Rapture Society

* See also Government
* See also Laws in Rapture - Yes there were...
* See also Rapture Economy
* See also Free Press
* See also Philosophy
* See also Medicine in Rapture
* See also Rapture Immigration
* See also Religion_In_BioShock
* See also Artists_in_Rapture
* See also Rapture Education
* See also Science In Rapture
* See also Rapture Factions
* See also Player Residence
* See also Gambling
* See also Sports_In_Rapture
* See also Rapture_Slang
* See also New_Rapture
* See also Security_Systems
* See also Advertisement In Rapture
* See also Entertainment_In_Rapture
* See also Mythic_Themed_Names
* See also Sanitation
* See also Secret_and_Public_Groups
* See also Non-Human Inhabitants
* See also Secrecy For Rapture
* See also Rapture_Population
* See also The Great Chain
* See also Mediocrity_Leaves_The_World
* See also Suburbs for Rapture
* See also Overlooked_Crimes in Rapture Criminals_In_Rapture
* See also Characters/Personalities
* See also Defining_Rapture
* See also New_Rapture_Prestige_System
* See also Pets
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Science .... Art .... Comerce ... Industry
Self-Sufficiency ( at any time the Surface World might end, and Rapture would be on its own. )
Someone_Has_To_Scrub_The_Toilets ( True in our World too )
"Only a complete Moron assumes that All Goals are Guaranteed to be Met and Met Absolutely" - Reginald Perrin
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Real Rapture : 
You never were allowed to see normal life for people in Rapture. You were walking thru Ruins with the Psychopath Atlas/Fontaine telling you how things 'had been' ( and the game did not really offer much of the 'flip side' to counter your forced ignorance ). Even in BaSx,, it was merely a vignette of the Flashier bits of Rapture.
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Institutions in Rapture :
* Law Enforcement
* City Constabulary (in public places)
* Criminal and Civil Courts ( judicial ) well defined Laws Statutes and Ordinances ( even if basic )
* City Maintenance
* Education ( basic, university & vocational ) technology experts aren't always good/effective teachers
* Utility Systems
* Sanitation
* Fire Protection ( Fire Curtain in a theater )
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What Did The People Who Came To Rapture SIGN ON TO
Burial at Sea retroactively hints at "Contract".
Potential Immigrants would have been TOLD/WARNED what was expected for the way the 'Place was Run'.
( That has to SERIOUSLY be Remembered when the writers have so many game characters go against Ryan and Rapture's Philosophy. )
The Immigrants should have been 'Vetted' to some practical extent, per the care which Ryan saw needed for setting up his Rapture Society.
There are Duties, as well as Rights. Cohesive Societies rely on their citizens to enforce the common understandings with which the Society is defined. Objectivism is NOT Anarchy, as its detractors ignorantly or dishonestly often claim.
Note - It was counter to the gamewriters's story to SHOW sentiments of all the many people who Supported so much of Ryan's actions. The writers kept so Vague all the progression of the terrible things which had threatened, not just the livelihoods, but the survival of the people living in Rapture. (( They would not have much of their simplistic storytelling left viable if they had. ))
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It is All About Me (Individualism in Society) :
Rapture was not just to be select "elites" ( what society could exist with all 'Elites' ? ), but anyone else who wanted freedom as an individual and escape from a World heading for an ever greater lack of freedom. It is strange that the game writers have Ryan talk about "Altruism" being the 'worst evil', but it actually is "Altruists" (or "False Altruism") he is talking about : Those who force Altruism on others for their own gain that Ryan is talking about hating and getting away from. Isn't Ryan's Creation of Rapture an act of Altruism ? - To give a home to people who want freedom like he did ? Ryan's preferred societal environment was one of complexity, with commerce and technical advancement. So his wanting a whole city/society would be logical for his refuge. That is also OUR World (in America at least), where the opportunities taken by others advances the Good of everyone else - That philosophical "The Great Chain" is in effect in OUR World.
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Distortions :
The game's writers 'Beat the Players over the Head' with THEIR idea that making money leads to badness and exploitation. BUT Witness : the Communist Soviet Union - where money was worthless and Capitalism demonized - and where there was wholesale government instigated murder and tyranny AND General Poverty. 
Remember that Ryan pushed Achievement of the Individual over all - The Scientist and the Artist as well as the Businessman. Businessmen have made possible people's living beyond Subsistence levels : provided the free time and surpluses, which allow Craftsmen, Scientists(and Engineers) and Artists to exist and flourish in our Modern World.
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Rapture Is :
* 1920s Society Mindset ( before 'Big Socialism' in America )
* 1930s Culture
* 1940s Technology
* 1950s Songs ( Some. How did they got to Rapture ? ... )
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Laws :
Legalities -- Having 'No Law' in Rapture is Bullshit. The writers seem to have tried to imply that in the game, but YOU saw little of 'normal' Rapture ( to understand ) - only the chaos of NOT having Laws enforced in the city). 
There would be a need for Laws which enforced Business Contracts. A city full of businesses is unlikely to be able to exist without assurances of compliance to any significant financial interaction/contracts/etc.
Laws for security, safety and Property Rights ...
Remember that Ryan only said : " I will make only one Law ". This doesn't mean NO other laws exist in Rapture, just that HE ( himself as the leader/founder ) wouldn't impose any other than that ONE ( against Smuggling which he would see enforced, instead of " OMG!!! OMG!!! LOOK !!! He's 'betraying' His Philosophy !!! DERRRRRP!!! DERRRRRP !!! " ideas the writers push on the Player ). A prohibitions against Smuggling was likely fully understood and Approved by a majority of citizens in Rapture.
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MMORPG - Rapture Adjusted - Understanding of It's Actual 'City' Environment :
Historically, people came to cities from extended outside areas to get things they couldn't otherwise obtain -- in a City specialized businesses are made practical. With better transportation, the businesses built up to serve people from greater areas - much more than the city's own inhabitants. Banking and Investment institutions centralized in Cities. Manufacturing, which uses "Economy of Scale" to be efficient, uses a city's local population as a critical mass to work that 'scale'. Numerous attractions in a city also can bring in tourist visitors, even from across a country.
Rapture cannot be like this. It has to be self-contained, and does not have these huge outside areas to tap into for customers ( Rapture serves only its own population, unlike most cities, and even Rapture's outlying resource operations are only short miles away ).
Rapture only has the population of a small town, limiting all 'scale' of manufacturing because of the limited customers, thus making small businesses far more prevalent. The MMORPG would reflect all of this.
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Rapture is still stuck in that style era ( contact being largely cut off 1952 )
Designer clothing pretty much realm of 'rich' people ( and ordinary people usually have alot of common sense ) Microcosm of Rapture - How much real 'talent' could there be ?? Some of that Smuggling included info about the latest styles from the Surface...
Remember, Nostalgia elements were a big part of this game's appeal ( AND with a greatly reduced effort, as the game makers did NOT much invent so much -- They instead copied what took far more talent peoples' decades of effort to produce things that were 'Good' ).
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Joe Shmoes in Rapture (Mundane Economy Too) :
How was this Rapture Citizen Vetting ( criteria/filtering/selection ) done to result in the spectrum of people a real City would need to actually operate ? The criteria cannot be simply "excellence". For many, it would be the honest acceptance of Ryan's Philosophy -- a desire NOT to be a 'Parasite' or subject to them ( whether that be stealing the profit of others or becoming a burden by being lazy and asking for 'welfare', or to willfully impair others out of spite/jealousy, or trying to force others into those behaviors ).
Not everyone could be 'the Big Man', 'the Leader of the Pack', 'the Richest'. There had to be far more ordinary mortals who lived well enough and used all the nifty things produced ( goods and services ) by those who excelled in creation and efficient production. If some new whiz-bang object replacing another came out every week, would anyone ( or sufficient customers ) be able/need to continually buy them ? A workable system of ordinary people using the things the 'exceptional' produced to carry on normal lives would be required for a stable society.
