NG Design Document/Use Cases/Scenarios

From Rex community wiki

Introduction

Formal use cases are helpful to inform people precisely what your system should do, however sometimes there are just not enough of them to capture all the possibilities inherent with a virtual world system.

The following are some of our most creative ideas, in user story form, about what should one day be possible.

Intimate discussion

• I'd like to have an intimate discussion with my friend
• Don't want to be disturbed
• Want to feel secure (and isolated from the rest of the world)
• Should share certain level of intimacy

A good friend of mine is having problems with his wife but I can't meet him in real life as the wife is terribly jealous and both of us would get into more trouble. Normally we could talk over the phone or use headphones but this time we can only chat. The wife would hear him talk and he can't leave the home now as they're having a fight.

We can't hear each other but we want to meet face-to-face. So we end up going to Rex. We change our looks to "invisible" and "visible to this person only" because we don't want to be disturbed. We adjust our chat to "private" and make sure all of the privacy settings are in use.

We go sit in a café, just like we would normally do. Watching the stream of people and yet being in total peace makes an intimate atmosphere.

Hanging around while waiting for my turn in the game

Hanging around while waiting for my turn in the game

• I am hanging around in a virtual lobby area
• There are a number of people I don't know
• I am waiting for my game buddies to arrive
• There is nothing much to do, so I would like to have a chat with someone interesting
• How should I proceed?

My game buddies asked me to come and wait in this virtual lobby area. They'll arrive as soon as they can. Probably late, as always! Why did they ask me to come here anyway? There's absolutely nothing to do here!

After looking around a little I notice something interesting. There seems to be some games in the lounge. I take a closer look at them. It looks like these mini-games last only a couple of minutes or so. Others look bored too, one avatar is standing still, one is moving around restlessly, clearly trying to find something interesting.

I ask the restlessly moving guy to try a game with me. He agrees immediately! We play a couple of rounds. His friends arrive, and luckily soon after also one of my game buddies. We end up playing a few rounds before the whole gaming group is finally in the lobby. It's good to start the proper game after a nice warm-up.

Meeting gets boring

• I am attending a serious meeting
• People talk too much and the discussion is utterly boring
• The environment catches my attention
• There might be so many cool things to do
• How could I have a bit of fun without really disturbing the others?

Ok, for starters, I know it's really important. And I know we should all be interested in it. But I really can't understand anything about the financial report and there's no way to change that. I don't have anything to say about it, nobody needs my useless comments. I'm here only because of the other items on the list.

If I leave the conference room, my boss will get angry and I'll only end up showing disrespect, even if I don't mean to. But what if I was in two virtual worlds at the same time? They don't have to know that I'm in fact swimming as a fish in a place much nicer than just a boring conference room. The best part is, I can still hear what they're talking and know if somebody's asking me questions. And they don't know I'm actually doing something much nicer…Nobody gets offended, everybody is happy, and I stay awake until it's my turn to take part in the discussion.

Having a party

• I'd like to invite some friends over for a party
• First I'd like to build a suitable environment
• What might be the theme of the party?
• Why should we have it in the virtual world?
• What are we going to do there?
• What makes the people stay and have fun?

The language course was a blast. It's a pity that none of us live in the same region! It's now been three months since we left and I still long for the parties we had. I decide to organize a party online. I mean, why not, better than not having a party at all, right?

I start building a perfect party location by adding a few familiar tourist attractions we all got to know so well. I even make a fountain to remind that some of us swam there! I also create the sea and a nice beach beside it as we loved to bask in the sun together.

I have already invited people a couple of weeks ago, giving them some time to organize things. A couple of them have actually been eager to help me, and my best friend, who lives next door, has been designing the party look with me.

It's finally party time! I have made a couple of piña coladas and I know others are having them, too. We play drinking games online and catch up. At the end of the night some of us even swim in the fountain…

Treasure hunt with real prizes

• ACME Inc. organizes a treasure hunt
• There are hundreds of people taking part
• The clues have been cleverly scattered around the virtual world
• Will the fastest win? Or is there room for intelligence?
• Why should I bother?
• What is the ultimate prize the winner gets?
• Is it any fun?

This is my second time taking part in the treasure hunt organized by ACME Inc. Already after the first I was hooked! It's a bit like playing a computer game and solving puzzles. Instead of doing it alone I'm doing it with hundreds of others!

There is room for both cooperative and competitive action. You can also join as an individual but I personally prefer treasure hunting in a group. I get to know lots of fun people and also have better chances of winning. Last time I was ranked the 5th fastest together with my team. Not bad for a first-timer…

It's not so much about finding hidden objects and solving clues, it's more about the chaos and the adrenaline rush when I try to get to the same location together with 10 other avatars. Unlike in single player computer games, this time I know the avatars are real people, aiming for the same goal.

