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?
LFM: -- No WoW-ers PLS!
So you hear an employer is Looking For More (LFM), and you've heard that maybe putting your WoW experience down on your resume, or talking about it during the interview, might be a good idea. Think again-- sometimes this can do far more harm than good! This is a count-point to my last post, and a summary of another article.
For every point there is a counterpoint, and the benefit of WoW experience in the workplace is no exception. While some may say that the experience of working with others in WoW is a plus, others maintain that the game exists largely as a distraction from other, more important matter--- such as your job.
So while it is possible to benefit from WoW, it is also possible that one may suffer as a result of playing it. Apparently some employers recognize this duality, yet choose to remain on the safe side of things, and just avoid hiring people who play the game altogether.
Check out this article here
This site got this info. from another source, but it is interesting to note the author's personal experience with this..., no wonder it's considered a bad idea to put WoW on your resume.
For every point there is a counterpoint, and the benefit of WoW experience in the workplace is no exception. While some may say that the experience of working with others in WoW is a plus, others maintain that the game exists largely as a distraction from other, more important matter--- such as your job.
So while it is possible to benefit from WoW, it is also possible that one may suffer as a result of playing it. Apparently some employers recognize this duality, yet choose to remain on the safe side of things, and just avoid hiring people who play the game altogether.
Check out this article here
This site got this info. from another source, but it is interesting to note the author's personal experience with this...
Thursday, April 16, 2009
*Resume* Pls list WoW exp.
So as you can see from my previous post, you can definitely learn lessons about interacting with (...more often "dealing" with...) people just by being an active WoW-er. How come you can't list these valuable experiences on your resume? I mean, if you learn the exact same thing from WoW that you learn from a leadership conference (not saying this happens, but hypothetically speaking...), then why shouldn't WoW be listed along with your other qualifications? Well, it turns out some people think you should do this--- check it out!
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.04/learn.html
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.04/learn.html
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Gleaning real-life lessons from bad WoW experiences
I liked my guild. I liked the people in it. I was even doing school projects on my guild, creating advertisements for recruitment. And last night, I was kicked out. That's right, straight-up /gkick!!
I wish I could say that it wasn't my fault, or that the reasons weren't personal or anything... but I can't. I was kicked out of the guild for openly and extensively criticizing the raid leader (and GM), as well as other people in the raid who I believed weren't putting forth enough effort or focus. I had my reasons for being frustrated--- we were 7 hours into a 10 naxx run, and we had been wiping the entire time because ppl were goofing off (etc), even though the place was on farm and usually only took us ~4 hrs to complete. We got to the last boss, failed about 3 times, then the GM said he was frustrated and had to "quit." Again. He had to quit the night before too (Malygos run, also because he was frustrated).
Let's take a step back here. As I said, I had been doing school projects related to WoW and this guild. This blog is one of those projects. My final project, worth 40% of my grade in the class, was going to include screen shots and video of the guild downing various raid bosses. So as you can see, there's a pretty obvious disconnect here between myself and the rest of the raid--- this was actually somewhat serious business to me, whereas to them it really was just screw-around time. No wonder the following occurred.
The night before Naxx we were attempting Malygos (downed twice by the guild), and the Naxx night we were on Kel'Thuzad, the final boss of Naxx. When the GM said he was quitting, he said that we would resume the next night. This is where I really got annoyed....
I didn't think it was fair for the GM to just assume that everyone could make it the next night, and the way the system works, if they decided to kill KT the next night and I couldn't make it, that would mean that I had to wait another week before I could get even the raw materials for the project I was going to put together. I mean, why even bother making a schedule ahead of time if you are just going to deviate from it last minute, right? So I made a couple scathing remarks at the GM, and blasted him for quitting. I wish I could remember what I said. It wasn't completely terrible, but I was definitely trying to get under his skin. And I did. He went off on me, expressing his annoyance with me 10x's stronger than I had with him--- this created a very awkward and dramatic situation for the raid.
