GEK1501:

Information Technology and Us

Final ProjectDorm Days

Done By:
Guay Ee Ling Phan Tu Quyen Shehnaz Bte Mohamed Nasir Vo Thi Thu Ha U060917X U081779R U060475L U091830Y

Table of Contents
Virtual Dorms..................................................................................................... 2 1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 2 1.1 1.2 Scenario and Problem............................................................................ 2 Virtual Dorm GameDorm Days........................................................ 3

2. Game Description ........................................................................................ 4 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Basic Game Concepts............................................................................. 4 Adding Friends to Dorm Days ............................................................. 5 Virtual Visits........................................................................................... 6 Content Sharing ..................................................................................... 6 Linking Dorm Days to Real-life Events ................................................ 8 Mobile version of Dorm Days ............................................................. 9

3. Evaluation and Conclusion ........................................................................... 9

Design of a Social Mobile Application / Game for University Students

Virtual Dorms
Facebook is a popular online social networking site that can facilitate various applications that are technically advanced and can be accessed publicly by all types of people. These available applications represent the advent of a new technological leap for social interaction and networking in the online community. The question is how can we, as game designers, influence and shape social experiences in cyberspace?

1. Introduction
1.1 Scenario and Problem

The people who live in the National University of Singapore (NUS) dormitories are constantly changing, from the new faces of the freshmen, to seniors who have lived in the dormitories for four years. Apart from the changing faces in the dormitory, each dormitory is, to borrow the work of Benedict Anderson, an imagined community. This is the case because the dormitory residents come from a wide range of social and cultural backgrounds, and theoretically they have nothing much in common. Nevertheless, the shared experience of living in a dormitory and participating in various activities cultivates a sense of belonging and camaraderie among the residents. Through their engagement with dormitory activities and each other, they go on to form histories of their dormitories, and leave legacies in the form of unique hall cultures and traditions practised by following batches of dormitory residents.

To stimulate a vibrant dormitory life, the dormitories conduct a large number of activities and events across various fields, including sports, music, dance, drama and volunteerism. However, the time commitments required of these activities are quite heavy, and the participation of dormitory residents can thus be quite limited, which in turn constrains the extent of friendships formed in the course of participating in these activities. Furthermore, some residents might be naturally introverted or shy, and hence reluctant to initiate friendships in real-life settings as they find it difficult to break the ice and start conversations with their fellow dormitory residents.

1.2

Virtual Dorm GameDorm Days

The virtual dorm game, Dorm Days, is an application which can be accessed through Facebook by all students living in dormitories in NUS. This is an exciting and innovative roleplaying game which will take social relationships to a whole new level. It will facilitate the making of new friendships across dormitories, while rekindling and maintaining old friendships and helping to make bonds among residents in the dormitories stronger. Not only will Dorm Days keep up to date with the latest competitions between dormitories, they also help to evoke a sense of communality and sense of hall spirit as well as competitiveness when the residents play the games. Most importantly, it is a networking facility which will enable students to connect with other residents in other dormitories, a tool which keeps track of all activities in the dormitories. Dorm Days will also provide an up-to-date events listing contributed by all the dormitories, and it is a sophisticated social networking aid which will make it easy to find the people you would like to network with.

2. Game Description
2.1 Basic Game Concepts

Dorm Days is similar to, and inspired by social network role-playing games (RPGs) like Sorority Life, Mafia Wars and Vampire Wars, which are applications already available on Facebook. The aim of this role-playing game is to complete virtual events to gain experience points and virtual money which can be used to acquire skills and buy items needed to advance in the game. For instance., players can use their virtual currencies to purchase virtual items like cars and clothes. They can also use their experience points to acquire various skills to enhance their in-game character, such as studying skills, sports skills, music skills, for example. The social aspect of the game is that the more people you have in your virtual dormitory group, the stronger you are when competing in the various activities available in the application. People from other dormitories can also visit your rooms and one can freely change dormitory rooms online, something which cannot be done in reality. The settings, events, and items in the game will be based on the actual dormitory life in NUS. For example, the details such as the look, feel and atmosphere of the online dormitory rooms will mimic those in the actual dormitories, to virtually replicate the actual dormitory life experience. Furthermore, players can purchase in-game Items to decorate their virtual rooms, and the online nature of the game means that there is no longer any real spatial or financial constraints, and players are free to decorate their rooms in ways that they might not be able to do in real life. Students living in the dormitories can also personalise their avatars (i.e. their virtual appearance) with in-game clothes, accessories and hairstyles. They

