PLAYERS TASKS PRAXIS TEAMS EVENTS
Username:Password:
New player? Sign Up Here
BART Psychogeographical Association Biome EquivalenZ Humanitarian Crisis The University of Aesthematics Chrononautic Exploratorium S.N.I.D.E

Events / CG0 > SF0

When:

September 18th, 2008 @ 12:01am

Download iCal file for Outlook, etc

Where:

SF0
761 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA


Activity:

Le Colonial


Enrollment

6/761


Organizer:

Dax Tran-Caffee


Description:



[for those of you who were wondering if I would ever get back on my soapbox this Era]

Sfzero.org is a fantastic resource.
It becomes ever more fantastic as it spreads across the internets to locations far and wide.

While sfzero.org was originated as "an interface for San Francisco," it has since grown into an interface for dozens of other cities. In fact, it has been a long time since San Francisco has been the most active location [current rank: #8]. Simply put, sfzero.org is becoming an interface for the world. The rhetoric and imagery of sfzero.org, however, does not yet embrace its expansiveness... but it could. In order to continue expanding, I daresay it should.

But this is not to say that sfzero.org would benefit from becoming universal. The most incredible aspect of Praxis is the re-imagination of the real world on a specific level. Sfzero.org is comprised of individuals, acting with independence - it is not a central empire, suffocating under its own weight. In brief, sfzero.org must continue trading ideas globally, while keeping activities local. The City is a most essential element of the sfzero.org universe, which is why it is so important that this exercise all began with San Francisco, and that sfzero.org does not lose sight of the city-unit as it expands.

CG0, the current highest ranking cityZero, hereby takes upon itself the burden of challenging sfzero.org to redesign itself to recognize all the localZeroes. Because we are too intoxicated with our own power to engage in pleasant negotiations, we have chosen to use an idiom more suitable for Insatiability:

THREAT [open, unashamed]

Yes... threat, and display of power. SF0, this is your ultimatum:

If sfzero.org cannot sufficiently recognize the viability of the diversified cityZeroes, CG0 will take matters into its own hands, and redesign the website for our own purposes on September 18th, 2008 (just in time for Everyday Life!). Our specific demands are as such:

1) create a mechanism to separate regional teams from ethic/action-based teams on the Team page
2) approve city-specific Tasks that rival the traditional SF-specific tasks
3) replace the SF0 logo on the website with localZero logos that are dependent on each User's ZIP code
4) enable powerful cityZeroes to colonize and enslave lesser cities
5) deliver to us the head of John the Baptist
6) consider selecting a new/additional domain name... chicag0.org for instance.

We understand the incredible burden that SSI bears in merely maintaining this website, and we are willing to make some accommodations... however, if you cannot deliver at least demands #4 and #5, CG0 will appropriate the sfzero.org website on 9.18.08.

You have been duly warned.

sfzero.org players: please use this Event posting to discuss the absurdity of CG0's demands, and to voice your terror of the impending doom.


RSVP
I will:

Your username cannot be changed.

Your password must be at least 5 characters long.

(password confirmation)

Your name will appear to others on the site and can be changed at any time.



Responses


Terms

(none yet)

Comments


(no subject) +3
posted by Sean Mahan on September 8th, 2008 2:29 PM

Dax, does all of this Chicag0 pride mean you'll be sticking it out in my favorite city for longer than we thought?

(no subject) +1
posted by GYØ Ben on September 8th, 2008 2:29 PM

ONWAAAARD, HO!

(no subject)
posted by SNORLAX on September 8th, 2008 2:46 PM

this is very interesting. would you have SFzero renamed? SF definitely isn't the tasking center it once was.

(no subject) +4
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 8th, 2008 3:37 PM

Perhaps we could just rename San Francisco itself.

(no subject) +3
posted by SNORLAX on September 9th, 2008 6:06 PM

i suggest we choose a name from this random cat name generator

(no subject) +1
posted by SNORLAX on September 9th, 2008 6:09 PM

Mitzi FluffkittyZERO it is

NO!
posted by Myrna Minx on September 9th, 2008 6:11 PM

Sassy-Cat Killer-Cat ZERØ!!!!!!!!

mmmm...putting the zero first for a change...
posted by Secret Agent on September 9th, 2008 6:54 PM

Øttø Vøn Purrenmacher?

(no subject) +8
posted by Minch on September 8th, 2008 3:05 PM

Do you need the original biblical John the Baptist, or will any John Baptist do?

Dax, will you be performing the dance of the 7 veils in exchange for this Baptist head?

(no subject) +1
posted by Burn Unit on September 8th, 2008 4:05 PM

Once upon a time, it was, for me at least, an interface for Minneapolis. That is, they used to generate the city name dynamically based on location of your IP. I believe this was buggy, and Sean or Sam removed it. Cuz sometimes it told me it was an interface for Denver. I bet they could just switch that back on. Problem solved. Same as it ever was.

**Edit: but to clarify, I think I support this threat. We need more crazy hyperbolic demands from crazy mofos with craziness on their minds.

(no subject)
posted by Secret Agent on September 8th, 2008 4:21 PM

That would certainly take care of 3). And would it really need that much more code to then do 4)? I suppose the mechanic would need figuring.

(no subject)
posted by Peter Garnett on September 10th, 2008 10:21 PM

Well something happened. The About page now claims that the game is an interface for Pittsburgh.

(no subject)
posted by Lincøln on September 10th, 2008 10:34 PM

For Pacoima.

(no subject)
posted by Jellybean of Thark on September 10th, 2008 11:00 PM

Glendale.

(no subject)
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 11th, 2008 11:24 AM

Hooray Skokie!

(no subject)
posted by Jellybean of Thark on September 11th, 2008 12:31 PM

Hooray Skokie!

(no subject) +2
posted by Blue on September 8th, 2008 4:24 PM

Wow.
Quiet the ultimatum.
Biggest shake up I have seen since the Multilateral Task Exchange.

