WoW Learning

As part of a course under development at The Open University, I was approached as a known World of Warcraft player and asked to write a short paragraph or two on why I play World of Warcraft. I freely admit to failing to only write a short paragraph or two, but that’s probably because I’m passionate about World of Warcraft and my activities in it, especially given the prominence it plays in my life in so many areas. Read on to find out why I play World of Warcraft.

This article was originally posted at E1n1verse on August 4, 2009 as World of Warcraft and Me: A True Confession

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Coming from a background in higher education via distance education and online communities, I am interested in the link between people’s motivations and the learning that comes from building communities of practice (Wenger, 2008), particularly in the 26+ demographic where 75% of the Open University’s new students originate. In this two-year project, I will explore the motivations of World of Warcraft players and examine the learning that takes places in their guilds and alliances, both in game and out.

Where does the learning come from? Learning is everywhere in the game. In order to contribute to a team effectively, people need to learn to play their characters well. Each character has specific abilities and learning to play well requires a substantial time investment. Other people are interested in more effectively killing things and devote hours outside of the game to reading about their character’s role and how to improve on it, often in very tiny increments. Forum discussions abound about the best equipment for particular classes and models are constructed of how in-game equipment will perform under certain conditions.

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