Agency Blog Post

“Not Yet” Response

This may be a little off-topic, I'm not sure, but, it's what came to mind after watching the video.

My initial reaction to the beginning of the TED talk was that “not yet” is not the way to go. I think kids do need to hear they failed because in life does have black and white scenarios, and employers most definitely expect success, not failure. But then she started talking about using games to engage students and that got me thinking about one of my favorite hobbies (outside of photography), online gaming. I still don’t agree with a lot of what she says because I think I’m old school, and I feel she’s a bit too touchy-feely. However, what she talked about made me think about something.

If you’re not familiar with World of Warcraft (and that’s probably a good thing if you’re not), it’s an online MMORPG (massively multiplayer online roleplaying game), which, at its peak a few years ago, had over 15 million active subscribers. And by active subscribers, I mean people who paid $60 for the game + $15/mo to access it. This is a game that launched in 2004. People are still playing it. Subscriptions dipped pretty low over the past couple years (below 5 million), but with the most recent launch, it’s back up over 10 million people actively playing. 10 million people across the globe are paying $15/mo (after yet another $60 investment in the expansion pack) to play this game. The talk made me think about why people (like myself) are still playing. One of the most controversial (and arguably most effective) things that have been implanted in this most recent version of the game is the shift from clear-cut paths to rewards, to RNG (random number generator) based rewards. If you’re not familiar with RNG, it’s a term used in the computer and gaming world to indicate that basically there’s a chance something will happen, much like rolling the dice.

Why is it controversial in the game? Because effort does not guarantee reward. Obviously, if you don’t put in an effort, there’s no chance for you to roll the dice. Small amounts of rewards are doled out along the way, but, the big, fat, shiny rewards are almost purely chance-based now. So what that means is that someone who’s spent only a minimum of time on the game can walk into the same raid as someone who’s dumped days, months, and years of their life into the game and walk about laden with loot, while the veteran walks out empty-handed. Has this led to much anguish and gnashing of teeth? You bet. But it has also led to a massively increased amount of time played on the part of the average player. They keep grinding hoping for RNG (often grudgingly referred to as “RNGesus) to smile upon them and drop that epic reward they so desperately crave, even after time after time it doesn’t.

What’s the takeaway on this (I know it’s a bit of a stretch). Well for one, instead of these educators and researchers trying to reinvent the wheel and makes “educational games” that are pale in comparison to their big-budget counterparts like WoW and tons of other massively successful franchises, they should look at what these companies are doing to keep their players coming back for more. I could spend an inordinate amount of time talking about what I think are the benefits of online gaming and gaming in general (collaboration, social skills, problem-solving skills, lateral-thinking skills, reading comprehension, and a host of others), but I think they need to look at the fact that in many of these successful models, hard work doesn’t guarantee a reward; it simply increases the chance of one.  

Dwecker talks about persistence. These games most definitely teach them this. What happens when you fail in these games? You often die (your character, at least). There is a definitely consequence for failure. One of the games I’ve played in the past, a space-based sandbox game, is known for its ruthless PvP (player-versus-player combat). Players are allowed to basically do whatever, whenever. There is almost no hand-holding, no safe places. You learn very quickly that if you are unaware of your surroundings and unprepared for anything, your ship will be destroyed, your avatar killed, and all the cool equipment that was on your ship that you spent possibly months or even years collecting will be scooped up by the aggressors, who will laugh at your and carry on their merry way. To survive and flourish in the game, you have to work, plan, figure out problems, and be better than those around you. You have to work hard or you will not progress. This game (EVE Online) has a super-steep learning curve. Everyone I know that has ever played has a story about the first time they got killed. I know for me personally, I quit for about 6 months. But, after a while, I was curious if I could get into it and prevent that same situation from happening, and maybe even triumph in the face of stacked odds. Fast forward a few years and much frustration later, and my efforts were finally rewarded. I learned to navigate the dangerous no-man’s land of EVE, armed and aware of my surroundings. In even spent some time on the other end of the barrel, both as a hunter-killer and a killer myself.

What’s the takeaway from this? I think failure is good. I think consequences are good. And I think educators should look away from just the classroom to other areas that involve people learning. I think education often times becomes an echo chamber; we keep looking in the same direction and talking to the same people, instead of looking at other, successful things, and adapting them to the education world.