Re-conceptualizing Society, twenty years later

https://chatgpt.com/share/679f99ad-4fac-8013-856c-2df729546092
from Stardock Forums

I've been thinking back on this game idea periodically for the past twenty years.

Every other post in this corner of the forum is now locked and dead. I have no idea if anyone will actually see this. It's entirely possible that the whole original idea has been completely lost from institutional memory at Stardock, and that this is entirely an exercise in shouting into the void.

Still, I think the original idea was wildly ambitious and innovative, and I wanted to do a sort of 20th anniversary re-conceptualization of it.

I'm an AI engineer these days, so that colors both my view of what the game could/should be, and the way I go about brainstorming.

If anyone reads this, please drop a comment!

https://chatgpt.com/share/679f99ad-4fac-8013-856c-2df729546092

society concept
1,044 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

I don't know where I am,  don't know how I got here, but I stumbled upon this game whilst looking for another. Never heard of society, probably never will again. Out of curiosity I dug deeper and found the last post by the devs where from 2013... saying that they would resume development. Yikes! Honestly feel bad for you guys D:>.

Then I saw YOUR comment on the post saying how since the games announcement you have seen so many things happen... In 2013. The internet keeps getting older and its just WEIRD seeing people in the past talk about the past! Did you know that the first ever line wrote in The Epic of Gilgamesh talks about "The old days before bread"? Kinda feels familiar. But that struck me I guess, emotionally at least.

Now its 2025 and you've probably seen a lot more, we all have. One day this message will also seem old, and me talking about past will seem weird when the future is the present. I don't know what Stardock is, I never waited for or expected the release of Society, so I would never know what it would be like from your specific perspective, but its sad. The internet, with all its wonders, is a sad place sometimes. GeoCities pages ranting about celebrities that have long aged out of their youth, passionate blogs fall silent one day, never to talk again. Forum pages turned into memorials for users who have passed on. The internet is like life, things grow and die, but the internet never decays. We walk the halls of the web, filled with taxidermy and wax copies persevered forever, wondering what part of us will join its exhibit to.

Sorry that this didn't apply to your post. It's both nice and a bit sad to see people who still care about a game many have never heard of. I feel the same way about Spore! The difference is spore at least still has a community. It's a noble cause to shout into the abyss of these forgotten corners. Again, sorry to ranting pretentious slop under the post of a diehard fan like you, seeing time pass on the web made me want to wax poetic I suppose. At least you got a notification! I assume they are rare along these parts >.>

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

I smell spam

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Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

Honest to god it's not spam! Idk why but I just felt inspired enough last night that I had to make a account and type all of that. Probably will never use this account again for anything else.