Jane McGonigal feels gaming can save the world

Who is this woman?

3/10 – although we’ve not seen her chest.

EDIT: Oh sorry, you said “who”, not “what”.

She wants me to play MMOs for how many hours? No thank you!

I think her argument, is that through MMOs and cooperative play – we teach ourselves to be that way in real life. But immersing ourselves into the games more (hourly) she feels that this cooperative collective behavior will “stick” and once we start doing it in real-life, make the world a better place.

Problem is, while some are helpful online, once they come out of that “world” they knock old ladies down in the street to get to a dropped quarter on the curb.

Some are helpful online indeed, others are complete idiots and are probably worse bastards than in real life.

I do partially agree with her though…

The fat guy’s look in the background says it all. PRICELESS

@4 When I played WoW people seemed split, seeking extremes of either trying to please everyone they came into contact with, or make them cry like little children. And then there were guys who were just trying to make everybody understand how amazing they truly were. Honest.

Social MMOs are quite often a pretty disturbing look into other peoples lives, and that side of it makes me pretty uncomfortable. I don’t envy any guildmaster/whatever trying to keep track of some hundred odd personalities.

Personally I was just as big a jerk playing WoW as I am in real life. Although I did get to be a jerk to people from all over the world. That was awesome. Why are Finnish people always so angry?

@7 Because it’s so damn cold where you are

@Gheritt
Harsh, i’d double that score.

I really want to get back into an MMO but everyone i’ve played after WoW has just seemed crappy or atleast not what i want from an MMO.
Its sort of true that people online tend to be abit more open to strangers, but i cant really see that porting over to real life. Atleast not to how you treat new people you meet, i guess its possible you can get to know a group of people online then be more comfortable when you meet them in person.

She had an awesome rant about game designers not stepping up to the plate at a GDC some years ago. Very interesting.

I like how most of you can’t be arsed watching her speech before slagging her off. Makes me feel there’s hope for the future.

“I like how most of you can’t be arsed watching her speech before slagging her off.”

You’re surprised by this? Here? SERIOUSLY?!

Watching this now. Will share my thoughts when I’m done.

I tried to give you the impression that I was disappointed, not surprised. Obviously I failed… ;_;

No, I get your point. I just think it shouldn’t come as any sort of surprise in the slightest, even disappointment considering the blind and ignorance driven attitudes of the average poster here.

This is a great listen. Will add my thoughts below.

*comes back after watching it*

Okay, that was… interesting.

Social gaming is a powerful force, one certainly can’t deny that. It has replaced and superseded many traditional hobbies in the past 10 years, and anyone who has been a gamer for more than a hour knows how bonding and immersive an experience it can be when shared with other people. This is especially true of cooperative gaming, where the only “enemy” to beat is a virtual one.

Raiding with friends in World of Warcraft, completing the campaign in Halo 3 with three other friends (this is an element of the appeal of the Halo franchise that so many people fail to understand), stuff like that stick in my own mind as strongly as some of the best experiences in my life. Is that sad? I don’t think so, it’s just different to what people used to immerse themselves in before.

Enjoyment breeds productivity when used the right way. This is an essential reason why video games need to grow out of tired old routine of brainless shooters and cookie cutter concepts if something good is ever to come out of an idea like this.

Example: Imagine a multi-player Heavy Rain, where you need to rely on your friend to keep you alive just as much as they do you. The learning potential of something like that is massive. It is impossible to ignore that gaming has an immersive pull on the human psyche that no other current form of media has.

Now imagine if these kind of games were used in school. They could teach first aid to people, group co-operation, and these kids could achieve plenty of “epic wins” in not only their games, but in their education and the learning of important life experiences as well.

Though sadly, that’ll probably never happen. No money in it, and that’s all that matters to most of the world.

It’s the perfect companion piece to this: http://g4tv.com/videos/44277/dice-2010-design-outside-the-box-presentation/ which is a rather scary take on the same thing.

Both are well worth a watch.