Approaching the Loot Box through Gamification

Special Issue #17

One-sentence game ideas

https://pad.xpub.nl/p/2022_onesentencegameideas

Collective reading of the texts

Rules of play defining games with kamo and erica
Taylorism 2:0: Gamification, scientific management and the capitalist appropriation of play with alex, chae, kamo and erica
Gamification as twenty-first-century ideology with chae and erica
Notes on deconstructing the popular with alex, chae erica and kamo

solo reading and annotating

Well played by Vicky Osterweil

https://pad.xpub.nl/p/well_played

We are all very anxious by the Institute for Precarious Consciousness
Base and Superstructure in Marxist Cultural Theory by Raymond Williams
Game Modding: Cross-Over Mutation and Unwelcome Gifts by Anne-Marie Schleiner
Wages against housework by Silvia Federici
Chapter 2: PWNing Leisure" from "Play Like a Feminist by Shira Chess"

How to turn players into payers map

with Supi, Emma and Gersande

Fanfiction Katamari

with erica and kamo

https://pad.xpub.nl/p/katamari-fanfiction
https://issue.xpub.nl/17/katamari/

Can gaming make a better world?

the karaoke video by chae
https://media.xpub.nl/2022/SI17/karaoke-Final.mp4

Re-writing the lyrics of Video killed the radio star to talk about gamification in real life.
The new lyrics will be used for karaoke performances

https://pad.xpub.nl/p/si17-karaoke

Lyrics final version

Let's get straight into it!

I wake up early every day to be the best
Don't close the mac cuz there's no need for me to rest
My job is like a game that's why I feelso blessed

Oh, a, oh

They took the fun out of my creativity (BUT)
I'm responsible for my stability (AND)
My mentor said 'Self-motivation is the key!

20 points
I did a good job!
50 points
I did a better job!

Gaming could make a promising world
Gaming should make a fulfilling world
Gamify your entire day
Oh-a-a-a oh

Waiting the host to let me enter the zoom call
Checking my emails while I'm having healthy lunch
My job is like a game but why I feel so stressed

Oh-a oh-a
Is this my leisure time?
Oh-a oh-a
Is this my working time?

Gaming could make a healthier world
Gaming should make a happier world
Manage life through all your apps
Get some rest and back to work"

Oh-a-aho oh x2

Gaming could make an easier world
Gaming should make a better world

If you fail then don't complain
Try your best and play the game
Life is better when you may
gamify all the way
Can't go on anymore x2

Gaming can't make a promising world
Gaming can't make a healthier world
Gaming can't make a happier world
Gaming can't make an easier world 
Gaming can't make a better world

Gaming can't make a fulfilling world 
Gaming can't make a healthier world" 
Gaming can't make a happier world
Gaming can't make an easier world
Gaming can't make a better world

Future Lootbox idea-proposal after a discussion with erica in a bar

from the page https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mediadesign/Future_Loot_Box#Starting_an_analysis_and_making_open_questions_for_defining_the_world_of_our_loot_box

Starting an analysis and making open questions for defining the world of our loot box

analysis

A loot box contains objects that create a desire but this desire only makes sense inside the world of a particular game. In the the other way around, the loot box is desirable, because it provides you with specific objects that makes you progress inside a game.

the materiliaty of the desire for a loot box

the objects inside of it that make you progress in the game
the process of conquering it or
the exciting surprise for finding it by chance
the choreography for opening it
that it is a reward, a positive reinforcement
that it is exclusive or rare

The game designer decides the way that someone is going to obtain a loot box

1.Loot boxes are often given to players during play, for instance as rewards for leveling up their character or completing a multiplayer game without quitting.

   Gamers work their way to get a loot box through their devotion to the game.

2.Loot boxes may also be given out through promotions outside of gameplay, such as watching certain streaming events.

   Gamers as fans devote their time in events outside of the game, they get the loot box as a reward.

3.Players can also buy them directly, most often with real-world funds but also through in-game currency.

