156 Matching Annotations
  1. Apr 2017
    1. Affinity 1

      Cool game! I played it on Steam awhile ago, but never took the time to learn all the mechanics. Never knew they had forums! Terraria looks like it supports sandbox learning with with different types of play styles.

      What type of profile customization is allowed? What do the titles under username represent? Is this status or can members choose anything? I also wonder how this space compares to the Terraria subreddit. Guild Wars 2 has it's own official forums where the devs are in charged, but i found the Reddit space to be more open.

      It's great that in the rules they specify that everyone is equal. Did you see any abuses taking place while your participated? I like your background music by the way!

    1. What did the Affinity Space Teach Me?

      It's awesome to see another Reddit affinity space! Great explanation of how Reddit works. Have you ever used Reddit before this AS or was this your first time? I ask because I would be interested if you found it easy to get started?

      I made the same observation on my subreddit that everyone is equal. I like that no special status is given to one user over another. The members if your space did seem to interact more-so to help each other than in mine. For many gaming subreddits such as mine, I noticed members post to try to get that delicious karma.

    1. Games can be a great way to provide an engaging environment for

      A lot of games I've played usually start with hacking tutorials. Do you like Deus Ex's approach better? It's nice that they have the guides in the menu, I appreciate it when games don't explicitly spell everything out for the player.

    2. And what better way to demonstrate play than through a similar visual medium as the source material.

      I always try to go into these types of games using stealth as well, but it never takes me long before I mess up and end up going guns blazing. Why didn't any guards come running over when you triggered the camera?

    1. One can purchase Gems for $19.99 for 2000 Gems.

      This makes me skeptical of these types of games. I like how Guild Wars 2 does it, where you can only buy cosmetic items with real currency. Everything else is kept balanced.

    1. Each team gave themselves a name, which is what the MC used throughout each round.

      What was your team name?!?

      Where there a lot of spectators? Have most people played before or were that a lot of newbies? I would imagine this changes the game.

    2. Not only do you get to add random facts to your knowledge bank

      I'm terrible at trivia, are you allowed to use your phone to look up answers or must you know the knowledge? I think this would change the gameplay a lot.

      Would it be easy to cheat and look on your phone?

    1. I hope that my post is seen by many teachers who are wondering the same thing that was asked.

      Just curious since Reddit allows for threaded comments... Did anyone respond back to your response? Sometimes I've seen the majority of the interactions take place right in the comments.

    2. When my department chair saw the results, he was not only impressed but understanding as to why I had him assign the work I did while I was out

      Interesting, where there previous results to compare this to? Anything you might adjust again?

    1. To maintain influence, social media elites need their followers to consistently repeat, replicate, and share the ideas they generate

      Do you think this type of distribution took place before social media? I'm thinking no where to this degree. It's so easy to hurt your business with the wrong tweet now as well..

    1. questions of intrinsic verse extrinsic motivation differences across individuals

      Is there anything in particular you're curious about? What type of extrinsic motivation do you think there is in MMORPGs?

    2. Not everything can be as controlled and clean cut as Bartle depicted. 

      I agree, have have different motivations depending on the genre of game as well. I think in MMORPGs, I have had all four of those motivations listed above.

  2. Mar 2017
    1. Moving forward, I just need to post something.

      I know there will be some headaches going forward, I've had these same issues. Are there any connection to our readings your can draw on?

    2. As I stated above, the site really has been a valuable resource for learning.

      What is it showing? Any thoughts on these types of tools? I've noticed a few that member in my affinity space created as well.

    3. Everything looks fine in the menu, but when you start the game the screen goes black and only audio is recorded

      Technical glitches...always the biggest drawback of technology. If you're on Win10 I find the built in game recording feature to be really nice.

    4. I search the site, my question has already been answered, rendering it as more of a resource guide than an interactive experience.

      Are there different ways you can engage besides asking questions?

    1. Not knowing what I didn’t know is certainly a limitation to learning. This is not a game that someone who isn’t at least somewhat familiar with tabletop

      Did you have to return to the rule book a lot? Did this negatively impact your play?

