EPTGaming Can Change The World - Page 2
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DeathSpank
United States1029 Posts
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StRyKeR
United States1739 Posts
If you reward people with the right incentives, they'll spend hours "wasting" their lives on it. If you can just take a real world problem and turn it into Starcraft, people all over the world will spend 21 billion hours a week trying to solve it. The challenge is to find a compromise between complete reality (which gamers often shun) and complete fiction (which doesn't help the world at all). I just thought of this now, but I think a great example = math competitions. For math nerds like me, it is incredibly satisfying to solve tricky puzzles. I wasn't caring about the world. I wasn't trying to help anyone. Nonetheless, the training I got from those puzzles is helping me solve real world problems, get a job, etc. etc. If anyone viewed math competitions the way I did, they would be addicted to it as well. It just happens that having those skills helps in real life. | ||
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Cloud
Sexico5880 Posts
On March 18 2010 13:00 StRyKeR wrote: I don't agree with everything she says, but she brought out a very good point. If you reward people with the right incentives, they'll spend hours "wasting" their lives on it. If you can just take a real world problem and turn it into Starcraft, people all over the world will spend 21 billion hours a week trying to solve it. The challenge is to find a compromise between complete reality (which gamers often shun) and complete fiction (which doesn't help the world at all). I just thought of this now, but I think a great example = math competitions. For math nerds like me, it is incredibly satisfying to solve tricky puzzles. I wasn't caring about the world. I wasn't trying to help anyone. Nonetheless, the training I got from those puzzles is helping me solve real world problems, get a job, etc. etc. If anyone viewed math competitions the way I did, they would be addicted to it as well. It just happens that having those skills helps in real life. You mean like adding a tv news show? Or placing a starving african child on the back of your teen magazine? Or a satirical novel? It has been done over and over and it hasn't worked for shit. People just don't like facing reality. They are only rational when they're playing a game, reading a novel or drowning in a gallon of whisky. Yet they turn into some kind of blind, dumb, deaf and mature zombie when facing reality. | ||
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Alou
United States3748 Posts
On March 18 2010 12:23 tyreek wrote: "We've been playing Warcraft since 1994, that was the first real time strategy game from the World of Warcraft series" 15:04 So the only game this girl has played is WoW. And what the fuck is an epic win? + Show Spoiler + http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=epic%20win A win so great,so awesome that it is EPIC. May also be used to describe something very nice and enjoyed. Random Guy on 4chan: lulz!::posts Chechclear:: Me: O.O 4channer:EPIC WIN. ::I see someone get kicked in the head:: Me:Epic win. She is a game developer. She has probably played tons. WoW was just an example she used. Sorry she didn't have enough time to go in her entire gaming history, which is probably extremely expansive seeing as she works in the industry and obviously has spent time working on her theory. And she described Epic Win pretty well in the presentation. | ||
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keepITup
251 Posts
Just being physically fit for example, when I first decided to work out I found it hard to stay motivated. It was hard, boring and results were slow. But if you record your progress regularly you get what's very similar to stat increases in RPGs. It sounds cheesy, but I think if everyone had access to a colorful interface that monitors all their strength and endurance statistics, they'd be much more inclined to go to the gym. The same can be said for other aspects -- although I think the women has some pretty far reaching ideas. | ||
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exeexe
Denmark937 Posts
In wow you can gather stuff, sell them and get real money. Yeah gaming can have influence in real life situations, the question is how much influence can be reached? | ||
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ggrrg
Bulgaria2716 Posts
On March 18 2010 11:37 Thereisnosaurus wrote: + Show Spoiler + ... It's easy to be cynical and have the stereotype mindset that video games have no effect and they are just mindless entertainment, unfortunately this is not only anecdotally but scientifically untrue. Along with increasing assertiveness and aggression, video games give regular players a stellar boost to basic problem solving, challenge endurance and even social comfort. The 'games are for kids' mentality is pretty much the purview of grumpy old men (and women) these days. It has no basis in reality, only in social perception. Don't underestimate games. I have conducted my own scientific studies with a multitude of individuals, who engaged in prolonged gaming sessions over a significant amount of time. Periodically, I recorded the progress they made in improving different real-life skills. My favorite subject was so devoted to the whole experiment that he spent on average 10 hours a day playing WoW despite his obligation to go to school taking away 7 precious hours daily. Already after several months he had developed a variety of new social skills, including "acting numb all the time", "not knowing what to say in any situation", and "effectively reducing pool of friends by disposing of any unneccessary individuals". He also gained a strong "I don't give a fuck about anything" mentality, which he extensively used in school as well as in social