DISCLAIMER: I don't know if you can post work from other class, but this is an essay I just wrote a few days ago and I think it covers a lot of topics that we discuss in class on the use of technology, specifically games, to improve ways of lives and how it affects society. If this doesn't qualified as a topic then please disregard this.
Jane McGonigal, author of Reality is Broken: Why Games make us better
and how can they change the world, said “[games] positively activate the
minds and bodies of hundreds of millions of people by offering them better hard
work”. (29) This is one of the main positive aspects of developing and playing
video games: the potential for personal growth and happiness through obstacles
and goals. In the last few generations, video games have fall under many
cultural bias and misunderstandings. However, as technology became a bigger
part of our lives, games have become a way of refining our psychological
cognitive abilities and improving happiness. The book illustrated many game
examples and included studies to show how impactful games can be on
individuals. Specifically, the result of some games that allows people to
become more connected with others minus the constraint of time or location and
the motivation that empowers us to do everyday tasks better.
The first example in the book was
the popular MMORPG (Massive Multiple Online Role Playing Game), World of
Warcraft. The game promotes team work in
order to obtain high goals or rewards by participation in instances or 10-15 man
raids. World of Warcraft also provides players with satisfaction and feedback
when they complete a quest. As McGonigal described, “When we play WoW, we get
blissed out by our own productivity-and it doesn’t matter that the work isn’t
real. The emotional rewards are real” (61). Gaming helps improve our mood and a
way for people to de-stress. The experience becomes real because our actions
and creations affect other players, thus drawing us more into the virtual
world.
We obtain satisfaction by helping and feel important by
being a part of something bigger, contributing to the cause. Games create a
social world for players to help each other’s and attempt to improve themselves
through quests and tasks. Through the study of ESM (Experience Sampling
Method), during eustress, we enjoy working and generating stress because it
give us a sense of purpose and feeling of high motivation which leads to
positive intensified feelings when a goal has been failed or accomplished (65).
If there’s anything stronger than personal achievements when it comes to video
games, it is the trust and bond that people develop playing online games
together. Individuals that experience strife, triumph, prides and happiness
together form special memories that are more frequent than in real life.
Playing videogames can also bring different ideas and
generations together. Working together or against each other to solve a puzzle
or complete a task can be a way to connect to other individuals. For example,
Lexulous, a modified online version of the game Scrabble, a casual game that is
simple to learn, and easy to access attracts players of all ages. The author
mentions how this is a way for parents to have some meaningful social
interaction with their kids without the awkwardness or pressure (78-79). Today,
casual games have expanded in multiple directions and platforms to reach out to
other gamers. For example, Farmville is a popular game on social media websites
that slowly expanded to the mobile devices. You create a virtual space for
farming and other menial tasks that are constrained by time, which can be
reduced by the help of other people who are your real-life Facebook friends.
The act doesn’t really benefit you if you help them but it’s the personal
satisfaction of helping others that motivates individuals to spend times doing
virtual work. The popularity of gaming has also expanded to the point that is
slowly breaking away the stereotype around gamers: gamers can be a mom, office
worker, elders, and even young toddlers. This creates a greater opportunity for
game development to further expand our social interactions.
Real life activity is constrained by
motivation and the will to complete the task. When we set out to do something,
we are creating a task that mentally seems draining or menial unless we are
motivated to do so. In Reality is Broken, the author elaborates, “To finish a
work in a satisfying way, we must be able to see the results of our efforts as
directly, immediately, and vividly as possible”(57 ).McGonigal demonstrated
many examples of games that help stimulate our desire to complete boring or mentally
taxing activities that she herself had played and experienced. The first game
that McGonigal talks about is Chore Wars, a game that turn real-life activities
into quest oriented environment that you play with other people who live with
you. Chore Wars utilizes the basis for RPG games to stimulate desire and
motivation to compete with other players to do menial tasks like doing the
dishes or laundry. This game could help improve the attitude of people toward
boring tasks. For adults with children, this would help and encourage kids to
accomplish work that must be done. Another example is Quest to Learn, a game
designed for school to help student become more engaged in school work. The
development of games that helps making activities more exciting is a step
forward for people to develop a happier lifestyle and positive attitude toward
life.
Gaming has slowly progressed into
other forms of self-help, playing against ourselves, setting personal goals,
and creating a sense of improvement is the main drive of these games. Games
like Brain Age recognize the person’s skill and level of comprehension. The
value is then simplified down for the player and they continue to practice and
play until they create a new record for themselves. Games that create a
personal sense of achievement are important for people to develop confident and
hope. The author had experiences where she faced real life issues such as
getting a concussion or flying on a plane. By utilizing video games like
SuperBetter and Day in the Cloud, she was able to turn the stressful situation
into a manageable and created positive experience from it. If games could
change stressful experiences into something better then video games have proved
they are a useful tool to human psychological study and happiness.
Finally, video games promote
individuality on many different levels than real life does. Games mentioned in
the book such as World of Warcraft and Spore promotes players to alter and add
their own personality to the character. For WoW, the longer you play, the more
you have to show for with your character with gear, armor, and custom outfits
with different choices for dye. When you first create your character, you
create your look, name, and class. Playing the game also promotes players to
find things that they enjoy, even though there’s a suggested goal, you are free
to play and complete any portion of the game within constraint that you desire.
The achievements and goals that we obtained in the game are recorded and shown
for other gamers to envy and admire which created a sense of self-importance to
that individual (92). In the game, everyone is distinguishable but different.
People are proud of the things they accomplish in video games even though they
don’t really translate into tangible things outside the game. However, in those
virtual worlds, to the millions of players, they matter.
The book, Reality is Broken: Why Games make us better and how can they change the
world, brought up many positive points on how video games affect us and why
they matter. The benefits of video games span from promoting social
interaction, self-improvement, motivating goals, and individuality. Currently,
video games face a lot of obstacles and criticism because of the social stigma
and cultural bias toward it. By changing the way we approach them, video games
can become a great tool toward human knowledge and development.
McGonigal, Jane. Reality is Broken: Why Games make us
better and how can they change the world. New York: Penguin Books, 2011.
Print.
