Unnamed Exercise Game/Transcript One

[GameDesign]/16:08 Jota says, "So unfortunately my walk didn't quite earn me enough XP to level up, so I justly criticize fitocracy from a game design *yet* (aside from the immediate first impressions)."

[GameDesign]|16:09 Jota says, "But there's no reason to let that stop me fro speculating what I think could make a good game that does what I am imagining fitocracy is trying to do."

[GameDesign]|16:09 inky says, "exactly"

[GameDesign]|16:10 Jota says, "The main problems I see are that there's no promised reward for levelling up, there are no interesting choices to make (you can choose what exercises to do, but that still just boils down to one number), and there's no loot to collect."

[GameDesign]|16:11 inky says, "I guess I have no idea what chorewars is like"

[GameDesign]|16:11 Jota says, "Also, there's no 'theme' or 'flavor' to the game."

[GameDesign]|16:11 Jota says, "Nor have I."

[GameDesign]|16:11 Jota says, "But we can criticize that later."

[GameDesign]|16:11 inky says, "I was just starting out wondering about general gameplay"

[GameDesign]|16:12 Jota says, "So aside from the theme/flavor -- which can be handled pretty much independently of the mechanical stuff -- here are some thoughts:"

[GameDesign]|16:13 Jota says, "One, introduce some stats and tie each exercise to one or more stats. Let the stats give you a bonus to XP you earn when doing those exercises."

[GameDesign]|16:13 Roger says, "Hmmm."

[GameDesign]|16:13 Jota says, "So if you get whatever stat 'cycling' is associated with up, it'll encourage you to cycle more, in order to take advantage of the bonuses you get and collect more XP."

[GameDesign]|16:14 inky says, "that could be cool if it somehow made you follow an exercise program consisting of doing pushups some days, squats some days, etc"

[GameDesign]|16:15 Jota says, "Second, let you increase your stats by levelling up. I'd go with maybe three or four stats that each start at 10, and give you a certain number of stat points each time you levelled up, and probably also increase the amount it costs to raise a stat based on how high it is."

[GameDesign]|16:15 Jota says, "(The latter to encourage people to build stats more evenly, and thus do a more complete range of exercises, rather than just focusing on one kind of thing.)"

[GameDesign]|16:15 Roger says, "Sorry; female dwarves have a maximum CHA of 14."

[GameDesign]|16:15 Jota says, "Third, add an in-game currency and stuff that you can buy with it."

[GameDesign]|16:16 inky says, "hmm"

[GameDesign]|16:16 maga says (to Jota), "really what you want is crafting"

[GameDesign]|16:16 Jota says, "Some being normal RPG-style equipment with mechanical beneifts, others being purely cosmetic vanity stuff."

[GameDesign]|16:16 inky says, "I think you need to add a level or two of indirection to the design first"

[GameDesign]|16:16 maga says, "although you'd spend most of your time combining 2 Abs and 1 Pecs and going 'oh no, not *another* beefcake'"

[GameDesign]|16:17 Jota says, "Also, give each player an avatar and actually make your vanity stuff visible on your avatar, so other people can *see* that you bought that awesome new shirt."

[GameDesign]|16:17 inky says, "it would be funny to have this game also have an asshat"

[GameDesign]|16:17 Roger asks, "Jota is planning to develop an army of incredibly buff Chinese gold miners; why does he hate America?"

[GameDesign]|16:18 Jota says, "Fourth, throw in more stuff to *do*. I am told there are quests, but I don't know how they work. I'm envisioning something where you generally have access to several of them at a time, and when you complete them you get the normal XP reward for whatever exercise was involved plus a currency reward based on the quest."

[GameDesign]|16:18 maga says (to Roger), "the ideal name for this is, of course, Buff Me"

[GameDesign]|16:18 Roger says, "I think the really tricky design issue here is that it's ridiculously easy to cheat. And I'm not sure how to motivate players to succeed without also motivating them to cheat."

[GameDesign]|16:19 Jota says, "Levelling up could give you access to more different quests, and quests could be automatically generated (so if you complete the 'bench press your weight ten times' quest, you can later get offered 'bench press 150% of your weight ten times'.)"

[GameDesign]|16:20 Jota says (to Roger), "Enh, if they want to cheat, let them."

[GameDesign]|16:20 Ellison says, "I haven't read the recap, but maybe modify it to be a team-based game where, if possible, the person's partner would be someone who could verify that these things have been done"

[GameDesign]|16:20 GDorn says, "in chorewars, you create your own rewards for leveling up"

[GameDesign]|16:20 Jota says, "They're the ones missing out on an entertaining gaming experience."

