Principles

__**Please post each principle using the following format:**__

1. Short title 2. Description 3. Your name, and the game where this principle is illustrated

1. Psychosocial Moratorium Principle 2. Playing in a virtual world/setting allows the player (learner) to take different risks that they might not otherwise take in real life. When your WoW character is taking on a daunting quest, the “enemy” you are fighting against no doubt fights back. While you do acquire different tools throughout the game to help in these situations, when learning how to use the weapons and spells, it seems like you end up getting viciously attached more than you actually attach the “enemy.” As this happens and you watch your health points diminish to the point of sudden death, it’s not the end of the world. I feel like since “death” is involved, this is quite the extreme example, but in the game it’s literally ok to take risks and get killed because I know I’ll have a chance to try again. After recently getting killed 8 times in a span of 2 hours, I went from frustration to determination. Each time I was killed, I found myself going through the process of resurrecting myself, knowing the game was going to take take me where I last left off and I could take what I did last time and building off of it to do something better. Sometimes the "real-world" does not seem as forgiving or you do not have as many opportunities to learn from your mistakes. Who knew killing myself would be so motivating! 3. Amanda - World of Warcraft

1. Amplification of Input Principle 2. A little input goes a long way! I spent three days nervously playing WoW by myself. During that time, I did a lot of virtual wondering through the forests as admiring the trees was about all I could figure out how to do. I admit that it took way too long to figure out the handy little map and that Marshal McBride was indeed not confused all the time, but rather was the go to dude for quests, alas once I did I started to feel a little less terrified of the game. When I added classmates to the mix, I quickly learned how to communicate via the chat box. Having this small token of information opened the learning opportunities for me. Prior to playing with peers I was timid and didn’t take risks as I had no idea what I was doing. Then as I begin to have the ability to ask questions and read the questions asked by others, my knowledge of the game begin to rapidly grow and I could explore new possibilities and take more risks leading to even more learning opportunities. 3. Amanda - World of Warcraft

1. Social Motivation "principle" (in following Amanda's lead!) 2. I spent time just running around the game without caring about quests or leveling up or killing, for about three days. Then I "ran into" two Cadre-mates who WANTED me to get a quest and to help me master it. They were more motivated and excited than I was...but I can't say I didn't enjoy the process of the quest with them at my side doing their silly jumps and clapping and cheers. And, in the process a learned a few things. 3. Shawntel-WoW

1. Curiosity "principle" 2. During my time playing Broadsides, I got caught up in the story that I was "playing" /making happen with my choices. I watched my health and knowledge and honor points rise and fall with my "choices" and wanted to see what would happen next. I didn't really care one way or another...I just was curious, and that was enough to keep me trying things and playing. 3. Shawntel-Choices of Broadsides

1. Individualized pace "principle" 2. Not having a defined timeframe for leveling up gives me the freedom to take time to explore the area more, learn the skills better, practice more, and even help my friends; and I really like that feeling. 3. Shawntel -WoW

1. Short Title: Rewards and Trophy 2. Description: the principle that if you do something right while playing that you will get a reward ie. copper/ move to the next level 3. Simone, this principle is illustrated in WoW

1. Short Title: Celebrate Failure 2. Description: The application of learning by doing is emphasized by letting the player fail or die in the game, but be able to return to the same level vice starting all the way at the beginning again. It is an environment where a person can play and play and play failing all the way, but still make continual progress in game skills and game levels 3. Matt W. - Super Mario Brothers 2

1. Short Title: Emotional Investment 2. Description: By having the player develop themselves as a personalized character into the game and building up challenge accomplishments, gets the player to create an emotional attachment to the player and the game which led to a more engaging and mesmerizing experience 3. Matt W. - Tiger Woods Golf 2011

1. Short Title: Collaborative Dependency 2. Description: By having the player's progress dependent upon the help of other players it has created a type of learning circle based upon the interaction with other players to help learn vice being dependent on an instruction manual. 3. Matt W. - WoW

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2. WoW is rather compelling and in a league of its own, After days and nights, fouls battles that only led to death, I got up to a level that I never thought I would. I truly thought I was doing great; until my mage human character was faced with a quest that didn't involve killing. First, I used a trial and error process. Then I went around asking others, another error since they were asking for my help of a healing. I then randomly killed anything. Error. Even though these prior attempts, led to no avail, I continued interacting with the characters, which did help me build a sense of understanding of the game. I then thought of following the visuals, using a map for a change. The map includes an image of the surroundings, an ever so helpful symbols and an arrow to guide me. Images in games help me connect an idea my virtual reality. For example, while still trying to complete the quest, I am able to follow the arrow, which leads me to a scene of images of vivid grass and woodsy nature. This scene helped me connect the map to where I was, informing me that I am close. The sounds of nature around me and the thumps of a (cute) rabbit I could bring myself to kill, let me know I was getting warmer; my quest was in the woods. The sounds and visuals of other players doing what I was in fact told to do, indicated to me that me that I was on the right path. I finally completed my quest and unleashed my mage powers on a training dummy. It was at that moment, that I had completed my quest and matriculated to level 5! ======