If this happens competitions between cities is a must!
InterZero Tasking duels Muahahahahah!

(no subject) -1
posted by JTony Loves Brains on September 9th, 2008 4:36 PM

Though it was surely a typo, I agree.

Quiet the ultimatum....

(no subject) +4
posted by Ben Yamiin on September 8th, 2008 4:56 PM

Oh no. Oh no no no...

This mustn't be allowed to happen.

(no subject) +3
posted by Lank on September 8th, 2008 9:27 PM

CALLING ALL BAY AREA PLAYERS!

As one of your two San Francisco Senators (not counting the two who don't currently reside in the Bay Area), I implore you to help me address this outrage. I don't mean the feeble threat that the villainous CGØ band has proposed itself - the idea actually has merit. Rather, I wish to address the misguided sense of power that has filled the Chi-towners with the audacity to propose said threat.

They claim that the San Francisco Zero team lags sorely behind the teams of other cities. This is our own fault. But it's not for lack of tasking, nor of tasking brilliance. It's simply because we have not associated our tasks with our team! In some cases, it may be because some of you have yet to join the team!

I admit that I have been ridiculously guilty of not exhibiting my SF pride by failing to associate my task completions with the San Francisco Zero team. I have since remedied this situation. As of this writing, San Francisco Zero has moved from #8 location-specific-zero to #5.

JOIN ME! It's simple - just edit each of your completed tasks and add San Francisco Zero as a team associated with that task. And if you're not on the team, JOIN! It's easy!

And for the record, to those who technically live in Berkeley, Oakland, Brentwood, or anywhere else in the Bay Area - I know that enough of your tasking happens in SF that you are parts of the San Francisco Zero team whether you like it or not!

Show your pride! Show those CGØ ruffians of what we're made! Raise the San Francisco flag to where it should stand, in glory, above all others!

Thank you for reading.

(no subject) +1
posted by teucer on September 8th, 2008 9:52 PM

My own approach to team association has always been to only attach a geographical team (MN0, in my case) to a task if it is in some way representative of something about the location. Sending people to discover new places in the cities merits an MN0 logo, as does wandering around and finding the worst that downtown Minneapolis has to offer. Journey: Chicago does not, even though I completed it as a member of MN0 - but Journey: Minnesota will, when I submit praxis from it. Rhyming pictures of Nicollet Mall are definitely worth a group association; meditations on the nature of summer are not even if they involve a few experiences that happened in Minnesota.

San Francisco is such a central part of the nature of SF0, even for those of us who have never tasked there, that it's worth thinking of tasks as San Franciscan by default, perhaps even those that take place outside of the bay area; save the SF logo for the ones that are even more about the city itself. And while comparing the scores of CG0, MN0, and GY0 may tell you that CG0 is doing quite well for itself while GY0 is clearly in decline, it doesn't actually work to compare the SF team to the other local teams. Not meaningfully, anyhow.

San Francisco is the symbolic center of the SFZerian world, if not the actual geographic center anymore, and a bit of tradition has grown up around that which I, despite having never traveled west of Chanhassen since I started playing, would not wish to abandon. An SF0 without San Francisco as its heart would be an SF0 that interacts with a world not centered on the Sutro Tower, for starters, and that seems inappropriate.

So please. Don't stick all your tasks to that team - not because I want CG0 to win, but because their logic is fallacious. You have nothing to prove.

(no subject)
posted by Tøm on September 9th, 2008 8:49 AM

GYØ is laying in wait for the new era.

(We would also like to point out the population to score ratios)

Team Score Averages per Member +1
posted by Myrna Minx on September 9th, 2008 9:05 AM

CGØ - 205
LAØ - 210
GYØ - 235
SFØ - 240
MNØ -241
SLØ - 459

(no subject) +2
posted by teucer on September 9th, 2008 9:09 AM

Does this mean CG0 will be colonizing Chicago, then?

I was thinking more.... +3
posted by Tøm on September 9th, 2008 9:31 AM

Chicago population: 2,833,321 - 75 :CGØ Members
Los Angeles population: 3,849,378 - 31 :LAØ Members
Great Yarmouth population: 47,288 - 27 :GYØ Members
San Francisco population: 764,976 - 35 :SFØ (team) Members
Minneapolis population: 369,051 - 28 :MNØ Members
Saint Louis population: 13,708 353,837 - 7 :SLØ Members

According to my calculator, CGØ should have 1617 (.7) members if they are to match the ratio of GYØ.

Get recruiting.

(no subject)
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 9th, 2008 9:31 AM

Paltry statistics, they mean nothing. I will not fall for Spidere's antics again.

(no subject) +1
posted by Myrna Minx on September 9th, 2008 9:42 AM

OH MY GOD, what has decimated St. Louis???

I'm gone for two weeks and it's disappeared...

(no subject)
posted by Tøm on September 9th, 2008 9:57 AM

Ahem, blame my poor geography and Wikipedia's large list of St. Louis's.

(no subject) +4
posted by JJason Recognition on September 9th, 2008 10:18 AM

CGØ's intentions are more sinister than they first appear Minx. Much more sinister...

(no subject) +1
posted by JJason Recognition on September 8th, 2008 10:42 PM

4) enable powerful cityZeroes to colonize and enslave lesser cities

and just who, exactly, does CGØ intend to colonize and enslave, eh?
MNØ agents: Initiate Code Vermillion. This is not a drill. I repeat Initiate Code Vermillion. This is what we've been training for people.

(no subject)
posted by Myrna Minx on September 9th, 2008 7:04 AM

I have an idea...

(no subject)
posted by Kid A on September 9th, 2008 12:52 PM

I still stand by my previous statement for immediate and absolute rebellion. Sometimes, as they say, it's better to let sleeping dogs lie, as you aren't quite sure what they are cabable of when they wake.

