A World Almanac entry for a fantasy realm

One of my earliest published pieces that could arguably be classed as genre or speculative writing was a sidebar to a 2003 Wired Magazine feature by the excellent journalist Julian Dibbel, an expert on virtual worlds since his seminal article on a sexual assault in the Lamda MOO.

This feature, “The Unreal Estate Boom,” explored the economy of the massively multiplayer online game Everquest, and my sidebar imagined how the World Almanac entry for the game’s virtual world of Norrath might read if it was sandiwched in between Namibia and Norway. It was a fun challenge to match the format, voice, abbreviation systems, etc. of the almanac while having some fun with the unexpected overlap between this virtual world and the real world.

I would later work with Julian as an editor on a story about the colorful character Brock Pierce, who started a company thay exchanged game world goods and currency for real money. Its wares were generated by gamers in mainland China grinding on the game in “digital sweatshops.”

This is the full text of my sidebar, followed by a scan from the magazine is below. (The designers asked me to write up a bit about Norway as well to give it proper context. I am not including that here.)

Area: Infinite. Universe type: Online, persistent. Location: 40 servers in Sony offices, NE San Diego, California, Colocation: None.Neighbors: Britannia, Tattooine, Aden, Doreth, Rubi-Ka, M59. Major cities: Freeport, Kalidim, Geynos. Interactivity type: Text, 3-D navigation, MUD. Principal languages: Acronymic IMchat, 133Tspeak (unofficial), affected Middle English (newbies). Founding: Nation left beta March 1999.

Population: (Sentient) 400,000; (nonplayer characters) limitless. Ethnic groups: Variable. Gender ratio: Optional. Avg. age: 1 year (800 hrs. in-country experience). Avg. level: 38. Birthrate: 0%

Residency: Requires $12.95 monthly fee, occas. waived for Introductory period. Citizenship: 100% maintain dual citizenship: 20% give primary allegiance to Norrath. Duration of stay: Avg. citizen spends 20-22 hrs. per week in Norrath. Political factions: Crushbone orcs, dark elves, other evil castes banned from major cities.

Type: Feudal trappings mask private, for-profit venture. Head of state: Figurehead monarch varies from server to server. Corporate hegemon: Verant Interactive Inc., div. of Sony Corp. (stock symbol: SNE).

Type: Mixed. Platinum-based domestic economy vies with extralegal currency market (overseas). Industries: Metallurgy, healing/resurrectioning, camping, monster slaying. Trade centers: East Commons Tunnel, Greater Faydark ("Faymart"), eBay, Yahoo! Auctions. GNP: $135 million (52,226 per capita). GNP per capita: Ranks 79th, btwn. Russia and Bulgaria. Monetary unit: PP (platinum pieces). Exchange rates: S.0107 per PP, comparable to lira and yen. Nominal hourly wage: 319 PP (S3.42). Median wealth: Equiv. $3,000 in Norrathian goods (US avg: 59,000 per household).

Crime: Rampant corpse looting. Mortality rate: New immigrants can expect to die several times a day. Police force: Verant customer service sysadmins (GMs). Education system: FAOs, tutorials. Neophytes often subject to ridicule by longtime residents.

Norrath was initially a meritocratic society in which every citizen acquired skills and material goods through dint of labor. This economic system has been eroded by widespread black-marketeering. The nominally closed economy has developed an ad hoc exchange rate with overseas markets (eBay et al.), allowing new arrivals to purchase goods, magic spells, and a range of skills using the currencies of their nonvirtual countries of origin. Sony has decreed that material goods owned by residents of Norrath exist solely as Sony's intellectual property outside of Norrath, but attempts by Sony to crack down on foreign trade have, to date, proven unsuccessful. Longtime residents of Norrath complain that Sony has "turned Santa Claus," increasing the availability of previously scarce goods, which, when coupled with steadily increasing wages, has led to a hyperinflationary spiral, effectively devaluing all wealth and man-hour investments in the kingdom.

- Chris Baker