任何人都知道：地球早晚會有石油短缺的一天。如果今天就發生了該怎麼辦？「石油用光光」（WORLD WITHOUT OIL，WWO），是一個生活化的互動式虛擬現實網路遊戲（Alternate Reality Game，ARG），遊戲為期1月，目的在於凸顯石油短缺的可能性。
WWO這款ARG遊戲，是由美國公共電視網、美國獨立電視電影製片者聯盟「獨立鏡頭」（Independent Lens）及電力影翼原始網路（Electric Shadows Web-original）程式設計部門所發起，並由Writerguy團隊製作。
WWO是第一個模擬石油短缺狀況的網路遊戲，要在網路上集結大家的智慧及想像力，以面對及嘗試解決真實世界碰到的問題：一旦石油開始短缺，靠便宜油價發展出來的經濟，將會面臨何種狀況?
「ARG網路遊戲的興起，就在於顯示出普世對世界的想像，以及建構出未來最佳方案的方式，」參與WWO計畫的建築師兼未來學家麥可宮妮（McGonigal）表示：「總結它的特性就是：如果你想改變未來，先來玩玩看。」
4月30日，真實的石油危機中樞中心在worldwithoutoil.org啟動，並與民眾張貼在網路上的部落格文章、影音檔案、照片及手機短訊等內容相連結。在該網站上，玩家將認識到危機帶來的廣泛衝擊，如汽油的價格波動，或是體驗全面缺乏油源的感受。玩家可透過網路書寫，自行補充上述體驗的細節，並藉此危機描繪自己的觀點。
任何年齡階層的人或是有上網路能力的人可在任何情況下參與。優勝者可獲贈WWO「非噸獎」獎品──由碳基金組改善能源效能所增加的「1公噸二氧化碳排放額補償」。這遊戲將提供100個獎項，讓「世界無油可用時」遊戲可達到碳平衡的成效。
Everyone knows that someday the world may face an oil shortage. What if it started today? How would your life change? WORLD WITHOUT OIL, a live interactive month-long alternate reality event to explore this possibility, was launched Monday by Public Broadcasting Service, Independent Lens and its Electric Shadows Web-original programming division.
Produced by the design team at Writerguy, WORLD WITHOUT OIL is the first alternate reality game to enlist the Internet's collective intelligence and imagination to confront and attempt to solve a real-world problem - what happens when a great economy built entirely on cheap oil begins to run short?
"Alternate reality gaming is emerging as the way for the world to imagine and engineer a best case scenario future," says WORLD WITHOUT OIL's participation architect, futurist Jane McGonigal. "It's been summed up this way: 'If you want to change the future, play with it first," she said.
As of April 30, the nerve center for the realistic oil crisis is at worldwithoutoil.org, with links to citizen stories in blogs, videos, photos, audio and phone messages posted all over the Internet. At the website, people will learn the broad brushstrokes of the crisis, such as the current price of a gallon of gas or how widespread shortages are. Players will fill in the details, by creating Web documents that express their own perspectives from within the crisis.
People of any age or Web ability can participate in the free event. The game will honor outstanding player contributions with WWO None-Ton Awards: offsets of one metric ton (2,204.6 lbs) of carbon dioxide, accomplished through increased energy efficiency implemented by CarbonFund.Org. The game will bestow a total of 100 such awards, making WORLD WITHOUT OIL a carbon-neutral effort.
