GameOntology talk:About

From GameOntology

Oh dear. I see that the project has existed since 2002, so it took me four years then from start to write you this little message: How do you approach game genres in the GO Project? Is it free for anyone (such as myself) to add elements? best Mirjam Eladhari

Well, the Wiki has only been up a few months. We are trying it out not only for our work in the Experimental Game Lab, but also to open it up so that others can collaborate and participate of the project. So yes, of course you can participate by adding, refining and collaborating on different elements. I would recommend that you create an account so that you have access to the additional features that Mediawiki offers. (watchlist, email notification, etc.)

Regarding your question about game genres, it isn't something we have explicitly addressed in the ontology. First of all, it depends on what you mean or understand by genres. We have chosen to bracket out issues of representation, so the stylistic qualities of certain game genres are not addressed by the ontology (horror game, noir game, etc.). On the other hand, gameplay aspects of game genres (action, puzzler, platform) could be described by using different ontological entries. This isn't something we've done so far, but I think it might be productive! Jp 14:30, 23 April 2006 (EDT)

Hi again,

thank you for answering, good that the project is open.

Re the genre question I realize i asked it before having read the iformation on this site, you do clearly say in "Towards an Ontological Language for Game Analysis" that

“The ontological approach is also distinct from genre analyses and related attempts to answer the question “what is a game?” Rather than develop definitions to distinguish between games/non-games or among different types of games, we focus on analyzing of design elements that cut across a wide range of games. Our goal is not to classify games according to their characteristics and/or mechanics [20], but to describe the design space of games.”

... But I guess some of the concept may occur in certain genres more often, not at all, or all the time. Maybe it would be interesting to see how concept can be grouped, genrewise and otherwise, when using this bottum-up and/or "growth from middle" way of mapping the domain.

I am so glad to see this work happening, and I hope to be able to contribute!

/Mirjam

Interesting idea! I've been thinking how we could have certain pages that are "views" or "groupings" of certain ontology entries that fit some particular theme or idea. A take on genres could definitely be one of them. I think we would be really happy to have you contribute! Jp 15:37, 26 April 2006 (EDT)