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World Without Oil     (0 comments)

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Age Range Ages 11 and up

Brief Description

WORLD WITHOUT OIL invited people worldwide to contribute “collective imagination” to confront a real-world issue: the risk our thirst for oil poses to our economy, climate and quality of life. It’s a milestone in the use of games as democratic, collaborative platforms for exploring possible futures and sparking future-changing action.

Release Date March 2, 2007

Developer Writerguy LLA

Project Lead Ken Eklund

Press Coverage

http://www.worlwithoutoil.org/metabuss.htm

Press Release URL
http://itvs.org/pressroom/press_detail.php?pressId=6535

Full Description

“If you want to change the future, play with it first”

STEFANIE OLSEN, C|NET

World Without Oil simulated the first 32 weeks of a global oil crisis. It established a citizen “nerve center” at www.worldwithoutoil.org to track events and share solutions. Anybody could play by creating a personal story – an email or phone call, blog post, video, whatever – that chronicled the imagined reality of their life in the crisis. The WWO site links all these stories. The game encouraged excellence with awards and recognition for authentic and intriguing stories. 

“A huge, twisting network of news, strategy, activism, and personal expression”

NINA SIMON, MUSEUM 2.0

When WWO concluded on June 1, 2007, its 1,500 stories painted a detailed picture of an oil-poor future. Hundreds of thousands have viewed these chronicles, and high school students relive the experience via WWO lesson plans.

“Astonishing quality – the players revealed the heart of a complex subject”

FRANÇOIS GUITÉ, RELIEF

By playing it ‘for real’, WWO evoked collective intelligence and the wisdom of crowds. Players worked together to gain grassroots insights into the forces and outcomes. Their solutions – acts that mold communities, slash wasteful consumption and create more “elastic” lives – stand as vibrant antidotes to official paralysis on energy.

“Act as if. Live it. Weave us into a possible future”

EVELYN RODRIGUEZ – CROSSROADS DISPATCHES

By creating a nonpartisan game framework, WWO sparked timely peer learning about oil. By “rousing our democratic imagination,” WWO fostered deep engagement and changed people’s lives.


Metrics
How are you measuring results?
1. blog buzz and press. 2. Unique visitors to website

What outcomes have been measured?
1. Extensive blog buss and press worldwide. Very high name recogniztion and concept clickthrough in affiliated communities.


Funding Sources: Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Sponsors/In-kind donations: ITVS, Electic Shadows, Independent LEnse

Budget
Overall: 100,000

Social Issues/Channels Environment Game Tags

alternate reality game, ARG, serious alternate reality game, SARG, world without oil, worldwithoutoil, wwo, oil crisis, 2008 oil crisis, oil shock, peak oil, oil shortage, collective intelligence, collective imagination, crowdsourced narrative, game, simulation, thought experiment, historical pre-enactment, isthisnotagame?, writerguy, ken eklund, jane mcgonigal, energy policy, serious game, game for change, itvs



Where you can play this game The game's meta pages begin at http://worldwithoutoil.org The game was an event that ran from its announcement on March 2, 2007, to its conclusion on June 1, 2007. The most focused play began with the onset of the crisis, on April 30, 2007. The game archive begins at Week One: http://worldwithoutoil.org/default.aspx?week=1 Teachers can custom shape WWO lessons to create a WWO mini-crisis in the classroom. http://worldwithoutoil.org/metateachers.htm

Contacts
General Ken Eklund, writerguy@writerguy.com
Press Ken Eklund, wwo@writerguy.com


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