are thus able to express themselves in whatever ways they want, without being fettered by real-life concerns such as practicality or money.

2.2

Adding Friends to Dorm Days

One of the basic premises of the game Dorm Days is that of adding friends to build up ones network in order to be stronger in the game. However, this function tends to be abused in Facebook, where users of similar games like Mafia Wars add people on a mass basis in order to expand their network and gain an advantage in the game. Since they do not actually know the friends they are adding, there is actually very little social interaction as these people will not take the effort to get to know or communicate with each other. As such, these social network games tend to not meet the objective of social networking, in the sense of getting to know new friends or connecting with old friends. That said, certain features could be implemented to prevent such abuse of the friend-adding functions in Dorm Days. For instance, before one can add a friend to his or her dormitory team, the user must first correctly answer at least one out of three quiz questions set by his or her friend. If the user cannot answer any of the three questions, he or she will be given two more tries before being permanently unable to add that friend without intervention by a game administrator. In this way, the usual practice of mass-adding friends without knowing them can be prevented, which in turn enhances the social networking aspect of Dorm Days. Furthermore, this serves as a sort of an icebreaker, which allows new friends to get to know each other better, while allowing old friends to remember each other better. Thus,

such a function would greatly improve the social networking aspect of the game Dorm Days, both in terms of making new friends and reconnecting with old ones.

2.2

Virtual Visits

One feature of Dorm Days is that it allows its users to explore the virtual environment, where they are able to visit their friends rooms, which is a component of the social networking aspect of the game. Real-life interactions are also replicated in Dorm Days, as players are able to talk to, play with and leave messages for their friends in their rooms. For example, players can leave notes to encourage an upset friend, or to wish him a speedy recovery when he or she is unwell. In terms of virtual interactions, when a player visits another room, there will be a list of interaction behaviours, such as chat, tell a joke, tickle, dance, hug, for the player to engage in. If both players are in the same room, they are also able to play games together or against each other, such as Sudoku, Connect 4 or Spot the Difference. Visiting ones friends, playing these games and interacting with friends will allow players to gain experience points and money, and the amount of given points and money is dependent on how much fun both players have, or by how much the friend likes the players visits. As such, players will be encouraged to interact in a positive manner in order to reap the maximum in-game benefits for their virtual interactions.

2.3

Content Sharing

One important aspect of social networking is also content sharing, and while this feature is already available on Facebook, it can be further refined and specialised for Dorm Days, in

that all the content shared in the game must be related to ones dormitory life. One example is status updates, where players can share their thoughts and feelings in real-time. This could also be integrated with Twitter, where players only need to update their Twitter status and it will also be reflected in Dorm Days. These status updates allow players to get to know their friends better, as they offer insights into the activities and feelings of their fellow players. Photographs and videos are great ways to retain memories of ones experiences in the dormitory, and Dorm Days fills this gap by incorporating photo and video sharing within the game. Like Facebook, Youtube and other photo-sharing websites, users are able to upload photos and videos to Dorm Days, and there are no limitations except that the content must be related to dormitory life, and that they contain no explicit or vulgar material. Once the photos and videos are posted, other users are able to rate them, and users who post highly-rated content will be able to win unique items and prizes in the game. The content sharing experience can also be enhanced by incorporating a geolocation and quiz element in a game where users have to guess where a random photo was taken. Furthermore, these photos can be used for other aspects of Dorm Days, such as in the Spot the Difference game mentioned earlier. Thus, content sharing in Dorm Days is highly interactive and serves to enhance social networking among dormitory residents, as they are able to look back on their experiences, as well as keep updated on their friends statuses and well-being.

