An Egg-citing Hunt







The real world consists of a variety of objects ranging in size, shape, and color. Through their relationships with other objects, these objects are given a purpose. And while everything may not be directly related, everything and everyone is indirectly related in some way. The more direct connections an object has, the more power and influence it carries over others. This concept of New Materialism, as referred to by Jane Bennett, is known as "Thing-power".

Within the novel Ready Player One, Ernest Cline distributes a generous amount of Thing-power to objects that in turn help shape the dystopian environment. A large part of the novel takes place in a virtual reality called the Oasis. As the real world deteriorates, people use the Oasis as a distraction to escape from the real world and its problems. So much so, that the two worlds begin to merge. Education, politics, even finances and the economy, become sustained primarily through the Oasis.

The virtual world of the Oasis. Where everyone has the ability to reinvent themselves and escape from reality.

And while the Oasis was a big hit when it first hit the market, it had its moments of passing through instances of cultural and subcultural periods. A "hunt" was marketed upon the eve of James Halliday's death, who happened to be the sole owner of the Oasis. Having set up the "hunt" himself, he announced that the winner would inherit his fortune- including ownership of the Oasis.

Now, back to Thing-power. How did the Oasis come to have so much influence over society and the real world? Upon Halliday's passing, the "hunt" made the Oasis popular again. Why? Because everyone was looking for the keys to the kingdom- literally. In order to win the hunt, a person would have to find three keys. Each key would unlock a gate, which would then provide a clue in order to find the next key. The light at the end of the tunnel, or the third gate in this case, was an easter egg. 

The three keys of the "hunt"- bronze, jade, and crystal. Each key unlocks a gate- complete the quest beyond the gate, and unlock a clue that will lead you to the next key. The first to collect all three keys and pass through all three gates, wins.


The single egg, the keys- they all have a significant amount of Thing-power. Their existence is what drives the popularity of the hunt. Which, supports the popularity of the Oasis. And while the Oasis was a big hit prior to the hunt, the idea of the keys and the egg allowed for players to better understand and appreciate the Oasis environment. Halliday did this on purpose, in order to insert a piece of himself into the Oasis. The quests were all related to Halliday's life- his interests and experiences. So in order to win the hunt, you had to be familiar with Halliday's history, including his obsession with 80's pop culture.

The idea behind the purpose of the games is what gives these objects, such as the keys and the egg, agency. The relationship that they have with people, is that people want to find them. In order to do so, they have to be expert gamers and Halliday fanatics. Therefore, people are forced to explore the expanse of the Oasis. To get involved, and develop connections with their environment to the extent that they become immersed. Without the Oasis, there would be no keys or easter egg. Which means, that the objects were dependent on their environment, and to an extent, vice versa.

The keys and the egg were given agency by the people searching for them. But also, by Halliday. Upon finding a key and completing the quest to get through the gate, the player would be awarded points in addition to money. And since the economy between the Oasis and the real world were pretty much synonymous, people would be able to become rich in the real world. Not to mention the fame and endorsements that came with being at the top of the scoreboard. And since the keys were directly related to the egg, this gave the egg the most Thing-power of all. Winning the egg was a big deal because you would gain ownership of the Oasis. And since Oasis was the new way of life, the hunt became people's lives. But what happened after it was all over? The keys and the egg, they held no more significance- they had lost all of their Thing-power. It did not make sense to look for them anymore, because the rewards that were associated with them were no longer available.

The glowing egg at the end of the tunnel. Getting a hold of this bad boy gave you the keys to the Oasis- including panoptic surveillance of everyone associated with its virtual reality.

And since we made the comparison earlier between the relationship of the objects and the virtual environment, what did that say about the significance of the Oasis? Has it lost its significance as well?

I personally think that the Oasis was functioning independently before the hunt began, in addition to when people lost interest because there was a lag in finding keys. However, I think the hunt did a great job of establishing more connections between players. We see this with Wade and his friends, as well as the Gunthers, who join forces to fight against the Sixers. By creating more direct connections between objects and things, Bennett claims that this increases an object's Thing-power.

I think the strength of a person's Thing-power is correlated to their ability to want more than the Oasis. Obviously not everyone is as rich as Wade at the end of the hunt. To dissolve the Oasis at this point would do more harm than good, because so many people rely on working in the Oasis as a source of income. But originally, when we followed Wade at the beginning of his journey, he wanted nothing more than to be in the Oasis 24/7. At the end, he wanted to establish connections with people in the real world- people that the Oasis brought together through the Thing-power of objects part of the hunt.


Sources:

Bennett, Jane. “Vibrant Matter”. p. 23.

Cline, Ernest. Ready Player One. 2011.

I0.Wp.Com, https://i0.wp.com/bloody-disgusting.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/ready-player-one-mortal-kombat.jpg.
Cdn.Shopify.Com, https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1525/3720/products/817121_2000x.jpg?v=1571499325.
"Ready Player One: Oasis Beta - EVOLVE VR". EVOLVE VR, https://evolvevr.ca/game/ready-player-one-oasis-beta/.





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