   Gamers as addicted consumers that purchase the loot box with real money.

general idea

By creating a loot box we are going to appropriate a hegemonic object, a profit mechanism inside a video game that make players keep interest -and in the worst case senario get addicted- to that game.

lootbox inside a scenario

Starting from the premise that lootboxes are a catchy and tricky response to the desire of progression, of expansion of agency, of richness in a game, I want to reflect on how lootboxes are 1) a system for the management and distribution of resources and 2) objects that strategically build a system of meaning and a world/scenario around themselves in order to legitimize that same desire and use it as a fuel to keep going on. Lootboxes are an immediate acquisition of resources that allow or contribute the progression in the game. In this way they're strictly related to the world they are part of, and they are consistent with it; not only in terms of aesthetics, but also for the specific affordances the items inside lootboxes bring to the main character/player. F.e. a lootbox that gives you a magic sword, cannot make sense in the real world, and the desire of it only make sense in a scenario in which that same sword helps you to more easily reach your objective in the gameplay... (magic circle..?)(what item can be useful in real life?)

Designing a lootbox means designing the context and the world around it. or at least it means to intervene in the existing context in which the lootbox is purchased: What does it mean to purchase a lootbox in the context of xpub? and in the context of Page not Found? and in the context of a mainstream commercial bookstore? Which kind of tools are we proding our public with? which kind of world/scenario are these tools talking about and how their use affect this scenario?

I want to be mindful about the use value of our lootbox: where do we position it in the tension between existing use-values (mostly dictated by a capitalistic system that wants to make profit) and other-use-values (originated by creating a context around our lootbox that doesn't follow the logic of profit) is it the use-value what triggers the desire for purchasing a lootbox? can we think of other values that can trigger desire? if play/leisure stress on the uselessness of activities (and time) I think this should be an important point to keep in mind.

suggestion: would it be useful to map the kind of affordances that items inside lootboxes bring? either with a more historic approach and a more speculative one

other suggestions:

   I was triggered by the previous text we had to read, when it was talking about skins and personalised interface mods: it would be nice also to think at the lootbox not only in terms of an object, but also in terms of switch of perspective
   for example: 
       
       you open a lootbox and you are another character, and there are things that you can do or that you have access to in the gameplay only if you have a specific character
       
       or. the lootbox is a skin that you put on things, an interface that gives meaning to the contents of the special issue in a particular way  idk I have to elaborate more on this

About the scenario:

We need to define what qualities of the world that we live in constitute our game world. We know that it is going to be selled in the PNF and we are going to have a launch there. But why our public will be getting rewarded with a loot box?

Who is our public?

What are the characteristics of our public?

What do they desire?

Maybe we should consider the different identities of our public and their different occupations. For example, in a video game a human male football player desires different loot than a female elf warrior.

Also, PNF can be a cultural space inside our game world and not the game world itself. A part of the system of our game world. As it is in real life, it is a cultural space within a city and a city is part of a country that have certain rules, values, working conditions and legislations, gender roles, ethnicity roles, dominant ideologies and power dynamics etc.

   and this can go on and on...
      or/and it can conncect PNF with other systems

So for me in order to engage better on what will be our loot box, I think it is important to decide what is the story that our public is going to play in?? For example:

   Do we want to talk about gamification in its different applications? 
       Working time and leisure time that depend on class, gender, ethnicity etc (interesctional approach)?

Because loot box is a reward mechanism inside a specific game-system. And our game design can expose or transcend the dominant ideologies of our (game) world. And it can be site specific connecting it with the dutch context. [or an intersectional context that we will define]

Prototyping

Two prototyping experiments about the loot box
Τrying to generate puzzles through emojis

   #1st
   #LOOT BOX
   # it works like this
   # call the random function
   # define the characters that are going to be picked randomly
   # define with and height
   # then write a code that for the range of (height,width) it prints the random characters 
   #print ' '
   from random import choice
   characters = ['👓', '👠', '🧨', '📣', '⚽', '🦺', '🏳‍🌈', '💍','👑','💻','🚬','🍗','🧵']
   #numbers = [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,]
   #height = 1
   for x in range(3):
       print(choice(characters), end=)
   print('  ')