interactitions. Another subject, devoting often over 10 hours a day to gaming, tackled obesity. An year later he had achieved an impressive weight gain of nearly 20 kg and acquired about a dozen of stretch marks on his belly. He brought to perfection the art of making junk food in the microwave. He also managed to resize his circle of friends to four. And just like the previous test subject this individual developed the "I don't give a fuck about anything" mentality. Now in all honesty, I don't believe that computer games have a positive effect on people. Even worse, often they affect them in a negative way. Many people use video games as a means of escape from reality. Some games like WoW have a very high addiction factor, which eventually results in a negative change of behaviour and/or personality in many gamers. I witnessed this happening several times. Though sarcastically written, both cases I described above are not exaggerated at all. Those are people I know and they really turned into mindless zombies due to their video game addiction. The first one recovered eventually. The other one has become even worse. I also know a family of a school mate of mine who is now dependant on social welfare because both parents quit their jobs for WoW and one of their children dropped out of school because of WoW. In conclusion, I have never met a person on whom video games had a positive impact. On the other hand many have been affected negatively in one or another way. When it has not been a bad change in a person, it has been lost potential at the very least. p.s. There might be some video games that induce a learning effect in the player. But those games have nothing to do with mainstream games. Also the player would have improved much more if he had read a book/newspaper or spent time studying anything. I think the lady from the video might have some very neat ideas, but her work seems to be based on a very idealistic view that actually hinders her to recognize the actual drive to play video games of many people. I wish that she successedes in creating a game with a positive impact on its players and manages to harness the interest of a large group of people, but the majority of video game players will never be interested in anything like this. p.s.s. I am not bashing on gamers here. I actually greatly enjoy playing video games, despite the fact that I have never benefited from them. | ||
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Alou
United States3748 Posts
And I think video games do have a positive impact. They can teach you communication, management, and team work. You can learn to communicate better say in Modern Warfare 2 when you're telling a stranger where an enemy is. You can learn how to manage things in Starcraft, figuring out what is more important and what you need now versus later. And you learn team work in just about any co-op/multiplayer game. Games can definitely help you learn some valuable skills. The problem she has, is she doesn't know how to take these skills people can learn from games and put these skills to better use in real life to solve world problems. Obviously gaming 10 hours a day is ridiculous and won't help you solve real life problems, but with the right games it could work. Her theory does have some merit. Yes it has flaws, but it still does have thought put into it. | ||
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QuanticHawk
United States32135 Posts
On March 19 2010 06:10 Alou wrote: They can teach you communication, management, and team work. You can learn to communicate better say in Modern Warfare 2 when you're telling a stranger where an enemy is. You can learn how to manage things in Starcraft, figuring out what is more important and what you need now versus later. And you learn team work in just about any co-op/multiplayer game. Games can definitely help you learn some valuable skills. You can learn to communicate by playing lacrosse, talking with teammates to play better. You can learn management by playing quarterback. These basic elements can be found in a ton of things. It's a really, really abstract way to get all these skills she talks about and somehow change the world. | ||
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muta_micro
United States183 Posts
On March 18 2010 13:20 Cloud wrote: You mean like adding a tv news show? Or placing a starving african child on the back of your teen magazine? Or a satirical novel? It has been done over and over and it hasn't worked for shit. People just don't like facing reality. They are only rational when they're playing a game, reading a novel or drowning in a gallon of whisky. Yet they turn into some kind of blind, dumb, deaf and mature zombie when facing reality. People would face reality if you placed an actual starving african child on the back of teen magazines. They could like tape one to the back of the magazine. Trust me it would work. | ||
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neVern
United States115 Posts
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eMbrace
United States1300 Posts
On March 19 2010 06:18 Hawk wrote: All of the benefits discussed by her are more readily obtained by plenty of other activities, specifically ones that don't lend itself to a sedentary lifestyle like video games. Not to mention, they're probably more applicable to every day life. You can learn to communicate by playing lacrosse, talking with teammates to play better. You can learn management by playing quarterback. These basic elements can be found in a ton of things. It's a really, really abstract way to get all these skills she talks about and somehow change the world. If only people realized just how crazy a job running a guild in WoW can be. Not just a casual guild, I'm talking top 10 on the server. Meetings, scheduling, treating people fairly, making sure people don't feel left out, dealing with drama, resolving arguments, making big decisions, merging, deciding who gets cut and who gets recruited, loot systems etc... | ||
