Fix 14

Fix 14

Massively Multiplayer Foresight

1. Describe your personal growth in the areas listed below as a result of playing Settlers.

Taking a Long View

            Jane McGonigal (2011) stated, “Taking a long view means working at scales far larger than we would ordinarily encounter in our day-to-day lives” (p. 297). I have experienced this situation in Settlers. Wh ile playing the game, we needed to consider the entirety of our island in terms of increasing population, maintaining resources and materials, building up supplies, and training an army. Consideration of all of these factors was the only way to expand our island and to level up. I never before in my life experienced considering so many things at the same time.

Ecosystems Thinking

            Actually, ecosystems thinking is one of the main goals for this game. McGonigal (2011) writes, “A good ecosystem thinker will study and learn how to anticipate the ways in which changes to one part of an ecosystem will impact other parts” (p. 298). As she says, if we do not have a balanced production of any of resources or materials in the game, it becomes difficult to expand our island and level up. For instance, if we do not have enough natural resources like gold, bronze, and steel, the materials made with these resources cannot be adequately produced. That is why we always need to send our geologist(s) to find all kinds of mines. Even if we have enough mines of all kinds of natural resources, the mines can be depleted. It is similar for our fields, which can become exhausted in the same way a mine can become depleted. We also need to combine manmade resources with our mines to be able to produce crucial items like swords, planks, bread, brew, sausages, and bows. Actually, having enough materials, resources, and manmade products is not enough to maintain a good chain. We also need to achieve stable rates of production because only with this can we maintain a balanced chain of all productive activities. After realizing how difficult achieving this situation is, I came to understand how something little can affect my whole island.

Pilot Experimentation

At the beginning, I thought this game would provide us with all the requirements to level up and I did not need to think about what I should do to help us get there. However, after leveling up, I have learned that I should have run some trials before deciding how many buildings and resources I should have and which ones would be most important to expanding my island. This process is called a “pilot experimentation.” McGonigal (2011) wrote that “Pilot experimentation is the process of the designing and running many small tests of different strategies and solutions in order to discover the best course of action to take” (p. 298). Even though I tried different strategies to cope with the problems in the game, I could not become successful. Then I began to slow the pace at which I leveled up. I began to ask other players for advice and visit the forum of the game to get help. This attempt worked very well! I began to level up more easily, and my trial and error periods began to decrease.  Even though I am now better during trial periods, I still have some difficult moments when new situations arise. I always think I need to find a way to achieve an effective outcome while playing the game.

 

 

 

2. In what ways could these skills be beneficial to any individual?

I think ‘Taking a Long View’, ‘Ecosystems Thinking’, and ‘Pilot Experimentation’ are a requirement in any career. This game teaches individuals the importance of seeing the “big picture.” For instance, teachers can develop better evaluation skills for their students by playing this game. This would allow them to prepare more effective instructions. Moreover, teachers would be better able to see how something little affects the whole learning process and which potential changes might make the learning process more efficient.

3. How could you take this kind of gaming experience and skill learning into an educational context and use it to empower learners? Be creative in your answer!

I think this experience could be very useful for teachers to evaluate their own instructions.

 

Taking a long view: Getting students to see the much bigger picture. To catch students’ attention, teachers should explain why the class they teach is important and how students can use class information in their daily lives. For a good learning experience to take place, students have to see the big picture before teachers start to teach. Students also need to have well-prepared instructions for what they need to accomplish. They also need to know what they can do with the information they learn in their work places or colleges. They need to know the intended outcomes of any learning context before actually learning the information. If students play this game, they will see for themselves how important it is to see the big picture. 

Ecosystems thinking: Thanks to this game experience, students will come to understand how something little, such as lack of studying, has an effect on their whole learning ability. They understand that if they do not study regularly, then they are likely to fail, even if they can study for a long period just once a week.

Pilot experimentation: According to Multiple Intelligence Theory, people have different learning styles and that they learn best in their own learning style. This game could function as a form of investigation of students’ preferred learning style. Investigation of each of students’ learning style is very difficult and time consuming, however students could discover their learning style on their own thanks to this game experience. 

4. Summarize the three most memorable concepts from McGonigal's book that you learned or could relate to while playing Settlers.

1- (Hacking happiness) McGonigal (2011) states, “We gain confidence that we can connect with others when we want to, and when we need to” (p.182). She also states that “Recent research has shown that we don’t even have to know someone to experience the benefits of thanking and being nice to them” (p. 189).  

Actually, I did not think like that at the beginning of the game. However, I am now confident enough to ask any question to people that I never even see. I have also gained the confidence to be thankful to those I have never seen in real life. That made me happier than I was before. I have really experienced the benefits of this social game. That is why I cannot forget McGonigal’s insights.

 

2-(Leveling up in life) McGonigal (2011) states that “Games, of course, help put people back in control” (p. 149). As she said, if we manage everything effectively, like we do with the consumption- production chain in the game, I think we can attain the power to balance our lives too. Playing this game gave me the power to control things in my life better than before because progressing toward goals gave me a kind of power. 

3- (The Benefits of Alternative Realities) McGonigal (2011) writes of a game named Chore Wars that “Even as the laundry gets dirty again or the dust starts to sneak back in, your avatar is still getting stronger, smarter, swifter. In this way, Chore Wars brilliantly reverses the most demoralizing aspects of regular housework” (p. 123). Just as in the game Settlers, even if my general loses a war, I can always return him to life, and I can cure him with medical packets all the time, unlike in real life. In real life, even if you do everything correctly, there is always the possibility of losing something. That is why the quotation above is also one of the memorable sentences to me.

 

Reference

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