Wonder what the world will look like in a decade?
A new MMO hopes to find out by evaluating the effects of five different "Superthreats" on mankind and assessing humanity's ability to cope with different sorts of impending doom.
The human species has a long history of overcoming tremendous obstacles, often coming out stronger than before. Indeed, some anthropologists argue that human intelligence emerged as the consequence of the last major ice age, a period of enormous environmental stress demanding flexibility, foresight and creativity on the part of the small numbers of early Homo sapiens. Historically, those who have prophesied doom for human civilization have been proven wrong, time and again, by the capacity of our species to both adapt to and transform our conditions.
Here are the five "Superthreats":
- Quarantine covers the global response to declining health and pandemic disease, including the current Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ReDS) crisis.
- Ravenous focuses on the imminent collapse of the global food system, as well as debates over industrial vs. ecological agricultural models, and basic issues of access, energy, and carbon.
- Power Struggle tracks the results of energy resource peaks and the shifts in international power as nations fight for energy supremacy and the world searches for alternative energy solutions.
- Outlaw Planet embodies the volatile mix of new forms of surveillance, transparency, civil rights, and access to information as people work out new rules for human security.
- Generation Exile follows the massive "diaspora of diasporas" underway globally, as the number of refugees and migrants skyrockets in the face of climate change, economic disruption, and war.
Superstruct opened for users yesterday, but the game world doesn't start spinning until October 6. Join here for free and sign up for an already very active (500+ users!) Facebook group. The more users that join up, the more accurate and interesting the results will be. Or you could just play more Megaman. Whatever.
Lastly, learn more about IFTF, the nonprofit research group sponsoring all this.
Related Links:
Terrorists Using WoW to Plan Attacks?
Drew Carey Ventures into Second Life
DC Universe Online and the Console MMO Conundrum