Game Evaluation - MakahikiKTUH/makahiki-ktuh GitHub Wiki
We requested feedback on the game design from the KTUH directors and supervisory committees.
In a discussion about the game with Jay Hartwell, the university's Student Media Advisor, a
variety of ideas and criticism came to light. First, he showed where
the User Guide had to be cut down considerably, to remove language meant for game administrators, eliminate redundancies, take out comparisons to the Kukui Cup and say what the game is rather than what it is not. From there, Mr. Hartwell seemed to have few issues with the program as a training and tutorial system, but many questions were the fundraising potential of the game.
Our focus had been to create a game mainly for the student-volunteers,
with plans to include fundraising from listeners only at a later run of
the game. The conversation led us to create a FAQ that would answer his questions and explain to all how things work.
Our Program Director, Jeana Cadby, advised having the players work in teams. We agreed and decided to team players up by the genres they play—KTUH divides the days into 3-hour time slots and assigns each a genre—which makes seven teams. She had seen an earlier draft of the document and suggested using points as well as badges, which we already had planned, but perhaps had glossed over in an earlier draft. She also suggested "integrating usage of programs for (audio) productions." While it would be impractical to build an audio editing system into Makahiki, the game does accept file and link submissions, which the players could use to send productions.
KTUH's Music Director (and fellow ICS student), David Teraoka, says we have an excellent plan, and likes the idea of projects and "crowd sourcing the different suggestions to improve the station." He also recommended more Facebook integration along with the
Twitter. We had not planned to rely on the game's social and referral bonuses, but perhaps will reconsider. Teraoka also suggested an activity "such as creating a page for your show/your DJ persona," which would be a great idea for everyone with a show they really care about.
His final critique was right to say that "the Special Awards section looks mostly like a
popularity contest, which might breed discontent. Also, 'Most Improved
Show' is kind of a back-handed way of saying the show isn't good." We will have to reconsider some of the awards to level the playing field.