The App

As a follow up to my previous post about what makes for a game, I’ll answer a question I’ve been asked before about ROCKETON, which is whether or not it’s really a game. The answer I usually give is “if you think of it is as a game, you’re not wrong, and if you don’t think of it as a game, you’re still not wrong.” I hope I can offer a slightly more interesting response here.

First, what is ROCKETON? It describes itself as a “Parallel Virtual World,” meaning that the virtual space that application takes place on exists simultaneously in many places (in this case, on various sites). The application itself is an avatar-based app, where you can create, customize, and socialize with a flash-based avatar. The virtual space also includes other activities and objects for you to interact with, including games. That’s an interesting point for this question – one of the buttons on the toolbar is labeled “Games,” which seems to imply that the other aspects of the application aren’t games. I also find that on a regular basis I refer to it as “the app” to avoid any confusion. I’ve also called the game a “social networking tool” before. Of course, sites like MySpace and instant messaging programs also qualify as “social networking tools, and I wouldn’t call those games.

That might make the question seem decisive, but there are a couple of other considerations that complicate it. First of all, the app is a virtual world, with its own resources and rules. A social networking tool that doesn’t count as a game might offer purchasable tools or features that make it a more effective tool, but they don’t have resource systems used to acquire virtual possessions for possession’s sake. The existence of virtual resources creates a boundary between the avatar and the person it represents – when I use a chat program, I’m using a tool to communicate information about myself. I can do this with ROCKETON, but I can also meaningfully talk about my avatar independently from myself. I don’t have a pet turtle, but my avatar might. I don’t know how to play the guitar, but my avatar can really wail on his virtual guitar. The fact that items exist in the virtual space for their own sake makes the virtual space game-like.

But there’s an even more important reason why the application makes social interaction game-like. If we look specifically at the chat feature of the game, we might be tempted at first to think of it as functioning exactly like an IM program such as AIM or MSN. However, when I type a sentence for my character to speak in ROCKETON, everyone in the same virtual room can hear me, and everyone in a different virtual room cannot. This means that my avatar has a location within the virtual world. This limitation actually creates a new concept that structures the way I interact with websites, and there’s nothing more game-like than utilizing limitations to create new kinds of experiences.

In short, though it’s accurate to call the application a social networking tool, I also think it clearly counts as a game, and I would even go so far as to say that it provides a uniquely game-like social experience by providing a structured way to socialize with other users through your avatar without being your avatar. The status of the application as a game might be more clear in the future as we release more features that allow users to participate in large-scale goal-oriented activities with their avatars.

Ellipsis

Virtual Worlds & Online Diaries

What would it be like to share your diary within a virtual world? We've all seen text diaries, video diaries and photo diaries, but what would distinguish a virtual world diary?

Would you have your avatar act it out in real-time? Or would you create a space, like a virtual home, in which you share and express your life? Maybe the objects in the virtual home would mirror your real home. Maybe your family and friends would be represented by avatars or appear in a virtual scrapbook.

One way to create a virtual world diary is to reenact key moments in your life using avatars and record these moments as a video, Flash animation or macro, then play it back when others visit your virtual space.

Realistically, most people don't have the time to create a meaningful virtual reenactment. However, if there were an easy scripting tool, along the lines of a blogging mechanism, then creating a virtual diary using a set cast of avatars that you dress up might not be so daunting.

Another possibility is to focus less on your real life and instead create a diary that’s about your cyber life. I could envision people creating a diary of the places they visited online and what they thought. Using ROCKETON's browser plug-in, this could be easily automated. It could record the URLs a person visits, and that person could then add a running commentary using text, audio, video or photos. This would be a dairy of your thoughts while surfing, and like all diaries, it would be selective, only focusing on the highlights of each day in cyberspace.

I'll keep ruminating on this. In the meantime, I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on how a diary might take shape in a virtual space like Second Life or ROCKETON.

Captain Hoff

Games and Game-likeness: Defining the Gaming Medium

Reading Craig Perko’s (http://projectperko.blogspot.com/) month-old post – or rant, if you prefer – about “message games” reminded me of one of the topics that I find really interesting: what is it that sets games apart as a medium? The kind of games Perko is talking about are simple games that involve clicking through a scene, or performing a single action, and may include moralistic points. The problem is that one click does not make a game – it makes an animation that you have to click on to see.

In reality, there is no universally agreed upon definition of a “game.” We can describe them in general terms, however. Games are interactive; games offer player choices; games either have built-in goals or a means for players to develop goals as they play. There are a variety of features that are common in games, or important in certain genres, but I think these are the most fundamental features that make an experience a gaming experience.

Here’s a different approach. Marc LeBlanc has compiled a list of 8 aspects of games that make them fun (http://www.8kindsoffun.com/): Sensation, Fantasy, Fellowship, Discovery, Narrative, Expression, Challenge, and Submission. If we consider, however, not just what makes games fun, but what makes them uniquely fun, we see that other media can fulfill some of these kinds of fun just as well, if not better, than games. Movies offer plenty of sensation, novels contain compelling narratives, and any kind of social networking site can offer fellowship.

So the real question is how can games offer these kinds of experiences in a unique way? By approaching them in a game-like manner. For example, if a story isn’t linear, or preset, but branches or can be traversed in a non-linear way, then it is not just presenting a narrative, but a game narrative. This makes the narrative more than just a story – it’s a way of exploring the possibilities of gaming. A compelling game narrative doesn’t just present the player with a story – it lets the player see the story being created as the game progresses. Similarly, every kind of fun on the list above can be approached in a game-like way.

Why should we care if a certain experience is game-like or not? Some of us like to call ourselves gamers, or say that we love gaming, but if we don’t know what goes into a gaming experience, what do we mean when we say that? Games may very well be the medium of the 21st century in the same way that film was the medium of the 20th century, but if so, then games need to have a clear sense of what it is they have to offer. If we ever want to see the full potential of games, we need to find and explore the parts of an experience that make it into a good gaming experience.

Ellipsis

Welcome to the ROCKETON Blog!

This is where we'll update you on all the latest news, features, bugs and buzz.

We're in Closed Alpha right now. If you've been invited to join, we welcome your feedback and ideas. If you haven't been invited, click here to sign up!

Starting a blog on Friday the 13th isn't exactly good luck, but we'll see if we can survive the day. That said, there's been no catastrophes so far.

A lot of people are asking when we're going to open up to the public. All we can say is that ROCKETON is evolving quickly. You'll see that we're adding new features all the time. We'll open ROCKETON up to the public and launch when we feel it's ready.

Stay tuned, and we hope you enjoy the experience!

Captain Hoff