Hello World!
In yesterday’s blog I began an analysis of factors that made the fb game Kingdoms of Camelot effective. If I’m to include them in my book, The Game, I need to figure out how to adapt them and weave them into the experiences of the characters. I covered numbers one and two, so shall move on from there.
1 KoC is seductive.
2 KoC is addictive.
3 KoC spikes adrenaline. Not long into the game, I was attacked! Already seduced into believing I was talented, and addictively spending hours online, I played in a zoney glaze. Suddenly, WHAM! My carpenter friend had me defend my castle and I wiped out my attacker’s entire army. Bound to my city, I wanted nothing more than revenge! I counterattacked, waited for my troops to arrive, then cheered and shared the victory (see #4.) One U.K. player described his city as “his baby,” and I understood his possessive devotion. Build it. Protect it.
4 KoC builds community. The best protection for your investment is an alliance (up to 100 people.) Our alliance has a particularly enticing chat. A new member from a different alliance recently told us, “I like experiencing the people all around me.” In chat, I help others, speeding up their building and research by tiny increments. If they are fb friends, I can help again on their fb post. We send virtual gifts on fb, and receive several chances per day at winning magic spells. Webs of connection spread. We forge connections as we pass the time in chat. Online communities are quite compelling. I love meeting people without visual prejudices kicking in. So I support this alliance – and the idea of losing these friends one day is totally unacceptable.
Which brings me to the end of part II of this blog. The hardest part is ahead. How can I use this knowledge within my very different novel to make my real-life game work? I guess I’ll just have to wait until I can read what I write in part III!
To be continued . . .
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