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2. In the racing game Mario Kart Wii, my son mentioned that if I play a fun game that has a goal, while competing, then I will learn. When I first started playing, I was so confused, I was making lots of effort and practicing, but I was not used to the remote acting as a steering wheel. Then, I finally started to drive and I had fun. I started to get the hang of it, actually staying on the road during the game. Then, another character, Browser, hits me! I then attempt to go after him, but instead, I run into various things. To finish it all off, I look above my character and find that I was going backwards the entire time! Then, the race ended. Though I failed, I was committed to learning and determined to try again. The game puts different obstacles in your way, and once you realize at least one, it draws you back,, making you want to play just one more time. Then, that one time turns to two, three and so on. When you are in the game, there is a image in the left hand corner letting you know your place. This encourages you to get in the top three. On the race track, so many obstacles are thrown your way, but you become determined to not let them get in front of you, running into them. You play again, thinking its all fun, but the competitiveness of the game, gives you the drive and commitment to learn all of the tricks, then being able to earn first place and unlock new race courses and new characters to play. ======

3. Lily - Mario Kart Wii
1. Emotional

2. While creating your own Sims is an option, I went with what was pre-selected. In my game I have an adult couple that is engaged and live together. The female just got pregnant. Both of these adult Sims have a wish to be the girlfriend/boyfriend of 10 other Sims. I’ve been having them go on dates with other Sims, but don’t feel like breaking them up—that just seems wrong! I’ve been getting attached to the game because I’ve slowly been learning more and more about how the game works and it’s exciting to try out new things. As I have gotten to know my characters, I am slowly getting attached to them. I want to see them do well and progress because that means that I’m doing a good job too.

3. Andrea SIMS3

1. Status and Fame

2. Description: Rock Band is a game for up to four people who perform the role of rock stars by singing into the microphone, banging on plastic drums, pressing chords on a plastic guitar with buttons instead of strings and rocking out on stage to Nirvana, Guns and Roses, Rolling Stones, and the Beatles, to name a few. Every step up the difficulty chart gives you a more complicated set of musical actions to perform (more complex chords, drumbeats, or pitch perfection). Our family rocking out! 3. Debbie Rock Band 2

1.Regime of Competence Principle

2.Description: As I progress through the levels of the game each portal is more challenging than the previous portal. The last level I completed took me several attempts to get through the portal. But it does not seen “impossible” to get through the portal to the next level.

3. Jonathan Silk- Portal 2

==== 2. In Portal 2, to make it to the next level you need to go through a portal door. You have a portal gun in which you can blast holes in walls in order to get to the portal doors. If you make a new hole and it does not lead to the portal door then you can blast a new hole and try again without any consequences. Seldom in the real world is there an environment where you can make as many mistakes as you want in order to achieve success without any consequences.====

3. Jonathan Silk- Portal 2
1. Tangible progression (attributed to Russell Revis) 2. Each quest gives you a stronger character, new resources to use, more interesting challenges to pursue, constant feedback as you progress and the game becomes more complex intellectually; your choice of talent influences the development of your character; choice of profession introduces a different type of engagement 3. Danna Revis (and Russell)- World of Warcraft

1.Multiple Routes Principle-
==== 2. In World of Warcraft there are multiple ways to get ahead in the EARLY levels. If you need experience points you can go fight Blackrock Battle Worg’s and Blackrock Spies to gain experience points to get to the next level or you can do a quest and gain experience that way. This works up until a certain point. I am on the quest to scout the Fargodeep Mine and I keep getting killed fighting large groups of Kobolds. I am going to join a party and go into the mines as a team in order to destroy the Kobolds and finish the quest. ====

3. Jonathan Silk- World of Warcraft
1. Saving, Reloading, and Player Failure:

2. This principle allows the game that you are playing to be saved at any time. By saving your progress within a game, it allows you to come back to where you left off when you have either quit the game or died. Being able to save and re-load the game gives the player a sense of accomplishment by not having to start over. Just beware you don't become one of those avid "savers"- you know ones who always push the save button!

