Society and Culture
The Austen Experience takes place in a fully globalized world where gender, sexuality and race have ceased to matter a long time ago. However, they were once relevant, and one of the central themes of the larp is this play with historical gender roles and the assumption of these within the confines of the Park.
Apart from the play between the Park personas, there will be no play upon differences between genders, sexualities, ethnicity or other player attributes. Within the narrative of the Park however, all historical gender norms from the regency era are in play. Other attributes are not.
In the world where the guests come from, everyone has a small place to stay. Everyone has healthcare. Not everyone, however, has the resources or social clout to live in luxury, or access places that are reserved for the social elite. This used to be determined by your Fame; a social score, fueled by a fame-driven economy. Just a few years ago, money meant nothing, the world’s welfare built on the backs of cheap labor in the form of Androids – biological, vat-grown clones. But, ever since the latest Androids were taken out of production and retired (killed) due to security flaws, humanity has once again been forced to work for monetary compensation. This event is officially called the Recall, but many underground movements refer to it as a genocide.
In this world one giant metropolis has emerged, called the City, but some suburbs have broken loose and turned into smaller communities, towns. Some of the characters come from one of the towns, but most of them come from the City.
The World Order
The world is owned, run and maintained by the organization known as the Company. For a long time there was only one, and it established its world monopoly through being the only entity that developed and sold Androids. The Company is everywhere, has an infinite reach and employs many millions.
Their business, first concentrated on the Androids, has expanded to other ventures following the crisis. They have their own regulations, their own security systems and their own rules. It is generally assumed that regular police – understaffed and underfunded – only deal with crimes that concern the “common people”. The Company is above and beyond any kind of petty law enforcement, though they do provide private security initiatives for a fee; these effectively constitute much of the real law enforcement in the world. Since the Recall, several businesses and companies have emerged. None of them can even begin to equal the Company in size or power, however, and therefore it is still known by that name.
The main divide in the larp is between the few Androids that still exist, the new AI units and humans, where humans in society are seen as valuable, worthy and as individuals who are rarely judged for their choices. Meanwhile, Androids are seen by society as a whole as property, as slaves, as lacking any kind of inherent value outside their use. Some treat them as cute pets, others see them as completely detached from human values. The new AI Units are the next step on the objectification ladder, being programmed and controlled in their entirety.