World of Warcraft Computers in Libraries 2010
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This document discusses how the online role-playing game World of Warcraft can be used by libraries to build communities and skills. It provides an overview of WoW, explaining that it is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game with over 11.5 million subscribers. It then discusses how WoW can help players build real-life skills and how libraries can offer WoW programs, services, and gaming events to bring people together and provide educational opportunities. Examples of library WoW programs include mini-raids, player vs player games, role-playing events, how-to discussions, and meetups.
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World of Warcraft Computers in Libraries 2010
- 1. Bridging Community, Research, Skill-Building & Entertainment with & Libraries Bob Beck Michael Porter David Lisa Central Arkansas WebJunction/ New Jersey Library System libraryman.com State Library World of Warcraft® and Blizzard Entertainment® are all trademarks or registered trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment in the United States and/or other countries. These terms and all related materials, logos, and images are copyright © Blizzard Entertainment.
- 2. #cilwow
- 3. About WoW WoW Research & Skill-Building WoW as a Library Service Building Communities Using WoW
- 5. WoW
- 6. Massively Multiplayer Online Role- Playing Game (MMORPG)
- 8. Play the game your way.
- 9. It’s a social network.
- 11. The Burning Crusade Expansion
- 12. Wrath of the Lich King Expansion
- 13. Cataclysm Expansion Coming Soon
- 14. Who Plays WoW?
- 15. Why do they play?
- 16. Does WoW require skill to play?
- 17. Can WoW help you build real-life skills?
- 19. “Convergence of the Real and Virtual” convergentsystems.pbworks.com
- 21. The Daedalus Project nickyee.com
- 28. WoW As a Library Service
- 29. Our Inspiration
- 30. Administrative Buy-In • Game Demonstration • Location & Equipment • Patron Access Options
- 31. Licensing & Installation •One client per computer used •Remember to Patch!
- 33. Programs
- 34. Playing Program Themes •Mini Raids •Player vs. Player •Role Playing
- 36. Social Program Themes •Meet & Greets •How-To Discussions
- 38. Does This Look Familiar? #showtooltip /cast [nocombat, dead, help] Ancestral Spirit; [mod:alt, @player] [help, nodead] Healing Wave; [harm, nodead] Lightning Bolt; [@player] Healing Wave
- 40. The Libraries & Librarians Guild
- 65. Join Us For Dinner! WoW/Gaming Dine-Around Tonight @ Kebob Palace, 526 23 rd St.S., Arlington. Starts at 5:30 pm.
- 66. Credits World of Warcraft® and Blizzard Entertainment® are all trademarks or registered trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment in the United States and/or other countries. These terms and all related materials, logos, and images are copyright © Blizzard Entertainment.
- 67. David Lisa, Consultant, New Jersey State Library dlisa@njstatelib.org Michael Porter WebJunction/libraryman.com michael.libraryman@gmail.com Bob Beck Central Arkansas Library System bbeck@cals.org
Editor's Notes
- Thank you for attending our panel! Introduce panelists. Mention that Liz Danforth was scheduled to be on panel but could not attend the conference.
- Feel free to use this identifier for your social media posts about this program!
- So, what will we be covering?
- Are there any World of Warcraft players in the audience?World of Warcraft was released in late 2004 and has been going strong for the last 5.5 years!WoW is a PC game and is not available on consoles.It is produced by Blizzard Entertainment, creators of the Warcraft, Diablo and Starcraft franchises.
- World of Warcraft is commonly abbreviated as WoW.
- WoW is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, or MMO for short.It is a subscription-based online adventure game in which players create characters of different races and classes on a particular server that corresponds to their play style (Normal, PvP, Role-Playing).Players start out adventuring in the world of Azeroth, a fantasy gaming world composed of exotic creatures, awe-inspiring races and amazing landscapes.Players level up their characters by getting in-game experience by completing quests, killing creatures or NPCs or teaming with others to complete harder challenges in what are called instances. Without a doubt, WoW is probably Blizzard’s most popular game ever.
- WoW has approximately 11.5 million subscribers, more or less, making it the most successful game of its kind.This is phenomenal considering the fact that the game is 5 years old, and is popularity that rarely happens with PC games this old.
- Why is the game so popular?One reason is that players can approach the game differently and play it any way they please.PvP. Questing. Role-playing. Professions. Economy. Team-building.
- Another important quality of WoW is that it is a social network made up of people playing the game, many of whom band together to more easily complete game content.Based upon the individual’s play style, a character is not required to team and can level up solo through the entire 80 levels.We will look at some of the many benefits of banding together with others when we begin to talk about guilds later with Michael.
- World of Warcraft, from the outset, was designed to be an ever-changing online gaming world. As such, patches to the game are instituted occasionally, which update world content, graphics, items, NPCs, etc. This transforms a static gaming world into a malleable, ever-changing one.The most major content updates come in the form of expansion packs.
- The first WoW expansion was called The Burning Crusade and enabled players to adventure in the world of Outland.
- The second World of Warcraft expansion was called Wrath of the Lich King and introduced the continent of Northrend to Azeroth.
- The thirdWoW expansion will be called Cataclysm and will be released later this year. Blizzard promises that this expansion will bring great changes to world of Azeroth.
- World of Warcraft has become very successful. People from all age groups, economic strata, professions and ways of life play the game. Studies have been conducted to investigate the player makeup of WoW. They generally indicate that those who play the game are generally and innately educated and enjoy the social aspect of the game.
- People play WoW for a variety of reasons.Some enjoy the lure of a PC gaming environment. Some are interested in the combination of a PC game and a social environment.Others likeWoW because it is a complex game filled with a variety of different things to do.Some consider WoW a good economic value, paying a flat fee to experience as much game content as they wish during a month.Most people play WoW because…it is fun.
