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Passively Multiplayer Gaming
errorjustin writes "In a recent Mobile Games Conference keynote speech, Justin Hall had the audience imagine their life as a videogame: 'You gain 'experience points' by using MSWord or by sending emails. Every item you cross off a 'to do' list gives you an experience bonus, until eventually you 'level up' your life. You become U+1.' So what can be done with all this user-generated data? That's where the idea gets exciting: 'Imagine a mobile game that alerts you that a bomb is going to go off in 24 hours. To defuse it you need to assemble 16 levels of chemistry expertise, and 22 levels of physics expertise. The friends on your friends list all have levels for both skills - levels that have been determined by their real-life expertise and activities. You'll need to pull enough people together, either friends or friends of friends, to defuse the bomb.'" Would certainly make your average Monday a little easier to handle. The winner of this year's Game Design Challenge had an interesting idea that was somewhat similar.
You gain 'experience points' by using MSWord
Actually, I think that action just abuses wisdom and intelligence.
"I'ma tenth level vice president!"
Wonder though if it's good for anything...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I've a 5th level vegan. I don't eat anything that casts a shadow.
Developers: We can use your help.
I get dibs on the coffee farming.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
If MS Word counts for something, does compiling stuff count towards my software skill?
And therefore using Gentoo is like running a bot? I don't want to get kicked out of life for cheating.
(I really do use gentoo... I'm emerging something right now.)
They'll think I've lost control again and leave it all to evolution. -- Supreme Being, Time Bandits
Didn't I just DO this? --->
http://www.kudosgame.com/
DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
Played this game once. Problem is, it's like the Sims in boringness, but the time-acceleration key can only be used once a day, and the stupid devs made it so that the time-speedup key only works at night, when you're at home trying to game, rather than you just during the day when nobody's home! What fucktard thought that was a good UI?
But the real dealbreaker is the lack of save/restore. Spend six weeks setting up a menage-a-trois with your boss' wife and just one lousy goat, and you might as well pull out the old .45 and reroll your character.
Passively Multiplayer Life is teh sux0r. I wouldn't even warez it. (Anyone have a patch to get the smell of goat outa my clothes? The NPC vendor won't even look at me when I try to buy ammo.)
This is a very personal POV.
When I play a Game, I want to be doing something else for a while, like, not working. I play games for the purpose of entertainment, but not to the extreme that the author proposes.
That said, I can easily see how many gamers out there could have a wet dream about a totally submersive game experience, and with the utmost respect I must decline on such a life.
My Life is a considerably full one and I enjoy a lot of it, but I honestly don't want to be in the middle of a meeting and "Level Up".
I guess what I'm trying to say is: It will be a dark day for humankind when the percentage of people living on a real life game overpasses the people just living a real life.
Besides... my favorite games are First Person Shooters, and that's just a bad idea to bring to the real world.
The future will take care of itself.. It has in the past
You find out about a new pron torrent to be available in 24 hours. You immediatly notify your group of friends, all of whom are 15th level masterbators . . .
Sweet informative mod.
I'm going to drop my career and social life so I can minmax on pointless TV trivia!
No, what you really need is an ultra-rare "+6 Ted Kennedy's Car".
(Is it warm here or is it just you and me?)
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
Or, if we're talking Real Life (tm) 2006...
"'Imagine a mobile game that alerts you that a bomb is going to go off in 24 hours."
Cool!
Imagine the consequences, you're sitting in an airline passenger lounge, & your cell phone bleeps it has a message. You pop it open and a flashing red popup tells you there is a BOMB times to go off in 24:00:00 and it starts counting down!
The adventure forks at this point - either into an 'action adventure' or a 'low key suspenseful thriller':
1) Mrs Johnson, sitting beside you, happens to see it and starts screaming. You've just aggro'd the whole airport full of security and police.
2) Mr Parker, on the other side, happens to see it and quietly mentions you to the gate agent, who has a halfdozen massive dudes in dark suits and glasses appear out of nowhere to quietly 'suggest' you come along with them.
Either way, AT BEST you end up strapped down spread-eagle on an examining table while the FBI crams a camera up your butt looking for proof you're a terrorist. FUN!
"Sent to Gitmo" : +5 xp!
-Styopa
Obligatory link
Try Progress Quest! Just download it, run it, and let it start leveling you up while you get on with your life. Why spend time grinding? Let Progress Quest do all the heavy-lifting for you! (and medium- and light-lifting, and everything else for that matter.)
Well, my boss does drabble on like a questgiver in an RPG and does tend to repeat himself alot. Only problem is my coworkers are plagued by incredibly poor AI and pathfinding ability. That and my resolution sucks unless I remember to wear my glasses.
I do wish I could put a box over my head and disappear like Solid Snake...
SimDarth
Level 29 MiddleManager/Husband/Father (yes, I know that multiclassing hurts my experience totals!)