How many such needs/uses would exist in most Rapture Citizen's lives so there would exist enough channels of replaceability/consumption, so each consumer could be simultaneously buying the product of N other producers, AND those producers (in turn) would buy/consume from THEIR N producers - a balanced system ??
Remember, it is N times the Profit, not the Sales Price of the items sold DO they even teach basic Economics in Public schools any more ?? - Net vs Gross profits ... Sale price MINUS Expenses equals "Profits" ... Investors having to be paid out of 'Profits' ... etc etc etc ... . The overhead cost of production usually MUST be paid for first, and expenses are not available as payout for the consumption of the individual running the business AND their non-working dependents.
Raw materials used for the production are part of the same System ( The raw material producer must have sufficient sales Profits to buy his own consumer goods/services -- income beyond the overhead costs of HIS production - tools, wages, etc ... ).
Labor and tools similarly are consumed in producing a product, and are thus also overhead costs. Those elements provide in themselves a 'business flow', just like the final product/service.
So it is not just 'whiz-bang' goods/services, but just plain efficient/consistent/sufficient production of mundane things which makes the whole economic system run. THAT takes ordinary workers, usually with ordinary skills and ordinary tools being allowed to do their ordinary work adequately.
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There could be some offset of the above pattern by people coming to Rapture and bringing more than a little wealth with them - not (worthless) Surface MoneySurface Money has value on The Surface and would have value to buy things from there (Before 1951) and later for Smuggling. But it has no other value IN Rapture to commonly purchase things., but goods and tools and materials which could be sold/traded in place of a working income. That could allow some individuals to be 'excellent' in partially-/non-productive pursuits for years ( when it eventually ran out, then they would need to fall back on working ). A Sufficient number of "wealthy" people could likewise fund 'Starving Artists', who would otherwise have a difficult time in Rapture's "Pay As You Go" society.
Some immigrants may have 'Worldly Resources'. Those might have been used subsequently to purchase/send to Rapture additional 'valuables' as those Surface resources were slowly sold off up there ( 'Fire Sales' can be very wasteful, and Rapture wanted as much resources as the immigrants could possibly have brought) Ryan would have organized means for people to maximize the extraction of their worldly wealth. 
Some Citizens may have invested in building Rapture 'Up Front' ( so it would be more than just Ryan's fortune to build the whole place ... ), and they thus owned Rapture properties which had perpetual rental incomes. Funny, if it turned out that Howard Hughes had 'invested' in Rapture as a possible 'bolthole', but never bothered to show up ( his Hypochondria may have led to his investing in Medical Research using/funding some of Raptures 'Best and Brightest' as a worthwhile gamble ).
(( Did I ever mention that my Mania for this Rapture MMORPG concept has proven to be an entertaining "Thought Experiment" ? After all, isn't Sci-Fi about "What-Ifs" and "How would that be" ( An "Oh, it will be taken care of" lack of detail can dismiss/throwaway/waste alot of interesting plot elements ). ))
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Ideas Realized : "Tesla vs Edison - A Lesson for Rapture" : 
Inventors Products that have to progress - which even genius-get-stuck-on ( like commercial inertia - Edison's sticking to DC electric power, even when something else worked far better - Tesla's ACAC Power - which allowed transformers to be used to change voltages, and for electric power to be efficiently transported long distances. ). On the other hand, Tesla had many projects with ideas that he did not work on enough to make into working products and many others went nowhere. That's where Edison was far more successful. HE knew that You have to turn the idea ( like the Lightbulb ) into a common product to get money to then constantly improve it. He also figured he needed the whole system - like power generating plants to supply the electricity for those Lightbulbs and the system of wires, and a way to measure and bill his customers.
So in Rapture, you had to make something you can sell which Works. You have to sell enough of 'it' to pay back all the expenses/work you had done to develop it and make a profit. It has to have sufficient utility ( be 'Big Enough' to have customers replace what they already have, OR be NEW and something they didn't have before.
* Cheap TVs ( likely actually manufactured on The Surface )
* Inexpensive Computers for Small Businesses by the later period ( and not really a 'home computer' ... )
* ADAM-based Medicine
etc ...
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"Time is Money" - Clocks Watches and Standard Time in Rapture... :
RST - New Rapture Standard Time ( whole City except Lamb's sick La-La-land ... maybe )
Isn't Time distorted for Splicers ? Well, We Ain't Splicers No More in New Rapture.
Day/Night cycle for the City ( from it's start ) to facilitate normal "circadian rhythms" for the populace.
Business hours... Businesses once operated with normal 'business hours', which also allowed for 'closed' time when other activities could be carried out without interference ( particularly transportation constraints many cities had ).
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City Evolution in Rapture :
Unlike many real cities Rapture was largely built all at once and was planned with a cohesive design ( evident from the utility and transportation grids that interconnect all the dispersed building clusters ).
Initially Rapture was a construction camp, housing workers and engineers who build the City infrastructure. Then there was a massive wave of immigration as the City's population was brought and settled in and the economy was built and stabilized.
There was more evolution as things learned in the early years brought modifications -- like better leak proofing or refined building techniques, and the Consolidation of the Metro to tie together newer areas not part of the initial plan ( the Atlantic Express is more like a Subway system, when a city needs something more like a bus system ).
Later, after most of the City construction ended (1952), there was a growth of 'suburbs' outside the City which offered more living space to those who found the Cityscape too 'closed-in'. Cheap construction techniques made significant Suburb expansion profitable, which changed city dynamics when people left the less savory parts of the City ( tenement-like conditioned in low-end residences ). Good transportation to the outlying areas also made this expansion possible ( AE long distance 'commuter' Trains still ran after the conversion/abandonment of most of the intra-city Atlantic Express passenger service ).
The 'cutting-off' of most of the links to the Surface World also brought changes that readjusted the City's economy, as did the early financial crisis (long before the Kashmir Incident).
In the time of BS1 (1960) the City had become a war zone, with Fontaine/Atlas's Splicers murdering people in the streets which forced Ryan to take significant security measures and to build his own army to stop the carnage. Ryan kept the economy alive and many of the outside communities isolated themselves from the strife. With Ryan's "death" the Chaos eroded the City further and the Faction Wars started which disrupted most of the remaining economy outside the organized powers, and further localized whatever was left. Murderous cults like Lamb's were isolated by the remaining powers when they preyed upon weaker neighbors.
Now New Rapture ( in the time of the MMORPG ) is starting to grow and is set on restoring cohesion/civilization, as City territory is recovered and rehabilitated and isolated communities are linked back into a larger mutually advantageous community. A number of the larger, better organized factions have already joined New Rapture ( most significant being the Neptune Fishermen and Ryan's loyalists in Hephaestus ).
Future evolution will be the major expansion of Order as New Rapture's citizens (the MMORPG Players) expand into the 'ruins' and 'wilds' to rebuild the City.
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Ryan's Deal :
Part of 'Ryan's Deal' was to not have State Welfare, and those who came to Rapture had to agree to that.
: There is no State Welfare in Rapture. 
: Rapture does not have any Public institutions to do any such.
: There are no Taxes in Rapture to pay for any such.
: The is no compulsion allowed to collect for a welfare state.
: For the majority of Citizens that was one major reason to be there.
: Citizens can have Charity if desired, but you cannot compel providing it upon others.
: Private Property is sacrosanct in Rapture's philosophy. Coercing property/wealth to pay for welfare is anathema. That goes for it being by governments as well as individuals.
Atlas would have people STEAL from others to obtain their sustenance or demand and force compliance.
Let the people who want that Welfare to leave ? Go Up to the Lighthouse - and then what ? Will they steal boats/subs from others to escape ? How do they explain how they floated in off THAT unfriendly Ocean ?
That Secrecy Issue ... Can they be trusted - They are already 'Deal Breakers' ? Everyone else's Survival IS at stake.
