A battle among all of the Ivy League schools erupted across cyber space yesterday with the help of a new game, GoCrossCampus. The socially interactive game allows Ivy League students to show their school spirit as they attempt to dominate their rival schools in the GoCrossCampus Ivy League Championship.
In a press release, Yale junior Matthew O. Brimer explained what GoCrossCampus entails.
"Take a world domination game, multiply it by over 50,000 players, add online social interactivity and set the whole thing on a map of New England," said Brimer. "You control your own legion of armies, coordinate the game plan, and play as a team with the rest of your school to take over territories and edge out your rival Ivies."
Over 100 Dartmouth students have already signed up to play, according to Ivy Council Logistics and Communication Chair Ayla Glass '09.
"Students can keep joining for the next three days," Glass said. "Since each person is given a piece, we are encouraging floors to start a group or sports teams."
The game is comprised of a series of rounds that expire at the end of each day. Players, who control 10 armies each, decide how to distribute their forces during each round. Players can attack a territory controlled by a different team, defend their own territory, or move their troops to an adjacent territory which they already control, according to the game's website.
Team members have the option of electing a team commander to help coordinate players' activities. The commander has special privileges, such as the ability to e-mail all team members, that facilitate this role, according to the game's website.
A built-in chat interface and real-time statistics allow students to strategize with their fellow Dartmouth allies.
The Ivy Council, a consortium that functions as the student government for the entire Ivy League, is sponsoring the game. Harvard and Yale previously played a similar game, but Glass said the council hoped its coordination of the game would allow more schools to participate.
Bing Chen, a junior at Princeton and the executive vice president of Ivy Council, echoed Glass's sentiments in a September press release.
"In its year of rebuilding and expansion, Ivy Council seeks to initiate, support, and collaborate with intercollegiate programs such as GoCrossCampus in order to foster creative outlets for the Ivy League," Chen said. "This is one step towards the propagation of new, innovative, intercollegiate programs created by and for Ivy League students. Ivy Council is thrilled to be a sponsor of the GoCrossCampus Ivy League Championship and looks forward to further partnerships in the future."
Brad Hargreaves, a senior at Yale and a member of the development team for GoCrossCampus, said that the game's primary purpose is to foster school pride rather than to make money.
"Right now we are eating the cost," Hargreaves said. "Our target is a casual player, not intense gamers who would probably be the only ones who would pay to play. We are here to create a fun game, not [to] make money."
Hargreaves said that GoCrossCampus should not be confused with a video game and classified it instead as an online sport.
"A lot of hardcore gamers say that our game is ugly and slow," Hargreaves said. "We want to target students who like Dartmouth and have a lot of school pride. We want this to be something that allows people who never play online sports to log on once a day, and it only takes two minutes. This is a social activity for everyone. We hope to have a GoCrossCampus Ivy League Championship every year."
Dartmouth students preparing to dominate a virtual New England can begin their quest to conquer all the other Ivies immediately. If no school has conquered all territory by Dec. 4, a lightning round will begin in which multiple rounds are played per day. The team with the greatest number of territories on Dec. 7 will be named the winner.
