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Massively Multiplayer Online Birdwatching Game

Posted by Zonk on from the more-learning-is-fun dept.

eldavojohn writes "The shots you take in CONE Sutro Forest don't come from shotguns or sniper rifles. In the game, players manipulate remote control cameras, taking pictures of birds and classifying them. It starts next week with the premise being that the more birds you take pictures of and classify correctly, the more points you get. It's more of an experiment in collaborative technology than a game ... but if you can get your users to do work for you and have fun at the same time, you might have something big."

6 of 63 comments (clear)

  1. But the question is... by therufus · · Score: 2, Funny

    How do we hack it so it's 'fun'???? Are there script kiddies out there willing to put a Teradactyl in there?

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  2. Re:what's next? by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 4, Funny

    What's next... an MMORPG where you have to spot trains?

    No no, the next cool thing will be an MMORPG where you can play an MMORPG. Something called Third Life for example, just in case you're bored with your ordinary, everyday second-life and want to escape plain virtual reality...

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  3. Whoosh by Solra+Bizna · · Score: 5, Informative

    Something all the posters above me seem to have missed is that these are not virtual cameras.

    (I RTFA.)

    -:sigma.SB

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  4. Collaborative cheating? by 6Yankee · · Score: 3, Insightful

    From TFA: Players can see who else is logged on and try to beat them to the best pictures. The system waits until the photo is classified consistently by at least two players, and assigns points according to how rare the bird is. Players with higher scores get more influence over where the video camera is positioned.

    So if a friend and I both classify a common sparrow as a bald eagle or something, we both get a too-high score and increased priority on the camera? Lather, rinse, repeat.

    Hmmmm.

  5. Matrix in a matrix by tepples · · Score: 2, Informative

    If you have time to play the matrix within the matrix, like the NES games inside Animal Crossing Population Growing for GameCube, then you probably need to get a first life.

  6. Interesting Idea by UtmostCathode · · Score: 2, Insightful
    I am willing to bet this game will be more successful than you think. I can really see my Mother participating in this.

    Instead of being limited to viewing local birds and manually reporting them to online databases that track species locations, she can now view them through several cameras located in unique areas while still helping bird societies by reporting them.

    I think some of you should evaluate exactly what it is you are doing when you play your 'fun' MMOs - I think you will find that a lot of it is spent standing around doing nothing.