I don't think I've ever been fired from a job before, or asked to leave a team... or anything of that nature. If I have, I've blocked it out and since forgotten. But that is how I am thinking of this. Pretty much, I didn't agree with my boss and coworkers, and I lashed out at them, harshly stating how I expected more. If I had expressed my feelings in a more mature, calm, and collected manner, everything probably would have been fine. But openly lashing out wasn't the right choice to make. My only excuse would be that I have a lot of real-life stress going on right now, which is true--- but notice how it didn't matter to these people, even though I previously would have considered them similar to "friends." I am going to use this as a learning experience.
Even if my reasons for being frustrated are right, and even if I have solid excuses arising from extenuating circumstances unrelated to the game (job), I still can't 'act out.' Damn, I hate phrasing it like that, "acting out"..... It sounds so childish. But really, that's exactly what my behavior was, and that's why I am not in that guild anymore. I won't admit that I think the GM was being fair with me, because I think a lot of the reason he kicked me out was to save face (by removing the source of his own outburst, he could justify his ability to maintain strong leadership and authority in the guild--- I would no longer be there to point out flaws and undermine his authority in a very non-private forum). and because he didn't seem to care that I was being effected by those special circumstances (which I explained to him, btw). But what is amazing, is that it DOESN'T MATTER whether he made the right choice. Life is a game. One big game. For this bit of it, the GM got to call the shots-- he could have made the right choice or the wrong choice (both are possible and easily debatable).... but because I didn't make him happy, I'm out. End of story. I didn't play his game well, I had no more "extra lives" (gogo super mario green mushrooms!) left (not the first time I'd gotten frustrated in a raid-- though this was arguable worse), and I got a Game Over.
It has taken me 22 years to have this happen to me, which is impressive considering how impatient I can be, and how often I get frustrated. I knew that this could happen, it just never has. Now that I have this experience, I can no longer deny the real consequences of inappropriate behavior. There are a lot of reasons why my behavior should be excused (those personal extenuating circumstances), and even more reasons why this game isn't like real life. But nonetheless, if we make mistakes, why not learn from them, right? So now I am challenging myself to take the lesson I have learned here (as terribly embarrassing and pathetic as it may be) and actually apply it to my life 100% of the time. If am able to do this, and say someday it saves me from losing a job I really love, I think it would be safe to say that WoW has had some practical value to me. Gogo computer games. This one falls under the categories of intellect, social life, and jobs. Lesson learned, continue on....
I wish I could say that it wasn't my fault, or that the reasons weren't personal or anything... but I can't. I was kicked out of the guild for openly and extensively criticizing the raid leader (and GM), as well as other people in the raid who I believed weren't putting forth enough effort or focus. I had my reasons for being frustrated--- we were 7 hours into a 10 naxx run, and we had been wiping the entire time because ppl were goofing off (etc), even though the place was on farm and usually only took us ~4 hrs to complete. We got to the last boss, failed about 3 times, then the GM said he was frustrated and had to "quit." Again. He had to quit the night before too (Malygos run, also because he was frustrated).
Let's take a step back here. As I said, I had been doing school projects related to WoW and this guild. This blog is one of those projects. My final project, worth 40% of my grade in the class, was going to include screen shots and video of the guild downing various raid bosses. So as you can see, there's a pretty obvious disconnect here between myself and the rest of the raid--- this was actually somewhat serious business to me, whereas to them it really was just screw-around time. No wonder the following occurred.
The night before Naxx we were attempting Malygos (downed twice by the guild), and the Naxx night we were on Kel'Thuzad, the final boss of Naxx. When the GM said he was quitting, he said that we would resume the next night. This is where I really got annoyed....
I didn't think it was fair for the GM to just assume that everyone could make it the next night, and the way the system works, if they decided to kill KT the next night and I couldn't make it, that would mean that I had to wait another week before I could get even the raw materials for the project I was going to put together. I mean, why even bother making a schedule ahead of time if you are just going to deviate from it last minute, right? So I made a couple scathing remarks at the GM, and blasted him for quitting. I wish I could remember what I said. It wasn't completely terrible, but I was definitely trying to get under his skin. And I did. He went off on me, expressing his annoyance with me 10x's stronger than I had with him--- this created a very awkward and dramatic situation for the raid.
