Designing beyond face parts: Climate change on Whyville

Today when I logged on to Whyville (it's been awhile, since we were in Japan at the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) presenting on Whyville last week) I discovered that there are now "rolling black outs" on Whyville due to the energy crisis associated with the Climate Change Center. I went there to discover what was up and one thing I found was "CLIMATE COUTURE."



What is this? Well, it appears that design on Whyville now goes beyond face parts, something that an audience member at DiGRA actually asked about. Now, you can go to Akbars and design parts for alternative energy, which are then somehow ranked with a number related to how good they are for the environment. Here are some of the options below. Note that not all parts actually rank anything at all.



Well, I don't want to be a slacker, so I bought a solar panel and put it on my face, then went back to the Climate Center, rang the bell, and my contribution to solving the energy crisis on Whyville was noted. Hooray! I noted in particular that this is yet more evidence that Whyville is working on community-based science participation that requires an investment of virtual money and time and now a visual show of support (one's avatar on Whyville is quite important - just read our avatar paper: Your Second Selves...). Here's a picture of my new solar panel in front of the Climate Center. I think we need more research on this...