I was sitting around today playing a bit of psDooM on an old server of mine trying to kill off a wayward security program that was filling my console with crap (and getting my ass BFG'd by the patches) with some X-Files going in the background (you know the one, Season Three Episode umm 6? The List) and thinking of the best way to write an invoicing application I'm working on, and reading escapist threads on the other screen.
Anyway I'm getting off topic - the point here is that I was playing a game to do some work and it got me thinking, what if I could play an MMO while I worked - and it actually did my job for me. Everyone I know who complains about MMO's complain about the repetition (the grind) and how boring it gets. I'm fairly certain my job gets boring, I know my old man used to get bored running a paper machine here in Aus, so what could we do to improve that?
So escapists, I ask you how you would do it, whether you think it is viable, and what flaws one would come across in the offing (let's ignore potential security vulnerabilities and poor code - I'm talking game style).
My primary application of thought would be in a factory - some "shit kicker" job where you've just gotto make sure all the wheels and levers get pulled at the right time - yes we could click a button to do it, but that could be a lot more enjoyable if we were gaming it.
I forsee some issues with this, namely how many "power ups" can you honestly hand out in this situation, teams against teams will be going down if managers step in, that sort of thing.
The thought is half formed so please feel free to tear it apart if you wish.
A final note: A programming team I used to work with used to deathmatch over who could check out and lock source code from our server. It kept us entertained for a ten minute block when we could relax, and the best programmers tended to be the best gamers anyway so it worked well.
Anyway I'm getting off topic - the point here is that I was playing a game to do some work and it got me thinking, what if I could play an MMO while I worked - and it actually did my job for me. Everyone I know who complains about MMO's complain about the repetition (the grind) and how boring it gets. I'm fairly certain my job gets boring, I know my old man used to get bored running a paper machine here in Aus, so what could we do to improve that?
So escapists, I ask you how you would do it, whether you think it is viable, and what flaws one would come across in the offing (let's ignore potential security vulnerabilities and poor code - I'm talking game style).
My primary application of thought would be in a factory - some "shit kicker" job where you've just gotto make sure all the wheels and levers get pulled at the right time - yes we could click a button to do it, but that could be a lot more enjoyable if we were gaming it.
I forsee some issues with this, namely how many "power ups" can you honestly hand out in this situation, teams against teams will be going down if managers step in, that sort of thing.
The thought is half formed so please feel free to tear it apart if you wish.
A final note: A programming team I used to work with used to deathmatch over who could check out and lock source code from our server. It kept us entertained for a ten minute block when we could relax, and the best programmers tended to be the best gamers anyway so it worked well.
