myome Justin Ramsey 2011

Transcription

1 myome

2 Why myome? Sounds like biome Similar to my own or my home, establishing a sense of belonging among users Acronym (my ONLINE MULTIPLAYER ECOSPHERE)

3 Lan-Pan: Short for Lantern Panda, this festive PICOpet is wise beyond his years. When it seems a PICOsystem is in danger, the sight of Lan-Pan s cloud of red paper lanterns is a guarantee that everything s going to be all right. The mysterious melody he plays with his bamboo pipe can soothe anyone! Javalier: Javalier may look aggressive, but he is actually one of the most shy and gentle PICOpets; he just wears his brittle armour to look tough! Loveable though he is, Javalier is a bit slow-witted, and he envies Greyz s (p.15) cunning! Florafant: Calm and collected, the lotus on Florafant s head keeps her and everyone around her very zen. Despite this, she is quite flashy and is known to be a bit of a hoarder; that trunk is expert at sniffing out hidden treasure! myome is an online virtual world designed to educate children ages 6-10 about environmental and wildliferelated issues. At once an interactive game and a valuable pedagogical tool, myome presents children with an opportunity to play with friends online, express their individual creativity by assembling their virtual homes and personalizing their avatars, and develop an interest in environmental responsibility. The goal of myome is to innovatively foster a sense of care and responsibility for wildlife in future generations of children; by creating fun and relatable characters which could speak to an international audience, important messages of practicing good stewardship and maintaining biodiversity messages which right now often depend on heavy statistics or gory footage will reach young people.

4 your myome myome would launch with a line of diverse characters called PICOpets, each representing animals and, to a lesser extent, plants that are currently threatened by an environmental issue. Upon creating an account, a player could choose one PICOpet, and therefore receive information on issues surrounding that PICOpet. Upon starting the game, they would have a default house and property near that PICOpet s natural habitat. PICO is another acronym; standing for Play In Character Online, it is meant to suggest that a player can either consider these creatures as pets separate from oneself, or consider the character an online representation of oneself in the virtual world there is no one correct perception. Moreover, pico- is a unit in metric measurement meaning 10 12, and thus has come to generally mean small. It is thus used extensively in myome to replace the suffix eco-.

5 PICOzones The player can use the PICOpet to travel the virtual world, called the PICOsphere. The PICOsphere is divided into seven large areas called PICOzones, each of which has four distinct environments called PICOsystems. These PICOsystems constitute the natural habitats of the PICOpets. Basically, the PICOzones are where personal homes and property are located, and encompass all the traversable area outside the PICOsystems. On the PICOzones, players can interact with other players using a variety of set dialogue phrases, form communities with their friends online PICOpets, and move or set up their houses.

6 Glistening Glacier Polar Palace Aurora Alps Boreal Brush Treeline Trail Snazzy Snowfield PICOsystems Imagine Island Mangrove Meadow Conifer Chasm Mixed Mountain Wild Wetland Freshwater Falls Lucent Lake Salty Sanctuary Broadleaf Bump Berry Bog Quiet Quagmire Rainbow Rainforest Shrub Scrub Veggie Valley Jiving Jungle Kelp Kingdom Prairie Park Coral Castle Golden Grassland The PICOsystems, on the other hand, are not physically influenced by players; they exist as detailed virtual environments inhabited by AI or operatorcontrolled characters. Here, players can use EcoPoints earned through playing to shop for new accessories for their PICOpets or items with which they can decorate their homes. They can also be assigned quests, team up with friends in their communities to overcome challenges, or play through a wide and ever-expanding assortment of educational puzzles and games to earn EcoPoints. Oftentimes, PICOsystems may be affected by an issue that corresponds to a real-world environmental crisis. Cactus Canyon Arid Area Dry Dunes

7 Spinesters: Warning: these are NOT pets! Spinesters are to Kelp Kingdom what Pain Beetles are to Conifer Chasm nothing but trouble! Your PICOpet will be called on many a time to expel these ravenous sea urchins from the Kelp Kingdom, lest they eat everything in sight! The games in myome range substantially; these include puzzle games, trivia games where one might apply what one has learned so far about certain ecosystems for natural processes, spelling exercises, or fast-paced action games where one s PICOpet may have to tap into its own special abilities in order to drive away some antagonistic force; every PICOsystem would have spots where players could practice each type of game so that they are prepared for whatever a future quest might require of them. Glotter: Glittering with glory, Glotter is based on the sea otters that appear prominently in Ainu legend hence his stylized markings. While most PICOpets cower at the sight of Spinester s spikes, Glotter s magic star-shaped paws make it easy for him to pick them up and toss them aside. It is said that when two Glotters hold hands, their powers increase multifold! What could this mean? Merglade: When Spinesters ate her roots away, this piece of kelp didn t drift off she came right back for revenge! Merglade is a guardian of the kelp forest, and thus embodies the entire ecosystem. With a cloak of red algae, a crown of sea sponges, and shellfish accessories, wherever Merglade goes, the kelp forest goes with her!

