About Saijo City
Saijo City is a metaworld, a world within worlds. It spans numerous 3D worlds and games– as do the main characters that make up the master storyline. It’s not necessarily a game unto itself– it could take the form of a graphic novel, animated series, stage play (ok not really but hey, cyberpunk on Broadway would be kinda whack-cool).
The underlying principle behind Saijo is that it enables people to create derivative works. To build upon, to build outward, to build their own thing.
To compare it to the Batman and Robin franchise: everything about the series of Batman is All Rights Reserved. All the characters, the places, the things inside. While it’s true you might be able to write fanfiction that is set in Gotham City, fans do not have the authorization to do so.
That’s where the Saijo model is a bit different. The main characters are in fact, All Rights Reserved. However the city– the backdrop– is conceptually blessed with Creative Commons licensing, so a fan or artist could create a derivative work, based upon the setting of Saijo City, as one might write a novel that’s set in San Francisco, New York, or Paris.
We believe that all that makes up Saijo– this massive mutation and hybrid of roleplaying, fiction writing, graphic design, storytelling, gaming, multimedia– it is not new, per se. We take elements and rearrange them (meta guilding for example, is not new) so that it becomes an organic piece of work that operates on the principle of slightly controlled organic emergence.
So in that regard, it’s new. It’s a love. It’s a passion. It’s an administrative nightmare. And yet, to echo the words of the beloved Governor of Saijo, there’s no reason to fear the opportunity here.
(to be continued…)
The underlying principle behind Saijo is that it enables people to create derivative works. To build upon, to build outward, to build their own thing.
To compare it to the Batman and Robin franchise: everything about the series of Batman is All Rights Reserved. All the characters, the places, the things inside. While it’s true you might be able to write fanfiction that is set in Gotham City, fans do not have the authorization to do so.
That’s where the Saijo model is a bit different. The main characters are in fact, All Rights Reserved. However the city– the backdrop– is conceptually blessed with Creative Commons licensing, so a fan or artist could create a derivative work, based upon the setting of Saijo City, as one might write a novel that’s set in San Francisco, New York, or Paris.
We believe that all that makes up Saijo– this massive mutation and hybrid of roleplaying, fiction writing, graphic design, storytelling, gaming, multimedia– it is not new, per se. We take elements and rearrange them (meta guilding for example, is not new) so that it becomes an organic piece of work that operates on the principle of slightly controlled organic emergence.
So in that regard, it’s new. It’s a love. It’s a passion. It’s an administrative nightmare. And yet, to echo the words of the beloved Governor of Saijo, there’s no reason to fear the opportunity here.
(to be continued…)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Defne Demar on -
So my questions is (and it is the same question that I've been grappling with) is there anyone here who came up with derivative works out of this city? Eric?
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