Just how real is the Net?

[Blue]

I can agree with a 30% mortality rate. And sure, people will be turned off by it, the same as people are turned off by drugs and tobacco because they have high mortality rates. But I can see the addictive nature of this immersive Net as a deterent to many people to not do these procedures. Hell, we do things now that have nearly as high a mortality rate, though the difference is that most of the things we do now kill you over time.

I should clarify that what I mean is that the interesting things in reality should be overshadowed by The Net. Maybe there's cyborgs and androids in reality, especially androids to care for those truly devoted individuals. But in comparison, it should be something that most people would take for granted, or as a bare side-amusement when put beside The Net.

The reason I play up the Net so much is that it should be a big thing. I see most of the conflict for this game being between reality and The Net. And to keep that conflict, there would need to be a lot of power and support behind The Net adherents. Especially with the mortality rate you'd like to see. I'd like to see a Net where people only leave when they have to, because it makes what we do as characters more unique. Like we're a cut above the normal dregs because we choose to divide our lives more appropriately.

And it would make any ground me or you make to pull people from it more satisfying as well. Would you rather play a professional sports player who already has millions of fans who watch him from the bleachers, or one who has to prove that his prowess is better than what people can see/do online? The point of making The Net such a big thing is that it provides a foil for those who want to write offline as well as giving those who want to write about the online perspective a truly wonderous place to write about.