Okay, so, I've got this idea bouncing in my head. Thought I'd start documenting it here. Feedback is welcome, not expected. Thoughts, etc., both Genesys and general RPG thoughts.

Elevator Pitch: Dream Park meets Ready Player One .

Pitch: In the future, live action role playing is the most watched competitive event in the world, done via virtual reality. The game should allow for all genres and IPs, changing week to week. Death is not a real threat – the stakes are the long term relationships of the players. However, those relationships hinge on their performance (both in terms of outcome and theatricality) in adventure scenarios that involve lots of combat and action.

The senscape is the virtual reality of the future, allowing for neural stimulation of all five senses.

The memescape is the internet of today – chatrooms, bulletin boards, et cetera.

Adventure Role Playing is the sport of the world – dungeon delves in a wide variety of genres. Those successful can easily make a living, with the dream being to become celebrities.

The AFL – Adventure Fantasy League – is the biggest and bestest league of Adventure Role Playing. Others include Hero League (solo play), BloodSport (grittier), and Warcraft 9 (the most complicated).

Players characters are made up of a few parts: the gamer is the “real world” person set up in their rig. The avatar is their projection into the senscape. An avatar is made up of a chassis and a class . An avatar can have any of a given number of classes , though only one can be active at a time.

Avatars also have a role : control , expert , heavy , scout , support , and weird . These roles have no long term mechanical effect, but their effect is determined by the Challenge ( infra ). A given Challenge may give mechanical effect (increased toughness for heavies, etc.), role playing effect (all scouts present as elves), or often both.

Classes are handled via XP. Avatars also have a “League Level” which may be real but may be purely narrative.

ARP Challenges , or games, are dungeon delves with role playing elements. They can be set in any genre. They are overseen by a Master of Ceremonies (MC), who may interfere as they see fit. MCs should have distinct personalities (some are fair, some are not, some are more interested in role playing, others only in brutal combat). MC personality should telegraph some elements of the Challenge to the PCs.

NPCs in a Challenge may be controlled by AI personalities, or by other people playing their part, or by the MC.

Challenges are always competitive – they may be timed, they may be head to head, they may or may not be instanced. Inter-player combat may or may not be allowed. MC discretion is broad but not unlimited – abuse may be rectified by the Tribunal , the judicial wing of the Fraternity of Masters of Ceremony , or by the Rules Committee of the AFL.

The “rules of the universe” should change for each Challenge. Magic and technology’s availability may vary drastically. A “dread” mechanic (that the gamers are aware of) might be present in a horror Challenge, while a mystery Challenge might prevent any physical combat.

The notion that the Challenge is being watched by the masses should be heightened. Product placement, etc. Gamers should perform according to their brand during Challenges if they want to advance in popularity. Between Challenges, the GM should highlight how their actions are being observed by the crowds and how the fanbase is reacting.

Drama and narrative should be focused on rivalry between player characters, between PCs and other gamers, and between sufficiently advanced gamers and MCs. Gamers’ lives should also provide sources of narrative tension: sponsorship deals dependent on “maintaining a certain brand feel”, aggressive fans, and other “real life” issues.

Gear: A Challenge may dictate starting gear for each avatar, possibly dictated by role. Each class has a “default gear” which may often be included. Otherwise, gear must be found in the Challenge. Challenges can reward legendary gear , like Excalibur or N7 Armor. An avatar may bring up to three pieces of legendary gear into an adventure, regardless of the rules of the Challenge (though even those rules may be broken for theme). This allows gamers to bring Scarface’s Little Friend to a Renaissance Challenge.

Genesys Rules

The gamer chassis is chosen at character creation, and likely will be represented by stats. Physical stats are the artificial strength of the avatar, mental stats are based on how much sensory information (including augmented “reality” – e.g., info overlays) the avatar handles. PCs will probably get enough XP to create a 3-3-3-2-2-2 configuration; if they want to spend it on 4s and leave some as 1s, that’s fine.

Class character sheets will fold over the avatar sheet. A gamer may have one active class at a time. Each class has a ~15 talent talent tree, and only the talents available on the class are “active”.

The avatar skill list is separate from class selection, but each class has a certain number of skill levels. The avatar’s skill level is the greater of the two. (So the Fighter class might have Melee (Heavy) 2 and the avatar might have Melee (Heavy) 1 . The gamer would interact with the Challenge with a Melee (Heavy) of 2. I’m thinking between 6 and 8 ranks of minimum skills per class.