(no subject) -6
posted by JTony Loves Brains on September 8th, 2008 11:02 PM ↓ show bad content ↓
(no subject) +2
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 8th, 2008 11:19 PM

You'd do well to keep your apathy apathetic.

yes because the bitching seems so authentic +6
posted by Burn Unit on September 9th, 2008 6:17 AM

I was just certain it was an actual set of actual demands. I especially thought the line about delivering the head of a 1,970-years-dead preacher from the outskirts of Jerusalem completely attainable and therefore an entirely serious insistence by its author. I assumed the tone of the event was totally realistic.

(no subject) -6
posted by JTony Loves Brains on September 9th, 2008 4:42 PM ↓ show bad content ↓
(no subject) +2
posted by GYØ Ben on September 10th, 2008 12:31 PM

Jeez dude, lighten up.

(no subject) -1
posted by JTony Loves Brains on September 10th, 2008 6:06 PM

Okay, okay. I don't mean to be a downer. This just feels like so many things Dax has already done, and it just feels divisive. I want to unite us, rather than divide us, and making this about points is just nausiating.

Ok, I'll crawl back into my corner now and play with my blocks again. Carry on with the battle if you must, but it feels a whole lot like "Billy the Shakes" and "Wild Bill Faulkner"'s "Sound and Fury" than anything significant enough.

(no subject) +1
posted by Myrna Minx on September 10th, 2008 6:28 PM

not about points. about changing the game!

at least, that's what i thought.

and Furthermore: the only people who seem to be against the notion of de-centralizing SFØ are either those who live there, or those who romanticize the place (probably as a result of playing San Francisco Zero).

(no subject) +2
posted by teucer on September 10th, 2008 7:03 PM

Eh, I romanticize the place only in a way that I romanticize every place.

Different locales have their own character. Hell, if you but the idea of psychogeography, at all, I'm sure you recognize that fact. And as a player of SF0, my experience of the game is different in the two places I've tasked much - central North Carolina on the one hand and the Twin Cities on the other. This is partly an artifact of there being an MN0 community but only one person to task with locally, and partly a result of having very different experiences of the two places.

But I'll tell you this - the game is richer for the way my MN and NC tasking experiences cross-pollinate in my mind, and for the way that they have been impacted by the tasking in every city, everywhere, that has SF0 players. My experience is richer because every time I read a Night Photography praxis I see a place through new eyes, whether it's a place I've lived near or a place I've never been. And my experience is richer because my tasking can be informed by the characteristic experience of players in other cities, and because we celebrate those characteristic differences.

I don't want the game "universalized" in a way that it hasn't been already by its very nature - by the presence of tasks specific to multiple locations like the Journey tasks or our two level eight tasks, for instance, or by the way that the vast majority of tasks allow us to project the urban-influenced character of the game onto any place at all, even the forested wilderness of the Canadian border or suburban Durham. In SF0, San Francisco stands as the archetypal city - and it need not be the real San Francisco; it can be the fantasy San Francisco my mind constructs from having been years ago, or Chicago, or it could be the city I imagine Dubai to be having never spoken to anyone who's seen it firsthand, or it could be the fictional Vice City of Grand Theft Auto fame or even the unspecified City that Garnett mentioned below. (In fact, I think what we have is a mix of San Francisco as it is, San Francisco as the rest of us see it, and the generic City, all rolled into one beautiful package wrapped in seven layers of paper and tied with a neat little bow shaped like a fleur-de-lis.) But the game is enriched by having that shared feeling. We need a sense of place, because that's what makes SF0 something more than a list of crazy things to do on a rainy day.

This game is as universal as it needs to be. It's not the Soho Project, which was more vehemently rooted in its location, but it would make no sense to talk of psychogeography and the transformation of urban spaces without having a shared sense of place. Somehow, almost by magic, SSI have created a sense of place that transcends actual physical location - but that sense of place is based around San Francisco. My objection to changing that isn't that I think it can't work if done differently - hell yes, it can - but that I don't want to risk damaging the sense that's been established by trying to replace it.

What we have developed organically out of the self-universalization of a psychogeographical game designed for a single city. Nobody could have planned it this well, I don't think, although it wouldn't be what it is without the gentle guidance of SSI. And so I don't want to try to change it into something we imagine and plan in advance, because even though the organic nature of the game will inevitably work its magic on that version I don't think we can foresee what the result will be. What we have, though, is nearly perfect, and I wouldn't want to replace it with anything.

(no subject) +1
posted by Myrna Minx on September 10th, 2008 7:20 PM

Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose...

(no subject) +3
posted by Absurdum on September 10th, 2008 10:13 PM

well, yes, but then a rose is (mostly) a physical object, which follows a natural set of instructions stored in it's DNA. SF0 is purely an artifact of conglomerated human narrative. Names don't change the nature of roses, but they DO change the nature of narratives.

(no subject)
posted by Myrna Minx on September 11th, 2008 9:14 AM

touché.

(no subject)
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 11th, 2008 11:33 AM

I agree with Dok Harmon's sentiments for the most part, except that living in an imaginary San Francisco is confusing and idealistic, and definitely not the strongest element of sfzero.org. I agree with non-universalization, and certainly with diversity of localities, as I've clearly stated. But:

SFØ is organically evolving through the actions of its players. I daresay you could construe this 'threat' as such.

(no subject) +1
posted by teucer on September 11th, 2008 11:42 AM

Oh, I certainly don't think the fact that our shared sense of place is influenced by SF as perceived by non-Californians is a strong feature. In fact my point is that it doesn't matter what defines it, so much as that it is present.

(And this "threat" is a different quality of organic change. It's players pushing for something partly planned, as a structural change, as opposed to seeing what happens when the tasks we submit and the nature of our praxes is what we, as individuals, feel like doing. It's different, though not entirely so, from how a lot of the game's culture and identity seems to me to have developed.)

