tl-dr

A few months ago, I wrote a post called “We’re never too old to play games!” It was about my wonderful dad, his loss against a boss fight with frontotemporal dementia, and how games helped him/could have helped him more. We played games together always, from my earliest childhood memories until very close to the end of his life. He would have turned 70 on December 15, and I still miss him (and playing games with him) every day.

So when I was asked to read the following article for a health science reading group I’m in, I read it even though I couldn’t make it to the meeting:

Millington, B. (2011). Use it or lose it: Ageing and the politics of brain training. Leisure Studies, 31(4), 429-446.

Abstract:

This paper reports findings from a qualitative study of promotional websites for three prominent ‘brain games’ – that is, consumer technologies designed to train and improve the brain through challenging cognitive exercises. The study was specifically designed to critically examine how brain training is promoted as a viable endeavour and how brain games are made to intervene in cognitive functioning. The analysis of online promotion revealed three overlapping themes: (1) the deployment of expertise in game marketing to make brain training intelligible; (2) the deployment of risk metrics in game software to ‘screen and intervene’ in cognitive health; and (3) the deployment of ‘third party’ sources to corroborate brain training’s value, especially for older adults. These findings are used as a basis to contend that brain training technologies are simultaneously enabling and constraining. Against the historical practice of seeing ageing and cognitive ‘decline’ as biopolitical threats, brain games imagine seniors as empowered and capable of sustaining their identity work into retirement. At the same time, these products invoke common anxieties surrounding later life and, in keeping with the politics of neoliberalism, exacerbate the pressure on older persons to demonstrate an obvious ‘will to health’ through ongoing consumerism.

If you can’t read that Academicese, don’t worry about it. I’m fluent in it, and although I don’t want to use that language in this post, the study made me think about a lot of things that exist outside the university. The message I took from this article is as follows: getting old can be awesome, but maybe only if you buy these games. A phrase at the end of the article summarized it well:

[W]hen it comes to questions of cognitive health, growing older is a matter of personal risks, to be addressed via choices made in the marketplace.

(subliminal message: buy these specific games.)

And no other games will help you, apparently. That’s the ridiculous part of it. The websites of the “brain games” the author studied – Nintendo’s Brain Age, Vivity Lab’s Fit Brains, and HAPPYneuron – all suggest that their products will help you train your brain to work better, remember more, and avoid the cognitive decline that we all could be at risk for. As watching the effects of my brilliant dad’s disease taught me, cognitive decline associated with the dementias is perhaps one of the most tragic ways to die. But is it really necessary to buy one of these games to fight it?

Research does support the argument for the health benefits of older people playing games. I’ve heard about the Wii being used for bowling in nursing homes. I read a study in which the researchers designed a “music creation” tool using a touch screen for people with dementia, and dementia patients benefited from using it. So I’m not completely dismissing or trashing the makers of these “brain games” at all, I’m just saying that there are a lot of games people could play to help their brain health. Honestly, I believe playing ANY game can benefit our cognitive functioning at any age, from Brain Age to Guild Wars 2 to playing keep-away with a dog.

Millington noted that the marketing of these brain games “exacerbate the pressures on older persons to demonstrate an obvious ‘will to health’ through ongoing consumerism.” Marketing by fear. Also, the ongoing message that “health is work” is wearing me out already, and I’m not a senior yet. It is strange how our society has taken to heart the message that you have to put in a lot of good ol’ fashioned hard work if you want to stay healthy. We could also blame the marketers for this. After all, they sell the idea that indulging in junk food, alcohol, cigarettes, and whatever else is somehow “rewarding yourself” when in fact it’s damaging you. (That’s not to say I don’t enjoy the occasional glass of wine or ice cream – but I’ll be ok since all the games I play will keep me healthy.) But seriously, given all the pressures and constraints on our lives, is it realistic to believe we can *make* ourselves healthy, and that our brains can only remain healthy into old age by buying these games?

It’s unfortunate that we’re not always able to enjoy a healthy lifestyle that will lead us into a fun and relaxing retirement. Too frequently, our lifestyle choices (and, sometimes, genetic predispositions) cause our lives to be filled with chronic disease and too many colds each winter and the need for too many pill bottles when we get old. I live with a chronic illness caused by an autoimmune issue, but I’m taking every step I can to avoid living as a sick person; this means I’m subjected to the “work” of staying healthy. But I wonder if John Lennon could have imagined a society in which we all enjoyed taking care of ourselves – and we all played games, whatever games were fun to us, without worry about how much time they take out of our schedules or whether this is only something boys living in their parents’ basements should do or whether we’d chosen the “right” game to keep our brain active. Enjoyment and happiness are keys to a healthy life. So make sure you enjoy the games you play… every day.

tl-dr

I don’t feel well. I’m gonna go level something. And I’m gonna enjoy myself, dammit!!!

Ding! You’ve leveled up! Please see your local librarian for training.

