So, around ten years ago, I did an RP story experiment with some friends of mine on a creative writing forum, where we each had a concept we would come up with for a co-written story we would work on. We would vote on the ideas, and the one that won, we would all help write a few chapters. My concept did not win, but it was a very close second place, and several people confessed to me in private that they wish mine had won, because they thought it would be fun to play with. My idea was that a very large group of people got transported to simulated world, where magic and superpowers are real, but everything, from food to supplies to their own abilities, cost points to use. Points could be earned by fulfilling 'requests' made by the system, like turning in quests in a video game. However, certain people would only get certain kinds of requests, based on their personalities and previous actions taken, and as time went on, the payouts would decrease while increasingly extreme behaviors would be needed to continue earning points. There was only one concrete goal given, which was, at the beginning, everyone received a message that whoever could make it to the colossal tower in the very, very far distance of the horizon, would be free to go home. Over time, the large group of characters would be whittled down and killed off, by monsters, hazards, and other people in the game, until eventually only a tiny handful of them were left, fighting each other to the death at the foot of the tower. I stressed in my scenario that no good explanation for how any of of this was possible would be given, or even if these people were still alive, if it was all just a dream, or if it was some kind of purgatory. It was meant to be a psychological thing. A sort of "what are you in the dark" kind of scenario, where the very best and worst of various characters gets drawn out and used to paint a drama.
This isn't at all like that old idea of mine, and yet the coin system, and the method in which scenarios are invoked, and even the way the goblins behave, strongly reminded me of it. I never did anything with that old idea of mine; after all, it didn't win the vote. And it may sound pretentious of me to say this, because I obviously had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with this story. I'm not claiming anything. And yet, I hope some of you could understand how it makes me happy to see something so similar to that old idea, done so well. The idea didn't die. Somebody else thought of it, somebody else thought it was a cool idea, and they did something with it. And even though it's not the same thing, that still makes me happy to see it.
I'm glad I tripped over this. I'm glad I read it. It's on my list now, for sure.
Maybe one day, I might even go back and do some work on that idea of my own. This story has made me think about it again. The race to the tower, the fight to survive, the decay of morals and violence and drama the desperation causes. And of course, the mystery: is it all a dream, is this purgatory, or even hell, who are these people, what connects them together, why were THEY chosen for this, what is the living system with a voice that gives out these quests, and what does 'going home' even mean, is it death or redemption, or a ticket to heaven? Do you literally just go home, wake up in your bed like nothing ever happened? Will you remember? The best mysteries remain unanswered. You let the readers arguing about it among themselves. There's still a good story there. I'm glad this reminded me of it. Maybe one day I'll stop being a coward myself and do something with it.