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The Government Uses License Plate Scanners to Track Your Every Move

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40hz:
if you sort of step back from the situation and then look at it again, it's pretty much hysterically funny.
-Renegade (July 17, 2013, 11:54 PM)
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Hardly. I live here. I'm not laughing.

Renegade:
if you sort of step back from the situation and then look at it again, it's pretty much hysterically funny.
-Renegade (July 17, 2013, 11:54 PM)
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Hardly. I live here. I'm not laughing.

-40hz (July 18, 2013, 05:15 AM)
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That's what I meant by "step back".

It reminds me of "Paranoia", an RPG from way back in 1984 (seriously). Great game. The games master can make up the rules as he goes because it's illegal for "citizens" to know the rules. It's still in print.

http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpgs/paranoia.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoia_(role-playing_game)

Overview

Paranoia is a humorous role-playing game set in a dystopian future similar to Nineteen Eighty-Four, Brave New World, Logan's Run and THX 1138 among others; however, the tone of the game is rife with black humor, frequently tongue-in-cheek rather than dark and heavy.

Setting

The game's main setting is an immense and futuristic city called Alpha Complex, which is controlled by The Computer, a civil service AI construct (a literal realization of the "Influencing Machine" that some schizophrenics fear). The Computer serves as the game's principal antagonist, and fears a number of threats to its 'perfect' society, such as The Outdoors, mutants, and secret societies (especially Communists). To deal with these threats, The Computer employs Troubleshooters, whose job is to go out, find trouble, and shoot it. Player characters are usually Troubleshooters, although later game supplements have allowed the players to take on other roles.

The player characters frequently receive mission instructions from the Computer that are incomprehensible, self-contradictory, or obviously fatal if adhered to, and side-missions which conflict the main mission. They are issued equipment that is uniformly dangerous, faulty or "experimental" (i.e. almost certainly dangerous and faulty). Additionally, each player character is generally an unregistered mutant and a secret society member, and has a hidden agenda separate from the group's goals, often involving stealing from or killing teammates. Thus, missions often turn into a comedy of errors, as everyone on the team seeks to double-cross everyone else while keeping their own secrets. The game's manual encourages suspicion between players, offering several tips on how to make the gameplay as paranoid as possible.

Every player's character is assigned six clones, known as a "six-pack," which are used to replace the preceding clone upon his or her death. The game lacks a conventional health system; most wounds the player characters can suffer are assumed to be fatal. As a result, Paranoia allows characters to be routinely killed, yet the player can continue instead of leaving the game. This easy spending of clones tends to lead to frequent firefights, gruesome slapstick, and the horrible yet humorous demise of most if not all of the player character's clone family. Additional clones can be purchased if one gains sufficient favour with the Computer.

The Paranoia rulebook is unusual in a number of ways; demonstrating any knowledge of the rules is forbidden, and most of the rulebook is written in an easy, conversational tone that often makes fun of the players and their characters, while occasionally taking digs at other notable role-playing games.
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If you've ever read the Paranoia rule book, it's HILARIOUS! Completely black humour.

The seriously dark side is that we are literally heading directly towards that kind of dystopian nightmare. If you read the above on the setting, you'll see some seriously dark parallels with today.


* ** demonstrating any knowledge of the rules is forbidden >> Secret courts, laws that nobody can know until they are passed, and laws that nobody is allowed to know the content of.
*
* ** They are issued equipment that is uniformly dangerous, faulty or "experimental" >> Same things goes on at the FDA with drugs that aren't tested for safety and GMOs.
*
* ** The game's main setting is an immense and futuristic city called Alpha Complex, which is controlled by The Computer >> "controlled by The Computer" - nuff said. ;)
*
* ** Additionally, each player character is generally an unregistered mutant and a secret society member >> Those are all illegal and subject to summary execution in Paranoia. This is reflected in reality in the book "Three Felonies a Day". i.e. Everyone is a criminal.
*
* ** Additional clones can be purchased if one gains sufficient favour with the Computer. >> Does this sound anything like the revolving doors between lobbyists, corporations, and federal appointments? The FDA and US Supreme Court are great examples.

WELCOME TO ALPHA COMPLEX~! :P

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