Collective intelligence used in alternate reality games...

newmac · Post by **newmac** » 07 Mar 2007, 11:57

http://www.worldwithoutoil.org/

This is a fictional game to see if collective responses can lead to intelligent planning solutions.

No idea how it is going to work. Anyone heard anything else about it?

Miss Madam · Post by **Miss Madam** » 07 Mar 2007, 12:22

Hmmm not heard about it before, and am struggling to get the java links on the site to do owt.

But then it's been one of those days... I've been resisting the urge to chuck my laptop out of the office window for chugging along like an old amstrad since, oh.. about mid morning.

I think it could be a useful game / experiment and will def' try to hook up on the 30th April.

On a different but slightly related note, did you read the article in the New Scientist a couple of weeks ago (24th Feb) called Virtual Outbreak? It discussed a 'disease' outbreak in virtual game World of Warcraft which was planted in the game as a joke by the game's developers but which spread like wildfire; the incident sparked the scientific community's interest in using online gaming communities and virtual worlds to model behavioural responses to pandemics and global disasters. Which sounds great, until you realise that these are 7.5 million people getting their kicks living a fantasy life as a collection of pixels - are they a representative sample? Also, how you'd respond as a character which can just hit the restart button when the 'game over' message comes up, is probably rather different to how you'd respond in real life. Or are the edges blurring?

Cat

GD · Post by GD » 07 Mar 2007, 12:58

Chill out Cat, it's only a demo site so far.

See http://www.writerguy.com/ and click his "world without oil" button.

WRITERGUY IS:
creative director and producer
GAME TYPE: alternate reality game
TARGET PLAYERS: general public
HIS TEAM'S MISSION IS TO:
create engaging cooperative and imaginative play on a major social issue
TAGS: worldwithoutoil, alternate reality game, game for the public good, oil shock simulation
HIS CLIENT: ITVS
FUNDED BY : Corporation for Public Broadcasting
YEAR: 2007

World Without Oil is the first major project to invite the Internet's staggering collective intelligence and imagination to address a real world problem: a realistic global oil shock.

The game for the public good begins April 30.

"Play it ? before you live it."
VISIT THE TEASER SITE

"It is hard to envisage the effects of a radically reduced oil supply on a modern economy or society. Yet just such a radical reduction is staring us in the face."
- Michael Meacher, UK environment minister

Miss Madam · Post by **Miss Madam** » 07 Mar 2007, 13:05

Ta for that - will check out the link.

Don't suppose you are any good with fixing Lotus Notes.... gah....

GD · Post by GD » 07 Mar 2007, 13:18

Never used it, sorry!

Back to the game, it will be interesting to see if anything useful comes of it, although it's difficult (for me, at the moment) to imagine how.

isenhand · Post by **isenhand** » 07 Mar 2007, 13:32

Looks interesting. Have to keep an eye on it.

writerguy · Post by **writerguy** » 09 Apr 2007, 17:49

Here's some more info, in a c|net article on World Without Oil:
http://news.com.com/Provocative+politic ... 71089.html

Vortex · Post by **Vortex** » 09 Apr 2007, 19:22

Does that site work with Firefox?

I don't seem to be able to click on the icons etc.

writerguy · Post by **writerguy** » 10 Apr 2007, 00:23

Vortex wrote:Does that site work with Firefox?

I don't seem to be able to click on the icons etc.

They're not clickable, just rollovers, according to the HTML/js code. I think earlier in this thread someone noted it's just a "teaser" site. The game begins April 30.

GD · Post by GD » 11 Apr 2007, 10:30

Welcome to P/S writerguy,

what's your opinion on whether anything useful can come from the game, or will responses be constrained by program logic / parameters?

writerguy · Post by **writerguy** » 13 Apr 2007, 23:15

GD wrote:what's your opinion on whether anything useful can come from the game, or will responses be constrained by program logic / parameters?

Full disclosure: I am the guy running the game, so apply appropriate bulls***/koolaid detectors.

I think there are many possible useful outcomes. I often see posts in here and in The Oil Drum wondering how to "get the message out" to a wider audience, especially younger people. I think that will happen in WWO. (To some degree it's already happened: google "world without oil".)

I see many posts in here and in TOD about what to do when the oil shocks begin. These posts seem invariably focused on individual decisions: "What should *I* do? How should *I* prepare?" The game is a way to go beyond individual action and into the realm of collective, and even massively collective, action. Considering the nature of the problem, that's a very useful outcome.

If you engage with alternate reality games for any length of time, you begin to appreciate the power of collective intelligence and imagination. It's the power of this forum, but magnified. If by placing a narrative thread within the oil depletion issue, we can get that hive mind to look at the problem even briefly, it could cast a powerful new light. Even if it merely helps us understand the problem's dimensions more fully (which I think is a minimum result), that's useful.

Okay, stepping off of soapbox.

GD · Post by GD » 16 Apr 2007, 09:21

Cheers WG. I'll take your word for it! Not sure I'll have much time to delve in myself...

Bandidoz · Post by **Bandidoz** » 17 Apr 2007, 14:52

writerguy wrote:If you engage with alternate reality games for any length of time

I used to play Command and Conquer, Red Alert, and Total Annihilation. They are excellent at getting people to think in terms of working with limited resource.

writerguy · Post by **writerguy** » 17 Apr 2007, 16:52

GD wrote:Cheers WG. I'll take your word for it! Not sure I'll have much time to delve in myself...

Stop by and take a look after launch on April 30. http://www.worldwithoutoil.org

writerguy · Post by **writerguy** » 17 Apr 2007, 16:55

Bandidoz wrote:
writerguy wrote:If you engage with alternate reality games for any length of time
I used to play Command and Conquer, Red Alert, and Total Annihilation. They are excellent at getting people to think in terms of working with limited resource.

Agree: games can be really quite excellent at teaching about interconnected systems.