Online games,play and gamification

NETS3010/5011/3011 Online Games, Play and Gamification

Assignment 2: Essay: Case Study

The following marking rubric provides a guide to the way your assignment is assessed according to the criteria specified.

Please note: there is not necessarily a direct correlation between the sum of your ‘grades’ for each criteria and your final mark. For example, an assignment that consistently scores in the ‘c’ range for each might end up with a result in the high 60s or even 70s if it presented some original ideas, or used some excellent sources. An assignment that receives one or more ticks in the ‘f’ box is unlikely to pass overall.

The rubric is intended not only to provide a guide as to the mark assigned, but should also help you identify the areas you might need to work on in order to improve future work.

Criteria	Indicative Performance
	F	P	C	D	HD
Accurate use of the terms from the unit	✓
Effective writing and expression (spelling, grammar and formatting)		✓
Reflexive integration of reading and accurate referencing following correct APA style	✓
Articulation of a strong argument		✓

Further Comments: While this submission shows potential, it unfortunately needed further development in order to achieve a passing grade. Ongoing issues with clarity of expression make the discussion difficult to follow, and more evidence of relevant research was required. From my understanding, your argument is that both serious and casual play involves similar activities, challenges, and skill development; therefore we cannot claim there is a clear distinction between them. This is a valid perspective, but I needed to see you engaging with more references to take the argument beyond personal opinion. The references you did cite often seemed out of place or inappropriate. I have left more detailed notes and comments on the essay below. If you work on these areas I’m sure your results can improve.

Final Mark and Grade: 40% F

F 00-49 (Fail)

Such an assignment fails, in major respects, to achieve the minimum standard for university assignments at the year level of the unit and has failed to address the main criteria against which the assignment is being marked. Students who receive failing grades are either not grasping the subject matter, or not making a suitable attempt at the assignment or both. Such work is poor and even substantial revision would not enable it to achieve a distinction result. Students should immediately discuss their academic progress with staff.

Assignment #2

Case Study

Student Name:	Farjana Faria
Student Number:	20011435
Unit Name: Tutor’s Name:	Online Games, Play and Gamification Gwyneth Peaty
Email Address:	[email protected]
Date Submitted:	29/10/19
Word Count:	2291 words
URL (if applicable):

By submitting this assignment, I declare that I have retained a suitable copy of this assignment, have not previously submitted this work for assessment and have ensured that it complies with university and school regulations, especially concerning plagiarism and copyright.

Signature: ____Farjana Faria_________

(Typing your name in the space provided is sufficient when submitting online via Turnitin.)

All students will receive a completed marking rubric to provide feedback and comments on their work. Please indicate below (with a X) if you would like to receive additional comments as tracked changes on your submitted assignment.

X

Yes, I would like to receive additional feedback

There is a clear distinction between 'casual' and 'serious' games and gamers. Agree or Disagree. Justify your answer.

The rapidness in the technological world has changed the culture of digital games. The digital games industry has expanded in the last decade to yield digital firm and social media industry multibillion dollars. The increased use of smartphones worldwide and access to the internet has contributed to major milestones in the growth and expansion of the video game industry. Serious and casual games are one of the fastest-growing segments due to increased users in the market. Serious games are developed for a particular purpose or function and not just for entertainment, while causal casual games are mostly designed for entertainment purposes. The mobile games and causal that are easily accessed through a personal computer, desktop, tablet, smartphone, and through the social network have changed the way games are created, designed, understood, and played, making them more accessible. There are no apparent differences between serious and casual games despite having different game players different in their mean and application. This paper discusses the distinction between serious and causes games and gamers with a close focus on Zynga game Farmville. Comment by Gwyneth: Grammar – be sure to proofread carefully and catch errors. Comment by Gwyneth: Reference? Comment by Gwyneth: This is your thesis (argument) and it could be more clearly expressed.

Justification Comment by Gwyneth: For a research essay you generally want to avoid relying on headings. They may be useful in the drafting process, but should be removed from the final draft. Instead, ensure paragraphs are internally cohesive and link together in a logical flow.