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Fewer Layabouts the Better :
Perhaps Rapture Society had an advantage because the 'lazy' and 'layabouts' mostly wouldn't have gone there, and neither would any of the welfare mooches or 'hand sitting' bureaucrats who managed them. So with most everyone pulling their weight there it would be more affluence on average. The writers make fun of "someone has to clean the toilets", but as a necessity and with wages negotiable, then that might be a rather well paying job. And if you shirk a unsavory job, then there likely would be someone else to do it for enough CASH. As mentioned elsewhere, someone innovative might even come up with a "toilet cleaning machine" to make it less 'unsavory' and increase efficiency.
When there is no expectation of 'Welfare', then would-be shirkers get off their asses and are not a drain on society.
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Prizes For Achievement :
Prizes of Recognition ( Like Oscars/Grammys/GoldenGlobe/Pulitzer/Nobel ) in Rapture -- 'The Fred'
Commercial/Technical Innovation
Science Advancements 
Artistic Achievement
Mention in Newspapers/Publications
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What Would a Child's Life be Like in Rapture ? :
How would children be handled in the Rapture Reborn MMORPG ? They are seen as NPCs, and possibly you Roleplayed as a Child in Old Rapture/New Rapture ?? Suppression of misbehavior by Players prevents the 'maiming/killing of children' walking about in 'New Rapture'. Survivors of 'normals' in various enclaves elsewhere. Children of Splicers ( likely NOT Splicers themselves ) probably should be good at hiding.
Old Rapture - Parental expectations ?? Social strata, the 'right' people Not everyone is a genius or can boost to a genius ( Read the "Small Print" on Brain Boost... YOUR BOOST MAY VARY )
Schools ( Note- the BaS2 Ryan Academy for Preschool, though a bit f'ked up to have THAT in Fontaine's Dept Store ... But then there were alot of f'ked up stuff in that DLC. ) The usual boring tours of Museums. Readin, Ritin, Rithmatic and Parasitism. Higher learning self-funded or some company paid 'training'. Ryan University probably not 'great' for liberal arts ( How much could it be with a population of 20 - 40 K total for Rapture ? ), but much more oriented towards high level research.
Child Labor ? Employment ? Issue is Labor cost versus Automation of machinery costs. Small businesses often have family member participation. Skill sets ... Many 'jobs' require only Basic skills. Probably will reflect low-end jobs available to teenagers in real world 1950s America.
Gangs ( pre-'civil war', and post ). Usual crime issues for City Constables to handle.
Little Sister 'orphanages' and kidnappings by Fontaine ( Bootleggers ? ) and then Sofia Lamb. How many of these unfortunate children "didn't work out" and were "disposed of" ?
After ADAM took over ?? %27civil_war%27 and later Chaos ??? Hiding, Danger, Parent's Fear, Survival, Starvation, Death, Enslavement by Lamb, Factions, Centers of Order in Chaos-era Rapture ...
In New Rapture, some Player's age might be of young adults ( children who were alive when the 'civil car' took place 1959 and have survived to 1970 ), Ditto Teenagers, now 10 years later.
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Kid Stuff - There had to be more than those meager attractions seen in Ryan Amusements, like other fun activities/games, etc.. ( see my extended map with alot more stuff in that complex ). Yay ! A Pinball game creation Mini-Game 'kit' for the Player Asset Creators ( Tablet/SmartPhone Friendly ). Very early 'computer' games might be showcased. Ryan the Lion puppet show theater for the 'Little-Uns'.
"Journey to the Surface" back when it was first a 'Thrill' ride ... Go on "Journey to the Surface" when all the effects worked. We only see it later after it hasn't run or been maintenance for 8 years -- Have some stuff ( production values ) kinda like the Slate Museum scenes ( whatever it is called ) in Infinite BS .
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Laws - Persons, Property, Process, Nations ( classically defined types of 'Laws' ) :
'Nations' part being something that Ryan would have defined as : His City NOT being beholden to nor interfered with by the Parasites of the Surface World, who WOULD most likely try to interfere. Hence his measures to not let them know of Rapture's existence ( ex- the Laws against Smuggling - preventing unsupervised contact with the Surface World ).
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Rapture - Not Everyone Could Be a Rocket Scientist (or Artist or Entrepreneur) :
Practical people were needed to make the Economy work ( Ryan probably would NOT want half the population to be soon to be 'out of work' Construction Workers either, or worse all 'Artists' ).
SO lots of ordinary people are NEEDED - refugees from war torn Europe, people afraid of 'The Bomb', Libertarians sick of The Surface world's creeping Socialism ...
There are lots of ordinary 'grunt' jobs, but at least with the latest tools/facilities/methods ( Somebody still has to unplug and service a toilet even WHEN the auto-toilet cleaning machines GOT invented ... )
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"Cleaning the Toilets" ? - Class Structure Reality - The Social Pyramid :
For every fancy restaurant or club in Rapture, we would see 3 Neptunes Bounty type/sized production facilities to supply Rapture's population with what it needed to survive ( there existing even MORE farm operations to provide foodstuffs ). There would be many handfuls of ordinary bars, eateries and grocery stores to feed all those businesses' workforce.
You cannot get away from the 'Social Pyramid' -- of those who WORK to produce basic necessities (for everyone). This is required be able to support any "affluent" wealthy class at the top. Rapture was shown to be stably running from ~1948 to ~1958, and weathered whatever economic adjustments happened ( until insane superhuman Splicer monster/terrorists were let loose on the City ).
'The market' (including Labor) finds it's own level. And remember that Rapture was full of 'can do' people, and not so weighed down with as many deadbeats as the society up in the 'Surface' World.
But then, the writers story narrative could not allow realism to intrude on it's weak 'Class Warfare' plot.
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Societal Concepts Considered in Relativity :
For those who thought that the presented evil actions of characters like J S Steinman and Sander Cohen were the product of Andrew Ryan's "Philosophy", you need to understand those atrocities were committed AFTER Fontaine's poison had disordered Rapture, and eliminated/removed many Societal Controls from the inhabitants. (( Consider what something ( like ADAM with similar disruptive capabilities upon people around YOU ) could do to YOUR own comfy HUMOR - Google "Comfy Chair Python" 'enlightened' world ... ))
Ryan's (and Rapture's) idea of freedom was just a different balancing point ( and actually much similar to that of America in the times before WW2 and FDR ). Rapture's Objectivist Society, with it's own Societal 'Checks and Balances', was subjected to widespread violent insanity, with the obvious (SEEN) destructive results. 
If anybody survived in Post-Kashmir Rapture for long, it was more because of the attempts by Ryan ( and the many non-insane Citizens ) to maintain Order through 'control'/'security' methods --- Which STILL 'fell well short' of rights-limiting measures the US Government imposed on it's Own Citizens during WW2. As well as that, the people also HAD TO continue with many (pre-disruption) activities to keep themselves alive. We never really saw the REST of a Less-Chaotic/More-Stable Rapture ( where organized survival was still going on, AND there was nothing to shoot ). THAT was not part of that "dystopia" narrative the writers spun for their 'Shooter' game plot (( Apparently it was no-matter/not-relevant how heroic THAT part of the story of the People of Rapture actually would have been. )).
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The 'Poor' Will Always Be With Us :
How many of these 'down and out' people that Fontaine/Atlas manipulated were really the byproduct of ADAM use ? A whole lot of junkies looking for handouts - Easy to manipulate/coerce - Wasn't that what Fontaine wanted ( And possibly MADE happen ) ???
Drunks are problem enough, but society has handled them for millennia.
People poison themselves ( Booze/drugs/ADAM ), and Ryan says "You are responsible for yourself", and Fontaine/Atlas tells them "It is Ryan's fault, and YOU deserve stuff". Which do you think these "down and out" people will want to hearJust as they exist today. ?
Unfortunately, you only hear reactions from Ryan and NOT from the rest of the people in Rapture who CAME to Rapture to be rid of the Handout-Kings. ( SO A Contrived plot ... a Failtopia MADE to Fail ).
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No Plasmids/Tonics For You, Boyo : 
One problem with the MMORPG plot scenario is that the Players are Ex-Splicers and therefore have no Plasmids or Tonics to use. This would cut out one of the interesting aspects fundamental to the Solo games. Even though the plan would be for many episodes of Roleplaying of Splicers/Daddies/etc ... something would have to add back some of the elements the Plasmid/Tonics had in gameplay.
