Sunday, May 3, 2009
WoW is good for school
My last four posts are all related to projects I needed to do for a college course I am taking. Even this blog is partially a result of that course. Although I didn't need to choose WoW as a topic, I must say that b/c of WoW I probably did a lot better in this course than I would have if I didn't play the game. It really provided me with the inspiration I needed to be able to create and work on projects that I cared about. I am not sure if this logic is entirely sound, but I am going to use this as support for the idea that WoW is good for your education! :)
WoW Guild Ad
This was a video I made a while back to advertise my old guild, EDGE. I hope you find this to be at least mildly humorous ;)
Pro- WoW video I made
My goal here was to create a video which broke down stereotypes about WoW players, and which also showed some of the benefits of playing the game, hopefully reducing outside disapproval of playing the game as a hobby. Enjoy!
Scipt for pro-WoW video
“Hi my name is Ryan and I'm just going to talk to you a little bit about what World of Warcraft, also known as WoW, means to me as a player.
First, I just want to start off by saying that YES, a lot of the bad things you hear about the game are true -- to an extant. People who play the game DO spend a lot of time playing it, and often times it dominates their lives. I won't deny that. But what I want you to understand is that this isn't necessarily the norm, and it certainly isn't always the case. People who play this game DO have social lives, and they do have success outside of this virtual world. Second, NO, there is no point to the game. It goes on forever, or at least as long as the developers continue to expand the game and add new content. The game is never ending, and the only "point" to it-- if you will-- is to explore as much of this virtual world and beat as many bosses as you can.
So to fairly demonstrate what a day in WoW is like, I am going to start by showing you what some average gameplay looks like. That little bird thing on your screen is my character--- it can change into various animals and the like. Right now it is a bird so I can get to my destination quickly. I am going to fly over to do some quests--- more on quests in a bit here, but for now I want you to take note of what is going on in the lower-left portion of the screen. I am talking to one of my friends (who's game name is Zerol), who I actually know in real life, he goes to school here at Miami. I have several friends with whom I interact both inside and outside of WoW. See, my social live does extend beyond this game!
Okay, now back to questing. Questing is a pretty run-of-the-mill activity in WoW. You run around, look for computer-controlled characters who need someone to complete some sort of task, and when you do this task you are rewarded with gold or something of that nature. Right now my task is to go kill a big dragon-type thing. Okay, now that's done, but while I was doing this, I got hurt a bit (notice the green bar). To fix that, I can cast a spell to heal myself. When I cast a spell I use up what is called "mana" (notice the blue bar). This is where I would like to point out how it is actually possible to learn from playing a game. How many of you know what "mana" means? In the game you need mana to cast spells. Everyone who plays knows this. The definition of mana is "pervasive supernatural or magical power." See the correlation between the game's use of the world, and the 'real world' use of the word? Let's try another example. As you can see, my mana isn't full at the moment. If I run out of mana, I can't cast spells anymore, and my character is essentially lifeless. However, I have another spell called "innervate" which will allow me to refill my mana to full very rapidly. You know what "innervate" means? In the game it means to refill you mana, which we have said means to allow yourself to be able to continue to act in the game --b/c without mana you can't cast spells, and if you can't cast spells you can't do much. The dictionary definition for 'innervate' is "to supply nerves to a body part, or to stimulate to action." Again, a correlation between the game's use of the word and the actual meaning of the word can be seen. Note also that even if you know what these words meant, there are people who play this game that are barely in high school--- if not younger. To them, knowing words such as "innervate," (which is the type of vocab word you might find on the GRE) could be a big advantage at such an age.
