Fix 7-8

Wholehearted Participation

I understand that the main motivation for playing Settlers is to pass this course. However, have you experienced any increase in your own intrinsic interest or enthusiasm for playing the game? If so, what was the reason for this?

I have experienced an increase in my own intrinsic interest for the playing game because even if I sometimes fail, I always leveling up without any punishment unlike real life.

Meaningful Rewards

1. What has been the most meaningful rewards for you while playing the game?

Author of “Reality is Broken” (2011) states about the game named Chore Wars that:

Every chore grants you a customized amount of experience points, virtual gold, treasure, avatar power ups, or points that increase your virtual skills and abilities: plus ten dexterity points for dusting without knocking anything off the shelves, for example, or plus five stamina points for taking out all three kinds of recycling.( McGonigal, 2011, pg. 120, para. 4)

Likewise, my all efforts were rewarded while playing the Settlers, even if they are very little efforts. This is one of the most meaningful rewards to me.

As for another one, I hate doing many things at the same time because I do not feel all things are in control. I think I cannot manage many things at the same time. However, this game makes me courage in managing many things altogether. For instance, I produce many dishes of fish in Provision House, find deposits for less marble stones, send my explorer to find treasure, send my geologist to find iron, buffer all buildings, trade for my needs with other players, train my recruits, bowman, and militias in Barracks, check if we win the battle in Garrison, go to battle with my soldiers and general, build new wheat fields instead of exhausted fields, and get help from other players through instant message help platform. I am doing all of them at the same time without feeling trouble. McGonigal mentions the same reward about “Chore Wars”. She (2011) states that:

…as an added bonus, our place is cleaner than it ever has been before. Chore Wars has transformed something we both normally hate doing into something that feels creative and fun. The game has changed our reality of having to do house-work, and for the better. (McGonigal, 2011, pg. 121, para. 3).

As last most important reward of the game to me, I can say that it is restriction. There are some restrictions in the game. Players can reach some features of the game after they reach a particular level. For instance, in the Settlers, to be able to train militias, that some stronger fighters for battles, we need to reach level 21. It is a restriction that makes me more motivated to keep playing. Actually, the book’s writer mentions similar things about “Chore Wars”. She (2011) alleges that “…the more interesting the restrictions, the more we enjoy playing.” (McGonigal, 2011, pg. 122. para. 123)

Except all these rewards I mentioned above, there are also social rewards in the Settlers. To give an example, because of trading, buffing, and accepting other players’ friendship request, I help them indirectly. Giving some helpful answer to their questions in instant messaging platform in the game is another way of help. The author calls these rewards as emotional and social rewards. She (2011) claims that:

The emotional and social rewards we really crave require active, enthusiastic, self-motivated participation. And helping other players participate more fully in the moment, instead of trying to escape it or just get through it, is the signature hallmark of alternate reality projects…. (McGonigal, 2011, pg. 124, para. 7)

2. In what way have these rewards made you feel in control?

            These rewards make me feel in control because even if I fail, I am leveling up or there is a solution to fix my failure all the time. For instance, in the Settlers, even if my general be captured by enemies after a battle, I can always get him back to Garrison as alive. Moreover, I can send him a Medical Pack in order to make him better soon. To give another example, even if some of sources are consumed a lot or gone completely, the game gives me different options to make up them by trading, finding new deposits, building extra fields, increasing the production through buffering, and giving love potion to increase population. Those make me feel in control. However, in real life, when I face some difficulties, I do not sometimes know what I can do to solve the problem. Sometimes, there is no time even to think about the solutions in real life, if the something happened immediately and is in need of fixing soon. McGonigal (2011) says “Games, of course, help put people back in control…Meanwhile, progressing toward goals and getting better at a game instills a sense of power and mastery.” (McGonigal, 2011, pg. 149, para. 4) As she says, The Settlers gives me a feeling which drives me having more power and control.

References

McGonigal, J. (2011). Reality is broken. New York, NY: The Penguin Press.

