Blog Assignment, Community
After reading the chapter and giving some thought to community, events and such, write up a Blog entry analyzing some of the game applications we've looked at thus far (lite MMOs, other online games we've looked at) in terms of community tools, relations, events, etc. What's really terrific and why? What's innovative? Which games are really lacking in this department and why?
Community Tools. In terms of broadest community appeal, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better option than the avatar systems currently being put to use in many Asian MMOs (many of which transcend the traditional fantasy genre we're so used to over here). You can't really overestimate the power of being able to customize an avatar just the way you like it, and the thousands of accessories that are offered in games in places like Korea enable each player to carve out a unique identity... as opposed to, say, World of WarCraft, in which people are mostly going to look the same despite best efforts.
Community Relations and Events. Strangely enough, the best examples of this that I have seen haven't taken place in traditional digital games at all, but rather in ARGs. ilovebees still sticks out in my mind, and I can still remember the fiendish devotion to Wiki editing and communal effort it took to solve most of the puzzles. I can't neglect to mention the phone portion of the game, as people scrambled to reach the most remote of pay phones. I've yet to see a non-ARG come even close to the same high level of community integration.