I don't think I've ever been fired from a job before, or asked to leave a team... or anything of that nature. If I have, I've blocked it out and since forgotten. But that is how I am thinking of this. Pretty much, I didn't agree with my boss and coworkers, and I lashed out at them, harshly stating how I expected more. If I had expressed my feelings in a more mature, calm, and collected manner, everything probably would have been fine. But openly lashing out wasn't the right choice to make. My only excuse would be that I have a lot of real-life stress going on right now, which is true--- but notice how it didn't matter to these people, even though I previously would have considered them similar to "friends." I am going to use this as a learning experience.
Even if my reasons for being frustrated are right, and even if I have solid excuses arising from extenuating circumstances unrelated to the game (job), I still can't 'act out.' Damn, I hate phrasing it like that, "acting out"..... It sounds so childish. But really, that's exactly what my behavior was, and that's why I am not in that guild anymore. I won't admit that I think the GM was being fair with me, because I think a lot of the reason he kicked me out was to save face (by removing the source of his own outburst, he could justify his ability to maintain strong leadership and authority in the guild--- I would no longer be there to point out flaws and undermine his authority in a very non-private forum). and because he didn't seem to care that I was being effected by those special circumstances (which I explained to him, btw). But what is amazing, is that it DOESN'T MATTER whether he made the right choice. Life is a game. One big game. For this bit of it, the GM got to call the shots-- he could have made the right choice or the wrong choice (both are possible and easily debatable).... but because I didn't make him happy, I'm out. End of story. I didn't play his game well, I had no more "extra lives" (gogo super mario green mushrooms!) left (not the first time I'd gotten frustrated in a raid-- though this was arguable worse), and I got a Game Over.
It has taken me 22 years to have this happen to me, which is impressive considering how impatient I can be, and how often I get frustrated. I knew that this could happen, it just never has. Now that I have this experience, I can no longer deny the real consequences of inappropriate behavior. There are a lot of reasons why my behavior should be excused (those personal extenuating circumstances), and even more reasons why this game isn't like real life. But nonetheless, if we make mistakes, why not learn from them, right? So now I am challenging myself to take the lesson I have learned here (as terribly embarrassing and pathetic as it may be) and actually apply it to my life 100% of the time. If am able to do this, and say someday it saves me from losing a job I really love, I think it would be safe to say that WoW has had some practical value to me. Gogo computer games. This one falls under the categories of intellect, social life, and jobs. Lesson learned, continue on....
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Unschooling and homeschooling using WoW to teach!
Here is yet another article referencing the educational benefits of WoW (as a game which is representative of MMORPG's). Click this link to read the article.
There is a lot of talk in this article about "unschooling"-- a school of thought that promotes a certain brand of homeschooling in which parents allow their children to pursue various (often recreational) interests, and the parents engage in these activities with them. For example, one child started playing WoW, and his mom got an account and started playing too. The parents say that they use the experiences in the game to explain real-life situations, or show how lessons learned in-game can be apply to other aspects of life as well.
Here is one example of such an interaction as described by the article,
There is a lot of talk in this article about "unschooling"-- a school of thought that promotes a certain brand of homeschooling in which parents allow their children to pursue various (often recreational) interests, and the parents engage in these activities with them. For example, one child started playing WoW, and his mom got an account and started playing too. The parents say that they use the experiences in the game to explain real-life situations, or show how lessons learned in-game can be apply to other aspects of life as well.
Here is one example of such an interaction as described by the article,
She has watched Luke, 10, make his own learning connections between "WoW" and other areas in life.
One day he became interested in the mathematical concept of exponential increases after his "WoW" character encountered a disease cloud.
"Just in his ponderings, he asked 'Mom, what if someone got infected and he walks into a room with four people, and they leave and each walk into a room with four people?'" Parmer recalled.
She told him, yes, that could happen, and added another fact about not all people getting infected at the same rate in the real world.
What is interesting to note here is not necessarily that the child learned some new mathematical formula, but isntead that he was willingly thinking about it. Just by thinking about the information, people (in general) can learn effectively, especially when this thinking leads to curiosity which leads to some form of research. When you research a topic because you are dying to understand something, you are likely much more capable of efficient and effective learning than if a task to do the same research was thrust upon you. The child was curious about the possibility of spreading the disease and he wanted to understand it, and so he did research to find out if his suspicions were true. Granted his source for information was his mother, but nonetheless, he made an attempt to further his own knowledge.
