Now that we're off the technical side of things, relief, the next phase
of arguments between people seems to be: the worthwhile elements of VR,
ie. the ones with rich veins of possibility.
Slightly retrograde, but as a nucleus for this, this is a rough list of
"VR Cliches", that seems to have been re-used in all
constructed-alternate-worlds literature from time to time.
(Interesting to read some Philip K. Dick these days, my gods he covered
some ground back when digital computers were hysterically funny).
Feel free to shout at me, or to add/remove your own members.
1. VR as a combat zone between two interlocked minds - usually this is a
quickie mechanism to get to physical combat with excessive special effects.
2. VR as a torture chamber, using elements from your own mind. This is a
valid idea of course, in fact I wrote a story myself about using VR to
explore personal hells (Orson Scott Card did it first, hey, didnt I say I
_didnt_ read SF??). But usually, lack of imag', this ends up resorting to
torturing people from your past, or having them approach the protaganist
and say nasty things to try and play with their minds.
3. VR as a 'chase', an obstacle course, usually for hacking. This is
where Gibson, Stephenson et al have been heavily borrowed, and _still_ no
one has come up with a convincing need for the bandwidth! (not to my mind
anyway).
4. VR as a personal heaven, usually for the very rich. Well fine, there
are some good stories (yay! proletariate revenge! :-> ) to be found
there, but HECK - surely _somebody_ can come up with something that isn't
just huge palaces in Roman motif, Elysian Fields and heaps of SEX!!
5. VR 'leaking across' into TR (This Reality, wherever you may happen to
be). The metaphysics lie here in great abandance, BUT, the only person
to have ever had a really serious try at this (Apart from Philip K. but
he was on and writing about drugs, not circuitry) is Greg Egan in that
book I have been plugging Permutation City.
6. VR as a 'trap' from which you can't escape because wierd
space-ray / computer malfunction / malicious interference / you've gone
mad /etc etc.
Can hear a friend arriving so will use that as an excuse to leave it
there for the moment.
Jon Holdsworth