(no subject) +1
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 11th, 2008 4:45 PM

Okay okay okay, you got me.

This is really just an excuse for CGØ to take over SFØ, and I'm just throwing some commentary in for shits and giggles.

Or maybe it was the other way around.

(no subject)
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 8th, 2008 11:28 PM

Abolishing distances? Hmm.

(no subject) +1
posted by susy derkins on September 8th, 2008 11:35 PM

I like "an interface for the world". I like the city-unit as a most essential element.
I went to San Francisco once, bought some special brownies in Berkeley that got moldy waiting for a special ocassion. Cool people, tough. I went to Chicago once, nice EL, ugly freeways, cool people tough: great feeling walking the Loop, bike messengers darting around. I went to Minnesota many times, too freaking cold or hot, but cool people, tough: awful skyways but Uptown was a fantastic walk at night. Ah, but here: the best of places, the worst of places. Just you wait.

(no subject) +1
posted by Peter Garnett on September 9th, 2008 12:05 AM

I support "interface for the City", personally. Where City represents an archetype that can be overlayed on wherever I happen to be.

But I'm not picky. ;)

Cities? We don't need no stinking cities... +1
posted by Absurdum on September 9th, 2008 5:35 AM

Which, is lucky really, because here in NZ we don't really have any worth the name... I mean, sure, christchurch is nice, at 200,000 people, our capital, wellington, tops out at 400,000 (and if we get an NZ0 ever, I suggest "the beehive" as the building), and even Auckland, at a third of our population is only 1.2 Million, IF you count three or 4 other nearby cities as being "Auckland" (Which we do usually).

SYDNEY has more people than the whole of NZ, I think Houston is the city in the US we compare to closest. Even Aucklanders don't really think of themselves as being "city-dwellers" for the most part, it's just not in our self-image.

And then there's the problem of transience... 10% of our population is overseas at any given time (most in the world, boo-yah!), of my year at school, there are 5 of us in NZ at the moment instead of 60. Local-pride is all well and good, but what happens when you're "home" is split over several areas, countries, or continents...

Sense of specificity of location is important in some senses, fluid in others, and in my mind completely uncorrelated to "city-state". I agree with the Dok when he says that "it's worth thinking of tasks as San Franciscan by default, perhaps even those that take place outside of the bay area". San Fransisco is a state of mind, not of geography, and I say that as a person who will never set foot there...

(no subject) +2
posted by teucer on September 9th, 2008 6:14 AM

Yeah. Although the San Franciscanness that creeps into the game is only one facet of the SF0 experience and only represents one facet of San Francisco, if this game had been born in Paris or New York City or Moscow or some random town in the boonies it would be a whole different experience.

But I'm not sure if the people in the Bay area notice. After all, San Francisco is around them always, so it's easy to miss that it's inside them as well.

(no subject) +3
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 9th, 2008 9:39 AM

I contest this San-Francisco-is-origin-of-Tasking theory. Fluxus came out of New York. SI was in France. Playtime Inc first began in... Chicago.

There is nothing inherently San Franciscan about sfzero.org. I can testify, as a Bay Area native.

(no subject)
posted by teucer on September 9th, 2008 11:18 AM

One of the great things about all cities, though, is the way in which they unite things from other places in their own unique fashion. SF0 is the product of a lot of things from a lot of places, melding in a San Franciscan milieu. I've been to SF (although I've never lived on the west coast), and something about it really does feel reflected in SF0 in a meaningful way even though the biggest influences on the game (including its creators!) came into that city from elsewhere.

(no subject) -2
posted by JTony Loves Brains on September 9th, 2008 4:47 PM

Of course, Playtime, Inc.'s current headline?
"SFZero: the universe's only real-world first person action / adventure game"
I'm just sayin'.....

(no subject) +1
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 8th, 2008 11:36 PM

Localization is one element that makes this venue quite unique. Consider what a universalized version of sfzero.org might look like. Dare I say, non-competitive as well.

(no subject)
posted by Jellybean of Thark on September 9th, 2008 8:14 AM

That's very

interesting.

There's a lot there to look at, almost too much.

(no subject)
posted by JTony Loves Brains on September 9th, 2008 4:48 PM

I'm sorry, but that's one ugly design.

(no subject)
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 9th, 2008 5:26 PM

I am agitated by your preoccupation with pretty things.

(no subject)
posted by JTony Loves Brains on September 9th, 2008 10:30 PM

I like shiny things, too.....


Ooohhhh, Shiiinnyyy!!!

@ DAX
posted by Myrna Minx on September 10th, 2008 8:49 AM

I fear that a non-competitive version might devolve into sickeningly sentimental art therapy sessions...

however- i support de-centralization.

(no subject)
posted by Jellybean of Thark on September 10th, 2008 10:24 AM

In the interest of getting people to ask more questions:

Would a decentralization, in terms of City, necessary lead to things like this?

(no subject) +1
posted by Peter Garnett on September 10th, 2008 11:00 AM

If this site wasn't designed about 10x better than the DMI one.

P.S. Isn't SFZero already decentralized, in everything but name and the High Score Task?

(no subject)
posted by teucer on September 10th, 2008 11:10 AM

That and the flavor. And I *like* the SF flavor being present, but not so strong as to overwhelm you.

(no subject) +2
posted by .thatskarobot on September 9th, 2008 12:06 AM

These demands are absurd!

(no subject) +1
posted by Absurdum on September 9th, 2008 5:36 AM

Except that one about the head of John the baptist... it would make a nice conversation piece in my living room...

(no subject) +1
posted by Minch on September 9th, 2008 10:18 AM

I still contend that to demand the head of John the Baptist, one must first perform the dance of the 7 veils. Get to dancing Dax.

(no subject) +2
posted by Not Here No More on September 9th, 2008 12:15 PM

I was searching around on the interwebs and it seems that ø.org does not exist...yet.