3. Harmoni, Portal 2

1. Ease of Play Doesn't Equal a Simplistic Game:

2. The complexity of a game changes as the player advances. The attributes of the game is what changes and makes the game more difficult, it is not the rules that alter. WoW is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Find the guys with the ? above their head, accept the quest, conquer the quest,and return to the guy with an ! now above their head. This concept stays the same throughout the game, however the terrain and the enemies of the game change and become more difficult to conquer as you continue to level up.

3. Harmoni, WoW

1. Well-ordered problems 2. This is a basic principle, but it's so critical to learning even in the simplest of games such as Blocks. Actually in this game the principle is very evident because there are not a lot of distractions to distort your focus (unlike when I'm in Harry Potter's world and experiencing sensory overload). You are very cognizant of what you are doing to move the target block off the screen so that when faced with a new challenge, you first look to see if the previous strategy will work. The developer set it up so that every 2-3 "boards" the player confronts a new problem. Progressively, players realize that they can combine strategies on more complex challenges. 3. Michelle Green, Blocks (iPad app)

1. Just in Time Tips 2. I know these are built into the game but it's almost like the challenge senses when I'm getting stuck and it offers a diversion that provides me a clue. 3. Michelle Green, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

1. “Regime of Competence Principle”- 2nd Post

2. Description: As I complete quests in WoW they are getting progressively more difficult. In my last quest, the FargoDeep mine mission, it was very challenging and I continued to get killed over and over, but each time I had made it a little bit farther before dying, so I knew I was headed on the right track. I finally completed the quest after following a couple of strangers into the mine and they killed off the Kobolds while I scouted the mine. The next quest is the JasperLoad mine and I know from the FargoDeep experience that it will be challenging but not impossible. Hopefully some more strangers show up. : )



3. Jonathan Silk- World of Warcraft

1. Short Title: Mixed Strategy 2. Description: the principle that players learn to randomly use strategies (move combinations) to increase their probability of winning the game. After using the training mode I moved from knowing basic moves to learning different combinations (strategies) of moves that I used on the opposing player. Mixing these combos increased my chances of winning. 3. Simone, this principle is illustrated in Mortal Kombat

1.Short Title: Exploration of the ground 2. Description: As I started the game and had no idea ( continue to have no idea) how to play it, one clear principle became evident that part of the design of the game is for you (as the player) to explore by asking and learn from others -all exploratory. This process encourage the individual to be open the process and curosity along with collaboration from others who are part of the World as well. 3 Jackie, WOW

1. Design Principle 2. I am probably the strangest person ever, but trying to play Portal 2 made me really motion sick. That being said, because the game was so realistic, I began to really appreciate the art and design of that game and wanted to find a way to make myself learn and able to play it. 3. Amanda - Portal 2

1. Self-Knowledge Principle 2. While attempting to play Portal 2, I found myself very aware of my frustrations. Whenever I felt that way, I encouraged myself to shift into my “normal” learning mode to figure things out (i.e. pulling from prior knowledge and seeking advice from others). I also noted that I valued little things like dialog from the robot dude to confirm what I was doing. 3. Amanda - Portal 2

1. Bottom-up Basic Skills Principle 2. When you log into WoW for the first time, you don’t get set instructions. Yet, despite going in blind so to speak, there are subtle hints throughout the game to help you become part of the game. That map for example is something people are familiar with in real live and can help guide you around as you explore. A common symbols such as the question mark is also helpful in obtaining new information as it is something familiar to catch your attention and eventual points you in the direction. 3. Amanda - WoW

1. Heuristic Learning Process 2. The structure of human knowing being the three step heuristic process of experience, understanding, and judgement with gaming in that based upon my gaming experience that I would try it, fail, figure out why I failed, receive insight on what not to do or what to do, and then try again. 3. Matt - WoW

1. Optional and Pop Up Information (coming in at appropriate times) 2. While playing WoW one can get easily frustrated! This game does start "easy" but seems that many of us wandered about the forest for a while. The information the game provides is helpful. You can click or move your mouse over items to find out more information. This helps in finding cadre mates online or if the character you are targeting is the one you need to kill to complete your quest.

