What is Ink?

Imagine that you're surfing the Web and you discover a site called Ink...

You click Enter, and your browser loads a chat window and the image of a cityscape. A caption informs you that you are in the City Center. Almost immediately, someone notices that you've arrived and begins talking with you in the chat window. "Welcome to Ink," the stranger says. "This is a great place. But we have a problem right now, and I'm hoping you can help. Our neighborhood isn't doing well. We need to get a group of people together to address this problem. Can you help us? We need to design a flier that will motivate people to come to a meeting where we can talk about this problem. We need to draft a resolution that we can circulate to those who show up. We also need a brochure that explains why other citizens should vote for our proposal. And we're going to need a white paper to explain to City Council the principles that inform our proposal. We've got a lot of work to do. Can you help us?"

Ink is a persistent alternate world (PAW) -- an enduring, online, multiplayer space. Ink was designed from scratch with two main goals: teaching writing and fostering community. A PAW has great potential to meet these goals:

• Persistent means a single, shared space -- always on (24/7) -- in which player actions have permanent effects. There is no reset button.
• Alternate means a different place, where players can be themselves, or invent whole new identities.
• World means a living place, with an ecology, history, & culture. The story and challenges are greater than any character's personal adventures.

There are many such worlds, including MUDs, MOOs, EverQuest, World of Warcraft, Second Life, etc. Ink is unique in many ways.

Life in Ink revolves around the creation, exchange, and appreciation of texts. The people and places of Ink are text-based, supplemented by images and other media. Whereas other games invite players to swing swords and slay dragons, Ink challenges players to communicate, cooperate, compete, and achieve through writing.

Ink is an imaginary world. It exists between the lines of text, inside the pigments of images, behind the pixels of computer screens. It's filled with landscapes of potential meaning. As writers, we visit Ink with our minds, to compose essays, speeches, web pages, and more. At the center of the world is the City: a well-mapped and -managed metropolis surrounded by the misty, anarchic Labyrinth. Disorder is forever ready to consume our prosperity and reclaim our achievements. Facing such entropy and our own diversity, how can we live together and prosper? How should we measure prosperity? Should we seek wealth? Popularity? Impeccable logic? Transcendence?

The City is governed by the City Council: players elected by players, under a constitution. Within a system of zoning and taxes, players earn and spend ink through writing and related activities. They form groups to pool ink, influence, expertise, and other resources. Players advance by completing writing-related tasks set forth by spirits of intellect and inspiration, on thematic paths like Government, Inquiry, and Trade. Each player records these tasks in a journal, like a reflective portfolio.

Ink is accessible through any current web browser. Players don't need to know anything about games to play Ink, nor have fast hand-eye coordination. In Ink, the pen is truly mightier than the sword.

Here's a screenshot of a prototype of Ink:

These fictional stories illustrate what Ink could be like for different players.

Ivan is a student in an undergraduate writing course. Within Ink, Ivan receives a journal that includes tasks from his instructor. As Ivan completes these tasks, he writes reflections about his choices. When he creates new content (e.g., items, rooms, documents), his drafts are reviewed by other players, and Ivan reviews some of their drafts. In Ink, a path is a series of special challenges and achievements. Ivan focuses on the Path of Government. A political group reads his job application and hires Ivan to hand out fliers to other players. The group helps pass a resolution in the Council, raising the tax on room sales. But as Ivan learns more about the world, he decides he's on the wrong side of the issue. He runs for City Council but isn't elected. Disappointed but far from finished, Ivan compares his campaign materials and public appearances to his rivals'. He founds an opposition political group, and tries new writing strategies to attract support. His group takes donations from room creators, campaigns creatively and vigorously, and passes a citizens' resolution reversing the tax increase.

Chun is an undergraduate telecommunication major who's curious about educational games. Chun focuses on the Path of Trade. Chun is a skilled writer and digital artist. By adding original images to the rooms and items she creates, Chun becomes a popular (and wealthy) member of the Trade Guild. She advances on the Path of Trade, keeping careful reflections in her journal and impressing other players on the path (who review her journal as part of her advancement). Chun often creates rooms and sells them, so she's vexed by the tax increase. Chun had generally ignored City politics. But now she follows the City Council race closely. Chun notices that most of the campaign materials are poorly designed (e.g., simple page layout, no graphics). When Ivan founds his new political group, Chun offers her services as a media consultant. She talks with Ivan to understand the issue and his message. Then she collaborates with a popular Ink rapper to create a podcast. Chun creates a flier to publicize the podcast, and hires some new players to hand it out.

Juan has been playing Ink every day for several weeks. Each day his character acquires some gloom. Gloom would prevent Juan from creating items or rooms -- in many ways, it would be as if he's too sick to work. So Juan has been eating ink to eliminate gloom, but this leaves him with little ink to spend on other things. Juan learns that he can eat glow instead. He finds a popular park that produces glow, and starts visiting it daily. For a few days, Juan doesn't have to spend ink to eliminate gloom, and he saves up enough ink to build a house. Then the owner of the park puts a lock on the gate, and only the owner's friends can get inside. Without a source of glow, Juan will have to resume eating ink to stave off gloom. In that case, he's not sure he'll be able to pay maintenance and taxes on his house. Juan is upset, and he wants the City Council to help.

For more information about the challenges and experiences of playing Ink, check out the Player's Guide.

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