Wednesday, January 2, 2008

A Tale of *One* City

I am not ashamed to say that I follow Internet fads. Sometimes (more than I'll admit), I'm on the forefront of the proverbial wagon train, while elsetimes I'm further behind. That's how the Internet works, I suppose.

Now, while this next thing is not what I'd call an honest-to-goodness "fad", it has captured the imaginations of quite a number of websites, and so I'm promoting its status from Quality Unknown to Diversion du Jour.

It's called MyMiniCity, and I've seen enough links to it to warrant giving it a closer look. Basically, it's a game (of sorts) in which you try to build up your own city. But unlike some sort of SimCity clone, you actually have little control over how it grows. In fact, all the control is technically put into the hands of others, because the only way you can grow a city is by having other people (with, I'm assuming, separate IP addresses) to click on the link to your city. Once the population grows, there are a few other links you can have people try to click on, which improve the economy, transportation, safety, etc.

Of course, being a proud Internet citizen, I decided to participate, and so I created my own little city.

Ramshackleton!

I chose that name after I learned that "Awesomeville" and, subsequently, "Awesometowne" were taken. (By the way, I am on a campaign to make sure "ramshackle" is brought back into common usage.) Ramshackleton is a small town on the isle of Malta (the smallest nation that you could start a city in), and it has a population of one. But, after you click on that link above (which I'm sure a number of you have), there will be more.

Really, the only interaction this game provides is through so-called "New Bulletins" where you can post "news" about your city. Currently, the only person to post has been the city's only resident, whom I have dubbed "Dorian Phelps." So far, his only news posts have been as follows:

[06:36] Dorian Phelps: All my attempts to give this city a decent name have failed. Hopefully, this won't impede tourism or emigration.
[06:37] Dorian Phelps: Also, I lost the regional volleyball tournament on account of being the only representative from a one-man town.
[21:30] Dorian Phelps: I stubbed my toe today. I tried to call my parents to complain about it, but realized there's no phone service. *Sigh*

So! Here's my challenge to you! When you click on the link and visit Ramshackleton (thus increasing the surplus population), write something in the news bulletin. And I want to see some original names! You are a new character, so let's make Ramshackleton the...well, the not worst city in all of Malta!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"I moved into Ramshackleton today, and immediately regretted it."

Reminds me of Marvin the Manically Depressed Robot from "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

Looks interesting my friend.

-Comrade Chavez

Anonymous said...

interesting, I'll move in.