2. Some big questions
What motivates the
production of user-
generated content in
virtual worlds?
How can developers/
designers support user
creativity?
3. A slightly smaller question
How can we think about
user-generated content
in the context of virtual
worlds?
10. User-generated content
THE USER...
Adds extras
COMMENTARY
Develops content from scratch
CREATION
Adds value by personal goal-
seeking
PUBLIC ACTION
15. Lessons from Habitat
quot;The first goal-directed event
planned for Habitat was a rather
involved treasure hunt... It took
us hours to design, weeks to
build (including a 100-region
island), and days to coordinate
the actors involved. ...
We thought it would occupy our
players for days. In fact, the
puzzle was solved in about 8
hours by a person who had
figured out the critical clue in the
first 15 minutes. ... a huge
investment in design and setup
time had been consumed in an
eyeblink.quot;
Morningstar & Farmer (1991). The Lessons of Habitat. Published
in Cyberspace: First Steps, Michael Benedikt (ed.), 1991, MIT
Press, Cambridge, Mass.
26. User-generated content
THE USER...
Adds extras
COMMENTARY
Develops content from scratch
CREATION
Adds value by personal goal-
seeking
PUBLIC ACTION
29. quot;PUBLIC ACTIONquot; in
virtual worlds
Other users are typically the
very reason for logging on
In game worlds, action is
only public in a very abstract
market economic sense
Even in social worlds,
actions have to be highly
goal-directed to leave a
mark
30. Conclusions
Users must presently
choose between the non-
goal-oriented and the non-
involving
Virtual worlds (allegedly
highly social) have untapped
potential
Publicly beneficial UGC
seems to be harnessed
more powerfully in quot;non-
socialquot; game types