First of all, I tried to follow the eight steps of methodology available on the G4C website in order to create a game with a meaningful social impact.
Step 1 Audience: Who is the game designed for?
Young
people aged 16-25. The game is addressed to
a global audience. It should be a game both men and women can enjoy. In terms
of psychographics, it is challenging to create the specific profile of our
target group members. A person aged 16 and a person aged 25 might be
significantly different: the 16 year old is probably a high school student,
ambitious, open-minded, more open to change and new things, very much into
games and technology, but also busy with school, hobbies, and planning his/her
future. A 25 year old might be a college graduate or not, but he/she most
likely has a job, perhaps even a family. The 25 year old is also aware of new
gadgets and trends in general. The common denominator I see in both cases is
that both are modern, busy, open minded, and interested in cool gadgets. I
think they also share an interest in innovative concepts. They are also
interested in environmental issues, enjoy travelling and have a vibrant social
life.
When it comes to accessibility and
ability, I think the game should be a phone game/application. Mobile phones are
the primary vehicle for G4C, which is perfectly reasonable, considering that
guarantees accessibility for a bigger segment of the population. The game should
also be able to work across multiple media platforms to get maximum
accessibility: it can start as a phone application which is also available on
Facebook. Since many people play games on Facebook, that might facilitate the
spreading of the game and thus attract greater attention globally, from people
who are in but also outside our target group.
The game should be as simple as
possible in its structure, so that the player can intuitively play it without
having to get used to it– it should be easy to pick up.
It should be a game that does not include too much writing, in case the
people who play it have poor reading skills. Literacy skills are a major
challenge for us as game developers, so we must try to accommodate as many
people as we can, trying not to exclude anyone. However, it is impossible not
to have any kind of written material in the game, so we should try to minimize
it instead of eliminating it; if something can be represented visually, it
should.
Step 2 Content: When and how is it played?
The game would be un-moderated, and
it would be played at home, during breaks at school/college, or after school
(with friends, if it’s a game that allows multiple users that play together). Young
people often create social communities around multiplayer games, so it is
important to note that playing the game can be a chance for interaction with
friends, a social behaviour.
As far as
people’s motivation playing the game, I think the game should be viewed as a
happy break, a relaxing but exciting and fun pastime. Playing games has been
associated with lower levels of anxiety (http://www.digitalmeetsculture.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Sara_de_Freitas_What-can-Gamification-add-to-cultural-heritage.pdf), so the game can be used as a relaxation “tool”.
Step 3 Impact: What is the goal?
The goal of the game would
be to raise awareness about cultural heritage preservation, as well as the
challenges surrounding it. Also, the goal would be to motivate people to
act in a respectful, responsible manner when it comes to preserving their own
cultural heritage. Fundraising and real-world action could also be our goals. For
instance, when someone finishes the game and passes the last level, there can
be a link to a fundraising site, which would give him the opportunity to make a
small donation.
Step 4 What is the right technology?
As mentioned above, mobile phones
would be preferred, as well as Facebook and online gaming sites (in order to
maximize accessibility and attract people outside our target group as well)
Step 5 Sustainability: The cost should be as low as
possible. Free gaming software can be used to build the game.
Ideas about the game
When people think of cultural
heritage preservation, the first thing that comes to mind is important
historical monuments that have a significant symbolic value. Therefore, I would
suggest working on this basis and having such historical monuments at the core
of our game.
The audience is multi-cultural and multi-lingual. We must figure out a
common language; this common language can be expressed through the theme of the
game. I tried to draw inspiration from other games for change on cultural
heritage, but I didn’t find any such games. I then thought of looking at movies
that were successful globally, stories that seem to engage very diverse
audiences. In order to do that, I looked at Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings,
both critically acclaimed and very popular among people of our target audience
(and audiences in general). The themes used in those films are themes that
everybody can relate to: friendship, companionship, courage, doing the right
thing (the battle between good and evil), love, the importance of unity. These
are universal themes that appeal to all people, so they could be used in our
G4C as well.