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muta_micro
United States183 Posts
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micronesia
United States24772 Posts
On March 19 2010 06:31 neVern wrote: I quit listening right when this liberal brought up climate change. I didn't notice her do that at all. I did notice her mention that there maybe have been a global cooling at that time which is not at all controversial. Why are you calling her a liberal? Is there some interpretation of anything you said in that post that doesn't make you seem deluded? Are you just joking or being sarcastic or something? | ||
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eMbrace
United States1300 Posts
On March 19 2010 06:40 muta_micro wrote: And because they are using those skills in WoW only, those people running those intense guilds will never use any of that organizing ability in RL. WoW is a bad game Really? I think the game has helped me in numerous areas in my life. | ||
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muta_micro
United States183 Posts
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QuanticHawk
United States32135 Posts
On March 19 2010 06:34 eMbrace wrote: If only people realized just how crazy a job running a guild in WoW can be. Not just a casual guild, I'm talking top 10 on the server. Meetings, scheduling, treating people fairly, making sure people don't feel left out, dealing with drama, resolving arguments, making big decisions, merging, deciding who gets cut and who gets recruited, loot systems etc... Yeah, but it's still a really, really abstract set of skills. More than any gaming community, WoW has a bunch of socially inept weirdos. There's a HUGE difference in running a guild online and sitting in an office, trying to do all that same shit with a room of 40 people who are right in your face. Like it's really not even comparable. There's many more practical ways to get those skills, in areas that would be more applicable to whatever the hell you're trying to accomplish. Coordinating meetings between a bunch of people who probably never move 10 feet from their computer and resolving disputes between two angry nerds ain't gonna help you change the world. | ||
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eMbrace
United States1300 Posts
On March 19 2010 06:49 muta_micro wrote: I meant generally. If you say it benefitted you then I believe you, but most people playing at that level don't really have any administrative positions that use those skills in RL. That's not what I was really getting at. Most employers love leadership experience (because I guess it shows responsibility), regardless of the position in question. I'll agree that the majority of WoW players are borderline retarded and that 95% of guild leaders do their jobs terribly. But I think if you can make a case about your experience, and explain everything that you've learned to deal with in a game -- then that should be just as impressive as "uh yeah I was captain of my soccer team." I love sports but what they do for kids is extremely over exaggerated in today's culture. More often then not it brings out the worst sides of them. | ||
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eMbrace
United States1300 Posts
On March 19 2010 06:50 Hawk wrote: Yeah, but it's still a really, really abstract set of skills. More than any gaming community, WoW has a bunch of socially inept weirdos. There's a HUGE difference in running a guild online and sitting in an office, trying to do all that same shit with a room of 40 people who are right in your face. Like it's really not even comparable. There's many more practical ways to get those skills, in areas that would be more applicable to whatever the hell you're trying to accomplish. Coordinating meetings between a bunch of people who probably never move 10 feet from their computer and resolving disputes between two angry nerds ain't gonna help you change the world. My theory may sound nuts here and by all means ignore it -- but I've always had this theory that my WoW buddies found really interesting. Great WoW end-game players (the leaders, the contributors, the people who get shit done), when you meet them in real life, are some of the more social people you will meet in your life time. And it only makes sense because you need those social skills to herd the rest of the WoW sheep together to get things done efficiently. Best WoW players I've talked to are incredibly down to earth people with organized lives. And yet the people who spent 60 hours a week in the game are strangely terrible players with poor attitude and a self centered outlook on the game. That stereotypical, socially awkward guy who thinks he's a god in his MMO? Yeah, he's terrible. | ||
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muta_micro
United States183 Posts
On March 19 2010 06:55 eMbrace wrote: That's not what I was really getting at. Most employers love leadership experience (because I guess it shows responsibility), regardless of the position in question. I'll agree that the majority of WoW players are borderline retarded and that 95% of guild leaders do their jobs terribly. But I think if you can make a case about your experience, and explain everything that you've learned to deal with in a game -- then that should be just as impressive as "uh yeah I was captain of my soccer team." I love sports but what they do for kids is extremely over exaggerated in today's culture. More often then not it brings out the worst sides of them. I don't think any employer would ever seriously consider being a guild leader in WoW as leadership experience, unless you have charisma boosting items on you then you may have a chance to convince him. ...Is charisma even in WoW??? | ||
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