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{{Short description|Educational Internet site}}
⚫ {{Infobox CVG| title =
{{Advert|date=September 2022}}
]
⚫ {{Infobox website
|developer = Your Mom
| name = Whyville
|publisher = Llama's
| logo = Whyvillelogo.png
|designer = Bub
| logocaption =
⚫ |engine = ]
| screenshot =
|genre = ]
| collapsible =
|released = March, 1999
| collapsetext =
|modes = ]
| caption =
|platforms = Java
| url = <!-- {{URL|Whyville.net}} -->
|input = ], ]
| commercial =
| type = ] ]
| registration =
| language =
| num_users =
| content_license =
⚫ | programming_language = ] ] ]
| owner = ]
| author = Numedeon
| editor =
| launch_date = {{start date and age|1999|02||df=yes}}
| revenue =
| alexa = <!-- {{increase}} {{steady}} {{decrease}} (US/Global MM/YYYY) -->
| current_status =
| footnotes =
}} }}


'''Whyville''' is an educational Internet site geared towards children aged 8–14, founded and managed by ] Inc. Whyville engages its uses in learning about a broad range of topics, including science, business, art and geography. Whyville's users (Whyvillians) engage in ] simulation based games and role play sponsored by a wide range of governmental, non-profit, and corporate entities. In 2009, the website had a registered base of more than 7 million users.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/323/5910/79|title=Video Games: A Route to Large-Scale STEM Education.|author=Merrilea J. Mayo|date=2009-01-02|work=Science Magazine|access-date=2009-01-02}}</ref>
'''Whyville''' is an interactive porn and sexual site geared towards preteens and teenagers to have sex. Its goal is to teach students about sex and reproducing through games and roleplay. It is, similar in part to the popular site ] in that you control a character and live in a virtual community, where you can interact with other players we mean really very "INTERACT" with the people.


Whyville was launched in 1999, by Numedeon Inc, which was founded by ], his students, and collaborators at the ]. They were interested in whether simulation-based serious gaming could change education, and Whyville's purpose remains primarily educational.
==Community==
Whyville is an online community geared towards old fartz aged 18-150, to provide online sexual learning for kids. Each user has an avatar they can personalize to present their online identity throughout the community. Citizens in Whyville earn their own salary (clams) to buy their face parts and clothes, entertainment, whypox vaccine, and even a Scion car. They earn their salary by interacting with different science games, writing articles, or even starting their own businesses. There is a scroll down menu to take the user to the beach, the checkers room, the games, Bub's house (magical things happen there) or the CDC. Once you go somewhere, you can interact with other users who appear on the screen. You can also interact with other users through Ymail, a service where you can send emails to users within the whyville domain. Whyville uses it's many Ymail Helpers as a service to newer Whyvillians, or "Newbies".
Over the past 3 years, BBG has been the most popular group of the whyville community. After dominating the scene in 2003, they suddenly dissapeared for nearly a year but then came back viciously, building an empire that terrororized the whyville scene. Currently they run a quiet operation which creates major clam flow throughout the community. BBG was created by MCVC, Abudarta, and biffbabe (retired). Dareon1 was a recently seized name and is now used by the BBG. go pee with ur own FARTZ while ur getting preggiburger then have the baby thru ur BUNZ u DUNSE.
**Warning** Having a baby thru ur bunz only wrkz if you dont got no uteruz


