![BtsF4ZQ.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/BtsF4ZQ.jpg)
Hi, GAF!
I recently developed a "megagame", and I'm beta-testing it this Sunday. A megagame is a large-scale social gaming experience with anywhere from 30 to 150 (!) people, played out over the course of a day. Mine is called Human Error, and it's a cyberpunk game in which players form corporations, bid on contracts, research new technologies, and manage public relations to earn the most megabucks over the course of twelve rounds.
I'm testing it here in Los Angeles with 40 or so of my friends and game designer buddies (no profit gained), but the tricky part is the "Public Relations" part of the equation. Corporations will fulfill contracts that are largely not-nice. For instance, one corporation might implant voice recording technologies in Furby toys to generate data collection to sell for a profit. To help mitigate the negative effect this perception has on their stock prices, corporations will write press releases to try and "spin" the report in a positive way. But how do we judge, from a game design perspective, how they do?
From approximately 11 AM to 3 PM on Sunday, I'd like NeoGAF to take the role of "the public". You'll react in realtime with the press releases and the players writing them (through my account). They're allowed to post one press release every round (twenty minutes), and you guys will give them +'s or -'s depending on whether or not you think they did a decent job justifying their often heinous actions. You're encouraged to roleplay as citizens of this somewhat silly cyberpunk dystopia, and if you decide to develop story elements to the world, the players are allowed to incorporate them in their future press releases.
At the beginning of every round, short, factual news reports will be posted. You aren't reacting to these; corporations are automatically assigned a gain or loss of PR points from just completing the contract. An example might be:
The Cyberpunk Times said:Devastating Butts, Inc. has recently obtained a patent on synthetic skin manufacturing processes. Working in tandem with Creepy Dolls, Inc., the company has developed terrifyingly real dolls that sit comfortably within the uncanny valley.
And during that round, a corporation might release the following:
You can react however you wish, but if you want to give a score, just say the name of the corporation and then a + or a -. Please do not give more than one point per corporation per round.Devastating Butts said:Devastating Butts Inc. develops technology to teach small children that people are inherently disgusting, untrustworthy creatures
Devastating Butts, Inc. is proud to announce, in tandem with Creepy Dolls, Inc., a new form of synthetic skin used in the latest "OH MY FU-oh jesus it's just a doll" line of anatomically correct artificial tiny people. This technology, inherently terrifying and delivering a lifelike dose of terror and unease, can be used to help children understand at a young age the dangers of living in a society with other shitbag human beings.
"People are the goddamn worst," says Devastating Butts, Inc's CEO, Tommy McAllister. "They need to be avoided at all costs. By getting this technology to children at a young age, we can weed out any possible extroverts before they become "people persons", and teach everyone what they really need to know: humanity is full of disease-ridden douchebags and are at no point worth anyone else's time."
The technology is based on integrating stem cells into a lattice-like framework that forms fully-developed, panic-inducing flesh. Soulless eyeballs and stringy, unkempt hair round out the appearance of a doll meant to mimic on the outside what human beings really are on the inside: bereft of kindness and empathy.
For further inquiries, please find us on the internet or whatever.
Some of your funniest comments will also be played on the ticker headline system in the room for everyone playing to see! We'll take lots of pictures and post as many as we can during the event, and definitely tons afterward.
I'll bump this thread when it's time to roll on Sunday morning. I hope you guys can help out! This is a one-time thing, and we'll probably build up and advertise a Twitter account if we ever want to run the game again in the future.
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If you're interested in the rules of the game, you can read them here.