Next I want to comment on the complexity of the game, and thus the amount of thought that goes into playing it. Many of the people who play this game analyze its different components very thoroughly both qualitatively and quantitatively. There a loads of forums which discuss in depth and in detail the various parts of the game. Also, there are other forums as well as websites and in-game addons which are dedicated to analyzing strategy and performance in the game in a quantitative manner. Lots of discussion, lots of numbers. I point this out so that you can see that people don't play this game simply as a way to indulge in passive entertainment. People put a lot of "work", if you will, into the game. Not everything that is done by a player in order to progress through the game is necessarily "fun"--- it might be enjoyable in the end, but some of the gameplay and related activities is definitely seen as work. For example, I could spend 5 hours watching TV, and at the end of that time I would probably be like "crap, I just wasted so much time..." And while the same may be true after I spend 5 hours analyzing my performance in WoW and deciding how I can do better next time, I may also gain a feeling of "aww yes! i figured out that I should actually be casting spell X in situation Y, not spell Z! OMG, I'll do so much better now." In a way, you can almost think of WoW like a sport. I as on the varsity swim team in high school for 4 years, and I can tell you right now most of that sport was not enjoyable. Getting in a pool so I can kick my ass for a couple hours every day is not exactly my idea of fun. But I got something out of it--- a sense of accomplishment. When I would go to a meet and win a race, I would be glad that I put all that work into my abilities. Granted sports can do things for you that WoW can't-- such as getting in good physical shape, but like sports, WoW can even teach you a little bit about team work and cooperation.
And this brings me to the subject of what is called "raiding". Raiding is essentially organizing a group of ~25 people so that they can meet at a certain time and place in the game in order to defeat some big bad boss in WoW. A lot of research and coordination goes into raiding. You have to know everything that every player can do in order to address all the of the problems which are presented to you by this boss. It can be pretty tough, especially because the actions of the 25 players need to be finely coordinated. A lot of raiding consists of a lot of failing. 25 people get together, thinking they have a shot at killing some boss, but then they get there and the boss kills them all in 2 seconds, and they fail. They go back again, and they fail. They say, "hey, lets try this" and then guess what, they fail 4 more times. Each time people analyze what happened in the game, learn from mistakes, do a bit more research on the web (if that info is available), then get back together and try again. Eventually, the raid kills the boss, and it's a pretty good feeling to have gotten it right. The raiders communicate to one another using a program known as "ventrilo," which allows people to speak to each other over the internet in real time. Doing all of this takes not only coordination, but also teamwork and a degree of leadership. Just as with a sports team, often times the more experience players have raiding together, the more successful the raid as a whole will be. Just as in a sport where you can't plan out every single move ahead of time, in WoW you can't always plan everyone's movements perfectly, and often situations can change rapidly and people will need to react immediately or else everyone in the raid will die, and another 15 minutes will have been wasted. When people get used to raiding with one another, the raid becomes more of a fine-tuned machine, as each raider knows how the others will react in a given situation, allowing the raid as a whole to function more effectively and efficiently. Pretty fun stuff, let me tell ya.
Well, that's about all I have, but I hope you can see how WoW isn't necessarily this terrible evil thing, and doesn't have to be viewed as a massive waste of time, especially if you compare to activities such as watching television. O-- crap, I really have to go--- I'm supposed to be killing Auriaya in 25 Ulduar right now! See ya!”
First, I just want to start off by saying that YES, a lot of the bad things you hear about the game are true -- to an extant. People who play the game DO spend a lot of time playing it, and often times it dominates their lives. I won't deny that. But what I want you to understand is that this isn't necessarily the norm, and it certainly isn't always the case. People who play this game DO have social lives, and they do have success outside of this virtual world. Second, NO, there is no point to the game. It goes on forever, or at least as long as the developers continue to expand the game and add new content. The game is never ending, and the only "point" to it-- if you will-- is to explore as much of this virtual world and beat as many bosses as you can.
So to fairly demonstrate what a day in WoW is like, I am going to start by showing you what some average gameplay looks like. That little bird thing on your screen is my character--- it can change into various animals and the like. Right now it is a bird so I can get to my destination quickly. I am going to fly over to do some quests--- more on quests in a bit here, but for now I want you to take note of what is going on in the lower-left portion of the screen. I am talking to one of my friends (who's game name is Zerol), who I actually know in real life, he goes to school here at Miami. I have several friends with whom I interact both inside and outside of WoW. See, my social live does extend beyond this game!