   🦺🧨🦺

   #2nd
   #Objects and assumptions
   from random import choice
   characters = ['🎮','💸','👔','👠', '🧨', '📣', '⚽', '🦺', '🏳‍🌈', '💍','👑','💻','🚬','🍗','🧵',' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ',' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ',' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ',' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ',' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ',' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ',' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ',' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ',' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ',' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ',' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ',' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ']
   width = 50
   height = 50
   for y in range(height):
       for x in range(width):
           print(choice(characters), end=)
       print()

  👑 🚬  🍗👠   👔     🧨       💍         🎮

🎮 👑🍗 📣 👠 🏳‍🌈 👑 🎮 🚬 💻 🧨

                           ⚽  🧵    👑👔            
                     🧨🧨🎮    💍 🧵            💍    🚬
  💻   🧵  🦺💻            👠🏳‍🌈 💻                  👔   
     👑     🧨  👔      🚬                🧨     🍗   💸
📣         💍       💍        🧵🎮               🏳‍🌈🍗

👠 🏳‍🌈 ⚽ 📣 🚬⚽ 💸🎮 🎮🎮 💸

                🍗     🧨   💻  🧨  🧵   💍            
🏳‍🌈          🎮             🧨               🧨       
                 💸 🧨                 👑        🏳‍🌈  
          📣  🚬           👔  📣   📣      🏳‍🌈   🦺 ⚽ 🏳‍🌈 
  💍 🏳‍🌈🧨  💻🚬    👠                          💻       
                   🎮        👔   🎮    🍗    ⚽   💻  
              👠📣       📣   ⚽  🏳‍🌈             👑    
  🍗 💸             👔          🎮 💻     🎮 👔  👔   🍗  
   🏳‍🌈          👑  👠 🧨     🎮            👔 💍  🧵  💍

👠 🚬 👑🏳‍🌈💻 🦺 🏳‍🌈 🎮 👠🚬 👠 🧵 💍 🚬🦺 ⚽ 📣 🍗

 👠  📣      💍       🚬     💸 ⚽        💻

🍗 🧨 🧨 💍 🦺 🦺 🧨 🦺 🧨

  ⚽        🚬     💍  🧵    💻      💍      🚬       💸

🧨 🍗 ⚽ 💻 💍 💍 🚬 🏳‍🌈 🧵

      👠                           👔🍗  🎮          
                      🦺    💍 🚬    🧨

🧵 💍 🧨

     🦺 🧵         🎮💍 📣            ⚽               
         👑  👠                🎮👔   📣     🎮        
  🍗 📣                             👔              
        👠              🚬              🚬

💸 👑 💍 💸💍 🚬 ⚽

     💍         🎮         ⚽       🍗       🎮  📣🚬   
                 🎮     🎮🚬             🏳‍🌈          
         📣  📣    🍗                           ⚽   
🍗            👠               💸             💻  🎮

🚬 👔 📣👠🍗 🚬 🧵 🎮 🧵 💍

  💻                   🍗  🍗     🚬    💻        🚬👠  
                                 🍗    🚬

🎮 👔 🦺 👑 📣 🧵

 📣 👔     🚬📣                                 🎮

🚬 👔 ⚽ 📣 🍗 🦺 👔 💻 💍 💍 🍗 🧵 🦺 🧵 👑🎮 👔 🧵 👠

       🧨                                 👑 💍 ⚽  👠
        💻       🧵                                
💍 🏳‍🌈       🚬🧨   🏳‍🌈⚽      ⚽     🧨 💍💍          👑💸    
            ⚽🚬  🚬           ⚽   👔               ⚽
         🦺        🧨👔   🧵                    👠    
📣        🍗 🚬    🧵📣💻 💍

Reading Writing and Reasearch Methodologies

Noise cancelling devices with kamo, chae and erica

https://pad.xpub.nl/p/noice_cancelling_devices_turns_off_also_your_inner

making the Glossary of productive play with everyone in class

https://pad.xpub.nl/p/02022022
https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mediadesign/Glossary_of_productive_play

What is a loot box? with everyone in class

https://pad.xpub.nl/p/16022022-ste<3

Editing the "what is a loot box text in order to make it a content for the publication

https://pad.xpub.nl/p/loot.box.definition

Producing the loot boxes

How can we work together ?

