Author: Derek Murphy (---.41.105)
Date: 01-24-2005 14:25
Argh, I really don't want to be a downer, but there were a few things in "The Box" scenario that stretch credibility a bit.
- If it were really a scientific experiment, then allowing the Dr. with full memory to participate would be a SERIOUS violation of good practice. He is far too likely to skew the results through his interaction. A more plausible situation would be the inclusion of a known innocent without memory as a control subject.
- Dropping the loaded gun is a major ethical violation. Either the game world needs to be much darker (with equivalent background changes) or the gun should be loaded with realistic looking blanks (which is enough to establish intent).
- The intent doesn't seem so much to be clarifying nature vs. nurture as it is just driving the characters to paranoia through misinformation, food and sleep deprivation, and embarassment. A much better experiment would be dropping them in a maze that required collaborative action, and seeing how they handled themselves. That is also cliche, but it makes more sense than periodic abuse.
- An American jury would have a hard time convicting a young girl of shooting a masked intruder, regardless of their history. He could just as easily have been trying to kill her anonymously to get her off his back. After all, what is the chance that he would randomly burglarize the home of his own sister? Didn't he know where she lived? If he ran off with all that money, then why is he randomly burglarizing homes?
A better story is that he came home drunk, and she shot him accidentally, thinking he was an intruder. Their past history could convince the jury that she was trying to take advantage of his drinking habit as an excuse to get away with murder.
- Claiming somebody is a skilled assassin or telekinetic would be fairly easy to disprove. Just throw a chair at them when they aren't expecting it. You can mess with their minds (assuming you still want to do so) in more believable ways. For example, one folder claims a man and woman are married, while a second claims that they are brother and sister. One folder can say that only one person will leave alive, while another could claim that everybody has a needed skill to escape (and maybe both are true).
Sorry, I'm not trying to be a jerk about it. I'm just nitpicky that way.
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