Extra XP will be given out to accommodate multiple classes. Talent XP and Skill XP might be separate.

Each class has ~3 master abilities in the talent tree. Each avatar has ~5 master slots . Any master ability unlocked in any talent tree is slottable into a master slot. (So an avatar could currently have the class Fighter , but have two master abilities from Wizard , and three from Rogue .) Master abilities are like super talents. Using a class does not grant its unlockable master abilities – they must be slotted.

Class and master slot abilities may be changed between adventures. Long adventures may allow for class changes, but not master slot changes, at save points . No actual saving of progress occurs at save points.

The roles of an avatar are unrelated to a class. Any role can take any class. Roles are relatively immutable, but allow a player character to telegraph to the GM the type of character they’d like to look like. Role controls race, starting gear for a Challenge, and maybe very slight mechanical effects. Examples from a variety of genres:

· Control: Wizard in robes or warlord, professor, motorcycle driver, captain

· Expert: Halfling thief, scientist or private eye, mechanic, pilot

· Heavy: Barbarian or dwarf, pugilist or gangster, warrior, space marine

· Scout: Elven ranger, bootlegger or journalist, feral child, scout

· Support: Paladin or bard, doctor or actress, cyberdoc, medic

· Weird: Sorcerer or warlock, psychic or cultist, mutant, shrieker

Challenge Rewards, Death

The completion of a challenge results in rewards. Rewards should not be the same for every character. Gamers will get rewards for things like:

· The Kill – whoever drops the boss gets something cool

· The Fan Favorite – for “highly watched” / anticipated Challenges, gamers get a reward for fan favorite. The coolest, etc.

· The Role Player – Cool story moments

· The MC Acknowledgement – If a gamer solves a problem the way the MC wants it solved, etc.

· Team Choice – The team may have to select someone for a reward

Things that can be given as a reward, in addition to XP, include Legendary Gear, access to new Classes, and keys to new Challenges, as well as role playing rewards like “an interview with beloved dandy Jackdaw Jones”.

Death is (almost) never permanent. An avatar slain during a Challenge is available to be respawned, just like in video games. An avatar who dies in a Challenge may have to sit out the Challenge, or may respawn. Penalties for death can include standing in the Challenge, XP, in-Challenge setbacks, or even the loss of a Legendary Item.

Classes

This is heavily dependent on what Genesys actually looks like. I’m just running with EotE + two Melee Skills right now.

Each class comes with a talent tree, and a Minimum Skill set. Minimum Skills are not minimum required , but rather, set a floor for a character using that class. When a character makes a class their Active Class, their skills are the greater of their avatar’s ranks in the skill, or the Minimum Skill of the class.

Each player character / avatar starts with four available options for class:

• Fighter
  • Minimum Skills: Heavy Melee 2, Athletics 1, Brawl 1, Medicine 1, Cool 1
  • Default Gear: Longsword, Shield, Medium Armor
• Mage
  • Minimum Skills: Arcana 2, Vigilance 1, Coercion 1, Lore 1, Discipline 1
  • Default Gear: Staff, Spellbook, a spell or three
• Thief
  • Minimum Skills: Stealth 2, Melee (Light) 1, Ranged (Light) 1, Coordination 1, Skullduggery 1
  • Default Gear: Short sword, short bow, lock picks, 50’ rope
• Cleric
  • Minimum Skills: Divine 2, Leadership 1, Discipline 1, Perception 1, Medicine 1
  • Default Gear: Mace, shield, medium armor, holy symbol

Other class options are unlocked as rewards for participating in Challenges. Some ideas include:

· Gunslinger: Guns guns guns.

· Ranger: Sneaking and shooting and survival.

· Pilot: Driving all the things.

· Mechanic: Fixing all the things.

· Medic: Healing all the things.

· Commander: Leadership in fighting

· Investigator: Finding clues, solving mysteries.

· Summoner: Hard-cast fatties and turn them sideways.

· Occultist: Lore and ritual magic.

· Cyborg: Cyber-stuff.

Masters of Ceremony

Each Master of Ceremonies should have a unique feel. One hope would be to run the same Challenge twice, each time letting players experience it through the lens of a different MC.

