BioQuest Rules

Updated 18 Mar 2024 Guardians of Earth's BioQuests are governed by our Terms of Service. We've done our best to make them easy to understand, so we recommend you give them a read. All competitors should also ensure they have read and understood our Safety Check.

COMPETITION PERIODS

Current and upcoming BioQuests include:

SCHOOLS/UNIVERSITIES

BioQuests are designed for friendly nature-positive gaming competition between schools/universities.

Schools/universities compete as Nature Realms (i.e. within their campus) and optionally as Teams (participating anywhere):

  • Nature Realms - Schools/universities will compete to see who can raise the 'BioScore' of their Nature Realms by the most amount during the competition. Only sightings submitted within the boundaries of that schools/university's Nature Realm will count. Sightings can be submitted through the Spirits of the Realms (SotR) app.

  • Teams - Schools/universities will compete to see which team will have the highest scores in SotR, no matter where in the world their players are participating (not just on campus).

  • Players - Players will need to join their schools/university's team via the 'Spirits' tab on a schools/university's Nature Realm webpage. Once they have joined a team, players will compete to see who can earn the highest scores in SotR.

SCORING IN SPIRITS OF THE REALMS

To increase your score in SotR, players must collect nature nature spirit allies, by accepting and completing their quests. The spirits' quests require players to:

  • submit sightings of local species 'in the wild', and

  • complete chronicles (identifying sightings from other players).

Players can find nature spirits in SotR as the black tags in the AR view.

SUBMITTING SIGHTINGS

Players can submit sightings through SotR app. Players can use your phone’s camera. If you use photos taken on non-mobile phone cameras, the system will confirm the date stamp of the image though, so the timestamp metadata will need to be intact.

Any eligible sightings submitted within the boundary of a participating Nature Realm will count towards that Nature Realms' score.

Any eligible sighting submitted by a member of a team anywhere on Earth, will count towards a team's score.

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible, sightings must be submitted during the competition period, though the photos may be taken up to two weeks prior to the start time. Sighting will go through a verification process. If they are rejected during this process, they will not be eligible.

WHAT NOT TO SUBMIT

Biodiversity data generated by the game supports conservation and research. To make sure it's useful we may not accept certain submissions, such as:

  • Non 'wild' sightings, such as pets (e.g. dogs and farm animals) and cultivated plants (e.g. potted house plants)

  • Photo is of a human (homo sapien) or includes a recognisable human.

  • Multiple species in single sighting. Please try to only submit one species at a time. You can submit up to 5 photos of the same species in a sighting, but not multiple species in a single sighting.

  • Photograph(s) not clear enough to identify a specimen; or not enough photos of the specimen from different angles (you can submit up to 5 photos per sighting).

  • A screenshot, copied image, or a photo of a photo.

  • Duplicate submissions.

  • A dangerous situation, for example near a road or from a car.

We won’t accept a second sighting of the same species if it is within 1 kilometre and 24 hours of the previous sighting. So for example, if you submit a photo of a monarch butterfly resting on a statue, we can't accept another sighting of a monarch butterfly within 1 kilometre of the same statue, unless 24 hours have passed.

For the protection of wildlife, players are discouraged from disturbing the habitats of any species. Players should note that sightings of rare and/or threatened species will not earn extra points, as often these species have been well-surveyed previously. Such organisms should not be actively pursued.

Photos must be your own work. If you are suspected of using someone else's image(s), or getting creative with AI, you will be warned, and repeat offenders will have their account deleted.

DAILY LIMITS

Player's standard daily sighting submission limits will apply. However players can boost their daily sightings limits by providing correct identifications (such as with their own sighting submissions, or via the Oracle of Life).

SCORING FOR REALMS

Eligible sightings will contribute to the bioscore of a Nature Realm they are recorded within. The score of a sighting is based on the perceived 'remarkability' (by location and season) of what you find, as determined by the experts using the Oracle of Life. Sighting score bonuses (such as for field notes, gear modifiers, Diversity and Discovery bonuses, will not count towards the realm bioscore.

CHRONICLES

Players can complete 'chronicles' through the AR view in the SotR app. To complete a chronicle tap on an AR tag of a sighting submitted by a player, and play the minigame to identify that sighting. You complete a chronicle by getting the correct answer within the time limit. The challenge rating will increase, and the time allowed decrease, as you level up as a player.

IDENTIFICATIONS

You can suggest the species identification of the sightings you submit through Spirits of the Realms. You can also suggest identifications for the sightings of other players through the Oracle of Life. If your suggestion matches (or is correct at a higher taxonomic level, but goes more specific than) the final verified ID decided by the Oracle of Life algorithms and community of Elders, then you will be awarded a 'Correct Identification' and receive a variable biocoin reward.

CHAMPIONS

CHAMPION REALMS

The top 3 Nature Realms with the largest increase to bioscore.

CHAMPION TEAMS

The top 3 teams with the highest combined SotR score from players.

CHAMPION PLAYERS

The top 3 players with the highest SotR score.

CHAMPION IDENTIFIERS

The top 3 biocoin earners for correct identifications within participating realms.

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