Education

Reading about Educational Psychology reminds me of a documentary I saw last. Year. The documentary was called Freakonomics. It is based on a best selling book by Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics is about the hidden truth of certain activities that happen that we do not question. For example , the idea of cheating. I know that most of us cheated in some way or form before. I bet that you would not believe that a school teacher has something in common with sumo wrestlers. I was surprised when I found out my self. I will not go into full details about this but I recommend that you watch the documentary , read the both , or do both if you have the time.

Sumo wrestlers must win a certain amount of games to have many benefits. When you start as a sumo wrestler, you don't have many achievements. As you progress and win many matches, you move up. I think of it as a sub-class system in sumo wrestling. There are patterns to how a sumo wrestler wins or lose. This shows that sumo wrestlers cheat so that another can step up into a higher class status. I guess now your wondering how does that relate to teachers. Teachers usually give their students multiple choice questions. The answers to the exams are in a certain pattern where students can probably guess the answers if the teacher is using the same or similar pattern.

There was another section from Freakonomics where a school give students achievements for passing their class. The school focus was to help improve the grades of falling students. If they improved greatly in their classes, they would receive money and a limo ride. I kinda wish my school had this program but my grades did not really need improving. There where some students in the documentary that wanted to have these benefits. Some if not all worked greatly to try and achieve these awards. I guess people become more focus when they want something that they desire. This gives them the motivation to memorize and focus on their school work.

Is life really a game?

I found this video to be interesting, even though it does not go into full details about gamification. However, it does talk a bit about achievements. The achievements in games are briefly compared to real life. I hope you enjoy the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqn7g7hV_hA

League Continuation

I studied a lot of information before my class started for Japanese. I was on the verge of exhaustion and so I decided to play League of Legends. I usually do not trend to play video games during the weekday because of school work. It was a good game. Even though the team I was on  the verge of defeat, I had to leave the game early. I made it to my class on time. When the class started I felt more motivated to pay attention and understand what the instructor was saying in Japanese. I also was able to participate more than I usually do with the class activities. I  guess playing League of Legends made me pay attention on what was on the battle field. It probably also made me think of  strategies to use to enter the enemies base of operations. I haven't played a game that improves my observational skills and strategical skills in a long time.

League Reflection

Reading Level 2: Numeric Relationships, open my eyes to different components of gaming. This week I played League of Legends for the first with my friends. I would have done it sooner but I wasn't sure about PC gaming. The only games I usually play on the computer was chess or solitaire. I played the games that are considered to be graphically enhanced on the home consoles. I guess when I was little I did not consider that a PC could be use to play graphically enhance games. It could also be the way you play games on the PC compared to a home console. On a computer, you have your hotkeys and a mouse to interact with a video game. On a home console, you have a controller that fits in your hands perfectly and you can reach the buttons at ease. It's pretty much your mouse and hotkeys located closer together.

The first time I played League of Legends, I had to complete the tutorial. I do not like completing tutorials. I feel that tutorials are a waste of time. If you really want to play a game, you must read the manual or watch a short video of using the basic control of the game.

While playing League of Legends, I had to make sure my HP and MP meter did not run out. If it did I would need to use some spell to heal me or use "Recall" so I can be sent back to base. Playing with my friends was way better than the tutorial. I was able to communicate with them and come up with a strategy to attack the opposing team. We won the battle. It was a great experience for me. I am considering to play pc games more often than my console now.

Loyalty Programs

By taking this IST 400: Meaningful Gamerfication, I learn more and more about gamification without realizing it. It has been a great experience so far.

On Thursday night, some friends and I decided to play a game. The game was called Munchkin Fu. I never heard of this board game before.  I have never heard of the game before and did not know how to play. It’s a good thing that I’m a fast learner when it comes to card games.  My friend explained how to play the game but it was very vague. I had to wait a few rounds to actually get a better understanding on what to do.

To play the game you must roll a die to see what level you start off with.  This will helps you when you face a monster.  If the monster is stronger than you, you can ask the other players to help you that are strong enough to defeat you.  If they deaf the monster they may want to make a deal. The deal might be one or more treasure that is gain from defeating a monster or something else.  When the monster is destroyed, you gain another level. If you did not destroy the monster but another player assisted you, they also gain another level.  There are styles, classes, and accessory cards that help you become stronger as the game progress. If a player wants to become unmoral at any time during the game, a player can add accessories to the monster forcing them to lose or ask another player for assistance. The goal of the game is to reach level 10. Whoever reaches level 10 first is
the winner.

I haven’t played board games like this since I was a kid. The games I usually play are video games on the PlayStation 3 or some handheld device. I recently started playing Yugioh again this summer.

The game Munchkin Fu relates back to loyalty programs to some extent. Players can make deals to secure their safety in the game. However, this deal can be broken anytime during gameplay without a notification.  Fortunately, my deals did not change during the progression of the game.

Loyalty programs can also change if you think about it. I remember when my mom signed up for Best Buy reward card when I was younger. It was a reward system that helps you save whenever you bought items by collecting point. However, there was a catch. In order to collect a lot of points, you had to buy expensive items which no one had the money for.  The most money that you can save is probably $5-$10 on your purchase without buying anything expensive. You also had to spend money every year to renew your reward card. It was a game that no one really won because of high demands necessary to completing task. Now places are in proving on loyalty programs where you do not have to play for reward memberships and you are discounted for every purchase even if it is 10%. The new idea of loyalty programs is that a person spends more money when they know that each purchase they make is saving them money and they do not have to renew their membership fee each year.