Game mechanics for leadership development in WoW

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I recently read an article and a discussion about leadership development through video games, specifically in World of Warcraft (WoW).

I was personally skeptical of the suggested educational impact of video games on leadership. But at the same time, I was also curious on how such educational benefits could be replicated in other games. Thus, I decided to find out more from a friend who plays WoW. Here’s a log of our chat.

Me:
I read this article claiming that WoW trains leadership. Another claims that WoW only allows those with leadership potential to unleash and exercise that potential. Any thoughts as an ex WoW player?

RN:
Current still.

I think it goes both ways. Usually people with leadership quality will assume “guild/raid” leader role and those without in those “guild/raid” leader role will fail miserably.But ya, it’s harder to deal with online people than real life, cos anonymous people tends to act out more.

Me:
So do you think only complex MMORPG games can have this type of training effect on leadership? What about a game that is much simpler, like mafia wars. Can simpler facebook games produce the game mechanics that can improve leadership?

RN:
I think simpler games can have it as well provided they manage to fit in the correct mechanics and criteria.

Me:
Really? I am personally a little skeptical. I mean a lot of these games are kinda ‘brain dead spoon feed’ type.

How can it be used to teach leadership, and even if it is….. isn’t it kinda artificial given the limitations of a facebook game like mafia wars? ie limitations in terms of complexity

RN:
WoW used to be very hard core. but they “dumb” it down for mass market also. But the guild mechanics was instead expanded.

You can look at eve online for a very complex game. It almost look like it is simulating a real economy

Me:
Well it is easy to simulate an economy in the game. But how does one create scenarios to test and teach soft skills like leadership? Sorry thinking aloud really. Don’t expect you to know the answer

RN:
I think the need to create a situation where people need to participate actively to achieve the result and the participation requires coordination. The more complex the coordination the harder it is to organize them, i feel the desire to achieve the optimal result needs to be there also, or rather get the best loot in WoW terms. Ya, I participate in WoW raid when the raid leader was screaming his head off in our VoIP system

Me:
Interesting perspective, I am inferring that for teaching of soft skills there is a need for human to human interaction to achieve game objectives, and not just ineract with NPCs in majority of facebook games?

RN:
You can pit groups of people versus NPCs

Me:
Yea but team work wise shld still be human instead of npc? to create realism or realistic scenarios?

RN:
Against one another is harder for a player i feel, and you always get a loser on one side.

Me:
No i mean team up with other humans…. and fight other npcs instead of some games… team up with npcs.

RN:
Oh ya. Team up with each other against npcs. In WoW, it’s equivalent to us fighting against raid bosses. The strategy is insane sometimes. The coordination needs to be flawless

Me:
Well since now WoW is free till lvl 20 I created a char that is now lvl 12 I think. But just to try. What’s the max lvl now?

RN:
You need to play at max level in a active guild 85 now. But I always feel it’s the coordination that makes the difference between WoW and those FB games that just make u click mindlessly.

Me:
Indeed….to quote TC: ‘brain dead spoon feed’

RN:
And the complex strategy u need to learn to defeat bosses

RN:
I had to read up, watch videos, practice on small flash game , during the last time when I was more active in WoW. Then the Raid leader would scream “WHY ARE YOU GUYS RUNNING ARD LIKE HEADLESS CHICKEN?”

Me:
haha

RN:
here’s an example of one strategy I had to learn: http://www.wowwiki.com/Lady_Vashj_(tactics)

Me:
Looks super complex.

RN:
haha, but if u understand it, it contains some basic mechanics which we do in those leadership games.

Me:
Well a quick skim has highlighted some elements that I thought are important: Difficulty, coordination, challenge, variation.

RN:
ok, i logging off. talk to you some other time.

Thanks to RN for spending time to share his WoW insights.

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Primer on game mechanics in education

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I had to do some research on the gamification of education. I thought I should record my thoughts and understanding on what I have learnt.

Terms

Game mechanics refers to rules to define the components of gameplay, such as levels, progression, rules, quests, etc. Here are more examples.

Gamification refers to the application of game mechanics to non-game processes in order to stir competition and motivation. Examples will be points, levels, badges in games such as the location based check in game, Foursquare. Some critics see gamification as a mere “pointsification” of a tracking system that is not true or meaningful gameplay. They see ‘pointsification’ as a means to inflate egos and add social acknowledgement.

Game based learning refers to achievement of defined learning outcomes through playing of games. The most popular game based learning method will be via edugames, which are games that were specifically designed with a learning objective in mind. Such edugames are usually niche and not popular outsude if the learning context. Examples of edugames are The Magic School Bus and Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego. An educator I met has even labelled some of the less well designed edugames as “glorified multiple choice questions”. More recently, contextual game based learning has been applied using popular and mainstream games, such as World of Warcraft (WoW) and Angry Birds.

While many educators may be familiar with the concept of edugames, the idea of contextual game based learning using non edugames is relatively new, and perhaps even deemed unconventional by some. (I coined the term ‘contextual game based learning’ myself. Feel free to suggest a more appropriate term) Take for example, the popular iOS game, Angry Birds. Most teachers will deem it as a distraction from serious classroom lessons. But some physics teachers have actually find it useful in engaging students during lessons on projectile motion.

Many teachers may also find it hard to grapple with the idea of using WoW to teach Math, Economics, Writing and Literacy, and Social Group Dynamics. And yet a small community of educators are have been trying that out in class with reported success. What makes this even more interesting is that WoW, which requires a monthly subscription to play, has recently announced that it will make the game free to play until the game character reaches level 20.

Improving education using game mechanics

In the application of game mechanics to an academic curriculum, the design of the system can be approached by using game based learning or gamification, or a combination of both. Naturally, the method of assessment for the subject needs to be ascertained.

It is possible to create an edugame with missions and storylines tied into the existing curriculum. Varying resources and development time are required depending on the complexity of the graphics and game engine. It may be challenging to create a compelling storyline that does not feel artificial in the way it blends with the subject of interest.

An easier alternative is contextual game based learning, but it may not be possible to find a game that creates the context for the academic subject of interest. When choosing popular games, there is also a risk of gaming addiction, which may not sit well with parents and schools.

If gamification is to be implemented, a tracking system for relevant aspect of the subjects can be created. The tracking system serves to keep the students engaged and motivated. It can take input from the student being tracked, or from other people observing the student, such as peers and instructors.

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