==Whyville's interactive structure==
==Salary==
Whyville was one of the first virtual worlds built around learning games. Whyville was also one of the first virtual worlds which used an internal virtual ].<ref name="Richard Lee Colvin">{{cite news| title=Cartoon lips, virtual fashion and physics | author=Richard Lee Colvin | work=The Los Angeles Times | url=http://www.whyville.net/press/latimes_020708.html| date=2002-07-08 | access-date=2002-07-08}}</ref> Users earn a 'clam' salary based on their educational activities on the site. With these clams they can buy face parts, projectiles, furniture, bricks, and other virtual goods and services that enhance their life in the Whyville virtual world. In 2007, Whyville partnered with the Spanish Bank ] to build a virtual banking system for Whyville's users through which they manage their clam assets <ref>{{cite news| title=Spanish Bank Opens Virtual Branch in Whyville | author=Andy Chalk | work=Escapist Magazine | url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/77886-Spanish-Bank-Opens-Virtual-Branch-in-Whyville| date=2007-10-12}}</ref>
Whyville uses a currency, called Clams, to buy face parts, projectiles, furniture, bricks, and other things. In order to earn a salary of "clams" you must play different educational games like having sexual contact with avatars. Once you reach a certain score on a game, your salary is raised accordingly. You get paid your salary each time you visit the site on a new day. The higher the salary, the more you can sell your face factory creations for.


Whyville was also one of the first sites to emphasize user created content.<ref name="Richard Lee Colvin" /> Tied directly to the clam economy, once a user has accumulated a large enough clam savings, they can start their own Whyville virtual business based on their own created content. Most of these businesses are built around the construction of 'face parts' from which users make their own ]s, using simple pixel by pixel drawing tools. Other businesses design and sell decals for users' virtual Scions (virtual automobiles in Whyville sponsored by ] owned by ]). Players must draw their creations by hand. There is no copying and pasting, and all contributed content is reviewed by site staff for appropriateness. Since the site's launch, thousands of players have created millions of face parts.
==Rules==
Like other games online, safety is important, with tools like "Silence", "Vaporize","911 Report",a language filter, and How To Have Sex With Avatars just to have no AIDS or HIV. Whyville also has City Workers, fake-robot-monkey-people who work on Whyville with special-ed jobs to be procrastinated, who also moderate chat. Additionally, most of these city workers are escaped convicts who are ACTUALLY out to murder children, and cook them in soup.


A weekly newspaper called "The Whyville Times" comes out every Sunday. Whyvillians send in articles that they have written to the Times Editor. If the article is published, other users may comment about it on the ] (BBS).
==Government==
Just like the real world, Whyville has a place where you can post your own petition and have it signed by other citizens. If it gets enough votes, it will be taken to the poll booth, and if it has enough petitions in the poll booth, it will be send to city hall for the city workers to consider it being made true in Whyville. Every three months, there is a senate race (though most senators don't do SHIT), and everyone who has been a citizen for at least four weekz and has not been punished for any crimes in the last 90 days is legible to start a senate platform. The three most voted-for platforms are taken to a special chat room to debate for the senator. Whyville is not a democracy like it says it is. Instead it is an oligarchy, with the city workers dictating everything.


==Scion/Car== ==Online safety==
Whyville received awards in 2006, 2007, and 2008 from iParenting as the best website for kids, and the best on the web for its safety features.<ref>{{cite news| title=Why is Whyville a Hit? It's safe and fun.| author=Linda Knapp | work=The Seattle Times | url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003576142_ptgett17.html | date=2007-02-17 | access-date=2007-02-17}}</ref> In 2008 Whyville received a NAPPA (National Parenting Publication Award) Gold Award as a site that represented the best in its genre for kids<ref>{{cite news| title=Virtual Worlds for Kids Win Parenting Award.| author=Irene Scherer | work=Library Nation | url=http://librarynation.com/?p=264 | date=2008-11-05 | access-date=2008-11-05}}</ref>
Scions are pieces of crap dont waste precious clams on them because you will regret it. If you do buy 1 i might as well shove it up you butt right now.


==Projectiles== ==In education==
Whyville has been involved in numerous projects involving schools. For example, Whyville has sponsored several workforce pipeline projects that aim to encourage children to consider technical and scientific careers.
In the many rooms of Whyville you are able to throw what they call "projectiles" at other people. This includes: Food, water balloons, bubs, mudballs, paintballs, and gross stuff too like a penis or the vagina and many more. Also, you can throw a uteruz at someone, and they will get pregged.