Some equivalences in the MMORPG might be Various Thrown Objects that do similar/New things, more physical attacks like knocking the opponent over or dropping on them from above ( or dropping things on them ), more '3D' movements, more gimmicks for the hand weapons and melee ( perhaps armor 'suits' that have some weapons built into them ).
More tricks and traps... A Variety of different effects (for visual impact) can still be done without the ADAM stuff.
And we could have the Splicer opponents using more/different Plasmids/Tonics AGAINST you ( tactics which we barely saw in the Solo games ), which would then require some kind of countermeasure on the Players part ( Heh - flyswatter brought along to an area where Insect-Swarm-using Splicers are expected ... )
The dual-wielding mechanism (for the player) might still be desired, but now with some non-Plasmid ability more often pre-selected. ( You swing The Wrench and then shoot them in the face ... )
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Did Andrew Ryan's City Run On Paperwork ??? :
Could it even exist without it ?? Anarchy in Commerce is as mythical as Quantum Time Travel. Ryan himself mentions binding Contract with Dr Langford - as part of the Arcadia situation in BS1.
Ryan might have very likely organized Rapture Society to minimized Government, but you need to prevent people from going after each other with clubs in disagreements, SO you still need to formalize some things ( Ryan's world was NOT Anarchy. ).
You have to have some formal paperwork that at least :
* Define specifics of intent ( so others can inquire future plans and avoid conflicts )
* Agreements to allocations/exchanges (in a 2 party deal)
* Facilitate an arbitration process of some effective kind ( to handle odd outcomes - 'Breach of Contract' is an obvious one - some element of fairness that making 'gray areas' harder to exploit ).
There needs to be some kind of Registered Property Deeds that can show official ownershipPrivate ownership being the bedrock of the Capitalist America-like world Rapture was made the epitome of and allow Escrow for Ownership transfers. Business/Commerce is rather hard to have when there is no formal Contract Law -- When things are more complex than an agreement on the purchase of a few Sheep, or trading for a Turnip -- It takes more than a handshake to make a 'deal' before witnesses.
Something has to prevent business from automatically falling into 'Least Common Denominator' tactics ( thugs with clubs ) in a competitive environment. In a City-Scale business, multiple agencies are often involved ( with alot of resources/repercussions that can be wasted, if one side pulls out of 'an agreed to Deal' ).
Rapture likely had a system where the participants could demand proper 'official' and specific process and binding agreements as an option -- That would follow Ryan's 'principles' - choice. Of course, with process and enforcement and arbitration also come bureaucrats and lawyers and paperwork.
An old mechanism was to a deal publish publicly ( post a statement in a newspaper ) to make something 'publicly known'. But that could still be subject to abuse ( like 'trading' activities done in early MMORPGs before a controlled Trade Transaction box interface was added ... ), where one side requires the other to make the public statement, and then the other reneges on it's part of the bargain.
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Flag of Rapture ?? :
Nationalism ? Yes and No - identity - used as mark of official presence (City Authorities...)
There's no wind to make flags fly ( Currents out in Ocean .. big lights, [Bioluminescence|bioluminescent]] flags ? Hmmm )
( Ryan's face - He would not want it on the Flag ... on the Money ... OK ) Probably something like the 'Atlas Carrying the World' symbol ( the Classic Titan, not that terrorist thug's face ), perhaps along with the Great Chain ??
Mottoes like "Science, Industry, Commerce", etc ...
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== INHABITANTS : ==
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Would There Be 'Wanted' Men :
Did they accept criminals into Rapture ( and what would be done if they missed detecting this and it later was realized ) ??? With the original population Rapture had ( ~20000 according to the Novel ), there would have been some cases of Unknown (previous) Criminals being found out.
What would be considered 'criminal' ? Of course what constitutes 'Crime' on the Surface may not be the same as in Rapture. For example, Tax Evasion might not be seen in the same light as mass murder. How extensive the possible investigation of Rapture's immigrants might have been ?? Calling the FBI or Interpol might compromise the population transfer operation's secrecy ( Perhaps could be under a "cover story" of employment in Ryan Industries ??? )
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There's a Roleplaying Sidegame - The Rapture Interviews :
Roleplay along the lines of "LA Noire", where an investigator (The Player) has to delve into various potential immigrant cases, and to discern whether they are "Rapture Material". This takes place up on The Surface of course. There would be Investigation for evidence via various means ( document trails, testimonials, etc ... ), and then questioning the 'suspect' ( employs the facial/voice/posture reading feature of that game ).
Because of the Secrecy, The Interviews are done in Phases where more detail are exposed to the Interviewee ( and your task is to NOT let too much slip if someone turns out to be REJECTED ).
Gunplay and Other Violence may be involved. Other complication will no doubt make it interesting.
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Apparently The People of Rapture did not go the unisex/coed route.
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"The Perils of Mr Atomic" :
Ryan would make sure that ALL the latest Information that came out eventually about Radiation Sickness, Fallout, Bigger Bombs being Developed/Tested, etc ... Likewise the numerous bomb tests, and the News that the Soviets now had 'The Bomb', and then the H-Bomb. Research on the reported Radiation Sickness would have been be a top priority to obtain from The Surface.
So another 'creative' Asset for some Players to make and MANY to find strewn about in the MMORPG city.
Ryan may have, possibly at least, had plans to make Rapture's food production completely isolated/independent from the outside ( all the fish grown INSIDE, as well as food from the Farms ) when the Oceans themselves might become contaminated.
Popular song - "Duck and Cover and Kiss Your Surface Ass Goodbye" 
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Children In Rapture
What Would It Be Like As a Kid to Grow Up In Post-Ryan Rapture ? :
There was first the interim between the time after the New Year's bombing of the Kashmir Restaurant ( Fontaine's gift of Terrorism and Death to those children ) and Ryan 'dying' ( when the Chaos began ), and then the time after that.
First you have to survive - getting enough food and basic life-support ( Air does run out if/when the circulation fails. Power and Heat are next priority ).
Isolation and Community - Many people quite early would attempt cut themselves off from the depredations of dangerous lunatics like Sofia Lamb. They would band together in sections which had resources and stay away from the crazies as much as possible. ( Note - Not all the survivors were Splicers, and many Splicers were only half-crazy ).
The larger Factions might maintain a more normal environment, having larger numbers and means for safety and imposing some 'Civilization' type Societal Order. ( And assistance from the 'leader' ). If there were enough resources ( ie- fishing/farming areas ) other worthy people would gravitate to these groups.
Unfortunately, crazies/tyrants like Sofia Lamb would try to overpower such "Resistors"/"Unbelievers", so the fight for survival the children would experience would be more than just for sustenance.
Many kids lost their parents, and many had to latch on to other people to survive. 
Scrounging in the 'Outside'/'Ruins' for useful items. Kids can find and get into tighter hideyholes than adults can. They are unlikely to be Splicers.
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Normal Rapture/Normalcy - What would it have been like IN Normal Rapture for the Children ?
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Fluoride In Rapture's Water ? :
No. ( It is a Commie plot, and an imposition anyway AND a public expense - If you want it, you buy it yourself. ) Such things are not IMPOSED on citizens under Objectivism.
Maybe in Sofia Lamb's collectivist hell Sofia Lamb's collectivist hell - was only part of Rapture - perhaps only a quarter or third and the rest resisting and isolating her delusional and murderous tyranny from themselves. ... ( but Fluoride would be the least of the worries of what is 'in' the water there ).
Tooth Paste - yet another product ( even later when you might be able to ADAM-heal your teeth - breath, white appearance, etc ... )
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The Threat - 'Being Secret' IS Safe :
If the CIA or KGB did hear of Rapture, They WOULD Come --- At the height of the Cold Warhttps://www.conservapedia.com/Cold_War, you bet Rapture would be of great interest to both sides (and others). Any rumor of revolutionary human powers/abilities would further increase the priority ( Stalin was actually VERY interested in that subject - hence all the strange paranormal powers research he had ordered done in the USSR ).