In the beginning of the game I was able to walk on water. When I progressed a few levels I went to walk on water and found that I was swimming instead. A bubble popped up to explain how to move when you are swimming and that you can't run out of air or you will start drowning. This time I swam a very short distance so I didn't really need to do anything extra. Next time I'm swimming I'll remember what to do. If I had been given this information earlier in the game it would not have been relevant and I probably would have forgotten it. Having it come up at an opportune time helps! 3. Andrea WoW

1. Identity Principal/Projective Identity 2. As Annie, I am many things, but I am not a mage. I do not have the ability to shoot fireballs or frostbolts from my bare hands. I do not run around heroically smiting bad guys or rescuing good guys. I have never flown a griffon. But, when I'm Anne //**as**// Zileinna, I am a mage with supernatural abilities and heroic tendencies and griffon frequent-flyer miles. In creating and developing my character, I am able to make choices for myself (her) that perhaps I would, or perhaps I would not make as my real self. Assuming this avatar allows me freedom to choose, reflect, make mistakes, die, resurrect, kill, heal and perform supernatural feats. 3. Annie - WoW

1. Semiotic Principles 2. The experience of Portal 2 requires thinking that is divergent from the very rules of physics in which we actually operate. As far as I know, the technology has yet to be developed that allows you to blast teleportation-capable holes in walls, and yet, this game allows me to imagine the logistical effects of such an imaginary technology, and then actually apply them. With the progression of the game, more objects are introduced and I am meant to figure out how each one works and how they work together in successful combinations. It is through a combination of symbols that are initially foreign, but become familiar, and through experimentation with the objects themselves, I am able to observe and operate within a constructed domain. Without consciously doing so, I have been reflecting on the environment, and even the design of that environment as a way of figuring out what I am meant to do and how to accomplish my objectives. One learns to "read" the virtual environment for clues and learns how to react to those clues...and eventually how to manipulate the environment. I also believe that my established affinity for the larger semiotic domain of video games in general makes me a bit quicker at reading new semiotic domains of games I have never played before. 3. Annie - WoW

1. Scaffolded UI Principle 2. Not all UI elements are available at the beginning og the game. This stops new users from feeling overwhelmed. As new buttons are introduced, handy helpful tips appear, explaining the new item. 3. Paul - WoW

1. Intrinsically Rewarding 2. Although points and badges are not awarded, you as the player still feel a sense of achievement when there is acknowledgement of passing a level and moving on to the next. You know that you have succeeded in your quest and you don't need something in return. This is evident in Portal 2. You move on to the next level without accepting points or badges. You move into a new room and the camera guy acknowledges your success. 3. Harmoni, Portal 2

1. Harrrrd Fun and Success 2. Continuous and never ending achievement The games that I play are very challenging intellectually and physically, but almost all the time they feel very doable. All the time that I played, I didn't even think "i can't do this", but rather was motivated to play to get to the next level. Your failures are obvious steps for you to succeed, just like it should be in real life, but we tend to get frustrated easily in real life. In the game there is always that feeling that all the obstacles and challenges are conquerable, we just need to keep learning and trying. It's hard but it's fun. It's interesting that I don't look forward to finishing the game, but only just passing to the next level. I don't want the game to end, because I want to keep succeeding. 3. Lucy Y., Dance Dance Revolution WoW

1. Transfer Principle 2. You are giving ample time to practice and transfer what you have learned earlier to later problems. This principle is seen throughout Portal 2. You start off learning a basic skill and then you are challenged to use that skill in a few varied scenarios. Then another skill is added and you must use the new skill along side and in cooperation with the old skill in more scenarios. As the game progresses, even more skills are added requiring you to transfer the knowledge of each skill to work in new ways and new environments. 3. Trey, Portal 2

1. MultiModal Principle 2. Meaning and knowledge are built up through multiple modalities, not just text. In Portal 2, at the beginning of each "test", there are a variety of visual clues to help you know what is required. There are symbols in the entry way that represent various actions that will be performed. There is a mini movie demonstrating a set piece that will be used or introduced. During the test themselves, there are some modalities including dotted lines to lead you to points of interest, and some objects have graphics that represent its usefulness. 3. Trey, Portal 2

1. Beating odds Principle (tribute to Jane McGonigal) 2. Here I would like to make a reference to "Flow," and "experience-at least the hope, of being successful" in MacGonigal's book. Japanese Mahjong is not a Solitaire. The game's goal is to collect tiles and make a particular pattern or sequence to win. Winning pattern/sequence have a level of scoring system. During the game, a player receives one tile and discard one tile to collect tiles for his desired pattern, possibly high scoring pattern. But before he complete his pattern, his opponent may win with the low score pattern. Your efforts of building high scoring pattern will be wasted. You lose. If he gets better tiles on his receive fast enough before his opponent win, he has a chance of winning. The game stimulates the player to think and create higher score pattern. The game also motivates the player (McGonigal called "Flow") to continue the game to beat the odds. The player experiences the hope of being successful. Beating odds Principle is important when we face a difficult situation to challenge in our real world. 3. Mie Buskirk - Japanese Mahjong. 4. Notes: Bill, sorry that I did not join WoW. I just cannot fight against anyone even virtual enemies.

