I thought I would have a hard time appreciating Lucasfilm’s Habitat as I have not participated in any video games on a large scale, even Sims. I was pleasantly surprised when the reading emphasized the importance of realistic environments. This idea of reality is so inherent in the construction of video games that Morningstar and Farmer assert:
“cyberspace architects will benefit from study of the principles of sociology and economics as much as from the principles of computer science” (676).
That simply amazed me and has honestly reinvigorated my minor interest in video games. To know that these complex and highly technical games are catered to humans, to the idea that all people are unique and therefore all people will hope to get something different out of a video game, is pretty interesting. This idea means that there is a place for everyone in virtual reality which I suppose is the appeal, which leads me to my concern…having all these mini-worlds at our fingertips. Couldn’t this pose a problem? Couldn’t one get completely lost and cut off from the real world in games like this? The fact that morals come into question with video games emphasizes my concern but I will touch more on that in my seminar presentation on Sherry Turkle’s essay.
As we get further in our readings, I have noticed many reoccurring themes. Not to be repetitive but simply for compilation purposes, the idea and importance of individual participation and decentralization (branching, sharing). I was able to make a theme connection to other readings when the authors talked about the design process and how it should not be restricted to simply designing and implementing but should also include facilitating (this can be applied to teaching).
I really like the connections you have made in this post. As a member of the META team, I think it’s important to take a step back and look at the trends going on in our class. That way we can better understand the parts and specific readings within it. Decentralization and individual participation are huge. I feel like the ideas that we are talking about stem a lot of self-motivation and the fact that people are inherantly (sp?) eager to learn. I’m not sure if this is the case, or if they are just eager to be “productive” members of society. When I take a step back from my schooling and look at what my end goal is, I feel like (and I think this is the case for most) all I want to do is “be successful”. But, what does that mean? I guess to most it means financially stable, have a family, and the idea that always comes last on the list of what you want to do is “make a difference”. Well, what kind of difference? How? Why? Interesting..these ideas sure to pop back up later on in the semester!