So for the writers trying to make Ryan seem delusional/paranoid about Rapture's Safety/Security/Independence, it really wasn't a good writer's choice ( though it plays to the ignorance of many Players, who's public education doesn't cover such subjects much these days ). 
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The Later Cold War Arms Racehttps://www.conservapedia.com/Cold_War Would Have Doomed Rapture ??? :
Remember that not-that-much was known about Radiation effects of the A-Bomb yet ( the lack of precautions for post-WW2 tests showed that the contamination effects were little understood ). It would take massive buildups of such weapons decades later to be sufficient to poison much of the planet - Nuclear Weapon use Poisoning the Air, The Oceans, a Nuclear Winter, etc ...
On the other hand, with ADAM, radiation sickness damage COULD BE REPAIRED, and SO along with being shielded from much of the radiation ( That Mass of Water overhead ), Rapture might be the one place to survive such a global Armageddon.
Meanwhile In Columbia, they would still be selling toothpaste with "healthy" Radium in it ( Yes, that was a REAL thing at that time ). Though I assume they would get the Radium magically like everything else the city's people need ( or there would be 'none' in it, as in most of the fake advertising gimmicks and quack remedy claims ).
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Labor Saving Devices in Rapture : 
Of all kinds, for all jobs (home/business/industry). Fewer of the types of work labors/laborers which caused social divisions ( or were contrived to ) in the Surface World. Savings particularly if they eliminated inefficiency, and expanded utility.
Modern American style. Middle-class Post-WW2 appliance use, modern tools, processes and activities, automation.
Much would have been manufactured on The Surface. Rapture isn't big enough to produce most of these devices, other than to expensively custom build some of them. Many fewer are items which would be frequently purchased/replaced to warrant larger scale production within Rapture.
As years went by information from the Surface about new processes and useful/desirable objects would become known, and some would be obtained or manufactured. Local innovations would also offer some opportunity for new things of this sort.
Until the time when contact with the Surface was primarily cut off, replacements parts and additional items would have been imported. And businesses which did repairs, on being notified of the 'cutoff', would be given time to obtain a good supply of the things they now had a understanding of being required for the future years of repairs of various items in Rapture. Sellers of 'Surface' items would stock up (if possible) before their source was lost.
Ryan would have facilitated special (security conscious) ordering of emergency items from The Surface even after the 'cutoff'. He also would have suggested developing self-sufficiency, but it would be upto the Citizens to foresee the eventuality. It probably would have been in Rapture's long term plans, from the start, and complainers would be told they had no excuse.
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 "So Sick of Family Values" - Said by a left-wing politico in our recent times. 
'Family' Faked by Atlas - Used to Crudely Manipulate The Player into following the game's real Villain -- When his nonexistent 'family' MUST BE 'SAVED', and then is supposedly 'blown up' ( by 'evil' Ryan ) to 'cement' your empathy to Atlas, and not question following 'Atlas' in murdering Ryan.
Does 'Altruism' intersect with (real) Family ( NOT that manipulative 'Rapture Family' ) values ???
Going to Rapture cut many peoples extended family connections. But entire families did come.
The Solo Games didn't much address numerous NPC's immediate family -- Other than using it to try to fool you that Atlas was worthy of the Players empathy - Atlas's FAKE family ( which Ryan could have told you about, if he was watching and listening and didn't have his own 'game' in play ).
But some where :
* Mark Meltzer
* Lutzs
* Baby carriage
* "Three Little Angels - They are all gone now...."
* Eleanor vs Sofia ( The Mother from Hell )
* Ryan himself refuses to kill his (sort-of) Son, who has been programmed/mutated into being his assassin by his enemy.
But remember, it was used most prominently by Fontaine/Atlas - The Villain who turned Rapture into Hell ( and him painting Ryan as being 'the evil one' ... ). The Plot called for a Dystopia, so they threw together a Dystopia ... ( more a Fail-Topia - an incomplete illogical society designed to fail ).
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In the MMORPG, the previous Rapture-historical events have made possibility of most families disjoint/unlikely. There's a question how much of the Ex-Splicer Player's 'previous life' exists. How much of even the Player's Avatars ( and all the other ex-Splicer NPCs ) memories from 'The Before Time' remain ??
Can't have a proper full-blown MMORPG unless you have Players 'marrying' each other In-Game ...
This area is a whole 'nuther kettle of fish' for the MMORPG that I can only speculate on ( What the Game Company would see as permissible - When the Game already has a 17+ Rating - Or what they may simply ignore because of the complications ).
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Marriage Under Objectivism - a Contract :
BaSx mentions this in a advert, though Rapture being more a place of the 1940s Society/Social conventions likely wouldn't be changed severely. So it all depends upon the Laws in Rapture : The legal involvement ( which did already exist in the Surface World with an official marriage having legal consequences, but with various legal alternatives able to be applied to it ). For Rapture, there would be some kind of streamlining to 'remove the middleman' when possible.
BaSx maybe suggests contract 'provisions', which might be hard to discern legally, and may just be a matter of loosening the requirements for 'breaking the contract' ( without imposition/resorting to much 'official' anything ).
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Design Issue for Original Game - Questions ( Game Company ANYWHERE as 'edgy' as their (Levine's) claim ?? ) :
What happened to the Children of Rapture - How to handle the issue ...
* Young children at time of 'the Fall' in Rapture 1960 - 1969 ( 10 year-olds and up )
** Splicers - Fontaine says that 'many' people were killed in the madness
** Non-splicer enclaves - They would be safe and survive as long as the adults did.
* New children after 'the Fall'
** Allusions to 'activities' by Splicers in BS2 ( could use excuse of 'genetic damage' being feared )
** Non-splicer enclaves would not be affected by 'genetic damage'
* If missing, it would be a 'gap' in the logical existence of a Real city ( most MMORPGs totally ignore the issue ).
* Would require more Assets to be created, with appropriate behaviors, etc...
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"Rapture Colony" - Mentioned in Various Places : 
Proclamation by Official Council reward for information about Smugglers - seen in the Neptune's Bounty MP level -- and mentions "300 ADAM reward" ( So it was a late usage - not in 'early days' )
"Product of Rapture Colony" seen on some brand signs.
Terminology would make clear that Rapture was a place to 'move to' and not just visit, and that it was going to be something substantial and permanent. Useful to get that idea across without divulging too many details about Rapture to prospective immigration candidates.
Also saw "Rapture Sea Community" on a 'Sterner Sea Meat' sign ( and other places )
Those signs will still be around to be seen in the MMORPG -- Maybe in a bit less good shape - was odd to see so many from BS1 era still there in BS2 -- Woulda thought they would be targets of anti-capitalism by Sofia's followers.
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Temperate Climate ? :
Thought : Rapture didn't suffer the 'Hot Summer' of most Cities in the US, though 'fricken cold' could be arranged by simply not heating the air to be above the outside North Atlantic ocean water's ambient temperature ( heat in Rapture would 'bleed out' through the walls constantly ). Some less affluent areas might not be well heated in the public areas ( I've envisioned interior 'Streets' in parts of Rapture to offer a different setting than the continuous building/mall layout ). 
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Day-Night Cycle - Time Passage in the MMORPG Game :
Is there a night cycle in the city ? ( Dimming the lights to simulate a normal daily cycle for the inhabitants ) ?? Helps with some natural biological cycles.
Daily schedules ( expectations of 'nighttime' lulls in the City, open businesses - normal operating hours ). How long would this cycle be ?? Do you do a 2 hour (120 min) 'day' some games use ?
Sunlight doesn't much penetrate to the depths Rapture is at ( a few top floors of really tall building might be able to see a little difference - when you are looking out the windows, but they are still over a hundred feet below surface ). The glowing Abyss mass doesn't change much. So little or no external differences.
