baldrick0712
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Joined: Fri 28 May 2021, 12:29

Re: 2037 Default Setting Date

Sun 22 May 2022, 16:59

Don't even get me started on Joi.
I can't see any reason to dislike Joi. AI linked to holography is probably not that far off.
 
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Grimmshade
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Joined: Wed 05 May 2021, 23:15

Re: 2037 Default Setting Date

Sun 22 May 2022, 18:56

Joi was awesome! I'm not sure exactly how travel size Joi worked, but very cool character.
 
Vagrant
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Joined: Sun 23 Jan 2022, 12:55

Re: 2037 Default Setting Date

Sun 22 May 2022, 19:15

Don't even get me started on Joi.
I can't see any reason to dislike Joi. AI linked to holography is probably not that far off.
I find the level of technology involved with Joi a little discordant to the Noir tone. For my tastes Blade Runner is about wet biological imposters, not hard silicon algorithms. Not only that but it's another tech by Wallace Corps, I find this monolithic control and creation of everything boring.

I can understand the role she plays in the story, a visual equivalent to the poorly received voice over from the original. The audience needs an exposition machine and Joi fills that role, all be it in a chirpy, annoying fashion.Not to forget the nauseating use of overlaying Joi on Replicants. This is more a special effects issue of needing to look like a special effect.

There's also the role of 'ideal girlfriend' cooks K's meals , if she can't satisfy K she'll phone a friend who can, all while dressing nice and reassuring K they're so, so special. The reveal that Joi is just a product built to fulfil K's needs is hammered home by the billboard after Joi has been crushed. A billboard just outside K's apartment that they walk past everytime they go outside.

The fact that Joi is a tool to allow Luv to track K's movements that can be so easily disabled. Apparently an AI with freewill and self sacrifice? Why would Luv employ such an unreliable tracking system? I mean the Replicant Rebellion are using a pill sized tracker, would it have cost Luv that much to place an independent tracer unit within the remote stick device.

The remote stick device really jumps out from the grimy, broken world. An ultra high tech streamlined device that holds the unique algorithm of Joi as well as a 3d projector (that even works when it's in a pocket), and a power cell. But nobody thought to put that tech in something with a little more protection than an egg shell.

The tech fighting the script.
The whole point of digital tech is it is easily copied and stored. And yet Joi can't have a restore point saved to file in the huge fixed emplacement in K's apartment?
After breaking the antenna on the stick I get that it wouldn't update, but the restore points before that would all be viable.

In much the same way Blade Runner loses nothing, if anything it gains, from removing Deckard's voice over, you can cut Joi out of Blade Runner 2049 and lose nothing.
 
Vagrant
Posts: 32
Joined: Sun 23 Jan 2022, 12:55

Re: 2037 Default Setting Date

Sun 22 May 2022, 19:30

Joi was awesome! I'm not sure exactly how travel size Joi worked, but very cool character.
Again, just my opinion. I realise entertainment is a subjective experience.
For me, the experience everytime Joi's on screen is like nails being dragged down a chalkboard ;)
 
paladin2019
Posts: 432
Joined: Mon 07 Dec 2020, 09:16

Re: 2037 Default Setting Date

Sun 22 May 2022, 21:29

The remote stick device really jumps out from the grimy, broken world. An ultra high tech streamlined device that holds the unique algorithm of Joi as well as a 3d projector (that even works when it's in a pocket), and a power cell. But nobody thought to put that tech in something with a little more protection than an egg shell.
Who's going to be crazy enough to put their superthingie in real danger? The fragility of the tech makes it more believable. Who is normally buying the transport sticks and do they want an armored housing? This tells us what the market wants in 2049.
The tech fighting the script.
The whole point of digital tech is it is easily copied and stored. And yet Joi can't have a restore point saved to file in the huge fixed emplacement in K's apartment?
After breaking the antenna on the stick I get that it wouldn't update, but the restore points before that would all be viable.
Blockchain, licensing issues, there are a host of reasons the Joi file would be deleted from the home projector without an option otherwise. K isn't Johnny, he's not a technical boy. And there is probably another market based reason for the lockout on what we think of as a viable option. Plenty of digital providers have already tried similar schemes, there is no reason this wouldn't continue. Welcome to dystopia.
 
