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It’s not hard to see the appeal that Ernest Cline’s best-selling novel “Ready Player One” held for Steven Spielberg and Warner Bros. Pictures. Cline’s story proposes a virtual world populated with pop-culture figures from the 1950s to the 2010s. But darn it all: An echo chamber isn’t as fun as it sounds, even when it’s the only game in town.

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CalMatters is a Sacramento-based nonpartisan, nonprofit journalism venture committed to explaining how California's state Capitol works and why it matters. It works with more than 130 media partners throughout the state that have long, deep relationships with their local audiences, including Embarcadero Media.