The online game which aims to conquer JHU

By: Cara Selick

Posted: 2/28/08

Have you ever spent hours, maybe even days, attempting to conquer your opponents' teams in the classic world conquest board game, Risk? Or maybe you just like a little healthy rivalry and an excuse to boast about pride, no matter what for.

Want to meet more people in your building, waste some time between painful homework assignments or just waste some time, period? Then you should probably check out GoCrossCampus, the Johns Hopkins tournament, found at www.gocrosscampus.com.

You may have seen the blurb about it in the daily announcements e-mail. Or perhaps you even received a separate e-mail about the endeavor. Maybe your RA mentioned it during a floor meeting.

However you may have heard of it (or maybe you haven't yet), you most likely have yet to actually sign up and join the epic battle.

After taking it into her own hands to take this adventure for a test run by signing up. The News-Letter's Your News-Letter editor asks the RA who is fronting the game about this online board game, complete with a colorful map of Homewood Campus on which you get to place your own armies.

News-Letter: To start off, would you mind explaining what exactly the game is and how it works?

Adam C. Canver: GoCrossCampus (GXC) is an online version of the board game Risk, where the map of territories are the campus buildings and the teams are based on residence.?

Each day is one turn in the game.? Each player has 24 hours to place their armies in a territory that they own and then to attack another territory.? The team that conquers the entire map wins.? The more students who participate, the better.

N-L: Were you a fan of Risk when you were younger/now?

AC: When I was younger, I had played Risk every once in a while, though I would not say it was a particular passion.? I support this game now so much to help increase school spirit and bring together the undergraduate population.

N-L: How did you find out about GoCrossCampus?

AC: One of my residents mentioned the game was being played at another university and would be fun to have here.

N-L: What made you decide to start a game for Hopkins? What do you think is the advantage of having such a game for Hopkins?

AC: I decided to start a JHU game in an effort to increase school spirit.? The beauty of the game is that it has a place for all undergraduate students - no one is excluded. It is a low-stress competitive game that not only brings the entire student body together, but also helps dorm pride.

N-L: What kind of person would enjoy playing this game?

AC: Any person would like this game.? The user interface is very good and is accommodating to those of all levels of computer familiarity.

N-L: Do you think there's any chance of negative rivalry resulting from the different teams?

AC: Because of the nature of the game, I do not foresee any problems with people being aggressive or negative toward each other.

N-L: What is the administration's response to your project?

AC: The administration has been relatively responsive.? Student Council and Dean Boswell support the idea and have helped a lot with its success.

N-L: Do you think that being a RA had anything to do with your venture into a unifying project for the campus?

AC: Being an RA definitely helped me get the game going.? As an RA, I had an adequate knowledge of the dorms to set up fair teams.?

The system of RAs through the Office of Residential Life were very instrumental in spreading word of the game.? The RAs serve as one of the most important links between campus activities and the residents. I hope to see this semester's game get students excited about playing in the future.? I would like to set up a game each semester so that students have something to look forward to.?It will be fun to have dynasties and try to muster the spirit required to overthrow previous winners. You should play if you don't already.? We are on the third turn, so it's still early!

N-L: I signed up a few days ago, and I have to admit, I keep checking the site to see when the next turn starts! I'm not very good, but I get so anxious to see how many armies I've acquired and if I can attack anybody yet!