Robots vs. cyborgs

The below information was recently added to the About page. Most regulars will be familiar with these details, but they're not very obvious to new visitors.

Robots: The primary driving force for the creation of synthetic life isn't a god complex—that's not economically useful. On most civilized worlds in the Better Today setting, including our humble little lunar paradise, robots are treated like slaves. They are bought and sold, they are expected to obey their owners, and strays are captured, reprogrammed, or simply destroyed. The worst crime that can be committed against a robot is destruction of property—not a very heavy charge in most courts!

Cyborgs: Want to play a synthetic, but don't like the idea of being a slave? Consider a cyborg role. As long as your brain is completely biological and cannot be hacked or reprogrammed (e.g. memory uploading) then you can be otherwise fully mechanical. There may be a moderate stigma attached to this, but you have full legal rights.

Brain augmentations: If you've seen Ghost in the Shell the reasons for this boundary should be obvious—a reprogrammable person can be made to lie under oath.) Brain augmentations that straddle the boundary between meat and metal are highly illegal, and anyone caught with them will either be sent to prison, forcibly de-augmented, or forcibly converted into a robot, depending on how threatening they are. Anyone who performs such operation is dealt with as though they had brainwashed the implant recipient.

Remember: These are setting details, not sim rules. We welcome revolutionaries, transhumanists, Rampancy, and criminals. Without them, there's not much to do.

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7 years ago by Samantha Wright

last updated: 2017-03-19 21:36:30 · link