I have to admit, there are many different types of skills to acquire through the playing of video games. It all comes down to what type of game you are playing at any given moment that determines the set of skills being interpreted and then applied. For instance, let’s put the semi popular massively multiplayer game Everquest 2 in perspective as a tool for learning.
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To do this, I will share with you my two years of experience as a co-leader of a hardcore raiding guild. In other words a good buddy of mine and I led a group of roughly thirty-five random people in order to slay virtual monsters for three hours a night, six days a week. Some of these virtual monsters were very rare, so we even had a call list for everyone in our guild to log online when the monster spawned which meant being ready at all hours of the day. The game meant serious business for the type of players that I would recruit, so I made sure everything would go as smoothly and efficiently as possible.
The surface layer of knowledge I acquired was setting up a website for out of game communication such as people posting if they will be late or not online at all. Going in a bit deeper, we set up a virtual currency as sort of a control system for the players in the guild to use for buying items that the big bad virtual monsters would give us when killed. Now being that this game was very competitive, we were not the only guild out there going after the same monsters. This meant dealing with competition and how that competition affected your group of people. Sometimes we won and sometimes we lost. Everyone was happy when we won but wow did emotions run high when we lost. Players would start blaming each other for not doing something the right way, but in the end we the leaders had to take responsibility to keep everyone in control. This way we were able to regroup and recover for the next time opportunity came our way. By running the guild in this particular way we were able to be ranked in the top ten out of nearly twenty thousand other guilds in this single game.
Now the question is, “Do video games prepare young people for the future job market?” As far as a leadership role is proposed, the leader must be good in the skills of communication, strategy, persuasion, setting up programs, and handling disputes. I can say that I have immersed myself in all of these aspects as a combined leader and gamer. The people that follow the leader must be able to work well in group settings, if they do not, they only cause problems. Looking down the road of the global economy everyone talks about innovation. Well the gamers of the past twenty or so years have been learning, through their video games, “that repeated failure is the road to success.” Having no fear of failure is the way of the future. Three simple rules have been ingrained into the minds of the gamer, “If you get there first, you win; Trial and error is the best and fastest way to learn; After failure, hit the reset button; don't shrink away.”
Traditional schooling has become an issue according to a professor of learning science where he states most of the jobs we have today will be outsourced and that the jobs of the future will involve creativity and invention. This is why the particular gaming aspects need to be intertwined with schooling as a new way of teaching and learning. Simulation games have come a long way in teaching a variety of skills. A video game called America’s Army came out in 2002 which basically taught the player what the military is all about, such as basic combat training and a military medic course. American soldiers who fought in Iraq came back and said that playing this specific game attributed to some of the knowledge that they needed in live combat. Overall, the combination of video games and education has major potential for ushering in a new era of a bright world society.
I have personally not played the America’s Army video game but am somewhat interested after reading this article. Looking back and realizing what I have learned throughout my experience has brought me some insight. Leading groups of people was no easy feat, it was quite a challenge and very time consuming. But other than dedication, the key to success was controlling the emotions of the group of players in such a way as to accomplish the goal in mind. This meant dealing with different individuals every night because everyone has different personalities and different ways of being coerced. If the situation called for it, such as throwing off the synergy of the guild, friends of long standing would be kicked out regardless of my personal feelings towards them. Friendships can have bitter endings when playing the role of leader.
Citation:
Glazer, S. (2006, November 10). Video games. CQ Researcher, 16, 937-960. Retrieved November 17, 2010, from CQ Researcher Online Database.
Citation: Picture obtained on November 17, 2010 from the World Wide Web at www-rohan.sdsu.edu/.../notes/chapt02/index.htm
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