Serious games and casual games are only differentiated in terms of meaning and application in life where serious games are designed with a distinct and primary purpose than mere entertainment purpose hence the name serious. These are games that have serious outcomes for society, such as giving a social message, marketing message, or learning message (Ferguson, 2018). Some games allow people to learn different skills and knowledge, depending on the contexture of the games. They are mostly used in organizations and government institutions such as healthcare, agriculture, emergency management, defence, mechanical engineering, scientific research, and education to develop a strategic plan for the company. Comment by Gwyneth: An example would help to clarify your argument here. Comment by Gwyneth: Reference?

Casual games are created with the primary purpose of entertainment, fun, and used to pass the time. These games have resulted in both positive and negative effects on society, especially to the young generation (Ferguson, 2018). They have a broad target market since they exhibit any type of genre and gameplay. It also has a shorter season, and less skill is needed to learn to understand the concept of how it is played. Most of the gamer play the game anytime, such as work break, in public transport, walking, or anywhere since it involves short sessions and simple user interfaces. Comment by Gwyneth: This source is talking about games and violence. Are you suggesting that casual games are linked to violence? Comment by Gwyneth: I’d like to see you engaging more with critical sources to support your discussion. This would be a good paragraph to cite articles on casual and social games, or a chapter from Willson and Leaver’s book Social, Casual and Mobile Games: The Changing Gaming Landscape.

Zynga game Farmville is one of the popular games that involve both serious and casual part of that depending on different gamification. The game involves agricultural adventure that is used by serious gamer to gain an understanding of the different phases of agriculture and farming practices (Ferguson, 2018). The learned learn implicated in the real work to improve the agriculture sector and by agricultural research to develop the new farming methods as they attain higher game levels. On the other hand, casually use the game for fun and gain popularity over the peer and in social media as the best player to have completed many levels. Comment by Gwyneth: How does gamification relate to your argument? More explanation was needed on this point. Comment by Gwyneth: This source has nothing to do with Farmville… Comment by Gwyneth: Grammar: the meaning of this is unclear.

Zynga game Farmville is one of the social games that have two types of user. The two users involve the casual player or the serious player depending on the side chosen. The causal casual side has multiple users who are mostly affected and played in a social networking platform, and the player only interacts socially in an online platform (Pearce, & Celia, 2011). Gamer easily competes after meeting in social media and other platforms using various devices such as mobile phones and personal computers. Users are connected through social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and wiki. Comment by Gwyneth: I’m not sure what is being argued in this paragraph. To unpack ‘casual’ ways of playing Farmville you need to analyse the idea of casual play in the context of wider academic research on the topic.

The second part is for the serious gamers that includes a specific play within the social media platform. The user can gain access to more gamification features that help improve their learning skills and knowledge with time. It acts as a learning platform where the users are given an assignment that must be completed and achieve the target resulted given to proceed to the next level (Henthorn, & Jamie, 2016). The social networking of Zynga game Farmville has proven its worth over the time with the addition of serious game side that have been able to generate significant impact in term of emotion, time, money, and commitments of the user. It has earned popularity for its ability to engage users from different cultural backgrounds to share ideas learned for agriculture since its easily accessed in any social networking platform. Comment by Gwyneth: Farmville? Comment by Gwyneth: Reference?

Both the causal and serious gamers have specific learning objectives of games according to the nature of the game. Zynga game Farmville provides the user with the learning objectives. Each of the learning goals implies four specific capabilities that designers or instructors of the game want to affect the player in both serious and casual games. The first skills test in every game is the knowledge that includes the ability of the player to memorize and understand various factors and backgrounds of the game (Nelson, Keum, & Yaros, 2004). These aspects may consist of rules, objectives of every assignment, goals, procedure, plan, and other important information needed to complete every task. In the Zynga game Farmville game, the instructor may include the method and strategy of competing for the cultivation process and way to increase the earning from harvesting to increase the chances of moving to the next assignment. It also includes the ability to use the earned coin to buy more farming equipment and seed that increased production for harvesting. The instructor may add more gamification features in the game to enable the user to have more medicine to deal with pests and other animals attacking his farm. Comment by Gwyneth: Is this instructor a character within the game? More explanation needed here.