For this trimester we decided that we wil have two people facilitating each meeting.
This helped us a lot.
And I feel that in this trimester we had a better communication.
A more horizontal desicion making. More efficient meetings.
page with our group meetings' summaries
But again. Several decisions left people dissatisfied.
In our last meeting we needed to decide on the content of the box. There was a lot of frustration and many people felt that their voices weren't heard in the end.
Ι see that when time is pushing and we need to make quick decisions for important things, there is the risk that the communication becomes more violent.
How can we work we together in a big team and each one of us would feel that has a desired place on it?
That is a process.
Then I started reading Mutual Aid to find some answers. (stil reading it)

After our last and dramatic meeting, we decided to dristibute the work in 3 different groups.
Team 1 would be responsible for the inside of the box, team 2 would be resposponsible for the box and team 3 would create the LB's public and experience during the launch.

Team 1 and 80000 notes

Team 1 (erica, kamo, mitsa and supi) needed to decide what would be inside of the loot box. Most of the people of the whole team, wanted to use the different contributions that each one of us has created during the classes.
Or group at first had a hard time:

To decide on which contributions would go inside the box
How the different contents would be connected to each other by one surface.
While trying different surfaces, several contents wouldn't work (for example the idea of printing all the contents on a jigsaw puzzle)
We didn't want to work on other people's projects so we needed to see what would be our role.

After our first long meeting, kamo and erica proposed the idea to print the whole publication on postit blocks. We continues with that idea

as most of our contents were text based
we wanted to experiment with the perfomativity of printing text into a postit format.
postits are widely used during working time: From writing down tasks, to mapping a whole wall with notes and instructions that are used during a production moment.
so we would have a format that speaks already about working time
letting us to play with the boundaries of working and leasure time

---> pad for the postit idea presentation and discussion
The next step was to see how the hell we would print on a postit format. We were quite ambitious, aiming on 900000 postit in total. 900 for 100 boxes.
Reality made us reformulate. As we couldn't outsource our print into postit format, we decided that we could print our blocks without gluing them.
In the end they were like memo notes, that could be easily spread and combined with each other. We were still working with our idea to use the language of production as a format to print on.

steps:

setting note generator with web to print (kamo)
talking with the print shops and arranging the outsourcing ( mostly erica with help from supi and mitsa)
printing all our contents to note format and play with them to understand the performativity of the format (we had a very nice collective moment spreading the prints on the table)
editing all of our contents (mostly mitsa on the collective ones. the individual ones were edited by its individual)
design of the notes : 1. how much text would be on the note 2. the size of the text 3. the position of the text 4. the index and the chapter page design (design in figma)
design desicions mostly from all of us
design details from kamo and supi

Resources

https://pad.xpub.nl/p/post-it (pad with the first draft of the postits and an ongoing discussion)
https://cryptpad.fr/sheet/#/2/sheet/edit/Opp4ZQKXg3b0yU6OvMRJkv0j/ (table with all the possible contents, the ones we used and the ones we didn't used)
https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/pad/p/team-1-030322 (pad with the resources of team 1)
https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/pad/p/team-1-task-list (pad with the to do list of team 1)
https://git.xpub.nl/kamo/post-it-contents/ (git with the contents as md files)
https://www.figma.com/file/wVdpA2iwKN3hT9YXONqXTj/SI17?node-id=2%3A147 (figma files of the collective designs of the notes)

What each contect contributed to the box

What is a loot box? (collective definition of the loot box)
Crossword imaginary grid game (productive play, glossary definitions, games, gamification, ideology)
One-sentence game ideas (playiability, fiction)
Nim Fanfic (organisation, hierarchy, fiction, a bit cute and sad)
The murderous history of loot boxes (defining loot box through talking about mimic, appropriation)
Unfinished thoughts (productivity, play, blur, walking inside lootbox, adventure)
The leader (working environment sarcasm, cards, play, appropriating inspo quotes)
Connect[less] (networking critique, inspo, precarity,play)
X-quisite branch (collective drawing tool, play)
Katamari Fanfic (fiction, rolling, messy, accumulation critique, sarcasm)
Life Hacks (toxic positivity, cheap solutions, accesibility, optimisation, sarcasm)
Gaming can make a better world (gamification, work environment, working time and leisure time blur, karaoke,sing)