The city's (remaining) external lights probably shouldn't change ( on 24 hours a day ). And since so many haven't burned out or gone they must've been made pretty good.
Out in the ruins/wasteland, in most of it, nobody shifts the cycles. What lights remain stay on. Some Factions may have their own system.
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Expanded Underwater Effects :
The general mechanism would have to handle the flooding actions/effects -- including the explosive immersion that happens when a huge leak/opening lets in water at 280 Psi ( lb/sq inch ). A stream of water through a '1 inch hole' has enough force to easily knock a man over. A wall of water would flood an area virtually instantaneously, fatally blasting everything it passes thru ( propelling them against any opposing surfaces ).
The water environment effects actions, and transition cases complicate simulations further. Electricity is directly conducted, fire is only immediately projected, projectiles slow down quickly, explosive force is directly transmitted, movements are sluggish. Weapons like the Spearguns, originally designed for use in water become most effective.
Water currents outside depend on your location. Most of the city is in a protected zone in the shadow of the Seamount/Volcanos walls ( still with some turbulence eddies ). Beyond that and on the outside slopes of the volcano there is the ocean currents which shift seasonally. Closer to the surface they would be water effects cause by weather ( The North Atlantic is known for it's dangerous storms ).
Pressure differential effects depending on the depth. A number of 'farms' and industrial site were located in the shallower sections in and near the city because less complex diving suits could be used for those working out in the sea ( alot of prefabrication for the City took place there ). Deeper and the diving hard suits are required ( the Big Daddies/Maintenance Cyborgs have pressure-change resistance Tonics ).
Light is absorbed relatively quickly by water. Through 600 feet, even intense sunlight is completely gone. Many of the Solo game window/outside views are wrong, unrealistically showing light going much further. That effect is easily done with GPU graphics.
The MMORPG would have various water vehicles - Boats as well as Submarines ( and automated equipment ).
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Ultimate Rapture Evolution :
Big Daddies ( and all the Maintenance Cyborgs ) to gain sustenance could just shove barnacles into their ingestion port to be Puréed.
There might have been a (crazy) movement to convert everyone to such 'Cyborgs' to make Rapture fully self-sustained ... The true Rapturite - The Future ... ( Sounds like a fun Faction to run into in the MMORPG )
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The Atomic Clock in Rapture - Modern Capitalism is all about TIME :
Atomic Clock Used for synchronizing all clocks and devices in the City.
Rapture Gots to have one of those "In Rapture WE are Modern" public blurbs ( this one mentioning the "ATOMIC CLOCK" which is really more sensationalism than it really deserves ).
The devices were not exactly 'Rocket Science' ( Invented 1945, 1949 world’s first atomic clock was in use by the National Bureau of Standards. )
Probably is publicly viewable - Part of some 'Tour' Ryan would want to have show off ...
Potential use for Ryan's Secret Coding Communications to his Ryan_Industries Surface Organization.
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Clocks in Rapture (Rapture Standard Time) :
In the MMORPG, the clocks would be working again ( If they aren't they will be slated for work by players to bring them back into operation ).
Time will probably be accelerated ( ?? How to do this on clocks if the player is watching ?? ) so that the daily cycles in the attempted-realistic simulation will play thru in a more convenient play-time. The time-of day differences in routine ( for shops and such ) will be more apparent and accessible.
A 2-hour or 90-minute day ?? Player has to wait for his favorite shop to be open ( or at City Hall to file the paperwork for that Bounty on Clock Parts ). The Team lackey NPCs fortunately can (be tasked to) wait in line for such mundane things, and Rapture being a modern city DOES have many 24-hour convenient services.
Out in the Ruins, time might not be that significant ( and who knows what crazy hours [[Splicers[[ keep )
Most of Rapture is deep enough that you cannot see any sign of the sun - for thoroughness I would have there be some sign of sunlight in the tallest buildings ( within 200 feet of the surface ) and certainly visible for in-water submarines and missions that take player to/near the surface ( including an interesting set of weather effects for the North Atlantic too ).
Clocks and Watches ( preferable water-proof ones ) would be common player accessories and daily schedules for the 'Team' minion NPCs are all part of the details and tracking of Tasks.
Dimming of the lights at the 'night periods' would be done in parts of old Rapture and no doubt would continue in the reborn City. That would help vary the environments appearance (and activities) for the game. The neat Neon effects look much more impressive in near darkness. We would get Night cycles for the lamplight effects.
Idea for the 'idea bin' : Some crazed Splicer group who worship an old clock. I'm sure some Player Creator could come up with some interesting story material for something like that.
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An Awful lot of Paperwork in Rapture With All Those Filing Cabinets We Saw :
What good is paperwork without laws to back them up ? Accounting to track things internally ( at least for middling sized commercialism ), but if the Accounts don't match up to what they are supposed to be, is it then upto individuals to enforce their own rules and regulations and punish any crimes ? Contract enforcement ...
How do you run a commercial society ( Civil Law, as well as Criminal Law ) with no law courts, no judges, no lawyers, no police ?
It was quite naive to assume there was not any such things - a City the size of Rapture (town actually) with it's commercial and private property and business interactions simply could not run normally for the 12 years (1946 - 1958) it was shown to exist in a state of Anarchy.
Ryan should have been able to call upon such institutionalized organization, and be bound by it (due process) - That is why he had to get 'proof' about Fontaine's crimes, and also for the exile of Lamb for sedition, and for various other criminals ( all long before the "'civil war''s" crisis, which mandated escalated enforcement powers to Ryan to battle the threats to Rapture ).
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Common Myths and Legends (and Parables) For The Citizens :
* Johnny Topside, the man, the legend ( the Second Coming ?? ).
* The Jack Fan Club - demented Splicers worshiped Jack as a god ???
* Delta's Story ( and how he saved us all from Lamb The Insane )
* Ryan's Secret Grotto ( and all those rumors that Ryan survived )
* The Freighter Graveyard and other such tales ( treasure maps to it sold under the counter at Left-handed Pete's Bait Shop ).
* Lost weapons from the 'civil war'
* The Room 101
* Davey Jones Locker - do Big Daddies party out there ???
* Atlas - Shoulders of Deceit
* Be good children... or Sofia Lamb will come for you.
* The Cat that traveled by Pneumo, and other children's stories.
* Daddy, what did you do in the 'civil war'??
* The 'Yellow Submarine'.
* "And then the Coffee ran out" - The day Rapture Ruptured - How the %27civil war%27 got started.
* Hitler is still alive and living in Rapture - Stupid Splicer conspiracy theories.
* The Kraaken - "Kraaken" are legendary sea monsters of giant proportions said to have dwelt off the coasts of Norway and Iceland ( Heh, aren't we lucky Ryan picked this place here - wouldn't off-the-Bahamas have been better ? )
* The Dark Mystery - Did Jack/Delta actually consume Little Sisters ?? Taste like Chicken??
* The Floating City of 'Columbine' and other UFOs/phantasms of The Surface.
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Criminal Organizations :
* Smugglers and surface contamination - Horrors from 'The Surface'
** Smuggling in people ?? Kidnappings ??
** Some Smugglers are dealing with Splicers ( some ARE Splicers ) ??
* Just say NO to Splicing ( remember your pledge )
* The Posse - criminals wont be tolerated - players are called upon to 'take care of' an identified criminal who is resisting justice ( manhunts into 'the wild' to find the 'hole in the wall' etc ... )
* The black market - let the buyer beware
* The Protection racket - age old activity should not be tolerated
* Sleeping with the Fishes - dealing with gangsters can be dangerous
* Where did those Ninjas come from ??
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Lawsuits in Rapture ? :
Rapture Standard Headline : "Mr William Wallace ... 'Fire bolts of lightning from his arse'..." - Defective Plasmid causing destruction and great bodily harm ( and embarrassment ) now a Lawsuit against Fontaine Futuristics ..."
Unfortunately there still is a need in Rapture for Lawyers ( who are a flavor of middle men, with the potential for being MAJOR 'parasites' ). You can't (easily) have city-level commercial ventures without business contracts and such ...
