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Online Communities Have Positive Effect

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the guilds-represent dept.

eToychest has the results from a three year study, showing the effect of online gaming communities. Overall, the study found, such communities have beneficial results. From the article: "'Our study shows that the online gaming communities are complex and highly developed, acting as training grounds for the transition from school to work' Nic continues: 'When playing, gamers are undergoing a complex process of work related learning - learning how to cope with work scenarios - which is far removed from the traditionally held negative view of gaming. Put simply, these games have a central - and positive - role to play in the development and education of young people.'"

32 comments

  1. Commander Obvious strikes again. by PFI_Optix · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Am I the only one not surprised that when you put a group of people in an entertaining environment with common goals, they develop a positive social structure that emphasizes cooperation and just generally being a good sport?

    I mean, seriously. This has been documented plenty of times in real life, is it really all that astounding that people behave the same way in multiplayer games?

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    1. Re:Commander Obvious strikes again. by voice_of_all_reason · · Score: 2, Funny

      Am I the only one not surprised that when you put a group of people in an entertaining environment with common goals, they develop a positive social structure that emphasizes cooperation and just generally being a good sport?

      If by "positive social structure" you mean "abusing any and all methods, intentional or cheat-wise, to con/deceive/insult/steal from other players for the sheer thrill", then yeah.

    2. Re:Commander Obvious strikes again. by Pec · · Score: 1

      People not in the gaming world or not related to it may have a good use to this report. They have a posibility to understand gamers with recent studies. There are always suckers for new studies, even repeating the same .... but they are new!

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    3. Re:Commander Obvious strikes again. by HTL2001 · · Score: 1

      People do this in real life also

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    4. Re:Commander Obvious strikes again. by bob65 · · Score: 1

      Well this is what these types of studies are supposed to do - confirm the obvious. I'm just surprised they haven't studied the positive effects of playing team sports etc.

    5. Re:Commander Obvious strikes again. by GospelHead821 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I don't think that this is as obvious as you think. Conventional wisdom holds that in online environments, people behave much more selfishly and with less regard for the wellbeing of others than they would in real life. It wouldn't have surprised me, for example, if this study had revealed that online gaming encourages only the bare-minimum of cooperation with players constantly wary of the motives of the other players. In fact, I am always pleasantly surprised when I run into other players who treat cooperation and team building as real goals of the experience, rather than as necessary evils.

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    6. Re:Commander Obvious strikes again. by toad3k · · Score: 1

      I've found that the size of the gameworld has a strong influence on the nature of the players within. On small muds, everyone is so amazingly nice to each other. As you increase the number, anonymity increases and it gets progressively worse.

    7. Re:Commander Obvious strikes again. by voice_of_all_reason · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but I don't pay to have it done at work.

      It's no one's fault. MMORPGS just aren't for me.

    8. Re:Commander Obvious strikes again. by PastaLover · · Score: 1

      Now if I could only shake this addiction, I might actually go out there and put these newfound skills to good use. :->

  2. Unfortunately by AdamThirteenth · · Score: 1

    No one will listen

  3. Actually interesting by Puhase · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I never really considered this idea of "work enviroment" related training and how MMO's can foster develope of these skills. Imagine how many times in school your teachers gave you a ridiculous group project simply because they wanted to teach kids how to function in a results-based enviroment as a group. There are alot of skills you learn in an MMO group: leadership, listening, adapting to change based on observation of other's actions, conflict resolution, etc. that are nice to have when you step into that deep, cold, void of the real world. Obviously they are not saying that everyone learns these skills, but I can definatly see that the challenges set before players do foster such ideas.

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    1. Re:Actually interesting by CFTM · · Score: 4, Interesting

      In high school, I was obsessed with a MUD called Arctic and introduced a bunch of my friends to the game. I enjoyed various aspects of it, probably most of all the ability to step outside my boring everyday life and be something extraordinary, but the most interesting aspect of it was the social engineering that occured. Eventually my whole group of friends got drawn in, and they probably all blame me for not getting laid in high school but that is besides the point; one of my friends latched on to the game not to enter a fantasy world but to use it as a test bed for human manipulation.

      For him, the game was a test bed where he could determine what sorts triggers and levers people have and then see how he could manipulate them to his own end (no surprise that he loved "The Prince" when he read it). I came to appreciate the same things he did later on in my experience, although I never been the manipulating type. It's fascinating though, there are extraordinary leadership opportunities to be learned in these games a person need only the fortitude to deal with morons.

    2. Re:Actually interesting by PFI_Optix · · Score: 1

      Even on the oft-derided CounterStrike you can find a great deal of organization and cooperation. A handful of good players can really energize a team, and before you know it there are a dozen or more people communicating and working together to acheive an objective. And in CS the round starts over in a few minutes.

      In a MMORPG, I would expect a lot more of that behavior. In order to achieve goals and reach certain milestones, players quickly learn that it is beneficial to work together. You will see people get much better at communicating and staying with a specific role in a team the longer they play.

      Of course, there are plenty of idiots out there...but for those who are actually playing the game as it was meant to be played, you'll see the development TFA was talking about.

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  4. transition from school to work? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 5, Funny
    "Our study shows that the online gaming communities are complex and highly developed, acting as training grounds for the transition from school to work."

    When the players went to work, however, they had to adjust to the fact that other characters' names were pinned to their chests rather than displayed in floating letters above their head. Also, the /dance macro is harder than it looks out here.

  5. In Other News... by Rapter09 · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... Talking to other people is socializing! The shocking story tonight on News at 6.

  6. Work related learning, check your scenario first by eltoyoboyo · · Score: 2, Funny

    "When playing, gamers are undergoing a complex process of 'work related learning' - learning how to cope with work scenarios -..."