Meghan Ralph is an Intuitive Healer and Alchemist and runs Soular Radiant in Denver; giving readings, guidance, and remedies to many. Meghan loves gaming as a form of meditation and relaxation, and even recommends it for healing.

What is it about fall that makes me want to RPG?

I’m serious! I won’t touch my system for MONTHS, but as soon as the leaves start falling, I crave it like a crackhead. Long Saturdays snuggled under the blankets with a controller in my hand.

I’ll watch leaves falling outside the window, and be reminded of that town in Fable where the leaves are falling, and I can almost hear the music. Or I’ll see the snow and remember I last left off on that frickin ice planet in Mass Effect and I want to kick it’s ass!

And yet I deprive myself!

Fall, for me, and many I’ve spoken to, comes with a great burst of energy. We know that the change is coming! Cold weather, short days, how will we get anything done?! So there is a rush to do, to gather, and to fix before you won’t be able to. Suddenly, everything around you looks wrong, feels wrong, and needs to change.

I had the impulse to paint my furniture and redecorate my bathroom.

This is why falling into gaming is so healthy. Generally, these impulses come because they have been ground into us through the centuries, but also with stories and fables as a kid. I remember one cartoon about the grasshopper that partied during the harvest and so had nothing left during the winter months and nearly died until some overachieving ants let him bunk with them. This is not the case these days. We don’t need to rush to stock up and store; most grocery stores are open 24 hours. We don’t need to tackle massive projects; there will be time for that.

I’m not saying ignore responsibility. Pay your bills and clean your room, people! But save the major projects for the months where you are pretty much stuck inside and about to go stir crazy.

There is a slowing down that occurs naturally after the holiday season. It gets dark earlier, it’s colder out, being up and active isn’t as easy as it was in the warmer months. These changes function as a built in excuse against productivity. Is this why more games tend to be released in the colder months? Smart move, Game Companies!

Til then, grab a controller and take a load off. Stock up on herbs, practice potions, and level up those combat skills! But don’t bust your chops to conquer too much in the “real world”. Otherwise you’ll wake up in a month and wonder why everything in your bathroom is purple…

tl-dr

When the leaves and snow are falling, fall into some game time. Relax and level up a few skills before the boss level of Holiday time rears it’s ugly head.

Ding! You’ve Leveled Up! Please see your local librarian for training.

The use of the word “rape” [...] is getting used more and more and I’m sure I’ve caught myself using the word although I prefer the word “gank” and the same to have similar meanings except “gank” doesn’t have that real word connection, at least not that I’m aware of.

– Orkela, commenting on Jacob’s post about griefing and trolling and all that other shit

OK, people. Yes, we’ve had posts about corpse camping (and how to handle it) and how Riot is handling these things. But it seems like no matter how much we post about it all, we find more to say about it. Today, I need to talk about “rape.”

It feels empowering to know this will be posted publicly on the Internet: I was raped. It was a long time ago, but it changed the direction of my life in ways I can’t even begin to explain. I became a stronger person for it, but that took many years to achieve. It didn’t turn me into a militant feminist. I don’t believe all men are bad. I think candlelight vigils and marches to observe the horror of rape are kind of pointless because I don’t know that they really fix the problem. I still have occasional horrific anxiety attacks; these only started after it happened. But I’ve had no choice but to move on, and my strength impresses people who know me well.

A couple of nights ago, I was in a battleground, and it was clear we were losing. This prompted one of my team members to say “we’re getting raped” in bg chat. I had decided a while ago that anytime I saw that word used in game, I wasn’t going to let it go. Ignoring casual use of that word is almost as bad as pretending rape itself doesn’t exist, or isn’t as bad as it is. So I replied with something like this: “please don’t use that word – I was raped irl and it bothers me to see it here.” When I do this, typically they stop, or at least don’t reply to me.

But, that night, that person did reply. He said things, horrible things, in response, such as “I’m re-raping you” and “I like rape” and some other things I have blocked out of my mind. Out of shock, I called him an “asshole” and some other things I shouldn’t have said, but he continued. I started sweating, shaking, and crying. I certainly couldn’t concentrate on the bg anymore. I /ragequit.

The amazing man sitting next to me on the couch asked the troll what was wrong with him (peppered with all kinds of great language, of course!), but the room was spinning too much for me to see the response, or to see if the disgusting talk continued. I sat there, in shock and devastation and anger at the mean people we share this world with, my hands covering my eyes. I heard him typing furiously next to me. Eventually I looked up, and saw him sending a ticket to a GM about the troll. After he finished, he said he told Blizz that if they didn’t do something, we’d stop our subscriptions. Then he held me and reminded me of this very essential truth: frequently, on the Internet, people don’t remember that there are real people at the other end of the line. I knew he was right, but that didn’t stop my flashback or my disappointment about humanity’s meanness. I went to bed and slept fitfully, and in the morning wondered if I’d had a nightmare. Maybe I had a few nightmares, I’m not sure. But I remembered the incident was real, and then wasn’t terribly enthusiastic about starting the day.

