User:Joshuamonkey/Cantr II 2

Cantr II is a browser-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) as well as a persistent browser-based game (PBBG). It is unique among other MMORPGs because it was devised with the goal of simulating society.

History
Cantr was created by Jos Elkink, a Dutch political scientist now living in Ireland. He and Sico van der Meer originally played this game using Lego and converted it into a web game in 2002. Since then, it has been continually under development. As of now, there are about 1130 players and 5500 characters.

Scenario/Setting
Cantr is set in an earth-like environment, even though the geography is different and the planet is not officially named. There are many different islands, and some of the larger islands have more than 90 towns. 14 different language groups inhabit the world of Cantr. While they each have their own area, these areas are parts of one world and it is possible for language groups to meet.

Resources like wood and stone are found on every continent, but there are also more than 200 other, less common resources. All resources on Cantr exist on earth also; none of them are alien or invented. Some resources need to be refined. For example, hematite is used to make iron, iron can be refined to steel, and steel is necessary to make a variety of tools, weapons, machines and vehicles. This invokes a general, simplified understanding of the composition and processes involved in making certain materials in the real world.

The technological level of development in Cantr is somewhat strange, since crowbars are about as sought-after as cars and motorcycles. In order to prevent characters getting killed without the player having any chance to react, there are no guns in Cantr and no weapons allow player to kill a character in one hit.

There are also radios in Cantr, which can send messages instantly across an island. Radios can be put in both buildings and vehicles. Other items which can be created in Cantr include musical instruments, clothes, weapons, machines, foods, and storage containers. Also, an assembly line can be created to create vehicles more efficiently.

Cantr has an unrestricted sailing system. Player's character can use a boat to undock from land and choose the speed and direction in degree, with north as 0. Some boats are faster than others, and sails can be built to greatly increase the speed of a boat. Boats can travel from island to island or to different towns on the coast of a lake.

Interface & Accessibility
The interface of the game is text-based. In terms of game accessibility, Cantr can be used with text to speech programs for all activities except for sailing.

Language availability
Cantr has a large team of translators, who have currently translated much of the game into 18 different languages. Current translations are: Dutch, English, Spanish, Esperanto, French, German, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Latin, Finnish, Lojban, Swedish, Italian, and Turkish.

A player can choose to create a character of any of the listed languages except Arabic, Russian, Chinese, and Latin (these require further translation first). The character is expected to speak only in the language chosen by the player, and the interface for that character will be in the chosen language, so it is required that a player has some grasp of it, although the manufacturing interface also has the English translation of the items. A character can be fluent in another language only after a few in game years (60 days) of hearing and making a valid attempt to learn the language. This provides an opportunity for players to practice and improve their language skills.

Characters of different languages play in the same world.

Role-playing
In order to establish the ability to simulate society, roleplay by the characters is fundamental. In fact, Cantr is a hybrid between society simulator and roleplaying game.

Trends
Stolen Notes, Cantr's Official Webzine, regularly publishes an article on statistics and trends. Appropriate data values are gathered from within Cantr's world to better understand the social, political, economic, cultural and technological aspects of society in this simulation. This is then further discussed in Webzine articles to make analytical generalizations and critical evaluations on matters in various social science fields from economics to anthropology.

Administration/Staff
Cantr II is entirely run by player volunteers, split into departments that handle specific aspects of running the game. While this keeps Cantr free to play, it also has several drawbacks. The first drawback is a possible conflict of interests between a player's role as a user and as a member of staff. The second is that game development can only progress at a pace equal to the staff's willingness and ability to spend their time.

Users
As of August 18, 2009, there are a total of 1507 players with a total of 6264 characters in 14 languages. English and Polish are the main language theaters; however, since the game world is interconnected, different languages come into contact, and thereby, understand the causes, happenings and effects of globalization in a microscopic study of the real world reality. Not all users recognize Cantr II for this tool, but rather recognize it as a place to apply and develop language and written communication skills.

Cantr as a society simulator
Cantr II's main purpose is to serve as a society simulator. Within the Cantr world are many businesses, military, governments, and other organizations. There are democracies, republics, dictatorships, and other types of government, sometimes with a complex set of laws and a constitution. Players can choose what type of organization their character want to create, or which one to join. Although the chance may not come instantly, there are many opportunities for player's characters to become the leader of a town or organization, but even without doing so, their characters can always influence people with the right words. Cantr II can help its players learn how to work with and lead others, and it gives an idea of which types of organizations and governments work and which types don't, and the advantages and disadvantages of each type.

Cantr as an RPG
Each Cantr character has their own goals, knowledge, and characteristics. The player plays the character as the character, not as themselves, through a continuing storyline, therefore creating roleplay. Although there are many game mechanics to aid in the roleplaying, players are encouraged to roleplay as much as they can. Most actions aren't defined by game mechanics. The roleplayed actions of Cantr characters are most often posted as what the character says between asterisks.

Cantr as a means to improve language skills
Cantr II offers users the opportunity, unique among role-playing games, to play any number of their 15 characters in any of the available languages. The number of languages available is continuously increasing and translations are constantly being updated until all aspects of the game are available in all languages. For those players already fluent in more than one language this enhances their game playing experience enabling them to experience different parts of the Cantr world and to interact with a larger number of locations and other players. For an even larger number of players, those learning a language, this feature offers them the option of using Cantr as an educational tool.

Players already familiar with the Cantr interface, game dynamics and mechanics and with a reasonable grasp of a foreign language can easily increase their vocabulary in the foreign language and improve their language skills. The slow-paced nature of the game means that it is ideally suited for this purpose since players who may be struggling to express themselves in a foreign language have the time to think about what they would like their character to do or say. Some players have characters in several different language areas and have dramatically improved their ability in a foreign language through playing the game.

The different language areas exist alongside each other in the same game world meaning that characters from one language area can often travel to another and interact with characters who do not speak their language. This offers players additional exposure to and knowledge of languages that they may not even actively be trying to learn.