We could create
a game in which the player can help restructure the old buildings. The point
would be to create an immersive experience, to connect education and culture through
missions and quests.
Regarding Our Core Values
-
Type
of organization: media and communications agency (to be confirmed by all). We
consider this as the best option as it allows flexibility and doesn’t limit us
in any way.
-
Core
values and characteristics:
1.
Global
(necessary trait, as the project requires us to communicate with and relate to
a global audience)
2.
Trustworthy/
Reliableà for obvious reasons. Any agency that wants to succeed
in the long run needs to build brand loyalty, and being trustworthy and reliable
is an integral part of that.
3.
Ethical
and Socially Responsibleà Even though we cannot be an NGO like we initially
wanted to, we can still use this as a part of our identity. This is of course
related to point 2. If a company wants to succeed in today’s world, it just
needs to show corporate responsibility and high ethical standards. This will
give us the image of a transparent agency, which is also very important in our
days (people are now more aware of the “dirty” corporate world and push for
transparency, which is why so many companies now try so hard to emphasize how
the offer back to the community, what
they do for the environment etc). Being ethical is not limited to things like
the environment or giving back to charity/ the local communities. It also has
to do with the treatment of employees working for the agency. The basis of a
company is the people working for it, and an ethical, responsible company sees
employee satisfaction as a top priority.
4.
Fun,
Innovative, Creativeà With this project, we are trying to appeal to a young
demographic. Young automatically means fun, playful, a little quirky, original.
This should definitely be a part of our brand identity, not only being we are
trying to appeal to youngsters but also because any media agency needs (by
definition) to be creative in order to thrive.
Cultural Heritage Sites and Threats:
My task was conducting research primarily on sustainable tourism, and in particular finding specific monuments and discussing the threats and risk factors associated with each one of them. The goal is to identify and select monuments that are very popular and thus easily recognized.
First of all, I tried to find some evidence regarding the involvement
and engagement of young people (since they are our target group for the game)
with cultural heritage sites. A report from the University of Newcastle was
very helpful (http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/historic-buildings-young-people/importance-value-historic-buildings-young-people.pdf)
According to that report, poverty seems to play an important role.
Youngsters from impoverished areas are less likely to feel attached to or proud
of the historical buildings in their area, and are also less likely to find
those buildings special or distinctive. Almost 60% of respondents identified at
least one listed site among their important buildings and places, which
indicates that many young people actually care about those buildings/monuments.
Youngsters living in more historical areas were more likely to include such
monuments to their list of importance places.
This research presents a clear challenge to us, since it is evident that
when people seem to care less about cultural heritage sites, it seems to be so
due to the area where they live or the conditions of their life. Also, girls
were slightly more likely to cite a historical building as being important to
them. As game developers who want to engage young people globally, this will be
a massive challenge.
Asked to describe why they found such buildings important, the
teenagers’ responses can be grouped into certain categories: historic/famous,
unique/landmark/distinctive, memories, personal or religious use, wider
community use. Teenagers living in less historical areas are more likely to
select “wider community use” as the reason why they find a building important.
Historical significance and fame is what made the respondents proud of
their area. Monuments are described as “distinctive” and “special” more than
anything else (ex. transport, beaches, rivers, museums, harbors, shops, parks,
churches, sports). Nearly three out of five said they were attached to at least
a local building, but still they were more attached to places related to
personal use, mostly shops and parks. My thought here is that, since obviously
personal use is very important in building attachment, we should perhaps find a
way to actively engage the players and have them interact with those buildings.
Moving on to monuments that would seem appropriate for the game; the
point here is to number a few significant monuments and find out the threats
each one of them faces. In order to do this, I went through lists of monuments
around the world and looked for online articles on travel-related websites to
determine which the really popular ones were.
Questions we need to consider here: Do we need buildings in particular or
generally, sites? In that case, we can also use national parks and
natural sites. In the UN website, they are divided in cultural sites and
natural sites. Which ones are we focusing on, or are we going for a mixed
approach?