• Xandra Cage: A wild partier who loves the comradery of gaming. She cares less for the pomp and circumstance. Will often appear out of costume.
• Chester Change: A petty and narcissistic GM who favors people favored by the fans. Very happy to impose penalties on gamers he doesn’t like. Early villain for PCs until they establish rivalries with other groups of gamers.
• Dalamar Kanan: A new MC. Presents as a young man, teenager. Eager, tries to do it all, often fails / struggles.
• Puss and Boots: Two mysterious MCs who are known as lovers of combat and traps. Their adventures tend to go light on mysteries, riddles, and role playing, and end up being murderholes. They tend to reward PvP combat, and often only allow one team to make it to the end of the Challenge. Never seen without their cat and dog masks. Rumored to be sisters.
• Buffalo Poobah: He loves role playing. Tends to offer lots of story rewards, and give huge XP bumps to characters who really dive in to the narrative. Designs adventures that chain together with tons of foreshadowing and callbacks.
• Hardcastle McCormick: An aged MC who takes great pride in mentoring new AFL members. Runs brutal Challenges that require a wide assortment of skill for high level players. She is always ruthlessly fair and just. Member of the Tribunal.
• Lombardi Starr: A very famous veteran gamer who very recently made the switch to MC. Competition to be in his Challneges is even fiercer than the competition within the Challenges. He’s still developing his style, but is known for devious tricks.

Currencies

• Bezos: Also known as BezoBucks , officially known as Amazon Cash . One of the most popular cryptocurrencies in the world, used for real-world expenses.
• Oobies: One unit of Universal Basic Income. The World Stability Council grants a certain number of UBI units to all citizens of the world, which can be exchanged for basic goods and services, including food, shelter, supplementary healthcare, and senscape access.
• Gold: The in-game currency of the senscape. Governed by the Bankers’ Guild , a council of Masters of Ceremonies, but widely acknowledged to be heavily influenced by the world’s corporate overlords.

All three currencies are (relatively) fungible and exchangeable.

The Senscape

The Senscape was originally designed as a game, a combination of World of WarCraft and Second Life. Anybody could make anything in their own place, carve out corners of the gaming universe to do their own things with. But there were certain immutable rules that treated it more like a game.

The experience of the senscape is almost real. About 80-90% of experience is translated through the senserig. There are many who will say that the real world is better, but most of them are not in the senscape. Besides, many cannot afford to travel in the real world, whereas a 90% “real” view of the Olympus Mons is pretty amazing.

Realms: Anybody with sufficient in-game or out-of-game money can create a realm. Each realm has its own rules, but most rules must be advertised to gamers upon/before entering, and cannot be changed on a gamer without their permission. Many rules have been “codified”; for example, different types of magic are often the same from realm to realm. There is nothing stopping a creator from creating their own weird rules, but variations from the standards are likely to be met with suspicion.

Experience Points to level classes and avatars are granted by MCs. They cross over between leagues.

The Leagues are organizations that govern the various types of games within which one gains XP. A gamer may only be a member of one league at a time. Standing in a league is separate from level. (A gamer might level in one league and then leave and join another league, resulting in a high level but low standing. A gamer in low-XP leagues like the Bubblegum League and the Tea Cozy League might have very high standing without having leveled much at all.)

Most of the gamers in the senscape are very low level and are not members of a league. League games are difficult affairs that can cause real physical pain. To what end, when you can spend your days playing in a band to a sold out show (of computer-controlled NPCs), eating at gourmet buffets, and engaging in wild orgies?

The Guiding Principles (Work in Progress)

• Only MCs can grant XP. An MC doesn’t have to be present to grant XP, but only they can design Challenges that grant XP. They are governed by the Fraternity of Masters of Ceremony.
• The Rules of a Realm Are Immutable. The laws of physic, etc., for a given realm, are immutable, and only changeable with the consent of those there (though they can be kicked out). There are (generally) no wishes or genies who can make widespread changes.

I (currently) plan on using Archetypes as Chassis. I think I'll be starting with seven options:

• Tank : Brawn 3, Presence 1
• Stealth : Agility 3, Willpower 1
• Instinct : Cunning 3, Intellect 1
• Expert : Intellect 3, Agility 1
• Diplomat : Presence 3, Brawn 1
• Mule : Willpower 3, Cunning 1
• Adventurer: Average human out of the box

I'll come up with special abilities once we've seen more than two previewed.

In order to add more drama (the good kind), each team may join a House, or "guild" in today's parlance. Nobody is required to do so, but it is readily expected that all players eventually do. Gamers who do not (of a sufficient level) are considered ronin .