By the next evening, Blizz had replied and said they’d do something about the troll, but they didn’t say what they would do. I didn’t want to play that night. I still don’t want to play. I will face it eventually and create new fun times in game, but I’m not ready right now. And that is ok. If I had truly faced my pain over the rape years ago instead of stuffing it down with too many antidepressants and food and general withdrawal from life, maybe I would have recovered sooner. It’s taken me almost 20 years to realize that if you shed a few tears on occasion about something horrible, it is healthier for you and the people who surround you.

Yes, don’t forget that entire communities (including our gaming communities) surround us rape survivors. Rape is everyone’s issue. Talk with my mother or that awesome man next to me on the couch about their thoughts on my rape if you don’t believe me. It’s also not just a woman’s issue. The questions like “What was she wearing?” and “Where was she?” that are typically asked of female rape survivors make us think we should have done something different to prevent it. But we would never ask these questions of a man who was raped, would we? Read this post from a male gamer who survived rape as a child for a powerful perspective.

But the question becomes: how do we stop it? I think a lot of these comments – not just the word “rape,” but anything nasty that any troll says – are due to ignorance. I wonder whether that person would have pushed it with me as far as he did if his mother or sister had been raped. Simple policing such as reporting the player, or self-preservation acts like putting the player on our ignore list, is sometimes all we can do, but it doesn’t solve the bigger problem: these people, and their shitty attitudes, exist. People frequently lack knowledge about other categories of things and people that they are mean about, which is odd because we’ve all got defining characteristics that set us apart from others. Perhaps the troll’s father died when he was 4 years old, or he hates his red hair, or whatever… something would set him off if I pushed enough buttons, I’m sure.

I’d like to end this post on a positive note, and say “it will all get better after librarians know how to give people all the knowledge they need for achieving personal intellectual enlightenment” or proclaim “Google will save us all” or give some other Infogameristic words of wisdom… but I don’t have any of those words right now. To fix a lack of education, or to open your mind up and sense the broader world, you have to want it intrinsically. The existence of information, professional educators, Internet content providers… none of it can force your brain into recognizing how your words and actions affect the people with whom you share the world. Including the World of Warcraft, it seems.

Thank you for sharing in my catharsis. And if you write hateful comments in response to this post, I will approve them. You know why? Your words speak for who you are. Including these people.

tl-dr

it was me and a gun
and a man on my back
and I sang “holy holy”
as he buttoned down his pants
you can laugh
it’s kind of funny
things you think
at times like these
like I haven’t seen Barbados
so I must get out of this

–Tori Amos, “Me and a Gun,” singing about her own rape

Ding! You’ve leveled up! Please see your local librarian for training.

Guilds within games are a very funny thing, and running them is even stranger. They are a weird conglomeration of people, and come in so many shapes and sizes no one has time to describe any of that. Karen over at Massively does a regular column that attempts to bring order to the guild chaos (and does well), but I think there is always more to add to the pot.

I help run a multi-game guild that spans WoW, League of Legends, and Guild Wars 2 (and a few others, but those are the main ones right now).  I find leading a guild to be a very fickle thing, but mainly, it’s all about the morale of the guild.

The game doesn’t matter.

The people can change.

Keeping the morale of the guild up is the most important aspect of being a guild leader. Even if people are hating the game they’re playing, if they are happy with the people they are playing with and having a good time in the community, people will keep playing the game.

To quote Felandis, who also helps lead the guild, (from another statement he made, not that post)

When it comes to running a guild, it is my belief the most important thing is to truly understand the morale of the guild, from the ground up, and to understand what has to be tweaked to keep that morale high (often easier said than done).

So what keeps the morale of your guild high? Raid clears? PvP wins? Community forums?

tl-dr

Make sure to keep the morale of your guild high, it will keep all of the people together and having a good time.

Ding! You’ve Leveled Up! Please see your local librarian for training.

Today we’re gonna take another trip on the fanboy interstate, and like before, GuildMag will be driving with their fourth Blog Carnival!  ”Five years of waiting for Guild Wars 2” is the topic at hand… five years is a little over one fourth of my existence.

So…

yeaaaaaaahhh.

Naturally I jumped on this opportunity to talk about the greatest game to ever saunter towards existence (you know, cuz it’s not actually released yet and all), but five years ago I was a 7th grader battling my way through the great awkward hell known as middle school.  I wasn’t one of the people who saw the press release from ArenaNet announcing GW2 minutes after it happened singing hallelujah, I wasn’t one of the people that caught sight of it in the corner of their eye on some video game news site.  I wasn’t even a semi-logical functioning adult yet!

(note: the above pic is also why I’m NOT doing the tl-dr artistic redesign (pst pst we still need someone! Email us! Help us!))