Okay, now back to questing. Questing is a pretty run-of-the-mill activity in WoW. You run around, look for computer-controlled characters who need someone to complete some sort of task, and when you do this task you are rewarded with gold or something of that nature. Right now my task is to go kill a big dragon-type thing. Okay, now that's done, but while I was doing this, I got hurt a bit (notice the green bar). To fix that, I can cast a spell to heal myself. When I cast a spell I use up what is called "mana" (notice the blue bar). This is where I would like to point out how it is actually possible to learn from playing a game. How many of you know what "mana" means? In the game you need mana to cast spells. Everyone who plays knows this. The definition of mana is "pervasive supernatural or magical power." See the correlation between the game's use of the world, and the 'real world' use of the word? Let's try another example. As you can see, my mana isn't full at the moment. If I run out of mana, I can't cast spells anymore, and my character is essentially lifeless. However, I have another spell called "innervate" which will allow me to refill my mana to full very rapidly. You know what "innervate" means? In the game it means to refill you mana, which we have said means to allow yourself to be able to continue to act in the game --b/c without mana you can't cast spells, and if you can't cast spells you can't do much. The dictionary definition for 'innervate' is "to supply nerves to a body part, or to stimulate to action." Again, a correlation between the game's use of the word and the actual meaning of the word can be seen. Note also that even if you know what these words meant, there are people who play this game that are barely in high school--- if not younger. To them, knowing words such as "innervate," (which is the type of vocab word you might find on the GRE) could be a big advantage at such an age.
Next I want to comment on the complexity of the game, and thus the amount of thought that goes into playing it. Many of the people who play this game analyze its different components very thoroughly both qualitatively and quantitatively. There a loads of forums which discuss in depth and in detail the various parts of the game. Also, there are other forums as well as websites and in-game addons which are dedicated to analyzing strategy and performance in the game in a quantitative manner. Lots of discussion, lots of numbers. I point this out so that you can see that people don't play this game simply as a way to indulge in passive entertainment. People put a lot of "work", if you will, into the game. Not everything that is done by a player in order to progress through the game is necessarily "fun"--- it might be enjoyable in the end, but some of the gameplay and related activities is definitely seen as work. For example, I could spend 5 hours watching TV, and at the end of that time I would probably be like "crap, I just wasted so much time..." And while the same may be true after I spend 5 hours analyzing my performance in WoW and deciding how I can do better next time, I may also gain a feeling of "aww yes! i figured out that I should actually be casting spell X in situation Y, not spell Z! OMG, I'll do so much better now." In a way, you can almost think of WoW like a sport. I as on the varsity swim team in high school for 4 years, and I can tell you right now most of that sport was not enjoyable. Getting in a pool so I can kick my ass for a couple hours every day is not exactly my idea of fun. But I got something out of it--- a sense of accomplishment. When I would go to a meet and win a race, I would be glad that I put all that work into my abilities. Granted sports can do things for you that WoW can't-- such as getting in good physical shape, but like sports, WoW can even teach you a little bit about team work and cooperation.
And this brings me to the subject of what is called "raiding". Raiding is essentially organizing a group of ~25 people so that they can meet at a certain time and place in the game in order to defeat some big bad boss in WoW. A lot of research and coordination goes into raiding. You have to know everything that every player can do in order to address all the of the problems which are presented to you by this boss. It can be pretty tough, especially because the actions of the 25 players need to be finely coordinated. A lot of raiding consists of a lot of failing. 25 people get together, thinking they have a shot at killing some boss, but then they get there and the boss kills them all in 2 seconds, and they fail. They go back again, and they fail. They say, "hey, lets try this" and then guess what, they fail 4 more times. Each time people analyze what happened in the game, learn from mistakes, do a bit more research on the web (if that info is available), then get back together and try again. Eventually, the raid kills the boss, and it's a pretty good feeling to have gotten it right. The raiders communicate to one another using a program known as "ventrilo," which allows people to speak to each other over the internet in real time. Doing all of this takes not only coordination, but also teamwork and a degree of leadership. Just as with a sports team, often times the more experience players have raiding together, the more successful the raid as a whole will be. Just as in a sport where you can't plan out every single move ahead of time, in WoW you can't always plan everyone's movements perfectly, and often situations can change rapidly and people will need to react immediately or else everyone in the raid will die, and another 15 minutes will have been wasted. When people get used to raiding with one another, the raid becomes more of a fine-tuned machine, as each raider knows how the others will react in a given situation, allowing the raid as a whole to function more effectively and efficiently. Pretty fun stuff, let me tell ya.
Well, that's about all I have, but I hope you can see how WoW isn't necessarily this terrible evil thing, and doesn't have to be viewed as a massive waste of time, especially if you compare to activities such as watching television. O-- crap, I really have to go--- I'm supposed to be killing Auriaya in 25 Ulduar right now! See ya!”
