Cathy Anderson
Report on World of Warcraft, Eve, Evony and Second Life

I have looked at three different games in the last couple of months. One was World of Warcraft, Eveonline, and Evony.

I will start with Evony. There is little or no application of this game for learning. It even bills itself as a game that you can play without being discovered at work. I didn't spend much time here, but the screen shots are below.

You can buy games tokens, etc., in order to gain status in this game. I am not sure there is much incentive to do that. There are some nice features to this game, you can build you own town, there is a nice email feature that I wish Second Life had, and a very active chat feature. In order to really get into this game I think one would have to spend some there and reviewing the forum that is related to the game.

I tried to ask questions regarding the game in the chat but that seemed to be more for people just “goofing off” saying they were “bored,” and that they were new in the game. The forums for the game is here http://bbs.evony.com/forumdisplay.php?f=7. The forum actually seems very informative. I spent some time here looking for information on how to play the game and found some idea here.
This is not a game that I would recommend for the classroom, given the tone of the chat that sometimes gets a little “risque.” I also would not recommend it given the fact that it encourages player to play at work and even a means to hide the browser address. I do think that given some time if one got into it it may have some fun aspects.

Eveonline;
Eve is a very sophisticated game, it had a 10 day trial so I decided to take advantage of this to see what this game is all about. In this game I learned that one should read up on a game as much as possible in order to learn about the game before taking advantage of the free trial. It would have been nice to know more about the game before actually starting the game.

For Eve I actually think that going here to the WikiPedia entry on the game is a good way to start. I went through the tutorial in order to get comfortable with the game. This game, without a doubt has a steep learning curve. There are many menus, huds, etc., on the screen.

While I didn't get too deep into the game what could make this game a game for learning is the ability to develop critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, and learn about how economies are developed. There are several elements of this game from which a player could learn something such as crime, communication skills in a game environment, governance, and team building. I am not entirely sure that this game would lend much towards learning in a particular course due to the fact that those unfamiliar with gaming or this specific game may have a very steep learning curve.

This game also features a fairly sophisticated chat element. Unlike Second Life where you can only chat within your groups or contacts this provides an ability to chat with anyone who is online and in the game.




The final game I will address is World of Warcraft. I went into World of Warcraft prior to enrolling in this course, but decided to include it here because I actually think that this is a game I would enjoy, however this is not a game for learning either. In fact I do think that using these games for learning would be a stretch. There is an ease to this game and an outcome that seems to make sense. Again the application of this game is the networking with others. I think a student could gain critical thinking skills that could be applied to life from participating in this game. Do I think that this game “brings out” violent tendencies in players..no I don't.

When it comes to gaming I agree with my teacher from a class I am taking in Second Life, he is John Jamison, he presents that it is the state of “flow” that we want stud nets to gain from a learning experience similar to what they achieve when engaged in and playing a game. Can we create games that are geared to a specific subject or learning opportunity that allows the learner to achieve a similar state....I would like to think so .

Finally I would like to talk about the use of Second Life for learning. I have been exploring Caledon a bit for fun and find it a fascinating place in which to learn about life in Victorian times. Caledon is described as “The Independent State of Caledon is the name of a rapidly growing group of Victorian-themed Estate Sims owned by Desmond Shang. Caledon can be considered an example of a developing micronation.”

This is a role play sim, in part. Part based in history and part in fantasy. There is much to be learned here in Caledon. I explore a little when I get a chance. There are several role play sims in Second Life from Western, to Science Fiction, to those based on fictional books like the Harry Potter books and more. This environment can be immersive and engaging, however Second Life like any online virtual world has a learning curve that can be a barrier to learning and access to the content. I have included some screen shots: