SOTF: Cyber Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

[KamiKaze]

I have another question about ego-shooters, if it's cool?

What if it's based on something in the real world that is very obviously not realistic violence and likely not traumatizing that people already do for fun? For example, something like laser tag, paintball, or water gun fights? Would it be viewed the same as playing those in meatspace, or is it still controversial?

[Dogs231]

I have another question about ego-shooters, if it's cool?

What if it's based on something in the real world that is very obviously not realistic violence and likely not traumatizing that people already do for fun? For example, something like laser tag, paintball, or water gun fights? Would it be viewed the same as playing those in meatspace, or is it still controversial?

These sorts of activities are considered publicly acceptable and are widely available.

[DerArknight]

I have another question about ego-shooters, if it's cool?

What if it's based on something in the real world that is very obviously not realistic violence and likely not traumatizing that people already do for fun? For example, something like laser tag, paintball, or water gun fights? Would it be viewed the same as playing those in meatspace, or is it still controversial?

Since CR laser tag or paintball would be identical to real laser tag or paintball, they are allowed.

Edit: Crap, Claire was faster!

[Polybius]

What Sycamore school activities are held in the real world rather than in cyberspace? The info post mentions a physical gymnasium, so are all PE classes and sports team activities held in the real world? Is there anything else held in the real world?

[KamiKaze]

Hi! I have more questions.

1. What health concerns are there for CR overall? Are there issues associated with vision, fatigue, mental health, specific body aches, etc. associated with CR use? Is CR addiction an issue like how Internet or gaming addiction is an issue?
2. What is the general competence level for teenagers when it comes to CR and coding it in various ways? What would be in the realm of 'noteworthy but still plausible' for a teenager's skill level? Are there things like CR coding classes?
3. Are there any other major controversies involving CR? I've asked questions about ego shooters, of course, but have there been other things like 'someone made a CR porn game where the characters looked too much like actual Meatspace people,' 'teenagers bullying each other with CR mods,' or just generally 'someone making a CR game where you simulate horrible acts that would be illegal in Meatspace'? Are there any rules (whether legally or within CR itself) explicitly preventing anything along these lines from happening? Any notable court cases? (feel free to skip this one if it's to be revealed in a later teaser)
4. Hypothetically, how easy would it be for a student to install a mod (or something similar) into Sycamore High for prank purposes? What would the consequences be for something that's more in the realm of 'obnoxious but kinda funny' than 'malicious' (something like this but in CR), localized to one classroom, and was extremely easy to remove with no damage done to the system?
EDIT: 5. One more I forgot, sorry! What does eating CR food feel like exactly? Is it better or worse tasting than actual food?

Sorry if I'm asking weird questions, and thank you for answering!

[DerArknight]

What Sycamore school activities are held in the real world rather than in cyberspace? The info post mentions a physical gymnasium, so are all PE classes and sports team activities held in the real world? Is there anything else held in the real world?

Mostly sport-related activities, since those would make little sense to do in CR.

Some clubs may also decide to do their activities on Saturday in the real world. This is up to the members of the club to decide.

[DerArknight]

Hi! I have more questions.

1. What health concerns are there for CR overall? Are there issues associated with vision, fatigue, mental health, specific body aches, etc. associated with CR use? Is CR addiction an issue like how Internet or gaming addiction is an issue?

Issues with CR are similar to issues with "normal" internet in that addiction is seen as something to be avoided. Notable differences is that using a CRD is not bad for the vision since the eyes aren't used during CR.

One problem of the tech is that the user falls into a sleep-like state and is thus defenseless in the real world. While there are programs automatically waking the user if their body is being moved, it is highly advised to only jump into a Cyber Reality in a secure place where strangers can't reach you.

2. What is the general competence level for teenagers when it comes to CR and coding it in various ways? What would be in the realm of 'noteworthy but still plausible' for a teenager's skill level?

One thing most people regardless of age are skilled in is the creation and editing of Avatars. Doing so is relatively easy even without much knwowledge of how the tech works thanks to beginner-friendly creation tools. Avatars are seen as a way of self-expression, so many young people take care with their appearance.

Apart from that, with CR being the new hot stuff, knowledge about it is easy to acquire. High school seniors who are making an effort to learn the subject should be knowledgable enough to write small programs with various effects.

In the end, coding with CR is on a similar difficulty level as coding with normal computer programs.

Are there things like CR coding classes?

Coding in CR is part of the curriculum, albeit not as a whole class of it own but as a part of the general computer science classes.

3. Are there any other major controversies involving CR? I've asked questions about ego shooters, of course, but have there been other things like 'someone made a CR porn game where the characters looked too much like actual Meatspace people,' 'teenagers bullying each other with CR mods,'

Sure, if there's a way, there will always be someone using it to do horrible things. Such things happen, but just as in reality, they aren't enough to stop the technology from being wide-spread.

or just generally 'someone making a CR game where you simulate horrible acts that would be illegal in Meatspace'?

Similar as to ego-shooters, this is frowned upon, and such games can be found on the dark web.

Are there any rules (whether legally or within CR itself) explicitly preventing anything along these lines from happening? Any notable court cases? (feel free to skip this one if it's to be revealed in a later teaser)

While there surely where people saying stuff like "Wouldn't it be possible to make SAO real with this?", so far everyone believes that killing someone who is in CR is not feasible.