Personally, when I read about this example, I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out how to write an equation which would allow you to "predict" the number of individuals infected (y) during a certain 'certain' generation of the disease (x). What I came up with was that the number of newly infected (and thus contagious) individuals during a given generation of the disease would be equal to 4^(g), where 'g'= the generation of the disease. Thus in generation=0 (when only the original individual was infected), there were 4^0=1 newly infected people. After that person walked into the room of four people (the 1st generation), there were 4^1=4 newly infected people. When those 4 newly infected people walked into a new room, thus each infecting 4 new people, the number of newly infected was 4^2=16. In order to predict the TOTAL number of infected people during a given generation of the disease (not just the number newly infected/'contagious' individuals), you need to do a summation of the number of newly infected people from each of the previous generations, such that that the # of people infected in the 3rd generation of the disease = (4^0)+(4^1)+(4^2)+(4^3)= 85 total infected individuals in the 3rd generation (and 4^3=64 newly infected/contagious individuals). I didn't represent the formula as a summation here because I dont know how to get that symbol in this text (:p). Furthermore, I didn't bother to integrate the summation in order to simplify it (I think that's what you do next...) because I haven't looked at calculus in 4 years, and had already been told I was taking this math too far (go figure). Either way, you can see how this statement about a disease spreading in WoW triggered my interest enough to get me to spend a considerable amount of time trying to figure out how to represent this occurence mathematically, thus causing me to use and re-learn (and a bit of new learning not mentioned here because this post is already too long ;) ) some math. Go WoW (and those who talk about it)!!!!
***TOO LONG DIDN'T READ VERSION (tldr)*** My curiosty caused me to do a bunch of work and learn some math. Why did I become this curious? Because of a question relating to WoW. This can happen to anyone, thus WoW can instigate learning for those who play the game.
Monday, March 30, 2009
WoW ==> No Social Life? Wrong.
I recently came across a blog post which mirrored views of WoW commonly found among both gamers and non. The post (read here) pretty much stated the usual, "WoW is addictive, if you start playing it you won't want to hang out with any of your friends and your social life will be in ruins..." Not a direct quote, but it goes something like that.
However, I notice a couple inconsistencies in the author's description of this process, as well as some flawed/incomplete logic. First, the author of that blog post mentions that one of the qualities that makes WoW so addicting is that you start playing it with other people (s/he actually uses the word 'friends'). Err, doesn't this make playing the game a social activity? I.e., in theory you could spend all your time in game, and still have a social life. Personally, I play WoW with several people who I know in real life, and with whom I engage in activities outside of WoW on a regular basis. Sure, there are people that I consider "friends" who I only know through WoW.... but I still consider these interactions as social.
Furthermore, I would caution this author against the use of words such as "always," "never," and "impossible." Such words almost never accurately describe reality (see the different the italicized qualifier makes in the accuracy of this sentence?). Looking beyond semantics, I would still argue that many of the descriptions the author makes are only true to the extent that any other generalization or stereotype may be true. Sure, some individuals fit this bill, but on the other hand, many don't. More importantly, there is no 'all or nothing' description of what happens to one's social life when they play this game. For example, one person might lose all their real life friends, another may lose none and even gain more real life friends, yet a third person might lose a couple real life friends (still retaining some), but make a couple in game friends. Anything can happen there-- you can't really say that WoW will make you lose your friends.
Lastly, I would just like to comment on the statement, "The only way to avoid the negative effects of this video game is to never start playing." So not true. I have played this game off and on for about 3.5 years now. Sometimes I played wayyy too much and it negatively affected my social life. Other times I was able to manage this recreational activity, and find a healthy balance between the gaming and having a 'real-life' social life. There are even times when I stop playing WoW for weeks at a time because of school, or just because I want to take a break. You CAN play this game and still avoid its 'negative' effects. It's called self-control and discipline.