I had no clue Guild Wars 2 existed five years back.  Or the original Guild Wars.  Or World of Warcraft.  I think I played Game Cube stuff mostly…

Point is, we’re gonna have to fast forward here a bit if we actually want to talk about Guild Wars 2.  Except that’s exactly what they expect me to do!  (“They” is Jacob, resident slaver around here) So let’s talk about why nearly five years of Guild Wars 2 ignorance makes GW2 even more beautiful.

So where exactly was I five years ago?  My friend MDSRocker (his gamer name) who went to school with me way back when (btw go read his blog, it’s pretty great), reminded me that I was, um, trying to create a “holiday” at the time.  Specifically an “Innocent Victims of War Memorial Day” or “IVM Day” for short. Evidently, I wasn’t exactly a cut and paste kinda kid.  I gave speeches, pinned up flyers, and sent the whole package off to the United Nations with some 300 signatures gathered by my little team and I (here’s the online petition I created from way back when).  Annnnnnnd the UN sent back a thank you note.  It was more than a little discouraging, and when the school year ended momentum for the whole thing kinda fell apart.

Well, subsequently, I got pretty darn depressed.  I know I know, blogging about emotions is so 2011!  But really, the simple fact was I tried really hard to do something I believed in, and I fell short.  13 year old me learned a hard truth; the world isn’t on anyone’s side, and sometimes we still fail no matter how good our intentions.  Two long years later, however, it was World of Warcraft that got me back on my feet.  Two years of banging my head against a wall trying to convince myself to keep trying, but not actually feeling like trying to do anything at all; two years of feeling stuck.  It was WoW that made me resilient, made me finally feel like trying again, and if you don’t believe me go watch this recent TEDTalk by Jane McGonigal.  This is also where I give another big sappy love-you-thank-you to my guild since it was them as much as anything that helped me

That brings us up to about a year and a half ago when everything took another exciting turn; I began to honestly question if I was gay.  I also started to get excited about Guild Wars 2.  Course, they had nothing to do with each other, but they will!  …sorta.. just keep reading.

At this point I was working in the U.S. Congress as a page and had said farewell to WoW, and I believed my future was probably directed down the political path (read this post to see how that plan has changed).  But, frankly, I was desperately trying to convince myself I didn’t have feelings for guys that I was “supposed” to have for girls, how could I aspire to anything great as a gay man (ridiculous I know now), and it just wasn’t at all who I wanted to be, or even who my family wanted me to be.  To derail a bit here, my parents have done an incredible job overcoming that hurtle with me, it was a bit messy at times, yet ultimately, it was another lesson in resilience for all of us.

Allowing myself to accept my sexuality was a matter of understanding that I don’t have to be like anyone else.  Period.  All my life I’ve watched movies and played games where male protagonists and heroes were off trying to save some girl, or fighting alongside some girl, or girls girls girls girls.  Ridiculous as it may seem, Kurt Hummel, the gay kid played by Chris Colffer in Glee (A show that is now truly a foray into painful screenwriting fallen from it’s glory days) was one of the first anythings to make me feel ok for how I felt, because of how widely beloved the character became, how accepted.

I’ve talked before about the importance of sexual diversity in games, but here it is again: if gay is ever going to be normal, not better, not worse, but truly normal, we need it to exist in media as normal.  Media inspires and propagates ideas for better or worse.  When I heard that the GW2 race of Sylvari have no judgement on sexuality, that they simply love whomever they love, and that ArenaNet deliberately didn’t try to prop up the issue and kept it normal, I fell in love with the game and the company making it.  An entire society that puts less emphasis on sexuality than they do hair color, to be explored in a world filled with millions of real people; that’s some powerful stuff.

It hasn’t even been a full year since I really came out, so it feels kinda strange reflecting on it, along with all the other stuff I talked about.  But here I am, all “grown up”-ish, right next to Guild Wars 2.  My life is really incredible at this point, and I’m wildly thankful for all parts of it, and everything yet to come.  I haven’t really talked a whole lot about all the parts that make GW2 great here, but I don’t think that’s the point.  More and more about GW2 has been revealed over the last few years, and really I feel kinda similar about myself. Sure it’s kinda silly, but that’s what “Five Years of Waiting For Guild Wars 2″ has been for me; learning more about who “me” is too.

tl-dr

I know first hand the power of video games, MMOs in particular for me, and we’re about to witness the next great step in MMO history to be released later this month.  I’m ready to set foot in an epic world full of epic people again, and grow even more as a person with it.

Ding! You’ve Leveled Up! Please see your local librarian for training.

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[Editor's note (Yes, I'm the editor and the author, shut it)] I’m having trouble getting the full emotion of this post out into the writing. I may be writing in a pretty technical way and presenting facts of why this is bad, and saying it is bad, but I really hate bullying, racism, or harassment in games. So much so that I have a hard time dealing with it when it happens to me or others because I feel like I start to rage when I talk about it. Carry on.

