Causal Argument- Jillian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8hfK3RQs2g

My Name is Kevin or Wrag is that you

Here are the student interviews:

Taylor W.

Period 1

03/03/09

World Of Warcraft

World of Warcraft is a massive multiplayer online game over 11 million people worldwide play this video game.  I am a level 80 Draenei Shaman.  I am a member of the Valiant Alliance.  Now while the Horde are predominantly teenagers and people in their early twenties, Alliance has 2 groups of people.  The first group tends to be immature little kids who are 12 years old and younger.  This group I try to avoid and like to associate myself with the second group.  This second group tends to be adults who are more mature and many of whom have families.  This group of players tends to be more casual and laid back like me.  However, they can be intense when it comes to raiding.  Many members of my family also play this game.  My aunt, uncle, and the rest of that family all play.  It was my uncle who first introduced me to WOW, and it was his choice to play Alliance.  If you were to ask my relatives why they choose Alliance, they would tell you it is because Alliance looks better, which is true.  Now from time to time, my inner teenager surfaces and I pup.  Generally I don’t go looking for Horde to harass.  They tend to show up to harass Alliance.  Since the Horde come to screw with the Alliance, I tend to return the favor.  After killing the Horde I enjoy ganking the Horde.  I corpse camp and sit and wait for the Horde to resurrect so I can kill them again.  As mean as this is, I do it to discourage Horde from remaining to harass lowbies.  I also enjoy testing my skills against a competent opponent.  This is why I pup in the first place.  The final reason I gank is because I like being a jerk and screwing with people from time to time.  I’m not personal and don’t only hurt Horde.  I also mess with Alliance noobs.  

  Nathan M.

Age: 18

The View of a W.O.W. Player

My reason of choosing Horde over Alliance, well it wasn’t my original choice to play horde.  But as I continue to level my hunter, Alliance becomes a nuisance as they are a majority of little kids, and they love ganking (a group of people who either out power or outnumber of another group and massacre them.)  Throughout my growing life, I have been ganked ever so often because I play BG (Battle Grand), yes on a given chance and occasion, I would choose to gank Alliance, as long as they are flagged first.

My personal reason of continuing playing WOW is the end game contort (raid). The reason people would get caught up and be addicted to this game is the constant change in the aspect of the game.  Every few patches, you will have to change your charging style as well as getting unique toys that only few people have.

Cory A.

Age 17

World of Warcraft

            There are a few reasons I play World of Warcraft.  The first one is because I have a lot of friends who play and the second reason is because the game is interesting due to its depth into the game.  There are so many different things you can do within the game.  I really enjoy the intricacy because the possibilities are endless to what you can do.  The faction that I chose to play was Alliance.  The main reason for this is because most of my friends are Alliance.  However, I do like the Night Elves within the Alliance though because as a hunter, they’re an excellent choice.  I don’t know much about ganking because I don’t play PVP.  I’m not a huge fan of PVP because a lot of people don’t play fairly or they’re ridiculously equipped, well past their true level.  A perfect example of this is twinks.  I freaking hate twinks.  I enjoy PVE more because it’s more fun for me since I don’t have to deal with twinks and other PVP players that don’t play correctly.

                                                                                                                   Alex R

                                                                                                                               Age: 18

Characters: Human Mage and Tauren Warrior, I prefer the mage much more because he's just more fun to play with because of the cool spells he can cast and stuff like that vs. the warrior just basically being a tank and taking hits and not doing nearly as much damage as the mage.

I've been playing WoW since early November.

I'm basically addicted to the game because I want to get my character to the higher level and get him the best stuff to wear and do more damage and have more life and mana, and another big reason as to why I’m addicted is because the game never ends, you just cant beat it and I think that’s pretty cool that the game is never ending and there’s always updates.

http://www.physorg.com/news9601.html

© PhysOrg.com 2003-2009  3/2/09

World of Warcraft focus of millions

A long day over and done with, they return in the millions to their homes and apartments. Heading over to their computers, they sit down and open "The Program." Introductory music emanates from their speakers.

A night of video gaming is about to unfold as the evening's entertainment.

Although this would have been a hallmark of social awkwardness and almost unheard of 10 years ago, it's becoming more and more common. As of the end of 2005 Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft, the most popular massively multiplayer online role playing game currently on the market, reached its 5 millionth subscriber with players in Australia, America, New Zealand, Europe and Asia.

Where once a rented movie, a night out with friends, a few drinks or a good book might have sufficed for the evening, more and more people are finding themselves passing time by slaying opponents, helping their groups with missions or gaining experience points toward a higher level or rank.

Massively multiplayer online games, which are typically played with and against thousands of other players through the Net via a PC or video-game console, are becoming a more common form of entertainment, having grown beyond youth markets and attracting adult players in the 18- to 35-year-old demographic. In the case of World of Warcraft, the title has been able to gather a wide player base, each user paying $12.99 to $14.99 per month to play by offering multiple styles of game play.

Once an account has been created, users can create an unlimited number of custom characters to play as, choosing sub-races available to either the Horde or Alliance factions within the game. This choice affects which missions, storylines and events they'll confront in the game as well as places them in direct contention with opposing forces should they choose to fight competitively.