But i g2g now b/c i need 2 farm gold before the dual spec comes out (patch tuesday?!)... cya! ---- jk ;)
However, I notice a couple inconsistencies in the author's description of this process, as well as some flawed/incomplete logic. First, the author of that blog post mentions that one of the qualities that makes WoW so addicting is that you start playing it with other people (s/he actually uses the word 'friends'). Err, doesn't this make playing the game a social activity? I.e., in theory you could spend all your time in game, and still have a social life. Personally, I play WoW with several people who I know in real life, and with whom I engage in activities outside of WoW on a regular basis. Sure, there are people that I consider "friends" who I only know through WoW.... but I still consider these interactions as social.
Furthermore, I would caution this author against the use of words such as "always," "never," and "impossible." Such words almost never accurately describe reality (see the different the italicized qualifier makes in the accuracy of this sentence?). Looking beyond semantics, I would still argue that many of the descriptions the author makes are only true to the extent that any other generalization or stereotype may be true. Sure, some individuals fit this bill, but on the other hand, many don't. More importantly, there is no 'all or nothing' description of what happens to one's social life when they play this game. For example, one person might lose all their real life friends, another may lose none and even gain more real life friends, yet a third person might lose a couple real life friends (still retaining some), but make a couple in game friends. Anything can happen there-- you can't really say that WoW will make you lose your friends.
Lastly, I would just like to comment on the statement, "The only way to avoid the negative effects of this video game is to never start playing." So not true. I have played this game off and on for about 3.5 years now. Sometimes I played wayyy too much and it negatively affected my social life. Other times I was able to manage this recreational activity, and find a healthy balance between the gaming and having a 'real-life' social life. There are even times when I stop playing WoW for weeks at a time because of school, or just because I want to take a break. You CAN play this game and still avoid its 'negative' effects. It's called self-control and discipline.
But i g2g now b/c i need 2 farm gold before the dual spec comes out (patch tuesday?!)... cya! ---- jk ;)
Monday, March 16, 2009
Obvious? Maybe. Aware? Less likely.
So like most WoW players, I do report feelings of "addiction" to the game-- even when I have other things I know I should be doing, for some reason I just want to go play WoW instead. Some people have this problem with Facebook, online shopping, talking on the phone, or watching TV-- this isn't unique to WoW.
Whenever I try to resist this temptation to play WoW, I have often thought of trying to perceive the task which I "need" to complete as being fun or really interesting. I have learned in my undergraduate career that I often do much better at any type of task if I can convice myself to take a genuine interest in it, and try to enjoy it (with coursework, this often turns into a super nerdy type of fun :D ). So just now I was like, "Hey self, you know catching up in your blogging is probably more fun than playing WoW, right?!" And therein lies the "obvious" appeal of WoW as a tool for learning: it has a competitive advantage over other strategies for learning because it is inately perceived as being enjoyable, and typically requires little convincing for the gamer to accept this.
While it may be obvious that we are more likely to partake in enjoyable activities over unpleasant ones, how often do we realize that our frame of mind can control that which we find pleasant? Next time you have an assignment or task you want to do well, but is challenging and you find yourself procrastinating on, try spending a couples minutes convicning yourself that you don't simply want to complete the task. Instead, view it not as a task, but as an activity which can be enjoyed just like any other leisure activity, and which you can "take your time" doing-- try to view work as something enjoyable. Being aware of your frame of mind with regards to tasks your are trying to complete may allow you to be a happier and more productive person. That is the power of making the process or learning a new skill or concept enjoyable.
Whenever I try to resist this temptation to play WoW, I have often thought of trying to perceive the task which I "need" to complete as being fun or really interesting. I have learned in my undergraduate career that I often do much better at any type of task if I can convice myself to take a genuine interest in it, and try to enjoy it (with coursework, this often turns into a super nerdy type of fun :D ). So just now I was like, "Hey self, you know catching up in your blogging is probably more fun than playing WoW, right?!" And therein lies the "obvious" appeal of WoW as a tool for learning: it has a competitive advantage over other strategies for learning because it is inately perceived as being enjoyable, and typically requires little convincing for the gamer to accept this.