Jamming with my buddies

• We gather around the campfire
• The instruments have been tuned
• It is not the real thing, but close enough
• We'll jam through the virtual night
• Some random spectators join the party and dance around
• You can feel the atmosphere heightening

In real life, I have never played in a band. Not that I haven't been interested in it, quite the contrary, but I'm originally from a small village and it's always been difficult to find other members.

Now that I'm older I no longer have time for regular training, but me and a few others have a band online. I play the drums, Paul plays the bass, Naoko plays the guitar and Jakob plays the flute. It's great because I never have to leave the house and the kids but I can still jam all night long!

We have now played for half a year already, on an irregular basis but at least once a month. Last week we were brave enough to play a gig in a concert. There were five other virtual bands performing. Afterwards people came to us and told how they dig our style. We got real fans! One couldn't get a better reward!

Virtual car boot sale

• At last I have a chance to get rid of my old virtual junk
• Perhaps somebody will pay me
• Or, maybe I get something more interesting in the exchange
• How do we organize the sales "tables"?
• Are there any "tables" at all?
• Is the chaos more interesting in the virtual world?
• Should we just delete the old junk and go on?
• Hey, what's that shiny object over there in the corner?

I had seen people organizing huge virtual car boot sales but I had never had the courage to join myself, even though I have all kinds of junk I would like to get rid of. I also have some self-made 3d-models I could try to sell but I don't know…would anyone pay for them?

Some time ago I saw an advertisement on a huge notice board and decided it's about time to get rid of all that junk. So I made myself a cool booth and joined in the sale. I reserved myself some space in the area and started organizing my stuff. That was unnecessary though, because as soon as the sale started, my junk was all around the booth and its surroundings anyway, as people wanted to test them.

I would never have thought there to be such interest in my 3d-models, but I was not only able to sell some, but also to get some really cool stuff in exchange.

Lights, camera, action!

• It is the dress rehearsal of our LARPish stage play
• There is no real audience yet, but all the key people watch closely
• The set looks nice enough, plenty of room for improvement, but there's still time
• How does it feel to act (and enact) in the virtual world?
• Do I feel anxious and excited?
• How do I express myself through the avatar?
• Is there any help available through the interface (HUD, menus, personal screens)?
• How does the drama unfold?

I have always been a fan of live roleplaying games. I have always had the ability to get excited about historical eras and archaic ways of speaking. I have been organizing dozens of LARP events.

However, it is never possible to create as imaginative surroundings in real life as it is in the virtual world. I mean, I live in a big city and there are no medieval castles nearby. I make lots of medieval-looking clothes and objects but they're never as assuring as a real medieval village would be.

Besides, I love this hobby so much that I love to learn new ways of doing this. What would be a better way than getting to know other LARP-lovers around the world in our huge gatherings?

Our sessions are open to the public, if only the avatars stay on their own side. We don't want any modern sneakers to ruin our medieval experience.

It's time for a fight. I'm the king, just about to lose. I move around restlessly, change my facial expressions, throw angrily objects in the air and cuss using medieval vocabulary. A man with a shimmering sword enters the room. It's time for my last words.

Chance encounters (strangers in the night)

• There are too many avatars walking about
• I don't see any familiar name tags
• All my friends are offline
• Should I talk to somebody?
• How would I know if someone is particularly interesting?
• Will the system help the match-making in some way?
• Do I get more information about the others if I share my personal details?
• What about the privacy?
• Why is s/he … ?

It's 11 p.m. and I can't get sleep. It's too late to go outside for a walk and I have no interesting books to read. A few hours earlier I started browsing the net, looking for some interesting new sites, but by now I'm sick of that and should probably just switch off my computer. This is now my fourth month abroad and I'm feeling lonely. I really miss my friends, but I know that by now it is 5 a.m. for them and I won't be able to find them online. I end up logging in realXtend and check my friends' statuses anyway. None of them are online. I curse the time difference and start wandering around, not really knowing what to do. Apparently there are other insomniacs in this world…There are way too many avatars walking about and it's really difficult to start talking to any of them…not that I'd really want to go through the trouble of finding some interesting people! I make a couple of searches with the Rex personal interests search engine. I limit the search to those who are online at the moment and who are staying in the same world as me. There seem to be no people who like Nova Scotia duck-tolling retrievers but I find a few avatars who like scuba diving, just like me. I send a request asking if those two are willing to share their personal data with me. Once I send the request they are able to see my interests linked to my avatar - otherwise I would stay anonymous. One of them approves my request and it's easy for me to find him. I have a really nice chat with ScubaDiver1 and we decide to meet a few days later in Rex. Our discussion is saved in my own space and I add his personal information in my address book.

Show and tell competition

• There is only two hours
• We need to create something fast
• What should we do?
• All the interesting objects have been built already
• My skills are not good enough for full-scale 3D design
• Should we go prim-based? Just use the basic building blocks to create something fresh?