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Guild Status Updates....
So more news on my guild status.
The other day, my old guild master (from Edge) whispered me in game and asked if I had considered coming back to the guild, b/c apparently he had been talking it over with some officers and thought the source of conflict was in the past... or something like that. I told him I was committed to another guild at the moment because I was still applying to Balance. I offered to raid with them for the raids which I wasn't doing with Balance as a part of my app process. He declined saying they just missed having me around. Sheesh, how confusing is that? I thought perhaps that they would just need me for raiding, but seeing as how I got kicked not for my play style, but for how I interacted with the guild, their reasoning seems backward for why they want me back. See, social situation in game can be complicated, just like real life ;)
On a brighter note, last night I got an invite to Balance! I am still an "applicant", but I'm workin my way up! More on that process later....
The other day, my old guild master (from Edge) whispered me in game and asked if I had considered coming back to the guild, b/c apparently he had been talking it over with some officers and thought the source of conflict was in the past... or something like that. I told him I was committed to another guild at the moment because I was still applying to Balance. I offered to raid with them for the raids which I wasn't doing with Balance as a part of my app process. He declined saying they just missed having me around. Sheesh, how confusing is that? I thought perhaps that they would just need me for raiding, but seeing as how I got kicked not for my play style, but for how I interacted with the guild, their reasoning seems backward for why they want me back. See, social situation in game can be complicated, just like real life ;)
On a brighter note, last night I got an invite to Balance! I am still an "applicant", but I'm workin my way up! More on that process later....
Monday, April 20, 2009
Video Game Vocab....
I recently decided o sit down and look at my character in WoW, and see how many words used to describe her, her armor, and her spells were used that I didn't think people would know. Some of these words would be considered challenging vocab for someone with a college education, while others may only be challenging to a 12 year old. But remember, there are many different age groups that play WoW.
If there are images in this attachment, they will not be displayed. Download the original attachment
If there are images in this attachment, they will not be displayed. Download the original attachment
Druid Healing Spells:
Lifebloom
Rejuvenation
Regrowth
Swiftmend
Innervate
Healing Touch
Nourish
Wild Growth
Druid Healing Talents (and balance):
Genesis
Nature's Majesty
Nature's Grace
Nature's Splendor
Subtlety
Intensity
Omen of Clarity
Other Talent Vocab
Feral
Primal Fury
Primal Tenacity
Mangle
Berserk
Faerie Fire
Vengeance
Celestial Focus
Wrath...
Current Item Vocab
Valorous Dreamwalker Headpiece
Chains of Adoration
Mantle of Shattered Kinship>>>> Spaulders of Catatonia
Disguise of the Kumiho
Preceptor's Bindings
Unraveling Strands of Sanity
Signet of the Malevolent
Spectral Seal of the Prophet
Mercurial Alchemist Stone
Urn of Lost Memories
Other Item Vocab
Shoulder armor items are often called "epaulettes" --- heard that word used in a Evol.
How many of these words can you define off the top of your head?
If there are images in this attachment, they will not be displayed. Download the original attachment
If there are images in this attachment, they will not be displayed. Download the original attachment
Druid Healing Spells:
Lifebloom
Rejuvenation
Regrowth
Swiftmend
Innervate
Healing Touch
Nourish
Wild Growth
Druid Healing Talents (and balance):
Genesis
Nature's Majesty
Nature's Grace
Nature's Splendor
Subtlety
Intensity
Omen of Clarity
Other Talent Vocab
Feral
Primal Fury
Primal Tenacity
Mangle
Berserk
Faerie Fire
Vengeance
Celestial Focus
Wrath...
Current Item Vocab
Valorous Dreamwalker Headpiece
Chains of Adoration
Mantle of Shattered Kinship>>>> Spaulders of Catatonia
Disguise of the Kumiho
Preceptor's Bindings
Unraveling Strands of Sanity
Signet of the Malevolent
Spectral Seal of the Prophet
Mercurial Alchemist Stone
Urn of Lost Memories
Other Item Vocab
Shoulder armor items are often called "epaulettes" --- heard that word used in a Evol.
How many of these words can you define off the top of your head?
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