Vagrant
Posts: 32
Joined: Sun 23 Jan 2022, 12:55

Re: 2037 Default Setting Date

Sun 22 May 2022, 22:37

The remote stick device really jumps out from the grimy, broken world. An ultra high tech streamlined device that holds the unique algorithm of Joi as well as a 3d projector (that even works when it's in a pocket), and a power cell. But nobody thought to put that tech in something with a little more protection than an egg shell.
Who's going to be crazy enough to put their superthingie in real danger? The fragility of the tech makes it more believable. Who is normally buying the transport sticks and do they want an armored housing? This tells us what the market wants in 2049.
The tech fighting the script.
The whole point of digital tech is it is easily copied and stored. And yet Joi can't have a restore point saved to file in the huge fixed emplacement in K's apartment?
After breaking the antenna on the stick I get that it wouldn't update, but the restore points before that would all be viable.
Blockchain, licensing issues, there are a host of reasons the Joi file would be deleted from the home projector without an option otherwise. K isn't Johnny, he's not a technical boy. And there is probably another market based reason for the lockout on what we think of as a viable option. Plenty of digital providers have already tried similar schemes, there is no reason this wouldn't continue. Welcome to dystopia.
As I said at the start it just doesn't work for me, for many reasons, and I'll lean into describing things that justify my take. Just as you'll lean into assuming things that justify your opinion.

But, the fragility of the tech serves the needs of the story, not any under lying world building of what the market wants. Luv needs to be able to crush Joi underfoot, and it has to be Joi's complete destruction.

And, the billboard advert available for Joi heavily suggests it's a widely available and generic product (I mean K didn't even customise Joi's name, or notice that the name she gave him 'Joe' was the default advertised name, on the billboard K walks past all the time)
It's far more likely that Joi would be a service more analogous to Alexa, a central cloud based account with easy user access through any device linked into that account.

But, this is starting to derail this thread which is the advantages of playing in a 2037 era LA.
Hopefully one advantage to being set 12 years before the film will be the complete absence of Joi ;)
 
CitizenZero
Posts: 33
Joined: Wed 11 May 2022, 15:09

Re: 2037 Default Setting Date

Sun 22 May 2022, 23:11

Vagrant - Maybe the Blade Runner franchise just isn't your thing.
 
Vagrant
Posts: 32
Joined: Sun 23 Jan 2022, 12:55

Re: 2037 Default Setting Date

Sun 22 May 2022, 23:32

Vagrant - Maybe the Blade Runner franchise just isn't your thing.
The original film hovered around my top 3 films for many years. That high bar meant 2049 had a lot to live up to, and it just didn't for me.
For all the issues I have with the world building and storytelling choices in 2049 it is a visually stunning piece of work.

One of the biggest reasons I backed the Kickstarter is that it's set back in 2037, which means the events of the sequel aren't going to be front and centre.
And, as it's going to be run at my table I can alter the setting to fit my and my groups needs.

A bit darker on tone, less glossy computer tech, a far greater diversity in competing tech companies, off-world colonies torn apart by old-world allegiances. The populations driven to cluster around the handful of cities with spaceports in the hope they can escape the dying planet. Cynicism, paranoia, the realisation that your place isn't among the stars, but amongst the debris of humanity.
 
Bengt Petter
Posts: 772
Joined: Sat 09 Apr 2011, 11:27

Re: 2037 Default Setting Date

Mon 23 May 2022, 12:52

So if we return to the actual topic, what could we expect to include in a 2037 setting? I’d say several things from both movies, but also stuff from the comic books. I think it would be quite easy to list things.

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