I’m referring specifically to the actions of people in online games to other players, and how they treat other players. A good example of it is from tl-dr’s own Diane, on camping and griefing. I think camping and griefing are a small form of harassment and bullying, and there are many ways around it.

It becomes more difficult when the griefing is written or verbal. There are two different varieties that I want to point out and talk about; both are equally bad, just very different.

1) The Rager

This one is easy to see, but hard to combat. Easy to see because it’s the person that screams “OMFG you NOOB! That isn’t how it’s SUPPOSED TO BE DONE!”* Nothing said will calm this person down, as they are either 1) so angry they won’t see reason, or 2) trolling you and looking for you to get all worked up.

*Sprinkle this sentence liberally with the terms: asshole, noob, fag, faggot, rape, raped, nig, or nigger depending on the severity.

^That’s another problem. How do you deal with blatant, overt racism, homophobia, or hate speech while gaming? This isn’t subtle racism perpetuated by a society, it’s in your face hate that there is no way of combating. (Or so it feels)

2) The Trolls

These are the people in games who do almost the exact same things as the rager, but they do it for attention or to get a reaction. It’s hard to differentiate them, and in practice, there’s really no reason to do so. It’s how they react to being combated that changes.

Bullying for competition

I’m no stranger to competition. And one of the tenets of competition is sportsmanship. Learn it, love it, stick with it. It will make gaming for you and everyone around you better in the long run.

“It helps me win, it’s the other guy’s fault they can’t deal with it.” This is a cop out, and people who bully, rage, or troll to gain a competitive advantage are just applying gamesmanship to the game. Yes, it’s within the rules of the game. Does that mean you should still do it? No.

Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Trash talking, harrassment, or bullying to get an edge up on the competition means you just can’t handle the competition anyway. Play within the rules and leave the gamesmanship out of it. There’s no place for it in multiplayer video games.

GTFO Man, I can do what I want. Besides, you can’t change the way things are.

Bullshit, I can change things. That’s what I’m trying to do right here. People WANT the change. People WANT to see this type of harassment and bullying go away. So let’s do it.

They’re Just Trolls! Don’t Feed Them!

In small doses, sure, not feeding the trolls works. Like that asshat in trade chat who says “Zelda was so cool in his game when he killed Ganon!” That’s a harmless troll trying to get someone to rage and say “Zelda was the princess, Link was the guy with the sword!”

What about the troll that comes into a game (any game) and says, “Hi guys! Glad you’re all here to play today, this going to be fun! As long as there aren’t any faggot niggers here.”

That one statement ruins the game for everyone involved, whether the person saying it is truthful, trolling, or something else. It automatically injects social, cultural, and political conflict into the game.

Should you feed this troll?

No.

Should you ignore this troll?

No.

Being silent empowers this kind of troll, and silence sounds a lot like agreement.

So what should you do? Go watch this video.

So what should we do?

Here’s one idea from the Extra Credits crew. I think it’s a good start.

Another is the justice system that is in place for League of Legends. It may not be great, but it cuts down on a lot of the worst offenders. Gotta start somewhere.

Not just about the completely horrible people

It’s about the middle of the pack people as well. Sure, getting rid of the 10% of people that are THE WORST offenders would be amazing, but that does not stop the trolling. Or the raging. Or people being just assholes in general. Think of that the next time you’re angry in a game, or that you’re angry at a troll. Raging at them, calling them names, or doing anything similar just increases the problem. It’s not even them “bringing you down to their level.” It’s you becoming one of them; just because they started it doesn’t change anything.

Stand up for a healthier, more relaxed multiplayer experience.

Don’t feed the trolls/ragers.

Don’t become a troll/rager yourself.

DO stand up for yourself and your beliefs online in a coherent, calm, fashion.

tl-dr

This. 1000 times this. Read it.

Ding! You’ve Leveled Up! Please see your local librarian for training.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

In my haste to write about this topic, I think I made a mistake.  Last time I talked about some of my issues with the U.S. education system, and I intended to follow that post up with a How we gamify education for the better post.  Well, that plan hasn’t totally changed, but here’s the issue I woke up to: gamification of education is fantastic and all, but besides the actual methods of doing it, not enough has been talked about how we actually make it happen.  I’m going to save my precious How post title for that discussion next time.

So.  Today I’m going to deliver 100% more Why gamification would be better, by examining education through the gaming lens, before we get down to the real work of bringing our gaming fantasy into reality.

Better is key here; there is no point if we just end up making something different that could be equally horrible.  Without further adieu, let’s talk about the flip side of the Why coin, the game side, and avoid this situation:

 

 

What does it mean to gamify education?  In the strictest sense, it is applying game mechanics to a method of educating.  It’s about empowering students to do better, and making learning, well, fun!  Or at the very least, a hell of a lot more rewarding.

