Things I Learned (Accidentally) Playing WOW

Things are a little crazy today. Started my new position, have to teach tonight and Nanowrimo is screeching in my ear. /Sigh.

However, there is a bright light, my friends! Once again, Krys, author of some of our most popular posts ( Deus ex Machina and Talbuks are People Too!), has generously written another fantastic entry, and thus saving my stressed-out booty! Now, where the hell did I leave that book… oh...there it is!

At first there was radio, then movies, then television, next came computers… is there anyone out there who was not aware that video games are the next great electronic medium? Good. There is much research and data to support this (1). Let’s move on, shall we? Due to the interactive nature of this relatively new medium, the term “accidental learning” is beginning to get bandied about more and more. It really is self-explanatory; you’re engaged in a particular activity and while doing so you learn a skill, fact, or assume a trait without conscious awareness.

This is not an examination of educational games such as the “Jumpstart” series as their motivation is clear, but a brief look at “accidental learning” in Warcraft. If you haven’t gathered already, this post will contain neither academic nor scholarly merit, but simply points that I find interesting (ahhh the beauty of the blog!).

In my RL job I am a trainer/facilitator, so I’m always interested in anything related to adult-education principles or career development. As I work in a municipal government setting, those two points are often fundamentally linked. A few days ago a guild member mentioned in Vent that he had been going to job interviews (high-tech field) and that on his resume he listed WOW as one of his pastimes. I thought this a little surprising, but another guild friend, Theo, pointed out that this could be considered a desirable point according to an interesting article in Wired Magazine (2). Distilled down, the article essentially says that the accidental learning acquired in Warcraft transcends traditional learning by creating a more profound, immersive experience than one can have in a classroom.

Let’s take a look at a list of potential points for accidental learning (of course, this is not an all-inclusive list; yet another blog benefit! This is where you get to comment with your own points and examples)

• Vocabulary: This one is a little silly, but there are non wow-specific terms used in the game that people learn by seeing them in use. For example, my step-daughter learned that the word “horde” means a large group or swarm. You don’t see too many 14 year olds use the word “mitigate” (lessen the effect of), as in ‘Discipline Priests help mitigate damage to party members’.

• Hand-eye Coordination: This is usually one of the first things you think of when it comes to videogame learning. If you ever need a task completed that requires good hand-eye coordination, find a 10 year old gamer. They have the fast-twitch reflexes of squirrels on crack.

• Map Reading Skills: This applies to everyone except my wife. /sigh

• Creativity/problem solving: How many times did WOW require you to draw on your ingenuity and resourcefulness? Example: For a quest, I have to go up and investigate the top of the temple steps, but I’m alone and there are five elite mobs guarding it. I send my pet to the furthest one and he aggros all the others along the way. As soon as the path is clear, I run up, get a “quest complete”, dive off the opposite side of the temple (sustain 2/3 damage), Aspect of the Cheetah and run for my life.

Do you hope to get into a management position someday? The accidental learning for leadership qualities is where Warcraft truly shines:

• Recruiting: Your guild wants to raid, but is lacking in a particular area. A good leader (i.e. the Guild Master) is able to identify the existing shortcomings and find a player that has the class, spec, gear, experience, desire, and personality that will best meet the needs of the guild.
• Planning/logistics: You do not need to play WOW for very long before you realize how much strategy is required. If you are raiding a particularly difficult boss, it is nearly impossible to run in without a plan. An effective leader will know what problems you are likely to face and ascertain what resources the group has to moderate/eliminate them.
• Delegation: A Guild Master worth her/his salt will not declare themselves to be all-knowing, but will identify those in the guild whose experience, aptitude, and personal character will best assist other members as Class Leaders.
• Flexibility: You’ve planned out your raid very carefully, but sometimes an “x-factor” shows up and the best-laid plans go awry. Do you call for a wipe or do you quickly begin to re-task players to accommodate the problem. Maybe the plan is flawed from the beginning? I’ve seen some terrible leaders attempt bad plans repeatedly! If it didn’t work the first three times, why are you doing it a forth?
• Feedback/ rewards: This should be a simple point to carry out, but many find this challenging. If a plan is carried out or a task successful. Recognize those that helped make it so. “Nice tanking”, “l33t healz!”, “Dude, you did so much DPS, you broke my damage meter”. If the feedback must be negative, it should be factual, devoid of emotion, and contain suggestions for improvement. If your Raid Leader is also a Loot Master it can be difficult to distribute rewards. You must take into consideration the need, performance, and raid history of the players involved.
• Tact: It is very difficult to tell someone that they cannot participate in a particular raid as they are the wrong class, lack experience, or simply didn’t speak-up quickly when the invites went out. A tactful leader can explain decisions and reassure a player that they are valued and can be included next time should they meet the necessary requirements. Follow-though on such a promise is essential.

All this being said, do we continue to play World of Warcraft under the guise of “I do this because it’s giving me “the ability to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the guild"? Nah… do it because it’s fun to pwn.

Krystofar

(1) Video Games: The Dominant Form of Electronic Entertainment http://www.bccresearch.com/RepTemplate.cfm?ReportID=331&cat=ift&RepDet=SC&target=repdetail.cfm

(2) You Play World of Warcraft? You're Hired! http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.04/learn.html

Other Suggested Reading:

Gamestudies.org: an online academic journal about video games.

Association for Applied Interactive Multimedia: Software and Game Techniques to Enhance Teaching and Learning