Broadside

Description

The now legendary web3 storytelling project Broadside launched in November 2022. Over the last year more than 30,000 decentralized Episodes of the Broadside story have been minted, merged, and bound into ~3,000 First Edition Broadside books.

Along the way, the Broadside community became one of the most engaged communities in the burgeoning open metaverse. This first print of the Collector’s Edition marks the first time this story is being made available to a wider audience.

The Story:
2037 America is a solarpunk utopia, but terms and conditions apply.

On the surface, this is a world of abundance. Many of humanity’s current problems have been solved. Climate change is under control, and people have access to all kinds of renewable resources. Products, energy, and food can be printed, generated or grown in an instant – just as long as you can afford to buy the copy-protected versions from Prota, a company that controls much of the nation’s resources, not to mention the force of robot security Marshals that patrol the streets, checking nothing is printed illegally.

Like many Americans, the main problem for our hero, Shem, and their family, is rampant inequality. An ever-smaller circle of elites gets richer, while working people struggle to pay for the renewable resources, they could theoretically get for almost nothing, if a handful of companies didn’t control access to them.

All this changes when Shem hacks Broadside, their favorite AR game, and unwittingly breaks the copy protection not just on the game, but on everything Prota controls. Suddenly anything can be illegally printed, from EMP blasters to vehicles to solar panels, and all hell breaks loose. Prota strikes back, desperate to contain the hack. Shem is left with no choice but to escape with the only people willing to protect them – the shadowy resistance movement that wants to overthrow Prota.

The solarpunk storyworld of Broadside is designed to help people collectively envision a brighter future; one where we can save the planet and implement new economic models made possible by emerging technologies, systems, and principles.

Solarpunk is a literary and artistic movement; a reaction to the dystopian futures often presented in the media. As a subgenre of sci-fi It is aspirational, concerned with more optimistic visions of the future. Broadside interrogates new ideas from different character perspectives, rather than preaching one predetermined way forward. The Broadside world is fast moving, and action packed. AR gaming rules the planet, anti-surveillance clothing is always on-trend, and 3D bass music is used as a weapon to fight oppressive robot armies.

The immersive story encompasses gaming, fashion, music, and culture. It has been developed over more than a decade, taking into account a broad range of ideas and schools of thought. It is an optimistic yet realistic vision as to how we might approach contemporary problems, designed to start discussions and then together with the community, implement new ideas and initiatives that have real world impact.