Here is a list
with a few selected monuments:
1.
Taj
Mahal, India. It attracts 3 million visitors a year. There are many
sources referring to the threats in this case. Mostly, we have air and water
pollution. There are industries and illegal factories in Agra, where it is
located, there is heavy traffic which further adds to the air pollution, and
there is uncontrolled construction around the monument. Ground water levels are
sinking because the population is increasing (4 million) and requires more
water. The wooden foundations of the building may collapse because they’re too
dry. The marbe façade is turning yellow. Corrosion, acid rain.
Measures taken:
Pollution
stations around Agra monitorair
quality around the clock. Car traffic has been banned within two kilometers of the monument.
Electric and battery driven cars and buses then take tourists to
the site. A natural gas pipeline is also in discussion.
Factories and industries around Agra should be persuaded to change to cleaner forms of energy. Vehicles are now banned from
within 500 metres of the monument and an LED display gives a running count of
air pollution.
But the new report found that
emissions of nitrogen oxide and particulates, for example, had reached levels
higher than those that prompted a supreme court intervention to force authorities
to act a decade ago.
Sources:
2. Hagia Sophia, Turkey
No stable funding for
restoration by the Turkish government, seismic threats due to its geographic
location, might be turned into a mosque
Sources:
3.
Pyramids,
Egypt. 14 million tourists per year before the 2011 revolution.
Illegally built cemeteries
(lawlessness due to unstable political situation), subterranean water levels in
Ginza are increasing due to the new drainage system installed in a neighboring
village = risk of erosion and collapse of Sphinx, agricultural land and
production moving closer to the pyramids due to an increase in population =
foundations of pyramids could be damaged. Pollution of Cairo damaging the
outside of the pyramids.
Sources:
4.
The
Great Wall of China
Tourism is a major threat; people want to take souvenirs, others use it
as a toilet. They also pollute. There is erosion due to frequent storms. More
than two thirds destroyed or damaged. Reckless industrial expansion,
desertification (no trees within 60 miles of the wall so as to see the
enemies), forest converted to farmland, desert spreading, devouring grassland =
sand dunes swallow parts of the wall, strong desert winds damage its top,
floods gouge out the wall’s base and cause upper levels to collapse.
Construction of factories around it has damaged part of the wall. Great
commercialization, mercantile activities. Only 28% of the Chinese population
thinks it needs to be protected! Illegal mining for copper and iron (=miners
dig holes). Farmers using it for pathways.
Action: ideas to bury the wall, plant vegetation to prevent further
erosion
Sources:
http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/chinas-great-wall-is-crumbling-due-to-mining.html
5.
The
Acropolis, Greece
Pollution due to heavy traffic around the city center, erosion due to
rain, rain makes the foundations subside
Action: some marbles moved to museums, laser technology to clean the
surface
Sources:
6.
Machu
Picchu, Peru. 2000 visitors a day!
Threatened by earthquakes
and heavy tourist traffic, rubbish, deforestation, unorganized urban
development, landslides, heavy rain causing erosion, forest fires around it
that are hard to detect, hikers litter, hiking trail being eroded due to many
hikers, people using “natural toilets” = the smell deters wildlife
Sources:
7.
Colosseum,
Italy
Environmental threats: increased
temperature fluctuations cause such materials to dangerously expand and
contract, causing fractures and breakage. Monument neglect due to a lack of
funds (it takes millions to preserve monuments). Global warming causes heavy
rain and thus erosion of the marble foundations.
Sources:
8.
Golden
Pavilion Temple, Japan
No apparent threats, Japanese government heavily
invests in preservation and protection
9.
Easter
Islands Heads
Fungus on the statues (=lichens), conflict in the area between indigenous
people and Chilean colonizers, insufficient funding by Chile
Sources:
10. Stonehenge, UK
Heavy traffic around the monument, thus pollution, many tourists,
Sources:
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