Would you kill a fellow SD.net member?

[Simplicius]

Barring extraordinary and highly unlikely circumstances, I don't think there's any way to defeat the scenario. Consider:

Assume for the moment the best-case situation with the collars, i.e. that they can be defeated. I figure out how to deactivate mine, so I am free from the pressure to kill for killing's sake. But what then? I would hesitate to approach anyone to tell them how to defeat their own collars, because to do so would place me in a very vulnerable position. I could scratch instructions in the sand or something - but that gives me no guarantee that anyone I meet is a person with a dead collar. Unless I see it done myself, trust comes at the possible price of my life. Do I try to escape? With a dead collar, maybe. Maybe I even succeed. But could I make it without having to kill anyone? Probably not, as anyone I encounter during my attempt is not trustworthy. I'd have to at least incapacitate anyone I got the jump on (dooming them to die), while trying to run from anyone who might get the jump on me. That strikes me as the best-case scenario right there; I can't envision any sort of mass rebellion when no-one can count on anyone else not to take advantage of an easy kill.

What about other circumstances? With the collar on, the pressure to avoid being killed by it is too great for me to resist. Whoever arranged the kill-off is obviously a sadist, so there's no way the collar will give me a nice, quiet death - and frankly, I find the prospect of a bolt suddenly punching through my neck rather motivating. So no noble suicide for me. Could hunting packs be forged? For a short while, maybe, but it's hard to sustain a social organization when there's nothing preventing its members from turning on each other. Even if two members kill their way to the end of the scenario together, all it means is that they each decided to save the other for last to spare the trouble of a long hunt.

I can only think of one way to defeat - not survive, but defeat - the scenario, and that's to hide so well that no one ever notices me, while the deaths pile up in such a way that the last two people other than me die at roughly the same time. That's highly unlikely right there, and even then, I'd probably starve to death, because who would tell me that it was safe to come out? The collar would have to be deactivated, of course.

Where this is most deadly is in the distrust it creates. The social compact, such as it is, is completely destroyed, and the only cautious assumption is that everyone you encounter will be a predator with the ability to scheme. When you can't trust anyone not to kill you, there's little to do but start killing in return. I wouldn't succeed, of course, but someone would.

[Elmca]

I'm 265 pounds and get winded going up a flight of steps. It doesn't matter what I "want" to do. I most likely go down in the first minute.

I'd try to take down the assholes controlling this little scenario, but they'd have to be pretty much deaf and blind to not know I'm coming and trigger my collar. If the controllers aren't near, I'd most likely head for someone who can kill me quick. I don't want to get gut-shot by some idiot who has no idea what to do with a gun or get beaten to death by the "player" who ended up with a slinky or something.

If by some chance I survive the first few minutes, I'd hide and work on deactivating the collar. If I fuck up, I die. If I can't deactivate the collar, I die.

Hell, reading what Simplicius just wrote, I most likely die even if I deactivate the collar.

This is almost as bad as living in Sci-Fi Town in the other thread...

[SylasGaunt]

The other issue of course is that if I remember right the guys running it had armed troops with them.

Suffice to say I'm screwed no matter what because I'm sure as hell not going to even imagine I'm a match for any of the trained military folks unless I'm one of the lucky ones who gets a gun instead of some of the truly worthless weapons that cropped up.