Author: jakepascoe

Survive: Upddate

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My board game survive has practically been built in my head already. I have the aesthetics, game mechanics and design pretty well finished off, the only things I need to complete for the game now are logistical and production problems.

My intended audience for Survive is ages 13+ but I wanted to primarily target people 18+ so that more complicated scenarios and obstacles can be brought into the game. I don’t plan on advertising the game anywhere, but if I was to sell this game online, I would advertise it on game-related websites, and perhaps try and sponsor a video with some game-genre youtube channels to promote my game.

I’m considering making the game 18+ or 16+ to include more ‘entertaining’ cards in each deck

I’ve looked at this website which offers some decently priced cards, but with 4 decks, it would cost $48 per game, which isn’t exactly economical, especially if that means I would have to price the game that high if anyone would actually want to buy it.

Even though that website is pretty costly, i’m still probably going to buy it through there, unless I can find a cheaper website, just because I don’t intend of mass-producing them to make each individual game cheaper than $48.

While i’ve though in depth about the game mechanics and how it operates, I’ve only got some loose idea regarding the aesthetics of each card. Should I keep a consistent style throughout the decks, or should I just pick something that accurately portrays the event/character/object? I’ll probably pay for a graphic designer to design the cards for me so I can keep a similar look throughout and be confident in the work, that way I can focus on my other DIGC project Chattr and the production/logistics of my game!

 

 

 

Creating Spreadable Media

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This week for my digital artefact, I decided to do some academic research behind content creation, and what makes content viral and reach large audiences. Chris had suggest a great book called Spreadable Media which was published by Henry Jenkins, which talks about viral media, and what it takes, and what it contains.

Henry Jenkins in ‘Spreadable Media‘, talks about every concept imaginable that is relatable to Chattr. One that he talks about is engagement and exploitation of fans and user labour, which is two completely different ways to think about your audience. On one hand, you can engage with your audience in a positive way, by creating content that they want to see. Or you can exploit your fans through forced advertising and thinking mainly about the money, rather than the audience.

The biggest example that springs to mind is Facebook, and the different methods and approaches to growth that Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin had. Mark thought that Facebook needed to be about ‘the experience’, and so wanted to make a nice clean website, without many advertisers, and wanted to create something that gained an audience first, then start thinking about the money. While Eduardo wanted to put advertising on the website straight away, and was thinking about the money straight away, and not the aesthetics of the websites.

While Facebook obviously is a huge success, and started at university, we’re all not as committed to the level of dropping out of uni to work on Chattr full time, simply because we still don’t know how successful it will be. So while I would like to take the approach of Mark, and think purely for the audience growth and aesthetics, we really can’t afford that luxury.

“The Social Network”

There’s so much more that he talks about, including the shift to on-demand media rather than scheduled media on television, and meaningful participation. All of which are concepts that we’ve thought about at Chattr, or are things we’ll have to consider sometime in the near future.

 

Jenkins & Ford & Green, HJ SF SG, 2013, ‘Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture’, Spreadable Media <http://reader.eblib.com.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/(S(p2asztgthxy5k0lzakczmk2x))/Reader.aspx?p=1114591&o=580&u=G5EYdrpLLwc%3d&t=1459300270&h=609E551031458E46719C38A8D7B96C18D9FABC4A&s=43523509&ut=1771&pg=1&r=img&c=-1&pat=n&cms=-1&sd=2>

The Insta-Famous

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Before I even started this subject, i’ve always been so interested in the concept of being ‘insta-famous’, and much time and effort they have to dedicated to shaping their online persona to become an online celebrity. I recently watched a great documentary about it called “The Rick Kids Of Instagram”, and it was a great insight not only on what their lives are like, but why and how they shape themselves online.

It’s interesting to see that not everyone is completely self-centred as you would have thought, and that some people are genuinely aware of their influence not just for popularity sake, but in regards to potential advertising that they can offer, and their audience reach through social networks. That’s one thing I can respect, when people start using the attention they’re getting for a genuine career/business motive rather than just for the attention. Personally for me, it seems less needy, and i’m more likely to follow someone that’s less obsessed about themselves.

A great example of someone that’s insta-famous is Kurt Coleman, with 183,000 followers on instagram. His following has grown due to his huge self-obsession and large ego, and he’s not afraid to face any hate that he regularly receives. “My new years resolution is to be perfect” (Kurt Coleman), I mean, who says that with such a serious face? He’s all about positivity and not giving a shit, which is really relatable to the youth in this generation, would could be attributed to his success.

However, i’ve always thought that being popular online came across as being a bit of a narcissist, caring too much what people think and needing that gratification from complete strangers. Weiser (2015) studied the relationship between narcissism and online popularity, and found that his “investigation suggests that posting selfies, as with other self-promoting behaviors, represents an avenue through which narcissistic needs are expressed through social media.” Weiser (2015).

He goes on to talk about how these individuals think they’re attractive, and that in most cases, they generally are. Which personally I think reflects more on society rather than the insta-famous person itself, in the end we choose who will be a celebrity, and perhaps we have to admit to ourselves that image has something to do with that.“These individuals may consider selfie-posting as a conduit through which they can use their looks to garner both attention and admiration” Weiser (2015).

Selfies however, are now a house-hold regular activity for everyone in the family, so I guess we can just be thankful that grandma won’t be the next online celebrity.

 

Branson James, 2015, Sneaky,  ‘Why is this person famous? Kurt Coleman and Social Media Fame’, <http://www.sneakymag.com/life/person-famous-kurt-coleman-social-media-fame/> Accessed on 29th March 2016

Weiser, EB, 2015, ‘#Me: Narcissism and its facets as predictors of selfie-posting frequency’, Personality and Individual Differences, vol. 86,<https://goo.gl/VdIBWi> Accessed on 29th March 2016.