The seven (so far) Great Houses (the only guilds who matter), are:

• House Lannister – Winner of the most recent championship, Lannister gamers combine incredible greed and cunning with fanatical team loyalty (both up rank and down).

• House Gryffindor – Internally nicknamed Hufflepuff , the House of Gryffindor lacks any recent legends of gaming, but is the greatest source of MCs of all the Houses.

• House Organa – The largest House and home to the most infighting. The politicking within the House prevents it from truly doing well in the House standings, though if a gamer could unify Organa…

• House of El – Last place in the AFL, but home to truly impressive players and legends of ARP.

• House Ventrue – The most role-play oriented House. Fan favorites but currently second to last in the AFL.

• House Atreides – Much like Boston teams, former losers on a hot streak (winning most of the recent championships).

• House of Martok – The fans here are dedicated. Martok puts up a respectable showing every year, though it’s been years since they won a championship. Because of the fans, a Martok gamer is the most likely to be able to make a good living.

I'm really loving this idea!

I feel like this could open up the door to league play, kind of like how "Legends of the Galaxy" organized the SW RPG games.

• Anyone who wanted to DM this could pick one (maybe more?) type of MC to portray.
• Players can be tracked online; stats, gear, "game" records
• As the community grows, actual competitions could be set up between players (probably via online games) with influence from that very same community.

I feel like I have a few idea on how this could be run but I'm not great at organizing those as nicely as Mr Keen here, and I'm sure there are smarter people then me to do so lol. But I'm totally behind this idea as a setting and as a community/league thing!

Just an idea to file away for later:

Newsic Videos. Informative music videos, first made famous by the old memescape CNN. Classic hits include:

• Hurricane Yolanda - Over Ten Thousand Dead
• This Recount Goes On and On and On
• Forever and a Lifetime, Baby - Cat Farthing Sentenced This Morning

3 hours ago, EpsilonAlpha said:

I'm really loving this idea!

I feel like this could open up the door to league play, kind of like how "Legends of the Galaxy" organized the SW RPG games.

• Anyone who wanted to DM this could pick one (maybe more?) type of MC to portray.
• Players can be tracked online; stats, gear, "game" records
• As the community grows, actual competitions could be set up between players (probably via online games) with influence from that very same community.

I feel like I have a few idea on how this could be run but I'm not great at organizing those as nicely as Mr Keen here, and I'm sure there are smarter people then me to do so lol. But I'm totally behind this idea as a setting and as a community/league thing!

There's a lot of potential there. I like how you're thinking.

Some really great stuff here. Had a few thoughts on ways to incorporate some of the rules from the SW rpgs.

Most of these are for the player's character, not the avatars, and represent "real world" elements that could affect how a character makes their avatar behave in the games.

1. Morality / Alignment - How a character has their avatar behave in games can reflect on the nature of their fan base, but also on the kinds of corporate/brand sponsorships a character develops. For instance, "heroic" characters might have a larger fan base, and may get sponsorship/endorsement from popular brands that like a positive image. "Villainous" characters on the other hand might be endorsed by shadier brands and companies. This can also prove to be a double-edged sword because the character may attract the endorsement of groups they don't want to be associated with. For instance, a character that often picks the role of a cleric or a paladin, may not only be endorsed by a charity like the Red Cross, but might also end up endorsed by evangelical religious group. A character who often takes the role of a rogue may be endorsed by a freedoms and rights group, but might also be the idol of militant anarchists.

2. Obligation - So a few obvious ones would be for family and friends that are also players. What makes it challenging for the character is maybe the other character they have an obligation to isn't a very good player, so they have to abandon something in order to go help. Maybe it means having to leave a game, or maybe they have to quit something "real world" in order to go help. Or maybe the other character is actually pretty good, but is taking on something they can't handle alone. All kinds of one shots can be done with this. Other obligations could be to the MC(s) or the Leagues. Maybe some kind of deal is made in order to have specific advantages or better gear in the games. This could also be applied to sponsors as well. Perhaps a character has a sponsorship/endorsement from a company that results in "real world" money, but it means in games, their avatar has to use the companies products, even if they're inferior or present some disadvantage.

3. Duty - So this one could go a number of ways. You could run a sense of familial duty, similar to obligation. Character defines what they call "family", could be relatives, friends, or a "guild" they belong to. You could introduce the character to some kind of idealist group, for instance, they learn about a group that is fighting corruption (or the perception of) within the leagues. Corruption that's getting players killed. Maybe they join a group that's vigilant about cheaters (again, or the perception of) in the games. Or it could be some other motivation, pretty much and ideal could be used as a cause for the characters to rally around.

