However, I have been doing it Top Secretly by wearing a disguise. Jane McGonigal has been my generous tutor as I explore the community and behind the scenes workings of the Top Secret Dance Off game. Since I am interning with her for the entire summer, I am sure that this topic will come up again, but I wanted to touch on a few things that I have learned so far from the world of TSDO.
TSDO has a great community of players, which create their own content (dance videos) and share them through a social network. The framework of the game provides a structure to which the players add value through content. Jane has fostered an atmosphere that encourages the sharing of personal content. While this is amazing in its own right, the fact that people are sharing videos of themselves dancing (dancing being one of the most self-conscious acts) makes it truly inspiring. The following is a brief list of the encouragement and incentives, which Jane has fostered in order to establish the community thus far.
- Positive Energy- TSDO has done a great job creating a game that focuses people’s energies in a positive way. The site inherently weeds out negativity and trolls, since not only will the community not stand for it, but also dancing in front of a camera requires the type of personality that is very forgiving and supportive. Some of this is to the chagrin of Jane, who has started to encourage players to comment when a player “Fails”.
- Quest Cooperation- The structures of the Dance Quests and Dance Offs are built around cooperation rather than competitiveness. They require players to work together and this in turn forges a bond that can surpass the digital divide. Players are able to create real relationships with each other as they are challenged through Dance Quests.
- Creativity Competitiveness- The competitiveness that does exist in game surrounds the creativity of the Dance Quest completion. While most quests are relatively simple to complete, there is a drive to create a more elaborate or unique video/dance than the others before you. This has been encouraged by Jane’s design through the incentive of Choreopowers. Choreopowers are awarded to one dancer by another depending how the dancer’s video made the other feel. The better or more creative the video the more likely the video will earn many choeropowers. This system gives the players more agency since it allows for them to not only vote on the best videos, but it makes creating better works worthwhile.
