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Sissyfight 2000

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Sissyfight 2000
File:Sf2k frontpage.png
Developer(s)Word Magazine
Publisher(s)Word Magazine
Platform(s)Windows, Mac OS, Mac OS X
Release2000
Genre(s)Turn-based strategy
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Sissyfight 2000 was a turn-based strategy online game developed by the Word online magazine staff, including executive producer Marisa Bowe, lead programmer Ranjit Bhatnagar and art director Yoshi Sodeoka, with game designer Eric Zimmerman, written in Shockwave. It was launched in 2000.

The gameplay was simple on its surface, but required solid strategy to win consistently. The graphics were also simple, and were inspired by the work of "outsider artist" Henry Darger, illustrator Edward Gorey, Japanese anime, and early, 8-bit video games of the 1980s. [citation needed] The game focused on community-building through chat both in the game and on its associate message boards.

In a departure from the androcentric norm in video games, all of the players in Sissyfight were rendered female and nonsexual. Sissyfight was often cited as an early example of a web-based MMOG in gaming development and academic circles. Although each game session only contained three to six players at a time, the mechanics of "brownie points" and the robust community surrounding Sissyfight created a much more "massive" experience than most small-scale web games.

Sissyfight 2000 was created using an iterative design process.[1]

Gameplay

Up to six sissies could play in a single game, but a game could be started with a minimum of three. Each player started with ten hearts, each standing for one "self-esteem point". The game was turn-based, with each player picking her move, invisible to the other players. The players could, however, use the in-game chat bubbles to create alliances and coordinate their moves. With each round, players tried to eliminate each other's self-esteem until only two (or even one or none!) were left standing. and were proclaimed the winners of that game on a classroom-style blackboard.

Keeping with the game's playground theme, there were three categories of moves to choose from:

  • Tease, Scratch and Grab were the attack moves;
  • Tattle, telling the teacher, got everyone in trouble who had selected an attack move, except when more than one person tattled at the same time, in which case the move lowered the self esteem of the tattlers themselves;
  • Cower and Lick Lolly were the defensive moves, the former shielding oneself from one attack and the latter granting two extra self esteem points - unless the lick was ruined with a scratch or grab from another player. A player who tried to lick her lolly but was scratched, was said to have Choked. The green lollies had to be rationed, as only three were available to each player at the start of a game.

Although most games ended with two victors, it was also possible for a player to pull off a "solo", or single-player win. There were also rare cases in which all of the players lost, and in such an event a special "sad" ending tune played.

Cheating

Some players had devised several methods of cheating at Sissyfight. Most often, two players would resort to using an instant messaging service in order to coordinate their moves outside of the in-game chat interface. Other players developed more sophisticated methods, including running multiple sessions of the game and creating secondary or unregistered accounts (called "sock puppets" or "socks") to tilt a game's outcome in their favor.

The Honor Code, Sissyfight's terms of service, strictly forbade these behaviors.[2]

Game variations

Players invented their own game variations, with unique rules. For example, "Tease Tag" required everyone to tease, while "Tease The Slow" required everyone to tease the last person to make a move. Other variations included a "no cower" rule, which was faster-paced and concentrates more on offense. Since these variants are not hard coded into the game, some players do not follow the special rules. As a result, the other players themselves must often enforce the rules themselves by teasing out the rulebreakers.

History

Sissyfight was a surprise hit when it was launched in 2000. In 2001, it was even a nominee for the Webby Awards in the Games category. However, it suffered from a lack of promotion and development after Zapata Corporation, its parent company, closed down Word late 2000. Nonetheless, the community proved strong enough to sustain itself, with unpaid administrator RamonaQ and a handful of volunteer moderators managing the game and message boards. Gamelab, a game development company founded by Zimmerman with other members of the original Sissyfight team on staff including programmer Ranjit Bhatnagar and designer Naomi Clark, maintained and ran the Sissyfight servers through April 2009.

Since its release, Sissyfight was consistently named a top internet game by online magazines and continued to remain popular among its loyal "sissies" (the community name for regular players), even after the site became unavailable late April 2009.

Demise

On April 24, 2009, Sissyfight became unavailable. On April 28, 2009, long-time volunteer administrator RamonaQ announced on an unofficial message board that the site would not be returning anytime soon, as it was no longer being hosted.[1]

Credits

  • Executive Producer - Marisa Bowe
  • Concept - The Staff of Word & Eric Zimmerman
  • Game Design & Project Management - Eric Zimmerman
  • Lead Programmer - Ranjit Bhatnagar
  • Art Direction - Yoshi Sodeoka
  • Art & Interface Design - Jason Mohr
  • Producer & Assistant Game Designer - Naomi Clark
  • Additional Programming - Wade Tinney
  • Text - Naomi Clark and Daron Murphy
  • Sound and Music - Lem Jay Ignacio
  • Communication Engine - Lucas Gonze
  • Additional Project Management - Michelle Golden

References

  1. ^ Iterative Design
  2. ^ Sissyfight 2000
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