28 minutes ago, Rrok007 said:

Some really great stuff here. Had a few thoughts on ways to incorporate some of the rules from the SW rpgs.

Most of these are for the player's character, not the avatars, and represent "real world" elements that could affect how a character makes their avatar behave in the games.

Some really good ideas in here. I don't think I'm going to vary much from Genesys's Motivations (Strength, Flaw, Desire, Fear), but I want to reply to some of your ideas anyway, because I think they're really good.

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Morality / Alignment - How a character has their avatar behave in games can reflect on the nature of their fan base, but also on the kinds of corporate/brand sponsorships a character develops. For instance, "heroic" characters might have a larger fan base, and may get sponsorship/endorsement from popular brands that like a positive image. "Villainous" characters on the other hand might be endorsed by shadier brands and companies. This can also prove to be a double-edged sword because the character may attract the endorsement of groups they don't want to be associated with. For instance, a character that often picks the role of a cleric or a paladin, may not only be endorsed by a charity like the Red Cross, but might also end up endorsed by evangelical religious group. A character who often takes the role of a rogue may be endorsed by a freedoms and rights group, but might also be the idol of militant anarchists.

I envision "class" being like a club on a golf course or a position in a football lineup. " Looks like Dax Lightning decided to go with Gunslinger for the Tomb of Blackest Midnight. That's a bold strategy, Cotton, let's see if it pays off. " No moral judgments about class or aesthetics - the Red Cross would sponsor a necromancer, and Beretta's frontperson might usually play a bard or diplomat.

I actually think branding will be the most complicated issue. Like, it's not about class but how you act in the games. So if you're branded by Charmin, you're expected to always spare the goblin who pleads for his life. But then the PCs find out the current Charmin-sponsored gamers are actually total fuckwads.

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2. Obligation - So a few obvious ones would be for family and friends that are also players. What makes it challenging for the character is maybe the other character they have an obligation to isn't a very good player, so they have to abandon something in order to go help. Maybe it means having to leave a game, or maybe they have to quit something "real world" in order to go help. Or maybe the other character is actually pretty good, but is taking on something they can't handle alone. All kinds of one shots can be done with this. Other obligations could be to the MC(s) or the Leagues. Maybe some kind of deal is made in order to have specific advantages or better gear in the games. This could also be applied to sponsors as well. Perhaps a character has a sponsorship/endorsement from a company that results in "real world" money, but it means in games, their avatar has to use the companies products, even if they're inferior or present some disadvantage.

While I don't plan on using the Obligation mechanic, these real world concerns are definitely something I intend to use. I want the real world to interfere a little bit, but I'm hoping to make it half way between Harry Potter (wherein ones homework and detention and quidditch are always interfering with the need to thwart the Dark Lord) and the real NFL (wherein your close friends and family schedule their lives around your games - your friends just don't get married during football season, and if you play for the Cowboys or the Lions, your family knows you never come to Thanksgiving).

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3. Duty - So this one could go a number of ways. You could run a sense of familial duty, similar to obligation. Character defines what they call "family", could be relatives, friends, or a "guild" they belong to. You could introduce the character to some kind of idealist group, for instance, they learn about a group that is fighting corruption (or the perception of) within the leagues. Corruption that's getting players killed. Maybe they join a group that's vigilant about cheaters (again, or the perception of) in the games. Or it could be some other motivation, pretty much and ideal could be used as a cause for the characters to rally around.

All good stuff.

I definitely plan on using the notion of Guilds (see the post above about the Houses). Internal guild drama (the politics of who leads your House and what they stand for), external drama, House standing a la the Hogwarts House Cup, and guild raids (so the PCs have chance to go murder that smug sunuvabitch who beat them in the last challenge).

I intend to do some stuff regarding cheating, though I need a better concept of the rules of the universe before I figure out how someone could surreptitiously break those rules. One thing I'm thinking about is healing. Characters have to heal their avatars critical injuries using early 21st Century tech, so no bacta tanks or whatever. (This gets in to the whole "Injured Reserve" element of the NFL, etc.) The players discover some gamers are using illegal untraceable scifi medicine to heal their avatars between games. How do you prove this cheating, etc.

Excellent ideas. Going to go stew on them.

Leaning toward allowing multiple classes. I'm not sure.