The second capability type that is involved in both serious and casual games is observation skills and techniques. The user applies the knowledge and skill of observing to accomplish a given goal with a clear path and direction from start to finish. In the Zynga game Farmville, the designer, from time to time, show the user the direction to the farm and expect them to follow them to reach their destination (Monson, 2012). From time to time, users are shown the farming practice and step expected to follow to ensure successful farming and harvesting. They are expected to remember them to complete the given task successfully. The instructor also uses farming jargon while communicating with his workers. The jargons are some of the observation skills users need to learn through listening and to observe what they mean and implemented for them to use them effectively. These kinds of learning skills are found in both serious and casual games where the user is given the task to complete through the observing. Comment by Gwyneth: This source is talking about World of Warcraft. The relevance to your argument is not clear. Comment by Gwyneth: Good, this is a relevant point. Just make sure to provide sources for your key claims.

The third ability is problem solving that entail effective application of both observation and knowledge skill learned from the previous test. The user combines the knowledge and observing skill to tack the given problem and expected to show his skill and competence to handle the task. Mostly the user may spend more time trying to complete the task until he/ she gains the expertise to handle the task process from start to finish (Gong et al., 2017). In Zynga game Farmville, the users are taken into training that simulates actual skill and graphic of the real task need to be completed to gauge the user skill in knowledge retainment and observation capabilities. The user has the option to go directly to the game or have the training fast on how to play the game that applies in both serious and casual gamer. The instructor sometimes gives the hitch and tip on how to play when the user is out of the move available to all users. Both the player of serious and causal games is provided with time or training on how to solve the problem before starting the required task.

The last ability impacted by both casual and serious games is an attitude that entails changing the user and player attitude and belief about the game. As the player completes various level of Zynga game Farmville, they need to improve the knowledge and skill of the user to be more advance to handle the higher level of the game (Crowe, and Watts, 2014). It also involves developing the farmer and worker relationship through their experience of working together and achieving the various goals of the game. The capability is applicable in both serious and casual games where the user has to improve their relationship through the people continuously, they are working with to achieve the primary goal. It also applies in real life where designer have modified the system to improve the knowledge of the user through experiences. In the Zynga game, the Farmville user relationship is enhanced by completing a particular farming system together with workers and aching the highest coin in terms of the reward. Comment by Gwyneth: This reading is about gender identity.

Both the serious and casual games apply the above capabilities to ensure the learner is well equipped to handle the real task. The train must be accompanied by two or more learning objectives, along with the particular description of the capabilities to be evaluated at the end of the training (Habel, Chad, & Ben Kooyman. 2013). In Zynga game, Farmville, the designer tests various outcome of the training that includes the ability to select the farming tools, identifying the specific farming practices, describe the plan and procedure of farming practice, use of the farming jargon to communicate with other workers, and ability to work as a team with others. Comment by Gwyneth: This paragraph is repeating points you have already made.

Both the casual and serious games use online gaming to use motivators that influence the player to have a particular interest in a certain game than others. Most of the social games help the gamer realize the potential of their motivator (Seo, Yuri, Jung, & Sang-UkJung, 2016). Zynga game Farmville has various of a motivator to the player that mostly include skill development, fantasy, competition, recreation, social, and coping. These types of motivators may be spread across the serious and casual games of having independence according to the primary purpose of the player (Eklund, 2016). For example, the serious gamer plays the game of Zynga game Farmville for skill development in farming practice that is implemented in real farming practice while casual gamer may focus on skill development to be able to compete with others on a social platform or improve his skill to complete a higher level.

Game designer of Zynga game Farmville recognize the motivation of the user and build them up into game mechanism to make them more attractive. All the game designers in both serious and casual games apply three pillars to motivate the user, which include play, invest, and express. The first pillar of play includes the social interaction of the player that allows the user to interact with other users in the social platform. Zynga game Farmville applies social networking aspects such as Facebook. Engaging other players improve one playing skill and enable them to improve their farm quickly and gain farmhand in helping them. Comment by Gwyneth: Reference? Where are you getting this information from?

The second pillar allows the player to invest their time in customizing their character to progress in the game. In both serious and casual players always spend most of their time to increase the power of the main character so they can quickly progress to another level (Balnaves, Willson, & Leaver, 2012). Every level completed customization of the style depending on the time spent on the scale. Zynga game Farmville gamer improve their character by getting farmhand to enhance their farm or buying new practices through the pervious earned reward and coins. The need of other players to enhance their character is a substitute to the farm cash, the farm game purchased using the farm received coins or giving the gamer a choice between spamming for their friend with Farmville message request.

