THE GAME: AN OVERVIEW
THE GAME is a perpetually evolving super-competition that consists of the ideas and activities from the domains of sports and recreation, business, politics, technology, science, internet, arts and entertainment, life, and style, blended--in varying degrees, if at all--with each other and/or with newly created ideas and activities from the aforementioned domains.
THE GAME: RULES AND GUIDELINES
As a super-competition, there are an infinite number of rules, regulations, approaches, and ideas for the activities that make up THE GAME (activities that include basketball, political campaign finance, and/or music production, to name a few). To quickly access any and all information about THE GAME, THE FIELDexchange utilizes a vast library of search tools that include, among many others, Google, Ask Jeeves, and Everyone.net.
As an evolving super-competition, the participants and observers of THE GAME are encouraged to share, explore, blend, and/or create new ideas, new rules, and new activities for THE GAME. THE BOARD hosts multiple forums so that these new ideas, new rules and/or new activities can be described, discussed, and/or shared.
With these tools and ideas in mind, the guidelines for THE GAME include, but are not exclusive to the following:
BE CREATIVE AND HAVE FUN!!!
GAME TYPES/LEVELS
THE GAME, in general, has five types:
1. specific
2. transitional
3. grouped (style)
4. mixed (hybrid)
5. jacks
1. SPECIFIC
This type refers to a specific established/existing activity. The main criteria to be GAME specific is to have specialization. Automaking, restauranteuring, computer programming, acting, farming, and dentistry are all considered GAME specific activities and its participants are considered to be GAME specific participants. Activities in the other four types could eventually become established as GAME specific as long as there is a participant in those activities.
2. TRANSITIONAL
The premise for transitional GAME types is that there are multiple activities going on simultaneously. The primary purpose of this GAME type is to allow a smooth flow from one activity to another (to another, to another, etc.), therefore making THE GAME scalable. Some of the many examples include:
triathalon --> track & field
( e.g. relay from a triathlete to a waiting transitional and/or track athlete)
baseball --> football
(e.g. a hitter hits a baseball to the outfield where a WR v. OF scenario ensues)
basketball --> football
(e.g. a wing player catches a long bomb on an inbounds pass from a PF or C)
free e-tail hosting service --> consulting
(see add-a-shop.com)
3. GROUPED (STYLE)
This GAME type refers to similarly related activities grouped and/or blended together by primary and/or broad objectives. Some of the many examples include:
goal
ice hockey/in-line hockey/floor hockey/broomball/soccer/team handball/floor hockey
basket
basketball/korfball/streetball
use of a bat
baseball/softball/cricket/pesapallo
use of a racquet
tennis/badminton/racquetball/squash
endzone
rugby/American football/Australian rules football/arena football
medium of the activity
air/water/land
sports
the marketing agreement between YankeeNets and Manchester United.
computing
MICROSOFT's presence in, for example, software, WebTV, and Expedia.com
internet
programming/ web design/web project management.
politics
election campaigning/military/lawmaking.
electronics
SONY's presence in, for example, CD players, video, radios, DVD players, and game consoles.
4. MIXED (HYBRID)
This is where THE GAME can get really creative! This GAME type is made up of one or more existing (related or unrelated) activities that are:
a. blended together and/or
b. combined together (but with no blending).
By doing so, new GAMEs are created. An example of this is THE GAME itself.
5. JACKS
The name refers to "jack of all trades". As the name would indicate, this GAME type consists of most or all of the possible activities brought together (including all the activities from the aforementioned GAME types). THE GAME would be a good example of this GAME type, whereas an example of a participant in this particular GAME type would be a conglomerate like VIRGIN.
LEVELS
Currently, each type in THE GAME has the following levels of participation (note: participants in each level may participate against participants in other levels):
pick-up
just likes it says, show up and play!
recreational
generally, more organization is involved in this level.
fraternity/sorority
its members are in the Greek system, but as explained above, they may participate against others in their level or others in other levels.
intramural
typically organized at the collegiate or university level
(Inter)National Graduate Athletic Association
for alumni and graduate students
amateur
e.g. NCAA, University Games
semi-professional
professional
pro-am-rec
participants can compete against others from the other levels
glory
for those participants who would love a chance to relive their glory years.
PARTICIPANT TYPES
THE GAME participant types are categorized by the GAME type(s) they participate in:
1. specific
2. transitional
3. grouped (style)
4. mixed (hybrid)
5. jacks
Each participant type may participate in whatever GAME level they wish. However, some GAME levels may require their participants to achieve and/or maintain a certain performance level to enter and/or remain in a level. Other levels may not have such requirements.
Each participant type may compete against others in their type and/or others in other types.
FIELD OF PLAY
THE FIELDexchange is THE GAME's online and offline "field of play". Because of the endless number of activities that make up THE GAME, there are many settings considered to be "fields of play". Some examples of "fields of play" in THE GAME include: stadiums, open fields, offices, battlefields, board rooms, financial exchanges, laboratories, and classrooms.
These different settings may be linked together (for example, via transitional type activities--transitioning from one site to another), blended together (in one physical setting, where all the activities may occur at once), or a combination of both.