- This is a common question that comes up and the answer is not simple. Some say that WoW does require skill to play WELL.The truth is that all game content is easily assimilated and previous PC gaming experience is not required in order to play.
- This is an integral question that has fascinated researchers during the past couple years.The general indication is that WoW can help individuals build real-life skills.Leadership skills are required in order to, for example, found and maintain a guild of players. Moderating and directing a party of players, each with a specific role, in order to complete harder instance content, requires organization, management skills, diplomacy and motivational skills. Getting experience leading parties can help build these skills.
- This inevitably leads us to the study of virtual worlds, as WoW is one of the most successful virtual gaming worlds existing today.Here are two examples of virtual world research utilizing WoW.
- This is an example of using WoW as a home base for scientific research and discussion.In 2008, a research conference was held within WoW and the results can be seen on this wiki. The organizers of the conference were Williams Sims Bainbridge and John Bohannon. During the conference, participants held sessions in specific locations in WoW (Undercity and Booty Bay, among them). Afterwards they went on expeditions to other areas in Azeroth. This, of course is similar to how we are holding our conference here at this hotel and will afterwards go on a dine-around later after the day’s conference has concluded.Topics covered included:Research and World of WarcraftRelationships between WoW and the “real world”The future of virtual worldsI urge you to go the conference wiki address noted here because there is far too much information about the conference contained there to show here. You will find screenshots and videos, working papers, a list of conference participants, a bibliography, transcripts of the sessions and expeditions and more.
- For an example of a study of World of Warcraft players and their environments, we have no further to look than the research done by Palo Alto Research Center scientist Nick Yee. At his site you will find a link to The Daedalus Project, in which Nick investigated the motivations of WoW players and how their activities in this virtual world compared to their real life activities. Although the project is currently in “hibernation mode,” a wealth of information about the results of the study can be found at the site including links to Nick’s articles on the project. Much of his research was focused upon World of Warcraft players.
- So. In WoW players travel fascinating continents, like this one, Scholazar Basin in Northrend.
- It’s not uncommon to find players relaxing with a little fishing with their favorite pet by their side.
- Friends working together can accomplish game content easier. They can know each other in real life, or meet in game!
- Sometimes it takes a LARGE group of players to get something done!
- Here’s an example of how questing works in WoW. Questing is the easiest way to level up. Here we see the diminutive gnome mage Atoz querying the murloc Old Icefin for a quest. Old Icefin is the one with the yellow exclamation point above his head. Atoz will accept the quest, go and accomplish the quest requirements and come back to Old Icefin, turn in the quest and get experience and some money as a reward. Atoz then moves on to the next quest.
- The gaming vistas in World of Warcraft can be beautiful as well as dangerous. Here we see a Night Elf Hunter running into the sunset with his pet cat.
- Introduce Bob Beck of the Central Arkansas Library System, who will be talking about WoW as a library service.
- The Library Knitting Group.The social nature of WoW is comparable to a book club or knitting group, and that sharing of experience is what we attempt to harness in our programs.If they can sit there and knit, we can sit there and play games.
- Game Demonstration – The game needs to be shown to your administrators for them to fully understand its scope. Seeing the Realm Selection Menu, the in-game map feature, and a fly-by over Dalaran sold my administrators within minutes.Location & Equipment – Unless you have the budget for new gaming computers, Public Training Lab computers, laptops, etc. purchased within the last 3 years should meet the minimum game requirements.Minimum Processor: Intel Pentium 4 1.3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500Minimum Memory: 512 MBMinimum Video: 3D Graphics processor with 32 MB VRAMPatron Access Options – 10-Day Free Trials are available at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/. Subscription pricing choices are monthly at $14.99, every three months at $41.97, or every six months at $77.94 for each license.
- All Blizzard asks is that one copy of their software be purchased for each computer used in your program.A full installation of the game client uses about 16 GB of hard drive space.You do not need to create an account after installing the client.Remember to run the game prior to your programs to install all Patches (updates).
- WoW’s fragmented nature posed a problem in that patrons at our programs wouldn’t be able to play together. We had to design programs that involved direct social interaction among participants, or programs that would allow participants to play separately.
- Our Programs focus on an exchange of ideas and shared experiences among our patrons. We try to provide something that players can’t get at home.
- Mini Raids – Choose a realm and invite particpants to create new “toons.” Once everyone reaches level 4 or 5, go out as a group and attack the nearest mini boss.Player vs. Player – There are many options to choose from here. New “toons” on the same realm to duel each other; get the most Honorable Kills within a certain time period; the first particpant to win three duels. Prizes are key to PvP program success.Role Playing – Conduct an open discussion of your character backgrounds, or script an event so particpants can play along.
- Also, a free-play environment lets people discuss topics of their own choice.
- Meet & Greets – Large, orchestrated social events designed to bring in large numbers of patrons.How-to Discussions – Topical discussion programs used to help patrons understand various aspects of the game.
- Meet & Greet programs are big events we plan months in advance. We offer goody bags for everyone, bigger door prizes and a larger selection of munchies. We use the Meet & Greet programs to spread the word of our smaller how-to programs to our patrons.
- Macro writing, userinterface customization, add-ons and video capture workshops are a big part of what we offer.
- Introduce Bob Beck of the Central Arkansas Library System, who will be talking about WoW as a library service.
- Michael’s slides.
- Thanks from the panel!
- Thanks from the panel!
- Thanks from the panel!
- Take questions for all panel members.
- Announce the dine around for this evening.
- The panelists would like to acknowledge Blizzard Entertainment for all game content, screenshots and trademarks that have appeared in this presentation.
- Thanks from the panel!