That being said, most people acknowledge that the Cyber Reality tech is relatively new and has yet to show its full potential.

4. Hypothetically, how easy would it be for a student to install a mod (or something similar) into Sycamore High for prank purposes? What would the consequences be for something that's more in the realm of 'obnoxious but kinda funny' than 'malicious' (something like this but in CR), localized to one classroom, and was extremely easy to remove with no damage done to the system?

Due to the budget for public schools being limited, the security of the server is mediocre, with some security features only activated during tests.

So it would be possible for a student to code and implement such a prank.

The consequences would depend on what the teacher dealing witht eh situation decides, but shouldn't be worse than a strict talking-to by the headmaster. If a student does stuff like that multiple times, a one-week suspension might be possible. The teachers would also instruct the school security program to double-check anything this student does, making it harder for the student to pull further pranks.

EDIT: 5. One more I forgot, sorry! What does eating CR food feel like exactly? Is it better or worse tasting than actual food?

The sense of taste has been a tricky one since even the best dev had to use Trial&Error to find out how to create specific tastes. Even in 2023 food still tastes a little bit "off". Some scientists say that this is a placebo effect caused by the brain knowing that the food is not real, but this is just a theory.

Anyway, the food in CR is good enough that even Restaurants exist. It should be noted that eating and drinking in CR has no effects on the real body and is purely cosmetical unless the server has hunger and thirst as a programmed feature.

The food in the cafeteria of Sycamore High tastes mediocre, to conform with the usual expectations of how school food should be.

Sorry if I'm asking weird questions, and thank you for answering!

No problem!

If there are any more questions or if one answer needs more elaboration, don't hesitate to ask! You had a lot questions in one post, so I might have missed something.

[Deblod100]

Does CyberTag come with a story mode like other COD games?

[DerArknight]

Does CyberTag come with a story mode like other COD games?

Yes.

[AnimeNerd]

Probably a silly question but I gotta ask due to plans I have, about clothing items in CR made of things that couldn't be clothing in real life, would those things automatically be unbreakable if they should happened to be IRL fragile, or would that have to be made into a mod to add on to them?

[DerArknight]

Probably a silly question but I gotta ask due to plans I have, about clothing items in CR made of things that couldn't be clothing in real life, would those things automatically be unbreakable if they should happened to be IRL fragile, or would that have to be made into a mod to add on to them?

Depends on how they were coded.

In most cases the clothing defies the laws of physics since it would instantly crumble otherwise, so it is made unbreakable or at least harder to break than normal. They might also be different in weight and thickness to allow easier movement.

[Carrion Queen]

I'm still gauging my time/energy levels/ other factors as far as participation but I do have a few questions.


1. Does there have to be two lunch periods? It says there's a lunch period where kids can go eat Cyber food in the cyber cafeteria but that doesn't provide any actual caloric or nutritional value, so does there have to be a second lunch period so people can leave Cyber and get a sandwich in the real world so they don’t pass out?

2. Is the school server inaccessible at night? When does the school server close, if it does?

3. If some of the things in the Cyber school are programmed to be as close to a real school as possible (the grass being dry, the food being mediocre) what are the advantages of going to the Cyber school versus going to the real school? Is the planetarium the only thing the Cyber utilizes to enhance the learning? What explanation do they give parents for some things being programmed purposefully of lower quality instead of perfect when they could be perfect and one assumes parents generally want things to be the best?

4. What is the cost of the headsets and computers capable of running Cyber to the students? Not an exact number, but are these things expensive? If you can't afford one, is there some kind of program to help with that?

5. Why are first-person shooter games relegated to the dark web instead of just coming with heavy warnings for the upsetting nature of the games? Those sorts of games exist for VR currently and I suspect they would be popular military recruitment tools. Are there military recruitment servers or government-sponsored areas that would use first-person shooters or ego shooters rather than them being shuffled to the dark web? Would this school have JROTC? I know it says there are fears this would allow dangerous people to learn how to use weapons, but it's not that hard to get ahold of weapons in the real world in America, even in California.

6. I see in the information that you can change the gender of your avatar but need to inform and presumably have the OK from school faculty first. I was thinking of creating an NB or gender fluid character. If someone is gender fluid and they want to change the presentation and gender from day to day, do they need permission every time? Are they in danger of getting locked like it says could happen with changes to hair length? If your avatar is generally androgynous looking or if you just change gender without changing appearance, how do they know you changed that? Is there some kind of symbol on your avatar? Is it in some kind of metadata or a profile?

Thanks for responses

[Ahab9]

Hey there! Remember me?
Slams door shut
Last questions, (hopefully ) but what servers and maps were available when CR was introduced and in the early years?
Also, does CRDs have an OS?
How it's called?

[KamiKaze]

Oh, I have another question.

What would be the file extension for CR programs? Would it be an .exe or something similar, or would it be its own thing?

Thanks again for answering!

[EllisWilson]

I have several questions specifically regarding death and injury within cyber reality. While I know that being killed is possible, I would like to know the following:

- How fragile are CR avatars compared to actual people? Are they more durable or less? The same?
- If a person is maimed in someway such as a losing a limb or
sense loss, how does the meatspace form react during and/or after the injury occurs?
- If a person is injured to such a degree that it would paralyze them in meatspace, how does the body react? Does it translate to to real life? Is the possibility of paralysis even there in the first place?

Thank you for your time.