Introduction & Game Core
Placename is a geosocial game for learning simple, location significant vocabulary snippets. At the core, the technology relies on a crowd sourced database of individual words which are ‘linked’ to physical locations via GPS data. A simple scoring system awards players for collecting and adding words to and from a central database. Players also have an associated ‘rank’. This rank changes to reflect the players current point score. The more points a player acquires, the higher their ranking. When adding words to the cloud, the player also has the option of adding an image which will be associated with that word.
Interaction
The user interacts with the game by collecting and adding words to and from a global database. To collect a word, the player simply selects the word from the list of available words at a given location. A screen is then displayed which provides a definition of the word along with a sample sentence, along with a list of people who have added this word to the system along with any accompanying images they may have added. The option to hear the word spoken aloud is also a possibility. At this stage the player has the option of adding the word to their word bank.
Scoring and Ranking
Each player starts off with no points and a beginner ranking. Points are amassed in one of two ways:
Collecting: When the user collects words from the database they are added to their word store. The player is awarded a single point for each word collected. Users are allowed to collect the same word more than once as although not from the same location.
Placing: Players add words to their current location. Each word carries a five point reward. If the word has already been added to the current location (by another player) then only two points are awarded. A player may only add one occurrence of a word to a single location. Users can also place images along with the word.
Rankings (note: Ranking names are neither finalized nor complete and are presented for illustrative purposes only):
Quiet Type: 0 – 50 points
Happy Camper: 51 – 100 points
Active User: 101 – 200 points
Elite: 201 – 400 points
Gamelets
Gamelets are simple mini task orientated games which will run inside the Placename platform. On a basic level, simple geospacial treasure hunt games could be created similar to Geocaching or more elaborate games such as text adventures. Although it is beyond the scope of my Doctoral work I would imagine that such games would be user generated.
Bridges
Bridges connect people from different places. The basic idea is to help forge connections between Native – Non Native Speakers. For example, if you are a native English speaker and are interested in learning Spanish it would be helpful to communicate with a native Spanish speaker and vice versa. How these connections are fostered is a matter for discussion.
Technological Infrastructure
Placename is a client/server application consisting of a centralized ‘LAMP’ server running Debian Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP. While the server will initially be charged with handling the database its use may be expanded in the future as features are requested. For example the development of a web site for users to login to check status, etc.
The client will run on Android enabled devices. I have yet to set on a minimum API level however I would expect 2.1 or 2.2 to be a sensible minimum.
Communications between client and server can be based on a number of protocols including JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), Google Protocol Buffers and standard XML. However at this stage I am unsure which one would be best.
Integration with other services
As with any crowd sourced social app. The chicken and egg scenario where users are unwilling use the service because none or very few of their friends are using it. I would therefore see the integration of established social apps as a necessary for acquiring a solid user base. Whether this is simply publishing achievements to a player’s Facebook Feed and Twitter stream or whether a more in depth integration would be beneficial is still unclear although I do think ‘poaching’ location names from social networking sites would be a good start.
Questions
Some of the things I would like to discuss include but are not limited to:
The current limitations of the system and how they can be expanded upon? For example, at the moment the interaction is limited to collect and place.
Integrating a more social aspect of play, as suggested by Phil is to ask users not only to add names and pictures to locations but to ask players to describe how they felt when visiting that specific location, what they encountered and perhaps who they were with. Perhaps tagging people (similar to Facebook’s Places feature) would be an option.
How to overcome the Chicken/Egg problem?
Considerations
Cold Start Problem: A potential issue with any social application is the chicken and egg scenario. If no one is using the application no one will want to use the application.
How do we encourage users to contribute to the cloud? This is an especially relevant question in the early days where there will be limited user adoption.
Suggestions:
Have a range of methods for players to enter and assess words. Perhaps use multiple choice questions such as “others have added the word ‘car’ do you think that’s a relevant word?”. This will also help assess the validity of the word.
Allow the user to refine the location, not simply tag it.
Go for a drag and drop interface where users drag words from the location to the word bank.
Incorporate a map view which displays the frequency of words tied to location. The most frequently placed words will be larger than less frequently used words. This will help players gain an understanding of the most salient features of their environment.
Going on from the map feature, consider the bridges feature, specifically how to bridge connections between players in different cultures and forming NS-NNS pairs.
Lots of ideas from the Sharp guys especially in relation to generating activities to encourage learners to interact with the system.
Treasure hunts: Users are given the first location in a treasure hunt. From this location they have to decipher the next location they must visit by collecting and deciphering a message written in that location. Perhaps the location has a hot-object which when “collected” revels the location of the next stage in the treasure hunt. The treasure itself could be some kind of virtual badge or perhaps a more points. I do like the idea of separating the
Stop, Think and Collect and reflect: A central concern with any learning application is how users actually learn. Initially, the system would allow users to ‘collect’ words by simply clicking them and adding them to their personal word bank. However, this risks the problem of
Outcome: Location based dictionary. This is an interesting notion and one that hasn’t been tackled before and has potential uses outside the current application.
