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In its earlier incarnation, ScottLand was just a celeb vanity site - not much more than a link repository where comedian Scott Thompson tooted his horn. Now the Kids in the Hall graduate seems to have joined the Society for Creative Anachronism. The resulting medieval-themed playground is both a wickedly funny satire of online communities and a perfect way to prep for the Kids' current 16-city North American reunion tour.
ScottLand has enough ivy-decked pages, secret scrolls, and ornate maps to give any D&D fan a Ron Jeremy moment. According to legend, the old ScottLand was obliterated by an explosion caused by the head-on collision between a truck carrying nitrous oxide and one carrying ginseng. In its place arose a monarchy ruled by Thompson's ubiquitous alter ego - the martini-drinking chanteur Buddy Cole.
Although the site is free, access requires a login. Be prepared to choose a guild or profession: Life in ScottLand demands hierarchy, and you must define your rank - say, a perky Troubadour or a sullen, shit-encrusted Night Soil Collector. Want to make a friend? Chat away in the OvalSquare. As in most such cyberspace locales, don't count on discussing Sartre. Low-ranking Footmen and high-ranking Fishmongers seem to find common ground in such queries as "How old are you?"
While ScottLand gets bogged down at times in the weight of its own joke, it seems to do so by design. Its tropes exaggerate the tired constructions of MUDs, MOOs, role-playing games, and online graphical worlds, much as Thompson's Francesca Fiori bit brings out the affectations of Eurotrash. The delusional world of online existence becomes far more habitable after a dose of this Kid's absurdist wit.
ScottLand: free; www.scottland.com.
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