TIME
THE GAME can occur in the past, present, future, and/or a combination of these.
Depending on the activity, different amounts of time will be allotted to accomplish the desired tasks in THE GAME. For example:
THE GAME or a GAME may last 24 hours or less, one week, one month, one year, or something comparable.
stocks and/or funds
gauging growth or loss (in units of points and number of shares, for example) over specific and/or multiple time periods (one day, one week, one month, three months, six months, one year, three years, five years, 10 years, 20 years).
THE GAME may last the length of a political campaign season if campaigning is involved.
GAME specific time periods may be applicable. For example, nine innings in baseball, four, 12 minute quarters in an NBA game or business project deadlines.
The opponents in THE GAME may negotiate time stipulations for the competition prior to competing.
During a break, a halftime, and/or an intermission, another individual or a part of a team, for example, may begin, continue, and/or finish their respective role until the halftime or the intermission is completed.
SCORING SYSTEMS
Since there are an endless number of activities in THE GAME, there are an endless number of recognized objectives and/or scoring systems in THE GAME. Some of the recognized objectives and/or scoring systems in THE GAME include:
points
wins
titles
market share
bids
placings
units sold
awards
votes
debates
venture capital
research funds
free agents
recruitees
winning souls
proprietary advantage
political and/or economic objectives
revenue
cash flow
gaming
popular support
miles run
speed
weight lifted
valuations
ratings
kills
GNP/GDP
As you begin participating in THE GAME, you will notice in general, that there are primarily three objective types:
1. a specfic objective
2. multiple objectives
3. all of the above objectives
ONLINE/OFFLINE
THE GAME consists of elements and activities that may exist offline (reality and/or fantasy) and/or online (reality and/or fantasy). As such, fictional elements could contribute to THE GAME. Some of the many fictional elements that could contribute to THE GAME include:
video/PC/virtual games
fantasy sports teams
simulations
online exchanges
role-playing games
art
movies
literature
fantasy leagues
created participants
created GAMEs
SCHEDULING
With regards to time and place, THE GAME can occur at any time, at any given (number of) location(s). Similarly, THE GAME's competitive season could also last for a month, or less, or more. However, for participants, teams, and/or organizations that are a specific type, their GAME specific schedules may serve as the framework for the rest of their GAME schedules.
For example, if the 2001 NFL championship team, Baltimore Ravens were to participate in other competitive activities other than their specific area of specialization, professional American football, their GAME schedule would revolve around their NFL schedule. Among their many options, the Ravens could choose to build specific parts of their team from the ground up so that they could participate in their other chosen activities, create strategic alliances, outsource, send their A, B, and/or, junior varsity team, and/or even (utilizing the fictional element of THE GAME) create, clone and/or teleport members of the team to multiple GAME locations. By doing so, the Ravens could optimally fulfill their NFL schedule and participate in their other activites. Obviously, things could get very creative.
PERFORMANCE RECORDS
Performance records (wins and losses, for example) reflect the performance of GAME specific participants (or teams, or organizations) in their specific GAME type. For example, a movie production company's performance record could, among other records, be based on movie earnings, the number of box office hits versus misses, the number of weeks a company's movie is at number one, and/or the number of awards the movie wins.
However, if the participants that participate in a specific GAME type, would like to expand into other activities, their specific GAME type performance records would stand separately from their other (activity) GAME records. This separation would hold true unless otherwise indicated.
For example, if MOTOROLA were to become involved in other activities such as sports and entertainment, their main performance record (for example, reaching estimated quarterly earnings) would reflect their performance for their widely known area of expertise: providing solutions for integrated communications and embedded electronics. In THE GAME, MOTOROLA's business performance record would stand separately from its sports and entertainment performance records.
However, in this example one may need to consider the dynamics of the business sector. For example, MOTOROLA's other activities could conceivably factor into their business performance record--with or without the inverse occurring (possible scenarios could have their sports teams performing well despite falling short of estimated earnings; their sports teams' records may fall, decreasing support and therefore decreasing earnings; or their sports teams' records may fall because of budget cuts brought on by slower earnings). These types of scenarios could be clarified by formulating specific performance records that factor in and calculate these multiple activities.
There are an endless number of scenarios and performance record criteriae that are useful in THE GAME. The main guideline is that participants, teams, and/or organizations may have multiple records, in multiple areas of competition simultaneously.
EQUIPMENT/UNIFORMS/DRESS
Equipment/uniform/dress regulations and/or requirements for participants belonging to existing and/or established GAME activities with recognized governing bodies must follow the regulations and/or requirements of these governing bodies. If these aforementioned participants were to participate in other activities (perhaps simulataneously) with different regulations and/or requirements, they would have to follow these new regulations and/or requirements when participating.
On the other hand, other activities may have no specific regulations and/or requirements. In these cases the participants are encouraged to be creative and expressive. For example, instead of having a traditional one- or two-digit sports jersey number, THE GAME participants may have jersey numbers that include the following:
100's
1000's
10000's
100000's
1000000's, etc
Roman numerals
letters
letters and numbers
Chinese characters
no numbers
color codes
