Massisively Multi-layered Learning from Virtual Worlds
The session about how interactions in virtual environments can be utilized in the real world was very inspiring and could have kept going for hours. I will try and highlight some of the general trends of the many issues discussed.
The MMOGs of today like Wow is very expensive to create and maintain because of the time spend by game designers to generate content for the users. The general consensus among the panel was that hardcore gaming MMOGs like Wow will blend more with user generated worlds like 2nd Life and generating a hybrid format of MMOGs in the future. The hybrid MMOGs will benefit both game producers and users by lowering the cost of development but also by adding more sustainability for the users by allowing them to create their own content and hence creating an army of game designers.
The hybrid MMOGs raises some interesting question about the game designer versus users designing content and who have the power to develop the game and controls the game mechanics.
Another interesting issue was raised by Jerry Paffendorf that MMOGs are becoming a point of access to the internet where build browsers in 2nd Life allows users to have one access point to web content and implementing that with a Google Earth type MMOG would creating a true metaverse experience.
The last issue I will highlight is the blending of MMOGs quests with real world problem solving like quests where a player have to scan images for certain patterns to complete the quest. The real pattern the player is scanning is a real world x-ray images and is helping a doctor diagnose for cancer. It might be one of the more difficult quests to complete but a very interesting collaboration with a truly real world socio-economic benefit.