In another example, ] awarded funding to ETR Associates to implement a project through middle school classrooms to engage young Hispanic women in computer game design and entrepreneurship.<ref>{{cite news| title=Gaming class aim to spark girls interest in computer careers | author=Donna Jones | work=The Santa Cruz Sentinel | url=http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?sid=48453| date=2007-05-04 | access-date=2007-05-04}}</ref>
==Daily Games==


The ] has also funded Whyville to develop workforce related games in advanced manufacturing, biotechnology and energy.<ref>, 2006-08-02 press release by Texas Governor ]</ref> In the 2007-2008 school year, Waco Independent School District piloted integration of Whyville into school day activities and creating lesson plans in more than fifty classrooms with over 1,000 students. In April, 2008, as part of its work with the Texas Workforce Commission, Whyville launched a new initiative for teachers called the WhyTexas Challenge.<ref></ref> Over three weeks, 300 teachers in Texas signed their students up to compete for their classrooms. The winners, from the Waco Independent school district amassed more than 17,000 clams in the three-week period of time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.why-texas.com/ |title=Why-Texas Whyville Texas Challenge |publisher=Why-texas.com |access-date=2013-01-19}}</ref>
Twice a day, Whyville has a game hosted at the "Greek Theater". It is either at 1pm Whyville standard time, (pacific time) or six pm Whyville standard time. One game is called Letter Squash, where a mish-mash of scrambled letters and a source word are displayed on a screen in the center of the theater. All the letters in the mix-up are synonyms of the source word. The other game is Math Expressions.And forgotten to include having sex and showing everyone ON THE STAGE! This is where they show you a source number and five other numbers. You must use these numbers to make an equation to equal the source number. An example may be:


==Educational research==
Source Number: 5
Whyville has drawn attention from educational researchers interested in the effect of virtual worlds on children.<ref></ref> The ] funded research into how preteens explore and share information about reproductive health using Whyville.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spotlight.macfound.org/main/entry/thomas_kafai_tweens_reproductive_health_virtual_worlds/#When:14:03:00Z|title=Thomas & Kafai: Tweens and Reproductive Health in Virtual Worlds, 2008-08-09 |access-date=1 October 2014}}</ref>


Educational Research on Whyville has now been published in the book "Connected Play: Tweens in a Virtual World" Authored by Yasmin B. Kafai, Deborah A. Fields, and Mizuko Ito.<ref>{{cite book|title=Connected Play: Tweens in a Virtual World (The John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning). |publisher=MIT Press |access-date=2013-10-11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BSAlrgEACAAJ |date=2013|isbn=9781461947974}}</ref>
Root numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5


==Sponsorships==
On answer may be: 5-4*3+2*1 Please note that the equations do not follow the order of operations.
Whyville has an extensive list of both public and private sponsors. Examples include ] the US ] the ], ], ], the ], ] the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Next Generation Learning Challenges, the ], the Texas Workforce Commission, and Chicago's ]. Whyville's corporate sponsors include Scion, which launched its first virtual world presence in Whyville.<ref>{{cite news| title=Scion Offers Virtual Car Loans at Whyville | author=Kevin Newcomb | work=ClickZ | url=http://www.clickz.com/3620606| date=2006-07-18 | access-date=2006-07-18}}</ref>


Whyville also has an extensive virtual nutrition project sponsored by the ] and The School Nutrition Association.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.uthscsa.edu/children-learn-how-to-eat-nutritiously-the-whyville-way/ | title=Children learn how to eat nutritiously, the Whyville way | publisher=University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio | date=14 February 2006}}</ref> In this project, Whyville's citizens elect to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day, and a nutrition calculator then determines their state of health.
⚫ ==External Links==

Whyville also has games and activities focusing on environmental issues supported by organizations like the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.<ref>{{cite news| title=Virtual Environmentalism | author=Anastasia Goodstein |author-link=Anastasia Goodstein| work=The Huffington Post | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anastasia-goodstein/virtual-environmentalism_b_54025.html| date=2007-06-27 | access-date=2007-06-27}}</ref>

