MMORPG Addiction

Our professor (Charles Knutson) along with another colleague wrote an article that appeared in the LDS Magazine the Ensign. Check it out here.

While addressing game addiction, this article avoids two major pitfalls that usually repel its intended audience. First, it calls out a specific genre of games: the MMORPGs. With consoles, PCs, cell phones and Facebook as growing gaming platform, just saying "Gamers are Addicts" would stir up a rebellion from the masses. To be even more specific, the article points out that MMORPGs aren't inherently evil, but when people let "recreational, virtual life interfere with their actual lives" there in lies the problem. So, if you intend to address game addiction, specify a genre and recognize that the problem isn't playing the game, it's letting the game play you.

Second, recognize that games are compelling, not just addictive. (Disclamer: I'm leaving my realm of expertise here so please comment if you don't agree with any of the following) Addiction describes physical urges: drugs, pornography, etc. Games do not satisfy a physical urge; rather they are engaging and compelling. The article recognizes this when mentioning the "exciting, collaborative quests" and the social aspects of the game. Similar forces drove teenagers and young adults everywhere to skip school and sleep to read Harry Potter. MMORPGs engage players even more because of the sense of agency they give the player (control your character vs. watch Harry do something stupid) and "open-ended-ness." So while the article does throw around the words "addiction" and "compulsive," it recognizes that games don't just create and satisfy physical urges. Rather, they mentally engage and stimulate the player.

If you're interested in this topic, there are a few videos that touch on the subject:

Extra Credits: Game Addiction Part 1

Extra Credits: Game Addiction Part 2

Extra Credits: The Skinner Box (Watch this one to learn how some game designers use cheap tricks to make their games seem engaging and worth playing i.e. Farmville)

Video Blog #1

Extra Credits: Gamifying Education

More to come...

Everybody's Everything

Even before I reached the tender age of accountability, my dad would drag me off to priesthood session during general conference. He says it helped me build character; I say it's because my mom and sister wanted a man-free house for a night every six months. Regardless of the real reason, I never learned much from any of the speakers at conference, except from Thomas S. Monson, storyteller extraordinaire . His humorous and engaging stories made his lessons memorable and understandable. Clay Shirky's Here Comes Everybody takes a similar approach, mixing ideas with real-life examples, to show that everybody can get together, everybody can contribute and everybody can change the world.

The story of Wikipedia in Chapter 5 best conveys this idea that an open project at the hands of the public can produce a high quality result. The doubts of onlookers are understandable, as they probably imagined a blank encyclopedia, sitting at a local library that anyone can read and write it. But Wikipedia's success proves that it's much more than that. The wiki programming simplify the logistics of added and editing content. It's accessibility allows any interested parties to contribute anytime and anywhere. And these communities, formed on similar interests and their contributions, protect their projects from vandals and trolls.

Here Comes Everybody shows how technology is breaking down communication and collaborative barriers in order to let the constructive and cooperative side of human nature shine.

What Would You Download?

Heck Yes I Would!

Ehh... You got me there.

Orson Scott Card completely undermines the popular outcry that "music sharing will destroy the industry." First, look at the source of these complaints. They don't come from the musicians. The corporations and big businesses-who've essentially stolen the rights of the media from their creators-are the ones calling foul play. They make their living off of owning and selling other people's stuff. Compare that to a high school student who downloads a couple of mp3's; who's the pirate? Card also points out that this complaint isn't new. Big corporations tooted this horn about the radio, TV and VCR. These things will completely cripple and destroy the industry! And yet they live to tell the tale another day. It's true that music-sharing isn't legal, but wrong party is pointing fingers.

Women Play Keep-Away from Computers and Games

Walk into any Computer Science class at BYU (or any other university for that matter) and I can guarantee you'll notice three things about the majority of students:

1. They're nerds

2. They play games regularly

3. They're male

The article What Has Driven Women Out of Computer Science blames the first two points as the main repellents of women to the field. It's safe to safe that, generally speaking, women care about their appearance more than men (see shoes, clothes, makeup, etc.). Being labeled a "nerd" or "geek" may be something females fear more than males do. In society's beliefs, intelligence has an inverse relationship with attractiveness. Shows like Beauty and the Geek or Big Bang Theory support this with roles their characters play. When video game aficionados began flooding the field in the 80's, this only strengthened the social pressures from outsiders. 25 years ago, the ratio of men to women in CS classes was about 50:50. Now women represent less than 10%.

My invitation to all women is that if you have an interest or love for computer science, go for it! Once you get into college, social labels like "nerd" and "geek" don't matter anymore. If you decide not to pursue a career in CS, let it be because you discover it's really not your passion. Don't let outside forces affect you who are or what you can become.

And to my fellow male nerds, be nice to the ladies.

Embracing The Online Community

The updated FamilySearch website stands as proof that the Church sees the value in user-contributed content. The changes, which are detailed in the article Updated FamilySearch.org to Bring New Features Under One Roof from July 2010, include the incorporation of wikis, blogs and forums to help users contribute and collaborate to the genealogical effort. I strongly believe that the internet is full of people who genuinely has a desire to provide service and help others (see Customer support from the masses, for the masses). By making these tools more openly accessible to users of FamilySearch, the Church provides a hub for hobbyists, aficionados and newbies alike to come together, record their knowledge and strengthen each other.

Knowing Good from Evil

The concept of agency plays a big role in the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In some cases, when something is inherently wrong, the brethren counsel against it. However, when a medium is open to be used for righteous or evil purposes, general authorities will praise the good and warn of the bad. Instead of completely forbidding the medium (see BYU-YouTube 2007-09), they encourage members to take advantage of it for the benefit of others. With the constant emergence of new technology, church teachings continue to acknowledge the agency of its members. After reading Using Social Media for Gospel Purposes I felt empowered by the church’s invitation to use social media while being wary of its dangers. The feeling was comparable to that of a young man whose father buys him a new car and says “Here you go! Drive safely!” I’m grateful that the general authorities of the church were inspired to see the good that social media can provide and hope that, as new technology emerges, they will continue to invite us to exercise our agency and choose to do good with the tools we are given.