I said in my last post that our current system is already sort of gamified, just done really stupidly.  It’s a grind fest with no save points for failure, rewards that are few and far between, and only one primary playable skill set to choose from for success: academic test taking.  It takes a year to “level up”, and “badges/achievements” or grades you receive can be just as harrowing as they rewarding, while also being permanent.

There is also a danger in making education a total fail proof candy land of gametastic victory.  School is supposed to teach students tough real world lessons right?  Like how to deal with failure, how to work for the intrinsic reward of simple accomplishment, but can schools really take credit for teaching those lessons?  We learn those lessons because school is rigid in how it defines success, and often unforgiving or indifferent to the student’s struggle, not because school sets out to make us well rounded people.  I’d wager that most students don’t go to school every day thinking “I’ll work hard today because it will make me feel good!”, I’d go so far as to say the intrinsic rewards that are supposed to come from just working hard are rarely found in the daily grind of standard schooling as it is now.  Games can teach these lessons better.  

Let’s break it down, gamer style.

Ze Grind of Doom

“The Grind” is the concept of doing a LOT of repetitive work that has little to no meaning to get somewhere or something.  In school, that somewhere-something is graduating high school and maybe getting into college.  It doesn’t foster the idea that the student is there to learn, it fosters the idea that the student is playing the game to escape the game.  Students get there by doing specific quests, or classes as real people call them.  If they succeed the quest, they move on to the next one, always moving towards escape.  Play style can have some variability in which classes the student takes, but all the “important” classes use final exams as the big quantifier for success.  When the players reach the boss exam, they are forced back into a single play style; memorizing facts, regardless of personal strengths or alternative skills.

What’s more, the rewards system in the game of school is backwards.  Extra Credits talks about the idea that our grading system works by starting kids off with the concept of having a 100% A+ in any given class, and all subsequent tasks only have the potential to take points, rather than reward them.  If a student does poorly on a test, there is rarely a “try again” button, no space for redemption.  The message is “Move on, this task is done, just keep moving towards the exit.”  The point of education is for students to learn.  Let me say that again.

The point of education is for students to learn.  

the point is not to keep grinding towards release, regardless of what was actually learned at all.  If a student wants to try again, why on earth shouldn’t they?!

Why Games Are Better

The goal of gamifying education isn’t to just throw points at the system and call it a game.  At least, that’s not how I think we gamify it successfully.  What we really want is to get students interested in learning.  Take the class system found in most MMORPGs; it’s less different from education’s class system than you might think.  In games, players choose classes based on what they want to be good at as well as what interest them most; class choice is personal (which is how the educational class system should work).  Wan’t to run around with lightning on your fingers and no pants under your robes?  Wizard it is!  More into solving problems by punching them in the face?  Warrior is for you!  Do what keeps you playing! It is, after all, your game.

It’s actually this mindset extended into education that first got me blogging, via Extreme Biology.  My former teacher, Ms. Baker (I get to call her Stacy now!), had students write blog posts on any life science topic they wanted to as part of our grade, to give students freedom to pursue what interests them.  It worked; I remember all the topics I wrote about in freshman year, because I got to choose.  No, it wasn’t really gamified, and it only existed in her biology class, but small things can have big meaning.  The concept of choice, how the student or player plays the game, is where intrinsic rewards are fostered.  Want kids to learn, just cuz?  Give them freedom.  Power to the player is power to the student.

In WoW, millions of players even make extra effort to play the “metagame”, the game outside the game, by researching how to play best on sites like WoWWiki (the second largest wiki in the world to Wikipedia) or Wow Insider.  Players do this because they have a strong sense of personalized engagement with their characters, they put in extra work the game doesn’t explicitly say is necessary.  In education terms, that’s like getting kids to do extra homework and research without telling them to.

As for failure, games are the epitome of failure done right.  Jane McGonigal talks about the resilience to try again that is imbued into the gamer mindset.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve failed horribly in pvp with Jacob only to keep trying and trying and trying again.  Failure shouldn’t be about sucking it up and moving on, it should be about sucking it up, figuring out what went wrong, and trying again.  Learn something, damnit!  The only thing I want students thinking is that true failure, hopeless useless meaningless failure, is not an option.

tl-dr

Game design is all about creating an experience that is both engaging and rewarding, oh and fun.  If we approach education with a game design mindset, the flaws become apparent, as do the solutions.

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I’ve talked before about the negative side of video games: addiction and violence. I want to lighten it up a bit and talk about why video games are great and amazing. (Spoiler alert: yeah, they really can be good for ya)

I’m going to start this off with a link to an article from Cracked, and give a short list of the cool things that have come out of video games. They are all over the board, and all really cool. I’ll just leave them as a list, and you can read the details over there.

6) Multiple lives have been saved through community and friendships built on the internet.

5) A guy saved a life with his FPS Medic Training. (How cool is that?!)

4) A kid somehow fended off a moose thanks to World of Warcraft. (He must have been a Druid)

3) A web browser game helps explore the universe.

2) Video games help stroke victims recover.

