Good Game World
- Settlers is set up in a manner which allows the bandit leaders to be encompassed by the bandit camp. This type of set up can be considered epic (classic) environment. It's of "epic proportions."
- Guild quests adds to epic-ness of the environment.
- Players are given an exact quest to complete and they're given instructions on how to complete it, including the amount of the reward. (Note: I just figured this out not too long ago).
- Players are given the total number of bandit camps and bandit leaders that need to be defeated when completing an adventure. McGonigal (2011) says that when players are given "real chance of being successful," they will tend to be more motivated and will continue to play the game. This has proven to be especially true for me.
Good Game Community
- The guilds are a great replica of good game community. Although some guilds are better than others, I find mine to be very helpful and engaging. They are extremely nice and provide assistance even when you think you know it already.
- Leveling up has caused me to become more cognitively engaged, especially when I think it's taking me too long to level up. However, McGonigal (2011) spoke to the idea of challenges causing one to continue to work toward bigger results and this is exactly what has been happening to me since playing The Settlers.
Crowdsourcing
I seemed to enjoy the Mango Learning Kickstarter V20 project. It is an educational game development venture that blends Western and Eastern teaching philosophies, leverages the engaging nature of games, and delivers a math learning solution across mobile devices. They have begun to develop game-based educational programs geared toward children ages 6 to 12 with the support of leading online gaming industry developers and education experts. These entities together are creating the most interactive, engaging learning programs available for mobile learning platforms today.
As a way of showing their concept works, they have developed a few games based on a highly motivating, middle school math, game-based curriculum. This was very exciting for me since my dissertation will focus on game-based learning and math. The games can be used for enrichment for students at all academic levels even struggling students can garner extra practice. The games leverage the fact that in gaming, the child is required to take multiple perspectives to find alternative ways of stating a math problem and finding a solution. This type of strategy creates an epic game world and community.
