Specialist Practice Essay

Specialist Practice: Social Game for Social Change

Introduction

At no other time human development have conditions been more exciting, at no time has the design environment been more exciting time, at no time has design environment been more pregnant with possibilities. A question still remains on the possibility of harnessing games as an appeal for positive change besides offering an escape from reality. In popular culture, games are nothing more than that - another popular culture. A culture synonymous with the passing of time, the distraction of the mind and a relaxation for the body. The games of today akin to that of out of body experiences, effectively transporting players to fantasy narratives, breath taking worlds and a fulfilling experience;

These distinctive emblems are designed to be motivational status symbol, they mark a momentous milestone and evidence for past successes. At a general level, these emblems are able to examine and provide information about a user’s skill set and expertise as well as their participation rate whether he or she is a fanatical user or a casual user. Moreover, in a social media context these emblems are able to increase group identification which promotes a sense of solidarity in collaborative situations. Emblems featured as

Harness ideas that have the capability to shape the future.

The Special Case of Alternate Reality Gaming

Most ARGs are built to encourage collaboration. Unlike most traditional games (including console digital games), ARGs are often specifically designed to be unsolvable by an individual (Jenkins, 2004). Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Games, such as World of Warcraft, are a notable exception. For ARGs, the necessary skills and the nature of the tasks, such as requiring coordinated action in different cities, absolutely requires cooperation.

First, Alternate Reality Gaming could be considered an alignment of interest, where problems are presented in a fashion that assists game designers in their goal while intriguing and aiding players in their goals. For game designers, the goal might be engagement and focus on specific types of problems; for players, connecting to a community and starting a dialogue where passionate interest is able to harness into motivation. Analysing how to align problems and construct them into coherent experiences can be beneficial, particularly with input from