Brain Storms Bring a Chance of Lighting, But Likely Just Wet Ground
My last post talked a lot about my frustrations with Kaneva publishing new and more, rather than fixing what is there currently. One of my biggest complaints was that there was not only new content, but entirely new games, that are completely contrary to the point of Kaneva itself, which is a chatting, talking, and social networking.
The responses were amazing! I love hearing what you guys think. While technically this is SFN’s blog, he allows me to post my opinions, and the comments are where you guys get to speak your mind. We have the eyes of several people inside Kaneva, so it’s a nice platform to be able to speak about Kaneva, vent a little, and to suggest solutions. Not just bitching, but solutions, right? That’s the rallying cry.
“If you hate it so much, just leave,” missed the point so entirely, it flabbergasts me. I don’t hate it. I love Kaneva. I am frustrated by how close they are to having an amazing social networking world. I just believe they are adding on new rooms to the house before they paint the walls in the existing rooms. Or, more specifically, I think they are adding a horse stable to a house in the city, where the oven doesn’t work, and you have to change channels on the TV with a broomstick. Fix the damn TV, and what do we need with a place to keep horses anyway?
But, complaining never fixes anything. At its best, it only serves to motivate someone else to fix things. At worst, it makes those best capable to fix things resentful and they reject your input, however valuable. There is already a forum for input with Kaneva, the Kaneva… well, uhm.. Forums. But, as we all know they are flooded with posts. I fear that some real valuable input and ideas get lost in the white noise.
So, here are some ideas for games that could be integrated into Kaneva, while allowing and embracing the community, and social togetherness.
The most excited I’ve been to walk around a building in Kaneva in a long time was when the Help Center launched -Grabbing coins? Holy Mario Brothers flashbacks! I LOVE grabbing coins, and the ‘cling’ sound makes me grin like a 7 year old coming down the stairs on Christmas morning. So, obviously that technology exists in the world, right? How about a coin grab game? Set the coins around Kaneva City (the most underused section in the game. Also the most poorly named, but I’ll get into that another time) and have a timed game where you run through the city, find the location of all the coins, in the quickest time possible. Challenge your friends. “I can get them all in 1:32 i bet you cant get under 2 min.” Then, randomize the locations either every time you play, or once a week. You fly through the corridors of the city, your friends harassing you, making fun, then when you get the last one, your score pops up. reset the scores every two hours or something. I think this sounds fun, and I’d play!
The card games have been well documented. Poker, Hold Em, Canasta, even Black Jack. If there is a betting concern, just have a game begin with everyone having 500 “monies” and let them go wild. Cards are a social, talking, playing, fun game that everyone knows. They would allow talking, teasing, getting to know each other.
Tag. How simple a game. Your name or tag glows a different color, when you are “it” and you would need to chase down other avatars. Once you were able to touch someone else, they would then be “it.” And of course- no tagbacks for a certain period of time. The most important part of this game would be the ability to play ANYWHERE. Special hangouts could be built to play, or you could get a game going in the plaza or the mall. I have seen people playing their own version on the Kaneva Football Field, for hours. So I know that people would enjoy it.
Also, as stated elsewhere, a random number generator in the chat window could facilitate many other betting or guessing games. Type /number 1-100 and out would spit: 37. type /number 1-10 and out comes 7. Easy!
Then, there are scheduled-event-type games. Things that would require some GM/Advisor participation, set up, administration. But, nonetheless games that I feel would be of great fun:
Kaneva Klue – Somebody done it. Assemble the “Klues” to find out if it was Gaelin in the Plaza with a 240″ flash screen, or maybe GM_Andre in the mall with an arched window.
Scavenger hunt – Distribute a list through a community, and have players search for the items, which would be like coins, in all public locations. But, maybe not animated and flashing. They could only be picked up by a player once, then they’d regenerate for the next person. They would be added to the player’s inventory, and they could come use them in front of the person leading the game, to show a completed list. This could be done in teams, collaborating to scour all sections of the world, or even solo.
Builder contest – Building the best hangout or home, with a holiday theme is cool, but to the credit rich go the spoils, often times. A more “Creative Builder” contest could be done. Each entrant would be given is list of 7 different items, (the number could change.) Then, they use ONLY those 7 to create something interesting, beautiful, funny, or clever. The most creative use of these items would be given a prize.
These are just some simple ideas that I’ve thought of, or I’ve heard friends come up with. What do you think of these game ideas? Do you think they fit the social network better? Do you have any game ideas of your own?
-Paynomind
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