Comments on: Ignorance, the Ultimate Boss

By: Jolli

Jolli — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:03:46 +0000

It is amazing how video games like this (or many games in general) promote scientific and mathematic thinking in order to excel. World of Warcraft is one that comes to mind (merely b/c of the sheer number of people that play it… and that I play it too I guess). If you visit forums for the game, you can find “number crunching”, mathematically proven formulas, and much more information that people have compiled in order to have greater success with “casting fire balls at dragons”. Games like this, also include macros that can be programed to perform different tasks. While the programming for these macros is by no means difficult, it can teach basics of programming and logic to anyone that uses them. I find all of this rather amazing really.

By: Jon Gorman

Jon Gorman — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:03:40 +0000

Want to see similar things? Check out faqs/walkthroughs for games like Final Fantasy Tactics Advance or even Dynasty Warriors. You’ll see people not only figuring out the models, but people researching (and frequently plagiarizing) from other sources.

There’s a few games I rather like that I’ll probably have to get a notebook for one of these days (final fantasy tactics advance 2 comes to my mind).

Then again, from what I can tell these type of people are a bit rare and probably the ones who approach problems like this in real life as well…

By: gaming in the library « elizabeth in library land

gaming in the library « elizabeth in library land — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:38:22 +0000

[…] a recent post by Jenny Levine (The Shifted Librarian) about some research that has found kids using science skills to beat games. It’s pretty interesting and I can see this going the way that Fantasy Sports have been used […]

By: Virtual gaming as a learning and teaching tool | School 2.0 in SA

Virtual gaming as a learning and teaching tool | School 2.0 in SA — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:16:00 +0000

[…] I was recently pointed in the direction of a blog article which really created a WOW moment for me. It was about how teenagers have used mathematical modelling to figure out how to defeat “the bosses” in their virtual online game. A definite must-read: “Videogames are becoming the new hotbed of scientific thinking for kids today….” […]

By: terry

terry — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:40:02 +0000

And if you want to see the absence of science check out http://www.antispore.com

By: SuBo

SuBo — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:01:06 +0000

Hi Jenny, you can still get to the archived MLS 2005 gaming symposium website, but it doesn’t redirect anymore from the original URL, see it here: http://www.mls.lib.il.us/gaming/index.html

By: Ignorance, the Ultimate Boss | World Of Warcraft News

Ignorance, the Ultimate Boss | World Of Warcraft News — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 12:22:37 +0000

[…] post by The Shifted Librarian Need WOW Guide? Click […]