Hello and welcome back to Life’s Biggest Questions, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey.
Even if you’re not a gamer, you’ve probably heard of Fortnite.
Whether you’re hearing all about it from friends or kids around you, hearing vague
mutterings about how it’s lame, or gleefully scrolling through memes about it, even those
who have never played the game know something about it.
But what if it wasn’t a game, but was, in fact, real?
Let’s explore.
By the way, if video games are your bag, head over to Top 10 Gaming.
It’s a sister channel, hosted by yours truly as well as Kelly Paoli, where we talk about
everything that is video games.
Check it out if you love video games.
Now, get ready, it’s time to ask the question: What if Fortnite was Real?
Well, before we dive in, I’ll give a brief description of Fortnite for those who haven’t
played it.
Fortnite has two game modes, a coop player vs environment mode where you build a base
and fight against hordes of zombies, and a multiplayer battle royale mode, where players
drop into a zone and fight to be the last player standing.
Each of these would bring with it their own changes to the world.
However, we’ll set aside the zombie aspect of the game, since we’ve already touched
on many of the ideas that would need to be covered in our “What if Zombies were Real”
video, plus most people play the battle royale mode anyway.
So, what changes might we see given the various mechanisms in Fortnite?
Of course, one factor of great importance is the many dangerous, and often ludicrous,
forms of weaponry in the game.
From shotguns to sniper rifles, this game has all the firearms you’d expect from a
shooting game.
As it happens, this would largely be the same as in real life; as I’m sure you know, guns
exist in real life, and these Fortnite ones would likely be dealt with in similar ways.
There would be some cosmetic differences to them, but they would likely be restricted
like guns are now, although each country would have their own rules, as they do now.
However, one aspect of the coop side of the game would be relevant here.
In the PvE version, these guns can be constructed using gathered materials and schematics, which
would be particularly dangerous since it would be more difficult to keep them out of the
wrong hands.
Considering the prevalence of the Tide Pod Challenge, it’s likely that the number of
kids who would die trying to achieve the legendary rocket jump would be huge.
https://youtu.be/kL82C3a_QXQ?t=9 This would likely result in very strict control over
the schematics, and harsh punishments for those caught illegally building weapons.
That isn’t to say that ALL of these weapons would be deemed too dangerous for recreational
use.
For example, boogie bombs can be thrown at the ground to cause a disco ball to appear,
music to play, and the people nearby to bust out some sweet dance moves.
Frankly, I can’t think of a situation that WOULDN’T be improved by a boogie bomb.
You could turn even the most awkward of school dances into disco parties with a few well-placed
grenades.
Of course, these would be regulated, but would likely enjoy some recreational use.
Another mechanism in the game that would probably have the most far-reaching real world consequences
is the building feature.
This allows players to gather materials, and use them to construct anything from walls,
to platforms, to spike traps.
If Fortnite was real, that would mean you could build whatever you wished using raw
materials that can be easily obtained by smacking trees and rocks.
Not only that, but it takes very little time to construct these structures.
In Fortnite, you can build a wall in a matter of seconds.
Assuming this could be done with any building, this would drastically lower construction
times, and could usher in a new era, turning even the most rural areas into booming cities
full of skyscrapers.
However, this would bring up a few problems.
For one, this would likely result in a whole whack of ugly, unfinished structures littered
across the world.
This could be a big issue, and would require mass destruction of these structures to keep
the world organized.
Furthermore, it would probably cause mass depletion of resources, particularly wood
and stone, which could result in mass extinction of trees.
This, of course would have severe consequences.
This would bring about laws dictating who can build what, and where, likely making it
illegal to build your own structures outside of your own property.
Construction companies would be given special permissions to build, of course, but this
would limit the number of people who could clutter up the world.
It could be that people would be able to buy permits that would allow them to build a specific
structure in a specific place.
This would help to minimize the unauthorized building, saving the functionality of the
city, and saving resources from being overly harvested.
There would still be some unauthorized buildings, similar to graffiti nowadays, but the problem
would be much improved.
And now we return to our question: What if Fortnite was Real?
Well, setting aside the zombie aspect, since it was touched on in a previous video, there
would be two main changes to the world.
Given the ease of constructing guns in the coop mode, it could be that gun control would
be more difficult to achieve, since many people, even kids, could potentially build them.
Furthermore, the building aspect of the game would likely bring about new laws restricting
the building of structures, which would limit clutter and deforestation.
At the end of the day, the world would continue in much the same way… assuming the zombie
aspect didn’t come to pass as well.
Thank you for watching Life’s Biggest Questions, I hope this was interesting and informative,
and maybe even inspired you to look into it further on your own.
If you liked this video, please thumbs up and subscribe to the channel down below.
While you’re down there, let me know what YOU would do if you found yourself in a real
life Fortnite.
Until next time, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey with Life’s Biggest Questions, wishing you
the best of luck, on your quest for answers.