there are thousands of RPG or multi-player games that exist today. i think the factor that makes agoraxchange particularly enticing is the ability of the player to use abstract thinking skills to visualize political alternatives that he or she may wish were implemented in the real world. this game tends to draw people who have more of an interest in politics and policymaking; people who are interested in more traditional multi-player games will probably gravitate towards something different. however this game does have certain elements of the traditional games (competition and socializing) that will help to keep players interested and engaged.
meeting other people? this is not Match.Com so why is the object to make connections and friendships?
and getting a reputation among players seems a little more game-like. if point values and scores were kept, players would be able to rise and establish themselves in the game. those amounts could then be viewed on players' profiles showing others their experience and capabilities. if the game really is a "game" then someone would have to be the winner. if not, the game turns into a SIMS type social chat room with no defined goal. i guess trading recipes and political standings would be the object then, huh?
I think if the game comes off as a nerdy geo political game then MOST people will be turned off and not want to play. Let's face...we love our sex, drugs and violence and this game needs to include that! Now, the awesome part would be to sneak in some geo political concepts and strategies that players would need to understand if they want to really succeed at the game. I mean we have all played The Sims and forced people to fall in love with each other, why not take that concept and create a sort of "government tycoon" game. I think there are many people out there who have entertained the idea of being President, Czar, Kaiser, Shah, Prime Minister, King, Queen, Presidente, etc and what kind of country they would like to create. Why not incorporate an idea like that into the game...I think that would be so much fun!
While it may ne nice to think that some players will have the most fun learning about the state of the world and how it can be better run, realistically this game will draw in players the same way any other game would: competition and a chance to socialize. People won't often play a game for the sole purpose of learning, but if they can socialize with their friends (for example if they had interactive avatars) then they would be drawn into the game several times a week/day/etc. With this in mind it may be wise to engineer the game to make socializing easier between players, in order to draw in more participants and increase the validity of the results of the game.
i definitely think the competition aspect of the game is very important in drawing people in; however, i don't think that competition is the most important factor in this particular game. people play games that mirror their interests. for example, people who like fantasy will probably play some game involving wizards and dragons, people who like spy games will play a spy game, etc. in this fashion, the crowd that agoraxchange will draw is not going to be just a random assortment of people. it's going to be those who have a vested interest in imagining and creating an alternative world with alternative politics. the people who play this game will most likely not be doing so mainly for competition, but for the pleasure they get from pursuit of abstract political thought. this doesn't mean that competition and game results don't matter, i just don't think they are of #1 importance with this game.
there are thousands of RPG or multi-player games that exist today. i think the factor that makes agoraxchange particularly enticing is the ability of the player to use abstract thinking skills to visualize political alternatives that he or she may wish were implemented in the real world. this game tends to draw people who have more of an interest in politics and policymaking; people who are interested in more traditional multi-player games will probably gravitate towards something different. however this game does have certain elements of the traditional games (competition and socializing) that will help to keep players interested and engaged.
meeting other people? this is not Match.Com so why is the object to make connections and friendships?
and getting a reputation among players seems a little more game-like. if point values and scores were kept, players would be able to rise and establish themselves in the game. those amounts could then be viewed on players' profiles showing others their experience and capabilities. if the game really is a "game" then someone would have to be the winner. if not, the game turns into a SIMS type social chat room with no defined goal. i guess trading recipes and political standings would be the object then, huh?
I think if the game comes off as a nerdy geo political game then MOST people will be turned off and not want to play. Let's face...we love our sex, drugs and violence and this game needs to include that! Now, the awesome part would be to sneak in some geo political concepts and strategies that players would need to understand if they want to really succeed at the game. I mean we have all played The Sims and forced people to fall in love with each other, why not take that concept and create a sort of "government tycoon" game. I think there are many people out there who have entertained the idea of being President, Czar, Kaiser, Shah, Prime Minister, King, Queen, Presidente, etc and what kind of country they would like to create. Why not incorporate an idea like that into the game...I think that would be so much fun!
While it may ne nice to think that some players will have the most fun learning about the state of the world and how it can be better run, realistically this game will draw in players the same way any other game would: competition and a chance to socialize. People won't often play a game for the sole purpose of learning, but if they can socialize with their friends (for example if they had interactive avatars) then they would be drawn into the game several times a week/day/etc. With this in mind it may be wise to engineer the game to make socializing easier between players, in order to draw in more participants and increase the validity of the results of the game.
i definitely think the competition aspect of the game is very important in drawing people in; however, i don't think that competition is the most important factor in this particular game. people play games that mirror their interests. for example, people who like fantasy will probably play some game involving wizards and dragons, people who like spy games will play a spy game, etc. in this fashion, the crowd that agoraxchange will draw is not going to be just a random assortment of people. it's going to be those who have a vested interest in imagining and creating an alternative world with alternative politics. the people who play this game will most likely not be doing so mainly for competition, but for the pleasure they get from pursuit of abstract political thought. this doesn't mean that competition and game results don't matter, i just don't think they are of #1 importance with this game.