I was amazed at most of the views that Schell had regarding online games. However, I wasn't surprised :) I nanny for 4 children in 2nd and 3rd grade and they are all addicted to ClubPenguin, Webkins, an online wizard game, and many other online games. They are constantly asking their parents for money to buy the latest equipment for their characters. It saddens me that times have changed so drastically from when I was a kid. Children have their own computers and choose to play those instead of go outside! I am constantly trying to pull them off the computer so we can go play at a park or something else entertaining.. but they always beg to get to the next level.
Schell mentioned that one day things will become unified, such as the iphone. I can see where people would argue against this, but at the same time, I completely believe it. Our world is becoming a computerized world. We don't even talk face to face anymore, but rather communicate through text or chat rooms. Shopping is even turning into online shopping and eventually we may not even have outside malls. Not that this has anything to do with unified products, but we are a changing world and will do what it takes to make things easier. Haven't there already been game companies that have joined together in the past? How is that not believable that we could have just one game console in the future?
He spoke a lot about earning points for things that we do. I laughed about this thought, but know we are headed in that direction. Prizes/points motivate people to do things and it could be used to make this world a "better" place. I'm not sure that this would work for everyone, but at least everyone would brush their teeth?!? One thing that concerns me is that when we continue to receive prizes for what we do, we learn to not do something without gain. If you give a child a piece of candy every time they go use the potty, they will expect that candy for years and will throw tantrums if they don't get it. I am afraid that if we give points for everything we do, people will stop doing things out of the goodness of their heart. Does that make sense?
I thought the video was hilarious. It made me think of what our world is becoming and where we are headed... not sure if I really want to be a part of the game that we are all going to play :)
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I wonder where the line between virtual and real items lies. The act of buying virtual money/items isn't just limited to facebook games, but is also prevalent in popular MMOs that teens-adults play. Why spend X amount of hours farming to get great equipment when you can spend some of the extra cash you have lying around and buy virtual money in order to buy the special item.
ReplyDeleteKinda makes me think that those facebook games may just be training grounds for when the kids grow up into teens and end up thinking "hey, its ok to buy my way into being better, I did it when I was a kid, whats different now?"
There are two points I would like to make:
ReplyDelete1)You had said, "How is that not believable that we could have just one game console in the future?" Like I mentioned in my blog I'm not sure if it's that practical to combine different consoles. Yes, it would be convenient but I believe that companies would definitely be losing money because games aren't exclusive to THEIR console. Not only that but competition is in our nature!
2)I loved how you brought up the point that if people get rewarded for accomplishing everyday stuff then they won't do anything out of the goodness of their heart, it's definitely true but at the same time do you think it would increase community participation? let's say that we receive 500 points for volunteering at a non-profit or something like that. I think more people would get involved and help out the community! Is that not a good thing?
I don't think it's a bad thing... but at the same time.. it's not a good thing :) I don't do things for rewards... I do them because I care. I think if we earn rewards for those things we should be doing because we want to, we would lose that desire!
ReplyDeleteI think that companies would buy each other out if that were to happen. Look at the way movies are made: we are no longer making VHS and DVD's are leaving as well... why can't we have all 3? Instead, they are only making BluRay so that we HAVE to buy BluRay. Couldn't they do that with one console and just make it more expensive?
I felt the same way about Schell's description of the reward system. If people do things like volunteer, they should do them because they care about the cause not because it will bump them up a level! At this point in time it seems somewhat ridiculous to think about this happening but we are headed in that direction. For example, people don't get a gym membership because they want to live a healthier lifestyle, they get a membership because it's included in their company benefit package at work. I'm glad that Schell has realized this and shared it with us so that we can be more aware about the world we are headed into.
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