I want to include cool non-combat classes, but I can see a gamer/player rarely choosing them. If you pick a ranger and the game/challenge turns out to need mostly melee combat or magic, you're probably okay. If you pick a diplomat, your talents might be mostly useless.

But if you allow multiple classes, you're gangbusters. This might require 'narrower' classes or somesuch so that players don't get overloaded with talents.

Maybe classes have to be tiered, and you can only access talents based on your tier?

Modes

I’m revisiting classes. One of the problems I’m worried about (needlessly? but I don’t think so) is that even with all the role playing opportunities, unless a game is explicitly described to the gamers as a really narrative heavy one, there’s no reason for someone to take Diplomat.

So. Three modes . You can have one selection in each mode. You can swap out a mode to create builds and complements. Probably only the first/main mode (Adventure) will have the minimum skills discussed above. The other two will be built slightly different. They’ll be gated, so as not to overwhelm new players/gamers.

• Adventure Mode: The primary “occupation”, mostly consisting of “physical” talents for combat and terrain jumping. Built as a 4x5 talent tree, with two power gems, and minimum skills. Examples include: Cleric, Fighter, Mage, Rogue
• Utility Mode: (Working on the name. I like Support Mode as well, but I also have a Support role.) The social and knowledge based mode. Built as a 3x4 talent tree, with one power gem. Examples include: Diplomat, Commander, Minstrel, Merchant. Unlocked when you get your first power gem?
• Power Mode: Not available in all (most?) games, but essentially allows a third leg for “high level play”. This is where supers will probably be. Probably built as a 4x5 talent tree, with two power gems, and the talents starting at a 10xp cost. Examples include: Vampire, Omega Psychic, Lich, Full-Conversion Cyborg, Highlander. Unlocked when you get a second tier power gem, but not necessarily easy to get the modes. Unlocking power modes is an arc in and of itself and requires strong group cohesion – six +/- adventures so one player can get the Omega Psychic mode requires a fair amount of team unity.

You had me at Dream Park...

This is a really cool idea. Dream Park was an interesting RP concept and its execution was pretty well done. You've got some very intriguing elements going on here. It will be fascinating to see this develop.

CitizenKeen maybe for classes you could have primary and secondary classes. The primary class is for combat and the secondary is for other abilities like Investigation and Lockpicking

Man I remember a book like these where a vr game was the basis of the entire irl world's economy. The rich stayed rich because they gave their kids all their items after retiring. Turned out the game was ment for entertainment on a generational colony space ship. It Was only system of money the descendants knew in the book. I want to say the book was published in the late 80s or 90s. I read it out of my jr. Highs library though

I remember hearing somewhere that Snow Crash was originally written to be the plot of a video game. Not sure if that's true, but I could see that universe being a bit fun to play in and the "nation franchulate" turf-war dystopia could easily make for some West-Marches style fun.

This is nice stuff. The game I will be starting has a similar inspiration (Dream Park, Adventurer's Wanted kids series, Xcrawl, Log Horizon etc), but a very different end feel. Going for the VR solo character replacing boxing/wresting as solo sport, and team sports are fading away. A good part of the game will be playing in the real world - the huge twist (down the line) is that the player will start being able to do in-game abilities in the real world (like throw a fireball).

1 hour ago, Big Head Zach said:

I remember hearing somewhere that Snow Crash was originally written to be the plot of a video game. Not sure if that's true, but I could see that universe being a bit fun to play in and the "nation franchulate" turf-war dystopia could easily make for some West-Marches style fun.

Graphic novel.

15 minutes ago, Lordmhoram said:

This is nice stuff. The game I will be starting has a similar inspiration (Dream Park, Adventurer's Wanted kids series, Xcrawl, Log Horizon etc), but a very different end feel. Going for the VR solo character replacing boxing/wresting as solo sport, and team sports are fading away. A good part of the game will be playing in the real world - the huge twist (down the line) is that the player will start being able to do in-game abilities in the real world (like throw a fireball).

Reminds me of the plot of a LARP I once participated in where the world's communications infrastructure was tightly bound to its power infrastructure, and when an "accident" (?) caused the reactors to meltdown/explode (taking the data with them), the unimaginable energy released from the event caused a spacetime distortion that brought things from the digital world into the real, and vice-versa. Entire regions of the planet became half-in-half-out and you couldn't tell if what was happening was "real" or "simulated", though even those terms stopped making sense.