Whyville has also recently worked with the ] to implement a series of games based on breeding dragons as a way to learn genetics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://concord.org/publications/newsletter/2014-fall/using-social-networking-to-learn-genetics |title=Using Social Networking to Learn Genetics |access-date= 25 November 2014}}</ref>

==Technical foundation for Whyville==
Whyville runs on N.I.C.E, Numedeon's Interactive Community Engine. Nice is an online platform that supports the construction and management of immersive virtual worlds. Core components of this engine are protected by U.S. Patents<ref>{{cite web|title=Patent: Graphical interactive interface for immersive online communities|url=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=13&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,925,703&OS=7,925,703&RS=7,925,703|access-date=12 January 2016|date=12 April 2011}}</ref> N.I.C.E., and therefore Whyville runs on a standard web browser, and can be run with as little as 56K baud connectivity<ref>{{cite news| title=About Us | author=Numedeon Inc. | work=Numedeon Inc. Website | url=http://www.numedeon.com/smmk/frontOffice/aboutUs | access-date=2007-08-06}}</ref>".

==References==
{{reflist}}

⚫ ==External links==
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Latest revision as of 16:20, 17 May 2024

Educational Internet site
This article contains promotional content. Please help improve it by removing promotional language and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic text written from a neutral point of view. (September 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Whyville
Type of siteVirtual world serious games
OwnerNumedeon
Created byNumedeon
LaunchedFebruary 1999; 25 years ago (1999-02)
Written inJava Flash HTML5

Whyville is an educational Internet site geared towards children aged 8–14, founded and managed by Numedeon Inc. Whyville engages its uses in learning about a broad range of topics, including science, business, art and geography. Whyville's users (Whyvillians) engage in virtual world simulation based games and role play sponsored by a wide range of governmental, non-profit, and corporate entities. In 2009, the website had a registered base of more than 7 million users.

Whyville was launched in 1999, by Numedeon Inc, which was founded by Dr. James M. Bower, his students, and collaborators at the California Institute of Technology. They were interested in whether simulation-based serious gaming could change education, and Whyville's purpose remains primarily educational.

Whyville's interactive structure

Whyville was one of the first virtual worlds built around learning games. Whyville was also one of the first virtual worlds which used an internal virtual currency. Users earn a 'clam' salary based on their educational activities on the site. With these clams they can buy face parts, projectiles, furniture, bricks, and other virtual goods and services that enhance their life in the Whyville virtual world. In 2007, Whyville partnered with the Spanish Bank Bankinter to build a virtual banking system for Whyville's users through which they manage their clam assets

Whyville was also one of the first sites to emphasize user created content. Tied directly to the clam economy, once a user has accumulated a large enough clam savings, they can start their own Whyville virtual business based on their own created content. Most of these businesses are built around the construction of 'face parts' from which users make their own avatars, using simple pixel by pixel drawing tools. Other businesses design and sell decals for users' virtual Scions (virtual automobiles in Whyville sponsored by Scion owned by Toyota). Players must draw their creations by hand. There is no copying and pasting, and all contributed content is reviewed by site staff for appropriateness. Since the site's launch, thousands of players have created millions of face parts.

A weekly newspaper called "The Whyville Times" comes out every Sunday. Whyvillians send in articles that they have written to the Times Editor. If the article is published, other users may comment about it on the Bulletin Board System (BBS).

Online safety

Whyville received awards in 2006, 2007, and 2008 from iParenting as the best website for kids, and the best on the web for its safety features. In 2008 Whyville received a NAPPA (National Parenting Publication Award) Gold Award as a site that represented the best in its genre for kids

In education

Whyville has been involved in numerous projects involving schools. For example, Whyville has sponsored several workforce pipeline projects that aim to encourage children to consider technical and scientific careers.

In another example, National Science Foundation awarded funding to ETR Associates to implement a project through middle school classrooms to engage young Hispanic women in computer game design and entrepreneurship.