While it may be obvious that we are more likely to partake in enjoyable activities over unpleasant ones, how often do we realize that our frame of mind can control that which we find pleasant? Next time you have an assignment or task you want to do well, but is challenging and you find yourself procrastinating on, try spending a couples minutes convicning yourself that you don't simply want to complete the task. Instead, view it not as a task, but as an activity which can be enjoyed just like any other leisure activity, and which you can "take your time" doing-- try to view work as something enjoyable. Being aware of your frame of mind with regards to tasks your are trying to complete may allow you to be a happier and more productive person. That is the power of making the process or learning a new skill or concept enjoyable.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Reply to k's Comment
While games may lead to enhancement of intellectual capabilities, I am skeptical of developing them to be used as a method for teaching a concept. The first thing this article mentions about the alterations of the games isn't to make them for mentally engaging or challenging, but to make them less violent. Not that violence is necessary for fun to occur, but the game is already going to be shifted into something that is less "fun" and more "academic," thus reducing its ability to be separated from other forms of instruction. I am sure some games would lend themselves well to non-violent forms of instruction, but tell me, how can a game with the name "war" in it not be violent? All of a sudden, what was once a game just becomes a silly scheme by educators.
Not that the article necessarily suggested this, but it should be noted that using games to instruct should not replace traditional instruction, but should instead seek to subsidize it. Someone who commented on this article criticized the use of games to teach by saying, "I am pretty sure you can learn more in one week of a statistics or science class, then you ever will playing WOW. You cut out so much of your daily activities playing the game, that any benefit it has is countered by what you could have been doing." See comment on my first post. Just because WoW may not be seen as the "most" effecient use of one's time doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Sure, I could take a stats class and learn more math than I would playing WoW. But am I going to come home from class after having spent my entire day on campus working and studying, then decide that I want to go take a course and stats in the evening in order to rest? I think not. But guess what. I would play WoW. It is key to realize that even though learning through WoW might be relatively small, it is learning that is a gain over any number of mindless activities. Education through games shouldn't be competing with taking classes, it should be competing with things such as spending hours on end watching television or 'facebooking' (just my opinion). You have to consider the learning from the game as being somehtng which would otherwise be impossible, not something which should replace that which is already done. If 6 hours playing WoW is worth 30 minutes of Stats class, but if I spend 18 hours a week playing WoW (which has 'stats value') instead of doing some mindless activity, then that is 90 minutes a week of 'stats' that I didn't have before. I hope I have made this point clear, if I haven't please let me know ;)
I would also just like to note that there are some really nice comments to this article that reach beyond the intellectual relevance of WoW and mmorpgs. Expect to see some of these ideas addressed in this blog in the near future.
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=14356
Not that the article necessarily suggested this, but it should be noted that using games to instruct should not replace traditional instruction, but should instead seek to subsidize it. Someone who commented on this article criticized the use of games to teach by saying, "I am pretty sure you can learn more in one week of a statistics or science class, then you ever will playing WOW. You cut out so much of your daily activities playing the game, that any benefit it has is countered by what you could have been doing." See comment on my first post. Just because WoW may not be seen as the "most" effecient use of one's time doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Sure, I could take a stats class and learn more math than I would playing WoW. But am I going to come home from class after having spent my entire day on campus working and studying, then decide that I want to go take a course and stats in the evening in order to rest? I think not. But guess what. I would play WoW. It is key to realize that even though learning through WoW might be relatively small, it is learning that is a gain over any number of mindless activities. Education through games shouldn't be competing with taking classes, it should be competing with things such as spending hours on end watching television or 'facebooking' (just my opinion). You have to consider the learning from the game as being somehtng which would otherwise be impossible, not something which should replace that which is already done. If 6 hours playing WoW is worth 30 minutes of Stats class, but if I spend 18 hours a week playing WoW (which has 'stats value') instead of doing some mindless activity, then that is 90 minutes a week of 'stats' that I didn't have before. I hope I have made this point clear, if I haven't please let me know ;)
I would also just like to note that there are some really nice comments to this article that reach beyond the intellectual relevance of WoW and mmorpgs. Expect to see some of these ideas addressed in this blog in the near future.
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=14356
Thursday, February 26, 2009
WoW and Science..... win?