1. Incremental Principle 2. In the beginning of Batman: Arkham Asylum, you are given only one weapon - your Batarang. It doesn't kill anybody - doesn't even knock them out. But it does stun them momentarily. For much of the beginning areas, you run around pounding goons with your fists, but there are certain points where it's handy to whip out a batarang. Soon, you learn that you can use the seemingly useless batarang to temporarily disable goons with guns (who would otherwise shoot you), allowing you to get in close and deliver whoop-butt. Fast forward two areas of the asylum: and you're met with Croc, this huge half gator half human mutant who charges at you in the sewers below the asylum. There's no way you can beat him fist to fist - he's like nine times your size. BUT, even without prompting, when you see this massive monster charging you from a hundred feet away you quickly assess what you have and you apply the knowledge gained from before to this situation - whipping out a Batarang to Croc's head (which you also learned to do earlier as a more effective way of using Batarangs), causing him to stagger and fall. 3. Kevin Chow, Batman: Arkham Asylum

1.Explicit Information On-Demand and Just-in-Time Principle 2. Going back to the Batarang example, you start out with a puny batarang... and sometimes, you don't figure things out on your own. For example, you do an inverted takedown (hang upside down from the rafters, and snatch some hapless goon up, punch him, then leave him dangling upside down from the apparently endless supply of rope you carry in your utility belt); goons gather to gawk at the luckless upside-down goon. The game gives you some time to figure out what to do as you watch the scene from a safe distance up above... if this is your first inverted takedown, and if you don't take any action after about ten seconds, the game explicitly pops up a little graphic that shows a batarang hitting the rope of an upside-down goon. a very brief caption "use batarangs to cut down upside-down thugs" also appears. if you follow the direction and throw the batarang at that moment, the goon falls, taking out several other goods directly below him. 3. Kevin Chow, Batman: Arkham Asylum

1. Amplification of Input Principle 2. Which, of course, brings us to another principle - the simple action of your throwing a batarang results in a highly satisfying crash, cries of terrified thugs, and (if you are lucky) several unconscious thugs. In the above example, a single batarang results in the satisfaction of seeing a thug hit the ground headfirst on top of game-beneficial result of seeing one or two more goons taken out for the "price" of a single batarang throw. The same can be said of Batman's drop-kicks - a single aim and click sends Batman soaring through the air (which you can watch with a very helpful cinematic cam feature), landing on some goon boot-first, and then a quick punch to the noggin to put the goon out cold. It encourages you to try the move more often - as well as experiment to see what other things you can do with a simple aim and click - given the condition of being high above, or hanging below, or directly adjecent through a glass wall, a goon. It encourages self-discovery - and I'm thinking about how that could be harnessed in lesson plans where instead of the teacher teaching as much, the students wind up teaching themselves through experience and experimentation. 3. Kevin Chow, Batman: Arkham Asylum

1. Multimodal Principle 2. As a level 1 dwarf, it's very hard to survive in the dangerous worlds of WoW. When you first start out, the most common and feared enemies are Ripjaws - nasty looking little beasties that rush up to you to bite you. The thing is, you can kill them reasonably easily if you face them - but when you're running through a cave (and Ripjaws are endless), these Ripjaws can come after you from behind, taking snaps out of you before you can turn to defend yourself properly. But what's interesting is that they growl. Because they growl right before attacking, the player learns to use his auditory modality as a vital part of his feedback system. Later, as you meet other beasties like wild boars, you can use the sound of growls to let you know when you're getting too close to an animal, as well as use it to warn you of an impending attack. 3. Kevin Chow World of Warcraft

1. Intuitive Knowledge Principle 2. If you hide behind a box, you can't be seen. If you shoot a bullet going at 2700 feet a second at a plywood wall, it's going to go right through. These seem like pretty obvious, intuitively understood pieces of prior knowledge, but if you look at some poorly thought-out games (even today) bullets can easily be stopped by sheet metal, and aliens will home in on you even if you are hidden inside a box that's behind a building and the box is the shadows. In Counterstrike: Source, however, this intuitive knowledge is rewarded. If you see a terrorist hide behind a plywood door, you can fire right through that door and kill the terrorist. similarly, if you are smart enough to choose to duck behind a concrete wall you are rewarded with impenetrable cover. I'm thinking about how this can translate to lesson plans. how can I write units that take advantage of students' intuitive knowledge? the problem is that they know so little... but do they really? maybe I can draw upon their video game skills. social skills? tagging skills? skating skills? i don't know. Maybe what I can do at the very beginning of the year is to do an inventory of skills! 3. Kevin Chow, Counterstrike: Source (online multiplayer)