We report the findings from an experiment concerning the impact of gaming on the acquisition of simple vs. complex knowledge, as well as tacit knowledge. An experimental study involving 35 novice World of Warcraft gamers shows that gaming leads to knowledge acquisition, which is higher for fact-based knowledge than for complex, planningtype knowledge. The results also indicate that subjects acquire more knowledge than they are able to recall. Results concerning the impact of chauffeuring, i.e., game demonstration by an experimenter prior to subjects’ own task work are inconclusive, but hint at the value of chauffeuring to flatten the learning curve.

1. Exploring The
Effectiveness Of
Online Role-play
Gaming In The
Acquisition Of
Complex And Tacit
Knowledge
53rd Annual IACIS International
Conference San Juan, Puerto Rico,
October 2-5, 2013
Christian Wagner
Victor Dibia
City University of
Hong Kong

2. • Interesting and captivating
• Useful skills?
• Only “how to” in the game world?
• Knowledge complexity
• Knowledge tacicity
• Difficulty in learning?
• Need for chauffeuring?

3. Role Playing Games are a genre of
computer games where players achieve

4. • Class of games
• Thousands to Millions of concurrent users
• Playing against each other (PvP) or against the
environment (PvE)
• Assume a role (purposeful play)
• Persistence and progression
• Social interaction
Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing
Games

5. • Immersive 3D MMPORG – assume a character
• PVE/PVP – “cleanse Azeroth”
• Expertise points and levels (non-linear) for
solving quests (and learning)
• Most successful MMPORG of all time
– Over 10 million subscribers (peak)
– 62% market share (peak)
• “You play World of Warcraft? You’re hired!”
(Brown and Thomas 2006)

6. PLAN(PLAN)
Multiple cause-effect steps which
lead to achievement of a goal
Cause-effect (CE)
hat happens when you ….
Concept (CON)
Status information, non – physical
Physical Object Attribute (POA)
Attributes of physical objects
Physical Object (PO)
Questions about physical items …
Creating
Evaluating
Analyzing
Applying
Understanding
Remembering
Explicit -- Simple
Complex -- Tacit

7. (Complex) Knowledge
acquisition can be difficult
and has a steep learning
curve.
What would be the effect of an initial period of
“limited demonstration” chauffeuring on
knowledge acquisition and task completion ?

8. n Task 1 Task 2 Post Experiment
Group 1 15 Chauffeured
Self
Managed
Questionnaire
Group 2 20 Self-Managed
35 participants recruited by word of mouth and
email, randomly assigned to two groups.
Briefing Task 1 Task 2 Questionnaire De-briefing

9. Role Playing Games are a genre of
computer games where players achieve
What weapon
did your
character wield ?

10. SK CK t p Completion Rate
All Subjects Mean 0.8086 0.5571 5.196 .000
Std.Dev 0.1792 0.1764
n 27 27
Chauffeured Mean
0.8413 0.5000
5.531 .000 100%
Std.Dev
0.1475 0.1775
n
14 14
Self-managed Mean
0.7735 0.6186
2.128 .027 65%
Std.Dev
0.2084 0.1594
n
13 13
1 hour long experiment.
27 out of 35 participants completed the tasks in the experiment.

11. • 85% recall rates for simple knowledge
vs.55% for complex knowledge.
Do players know more than they can tell? Can this be
related to the organizational setting via serious games ?
• 65% completion rates for self-managed
players vs. 100% for chauffeured players
For complex games, an initial chauffeuring effort leads
to better performance outcomes.

12. 1. Ju, E., & Wagner, C. (1997). Personal Computer Adventure Games :
Their Structure, Principles and Applicability for Training. The
Database for Advances in Information Systems, 28(2), 78-92.
2. Hirumi, M., & Kebritchi, A. (2008). Examining the pedagogical
foundations of modern educational computer games. Computers &
Education, 1729–1743.
3. Nonaka, I., & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The Knowledge-Creating
Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of
Innovation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
4. Yee, N. (2006). The Demographics, Motivations, and Derived
Experiences of Users of Massively Multi-User Online Graphical
Environments. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments,
309 -329.