[GameDesign]|16:20 Ellison says, "still cheatable but eh, whatchya going to do"

[GameDesign]|16:20 two-star says, "There should be a "lift a baby ox" quest that levels to "lift a full grown ox""

[GameDesign]|16:21 Roger says, "Yeah I'm sorta thinking that social pressure is probably going to be key."

[GameDesign]|16:21 Jota says, "The point is to help willing participants motivate themselves to exercise. If you're cheating, you're not a willing participant, so screw you who cares."

[GameDesign]|16:21 inky says, "hmm"

[GameDesign]|16:21 inky says, "that argues against a global leaderboard"

[GameDesign]|16:21 Jota says, "Maybe, yeah."

[GameDesign]|16:22 Roger says, "Yeah I think you need to let people self-select into groups."

[GameDesign]|16:22 Roger says, "But then don't let them keep any secrets from the group."

[GameDesign]|16:22 Jota asks (of Roger), "Why?"

[GameDesign]|16:22 Jota says, "I don't want my email address, real weight, credit card numbers, etc. to be posted to my profile for all my friends to see."

[GameDesign]|16:22 Roger says, "No, I mean game secrets."

[GameDesign]|16:23 Roger says, "Like if I tell the game I did a thousand pushups today, I feel like there shouldn't be any way of hiding that from my 'friends'."

[GameDesign]|16:23 Jota asks, "Oh. Is there a way now?"

[GameDesign]|16:23 Roger says, "This is starting to feel a bit like designing an online AA meeting."

[GameDesign]|16:23 Roger says, "I have no idea."

[GameDesign]|16:24 Jota says, "Yeah, I'm not really interested in the touchy-feely truthy matters."

[GameDesign]|16:24 Jota says, "I'm just interested in what I think would be a game design that might motivate people who are into games and want to be motivated."

[GameDesign]|16:25 Roger says, "Fair enough."

[GameDesign]|16:25 inky says, "well, it should totally say things like "Roger did 1000 pushups today, a new record for him! Send him a message to congratulate him!""

[GameDesign]|16:25 inky says, "so I guess it'd come out that way"

[GameDesign]|16:26 maga says (to inky), "send him a message, sit on his back..."

[GameDesign]|16:26 Roger says (to inky), "Yeah exactly; it wouldn't be inherently accusative."

[GameDesign]|16:27 lpsmith says, "I still want Roger's 'gimme 10 pushups' thing; like, give people a 'motivation' stat they can level by getting others to exercise."

[GameDesign]|16:28 Roger says (to lps), "Oh hmmm I hadn't considered that angle on it."

[GameDesign]|16:28 inky says, "oh, I was thinking of it more like the sewer cages in kol"

[GameDesign]|16:29 inky says, "you randomly stumble into a trap, and can get out slowly on your own, or your friends can help you get out much faster"

[GameDesign]|16:29 Ellison says, "this all sounds like something I might be interested in"

[GameDesign]|16:30 inky says, "somebody earlier had invites for the actual site"

[GameDesign]|16:30 inky says, "if you want to sign up for that"

[GameDesign]|16:31 Jota asks (of inky), "So, like, you're stuck in the 'I'm trapped!' quest and can't do any of your other quests until you finish it, and you need 200 reps to get out, but you they can be split up among your friends?"

[GameDesign]|16:31 inky says, "yeah, maybe"

[GameDesign]|16:31 Ellison says, "oh, I thought someone was actually contemplating doing their own better version"

[GameDesign]|16:31 inky says, "presumably you don't want people to stop exercising until their friends chip in"

[GameDesign]|16:31 lpsmith says, "Hmm, maybe we should."

[GameDesign]|16:32 Jota says, "(Also, it's GDorn who has the invites.)"

[GameDesign]|16:32 Jota says (to inky), "Right, you'd still be able to keep earning XP; you just wouldn't be able to do special quests for gold."

[GameDesign]|16:32 lpsmith says (to jota), "There's an 'invite' page we can all use, I think."

[GameDesign]|16:32 Jota says (to lps), "Hmm, maybe."

[GameDesign]|16:32 Jota says (to Ell), "I wasn't actually thinking about implementing it so much as imagining what one *could* implement."

[GameDesign]|16:32 Jota says, "But if one *could*, perhaps one *should*."

[GameDesign]|16:33 Roger says, "Or there could be synergy bonuses, like if all y'all do pushups this week, then there's bonus XP for everyone."

[GameDesign]|16:33 lpsmith asks (of Ellison), "You want an ivite?"

[GameDesign]|16:33 inky says, "hee hee"

[GameDesign]|16:33 inky says (to Roger), "that's a good idea too"

[GameDesign]|16:33 Jota exclaims (at Roger), "Ooh!"