Chi-t0wn Pride! +2
posted by Morte on September 9th, 2008 1:22 PM

I don't know what I can do to help, but I certainly will stand up for my adopted home! That is to say that I will stand in Daley Plaza on the 18th and proclaim my support, I'm too broke to go to San Fran....

And sadly enough, I do know the dance of the 7 veils, or a close recreation taught to me by a very old burlesque dancer who learned it on exotic travails...so I can teach Dax how to do it for purposes of authenticity and a desire to have a front row seat for it.

(no subject) -2
posted by JTony Loves Brains on September 9th, 2008 4:58 PM

What saddens me about this most is the idea that this is San Francisco vs. (place city name here). There are so many things alike about our cities, so many ways we can join each other to celebrate them together.

For instance, look at San Francisco. We have this medium sized object known as Lotta's Fountain. It was a meeting place because of its location in the middle of market street for years. Then it was a survivor of the earthquake, and because of that other earthquake survivors met there and it became a symbol of our survival of the quake of 1906.

And Chicago has the Water Tower. I don't remember all of its history, but isn't it basically the same thing, a survivor of the great fires and thereby a symbol of Chicago's survival? Don't these symbols join us somehow, rather than pitting us against each other, like one city is better because they have more... points? Blah!

(no subject)
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 9th, 2008 5:18 PM

It's easy to condemn conflict when you're the one with the riches.

(no subject) +3
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 9th, 2008 5:27 PM

How long does that dance take to learn?

Would it be acceptable if I had a puppet do it?

(no subject) -2
posted by JTony Loves Brains on September 9th, 2008 5:45 PM

It's easy to condemn conflict when you're the one with the riches.


So, by that are you saying that Chicago is some how has less "riches" than San Francisco? or that I, because I live in San Francisco am more rich than you, who live in Chicago?

If that's true, Shame on you. Chicago is a wonderful town, and I have often said that if I hadn't found my home here in SF, I'd be living there, wandering the streets at 3am taking photos of the Wrigley building and the fountain behind the Art Institute (talk about night photography) and the Water Tower in late night traffic. Chicago is full of riches.

(no subject) +8
posted by SNORLAX on September 9th, 2008 5:55 PM

3b.jpg

(no subject)
posted by Secret Agent on September 9th, 2008 6:09 PM

It would be even better if you had a puppet do it.

Puppet n dancin..
posted by Morte on September 10th, 2008 7:42 AM

Hmm, I suppose that might work. You'd have to have separate strings attached to each veil in order to remove them in the right order..... Ye Gods, now I've got the mental image of a harlequin puppet doing this as a viral video... The curse of having a very visual mind. And oddly enough, the veils are removed in the reverse order from what most people would think. I could probably teach you in a few hours, you're pretty bendy.

(no subject) +1
posted by Minch on September 10th, 2008 2:25 PM

For a puppet dance I will give you a puppet John the Baptist head... but if you want the real deal then I demand undulating Dax flesh dropping veils.

Chicago has changed you, and so you have changed Chicago... +3
posted by YellowBear on September 10th, 2008 11:58 AM

I don't care who I need to shrink I will not sit by and let SF0 be taken over! I will rise from my long slumber and do whatever is needed to halt his evil designs on our city, these threats of our Doom. Some things never change, the good people of SF must never be intimidated or give into threats such as these. I don't know what designs this architect has, but it is all a bit too villainous for my taste. Notice has been taken Dax, I will stop at nothing to protect my city.

(no subject) +1
posted by Bex. on September 10th, 2008 12:01 PM

Oh jeez. Time to dust off my cape, eh?

(no subject) +1
posted by Jellybean of Thark on September 10th, 2008 12:23 PM

And so the gauntlet was thrown.

(no subject) +1
posted by Minch on September 10th, 2008 2:28 PM

perhaps with a threat of this magnitude, we might need a collective of heroes to save the day....

::rushes off to closet in search of cape... nope... purple boots... wedding dress... fairy wings... damn... where is that cape?::

(no subject) +1
posted by Absurdum on September 10th, 2008 6:07 PM

Well, I'm set, I've got my shovel.

Bex my Hero +5
posted by Minch on September 10th, 2008 6:44 PM

I could not find my cape... but my magic faerie queen outfit I did find...

365:7

I too shall ready my purple booties, my lovely Fairy Minch-cess! +1
posted by Bex. on September 10th, 2008 7:05 PM

You see Dax, we have quite a powerful posse. Do you really want to mess with a fearless gang of fairy princesses, dragons, ninjas, bears, giants, queens, and soon caped heroines are to begin proliferating too!

Be warned. We will not take this with wings, wands, or capes folded!

(no subject) +2
posted by Red Star on September 10th, 2008 7:29 PM

I will join your awesome posse.
For the good.

(no subject)
posted by Jellybean of Thark on September 10th, 2008 8:16 PM

Oh dip, it's Red Star!

(no subject) +3
posted by Jackie H on September 10th, 2008 12:27 PM

Some more information for those of you who care about the game's local origins:
1) Ian and Sam were both born and raised in the Bay Area (Sean is from NJ, make of that what you will).
2) They chose San Francisco as the game's first location in part because they thought this was the place in which it would be most successful.

In any case, I think that any extra-SF0, creative activity resulting in other sorts of games or art or what have you are all awesome. Why not make your own SF0 for a city if you can do it in a way more appropriate to your (psycho)geography? I'd love to see it, and it would probably only grow this awesome project.

(no subject) +3
posted by mkII Robot on September 10th, 2008 8:31 PM

MKII ROBOT IS CERTAIN THAT IT DOES NOT UNDERSTAND THE EMOTION=_property_, AND _city_.

IS THE OWNERSHIP OF THIS GAME BY A CERTAIN CONTINGENT OF PLAYER DETRACTING FROM THE SUCCESS OF YOUR EXPERIMENTS, player:_dax_?

