scientific-method
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The Mog Log: Experiment Rhio
A long time ago -- like, when I started this column -- I had an idea. Or more accurately, I had a tiny nub of an idea that seemed as if it would be very relevant later. I was still smarting over the VanaFest announcements and the whole idea that nothing would be done to help the lower levels... and an idea came to me. If I was so certain that there was no population to play these areas, why didn't I try soloing them to see how things worked out? Of course, at the time, I mostly wanted to point and enjoy the sour grapes of being proven right. But as xkcd so eloquently put it, you don't use science to prove yourself right, you use it to become right. (Alt text is your friend.) And so I logged in and put a hard theory to the test: what could a Final Fantasy XI character do without anything more involved than a subjob? No advanced jobs, no airship passes, no special access. Was leveling possible? Difficult? Easy? This was -- and is -- the Rhio experiment.
WoW as training ground for scientific method
We've heard about WoW in the news due to addiction and spousal trouble. When scientists chat about the game, they tend to be interested in the dynamics of virtual worlds. Constance Steinkuehler from the University of Wisconsin is approaching WoW and science in a different light. Constance noticed a specific dynamic when she watched Lineage players approach raiding with a familiar method. They'd form a hypothesis about a boss, test it, gather evidence, and then reform their hypothesis based on that evidence. For those of you following along at home, that's basically the "Scientific Method." Steinkuehler tested for the use of Scientific Method in WoW by going to the official forums, and studying 2,000 threads. According to the results, 86% of the threads were focused on analyzing the ruleset of the game. The implication is that those posts use some scientific method to understand WoW's rules. (I wonder if "Nerf Rogues!" was included as meaningful content.) The purpose of this study seems to be to reverse our youth's growing scientific illiteracy by using video games to exemplify scientific pursuits. Since science is often about the method of obtaining facts, and not just facts themselves, teachers might be able to use games to help students "L2Science." Sounds solid to me, but I'm still not sold on the forums being a fertile ground of meaningful content.
MMO players are doing science, academic proposes
We've seen plenty of arguments in support of MMOs, claiming they improve everything from hand-eye co-ordination to math to economics to social skills. Even if some of these seem overblown, we'd rather have MMOs shown in a positive light than the alternative. Now, though, an academic from the University of Wisconsin has pointed out something which in retrospect seems obvious: gamers who engaged with difficult challenges were utilizing the scientific method in order to beat them.This didn't simply mean fighting ice beasties with fire powers, or the jolly gonzo science we've seen in the past. The gamers were coming up with specific hypotheses, testing them with empirical data, and modifying the hypotheses accordingly, using Excel spreadsheets to analyze their findings. This is, as she put it, 'the essence of science'.