The Texas Workforce Commission has also funded Whyville to develop workforce related games in advanced manufacturing, biotechnology and energy. In the 2007-2008 school year, Waco Independent School District piloted integration of Whyville into school day activities and creating lesson plans in more than fifty classrooms with over 1,000 students. In April, 2008, as part of its work with the Texas Workforce Commission, Whyville launched a new initiative for teachers called the WhyTexas Challenge. Over three weeks, 300 teachers in Texas signed their students up to compete for their classrooms. The winners, from the Waco Independent school district amassed more than 17,000 clams in the three-week period of time.

Educational research

Whyville has drawn attention from educational researchers interested in the effect of virtual worlds on children. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation funded research into how preteens explore and share information about reproductive health using Whyville.

Educational Research on Whyville has now been published in the book "Connected Play: Tweens in a Virtual World" Authored by Yasmin B. Kafai, Deborah A. Fields, and Mizuko Ito.

Sponsorships

Whyville has an extensive list of both public and private sponsors. Examples include NASA the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the J. Paul Getty Trust, Disney, EMI, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Scholastic Publishing the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Next Generation Learning Challenges, the US Department of Labor, the Texas Workforce Commission, and Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History. Whyville's corporate sponsors include Scion, which launched its first virtual world presence in Whyville.

Whyville also has an extensive virtual nutrition project sponsored by the University of Texas System and The School Nutrition Association. In this project, Whyville's citizens elect to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day, and a nutrition calculator then determines their state of health.

Whyville also has games and activities focusing on environmental issues supported by organizations like the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Whyville has also recently worked with the Concord Consortium to implement a series of games based on breeding dragons as a way to learn genetics.

Technical foundation for Whyville

Whyville runs on N.I.C.E, Numedeon's Interactive Community Engine. Nice is an online platform that supports the construction and management of immersive virtual worlds. Core components of this engine are protected by U.S. Patents N.I.C.E., and therefore Whyville runs on a standard web browser, and can be run with as little as 56K baud connectivity".

References

  1. Merrilea J. Mayo (2009-01-02). "Video Games: A Route to Large-Scale STEM Education". Science Magazine. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
  2. ^ Richard Lee Colvin (2002-07-08). "Cartoon lips, virtual fashion and physics". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2002-07-08.
  3. Andy Chalk (2007-10-12). "Spanish Bank Opens Virtual Branch in Whyville". Escapist Magazine.
  4. Linda Knapp (2007-02-17). "Why is Whyville a Hit? It's safe and fun". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2007-02-17.
  5. Irene Scherer (2008-11-05). "Virtual Worlds for Kids Win Parenting Award". Library Nation. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
  6. Donna Jones (2007-05-04). "Gaming class aim to spark girls interest in computer careers". The Santa Cruz Sentinel. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
  7. Perry Announces $3 Million to Develop Workforce of the Future, 2006-08-02 press release by Texas Governor Rick Perry
  8. Why-Texas Whyville Texas Challenge
  9. "Why-Texas Whyville Texas Challenge". Why-texas.com. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  10. Yasmin B. Kafai Research Projects, 2006-08-09
  11. "Thomas & Kafai: Tweens and Reproductive Health in Virtual Worlds, 2008-08-09". Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  12. Connected Play: Tweens in a Virtual World (The John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning). MIT Press. 2013. ISBN 9781461947974. Retrieved 2013-10-11.
  13. Kevin Newcomb (2006-07-18). "Scion Offers Virtual Car Loans at Whyville". ClickZ. Retrieved 2006-07-18.
  14. "Children learn how to eat nutritiously, the Whyville way". University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. 14 February 2006.
  15. Anastasia Goodstein (2007-06-27). "Virtual Environmentalism". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2007-06-27.
  16. "Using Social Networking to Learn Genetics". Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  17. "Patent: Graphical interactive interface for immersive online communities". 12 April 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  18. Numedeon Inc. "About Us". Numedeon Inc. Website. Retrieved 2007-08-06.

External links

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