Fix 5-6

Social Connectivity

1. Describe your own experiences so far with social connectivity while playing the game.

I asked my questions some of players through Whisper tab and I got almost same responds because their levels were close each other. They accepted to answer my questions very willingly. After answering all of them they said “Anytime I can help again, just ask”. All of my respondents’ common challenge is the slow population growth. They said it makes difficult to clear sectors, and the fact they always need to buff things to make real progress. For the question “Why do you like playing this game?”  I got different answers. One of them was “I like this particular game because there is no player vs player combat, but I still get to build and interact with other players”. I found this answer interesting. To the question “Why do you choose this game over some of the other online games?” One of them answer like that: “I like builders and it reminds me of a game I used to play growing up”

Generally, I can say that when I contact with other players through mails, instant message platform, Whisper tab, trading, and buffering, I feel so comfortable and happy. These connection tools and opportunities make me feel like I am not alone while playing it. It is also another good feeling that I have the same goals with others in a same engaging location. We are trying to help each other to level up in any way. This is really positive social connectivity to me.

2. What is the name of your guild. Remember, in a previous week it was a requirement to find a guild to join.

I do not have a guild yet. (level 21)

3. Have you had any specific moments or conversations with other players that have made you feel more connected?

While asking my unofficial interview questions, all of them were so kind. They accepted to answer my questions very willingly. After answering all of them they said “Anytime I can help again, just ask”. To give another connectivity experience, there was something in my quest paper saying “claim at least 4 new sectors”. Therefore, I went to 4 battles and I got 4 new sectors. However, the quest was not completed. Then, I went to another battle and got a new sector, 5^th one, too. This also did not work. I type my situation on the instant message help platform in the Settlers. Many people were so willing to help me. In that time, I felt like not alone while playing it. They said to be able to claim new sector, I had to build store building, warehouse, in the new sectors I had just gotten. Then, they asked me like” oylumoz, did you do it?” It was so special to me.

4. How do you feel about this kind of online connectivity?

Doing something with others is really stronger than doing something alone. This drives me to feel good emotions. McGonigal (2011) claims that “Games build stronger social bonds and lead to more active social networks” (McGonigal, 2011,pg. 82, para. 2). As the writer says, after my first contact with other players, I began to be more willing to contact with them more than before. I am buffing other player’s buildings, trading for some missing resource, accepting others as my friends, and trying to help for their questions.

Epic Scale

1. While you might not be far enough along in the game to experience collective epic scale, what has been your most memorable, gratifying game experience yet?

Actually, because we are trying to build a settlement which is in the past, our all experiences are already epic. It is impossible that I can build a settlement which is located in the past. In her book McGonigal (2011) states “They immerse us in epic environments: vast, interactive spaces that provoke feelings of curiosity and wonder.” (McGonigal, 2011, pg. 98, para. 7). I totally agree with her. All things I do in the game makes me curious because they are realized in an epic environment. For instance, concerning with increasing population for having more fighters in battles was the first experience that makes me feel in an epic event. Second was sending an explorer for mapping and going to battle with the fighters I trained in Barracks. The author says “They create epic contexts for action: collective stories that help us connect our individual gameplay to much bigger mission.” (McGonigal, 2011, pg. 98, para. 6). Since I was level 15, I began to feel like I am a part of something bigger than me just as the writer says. However, I am not sure if I have been really experienced “collective epic scale” yet.

 

References

McGonigal, J. (2011). Reality is broken. New York, NY: The Penguin Press.

 

 

Fix 3-4

Leveling up:

 It is a little more difficult than lower levels anymore because some missing resources or foods missing began to emerge. To do list in request paper, I needed to refill these missing first. Then, I could realized the quests. However, as long as I leveled up, I feel more motivated. Leveling up made me more desired to keep playing. As long as I leveled up, I feel more satisfied. In the book named The Reality is Broken, writer (2011) states about a game named World of Warcraft that:

It is impossible, but it’s true: if you add up all the hours that gamers across the globe have spent playing World of Warcraft since the massively multiper online (MMO) role-playing game (RPG) first launched in 2004, you get a grand total of just over 50 billion collective hours- or 5.93 million years. To put that number in perspective: 5.93 million years ago is almost exactly the moment in history that our earliest human ancestors first sttod upright. By that measure, we’ve spent as much time playing World of Warcraft as we’ve spent evolving as a species. (McGonigal, 2011, pg. 52, para. 2-3).