    2. At around a 30-45 minute game play cycle, it’s a game that isn’t easy to learn, but would be decently easy to teach others

      Seems like quite the time commitment. Would this limit new players?

    1. Companies may have not seen that as effective advertising but could have tried trading in-game currency for responses to marketing surveys, there by collecting valuable information and users the opportunity to collect more coins.

      I'm not a huge fan of microtransactions or in-app purchases, but would be interested in hearing your thoughts. Do you think this affects gameplay at all?

      I usually uninstall games when I find out they have those.

    2. One of the new features is a tournament mode. In this mode eight players are trying to find answers to the same question.

      Was this online versus other players (since I'm assuming you answered questions as a group)?

      Also, how do you think working cooperatively vs competitively affected play?

    1. This is a game that will get a lot of replayability in my house, because it was easy, fun, and has the potential for more types of strategies even though we got pigeonholed into just a few our first time playing it through.

      How long did a game end up lasting? Would it be better with more players or not?

    2. Coins are the currency of Waterdeep, but they are almost a worthless currency as they are only used to buy buildings.

      Can this help you earn a victory or does this not really add anything to the game?

    1. Have you? What’s it like?

      I've never played with 10, I don't know if i would find that fun...i would be waiting around too long for my turn. What was playing with 2 people like? With the reverse cards, I feel like there wouldn't be as much randomness. How long did games last?

    2. It was fun to stay in and do something other than fall asleep on the couch to a movie.

      Is this what encouraged your playfulness? Do you think the people you're playing with and the environment you're playing in enhances this?

    3. annotating, reflecting, writing, and engaging with my peers on social networks as well as my affinity space, Photoblog

      Even though these aren't necessarily games, there are still elements of play that have been present in these interactions!

    1. Participating and exploring dynamics in a guild at level cap, or end-game would require more of a time commitment.

      There was a point in my life where I had all the time in the world. But now, time kind of limits my raid exploration. 2 hour blocks of time are typically required in GW2.

    2. or some people telling you that you suck and then kicking you from the raid [group].

      It's interesting how this seems to be my experience in Guild Wars 2. I'm starting to dislike Raids a lot in that game due to our gated they are. I wonder how they can fix these?

    3. Random groups consist of random players put together through the group finder menu

      Most of my groups in MMO's have always consisted of "PUG" groups. My problem with guilds is that I don't want to just be someone at the bottom of the guild while a few players make all of the decisions.

    4. What approach should I take to get something out of this project? I need to sit down and develop a focus because it’s not going to get me anywhere just lurking and commenting.

      I'm running into the exact same problem. Sure I've posted and interacted with a few others, but I'm struggling to find a ton of benefit from it.

    1. think that this game is great and would be very helpful to my students.

      Does this game give a score at the end? Do you think a score would encourage play among your students or have the opposite effect?

    2.   I am looking forward to trying this in my class in the upcoming weeks as we continue to move on in topics that require factoring as the background computation and speeding up our skills together as a class! 

      I recommend updating this post with your student's thoughts once you do.

    3. This means along with solving quadratics, players are needing to pick specific balloons to answer in order to line up three in a row.

      This game sounds complicated! Is it like Bejeweled? Is it possible to pop every balloon? Does anything happen?

    1. They came from varied subjects and most were white (98%) and majority female (76%). The authors addressed the limitations of the study by considering what role the gender imbalance, the racial component and the average age (27) of the participants played in the results they achieved.

      I'm wondering why the authors didn't do anything to try and get more diversity into this study?

    2. Being older and not having a full grasp on video games, some coaxing is needed, first-hand experience to gain a better understanding of games, the culture, and their value to education.

      How can we encourage this among those that may not understand video games?

    1. is a good grade more or less important than a person actually enjoying what they are learning?

      I think if you're enjoying what you're learning, there isn't any reason you shouldn't be able to get a "good grade."

  3. Feb 2017
    1. Photobloggers are a positive and supportive group

      Have you visited the Community section yet? Looks to be the most similar to traditional forums. I would be interested to hear about the interactions in there vs. your blog. I'm sure that's a future post though...