2.4

Linking Dorm Days to Real-life Events

One issue raised with an online game like Dorm Days is that of whether it will actually increase real-life interactions among dormitory residents, as they might only limit themselves to online interactions via the game instead of participating in actual hall activities. As such, it is important to link Dorm Days to actual dormitory activities. One way that Dorm Days is linked to real-life dormitory activities is the provision of in-game incentives for the players to participate in various dormitory activities, and is done by offering coupon codes to players who attend the activities. These coupon codes, which will only be given out at the end of the dormitory events, can be used to redeem special, limited edition items in the game. For example, players will be able to redeem a unique guitar item after attending a concert performance by one of the bands in their dormitory, or a stylish set of sports equipment after going down to support their dormitory during a match for the Inter-Hall Games. This idea is inspired by how similar games of Facebook usually offer bonus points or items in exchange for real-life currency. Since the aim of Dorm Days is to encourage interaction among dormitory residents and to enhance the dormitory life experience, it makes sense to tie in bonus in-game items with dormitory activities. It is anticipated that avid players of Dorm Days will thus be motivated to participate in dormitory activities in order to obtain the bonus items that will give them an advantage in the game. Through participating in more dormitory events, players will be able to make more friends, either through the game itself or in real life, and they are also more likely to step out of their comfort zone to join in activities that they usually would not attend. In these ways, Dorm Days is thus able to enhance the dormitory life experiences of residents.

2.5

Mobile version of Dorm Days

Given the proliferation of smartphones like the iPhone and Android-powered phones today, a mobile version of Dorm Days would hold much appeal for players as they are able to play the game on the go. While the game will not be as full-featured as its standard online counterpart, it will still offer many features, such as status updates, room visits with simple interactions, and content sharing. To encourage players to play the mobile version of Dorm Days, it will also have an additional game component in the form of a trading mini-game. This mini-game works by using the in-built GPS function of smartphones to detect the players locations and generating a list of items that can be bought or sold in that location. Naturally, different locations on campus will have different items for sale at different prices, and the buy low sell high concept of the game means that players will be motivated to explore the campus and visit other dormitories in order to buy and sell their items. Thus, the mobile version of Dorm Days also helps to enhance the dormitory life experience of players.

3. Evaluation and Conclusion

One of the strengths of Dorm Days is that it allows the players to integrate, make friends and get used to life in their dormitories more easily and quickly, through the various features mentioned above. Furthermore, the game allows people who are naturally quieter or more shy to first interact online, and once they have established comfortable friendships on Dorm Days, it is easier for them to interact with their new friends in real-life. Dorm Days also bypasses the need to physically move around the dormitory to get to know other

residents, and this allows players to get to know more people, as it is actually quite difficult for residents in different blocks to interact on a daily basis. Dorm Days is thus both a role-playing and social networking game, where its various features serve to enhance the dormitory life experience of players, while allowing players to make new friends and reconnect with old ones. Furthermore, there are a few unique features of Dorm Days which differentiate it from other social network RPGs like Sorority Life and Mafia Wars. Firstly, there are features to ensure that quality friendships are established in the game, rather than numerous superficial friendships made to afford the player an edge in the game. The content sharing aspect is also unique to Dorm Days, and it serves to keep players strongly connected with each other the sharing of photos and videos. Finally, the most unique aspect of Dorm Days is its linking of the virtual game with real-life dormitory activities and events. These features, on top of the role-playing elements, offer a distinctive social network experience to dormitory residents as they are able to replicate their real-life experiences in the virtual world, or create a whole new persona, if they so desire. Thus, Dorm Days fulfils the functions of social networking while offering an inimitable gaming experience, and it is suggested that this game can be used in tandem with the dormitories orientation programmes conducted at the beginning of every academic year in order to make it easier for local and international residents alike to settle into their new living environment.

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