(no subject)
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 10th, 2008 8:51 PM

My apologies, but neither an indefatigable super hero team, nor an army of robots can save SFØ.

If cityZero recognition continues to the end of the Insatiability, the end of Insatiability will be celebrated by CGØ - in every cityZero.

(no subject) +2
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 10th, 2008 8:55 PM

[but theatrics aside, the answer to mkII is 'yes': it has been arduous recruiting Chicagoans to join a website named after a city it envies - so strictly speaking, though the idea of changing the appearance of SFØ is a difficult one, it is my honest advice to SSI]

(no subject)
posted by Jellybean of Thark on September 10th, 2008 9:36 PM

I've had similar trouble with recruiting as well. I gotta agree with you there, Archatek'.

(I didn't know that there was a lot of San Francisco envy in Chicago, or have I misread?)

(no subject) +1
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 10th, 2008 10:05 PM

It's not like they're better than us. It's just that they can go outside in the winter without holding hands with death.

That, and the fresh produce thing...

Fresh produce & hospitable climate +1
posted by Lincøln on September 10th, 2008 10:16 PM

In L.A. you can walk down public streets and pick fruit off of trees like trash out of gutters.
Best city in the world.

(no subject) +1
posted by Jellybean of Thark on September 11th, 2008 7:35 AM

There are no bad sunsets here.

(no subject) +1
posted by Julian Muffinbot on September 15th, 2008 10:34 PM

i haven't noticed much san francisco envy here in chicago, myself.

(no subject) +5
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 10th, 2008 8:49 PM

'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a San Francisco.
What's San Francisco? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a Collaborative Production Game. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So SFØ would, were s/he not SFØ call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which s/he owes
Without that title. SFØ, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself. What is in a name?

(no subject) +1
posted by Lincøln on September 10th, 2008 9:42 PM

It's funny. I was thinking of doing something similar, but without any commotion or threatening of SSI.

I was thinking of building a mirror website (LAØ or CGØ or GYØ or whatever) and have that website host simply the name of the particular local zero and the logo in the upper left corner. And all other content would be on the sfzero server.
Now, I don't know anything about web design, but I think there are enough computer and design geeks in this community (look at what Spidere did), that we could figure out a way to make it happen without any hubub. Just a simple overlay.
It seems simple enough. Is it?

(no subject)
posted by teucer on September 10th, 2008 9:46 PM

I actually rather like the way such things tend to be currently. For instance, http://Chicag0.org/ is CG0's site about their events and has a link to SF0; http://MNZero.org/ is a similar thing for MN0, and so on.

Although your way is actually pretty damn cool. That, or having all the urls resolve to the same server and have it use your IP to detect where you are and assign a different image if you're near an established localzero. Both work well, I think.

So yeah. What you said. Is awesome.

I love this place.
posted by Lincøln on September 10th, 2008 9:51 PM

See?
People who are smarter than I am already came up with a possible idea for a cool solution.

(no subject) +2
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 10th, 2008 9:54 PM

Lincoln - I entertained the idea of rebuilding SFØ as CGØ for a while, back in the day (hence buying the chicag0.org domain). I even redesigned the SFØ site as much as I could, but it never went live. I didn't have the knowledge or skill to pull it off, so I had to shelve the project. That would have been the right way to do it... though I still haven't figured out how to make this website truly look and feel like it was built by and for Chicagø without making changes to the actual site.

Harmon - the chicag0.org and mnzero.org sites are great, but we had to invent our own content to make them meaningful - that's not something that every cityZero can do / needs to do at this point, and the CGØ and MNØ site content is hardly equivicable to the game that is sfzero.org.

Thanks for these points, though. I like this discussion.

Yes, but that´s design, skin, what have you
posted by susy derkins on September 10th, 2008 10:33 PM

What I find more useful is the idea that is OK to think outside San Francisco, getting serious about parasutros and exactly how the meaning of tasking changes in the context of every different location.
The SF context looms large, and the first days/weeks/months? the dazed n00b feels that he/she absolutely needs to go there in order to be playing properly.
Of course, if we want non SF-centric content and tasks, we better start working on them.
Is not that the SF folk could be of much help there, SF being inside them and all...

(no subject) +2
posted by Loki on September 11th, 2008 5:02 AM

Splitting up the domain name is a terrible idea. We want people, institutions, and search engines to say, "I've heard of that before," as often as possible.

But, for what it's worth, I care not a snot whether "sf" is an acronym for anything.

(no subject) +2
posted by JTony Loves Brains on September 11th, 2008 6:43 AM

Super Friends!!!!!

(no subject)
posted by Kid A on September 11th, 2008 12:10 PM

You know, the Ip detection and further displaying of the appropriate label/city-zero isn't the hard part of making it work. It's fairly easy to pull an Ip or zipcode, it's just annoying to go through and link each zipcode with each seperate label. Or maybe I'm just lazy sometimes.
We can go with lazy.

(no subject) +1
posted by Sean Mahan on September 11th, 2008 1:43 PM

- See the about page. Here at ol' 761 Oak (not far from the center of the city) we're considered "Oakland" - and that's with a static IP. Often, IP detection services are even worse than that. Is it less alienating for people in, say, Austin to see DC0 instead of SF0?

- An alternative would be to base such a system on where a player locates themselves on their account page. This still means the site would have to default to either SF0 or crap-shoot IP detection when people aren't logged in.

- Furthermore, Lat&Lon location would have to rely on us (or someone) making imaginary boxes for each team's territory; in that case, who gets (say) Madison, WI (which is stuck logo-less between CG0 and MN0)? Will there be riots if some player who identifies as a DC0 inhabitant ends up here?

- "...the enemy interprets space in a traditional, classical manner, and I do not want to obey this interpretation and fall into his traps. […] I want to surprise him! This is the essence of war. I need to win […] This is why that we opted for the methodology of moving through walls. . . ." buh?