8 Glistening Glacier Polar Palace Aurora Alps Snazzy Snowfield Boreal Brush Imagine Island Mangrove Meadow Treeline Trail Conifer Chasm Mixed Mountain Wild Wetland Freshwater Falls Lucent Lake Salty Sanctuary Broadleaf Bump Berry Bog Quiet Quagmire Veggie Valley Kelp Kingdom Treeline Trail Mixed Mountain Broadleaf Bump see page 10 for a ground-level view of this map Rainbow Rainforest Jiving Jungle Prairie Park Coral Castle Shrub Scrub Golden Grassland Cactus Canyon Arid Area Dry Dunes case study

9 Let us look at all these concepts in context. We start an account, and choose a Wi-Ai as our PICOpet. Wi-Ai is based on an aye-aye, so its default house is somewhere near Rainbow Rainforest probably between Rainbow Rainforest and Imagine Island, since the home of the aye-aye, Madagascar, is an island. Right away, we receive information on the aye-aye: what an aye-aye is, where it lives, how it survives, and why it is threatened, etc. Wi-Ai

10 Our house in myome is just a basic cottage, so we travel the world until we find a PICOzone that piques our interest perhaps Conifer Chasm to the north. We find that there is a quest for our Wi-Ai to help out with; right now, the Pain Beetle Brothers, Beetle Dum and Beetle Dee, are terrorizing the evergreen forest and eating the trees (based, of course, on the real-world pine beetle outbreak). The only way to stop them is to make the winter cold enough that they will run away. Unfortunately, for some reason, sunshine is getting trapped in the atmosphere, instead of bouncing off the PICOsphere and going into space, and thus the winter will not get cold enough for Beetle Dum and Beetle Dee to leave.

11 This problem paves the way for there to be many quests for our Wi-Ai to tackle; first, we must travel to Aurora Alps and climb to the top of the tallest mountain; then, we have to talk to the Sun and find out why its sunshine is not leaving the atmosphere we learn that it is because there is too much Greenhouse Gas preventing Sunshine from escaping the atmosphere. Why is there too much Greenhouse Gas? The big problem is that the Cowerds, a herd of greedy, self-important cows, have drained the Wild Wetland and are trying to graze there; the Wild Wetland used to absorb the Greenhouse Gases from the sky in order to help its plants grow, and Pete, the friendly monster who used to pull carbon out of the air and trap it in the ground, was chased out by the Cowerd herd and is now hiding in Berry Bog. Bigloo: Polar bears are such monumental animals; so naturally, Bigloo is, well, a monument! With a belly like an igloo and an inuksuk torso, Bigloo is indisputably the mascot of the north. Watch out for his bear hugs this cute fellow loves to cuddle, but his subzero embrace may leave you a bit cold Lyrelite: This mother-baby team of harp seals is ready for anything myome has in store! Mother Lyrelite is anxious to get her little one to do as many puzzles as he can so that he ll grow up smart and environmentally conscious but of course she ll help him out if he gets stuck!

12 Now we must go quickly to the Wild Wetland and help to flood it again by completing a series of trivia puzzles in which we apply what we have now learned about the carbon cycle. Once the water is restored and the Cowerds are gone, we need to venture into Berry Bog, find Pete, and convince him to return home; of course, he is upset and is rampaging about, and his (literally) fiery temper is causing his oncetrapped carbon to go back into the atmosphere! Pete must be defeated in an action game using Wi-Ai s special powers; he then calms down and agrees to go home.

13 At last, we can finally return to Conifer Chasm and, with the help of the Sun s friend, Mr. McCloud, create a cold snap. After an intense snowball fight, we send Beetle Dum and Beetle Dee running, and have saved Conifer Chasm. Our first quest is finished; and we realize that from having overcome all those challenges, we have earned a ton of EcoPoints. With Conifer Chasm restored to normal, we can go visit its shop and exchange our EcoPoints for upgrades to our house, or perhaps a cute outfit for our Wi-Ai. Wi-Ai: Wi-Ai s name comes from aye-aye, wi-fi, and AI artificial intelligence. With his dark, enigmatic form, long fingers, and bright yellow eyes, many believe that Wi-Ai is bad luck especially with that broken mirror on his head. Fear not, though; it s actually just a solar panel that absorbs power while Wi-Ai sleeps so that he s all energized at night! Kamoko: A kakapo with Maori art infused with its body (look no further than the Ta Moko-style feathers) its Hei-Tiki wings have too many holes in them for it to fly!