1) Video games are creating a race of master surgeons. (That’s right. You better start screening your surgeon to see what his/her genre of preference is)

What other cool things have been done? I’m glad you asked.

In sports, football in this case, games are being used in non-impact, non-exercise training sessions to improve the mental agility of the athletes, which then improves their physical agility because of the added response time. I’d love to see this take off more; it has applications all over the place in sports, beyond just mental agility training. Take it as far as strategy and tactics for actual play situations, or dealing with pressure during games, and there could be a powerful training tool there. (I like to think that playing Mario Tennis on the N64 helped me out in my days of playing college tennis)

Good news for all you FPS fans out there! Playing FPS’s can help improve your eyesight.  So make sure you take two video games and call me in the morning. 

ur brain. make it better.

It’s a good thing that the Moose hero kid plays World of Warcraft, because he’s going to have an easier time of it when he’s older. It actually helps with improved focus and spatial recognition.

What about for mental illnesses like PTSD? Video games have you covered there too.

Relaxation time!

While video games may not help you get in shape, they are a great way to relieve stress. Both by playing them, and by watching others play. (Like this guy!)

tl-dr

Video games are great for living a happy life. And they get you all the girls (and guys too)!

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I know the first thought most people will have reading this: “What does a middle class white male with a Master’s Degree know about racism and diversity?” And you would partially be right; I do not have a lot of experience with racism first hand. I have not had to deal with racism as an integral part of my life. But you would also be wrong, though not in the way you expected.

Peggy McIntosh wrote a great essay talking about white privilege, and it hits very close to home.

I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege. So I have begun in an untutored way to ask what it is like to have white privilege. I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was ‘meant’ to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks.

It is a very true statement, and applies to the video game community in a heavy way. It was something I never really noticed for a very long time, because I was taught not to recognize white privilege; which in this instance was all the white influence in video games.

Well, I am standing up right now and demanding better diversity within video games.

Not because of a “holier than thou” cause.

Not because I want to see everyone equally represented (even though I do).

Not because it will increase the player base of gamers in the world, and promote inclusivity (but it will).

Not because I want to see people with different skin colors in games (one sided diversity).

 To me, it’s never been about that, at all… It’s not about fairness, it’s not video game affirmative action. It’s about actually pushing our medium to make better games, to tell better stories in our games.

That’s what I’m talking about. Sure, diversity is the right thing to do for many moral reasons, and reasons of equality, but everyone can get behind the idea of better stories within games. There are thousands, if not millions, of narratives and ideas that can still be told in the video game world; let’s open up and find out what those are.

Create a discourse and move the world forward. Unpack your knapsack.

The inherent racism of developers

“But Jacob!” you say, “I don’t see this racism you’re talking about. Games have ideas ranging from historical settings all over the globe, to the completely fantastical!” You would be partially correct. The answer is not a simple one though, so bear with me.

One of the biggest issues I see with racism and diversity within games is not the people within games, but the developers and designers of games. As I stated before, it is not conscious racism, it is not the racism associated with the pre-1960s in the U.S. (Separate But Equal), and the civil right’s protests. It is racism that is blind in one eye, and partially uneducated. I will show you an example of what I am talking about. (quick note: I am not calling developers racist, I am trying to point out a subconscious pattern of thinking that [almost] all of us have)

Can you see it? The inherent racism here is not in the actual design in this picture. I think it is great that designers are looking to other cultures for aesthetic design. The problem is that of all the characters and everything else that exists within this game (in this case, World of Warcraft), there is not one person in the game that is Asian. Even the “Humans” within the game do not have an option to have Asian features. (Pandarens do not count, give me a break) Explain to me how you can import this amount of Asian culture into a game, and ignore the people? Sure, it may seem like a minor thing, but who cares about sitting in the front or back of the bus? I think that this subtle concept is what Peggy McIntosh is talking about with her essay.

Here is the counter argument that is going to come up right away: “But WoW is a fantasy world, and has all kinds of races that aren’t even human!”

Sure, but they are all still inherently white. Or, if not, they are stereotypical of another race or culture in an almost offensive way. “But that is ok! It is just a video game!” Wrong. That just perpetuates the cycle and nothing gets better. Diversity (especially sexual diversity), is very lacking in WoW and other games.

Why are dwarves stereotypical Scotsmen that drink too much, with a Scottish accents and kilts?

Why are trolls stereotypical “Jamaicans”, with their Voo-Doo and accents?

I cannot count the number of times goblins have been called the “Jersey Shore” of WoW, especially with their starting zone.

2 out of those 3 examples are even racist to a sub-culture of white people. It is racism within the white race (which in itself is a generalization).

If you want a quick video to get an idea of what I’m talking about, here’s a great one from the Extra Credits crew at Penny-Arcade. Or go read a book about it (Chapter 4).