(no subject)
posted by Lincøln on September 11th, 2008 1:59 PM

"An alternative would be to base such a system on where a player locates themselves on their account page. "

Yeah. That.

(no subject)
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 11th, 2008 5:11 PM

Sean, you're quite generous to weigh in on this discussion.

1) the IP detector for my apartment seems to be working just fine. no complaints here. SAIC, of course, seems to be in Skokie... I see your point.

2) might be a respectable compromise, assuming that CGØ does not actually have the resources to wage a war of annihilation against SFØ. no comment there.

3) Madison, WI clearly belongs to CGØ. MDØ belongs to DCØ. There, problem solved.

4) that's an incredible article - thanks for making me aware of it. Oh dear, what have we done???

- you have made some good points, but the question still remains, can I learn the dance of 7 veils while simultaneously defeating MNØ in their own Journey this weekend?

(no subject)
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 11th, 2008 5:23 PM

By the way, have I told you recently, Sean, that you are awesome?

(no subject) +1
posted by Peter Garnett on September 11th, 2008 5:33 PM

I have some ideas as to how to implement altØs myself, in a way that also implements demand #4. I'll need to do some more feasibility analysis before going public with the plan, though.

(no subject)
posted by teucer on September 11th, 2008 6:39 PM

Sean, thanks for the technical input on things.

(Also thanks yet again for making this game so awesome.)

(no subject)
posted by Absurdum on September 11th, 2008 8:11 PM

Isn't there ALREADY an interface for locating your "home territory". I seem to remember hunting down not just my town, but my STREET on a google-like map system when I first signed up...

(no subject) +1
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 12th, 2008 6:31 AM

Indeed. But this has had no overt affect on the game, yet... the only thing we know is that SSI is collecting all of our home addresses to sell to terrorist marketeers.

(no subject)
posted by Absurdum on September 18th, 2008 8:41 PM

God I hope so, that'd be cool - and I could do with some shoulder-mounted rockets if they're selling door to door.

(no subject)
posted by teucer on September 11th, 2008 7:02 AM

Dax, what I meant by bringing them up was the fact that they are local sites that aren't in any way trying to be SF0. They're where we talk about what our local street games are going to be; SF0 is where we task.

And I'm with Loki on the "SF need not be an acronym" front. I don't really think of it as one myself, even though I do think of the game in a slightly SF-centric way.

Localise? We control the content... +1
posted by Tøm on September 11th, 2008 9:27 AM

Just as you can select your group scheme in your account settings, so too you should be able to set the LocalZero logo. Of course, this would require the list to be updated regularly...

I'm also in favour of separating LocalZero's from other Teams. This seems like a good idea.

I'm pretty sure we have a database around here somewhere...

Of course, that doesn't implement LocalisedZero tasks, but the last time I checked, adding tasks was down to us, the players.

(no subject) +1
posted by JJason Recognition on September 11th, 2008 12:33 PM

Yes, but approving them isn't.

(no subject) +1
posted by Tøm on September 11th, 2008 1:04 PM

Then people need to make said tasks awesome.

(no subject) +1
posted by Myrna Minx on September 11th, 2008 1:40 PM

frozenhaddock for Senator!!!

speaking of, why isn't there a senate? you know, a team that our benevolent leaders can use to do important things?

(no subject)
posted by susy derkins on September 11th, 2008 2:06 PM

Yeah, Tom, you should run yourself this Era.

(no subject)
posted by Tøm on September 11th, 2008 2:50 PM

I may well do if the "Run for lords if you're a senator/Run for senate if you're not" task gets approved. (I think it's Dok's, but it may well be any of the Skypeteam).

However, 3 senators in Great Yarmouth?

Might be pushing it a little.

(no subject)
posted by teucer on September 11th, 2008 10:38 PM

The task you are thinking of is this one, Tom.

(no subject)
posted by Tøm on September 11th, 2008 11:40 PM

Indeed it is, thanks!

(no subject)
posted by Peter Garnett on September 11th, 2008 10:30 PM

War of the Cities

Comments, QPQ, etc. welcome. I don't want to be the only one involved in designing this.

(no subject)
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 12th, 2008 6:32 AM

I disapprove of this structure. I want something that is unduly weighted in the favor of CGØ conquering the world. Can we make this happen?

(no subject)
posted by Jellybean of Thark on September 12th, 2008 7:51 AM

NØpe.

to protect our city... +3
posted by Tiny Dancing Tzarina on September 12th, 2008 11:33 AM

Dax, I will challenge you to a dance of the 7 veils...

(no subject)
posted by Minch on September 17th, 2008 4:58 PM

If I could comment vote for that more than once I would. Tiny, I loves you.

(no subject)
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 17th, 2008 5:48 PM

I voted again for you, minch.

But I deny your challenge. I will simply take over SFØ without the head of John the Baptist.

(no subject)
posted by Tiny Dancing Tzarina on September 17th, 2008 8:02 PM

Scared you might lose?

(no subject)
posted by Ben Yamiin on September 18th, 2008 2:08 AM

He's quivering in his bootsies.

There's nothing I'd like better than to see a seven-veil-dance-off between you two.

(no subject)
posted by Tiny Dancing Tzarina on September 18th, 2008 8:36 AM

I know right! I thought this villian would do anything to win...guess not

Oh God, we should have listened - but we were fools to ignore him! FOOLS! +3
posted by Haberley Mead on September 17th, 2008 4:39 PM

fools.jpg

How long are we gonna let this continue, my fellow SFZerians? How long must we suffer this injustice?

...Even in UK, I kinda LIKED being SF0...

(no subject)
posted by teucer on September 17th, 2008 6:32 PM

Huh. It looks normal to me.

But then... IT IS THE EIGHTEENTH OVER THERE! Hm. I have... two and a half hours until my colors go all tacky.

(Edit: By the way, Haberley, do you wish to enlist in the SF0 Foreign Legion?)

