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Westworld and MMORPGs

Started by warhound Jan 11, 2017 at 2:50 PM 10 replies 3.2k views
Original Post
warhound
warhound

So I just recently started watching the series Westworld, which is very interesting and worth watching if anyone hasn't seen it yet, and the first thing that immediately jumped out at me is how the park is basically an MMORPG made into a theme park, as we have a bunch of 'guests', the players, who can interact with the 'hosts', the NPCs, who all have a backstory, and story lines, which are basically quests, that the player can follow. It's almost like Fallout, Red Dead Redemption, or GTA in some ways, but immensely more complex.

The series does a bit of commentary on gaming, if you think about it. We see guests coming in and engaging in some pretty devious/twisted stuff, but if we think about it, it's been seen before in gaming as well. It's a bit of commentary on people in general imo.

What also interests me is the tech used to make the park itself. From the looks of it, the hosts have pretty pre-scripted storylines, with procedural only filling in the improvisation part of it. In fact, it's interesting in the sense that most RPG and MMORPG games today make very little use of procedural content. I'm curious what others think?

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!
samoth
samoth
Just wait until the killing begins (referring to the two movies from the 1970s, of which funnily the original never really scored here, only the sequel did), then it'll be less of a theme park experience.
warhound
warhound

I think a lot of people might struggle and hesitate to harm such a convincing AI NPC that shows emotion and pleads not to die convincingly...

Well, that aspect does show, with William I think. He's not interested in doing perverted shit. I think what it is is that it's particularly rich people who don't give a shit? Or maybe it's exaggerated for literary effect?

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!
ChaosEngine
ChaosEngine

Go watch the rest of the series. There's lots to talk about, but we can't really go into it without serious spoilers.

if you think programming is like sex, you probably haven't done much of either.-------------- - capn_midnight
warhound
warhound

Go watch the rest of the series. There's lots to talk about, but we can't really go into it without serious spoilers.


I'm working on it! I'm like halfway through!
No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!
d000hg
d000hg

Just wait until the killing begins (referring to the two movies from the 1970s, of which funnily the original never really scored here, only the sequel did), then it'll be less of a theme park experience.

Just wait until the killing begins (referring to the two movies from the 1970s, of which funnily the original never really scored here, only the sequel did), then it'll be less of a theme park experience.


Wait, there were TWO movies? I've only seen the first...

I've seen "Westworld". I assume that's the first one what's the other? End of Westworld film is basically Terminator...

d000hg
d000hg

I watched the original over Christmas, hadn't seen it since I was a kid. I think it was on Netflix/Amazon Prime.

It shows its age but is still a good film and the aging is more the cinematic style, the FX actually are OK.

We also watched Jurassic Park followed by Jurassic World. Which just showed how good the original still is.

shuma-gorath
shuma-gorath

I've watched both movies, but the series is on my to-watch list. I'm still adjusting to this cable-free lifestyle.

For those who don't know, Westworld is said to be the first film to use CGI.

warhound
warhound

Alright, just finished off the entire first season, and that ending is wild. I found it to be a more realistic "AI revolution" series than any of the other so called "machines lording over us" type films.

Ok yea, there's a lot of stuff going on here for sure, and I really doubt I can touch on all of it. What I really wonder is what Bernard is going to do next.

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!
warhound
warhound


What I really wonder is what Bernard is going to do next.


Get stuck at a captcha :lol:Bernard-has-a-dilema-Westworld-spoiler-a

Ha! I love it!

I feel though that the argument made in the series is that consciousness isn't an actual concept/threshold? Or did I get this wrong?
No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!

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