1
Learning Conversations in World of Warcraft
Bonnie A.
Nardi, Stella Ly, and Justin Harris
University of California, Irvine
forthcoming in Proc.
HICSS 2007
Abstract
We examine learning culture in a popular online
game, World of Warcraft.
We analyze the way
players learn this complex game through chat
conversation with peers.
We describe three kinds
of learning: fact finding, devising
tactics/strategy, and acquiring game ethos.
We
investigate learning in the zone of proximal
development as specified in cultural-historical
activity theory.
We examine the emotional tenor
of learning conversations, noting their drama,
humor, and intimacy.
1.
Introduction
World of Warcraft is one of the most
popular online video games, with 6.
5 million
active subscribers in North America, Asia, and
Europe [1].
Produced by Blizzard Entertainment,
it is a massively multiplayer online game
(MMOG) in which players are connected
through the Internet in persistent worlds.
Players
develop characters that explore, fight, socialize,
make money, take up professions, and advance
through 60 levels of play.
Play is complex,
requiring the development of strategy, discovery
of thousands of game facts, and subtle choices
about character development [see 4, 12, 13 on
the complexity of some video games].
Despite
this, the manual that comes with the game is a
slim 4 x 5 inch volume.
No teachers, coaches, or
curriculum explain the game.
None of the
familiar supports of formal education are in
evidence—but no one fails World of Warcraft.
We have been engaged in ongoing
ethnographic fieldwork in “WoW” since late
2005.
The fieldwork is comprised of
participation in the game, in-depth interviews
(face-to-face and online), the collection of chat
logs, and reading documents such as WoWrelated forums and websites.
Our research is guided by Vygotsky’s
notion of the zone of proximal development.
Vygotsky understood learning as a social
practice situated in the zone of proximal
development in which a learner advances by
taking on a challenge and using resources
supplied by a teacher or more experienced peers
to meet the challenge.
The zone is the difference
between what the learner can do with and
without the aid of the teacher or peers [15].
Our
analysis focuses on peer learning.
Vygotsky
specified “more experienced peers” in his
formulation.
For convenience, we will simply
refer to “peers” assuming that if they can instruct
they are more knowledgeable, unless otherwise
noted.
We attempt to unpack what happens in the
zone of proximal development (ZPD) as players
learn the game.
Vygotsky sketched a general
notion of the zone of proximal development
without developing it in detail [9].
Therefore
empirical accounts of what transpires in the ZPD
are needed.
Many excellent accounts have been
provided [see 9] but the vast majority involve
learning based on a defined curriculum as a
planned set of learning experiences.
Such a
curriculum might be a traditional school-based
curriculum, or the more informal “learning
curriculum” [7] or “situated curriculum” [5].
Our goal in this paper is to describe learning
activity that is devoid of curriculum.
We
examine learning enacted in spontaneous chat
conversations initiated by participants pursuing
their own playful objectives.
Although we utilized the ZPG in this
analysis, we also followed a grounded theory
approach [6] to identify key areas of learning in
World of Warcraft.
This analysis uncovered
three key areas: fact finding, tactics and strategy,
and game ethos.
By ethos we mean “the
distinguishing character, sentiment, moral nature,
or guiding beliefs” [8] apparent in the game.
Through conversation, players acquire basic
knowledge needed to play the game, guidance on
tactics and strategy, and initiation into the moral
order or ethos of the game.
Chat conversation is a key means of
learning in World of Warcraft but not the only
means.
Players also make use of player-created
content on the Internet in forums, FAQs, guides,
and commentaries.
We do not have room in the
scope of this paper to analyze those materials but
[Moins]