Like many other online games, World of Warcraft offers a wide variety of play styles and activities available to the user. Players can take on different professions throughout the game that can provide useful items to use or trade. Different play styles can be chosen throughout the course of the game and Blizzard Entertainment has segmented their player base into different game modes, some more cooperative or competitive than the others while others focus heavily on providing the expected role-playing elements that are anticipated with a fantasy-themed video game.

"I started playing in December of 2004 after several friends picked it up and started raving about it," said Eli Sarver, a 29-year-old systems analyst and fan of the game. Averaging between 15 and 25 hours of game play per week, he devotes many nights to his game group's online activities, such as shared quests and missions. "I got into it because the storyline seemed solid. It's obvious that there is a lot of background material, and it makes the world feel more real."

"World of Warcraft did a great job in reducing the typical play time of a standard game session," explained Constance Steinkhueler, an assistant professor within the University of Wisconsin, Madison's Curriculum and Instruction department with regard to the game's attraction points for players. Steinkhueler pointed out that in other online games, a player might need to play for four to six hours to feel as if they'd made progress with their character, whereas World of Warcraft has managed to provide a satisfying experience to more casual players, who could invest less play time and still feel as if they'd advanced their online character.

World of Warcraft is expected to grow even more with the release of its Burning Crusade expansion pack, planned for release later this year. The expansion, which will be available as a commercial upgrade, will feature a new continent, spells, quests, items, abilities, two new races to play as, a new profession and 10 additional levels to play through.

Albeit World of Warcraft doesn't require a jaw-dropping computer to run, it is geared toward mid to high-end computers. The game, which is available for both the Mac OS X and Windows operating systems, requires Windows 2000 or XP, an 800 MHz processor, 512 MB of RAM, a video card with 32 MB of VRAM, 6.0 gigabytes of hard drive space, a 4x CD-ROM drive and a 56K or faster Internet connection to run on the PC.

On the Mac end, the game requires a 933 MHz G4, G5 or Intel processor, 512 MB of RAM, a video card with 32 MB of VRAM, 6.0 gigabytes of hard drive space, a 4X CD-ROM drive and a 56K or faster Internet connection. Additional upgrades such as faster processors, broadband Internet connections, higher end video card and extended RAM will allow the game to be run faster and at a higher resolution.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

WoW creates better citizens

By Antti 'drinn' Paasivaara

Feb 11, 2009 20:01

http://www.sk-gaming.com/content/22159-WoW_creates_better_citizens

Copyright © SK Gaming 1997-2009. All rights reserved.  03/02/09

   A university professor Constance Steinkuehler says that online games like World of Warcraft creates better citizens.

Yes, it's true, when it comes to professor Constance Steinkuehler's sayings, online games like World of Warcraft on top, change players into better citizens.

Steinkuehler is currently running a study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison regarding the MMOGs and people, who play them, including obviously herself as well.

"Kids today are growing up in thoroughly networked global spaces."

She has been doing this study for several years already, but on Tuesday night she shared the evidence in the "Learning and Virtual Worlds: The Education Benefits of Digital Technologies" presentation that she kept at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art Lecture Hall.

"Players hang out and engage with one another in informal social ways," the professor said, "most people go for the game and stay for the people. Kids today are growing up in thoroughly networked global spaces."

What is Gaming Addiction?

How does it start?

What are the side effects?

Although there are many in the world today that could easily argue that the effects of role playing games are detrimental to the youth of our time, some argue the exact opposite.  In the following I have taken advantage of my position as a teacher and asked a few of my students who play World of Warcraft, why they play, why they think people get addicted to the game and why certain things happen in the game.  I got some great responses and throughout this discussion I will use those interviews as well as other information that was found through various sources on the internet.

I have found that the many games like World of Warcraft, Everquest, and those other games that are of the same genre have one think in common; they have a very addictive quality to them.  Exactly what is this quality and why does it entangle some but just roll off the back of others?  We will take a look at this question as well as a few others as we try to face the problem that some feel plague many of the youths and many adults of today.

During a very informal chat with a few of my students who play WoW, I found that they usually try to self limit their play time, although that doesn’t always work.  One in particular told me that he had played for over seven hours in one seating and didn’t even realize that that amount of time had passed.  Time flies when you are having fun I guess, but why are there so many reports out in the ether saying that the addiction to WoW and its ilk is of almost epidemic proportions?  One such report was found on the public video posting site of www.youtube.com.  The video, that can be found at here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8hfK3RQs2g , depicts a teenager that seems to be extremely addicted to WoW.  The parent stating that his whole attitude has change and that he has become more violent since he started playing the game.  ß I need to expand on this.

In the article, “World of Warcraft Focus of Millions”  the author mentions an ever growing occurrence that is making its presence known, he writes, “Where once a rented movie, a night out with friends, a few drinks or a good book might have sufficed for the evening, more and more people are finding themselves passing time by slaying opponents, helping their groups with missions or gaining experience points toward a higher level or rank.”  More and more people are electing to stay indoors and forgo actual socialization for that of a keyboard, mouse and screen.  Why is this? 

In one of the interviews with the students he makes a great point he says that “The reason people would get caught up and be addicted to this game is the constant change in the aspect of the game.  Every few patches, you will have to change your charging style as well as getting unique toys that only few people have.”  Is it this ever changing and never ending scenario that is so intoxicating millions of people and drawing them into a quagmire of a non-reality?

This is just the beginning

Peer Reviews 

Michele's Review