She points out that many of the discussions held in the WoW forums are often technical and analytical, making use of mathematical models (theorycrafting), debate, and correlating theory with evidence, and doing all this while building on the information others have provided. The articles notes that certain 'scientific habits of mind' were rare in the forum investigated. Here is an adaptation of a graph from the article, which I am having trouble pasting into this post:
Social knowledge construction = 89%build on others' ideas = 67%
use of counterarguments = 48%
mathematical models as insight = 35%
understanding technology as socially situated = 28%
systems analysis = 28%
understanding feedback = 28%
read reports = 21%
heuristic reasoning = 16%
questioning results = 15%
appropriate use of mathematics = 12%
multiple forms of arguments = 8%
transformation of data = 7%
use data representations = 3%
generalization of results = 3%
pragmatic understanding of theory = 0%
not equating model with truth = 0%
theory-data coordination = 0%
coordination of multiple results = 0%
expect noise = 0%
reasoning through uncertainty = 0%
Granted, having a 0% next to 6 of the criteria may not be glorious, but remember, this is a GAME which many people think does nothing but assist in the degradation of young minds. Furthermore, the article only investigated the posts on a forum about Improved Mark of the Wild.... this is very small sample size, and also is about a topic which is only mildly challenging for players. If the topic were broader... say about an entire 'spec' (allotment of a limited number of 'talent points' designed to achieve the most efficient gameplay), then perhaps the discussion would have been more technical and the posts would have exhibited a more frequent representation of the investigated criteria. I really like this table though, because it gets me to start thinking about all the things WoWers do in order to play the game well... it really isn't simple and mindless, there is a lot of technical thought and strategy involved. I hope this helps to explain a little bit more about my last pots, even though these are not the same article (authored by the same individual, though). I will probably attempt to more specifically and prolifically address the use of such criteria in WoW in the future, but for now this should suffice to lay some solid ground work for WoW's intellectual benefits.
Steinkuehler, C. & Chmiel, M. (2006). Fostering scientific habits of mind in the context of online play.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
On Education and Intellect: Does WoW foster scientific minds?
So the search for legitimate studies on WvL has begun. I have come across a couple promising articles so far, but I haven't been able to access more than an abstract for any of them (yet). Either way, I saw this abstract and I just couldn't pass it by:
Wow. As in the exclamation, not the game. Who would have thought the WoW forums would be cited as support for the idea that the game is intellectual/educational...? I thought trolls (for non-WoWers, trolls are people who post on forums just to make other people angry-- more or less) would have dropped percentages like those considerably; but considering this, those stats are just all the more impressive! If you look at more technical and more heavily moderated forums, such as ElitistJerks (in my opinion), I bet those stats would be even more convincing. This shows that the time people invest in WoW isn't passive or thoughtless, in fact, one needs to be creative and actively problem solving in order to be the best player s/he can be. And if you don't do all the mathematical modeling yourself, you at least need to do some "research" on the forums to acquire this kind of information. I will be looking to both further develop the points made by these authors (the full text of their article should be available to me soon), as well as searching for a legitimate conflicting argument.
As always, comments on this are encouraged, just don't be a troll ;)
Official WoW Forums
Elitist Jerk Forums
Steinkuehler, Constance; Duncan, Sean. “Scientific Habits of Mind in Virtual Worlds.” Journal of Science Education & Technology, v. 17 issue 6, 2008, p. 530-543.
In today’s increasingly “flat” world of globalization (Friedman ), the need for a scientifically literate citizenry has grown more urgent. Yet, by some measures, we have done a poor job at fostering scientific habits of mind in schools. Recent research on informal games-based learning indicates that such technologies and the communities they evoke may be one viable alternative—not as a substitute for teachers and classrooms, but as an alternative to textbooks and science labs. This paper presents empirical evidence about the potential of games for fostering scientific habits of mind. In particular, we examine the scientific habits of mind and dispositions that characterize online discussion forums of the massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft. Eighty-six percent of the forum discussions were posts engaged in “social knowledge construction” rather than social banter. Over half of the posts evidenced systems based reasoning, one in ten evidenced model-based reasoning, and 65% displayed an evaluative epistemology in which knowledge is treated as an open-ended process of evaluation and argument (Steinkuehler & Duncan, 2008).