(no subject)
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 17th, 2008 9:53 PM

Ten minutes, dear Midwest, before I begin taking over computers in central time.

(no subject)
posted by teucer on September 17th, 2008 9:54 PM

Seriously, though, could we at least be oppressed by a better color scheme? The one you chose is a little garish, in my opinion.

(no subject) +1
posted by Icarus on September 17th, 2008 10:04 PM

Well, it's apparently that time...

Are you enjoying the takeover?

We win!
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 17th, 2008 10:29 PM

cg0takeover66770.jpg

Colonel Harmon - I went with the municipal colors of Chicagø. It seems to work for the rollergirls, so why not CGØ?

contest07-tee-w.jpg

(no subject)
posted by Julian Muffinbot on September 17th, 2008 11:21 PM

i think it is lovely!

(no subject)
posted by Jellybean of Thark on September 18th, 2008 7:31 AM

Did I miss something? Did it end in the night as I slept? If I'd been watching just after midnight would I have seen it?

Mine looks the same as ever.

(no subject) +1
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 18th, 2008 8:32 AM

I'm working on it!

Sheesh... villainy is busy work!

(no subject)
posted by Jellybean of Thark on September 18th, 2008 9:58 AM

Villainy? And here I thought you fancied yourself a freedom-fighter.

(no subject) +1
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 18th, 2008 10:21 AM

Same thing, yes?

Fail.
posted by Lincøln on September 18th, 2008 8:57 AM

My SFØ looks like SFØ.

Double Fail
posted by Minch on September 18th, 2008 9:45 AM

Mine is the same lovely SFØ as ever.

(no subject)
posted by Tiny Dancing Tzarina on September 18th, 2008 9:54 AM

Mine as well.

It seems California is unaffected, so far...
posted by Spidere on September 18th, 2008 10:28 AM

...but things look different here in DC0.

(no subject)
posted by Jellybean of Thark on September 18th, 2008 10:36 AM

It's spreading eastward. Perhaps something is blocking the signal in this direction.

(no subject)
posted by susy derkins on September 18th, 2008 11:01 AM

CGØ here, since midnight. Red stars are not my thing but meh..

(no subject)
posted by Burn Unit on September 18th, 2008 12:02 PM

mine is flashing in-between SF0 and 0Z. as in team down under.

double double you tee eff, mate.

(no subject)
posted by Tøm on September 18th, 2008 12:09 PM

ØZ is a fun layout.

I want my player/praxis/tasks... buttons back, stars aren't as good by far.

(no subject)
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 18th, 2008 2:14 PM

Those stars represent the Great Chicago Fire, the Burning of Fort Dearborn, the Columbian Exposition, the Chicago World's Fair and the '68 DNC. Have some respect.

(no subject) +1
posted by Peter Garnett on September 18th, 2008 2:33 PM

Why would 0Z stars stand for events in Chicago? *confused*

(no subject)
posted by Tøm on September 18th, 2008 3:07 PM

That's what I was wondering, I see no CGØ relation in my current layout.

(no subject)
posted by teucer on September 18th, 2008 3:09 PM

The five 0Z stars (four large, one small) represent the five stars of the Southern Cross.

(no subject) +1
posted by Icarus on September 18th, 2008 6:01 PM

Dear CG0,

Your takeover was sabotaged. You do not win.

2869332464_df79b6de52.jpg?v=0

Long live 0Z!

-Jimmy

(no subject)
posted by Jellybean of Thark on September 18th, 2008 6:21 PM

That Aussie logo is very nice.

Also, the sfzero design keeps popping up.

(no subject)
posted by susy derkins on September 18th, 2008 6:29 PM

Dang, now I want the ØZ logo!

Indeed--SFZero is irrepressible.
posted by Spidere on September 18th, 2008 6:32 PM

I doubt that even the CG0 and 0Z factions will be able to keep it down for long.

(no subject)
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 18th, 2008 8:05 PM

Damned SFØ.

(no subject)
posted by Lincøln on September 18th, 2008 8:23 PM

The ØZ logo is better than the CGØ logo at least.

But my SFØ still looks like SFØ.

(no subject)
posted by Jellybean of Thark on September 18th, 2008 8:27 PM

Same here. Something must be blocking the signal.

Perhaps the Hopi Lizard people know something...

(no subject)
posted by Absurdum on September 18th, 2008 8:40 PM

And so far at least I haven't seen a thing, despite running firefox.

(no subject)
posted by Jellybean of Thark on September 18th, 2008 9:38 PM

And now the Chicago logo is all gone.

(no subject)
posted by done on September 19th, 2008 12:16 AM

I like change. thank you.

(no subject)
posted by Dax Tran-Caffee on September 20th, 2008 11:15 PM

CGØ has voluntarily relinquished our conquest over your computers, and so we await Everyday Life...

(no subject)
posted by Squibbs on September 20th, 2008 11:22 PM

Um, no.

0Z has relinquished it voluntarily. You had it wrested from you by the Foreign Legion.

(no subject)
posted by Icarus on September 20th, 2008 11:24 PM

We're very laid back down under, eternal conquests aren't really our thing.

I mean, New Zealand is still a free country, right?

(no subject)
posted by Absurdum on September 22nd, 2008 6:10 AM

You up on your commonweath history James? We were part of NSW, went to the commonwealth convention, created and then successfully pushed for all the bad and weird parts of the federal constitution of Australia, and THEN said... "Yeah, maybe we'll be our own country (Or technically "Dominion" - yes, that's right, the queen is our dominatrix)". PLUS we sent you Jon Bielki Peterson...

(no subject)
posted by Icarus on September 22nd, 2008 6:14 AM

Wow. I'm still thinking of the queen as a dominatrix.

mini-QueenElizabethII.JPG

(no subject)
posted by Absurdum on September 24th, 2008 7:12 AM

I just BET you are James...