And thus also 'bureaucrats'.
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Homes of the Rich and Famous :
The Rich escaping doomsday ... (They Went To Rapture ...)
Some Rich people had mansions built in more exclusive locations outside of (but connected to) Rapture. Many had enough money to simply have what they wanted built ( Let the Player Creators's creativity be unleashed ... )
The Wales Brothers and other architects/engineers were available who could get such monstrous/daring things built ( and have a good chance of not falling down or collapsing under the weight of the Sea ).
Prentice Mill had a mansion built above Millville ( north of Welcome Center ), which looked like something a railroad tycoon would have ( it even had a private AE siding for his private Train ).
Ryan's mansion ( how many different versions of "Atlas Supporting The World" statuary can you count there ?? ).. He didn't spend much time there and near the end (BS1) was almost exclusively living at Rapture Central Control.
Early on, private Atlantic Express Traincars would have been 'The Thing' - for anyone who thought themselves 'At the Top'.
Submarine docks/garage for luxury Subs ( ie- a customized Austen Streamliner Submarine )
Private Bathysphere Line into one of the major hubs ( added later after the Metro consolidation ) or a transfer tube to the nearest Cable Station. ( Potentially HORRIBLY expensive - even if it was a normal atmosphere 'Transfer Tube' tunnel ).
Huge Scenic windows which DID cost a fortune ( like those huge ones in Neptunes Bounty that didn't belong in an industrial plant, but WOULD in a rich man's extravagant mansion ). Large impressive Sea Gardens out in the Ocean for some of those windows ( or even private Viaducts ) to look out upon them.
Underground 'grounds'(tunnels/caverns) to go horse riding in or to shoot 'game' ( ostentatious, but what else is there to spend money on to show off ??) The rock cutting technology made it cheap to have extensive underground (bedrock) tunnels and caverns built.
Selling off all their Surface holdings would leave various Rich people ( who previously owned many houses and properties ), wanting at least one substantial 'Show' of their wealth.
Rich people often have armies of employees to maintain their Mansions, and to support the lifestyle they were accustomed to. So There would have to be all the infrastructure to support these employees.
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Mirror Mirror ... :
Have lots of mirrors used in Rapture to make closed-in spaces seem larger ( There are rendering issues, but GPUs GPU : Graphical Processing Unit in a Personal Computer. keep improving and effects like this will be more common ). Now ( with more capable GPUs in game computers ) you can look yourself in the face and be glad you are no longer a Splicer who never wanted to SEE your own face.
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Golden Age Rapture Furnishings : 
Stuff seen in Olympus Heights was quite pathetic ( ... detail limitations of BioShock's game engine ) only justified if alot of the original furnishings were simply stolen/burned ( to keep warm/dry ) once the %27civil war%27 disorder and Chaos started, and the occupants were no longer there to safeguard their stuff. Art Deco isn't just architecture, and there would be lots and lots of interior items. People coming to Rapture would bring their possessions with them ( not JUST a suitcase ), so there could be a wide spectrum of things (much NOT Art Deco).
Contests for 'Creators' might be held to see who can have a Residence room most crammed tastefully with different Art Deco (or other) stuff.
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Self-Sufficiency in the Modern World is a Tall Order :
Rapture is far too small and lacks the broad range of resources needed to sustain something equivalent to our modern-age existence for very long.
Find Alternatives - of which many may be MUCH more expensive, thus production being relegated only to the highest priority uses. Find Equivalent materials, OR create Synthetics, OR going long distances under the Ocean, to get what is required.
Do Without - more than a few modern technologies were based on materials taken from just a few special places in the world ( where they were eventually obtained cheaply enough to be used by ordinary people, otherwise they are luxuries only for rich people. )
PRE-Stockpile - Surface-obtained materials/tools cheaply, sufficient to last some long length of time (many-many decades) -- at minimum initially to give a little time to develop alternatives.
Continue to (have to) Import - from the Surface World ( Authorized 'secure/safe' imports may have continued for critically necessary things or for deficiency discovered late ). New technologies developed "Up There" might solve some of the shortage problems - allowing production IN Rapture.
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Fashion In Rapture :
An interesting idea would be : With fashions last taken from The Surface around 1952 ( the start of the cities forced isolation ), and only smidgens getting through via the Smuggling ( largely 'Surface' Newspapers and Magazines ), it might have been a gimmick by Rapture's desperate fashion peddlers ( who only have so much talent amongst themselves AND find themselves trying to cater to the reactionary mentality of many in Rapture ) to start moving fashion BACKWARDS -- Back through the Real Worlds 1930s and 1920s, to even potentially include the Edwardian (1901 to 1910) dress styles seen in the "Little-Sister-Vision" sequence in BS2.
Plausible, except for why mentally-deranged little girls in 1968 see such things clearly, when none there were yet alive to see it from Rapture 10 years earlier ? But then, THAT is also after it has been filtered through Delta's thrice-warped mental processing ( who WAS potentially there to see it ). Really, it is because the game designers simply copied an existing (strange to us) style, instead of using any real imagination to create something entirely new ( which IS hard to do and easy to botch ).
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Return of the "Straw Boater" Hat :
We saw at least one Splicer type in Rapture wearing it (Breadwinner??)
"Retro" ( like the Edwardian party-wear ) - was popular in the 'Moderne' 1920s ( like in "Gatsby" Gatsby - A well known FS Fitzgerald Novel about urban society in the Roaring 20s ... )
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Permissive Atmosphere in Rapture - So Where Were the Prostitutes ?? :
Just another kind of business for Rapture ( like the drugs shops in BS1 ... )
Might've been 'realistic' to see Street Walkers plying their trade on Market/Main Street in BaSx - as well as many other places ( even in BS1 time, and for BS2, not just in that 'brothel' Pink Pearl - though that may have been more Sofia Lamb Cronyism, and a sign that "The Rapture Family" wasn't quite so well 'mind controlled' ).
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A real 'Twist' would have been the disclosure that BaS Elizabeth had been (had to be) a Prostitute after she "arrived", as otherwise without money/job/knowledge/connections she would likely have been in 'the gutter' in no time. It is quite contrived if she magically/instantly becomes an employee of Sander Cohen's to pay for her upkeep. And if she had somehow brought valuables with her ( very vague the explanation of how she got to Rapture ), their strangeness might've set off alarms with Ryan, as evidence an outsider somehow getting into Rapture surfaced.
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MMORPG Reform of Rapture Press ( Ditch the Supposed Anti-Ryan Writer Mantra Monopoly/Control ) :
Simply having ( in the story ) the Free Press have constant lurid stories ( in the earlier days ) about ADAM Insanity and ADAM caused Disfigurement ( if not the Insanity ) would have dissuaded ( scared the hell out of ) huge numbers of Citizens into NEVER using ADAM. -- Fontaine might even be labeled as "a Poisoner", who is selling defective products ( with horrified relatives "gunning for him", etc ... ( Vengeance on Fontaine the Poisoner - Rapture is a small place with lots of blind corners - Fontaine could never be safe walking the Streets of Rapture without a curtain of thugs around shielding him ).
They ( the writers ) made sure that ADAM's negative effects didn't come to significant notice ( to reflect it to the Player ) before the %27civil_war%27 happened, OR it would have spoiled the writers 'Sudden ADAM' narrative plot sequencing ( done so Ryan could get the blame instead of Fontaine for Rapture's fall ).
But again ( gamewriters ) : Don't allow Real World likelihoods/plausibilities to interfere with their plot.
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Pron in Rapture :
They attempted to show some of this in BaSx but fell short of the potential 'exploration' ( after Rapture's 10+ years of 'freedom', THAT is all they could come up with ?? )
* Behind the Gray Steel Door
* The Story of 'R'
* Rita Does Rapture
* Log Jammin' Extreme
* Sea Slug Nights
* Plaster! ( The Adventures of Master-Plaster under the ThunderDome )
We did not hear any recordings of this genre on any Audio Diaries, which might have been big sellers -- WHEN there is proper portable media for these audio players, instead of that huge brick thing ( No doubt Sinclair's "Think Tank" had recommended Sinclair develop "Video" Tape as a big future industry ).