    Much like school itself, online community games are social situations. And many of us conduct business through electronic communications such as phones, chats, and e-mail. I could see how being able to resolve conflicts and forge alliances remotely could be an advantage in the real world work environment.

    However, playing first person shooting games 3 hours a day with your eventual career being a postal employee working in a sorting facility may not be constructive "work related learning".

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  7. Re:Work related learning, check your scenario firs by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    However, playing first person shooting games 3 hours a day with your eventual career being a postal employee working in a sorting facility may not be constructive "work related learning".

    You mean the ability to take cover from hostile fire and figure out out to get the out of the building without getting killed is not a useful work skill in a post office environment? Not everyone gets to be a "shooter" in real life and learning how not to be a "target" can save your life. :P

  8. Socializing Practice by bob65 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So the article basically says: "Socializing with others provides good training and practice for socializing with others". I know some researchers have to conduct null studies like this to pay their bills and stuff, but is anyone really interested in this?

  9. This is especially true in the game ATITD2 by Lordpidey · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The MMOG called A Tale In the Desert 2 has an especialy unique social structure due to the game not being based on combat, but rather on cooperation to advance society.

    Take for example the test of friendship, to pass it (IIRC), you must bury money in the presence of 10 people (who you trust), thus those people know where the money is, and could dig it up and steal it, and you would never know who did it, unless you caught them in the act (unlikely). If the money is still there after a week, you pass the test. Think about that social structure ;)

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    1. Re:This is especially true in the game ATITD2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is for these reasons that I'm hesitant to apply the moniker "game" to ATITD at all. There are few rewards for the individual player. The entire thing is very political and often cliquish - there doesn't seem to be room for people who just want to play a game. Once people figure out that they MUST work together to gain the largest benefits from the game, there's no incentive not to work together and everything just devolves into monotony. It's like they took the guild politics that get tacked onto other MMOs and made it a game. To me, that's all the work without any of the rewards.

      On a pretty much unrelated note, there is a second "game" in ATITD, played between the developers and the players. It is called the law system. And guess what? The developers don't play fair.

  10. Don't Forget by Azarael · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Gaming communities give you great experience on how to deal with lots of potential aspects of a workplace. Ego driven flame wars, megalomaniacs, juvenile tantrums and control freak superiors are a few that come to mind.

    1. Re:Don't Forget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As someone who plays Enemy Territory online, I can vouch that the previous statement is definitely true. However, that's a fairly cynical approach to the situation. Yeah, you'll get pwn3d by people with more skill, better network connection, better computer than you...and sometimes they'll trash talk like there's no tomorrow. That gets annoying.

      On the other hand, a game like ET teaches cooperation and teamwork, and sometimes it's rewarding to know you healed the engineer that eventually blew up an objective, or that you supplied ammo to medics who needed to advance to some position...you get the idea.

      Yes there's a skill and social heirarchy...but if you're willing to put ego aside and do the grunt work that moves things along, it can be fun. Only if everyone else is on the same page though. Griefing is a totally different subject.

    2. Re:Don't Forget by Azarael · · Score: 1

      Well, my comments are mostly based on (in good humour) some of the clan and server meltdowns I've seen happen in ET. I don't disagree with the point of the FA, I have a bunch of friends from the game and the fact that it is team based is great for social interaction.

  11. A couple take away points by Joseph_V · · Score: 1

    The noobs really are 9 year olds.

    It is OK to drink on the job (who plays MMOs sober after all).

    Woo hoo, and hand me a pabst!

  12. Re:Work related learning, check your scenario firs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wonder if the article has a different meaning of "work related"... after all, when you start a game, you start out as a n00b, and you get schooled repeatedly. Eventually, you learn where to get whatever chunks of metal you need to make yourself serious armor and weapons, and as a member of a guild, you might be given the job of doing this for other guildmates.

  13. Playing.... learning. by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Does anyone who has seen Animal Planet find a coincidence? When animals play they're training their survival skills. Children play with toys and learn about their environment. Humans are "social animals", so games which imply cooperation in a society are (inadvertedly) training people for today's jobs.

  14. Re:Work related learning, check your scenario firs by LionKimbro · · Score: 1

    When these kids grow up, nobody will be doing postal sorting.

  15. Re:Work related learning, check your scenario firs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    However, playing first person shooting games 3 hours a day with your eventual career being a postal employee working in a sorting facility may not be constructive "work related learning".

    Unless you're playing Postal.

  16. Same results elsewhere. by paullyjunge · · Score: 1

    I hear you can get the same results bagging in a grocery store, plus be able to buy things after said work is done.

    It seems like all video game studies are meant for realistic parents who would rather have their children outside playing in the sun, as opposed to having their kids locked in a dimly-lit basement playing video games. "Games are good for your kids!" Not in comparison to what they could be doing...

  17. Teambuilding by cluke · · Score: 1

    Does this mean that the next time I have to go on a teambuilding course I can suggest we spend all day playing network games? ;-)
    Gotta be less painful than paintballing, anway.

    1. Re:Teambuilding by Quince+alPillan · · Score: 1

      Actually, yes.

      Although I would suggest a team FPS (UT2k4, CS, Joint Ops, BF1942) where teamwork is mostly necessary. Make sure to turn friendly fire on. They'll have a lot of fun shooting each other until that gets boring. Not as fun as paintball, but not as painful either. :)

      You might also try MMORPGs that require fixed classes to fill certain rolls. (I would suggest pre-made characters so they don't have to grind that much.) Having to depend on the tank to keep agro, and the healer to heal, and the damage dealer not to overnuke takes a lot of teamwork and people who know their roles.