Actually, it is same for the Settlers. Building, harvesting wheat, training recruits, mapping, trading, mining, producing, searching for coal/copper and populating in real world probably take a lot of years. However, in the game, I need just couple minutes to do any of them. It is amazing when compared to the real world. It is a game but I feel I am really doing it! I feel I am really build, produce, attack, and control in just a couple hours! McGonigal (2011) says about getting results soon “In real life, if someone gave you a task that normally took five hundred hours of work to finish, and then gave you a way to complete in half that, you would probably be pretty pleased.” (McGonigal, 2011, pg. 55, para. 2).

Clear goals and actionable steps:

Most of goals are very clear in the game. There is a list to do and details about how to do them. Some of goals were building hardwood forester, hardwood cutter, hardwood sawmill, well, garrisons, farm field, copper smelter, and like that. Some of them are more difficult like defeating a bandit camp. Nevertheless, they are clear goals.  However, some of them are not clear or not understandable to me. In such a situation, I am going to forum or instant messaging platform to get help. For instance, I needed more settlers in a time but not know how to increase them. Then, asked other players through the instant message platform. They said when I increased my settlers’ capacity with residents; I get 1 every 15 minutes by default. To give another example, one of the goals was claiming 4 sectors. However, I could not claim sectors, and I did not how to do it. Then, I asked again in help platform. Other players said how to do it.  Some of goals are in mail, instead in quest paper. For instance, I got a mail saying “I heard your general was defeated. Use med pack to send him again Garrison”. Then, I went to the Star to get med pack in order to cure my General.

Feedback:

As feedback, the game gives me a lot of different response. For instance, after a fighting with bandit camp, I got a mail saying “Your troops have fought a valiant battle. You can watch the replay of the battle”. It made me like I controlled the battle very well. Actually, there are lots of other feedbacks after completing each step of quests. If I completed any little thing as quest, I get free hardwood or pinewood planks, stars, foods, bows and something like that. If I won a battle, I got building licenses for free. After buffing for buildings, I always got a screen message saying “You buffed A building. This will increase your building”. After getting these feedbacks soon, I feel my settlement is under control- and everything is going well.

Mastery:

Author of the book (2011) alleges in her book “When we play Wow, we get blissed out by our own productivity-and it doesn’t matter the work isn’t real. The emotional rewards are real-and for gamers, that’s what matter.” (McGonigal, 2011, pg. 61, para. 4). Indeed, I feel same thing. I feel like I am succeeding big things. Since I began to play the Settlers, I feel better about to be successful in real life, too. I believe good games gives a hope to be successful to people. In real life, when I fail about something, my motivation decreases soon. However, in the game, when I face a failure, I do not feel in that way. In such a situation I feel I can do it in second try or third try. It is really interesting. I need this power in real life. Even though I read lots of motivational and personal development books in order to be strong in the face of failure, none of them did work until now! McGonigal talks about same situation in her book. She (2011) says “Learning to stay urgently optimistic in the face of failure is an important emotional strength that we can learn in games and apply in our real lives.” (McGonigal, 2011, pg. 61, para. 4). However, how these failures make me more emotionally-resistant? She also expounds that in her book by saying “When we are energized by failure, we develop emotional stamina. And emotional stamina makes it possible for us to hang in longer, to do much harder work, and to tackle more complex challenges. We need this kind of optimism in order to thrive as human being.” (McGonigal, 2011, pg. 61, para. 4).

  

References

McGonigal, J. (2011). Reality is broken. New York, NY: The Penguin Press.