We did see 'Peep Show' in The Pink Pearl, and maybe the TVs seen in some of the rooms there were closed circuit playing appropriate 'material'. Strip shows at Eve's Garden are part of this genre.
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The Great Library of Rapture (ala Alexandria) :
If Rapture was going to be cutoff, and the outside World eventually destroyed, then there would have been an effort to bring into Rapture a huge mass of (potentially) useful human knowledge.
Unlikely that this Library would be making copies of every book brought into Rapture, as was mandated in Alexandria of old. How many copies would be sufficient to safely preserve the most important books ? ( Probably with a decreasing duplicate count with less critical/important judged books ).
Of course there would be all those books brought by the immigrants themselves.
A Microfilm copy might be archived securely ( with minimal space ).
Most everything Published in Rapture would have at least one copy there.
Books would be an important resource to the Citizens in the MMORPG's New Rapture.
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Rapture's "The Forty" (Club ?) :
The social elite in Rapture chosen by some society maven ( similar to 'the 400' (club?) in NYC society which was prestigious to be in - Membership was much sought by the "Who's Whos" ).
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"I'll be Dining at My Club" :
Various clubs with Dining and Hotel room accommodations would exist to cater to the wealthy and others for special events. Some people ( who are rich enough to ) live out of hotel rooms or frequent them for 'a change of scenery'
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Rapture People - No Excuses :
TODAY, Many People blame other people for their problems, which they themselves have caused ( including gamewriters ).
In Rapture's period, the majority of Ordinary folk looked down on such complainers as "Bums", so that most people were more likely to 'get off their asses' to help themselves. The People who CAME to Rapture were more the 'Go-Getters' types than the typical normal people of that time. They would be even LESS inclined to listen to the 'Complaining Lazy Bums' ( The gamewriters conveniently ignore that reality, 'Cuz'. ).
Andrew Ryan was a perfect scapegoat for problems in Rapture. It is what the gamewriters wrote - implying there was a whole lot of flaws in Objectivism ( In a system it being taken to a point which was NOT that far from how America had operated successfully with : BEFORE all the festering Wilsonian/Roosevelt Socialism set in ). 
This mess STILL might be explained in people who are driven half-insane by ADAM use, and then they hear the poisonous words of parasite-panderers like Fontaine/Atlas and Sofia Lamb. Still the gamewriters have that happen BEFORE ADAM even exists ( before the writers allowed ADAM to develop ). They only make serious side-effects manifest really only in time to blame Ryan and Objectivism for it. 
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Fire Department in Rapture
A 'Pay Service' versus 'All-Volunteer' or City-provided ( in the Pre-Chaos era ). Deluxe service, though 'in-place' sprinkler systems is also a useful method. The City might not skimp too much in providing Fire-Fighting service due to the enclosed spaces, which increase potential damage and secondary effects like asphyxiation.
General Safety seems a logical concern by may Citizens. Ordinances for preventing fires would be seen as a necessity.
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Moderns Whining About No Safety Net In Rapture ? :
Players - Not Understanding/Comprehend what it was like 70+ years ago during Rapture's time on The Surface in America ( and generally moreso in the rest of the World ) .
You used to have ( in America before the Welfare State grew ) many Charities and Benevolent societies which you could belong to ( and there's always family assistance too ) to get help. Those are NOT prohibited Objectivism, nor would they be in Rapture - Just no mandated/forced ( taxpayer paid for ) Welfare State. Objectivism is based on Individual Freedom, but also importantly on Responsibility for the possible results of that Freedom.
In the game so many people seem to manage to revert to the 'Bums' -- which people of THAT TIME commonly denigrated and tried very hard to avoid becoming. It might beg the question : of why people in Rapture ( in the game backstory ) weren't Vetted better when ALLOWED to come to Rapture ( the more rugged/self-sufficient type of person going there ). (( Cuz it did not fit the writer's contrived dystopia story ?? ))
We also might have to look at the possibility that ADAM use ( well before the Kashmir Terrorist Attack ) and addiction was being detrimental to mental and physical abilities ( including holding down a job ). Such self-destructive people would face even greater negative public opinion in Rapture. 
Consider : ADAM may have done like what Meth-Amphetamine does - making the users unable to function normally, and thus unable to work. And then them doing criminal activities to just survive and to feed their habit ( to buy/steal ADAM ). SO : Rapture would have those Mentally-affected people who were very willing to listen to 'Easy Solutions' - like what Atlas ( and probably Fontaine earlier and Sofia Lamb ) intentionally 'preached'. No amount of Social Welfare would save Rapture from having many such mentally disturbed disabled people ( perhaps making it worse, as now more deadbeat addicts could buy their first ADAM. )
THUS we should look more towards ADAM and Fontaine as being the agents of Rapture's failing.
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MMORPG Social Morals and Behavior :
As for morals being implemented variably ( different from our normal society - also different from place to place within Rapture for the MMORPG game ), then the Player has to figure out how far they can go ( or what is acceptable ). Some places where it might be as minor as simply insulting someone leads to them wanting to kill you, and to places where there is also noone to stop them from carrying it out. That still calls for alot more complex/detailed social interactions than we normally get in games : Without it being in staged scenes/interactions which the Player is 'led thru by the nose'Like cattle led thru an abattoir/slaughterhouse. - With canned interactive options and everything choreographed as an 'incident'. It should be more generalized and 'organic' than that.
Imagine a social etiquette tutorial ( or series of them ) which the MMORPG Players would have to be given to understand some exotic society, particularly if repercussions in the game can be Costly to the Player for breaches of 'expected' behavior. ( Note - the game mechanism has to support recognized niceties/insults, and appropriate/inappropriate behavior in various contexts. As you might guess Splicer Faction societies will likely have the extremes of such behavior codes. ) Perhaps the Players would have 'Team' member guidance/assistance in some of this. 
New Rapture Posted Areas - Local Ordinances ( "Propositioning" women in Olympus Heights versus in Sirens Alley ... Note - The Game having interaction interfaces and logic for "Propositioning" ... ) 
* Stealing things from Fellow Citizens ( and other Players ) or New Rapture.
* Physically Running into NPCs and other Players ( and Blocking Movement )
* Littering ( Near City Hall ), and dumping other nasty stuff within City Limits
* Defacing/Vandalizing Public Notices or Private Property
* Hacking the Pay-Toilets ( or someone's Vending machine )
* Noise Ordinances ( firing guns in New Rapture's Streets )
* Trespassing in someone's Residence
* Vandalism.
Etiquette with Other Costs :
Greetings, Rudeness, etc... 
Certain Reactions may bring less favorable interaction to you later. 
Information being provided ...
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PARASITES :
Drugs (and alcohol) are LEGAL in Libertarian Rapture, but there also would be the complementary societal component about SELF-RESPONSIBILITY.
Perhaps many Players today just assume (Ryan's) America of 1946 had its Citizens thinking like the Nanny State Socialism soaking the people's minds today. ( The game's writers seem to assume that, and so apply their "Presentism" to the game's Story. )
SO, the Citizens who abuse those legal Drugs and later ADAM-products who disable themselves are NOT to then be maintained at the expense of the rest of the Citizens. Charities can still exist, but that is only where the help is VOLUNTARY.
CONSIDFER : How many of those 'Poor' people which the gamewriters make use of to vilify Objectivism/Raptures Philosophy/Ryan ( and to drive the "WE WANT TO LEAVE" story subplot ) were due to their abuse of these items and had incapacitated themselves and could not be employable. That gives a reason for the Unemployment/Indigence is more than just Economic Downturn/inequality/predatory-capitalism/whatever. 
Because of Rapture's small size and isolation, you can actually have "the Workers" have a great deal of Leverage in the conditions of their employment. ( Also that the typical Rapturite is likely to be a 'go getter' BEYOND that of the normal People in the World at that time ( Post-WW2, Post-Depression ).
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