Social Engineering

We have a story and we have a desire to create a community, but how to achieve that? Humans are notoriously fickle, and especially the new breed of web-savvy surfers are hard to impress. How to get them to login and stay in (on?) IceBorg? We utilise social engineering skills, and good old fashioned carrot and stick techniques!

According to Amy Jo Kim^[20] it is important to create the right social conditions for a virtual community to evolve. It is not just a matter of cool technology, but a believable social space. Some of the key points for community development are:

• Background story – creates a common focus for community members
• Personal member profiles – develops a sense of history
• Community rituals – regular events to be involved with
• Organised events such as hosted chat with guests
• Initiation rites of passage – gives a sense of achievement
• Social hierarchy within the community – satisfaction to reach a certain level
• Gain extra interactive priviliges with user experience
• Expandable gathering spaces – if it’s successful, the community will grow
• True interactivity – give the members the tools to build their world how they want it

Message

The main issue behind IceBorg as a community experience is to deal with the environmental destruction and hostile climate found on the asteroid. Users have to find clothes for their avatar and other special items in order to access all the worlds. Pollution has to be cleared in order to gain experience points and also to exchange for money (borgos). The relationships between the different sub-groups defined in the backstory draw parallels with human conflicts on Earth – the mis-treatment of minorities, power grabbing and control by the rich and powerful over the poor. We hope that users will identify these issues, presented as they are intertwined within an entertaining experience. In order to succeed in the IceBorg community a member has to interact socially with many other members, and especially with those from other clans, and so the idea of collaboration and community building should be reinforced.

We also hope that the environmental message will be clear enough, so that users will start to think about their own actions in the real world. There will also be links available direct to organisations and websites highlighting and working with the real serious environmental issues facing the World today.

Narrative

IceBorg is divided into a number of distinct themed areas or worlds. Each virtual world is a visual entity of its own, although loosely linked to one another on the meta level of the main narrative running through the whole work. Each world contains not only an autonomous sub-story but also distinctive social rules of behaviour, spatial architecture, visual aesthetic, and method of navigation. In some worlds you navigate by walking, in others by swimming, flying, etc. The narrative unfolds to the user by becomming familiar with the environments, by discussing with the live (human driven) characters or AI bots, interacting with other users in the multiuser virtual world, and by additional graphical 2D information pages provided outside the 3D environment.

New users are guided first through an entry tunnel or prologue, introducing them to the backstory scenario. The first registration login is short and simple, but on entering the 3D world they find themselves naked (well, almost!) with just their underpants! They have just woken from cyrogenic freezing and inter-galactic space travel, so what do you expect?

Action = Reward

The first task is to visit the four main clans or sub-groups in the world – the Grannies (Over 101’s), the La Coochis, the Soulband, and the Kidz. Each clan will give a special object to the user, which can be exchanged to gain entry to the avatar builder – a special place to create a visual online identity in 3D. Your avatar is the virtual you, your representation in the 3D world, created from a wide range of body parts, and is animated with a choice of gestures. In order to steer users into their IceBorg character they are encouraged to fill out a character profile questionaire form which guides and gives hints to what type of person they might be. This is stored in the database for other members to access, and can be updated at any time by the user.

IceBorg is set on a highly polluted asteroid deep in space. In order to survive users have to collect the pollution, build shelter, and create a community. The worlds all contain objects that users can pick up and later exchange for either money or other more useful objects. Basic materials such as wood, steel, and ice, and pollution objects can be recycled in special areas. New objects like chairs and tables are created in exchange. Users can also find objects with special properties like alcohol or knowledge (a map or book) to be used at a later time.