Welcome!

[Peter Mosur]

Hey everyone!

On behalf of the Internet Response League I'd like to welcome you all to our Google Group! The goal for this place is to house any sort of discussion regarding the future of this project. We understand that the Internet Response League is a community based idea that requires the inputs of the gaming community at large in order to be successful. In this group we will be posting conversations regularly about future plans and ideas for IRL, and would love to have you join in and become part of the IRL community.

For this first post, I was thinking something simple as an introduction, but something that could still give us some valuable information for this project. So in that light... Tell us which video game(s) you currently play the most!


I'll start: Currently by far I play League of Legends the most (ever since ARAM queue's came out). Additionally I still play some occasional World of Warcraft here and there for a battleground or two (but again, ARAM are so fun).


We look forward to hearing from you all!

Thanks,
Peter

[Matt Stempeck]

Hi Peter (and everyone),

I really like the idea of welcoming gamers to the fold of online disaster response and recovery. Thanks for setting this up. I do wonder if gamers can do more than sort through tweets, though. I'd be very interested in other creative responses and actions that could be taken (and enjoyed) on gaming platforms.

About me: I just finished a two year Master's of Science at MIT Media Lab, where I built a prototype to aggregate all of the ways people can help in a crisis over the web. I also collected a huge case library of creative examples I've seen, which I'll put online this week. Other than mobile games of Risk, DrawSomething, etc., I've saved SimCity as a treat for post-graduation time.

Nice to meet you, and I look forward to hearing from others in this group.

Matt

Matt Stempeck // @mstem

Center for Civic Media

MIT Media Lab

[Patrick Meier (iRevolution)]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for joining and for your interest!

I do wonder if gamers can do more than sort through tweets, though. I'd be very interested in other creative responses and actions that could be taken (and enjoyed) on gaming platforms.

For sure, and by all means feel free to email me directly with  specific responses/actions that lend themselves to micro-volunteering. 

To begin with (we need to walk before we can run) our own focus at IRL is on proven workflows that (1) have already been used to support disaster response efforts and (2) have already been directly requested by our humanitarian partners. So this means:

1) Tagging images/videos if they show disaster damage

2) Tagging tweets if they refer to damage, needs, etc.

So our main questions right now are:

1) How do we integrate these IRL tasks into existing games?

2) How do we convince gaming companies to prototype this?

3) Which companies should we approach first?

Thanks again!
Patrick

----
Patrick P. Meier (PhD)
http://www.iRevolution.net

--
Internet Response League #IRL
http://Internet-Response-League.com
We believe online gamers can play a significant role
in supporting disaster response operations worldwide.
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[Peter Mosur]

Hey Matt! Welcome to the group! We can definitely use someone with your talents in our discussion!

Hopefully over the course of the next few conversations we can discuss all of the different ways that gamers can help out in disaster relief!

As for the games, good idea on waiting with simcity! That will definitely be a few days of your time at least haha.

[C.M. Worth]

On Tuesday, 11 June 2013 17:40:14 UTC+1, Patrick Meier wrote:

... proven workflows that (1) have already been used to support disaster response efforts and (2) have already been directly requested by our humanitarian partners. So this means:

1) Tagging images/videos if they show disaster damage

The workflow that came immediately to mind is that used by Tomnod (now acquired by DG): Finite tasks over a limited scope that gamify participation (granting this is different entirely from the sort of "serious gaming" we're discussing here).
 

2) Tagging tweets if they refer to damage, needs, etc.

The stuff that MapBox has done with Gnip lately, while not tagging individual tweets per se, does give some indication that the geolocation and microblog ingestion is manageable. Also, it's just beautiful stuff. I've thought about the tagging issue, and it seems like tagging might be handled well with a hybrid system, whereby a limited corpus of predetermined selectable tags (e.g. fire, flood, damage, medical) plus a capability to accept free-form tags (#GentianStreet, #NeedMedicine, #NeedWater) from participants. Ideally, being able to iteratively manage available prefab tags based on the evolving nature of the emergency would be a good thing.

So our main questions right now are:

1) How do we integrate these IRL tasks into existing games?

2) How do we convince gaming companies to prototype this?

3) Which companies should we approach first?

I am not much of a gamer, but one of the things did occur was the sort of easter-eggs or mini-games you'll occasionally find in MMORPGs: stopping by the saloon and taking up a game of blackjack with an old prospector, for example. The difference is that the incentive system to encourage participation (win money) would necessarily need to be thought about fairly extensively: is intrinsic motivation sufficient? Do we suggest in-game benefit? If so, how do we encourage a gaming company to offer this sort of thing in a way that doesn't become disruptive (i.e. offering those who participate untoward advantage in the balance of the game)?

I'm principally a remote sensing & GIS/Geovisualization dude, so my inclinations naturally lie in those arenas. I look forward to the rest of the discussions.

best
Chris

[Peter Mosur]

Hey Matt, thanks for joining!

On the idea to incentivize players into doing this type of work, we definitely believe that some sort of in-game rewards will be necessary. Cosmetic items (such that do not affect game-balance) are what we are looking at. We hope that the value of bringing this type of work to their games will be worth housing it and creating rewards for players for completing it. The challenge now is to interest a game developer!

[Chris Votey]

My name is Chris, but go by mad_cat (purposely all lowercase), and I am an avid gamer since I was a child, and have my own indie studio with hopes to make games.  My wishful thinking has been that video games can change the world and this cause appeals to me for that reason.  I want to help out in any way I can.  I think this has a lot of merit and it will be many people discussing ideas and viewpoints that can make this into something.

I look forward to playing my part and doing what I can.

[Peter Mosur]

Hey Chris! Welcome aboard!

We definitely need as much help as possible in our goal of helping games change the world. You are definitely correct when you say that this will need to be a joint effort. We look forward to your input!

[mad_cat]

I realize I didn't post the video games I currently play.  I do a lot of Star Wars: The Old republic.  I am also excited for X: Rebirth, however, I still need to beat X2, so I play a lot of X2 and am trying to Master the economy system.  Boring I know, but I enjoy it here and there.