The last pillar allows the user to express the fun and efficiently generate real capital from the game. Both the serious and casual gamer players express their motivation through various forms, such as show up on the social media platform (Piedtype, 2013). Zynga game Farmville have varieties of way to express the gamer motivation such as recognizing them in the social networking platform as the best. Zynga game Farmville allows the user to exchange the Farmville cash earn in the game with the real-world currency to purchase the farming product to improve the producers of the farm.

Both serious and casual game have a negative effect on society regardless of the impact in improving learning skills to the student and for reaction purposes (Bender, 2014). Most of the gamer need the reason to play that reduces the family and friend relationship since most of the time is spent playing social games. The bonding that existed before starting to diminish the moment one becomes additive to playing a video game or social games (Albarrán-Torres, César, 2016). It also led to gambling, cheating, and addiction that affect society negatively. Most of the game include social casino application and digital media practices that make most of the player develop a habit that affects their normal business.

Conclusion

Serious and casual games have little or no clear difference between them due to the contexture of the way they are designed. Most of the games are formed with particular learning objectives that player needs to achieve at the end of each level or training. The gamer must have the capability of either knowledge, problem solving, observation skills and attitude, or all the skills to effectively participate in the game. Player undergoes training or are provided with helping tips to improve their character as the game continuouscontinues, that the instructor may place to evaluate the skill and capabilities of the user. Both serious and casual games are designed with three specific motivators to the user, which include play, express, and invest.

References

· Albarrán-Torres, César. (2016.) Social Casino Apps and Digital Media Practices: New Paradigms of Consumption. In Social, Casual and Mobile Games: The Changing Gaming Landscape, Michele Willson and Tama Leaver (eds). Bloomsbury, pp. 243-259.

· Balnaves, M., Willson, M. and Leaver, T. (2012). Entering Farmville: Finding Value in Social Games, in Anyanwu C. and. Green K. and Sykes J. (ed), Communicating Change and Changing Communication in the 21st Century, Australian and New Zealand Communication Association conference, July 4-6 2012 Eklund, L. (2016). Who are the Casual Gamers? Gender Tropes and Tokenism in Game Culture. In Social, Casual and Mobile Games: The Changing Gaming Landscape, Michele Willson and Tama Leaver (eds). Bloomsbury, pp. 15-30.

· Bender, S. (2014). Blood Splats and Bodily Collapse: Reported realism and the perception of violence in combat films and video games, Projections 8(2), 1- 25 http://doi.org/10.3167/proj.2014.080202

· Crowe, N. and Watts, M. (2014). 'When I click "ok" I become Sassy - I become a girl': Young people and gender identity: subverting the 'body' in massively multi-player online role-playing games. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 19(2), 217 - 231.

· Ferguson, C. J. (2018). It’s Time to End the Debate about Video Games and Violence. Kotaku. Available from https://www.kotaku.com.au/2018/04/its-time-to-end-the-debate-about-games-and-violence/

· Gong, Huiwen, Robert Hassink, and Gunnar Maus. (2017). What Does Pokemon Go Teach us About Geography? Geographica Helvetica, 72(2), pp. 227-230.

· Habel, Chad and Ben Kooyman. (2013). Agency Mechanics: Gameplay Design in Survival Horror Video Games. Digital Creativity, 02 January 2014, 25(1), pp. 1-14.

· Henthorn, Jamie. (2016). Rewriting Neighbourhoods: Zombies, Run! and the Runner as Rhetor. In Social, Casual and Mobile Games: The Changing Gaming Landscape, Michele Willson and Tama Leaver (eds). Bloomsbury, pp. 165-177.

· Monson, M. (2012). Race-based fantasy realm: Essentialism in the World of Warcraft. Games and Culture 7(1), 48 - 71.

· Nelson, M. Keum, H. and Yaros, R. (2004). Advertainment or adcreep: Game players' attitudes toward advertising and product placement in computer games. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 5(1), pp. 3-31

· Pearce, Celia. (2011). “Virtual Worlds, Play Ecosystems, and the Ludisphere” in Communities of Play. MIT Press, pp. 17-35.

· Piedtype. (2013). “Grandma playing Ingress stopped by cops.” Piedtype blog. Available from http://piedtype.com/2013/06/29/grandma-playing-ingress-stopped-by-cops/

· Seo, Yuri , and Jung, Sang-UkJung. (2016). Beyond Solitary Play in Computer Games: The Social Practices of eSports. Journal of Consumer Culture, November 2016, 16(3), pp. 635-655.

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