CMC:Gaming
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Contents |
[edit] Introduction
The Multiplayer Gaming project was designed to give you direct experience with graphical communication environments that are being considered, in combination with other social function spaces like facebook and blogging, the future of the web. Like our virtual community project, I am assigning this project a number of weeks in advance of its due date. You will thus have ample time to integrate into the community, explore the world, and have enough information to formulate educated opinions and conclusions. This means I expect you to participate in these worlds a fair number of hours each week and not casually test the waters. You will be surprised how much there is to experience beyond the newbie stage. There are educational opportunities, sports activities, help groups, authors, conferences, concerts, and of course many many conversations to be had with other users hailing from all over the world. Each world also has its share of adult content. These are easily avoidable, but you are welcome to participate at your own discretion.
A Brief History of Second Life! (really interesting)
[edit] Your Journey
You will conduct your journey in "Second Life" and I STRONGLY encourage you to go beyond my required activities (below) and discover some places for yourself.
The best way to find places on your own in Second Life is to use the Search function in the main second life screen under the Edit tab (note there is a button to screen out adult content here). The easiest way to find interesting places is by clicking on the 'features' tab. You can also find out about cool places by talking to people "in-world" as it is called. Other good places to start your own journeys can be found on the 'links' section further down this page.
[edit] Required Activities
The following is a list of required activities in which you must participate as part of your research.
- Explore the "Welcome" area thoroughly. Here is where you will be able to learn how to build your character and navigate through the world. Both worlds have live helpers available to answer your questions. Take some time and construct your avatar!
- Speak to at least 4 people each time you visit. Find out about their character and what they like to do in-world, but be careful in asking them off-world related questions like "what do you do for a living" or "where do you live" without first getting to know them some. This can be considered offensive by some!
Visit 5 of the following REQUIRED locations (NOTE: you are only required to visit 5, originally you had to visit all 10):
- NOAA
- Navaria video Sphere
- Tempura Island
- Princeton University
- Capitol Hill
- Leeds College Design for Digital Media Class Exhibit
- Abbotts Aerodome
- Immersive Aquarium
- Paris 1900
- Svarga
In addition, also discover places on your own:
- Visit any 4 of the following: a night club, a coffee shop, an art gallery or museum, a botanical garden, a support group, a concert, or other related space
- Visit at least 2 different spaced dedicated to education, learning, or teaching
- Visit at least 2 different kinds of shops or stores. There are shops for clothing, boats, tattoos, furniture for houses, and more.
- Visit at least 2 different corporate locations. I've found many corporations have setup shop in-world including Apple, T-Mobile, AT&T, Reuters, Wired Magazine, Dell, and others.
- Partake in at least 2 different sports activities or games. There are many possibilities including sky diving, snowboarding, car racing, playing cards, sword fighting, and many more.
- Explore at least 2 different types of 'worlds' with distinctly created features. There are worlds dedicated to the science fiction series Dune, modeled after Cyberpunk fiction, cities designed to look like foreign lands like Japan and Egypt, and so on.
(NOTE - you can only use up to 4 sites listed in the "Top 10" or "Top 20" lists in the link pages below to fulfill these requirements. However, feel free to use as much material from the 2L Showcase pages as you like!)
[edit] Reporting your Findings
There are two components to the Gaming project's final delivery. The first is an activities chart detailing your interactions. The second is a 5-page reactions paper discussing your conclusions.
Activities Chart - This spreadsheet formatted table should detail your playing dates and times, locations visited, interactions with other users, and avatar modifications. A sample table may look like the following, but feel free to organize as you see fit but please be precise and specific in content:
| Date in-world | Duration in-world | |
| 10/10 | 2.5 hours | |
| Avatar modifications | Gave myself a beard, got a tattoo, bought a new shirt! | |
| Character interaction | Topic of conversation | |
| Donna Fayray | helped me learn how to drive 2L cars - I learned ... and found it to be ... | |
| Mica Miyato | I talked with Steve Jones about snowboarding and he told me ... | |
| Location visited | Theme or purpose of location | What I discovered or what I did |
| Apple Store | Help/Sales of Apple products | checked out new iPhone ... |
| NOAA's Virtual Island | Weather Education | I rode a weather balloon and learned about ... |
Conclusions Paper - While participating in your virtual world, prepare for your eventual paper. This should be no longer than 8 pages. In this paper consider the following questions:
- Part 1:
- Briefly describe your progress from Newbie to a more skilled user. Any comical moments? What does this say about the learning curve required to 'exist' in this world? How does it 'feel' to live in this world?
- Did you feel you were able to successfully express yourself through your visual avatar? To a greater extent than within a normal discussion forum? Why or why not? How did you perceive others identities?
- Did you find yourself 'going it alone' or were you socially active? Have you developed any friendships or other relationships in-world?
- Part 2:
- Besides the obvious graphical difference, how does this world differ from a normal discussion forum similar to the one you researched in the Virtual Communities project? How are they the same?
- Describe the economy of this world. What is it used for, how does it operate and to what degree does it affect users motivations? How do corporate entities play a role?
- What is are the significances of users being able to create their own items, buildings, story lines and other content for use in-world?
- Who is responsible for rule making and general governance, how does it develop? Is there evidence of multiple strategies?
- What comparisons can we make between web 1.0 and web 2.0? Is a location in this world just a glorified website?
- Do you intend to continue participating in-world?
[edit] Getting Started
You will need to do the following to setup your system for "Second Life" if you choose to work from home (note: the dorms are often very slow!):
- Find out your system specifications to see if they meet Second Life's minimum requirements:
- Join and install Second Life
- If you have a hard time with graphics, speed, or system crashes try my guide to making Second Life run better!
- Begin exploring! You will probably find these Second Life links helpful in starting your journey. Good luck!
