Hack it Improvement Ideas

= I. Faction =

The idea is to implement two (or three) factions in the Hackit game. At the beginning of the game, the player choose between these factions. The net is the territory of a world war between them. A war about information, about what is true or false. The goal, then, is not only to become a strong player, but to help your faction win. For instance : it could be to own 60 % site more than the other faction. A good thing would be that on your frame appear, with your stat, the total of sites owned by your faction and the other. This faction idea has three main interesting gameplay consequences :

Reason1 :
It give a real reason to scan. Indeed, it is really really bad to hack a site that belongs to someone of your faction. The consequence can be only social (you’re not trusted anymore, there’s a bounty on your head, etc.) or mechanical (to discuss ?). What is funny is that the game is done in a way where you have always more hack points than scan points. It is really frustrating to not spend this hacking point hazardously. So, you have to be wise and to use reliable information. It is not only a clicking game, or there is a price to pay... This tension may be interesting.

Nota : this is how the game was meant to be at the beginning (only for your information, not an argument).

Reason 2 :
This lead us to the second interest : It can become this way a real multiplayer game (and not only social, as mafia wars). You really need to cooperate with other people in your faction, in order to get information to spend your remaining hack points.

Gameplay suggestion : at the beginning of the game, your are given randomly the name (and address) of five people of your faction. The gameplay possibilities, if we add other features, become great: Example : if I can lower or higher the defence of a site I owned, I can say to a buddy : “I can let you hack this site by lowering my defence at max. I know you want it to have a big nice chain. In exchange, I need information on this guy…”

Reason 3 :
Finally, It become really easier to start to tell stories. To put some “ARG” (Alternative reality Game) in Hackit. Imagine : these two factions have two strong ideological identities (let say order/disorder), but their leader have also hidden agenda. Not always doing what they say to you.

Imagine that you meet other players of your faction on a moving chat room every week to hear new orders or decide new goals. Imagine what might happen if a friend o yours tell you that X is from the other faction. You hack X sites, and he’s not. Is your friend a spy ? a double agent ? or did he just gave you false information, and, in this case, where dit it come from ??? Imagine, the fact that players from the other faction own a lot of “Bank” sites is not ONLY related to making tag chains…

= II. Hacking Money =

I believe, without talking of monetization, but looking towards it, it would be a good idea to insert a false currency within the game. Lets call it Hack Money (HM) for now. Interest : - It helps playing in a strategic way : you can more easily defend your home site, or focus on a particular type of site or enemy.

How to gain HM.

 * Every day, you gain 2 HM.
 * Every week of game, you earn 2 extra HM.
 * When you hack somebody’s home site, you gain 2 extra HM.

How to use them :
That is the important part, where I need your ideas (I need them for the first point also !). There two sort of things you can buy. Temporary items and permanent items. *Temporary items are applied on a page or during a limited period of time / or points spent.

Temporary Items

 * Lets introduce the idea of defence. For 1 HM, you can increase the difficulty of hacking or scanning a website you own by 10 %. The real percentage appear on the other player window. If you want to enhance the defence of your homesite, it cost twice more. Example : my home site has a page rank of 1 (most probable). So the difficulty of hacking it is 85 % (of successful hack). If I spend 4 HM, I can lower this difficulty to 65 %. It means it is more difficult to hack now. Let say this Defence is usable for 20 hack or scan attempt. Maybe it could be 2 different sort of defence device for scan and hack.
 * Disguise. For 4 HM, I can make believe that a page I own is neutral (nobody own it). I am sure it can be useful.
 * Disguise. For 5 HM, I can make believe I am someone from the other faction during 20 succeeding scan. That is hot…

Permanent Items

 * Permanent items are always active. They are stocked on your home site, so, if somebody hack it, you wil no longer have these items. They will be lost forever (the hacker wont have them also). Example :
 * Object 1 (I need help for the geek names ) : Give you one extra hack point and one extra scan point a day. Cost : 10 HM. There are enhance version of this item (same after).
 * Object 2 : lower the difficulty of all hack attempt by 1 %. Cost : 8 HM. There is the same object for scan.
 * Object 3 : Higher the difficulty of hacking a site you own by 1%. Cost : 8 HM.
 * Object 4 (for good strategical player) : Give you 50 % pages to see through every “disguise”. Cost : 20 HM
 * Object 5 : Allow you, when somebody hack your homesite, to keep 2 of the permanent items you have bought (unchosen). Cost 30 HM
 * Object 6 : Gives you one extra HM each time you hack a site whom page rank is 10. Cost : 50 HM.

= III. The killer game =

It is a really simple idea, which can get along with the faction – or not. Each player receives a secret target (he must one time hack his home site). He will receive a nice reward for it. But it can be any other player. So it helps, once again, the multiplayer and cooperational game : “Have you ever cross the road of a guy named XXX ?” “Oh yeah, I remember I scan a site of him, but I wasn’t able to hack it. It was xxx.com.” Of course, he is also the secret target of somebody else. Maybe, if he discovers who is chasing him, and hack his home site, his not his target anymore… It was a school game known as “the killer” when I was a kid, and it was realy realy cool…

= IV. The Decurio =

The main idea is to to add another level of gameplay. The player, once he had reach a certain level (and for a Hacking Money fee if it exist) can choose to play another way. He will no longer be hacking sites, but his goal would be to manage a team of 10 person. We can imagine he acces a different interface wich will be more focused on ressources managing and cartography. He would have strategical goal and the possibility to reward (or punish ?) his team as he wants. Maybe he will receive something like a weekly budget. This idea work nicer with the hypothesis of faction, of course, but it is not necessary. The player would have the choice to come back to his previous state any time.

= The Moving Target =


 * Imagine a circle that moves on itself. The circle contains three crescents. The size of these crescents represent the probability of a succeding hack (or scan). If your percentage of succes is 20%, they will be small, and it it is 70, they will be bigger. There is also a static arrow that points on the moving circle. To succed a hack, you have to touch the three good area in one row. It means you have to click three time with the good timing. Each time you click hack (or scan), this circle appears with a count down (3-2-1-Go) and make two rotation, than disappear. If you haven't touch three successive area, you lose your hack point.
 * It offers two main interests.
 * Even if it is really simple, the player would always be obliged to focus a little and use his reflex.
 * It offers funny gameplay possibilities : we can imagine bonuses that slow down the circle rotation, or on the contrary that make a part of it invisible, etc.