    1. uncomfortable with the idea that game designers/media companies have the power to educate an unknowing consumer…

      In what ways does this make you uncomfortable? Do you think this is a conscious choice by designers or do games inherently have some learning involved (learning the rule system, etc.)

    2. Would the player loose interest because of the content?

      I think Yes and No. Assassin's Creed is the perfect example of a game that could be used to teach history. Obviously it has it's flaw and not 100% accurate, but they've done a great job of capturing the historic settings and making me interested in history. On the other hand I get bored of the Oregon Trail type games.

    1. thoughtful discussions

      I know it's still early on, but I will be interested to see if these always remain thoughtful as your continue to explore. I've seen many nasty posts in the past.

    2. but now I have a chance to get back into the game.

      I'm surprised WoW is still going strong after 10+ years. It will be interesting to see how the community is since I last played during launch.

    1. his article was published in 2015, making at a seemly relevant and realistic look at how modern game games could be having an effect on what individuals are learning from games

      This type of research seems to constantly come up, I think there are a number of other issues that often get overlooked such as the child's family conditions.

    1. There are two game modes: career mode & sandbox mode.

      Do these typically start with a tutorial or do they throw you right in? Or customizable is the learning experience? I easily get frustrated with these types of games.

    2. RCT makes you take long hard looks at how you configure the parks. Because mistakes could prove costly. One major benefit to game play through an app, is that it is strictly downloaded using memory, not using data or wifi. That is a welcomed change from the other games I currently play via my devices

      Did you see any connections to our readings?

    1. breeds competition. How you interact with others can make you a friend, or an enemy

      0 for 1 on the friends it sounds like. How can you make friends if everyone runs around clubbing you?

    2. He clubbed me over the head and knocked me unconscious. That’s the nature of PvP in most games. Little cooperation, a lot of competition.

      Is this similar to DayZ? I watched a little of the video, that part where you punched the log for 30 seconds. Watching does make me curious about player interaction in a game like this. I'm wondering if there are any reasons not to kill other players. DayZ was scary, players would strip you of all your gear and then set you free without anything or put one in the back of your head.

    1. However, as we played more focus on strategy and less on just capturing pieces seemed to develop.

      Do you think both styles of play are supported? I always just think about capturing the most pieces in these types of games and would probably lose. This also seems like a predecessor to real time strategy games.

    2. It would seem that board games in particular tend to have excessive rules and constraints which ads an element of predictability.

      It does seem like newer board games create more and more rules. I wonder why this is?

    1. WASD keys for movement. Gamers with limited finger dexterity will find this game more difficult, and thus with inhibited learning.

      This is interesting, what keys do you think would work better for movement. Having played many PC games, I do not even think about this.

    2. Unfortunately for me, I was standing in the mouth of the cave everyone had been using for mining, and also right next to the supply chests

      One thing I learned the hard way is to never dig straight down...

    3. I was decent in Minecraft—that is, I could survive several nights until I got into some altercation with a Skeleton, but I could handle myself in decent fashion.

      I remember hosting my own server back in the day. I would turn off all of the monsters and give myself infinite supplies. I was mostly a builder. I think this helped create a customizable learning experience for myself.

    1. After learning how to play MTG one must meet the challenge of understanding the depth of it like any other game.

      Is this a game you would continue playing? Did you feel satisfied with your overall gameplay?

    2. MTG’s main motivating factor is the large customization it allows with the over 10,000 cards available to build a deck.

      Brings up what we've been about with equity. I remember playing Pokemon as a kid, I couldn't afford to buy all the nice booster packs as my friends so I had no chance of winning a turnament

    3. The primary problem with MTG is its element of random draw while it allows emergent game play it also allows for a player to be set up for failure.

      I think this also limits play. The player isn't as in control of their own outcome as much.

    1. This really stood out to me when I played the game because there was only one way for these puzzles to be solved and I uncovered the solutions in order to unlock the next level.

      Do you see what he was saying from his point of view though? I think this is a limitation. It goes back to traditional school where everyone has to follow the same way of thinking.

    2. Rather than following an algorithm, I want them to reveal the solution, which is exactly what puzzles do! 

      In some sense I feel that puzzles do follow an algorithm because in the experience with my puzzle game there is always only one specific way to get to a solution.

