fans make the tunnels a noisy environment. Turning the tunnels into a nightclub or hotel is out of the question because only two elevators link them to the outside world; even a small fire would be difficult to contain. [...]

David Hay, a BT historian, said legend had it that the government wanted to keep the location of the tunnels so secret that it hired foreign workers with no knowledge of the London streets to build them. BT staff members are still under strict orders not to reveal the exact location of the system, though incomplete maps have surfaced on the Internet. [...]

In 1963, the hot line established between Moscow and Washington after the Cuban missile crisis ran through the London tunnels. The buzzing complex soon became known as “underground town,” with its own recreation room complete with dartboards and billiard tables, a movie theater and two dining halls. Workers often spent the night in sleeping rooms. [...]
"In the winter months, if you didn’t come up at lunchtime, you never saw the light of day," John Warrick, a former worker, wrote on the Web site Subterranea Britannica, remembering his days in the tunnels. "Life down there was a little like living in a submarine."

If any PARANOIA fan pays the US$7.4 million to buy this place, get in touch. I'd be happy to run a wowser of an Underplex live-action game down there.

Labels: underplex

It's been a couple of years since I plugged this Paranoia-Live.net forum topic, "You know you've been playing too much PARANOIA when..." Started in June 2006, it's been plugging along and has now reached ten pages. The community continues to delight me. Some recent entries:

• "When you see a poster in your college labeled 'STUDENTS IN FREE ENTERPRISE' and think, 'Wow, they've gotten bold.' Happened to me a few weeks back." (Go-R-ANK)


• "You instinctively follow a red stripe on the floor of your bank, leading ALL THE WAY AROUND the front counter where the deposit slips are, then panic when the stripe ends before you can get to a teller. Yeah, that was embarassing." (Citron-R)


• "I keep hearing 'Pro Tech Air Conditioners' on the radio locally, and want to call IntSec." (firedup13)

I'm very late in noticing the FREE beta download, through November 25th (today!), of the new satirical science-fiction RPG MSG. Designed by Wood Ingham, with Becky Lowe and Benjamin Baugh, MSG (the abbreviation seems not to stand for anything) casts the players as "Reps" (representatives) of a near-future megacorporation -- or, more accurately, a "Brand." Each player takes a turn playing the Company, outlining a Situation the other Reps struggle to solve.

[The Reps] have to work their way through any number of morally difficult situations. The Company tries to crush the Reps, or gets the Reps to crush other people. The Reps can let the company do this, or they can find ways around it. [...]
[Y]ou can only screw over the Reps directly -- although there may be plenty of indirect screwing-over -- when you are playing the Company. The Company is the faceless body that presents dictates from on high, introduces stupid rules, and makes your Reps' lives miserable.

Perhaps you note a resemblance to another satirical science-fiction RPG. The SF blog io9 comments on the clear ancestry of PARANOIA. That's not entirely to the good, it turns out -- the MSG rulebook's tone is aggressively cheeky and jocular in the manner of late West End PARANOIA. But the layout is attractive and the illustrations quite fine, so check out MSG if you can get the free download before the 25th (today!). Or, if you missed the deadline, the MSG corrected print edition will set you back all of US$3.43.

Following the previous post here about Gnome Stew's contentious list of "12 RPGs Every Gamer Should Play Before They Die," loyal citizen Graham Walmsley started a commentary thread on Story Games.

The discussion highlights the variety of criteria you could reasonably use in creating a list: historical significance, different design approaches, emphasis on simulation mechanics versus storytelling versus world settings, and so on. Some commenters advocate including "brilliant but broken" games. Many posters agree 12 games is too few for any useful list.

Regular readers of this blog certainly agree PARANOIA deserves inclusion on every list of this kind, regardless of criteria -- whether for its historical importance (the first major RPG to enforce mood through game mechanics, and by far the most popular humor RPG); its design philosophy (assigning the Gamemaster supreme authority with an enthusiasm other games shudder to contemplate); or its unique conjuration of paranoid fear through turning players against each other. As for "brilliant but broken," I leave that as an exercise for the player; pay no attention to the Internal Security camera pointing at you, citizen....

Naturally PARANOIA appears on the GnomeStew blog's list article "12 RPGs Every Gamer Should Play Before They Die." The others: Amber, Burning Wheel, Call of Cthulhu, Dread (?), D&D, GURPS, HERO System, any LARP, Og (??), Rifts, and Vampire. I would add Pendragon; one of Greg Gorden's one-table RPGs such as DC Heroes, TORG, or Earthdawn; Puppetland; and My Life With Master. I could see a case for Spirit of the Century too. Opinions?