Reputation

Reputation Scores are another aspect of the EP setting that I find particularly compelling.

In the post-scarcity world of nano-fabrication (at least in polities where access to fabbers is not artificially restricted) old world economic theory breaks down and money loses its meaning. In these places reputation is the new currency, but it’s not just a substitute for cash and it’s not spent in the same way.

In reputation economies everyone’s every interaction with others is assessed, reviewed, scored and ranked (mostly automatically by muses running algorithms tuned to their clients preferences) and shared via a host of peer-to-peer social networks. The resulting aggregate values provide uncannily accurate indices of a person’s social standing and clout as relates to a given demographic - the higher the rep score on a particular network, the higher the individual’s standing among those who make up that network.

The scores are basically tangible measures of social credit against which people can borrow access to community resources or acquire unique items or services from others within their various networks. This credit can be temporarily tapped to gain assistance, access or specific items, in a kind of pay it forward favor system. As long as you do not go to the well too often (without reciprocity) or too aggressively (asking more than you deserve or not waiting your turn) you can get what you need and any resulting reputation drain will restore itself naturally over time.  If you ask a lot (on a short turn around, or with lots of challenging or dangerous caveats) you have to “burn” reputation to get it, permanently reducing scores in given networks as you press, demand, browbeat, threaten or take what you want from of others.

Though the game mechanics describes Rep Scores like the numbers that pop up over the heads of video game characters when they power up, I think the setting intention is that they are more like stock prices listed on an exchange - constantly shifting values monitored, compiled and statistically verified by ubiquitous and invisible AI systems, then posted via the various networks. Accordingly, whenever you consider a person (look at him with AR, ping her mesh ID, interact in simulspace, check a social network, etc.) you also see/get meaningful rankings of the individual’s true and tangible social worth.    

In the course of play, your decisions and actions can raise or lower your scores in specific networks, and maintaining, building and ultimately spending your reputation creates interesting in-game and meta-game effects, motivations and roleplaying opportunities - far more interesting than just earning and spending money. Accordingly, with seven primary, system-wide social networks and dozens of smaller, more specific or obscure ones, keeping track of the ongoing fluctuations of each character’s Rep Score is challenging. This brings me to my purpose.  

My intention is that we will use this Google spreadsheet as a sort of Reputation balance sheet where each of you will be responsible for tracking your character’s Rep favors, “burns” and rewards. I find this shared, online mechanism particularly apropo since the whole Rep system in-game is an entirely peer-to-peer online phenomena, and I love me some gaming verisimilitude.