  4. Jan 2017
    1. Now I get a chance to study the leaning benefits of video games and how they may be used to effectively teach in various environments and through various media.

      I feel the same way, i've always taken them for granted so I can "escape" for a little bit. I hope to understand more about what we can learn from them.

    2. Board games are called that for a reason—you have to be really bored to play them.

      Haha...I do prefer to play video games as well, but in some social events I find board games to be fun as well!

    3. Me and my brother would have fun and plenty of arguments playing for high scores.

      That's how I got started. Many years later we still game together. Of course he has a family now and ignores me more, but still...

    1. I want to engage with the theory, and expand my knowledge towards a more succinct learning opportunity.

      I also hope to engage with more theory. I think I get caught up with the play often times and haven't thought much about the learning that is taking place.

    2. and though I never felt the desire to reach out and take a controller or a mouse myself,

      This is kind of how I started with video games. I would only watch my brother play, but I would ask If I could read the dialogue for specific characters. This made me feel more connected to the characters. Many years later I still game with my brother.

    1. So I stopped the idea of games and figured I'd come back to it when I was more comfortable with teaching and not in my first year.

      I'm not a teacher, but I wonder how often this occurs with new teachers?

    2. I realize I'm in for a lot of work and rigor

      I had a summer class with Remi and it was intense, but different than anything I've previously had. I'm looking forward to the struggles of Games and Learning. I think we'll get just as much out as we put in.

    1. By getting students to understand that the games they play are indeed valid forms of literacy, and by helping them to understand connections among the various forms of literacy, we help our students become immersed in a lifelong habit of reading and enjoying a variety of literature and literary habits.

      This approach might be scary to some teachers, but this is what collaborative learning is about.

    2. assign books to students because they enjoy a particular gaming genre.

      With younger kids, I think encouraging them to read a video game that has lots of text can be the perfect entry point.

    3. interactive form of storytelling

      The first video game I remember ever reading was Final Fantasy VII. The game spaned 4 discs and contained a lot of dialogue to read. I find that many games today contain less of this, as it's a lot of voice-over now, but reading through this form should be encouraged.

    4. In fact, in the classroom, they can often be found discussing the latest game and attributes of game play

      When I was younger I would bring video game guides to school which I enjoyed reading much more than the traditional schoolwork I often struggled with.

    1. Just because I don’t jive with games doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy and seek play.

      While my history of play mostly revolved around video games, I do agree that play extends to just more than them.

    2. Fun for me usually involved some friends, imagination, and the outdoors.

      I look forward to learning with you since my blog post, which I'm finishing up still, is pretty much the opposite of yours. :) I find games enjoyable, because I do think imagination is used a lot in them.

    3. maybe even a little appreciation, for my distaste for games!

      You might still hate games at the end of this class, but I will be interested in seeing if any of your views change at the end of the semester.

  5. Jul 2016
    1. Very often, students do not realize what working within an open system means, and do not understand that they have the authority — and the responsibility — to develop content for the platform, and the platform itself, to shape their college community.

      Very true, I think this is how I felt in ILT5340 at first.

    2. “Until now, I thought you all just pick it because you KNOW it and you KNOW that it fits into your planned reading. Its good to know that you guys look forward to something when picking reads for us.

      That's what I thought for past classes I've taken!

    3. Used for individual eportfolios, these platforms allow students complete control over a site to document and showcase their college work, both for their own satisfaction as well as to show potential employers

      I've spent countless hours tweaking and refining my WordPress site. Being able to use it for class has helped me get a lot more out of it.

    1. Solitude also enriches our connections with others by providing perspective, which enhances intimacy and fosters empathy.

      A storm rolled through yesterday and I was without power all day. I think I gained some empathy after that...

    1. to take ownership of a particular article and identify rhetorical strategies and fallacies themselves

      I find it interesting to stumble across an article that has just happened to be previously annotated as well.

  6. Jun 2016
    1. OER allow exactly what the Internet enables: free sharing of educational resources with the world.

      All these old companies that continue to hold on to old ways of doing things will become obsolete eventually as more OERs become available.