Now, I realize that all of the traits of these races are a part of WoW lore, and I am not suggesting they change right now, I am just pointing out the inherent biases that a predominantly white video game community has when trying to create diverse games and story lines. It is actually good game design considering the current gaming demographics; it has been proven that people like to play games that reinforce their self image. The problem is, if we (the gaming community) are only reinforcing the self-image of one select group of people, we are excluding everyone else. If the gaming industry would like to keep growing, that means different gaming populations. Which means diversity. Plus, we want to be inclusive here, amirite?

It is not something that will change overnight, but it needs to be talked about and discussed. It needs to be in the light of day, and it needs to be improved upon. Big props for the community at Guild Wars 2 and their Blog Carnival on Diversity. This is a great step, and more of the communities should be doing things like it.

Here is another example of a game moving the racial dialogue forward. The new Assassin’s Creed game (3) will feature a minority hero; a Native American that belongs/belonged to the Mowhawk/Kanien’kehá:ka. I am sure there will be some things about the portrayal that will be completely accurate and racially sensitive. Other things in the game will probably be on the opposite end of the spectrum. But, they are moving the conversation forward. Taking risks, expanding story possiblities, and reaching out to new audiences. Good for them. I will be buying this game just to see the story and how it works (even though I love AC 1 and only played 10 minutes of AC 2 because of boredom, this story change has guaranteed my purchase of AC3).

Racism within games

This needs to be mentioned briefly, but I will not pay much attention to it because it detracts from my main point; the racism within the community of gaming. The players themselves are the worst offenders, but that is a post for another day because it touches on many larger issues.

(Aside: If you are one of those people that shouts hurtful/racist things online or in games, calling people “f*g” or “n*gger”, I will call your ass out. every. time. That shit is not cool.)

The long tl;dr

As an individual, I may not be the best person to talk about diversity or racism because of my background, but I do not think that should matter. The discussion needs to happen, and I will step up to the plate and take my chances with it, even if I get hit by the pitcher. Everyone else can walk around with their invisible knapsack; I want to unpack mine.

Do you have any other examples that fall inside these lines? What about suggestions to improve diversity within the gaming world?

tl-dr

Everyone in the game industry needs to have the courage to stand up and create diverse games, and to play diverse games.

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People have been waiting to play Diablo III for years. They want it in the worst way possible. I wasn’t quite on that spectrum. I enjoyed DII, and would love to play DIII, but I’m going to stick by my morals and beliefs and not play DIII. (How boring is that, right?) I’ll get to the dirt and smack talk in second, don’t worry. This is going to get dirty.

My beliefs on micro transactions within video games are pretty well documented at this point. The tl;dr is: Micro transactions are great, just don’t let them influence game mechanics.

I love the idea of micro transactions as a new business model for the video game industry. It’s great; I love me some innovation. But, there are ways to screw it up, and Blizzard is doing that. The problem is not that they’re doing it completely wrong, their problem is that they’re fixing one problem, and creating another problem.

What is Blizzard solving?

Blizzard is attempting to solve the problem of gold selling and gold farming. (See Chris’s post here for a run-down) Also, I recommend this article as a great way to understand some of the motivations behind gold farming.

The idea is that, with the new in game auction house in DIII, allowing players the ability to use real money on the auction house, it will prevent, or lessen the ability, of gold farmers to sell gold inside the game, because who needs to buy gold when you can buy all the items you want for real money on this auction house? Very innovative, and meant to hurt a group within the game dedicated to messing up in game economies for real world gain (while also helping to line Blizzard’s pockets a bit more).

The real money for in game items AH in DIII also has the benefit of eliminating third party sites that duped items to sell in game for real world cash. (Well, if not eliminate, give Blizzard a piece of the spoils.)

I can dig it. That’s good stuff. Push the envelope.

But, I have a problem…

Remember when I said micro transactions shouldn’t affect game play or game mechanics? Well, guess what? This AH is going to do exactly that. The biggest difference between micro transactions, and the AH Blizzard is setting up, is that Blizzard is not the one opening a store with the items that can be bought with real world cash, they’re allowing players to run that store themselves, with any item they find in the game. So, a brand new player can feasibly log into DIII, input their credit card info to battle.net, and buy all the gear they need to be an omgwtfpwn character, with no effort to obtain that gear through playing the game. This is seriously allowing game mechanics to be influenced by real world currency, since the primary way to make your character stronger in the Diablo games is with better gear. (Except in hardcore mode)

So, if people won’t play games because of the influence real money can have on game play, why are so many people lining up to play DIII? Because it’s Blizzard? Because they’ve been waiting for DIII for years? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!

Yeah, Blizzard has said, quote, ”Use of either the real-money or gold-based auction house is completely optional.” The problem is, it still changes the entire landscape of the game for everyone if the option to buy stats (through gear upgrades) with real money is implemented!

So, I will not be purchasing, nor playing, Diablo III.

tl-dr

If someone can buy a character and/or gear that’s the best in the game without actually playing the game? I won’t play it.

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