Wow. As in the exclamation, not the game. Who would have thought the WoW forums would be cited as support for the idea that the game is intellectual/educational...? I thought trolls (for non-WoWers, trolls are people who post on forums just to make other people angry-- more or less) would have dropped percentages like those considerably; but considering this, those stats are just all the more impressive! If you look at more technical and more heavily moderated forums, such as ElitistJerks (in my opinion), I bet those stats would be even more convincing. This shows that the time people invest in WoW isn't passive or thoughtless, in fact, one needs to be creative and actively problem solving in order to be the best player s/he can be. And if you don't do all the mathematical modeling yourself, you at least need to do some "research" on the forums to acquire this kind of information. I will be looking to both further develop the points made by these authors (the full text of their article should be available to me soon), as well as searching for a legitimate conflicting argument.
As always, comments on this are encouraged, just don't be a troll ;)
Official WoW Forums
Elitist Jerk Forums
Steinkuehler, Constance; Duncan, Sean. “Scientific Habits of Mind in Virtual Worlds.” Journal of Science Education & Technology, v. 17 issue 6, 2008, p. 530-543.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
WvL Intro
This blog will almost definitely be undergoing many, many changes, but just for starters, this is what it is about:
1) Impacts on Social Lives. Some may argue that it takes away from "real life" by consuming a large amount of time, yet others may feel that "in-game" interactions may subsidize and/or replace real-life interactions in a pleasant manner.
2) Impacts on Education. Given that WoW can take up a lot of time, it is easy to understand that one may devote less time to one's studies, and more time to the game... perhaps to an extent which can be detrimental to an education. Or perhaps WoW would provide a nice outlet-- a time to recharge, if you will-- such that time spent on studies is more focused and energized time, thus allowing one to be more productive overall.
3) Impacts on Intellect. This is sort of a catch-all to complement 'Education;' however, I understand that many believe the simple act of sitting in front of a computer all day playing games can "turn your brains to mush".... or w/e. On the other hand, it can be seen that WoW offers many mentally engaging opportunities, such as "theorycrafting," writing macros, or learning new vocab (eviscerate, glyph, strangulate, innervate, peridotite, etc ring any bells?), all of which may increase mental activity to levels greater than what one would experience if s/he was watching TV, for example. Btw, all those words you will find in WoW, are really words, and many people don't know their meanings.
4) Impacts on Jobs. This is simply a variation on social lives and education... but perhaps with more severe ramifications? Or maybe not. I once played WoW with a guy who claimed he was a medical doctor. Maybe he was lying, or telling the truth... or perhaps he got fired at some point. What do you think?
1) Impacts on Social Lives. Some may argue that it takes away from "real life" by consuming a large amount of time, yet others may feel that "in-game" interactions may subsidize and/or replace real-life interactions in a pleasant manner.
2) Impacts on Education. Given that WoW can take up a lot of time, it is easy to understand that one may devote less time to one's studies, and more time to the game... perhaps to an extent which can be detrimental to an education. Or perhaps WoW would provide a nice outlet-- a time to recharge, if you will-- such that time spent on studies is more focused and energized time, thus allowing one to be more productive overall.
3) Impacts on Intellect. This is sort of a catch-all to complement 'Education;' however, I understand that many believe the simple act of sitting in front of a computer all day playing games can "turn your brains to mush".... or w/e. On the other hand, it can be seen that WoW offers many mentally engaging opportunities, such as "theorycrafting," writing macros, or learning new vocab (eviscerate, glyph, strangulate, innervate, peridotite, etc ring any bells?), all of which may increase mental activity to levels greater than what one would experience if s/he was watching TV, for example. Btw, all those words you will find in WoW, are really words, and many people don't know their meanings.
4) Impacts on Jobs. This is simply a variation on social lives and education... but perhaps with more severe ramifications? Or maybe not. I once played WoW with a guy who claimed he was a medical doctor. Maybe he was lying, or telling the truth... or perhaps he got fired at some point. What do you think?
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