Gamertell

As video games become more widespread and enter our everyday lives, online gaming is quickly becoming the main form of entertainment for many people. Games like World of Warcraft or Second Life attract thousands everyday who spend hours in virtual worlds. Many people think this is just an escape from everyday life but for one game designer, this is just education for changing the world.

Jane McGonigal is a game designer and researcher who has been working on a theory about how virtual communities work and how they differ from the real world. Recently she had a very interesting talk at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference regarding how we could learn from online games.

According to McGonigal, people tend to be their best when interacting with others in virtual worlds, frequently helping others and trusting and empowering them with critical assignments.

McGonigal also notes that people in online games always get tasks according to their ability and experience level, so even though there is a challenge, people are rarely overwhelmed. Completing these tasks is always rewarded and players can advance to more challenging tasks.

Dr. McGonigal’s idea is to adapt this structure of empowerment and positive feedback to solving real world problems. She has used online games involving real world situations like oil shortages or hunger to show the possibilities of this approach with excellent results.

This change of focus would take a while, but the best part is that all we need to learn this approach is to play more games. Thousands of hours of games.

Dr. McGonigal speaking at TED:

Read [Kotaku] Also read [Geek.com] Site [Jane McGonigal @ TED]