Who wants to live in Renraku Arcology Options

[emo samurai]

Personally, I'd like to live in an arcology, provided it was SCIRE quality. That means real sunlight reflected from the outside, clean air, quick, efficient public transportation, and 400 square meters a family.

See, you have to compare arcology life to city life, not to country life. In the city, you'll actually get less sunlight than in the arcology, since you're surrounded on all sides by skyscrapers and there isn't a complex mirror/fiber optics system to beam it to you. The air in any major city sucks, and housing is hard to come by. The traffic also sucks donkey balls.

So yeah, I can't wait for the Japanese to build us a bigass arcology.

[Kagetenshi]

I'd love it, especially the deranged drones and malfunctioning computer systems. Plus the deathtraps.

~J

[Angelone]

I'll be laughing at both of you between the hacking cough, cause the "bad air" it's flavored damnit, as some AI tests the elasticity of your nostrils.

[emo samurai]

Don't be a dick; you know I mean the pre-Shutdown SCIRE.

[Kagetenshi]

My life goal is to help make the AI that will test the elasticity of my nostrils, so I guess it'd still be some kind of success ;)

~J

[Angelone]

I for one want to experience life, not be locked in what amounts to be a hamster cage. So what if the air's dirty, it's dark because of the skyscrapers, there's mean people who'll try to do bad things to me, ectera. Living in an arcology, to me, isn't living.

[Butterblume]

I'd love to life in a well designed arcology. Not the Renraku one, of course :D.

A while back I read a lot about the theories behind arcologies, it's quite interesting. (Sadly, I don't have the links anymore)

[emo samurai]

What if it was free-market, in terms of what could be built there? What if it was basically as free as a real city?

[Kagetenshi]

I would definitely not want to live in that. Ugh.

~J

[emo samurai]

Why?

[Kagetenshi]

There are other objections, but I'll list one: elevator maintenance contract.

Or were we talking small values of "free market"?

~J

[emo samurai]

Elevator maintenance contract?

Yeah, I'm talking "People bid on real estate and set up whatever the fuck they want" free market, not "50 different departments run by 50 different companies. So if the air conditioning company goes under, you suffocate."

[Kagetenshi]

Well, what I mean is, are we talking "central organization taxes and/or collects fees and covers necessities like elevators, power, water, air, sewage, etc. therefrom" or "anyone who wants to provide services like elevators, power, etc. sets up shop and makes ends meet by selling to whoever they can, however they can, and if something isn't profitable it doesn't get done"?

~J

[emo samurai]

Oh, central organization. Definitely. But you'll find subculture stores that aren't Hot Topic.

[Kagetenshi]

Not necessarily. Who's living there? I mean, if we took the Renraku Arcology, complete with live-in traditional sarariiman, I doubt there'd be much to support subculture stores. Hell, 100,000 is huge for a building, but it's tiny for a city—you're probably not going to get much subculture support in general.

~J

[emo samurai]

NOOOOO!!!!

[Kagetenshi]

Well, question of where the arcology is located matters. If it's self-contained in the middle of nowhere, you're out of luck. If it's in the middle of a big urban center, the lower floors are going to take on the character of the surrounding area, plus the consumer base of the hundred thousand people above them. That would get you some subculture, probably. Still, the Arc itself isn't going to support that very well.

Also, I should have said "small", not "tiny". Either way, it's not the big city by itself.

~J

[mfb]

moreover, because it's a corporate arcology, and corporations in SR have their own cultural norms, you'll find even fewer cultural variations. you won't even have Hot Topic--you'll have Renraku Hot Topic.

[Dog]

Gah! Living in a marvel of engineering would be cool, but the way life in the arc is presented, no bloody way. No sterile, gilded cage for me.

[emo samurai]

Yeah, maybe I should have said "Renraku Arcology level technology, but not run by Renraku or any real corporation."

[Dog]

Oh, then sure.

Nice view.

[emo samurai]

It's bright and shiny.

Now, how would it compare to country life?

[Dog]

It'd suck eggs, IMHO.

I shall never see an arc as lovely as a tree.

[mfb]

it'd compare about the same to country life as city life does. practically speaking, there's not much difference between living in the city and living in an arco--you've got all the same advantages, and all the same disadvantages. which is which depends largely on who you ask. some people hate being around that many people; i enjoy the anonymity. some people like the open air and whatnot; i get bored.

[emo samurai]

I like the open air, but I could always go to a balcony for that.

But I'd love having a shitload of people around me; the anonymity's good. I'd still be able to know my nearest neighbors, anyway.