The three most memorable concepts of McGonigals book are the three chapters (7-9) I could most relate to as well as apply the message McGonigal is giving in these chapters. Chapter 7 discusses the benefits of alternate realities. In chapter 7, "Fix #7: wholehearted Participation, Compared with games, reality is hard to get into. Games motivate us to participate more fully in whatever we're doing." (p. 124 McGonigal) For my experience with settlers I would say the first 3-4 weeks I was not giving the wholehearted participation approach but however once I began giving that approach I was able to get the results not only needed for the class but for my own enjoyment as well I found myself motivated to play more then the 2 hours required per week by the class. In chapter 8 leveling up in life. I connected to the concept that was discussed about the Nike+ running system. I use this system when running and I saw the same results that are discussed in the McGonigal book when you have feedback on your progress whether it be good, bad or indifferent it challenges you to do better to compete with others as well who may have run that route faster then you. And by checking your profile you see the progress of yourself as well as others. But the Nike+ motivates you to do better which is an amazing feature and it is something that I will use in my future endeavors in the classroom teaching. In chapter 9 Fun with strangers, discusses the relationships built from online gaming experience. For me this sums up my experience with Settlers because I have built relationships with people I may never meet face to face in life but we have become friends and confide in each other through our gaming experience. "The comfort of strangers can be a short game or long game, depending on how willing players are to overcome their hesitations about reaching out to strangers, and depending on how tightly they can learn to stick together in the crowd." (p. 171 McGonigal)
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Fix: 14
Looking at my experiences with Settlers I have began to realize that I have in some way ran a small country for this short while that we have been playing this game for our class. Taking a long view at my experience I have come to realize that I have mass produced material, provided food and water, provided jobs for my settlers, provided homes as well as provided a fully armed military. So for me this is something I may never experience in my life outside of my virtual realm on my computer screen. However, it is interesting to me that when I look at it I have come so far from the point at which you begin If i remember correctly it is three or four buildings and only 20-30 settlers. Now I have established over a 150 buildings (business, homes) and 200 plus settlers. By looking at others in my guild and friends list and viewing their settlement it is neat to see I am only cracking the shell that I have not completed the full experience. Also I have come to realize the importance of maintaining a routine when checking my settlement. Usually by looking at how my economy is running, seeing how my settlers are doing as I have them function, and also to see where my military status is and if I am capable of defeating a bandit camp at that time. "World and population-management simulations that give a single
player the ability to shape the course of events on earth in dramatic
ways, over lifetimes or longer" (p. 297 McGonigal). By doing so I am able to use ecosystems thinking by applying this experience and how it has helped shape my own beliefs in my daily life and how I look and prioritize my duties on a daily basis. The same way I approach my settlement on a daily basis. You do not realize how something little can affect a whole project. Like in the Settlers experience by not logging on for long periods you see production becomes slower or you lose goods or do not have enough goods in order to produce at a high rate in order for your settlement to be productive which slows down your progress to complete the quest as they appear on the task bar. So even though they are not connected you need everything to be working in order for all your functions in the game to continue to go according to plan so that you are able to continue to level up. For my pilot experimentation I was lucky to have befriended a member in my guild that guided me on the right track to progress positively through my experience with Settlers online. I would confide in him for thoughts and answers to my questions as I started out my settlement so I did not have a hard trial and error period. It was more confusing for me at first with not ever playing any game online like the Settlers experience. Now that I have been playing for a while now since the course began my experience with online games has grown and I actually have come to enjoy the time. "The game is fun and rewarding to play, but it's meant accomplish more than just relieving boredom or making us happy." (p. 299 McGonigal) From this game it has become more then just something I have to do for the class but I look at it as a daily challenge for myself. The skills I have learned from this gaming experience are those that I have explained through out this post. How I have grown to like using the gaming experience online. As well as how the skills taught to you in this experience can help your real life functions. Even though we are gaming in what I would call a large scale due to the fact you are managing people, products, business and housing. you can use these skills from the game and apply them in a whatever line of work you may be in or whatever challenge you may face in your personal or academic life.
