Online Communities Have Positive Effect

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.'"

Comments

Commander Obvious strikes again.

[PFI_Optix]

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?

transition from school to work?

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

"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.