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Clueless in SimLand
I was listening to Edward Castronova’s PopTech! presentation (Gold From Thin Air: The Economy of Virtual Worlds) today and had a scary thought.
I’ve never been into video games, but as I listen to presentation’s like Ed’s, I always feel like I’m missing something. Not the fun and adventure, but that the world is moving to a new place and I’m not following.
I’ve always prided myself on staying up with technology and not being stuck in the last decade, but now I’m not so sure. Maybe there’s this whole world out there that I’m conveniently ignoring. For example, is gaming technology the right way to teach certain subjects or concepts? If so, I’d never know it.
I don’t get the feeling that I’m alone. I think there’s a large group of folks who don’t play online games and so they are mostly ignoring what’s happening in that space. What do you think? Is this a hole in my education that I ought to rectify?
Posted by windley on May 8, 2006 1:42 PM
Comment from rick gregory at May 8, 2006 3:11 PM
I've been having the same thoughts with all of the buzz around Second Life. Part of it is that I'm reluctant to commit the time needed to really get into these games... I don't WANT 20 hours of my life every week to be spent in Second Life or WoW... but i have the same nagging feeling that I'm missing something important.
Comment from Bryant Cutler at May 8, 2006 3:20 PM
I don't know just how the current landscape of online gaming will change in the future to enable instructional content, but something WILL happen... I started playing World of Warcraft because I had played other computer games in the Warcraft series, but it wasn't until I had been playing for a month or so that the "Aha!" moment finally happened. I thought I was signing up for a game, but it's really an online community, and a more cohesive community than any that's formed around del.icio.us or Flickr or Rails. WoW = Web 3.0?
Comment from Philip Weiss at May 8, 2006 4:34 PM
Yes, you are missing something, particularly in light of your focus in recent years on identity and reputation.
I got sucked into world of warcraft late last year. It's an incredible time-suck and like television (something I don't use) is not for everyone.
While ideas about identity and reputation in a web or service oriented world will apply to these online worlds, there's a whole lot of devil in the details that changes things around. In a typical day in the game, I'll be buying and selling (in-game) dozens of items. I'll be interacting with other people with a level of detail above and beyond that of the old MUDs. The amount of interaction with a buyer on eBay doesn't even compare to the level of cooperation needed for many things in these games.
Comment from denis hitchens at May 8, 2006 6:06 PM
Hi Phil from tomorrow downunder.
- Do you keep up with the technology to make nuclear weapons?
- Do you keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs dealing with whatever?
Unlikely to answer yes to both, also unlikely that you can in fact keep up with all technologies, simply the ones that fall within your interest set.
That's what makes ITConverstaions so interesting we are able to follow our interests, I follow games because I have an emergent business simulation, have had for 10 years; the gaming world still don't even get close to emergence achieved artificially.
So to follow mods and moos and whatever is not vitally important at this time, imho.
Its similar to when pc's where first released - parents all asked what programing language should they ensure that their children learnt. We knew then and we now truly know that that sort of question evaporates as the technology becomes pervasive. If Second World etc do become pervasive then we will be included anyway.
Me, an interested bystanding observer, some might call a lurker, and I intend to stay that way.
kind regards
Comment from Peter Robertson at May 8, 2006 6:21 PM
I share your thoughts and angst completely. I lead a very full and demanding life both as CEO of a company, a family man, and Commissioner of a town, so taking on an entirely new experience that consumes mega time isn't part of my space-time continuum. That's why I leave it to you all to keep me informed of its relevance, and how it can be used to better serve the educational needs of the planet.
Comment from Ken Kennedy at May 8, 2006 6:56 PM
Hi Phil...interesting post. And arguably yes, gaming is a whole new facet of online life that really takes some immersion to "grok".
Second Life is different than most of the other MMORPGs, as it's not a "game" in the sense of winning or losing...but it does have the advantage of a) being free (Basic accounts don't cost anything), and b) having the only legal interface to the real world economy. Plus, it really is cool! Worth checking out. (If you try it out, and are looking for a tour guide, IM KZ Pasteur ingame...that's me. I'd be happy to do so.)
The "standard" MMORPGs like WoW, City of Heroes, D&D Online, EQ, etc. definitely are worth checking out as well, but there is a larger commitment required (both time and money-wise) to really get into things. But still recommended.
Comment from Beth Gallaway at May 8, 2006 9:21 PM
Hi Phil
Yep, there is an incredible phenomenon/revolution happening - you won't be left in the dust if you keep aware, but it's worth it to immerse yourself occasionally to gain insight.
I don't think of Second Life as a game the way I think of WoW as a game -SL is more of a 3-D virtual space without specific goals, completely user-created. I'm involved in a project to bring virtual libraries into the space - if you take the plunge (a basic account is free!) come and visit us at Minoa 205, 85 - we'd LOVE to offer podcasts in our library!
And, you might check out the SL podcast, SecondCast, at http://www.secondcast.com/modules/news/
IT conversations needs more gaming lectures! There are a lot of interesting symposiums happening.
Comment from fish Fisher at May 9, 2006 9:49 AM
I haven't been up to anything recently. I follow games because I have an emergent business simulation, have had for 10 years; the gaming world still don't even get close to emergence achieved artificially.
Comment from Phil Windley at May 9, 2006 10:14 AM
Denis raises a point that isn't as clear as it should be from my post. I don't keep up on the latest technology for nuclear weapons and other things. I don't even keep up with all the latest CS technology--I can't.
But, my point is rather that there are major tributaries that need to be explored or you get left behind. I'm afraid that gaming is one of those.
Comment from Richard Rowan at May 9, 2006 11:06 AM
The earliest Christians got the hungriest lions. Falling behind--or following--can be a good thing.
Comment from denis hitchens at May 9, 2006 8:02 PM
Go Richard!!
Comment from denis hitchens at May 9, 2006 8:21 PM
Another apology
I am afraid the fish fisher spam came from my system
I have a hacker which can't be removed by the advanced forms of ewido and backlight, even though I have been in touch with them for more than two weeks (forget about SpyBot or Hijack This!) but this is the first time I have encountered a transmission the search-engine it refers you to is the same as teh one running interference on my Google.
Sorry about this, I guess even this is a risk of further diffusion, but at least I can/have warn(ed) you
Otherwise love your work and the presentation by Ed, even if some of his numbers sound great but are in fact suspect eg 50% of your population play games, only possibly a (few) hundred thousand are subscribed to the game where he makes the point 20% 'only come to Earth when they have to'
easy to construct that 10% of the whole population express that view, again unlikely
Comment from Russell Hunter at May 16, 2006 1:20 PM
It would be useful to you to spend some time playing an online game. You don't have to play that long to get an idea of how the game interaction works and to get a sense of what people are doing. The reason you don’t need to spend too much time playing a game is some of the more interesting things happen outside of the game. So you need to look around to see what people are doing outside of a game that affects the game play. One good web site for news on games is at http://www.gamasutra.com.
I think it would be a great idea to use games to teach. Another idea is to use software problems from games as assignments for students. For example, how would you load balance 4 million users in WoW, how would you partition a database to authenticate a person to play an online game, what kinds of web services would be needed/useful for a client game to receive from a server, etc.