How Dystopian Are We Going?

[Blue]

I'm in a Brink or Decline mindset. Either makes The Net a huge antagonist for activists, and while there isn't as many people in The Waking World, there's enough to start a revolution if one desires. The Decline, in particular, would make any victory against the world becoming an entirely Net-based one sweet.

I don't think we can consider The Net to be the best new thing if it's been around for 27 years. At best, we can hope that it hasn't insinuated itself so deeply into the culture of man that it'll be impossible to live without. I also think that the world's other technology would have fallen into a decline as well. There's simply little desire for flying cars and androids and what not when you have an entire virtual sandbox to play with. I can almost imagine technology actually receding a bit for those in The Waking World, especially if the big three corporations have any say in the matter. They'll want their revenues, and the less that is offered to people offline, the better for them.

For anyone familiar with Shadowrun, I think the world would be much like that. Sure, we have huge buildings and some futuristic stuff, but it's almost like no one cares anymore. The real world has begun to fall into disrepair, especially the poorer districts, and even the wealthiest areas have a noticible patina of... not giving a shit.

The best part of a Declining world, is that it seems most of us want to do more offline than on. It'll give us a reason to band together, roleplay together, and work together to bring the Net down to at least manageable levels. It'll also make us enemies in the three big corporations, which is also nice for a little bit of intrigue and the like.