14 Of course, this is not the end of trouble for Conifer Chasm. The Pain Beetle Brothers will be back eventually with the aid of GrossMania and her Bad Blue Fungus (inspired by Grosmannia clavigera, the blue stain fungus). Later the ancient Crown King Pine, who wishes to rule Conifer Chasm forever, will trick the Conifuzz into putting out every forest fire so that he can continue to reign while his shadow blocks out valuable sunlight and prevents his successors from growing. This lack of a much-needed forest fire, to encourage new growth and clear old trees, means that all trees in the forest are susceptible to the Pain Beetles young trees would be able to fend them off. Thus, Pain Beetles threaten to destroy the whole forest unless the king steps down and allows a natural forest fire to happen. This scenario will undoubtedly cause a whole network of adventures for Wi-Ai; so we ought to just celebrate our first victory while we can. For more quest ideas, see pages Being an online game representing complex and dynamic and often very fragile ecosystems, the possibility for new challenges is virtually limitless; and each provides a unique opportunity to enlighten, educate, and inspire children and their parents. Conifuzz: Is it a tree? A bear? Well, Conifuzz is a little bit of both. Imagine what would happen if you crossed a lodgepole pine with a totem pole. Biologically speaking, Conifuzz is a pine tree, but thanks to some masterful woodwork and paint, it looks just like a little bear!

15 Fleetcheet: Don t get the wrong idea from its name. Fleetcheet doesn t win every race by cheating. It cannot help it if its paws are actually jets. And the best part about its super-speed ability: zero emissions, no matter how fast it goes! An interesting feature of myome would be the benefits a player can attain by owning multiple different PICOpets within one account, such as exclusive home decorations, special accessories, and secret playable quests and puzzles; this is to encourage players to learn as much as possible about the variety of endangered or threatened species featured in myome. Large amounts of EcoPoints can be traded for a brand new PICOpet; or alternately, a player may be awarded with an PICOpet for contributing donations to a charity supporting that particular animal or plant. Greyz: Debates have raged over whether Greyz is a white rhino or a black rhino. Well, hence its name, it s a grey rhino. Protected by rock-like armour, Greyz may seem like the clumsy type but he s actually a master of camouflage and reconnaissance!

16 As noted above, the possibility for growth and expansion in an online world is limitless; thus, new PICOpets, including special edition or limited-time-only species, could be released regularly. Upon its launch, the game would ideally have at least 30 characters to choose from. ProtoTyke: These photosynthetic symbiotes (try saying that ten times fast) live as the loyal servants and best friends of the Corolets. Corolets rely on them for everything from their colour to their food, and in return they protect the ProtoTykes in their Coral Castle. Corolet: Even though they re the same species, boy Corolets and girl Corolets are like night and day. He s a ball of boundless energy and she is reserved and poised, and it is from these attitudes that they derive their strengths think of him as the unstoppable force and her as the immovable object. With his sea pens and her brain coral, together they dictate the rules of the sea!

17 This is how Coral Castle appears once the PICOsystem is entered. In this particular quest, Ultra-Violent Light has invaded the Castle and banished all the ProtoTykes, the little creatures that help nourish the Corolets. Without the ProtoTykes, the Corolets lose their colour and cannot move. The last remaining ProtoTykes, Zoox and Anthella, beg Wi-Ai to help them chase out the intruders and save Coral Castle!

18 This is what the PICOsystem Coral Castle looks like from the Oseania PICOzone. UV rays are not the only threat to coral reefs; changes in ph levels can also cause symbiotic protozoans (or, in this case, ProtoTykes) to leave coral. A later mission will have players search the PICOsphere for magic limestone treasures to help clean Coral Castle s water and bring back the missing ProtoTykes. The possibilities for quests are endless.

19 PICOpets from right to left: Kamoko, Lyrelite, Merglade, Corolet, Fleetcheet, Conifuzz, Bigloo, Glotter

20 PICOpets from right to left: Greyz, Florafant, Lan-Pan, Javalier, Wi-Ai

21 myome