[GameDesign]|16:33 inky says, "ha ha"

[GameDesign]|16:33 Roger says (to Whizzard), "Dude, game design is soooo easy."

[GameDesign]|16:33 inky says, "it would be great if there was some way to do boss fights in this"

[GameDesign]|16:33 inky says, "where you can team up with your friends against the monster"

[GameDesign]|16:34 Jota says (to inky), "You could have a quest chain that led to a shared quest."

[GameDesign]|16:34 Roger says, "Heck we've already got instances, like the Boston Marathon."

[GameDesign]|16:34 Ellison says (to lps), "I think I'm more interested in this hypothetical game that is being discussed. if someone here organizes something, possibly I and my sister would sign up."

[GameDesign]|16:35 Jota asks, "OK, so if we were to design something like this, who would be interested in working on it?"

[GameDesign]|16:35 Jota says, "Coding, art, graphical design, game design, etc."

[GameDesign]|16:35 lpsmith says, "I dunno."

[GameDesign]|16:35 Jota says, "(Preferably some folks who are better at sticking with a project than I am.)"

[GameDesign]|16:35 lpsmith asks, "What rewards do I get for joining this project?"

[GameDesign]|16:36 Roger asks (of lps), "I'll give you pushups to do! What more do you want?"

[GameDesign]|16:36 lpsmith says, "Oh, fine."

[GameDesign]|16:36 Jota says (to lps), "If you complete the 'implement a login page' quest, you get a Headband Of Implementation."

[GameDesign]|16:36 Ellison says, "I probably should take a look at the original thing to get an idea of what you guys are envisioning, but I'd be cool with some kind of text interface"

[GameDesign]|16:36 Roger says, "I'd be interested in some piece of it."

[GameDesign]|16:36 Jota says, "Eventually you could even monetize with product placement."

[GameDesign]|16:36 Roger says, "And I'll vote that 'Buff Me' is a good working title."

[GameDesign]|16:37 Jota says, "You could let people buy their avatar Nike sneakers."

[GameDesign]|16:37 Roger says, "Haha. You drank a Gatorade, gain 10 XP."

[GameDesign]|16:37 Jota asks, "Also, what should this thing be called?"

[GameDesign]|16:38 lpsmith asks, "And what color should it be?"

[GameDesign]|16:38 Roger says, "I like 'Buff Me' (still)"

[GameDesign]|16:38 lpsmith says, "(and with that question, the project dies)"

[GameDesign]|16:38 Roger says, "Ha"

[GameDesign]|16:38 Jota says, ";..lps I just wanted something to call the channel."

[GameDesign]|16:38 inky says, "well, you can go with Roger's suggestion as a working title"

[GameDesign]|16:38 Ellison says, "we could do a rogue-like where the XP you've put into yourself is carried into any character you create. I'd probably be just as happy with the kind of faux-story one would get from all of these XP update notifications"

[GameDesign]|16:39 maga says, "Buff Me is one of those names that sounds amusingly clever for thirty seconds and steadily loses currency thereafter"

[GameDesign]|16:39 inky says, "I guess it has a minor name collision with #buffy but not besides that"

[GameDesign]|16:39 Roger says, "May conflict slightly with #buffy but come on who cares"

[GameDesign]|16:39 Roger says, "Timing, dang."

[GameDesign]|16:39 Roger says (to maga), "Well, working title, right. It's okay if it sucks."

[GameDesign]|16:39 inky says, "actually, vampire-slaying would also be a good story background for this"

[GameDesign]|16:39 inky says, "especially for the more gymnastics kind of exercising"

[GameDesign]|16:40 Jota says (to inky), "That's true."

[GameDesign]|16:40 maga says, "(I have a worrying propensity for those)"

[GameDesign]|16:40 Roger says, "We can build something cool like 'In Corpore Sano' later."

[GameDesign]|16:40 inky says, "Medieval Booty"

[GameDesign]|16:40 Roger says, "All Flesh Must Be Buffed"

[GameDesign]|16:41 maga says, "Sweaty Grinding"

[GameDesign]|16:41 Roger says, "Haha"

[GameDesign]|16:41 inky says, "Polearm Pullups"

[GameDesign]|16:41 Tale says, "Excercise & Excorsize"

[GameDesign]|16:41 Roger says, "BEEFCAKE"

[GameDesign]|16:41 inky says, "Bisceptre"

[GameDesign]|16:41 Jota goes with #UnnamedExerciseGame.

[GameDesign]|16:41 Jota says, "(To be renamed later.)"

[GameDesign]|16:42 katre says, "I Have No Strength And I Must Run"

[GameDesign]|16:42 Jota says (to inky), "Hmm."

[GameDesign]|16:42 katre asks, "sorry, what are we riffing?"