Carl Loeffler and I originated DAS CASINO in the Art Com
Electronic Network conference on the WELL (Whole Earth
'Lectronic Link). Carl wanted to explore gambling, and I put
together a simple UNIX program that simulated roulette, my game
of choice. Together, we posted an introduction that explained the
game, and that we were running a single game casino. The
convention was to bet Casinobux, but as the game developed over
the next year and a half, people bet anything and everything. The
WELL's conferencing medium at that time (1987-88) was text, but
because the given space was a gaming space, with rules of play, a
generalized, extremely flexible casino was developed collectively.
People assumed characters, sometimes multiple characters, and
through their interaction, elaborated on the sense of space. They
described all sorts of things--the floor show, the foyer, the coat
room, their cars outside, the bar, whatever was in their
imaginations. The fact that there were conflicts in the descriptions of
the casino only heightened the action, as when the entire Russian
army (in the form of one person), enraged by heavy losses, invaded
the floor show by mistake. The effect was often like the Charles
Ives piece of two marching bands colliding, and yet, because DAS
CASINO went on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for a year and
half, a fairly coherent space developed with specific features, such
as a broom closet, the bar, the parking lot, the stage, the music. And
of course, the game went on with winners exulting in their skill, and
the losers crying at the bar.
At two distinct times, the sense of space extended from the network
to the real. We held a giant DAS CASINO party fund raiser at the
Art Com loft for everyone on the WELL who could attend, and
continued the conference from the party on-line. We had roulette,
craps, blackjack and poker games going on, and later on, a very
infamous floor show. On another occasion, Carl and I, dressed in
overcoats, dark glasses, and carrying violin cases, showed up at
8am at the residence of a heavy roulette player who had bet his
house and his wife and had lost. We represented ourselves as the
Art Com Collection Agency and demanded the goods.
As time went on, we developed other techniques for developing a
sense of space, or for exploiting a sense of space on text-based
conferencing networks, but DAS CASINO was our most interesting
effort.
--Fred Truck