The three most memorable concepts of McGonigals book are the three chapters (7-9) I could most relate to as well as apply the message McGonigal is giving in these chapters. Chapter 7 discusses the benefits of alternate realities. In chapter 7, "Fix #7: wholehearted Participation, Compared with games, reality is hard to get into. Games motivate us to participate more fully in whatever we're doing." (p. 124 McGonigal) For my experience with settlers I would say the first 3-4 weeks I was not giving the wholehearted participation approach but however once I began giving that approach I was able to get the results not only needed for the class but for my own enjoyment as well I found myself motivated to play more then the 2 hours required per week by the class. In chapter 8 leveling up in life. I connected to the concept that was discussed about the Nike+ running system. I use this system when running and I saw the same results that are discussed in the McGonigal book when you have feedback on your progress whether it be good, bad or indifferent it challenges you to do better to compete with others as well who may have run that route faster then you. And by checking your profile you see the progress of yourself as well as others. But the Nike+ motivates you to do better which is an amazing feature and it is something that I will use in my future endeavors in the classroom teaching. In chapter 9 Fun with strangers, discusses the relationships built from online gaming experience. For me this sums up my experience with Settlers because I have built relationships with people I may never meet face to face in life but we have become friends and confide in each other through our gaming experience. "The comfort of strangers can be a short game or long game, depending on how willing players are to overcome their hesitations about reaching out to strangers, and depending on how tightly they can learn to stick together in the crowd." (p. 171 McGonigal)
The three most memorable concepts of McGonigals book are the three chapters (7-9) I could most relate to as well as apply the message McGonigal is giving in these chapters. Chapter 7 discusses the benefits of alternate realities. In chapter 7, "Fix #7: wholehearted Participation, Compared with games, reality is hard to get into. Games motivate us to participate more fully in whatever we're doing." (p. 124 McGonigal) For my experience with settlers I would say the first 3-4 weeks I was not giving the wholehearted participation approach but however once I began giving that approach I was able to get the results not only needed for the class but for my own enjoyment as well I found myself motivated to play more then the 2 hours required per week by the class. In chapter 8 leveling up in life. I connected to the concept that was discussed about the Nike+ running system. I use this system when running and I saw the same results that are discussed in the McGonigal book when you have feedback on your progress whether it be good, bad or indifferent it challenges you to do better to compete with others as well who may have run that route faster then you. And by checking your profile you see the progress of yourself as well as others. But the Nike+ motivates you to do better which is an amazing feature and it is something that I will use in my future endeavors in the classroom teaching. In chapter 9 Fun with strangers, discusses the relationships built from online gaming experience. For me this sums up my experience with Settlers because I have built relationships with people I may never meet face to face in life but we have become friends and confide in each other through our gaming experience. "The comfort of strangers can be a short game or long game, depending on how willing players are to overcome their hesitations about reaching out to strangers, and depending on how tightly they can learn to stick together in the crowd." (p. 171 McGonigal)
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David, I found similar things with your post for this week. I have also never experienced considering many things at the same time in my life. While playing the game, I need to consider overall of my island in terms of increasing population, maintaining resources/materials, building up supplies, training army. I needed to do all of them in a balanced aspect. Otherwise, I could lose many goods or materials. This situation taught me to be an ecosystem thinker.
ReplyDeleteDavid, I should confess I was also not willing to play it more than requirement for the class at first. Then, I began to enjoy with the game and spent many hours continuously till my neck got worse (I have a problem with my neck). The game provides us wholehearted participation as you said. It is really a memorable thing as you said. One of the memorable sentences of the author is “Even as the laundry gets dirty again or the dust starts to sneak back in, your avatar is still getting stronger, smarter, swifter. In this way, Chore Wars brilliantly reverses the most demoralizing aspects of regular housework” (pg. 123) Just like this game named Chore Wars, in the Settlers, even if my general lose a war, I can always get him alive and I can cure him with medipack all the time, opposite of the real life. In real life, even if you do everything correctly, there is always a possible to lose something. That is why her this sentence is also one of the memorable sentences to me. It was really great to read your experiences about this game. Thank you for sharing with us! Even though we played same game, as seen, we have different memorable things. Is not it interesting? There was an explanation in education : we leave all classes with different experiences. It is really correct! Right?