Week 5 of FATE--Questionable Quests...

As I have mentioned earlier, my quests have gotten a lot more ... intense. Don't get me wrong, they offer me a lot of gold, experience, skills and fame (I'm currently the Local Hero and seeing how I started out as "unknown" and then moved to "tolerated", I'd say I'm doing alright for myself), and usually when they offer up a reward like that, these quests got me like:

And up until recently, I've been handling these quests like a boss. I've been handing out death faster than Hades!

But, since I am travelling deeper and deeper into the dugneon and just portaling my way out (Come to think of it, I haven't been to level 1 in, like, forever. Maybe I should go there again some time...for old time's sake ...), the quests I am embarking on are pitting me against some pretty rough people. For example...

I go to people like this...

The exclamation point above townspeople's heads means they have a quest for you! You are allowed to choose your quests, but you can only have three quests at a time.

But I accept this quest, and it sent me deeper than I'd ever gone, with the biggest reward I'd ever encountered! So of course I accept. The way the dungeon level looked should've tipped me off...this is not going to be easy ...

Now, each dungeon level is made to be maze-like in nature, and you can only see so far ahead of you.

What is scary about this is that the "boss" you encounter can be ANYWHERE. And unlike other things, they initiate the fight, and they are mean! Check out this guy!

Do you see the two other fighting jackal things? Oh yeah, he summoned those bad boys. See all the "miss" notifications? Yeah, those are mine.

This is a exact representation of my face as I took on this guy.

No worries, the fight came to an end ... ish ...

But after a lot of weapon changing combos, potion combos, spell combos, McDonalds combos, I finally beat that guy!

Going back to town, I look for the red diamond, signifying a townsperson who has something urgent for me.

Their exclamation point has changed color, and I can reap my reward! An interesting fact about these quests is that sometimes people send you down there to find powerful weapons or magical items, but you don't have to turn them back in! You lose out on some fame, gold, and skills, but you get some pretty powerful stuff!

This ability to choose where I go for rewards, what I do with rewards, and curate the quests that come my way, makes the "questing" element of FATE very fun, and it contributes to making play enjoyable. After reading the articles by Yasmin B. Kafai, it is apparent that FATE has a mainly constructivist perspective. You construct yourself, your fame, your environment, your character, and your FATE! (Haha, the "fate" jokes are endless!)

Constructivist perspective games may lack instructional vigor (like Instructive Perspective games), but they allow for more play. I can't see very many direct educational applications for FATE, but there are definitely educational elements. Minecraft and Eco are similiar in that they allow play and construction (literally in their cases), instead of following gamified curriculum. 

REFLECTION ...

This game has be a lot of fun to play! It had a current community despite being an older game, and thar proved to be helpful in a lot of ways! What I've noticed motivates me in this game, and adds to its enjoyability, is the near free-play that it offers. Other games are so story-line centric that a play has to play on and sometimes can't do much else. In FATE, if I want to only play on level 1 of the dungeon, hey, go right ahead underacheiver! It is not a problem! What I've learned from this game is that when it comes to gamification and game-design, enjoyability is an important element, as is constant challenge. Students will feel self-driven and motivated to acheive more if they can enjoy it and have expectations. To try and educate without expectation is to flatline. By not requiring more, less is acheived. FATE has been a great way to learn about my own motivations and expectations and has been enjoyable! 

Week 4 FATE--A good problem ... I think ...

How was this week? Well, I got to dungeon level 23 ... lowest ... ever. How was it you say?

Seriously, there was everything dead (and undead) down there. Ghosts. Vampires. Mummies. Zombies. Sometimes, there were Vampires who could summon Zombies. Why do we even have dungeons that deep?

Other than the occasional undead issue, I spent my time handling monsters like:

Shooting magical fireballs at goblins, jakals, imps, and minotaurs like:

And really enjoying the intrinsical motivation of this game. FATE blends really well, what Deterding, Dixon, Khaled & Nacke label "ludus" and "paidia", essentially the ability to play and have game-oriented goals. If I want quests, they're mine. If I want to just play around in the dungeon levels, I can. Both options are there and make for a great time. Kohn, as mentioned in Nicholason's writing, says that choosing your own "fate" (ha, see what I did there?) leads to better results than external rewards for fostering motivation. FATE really proves that this is the case.

However, there was one problem I encountered in my play. I've attained a high level, and got some special armor and trinkets that allow me to find magical items that are worth a lot of money. But suddenly an unforseen problem arose: getting a frequently full inventory. This is all the space I have (my pet also can carry items)

Which seems like a lot of space right? Except big items fill up your inventory fast,

And nothing is worse than finding yourself in a heavily guarded treasure room (which each dungeon has) and trying to pick up items while fighting off the hordes and all of a sudden hearing "Inventory full!" 

Me: "HOW IS IT FULL??????!!!!!!!"

Game-interaction is a huge part of FATE, and I am still trying to figure out this aspect of it! 

Week 3 of FATE--Just Like Magic!!!

Since my quest to discover and change my FATE largely reflects that of Hades in the Disney Movie "Hercules", (should that stop me? I mean, the guy was a villian with some serious sibling rivalry issues...eh, FATE is too fun), here is a summary of my play this week!

I am really starting to play well in this game. But this week threw a challenge at me that I wasn't expecting, and it got me pretty fired up.

Ha! Hades. "Fired up"

Anyone?

Anyone?

Okay.

You guys...I learned magic! I got deep into the dungeon (Level 10), deeper than I'd ever been, and I found this little scroll. I picked it up and there was a spell on it! I didn't even know I could do stuff like cast spells and what have you.

Apparently I am equipped with a spellbook that can hold a certain number of attack spells, defensive spells, and summoning spells. Attack spells are cast and can damage opponents. Defensive spells allow me to run away (which I do a lot of sometimes), heal myself (probably the most used), and even knockback enemies. Summoning spells allow me to summon things like portals, maps, and even animals to help me. 

Check it out! This may be cheesy, but I picked rats as my animal to summon.

Cheesy. Rats. Anyone?

Sorry. 

Once I learned my first spell, I became intrinsically motivated to learn more magic. This motivation dabbled a little in most of the elements of intrinsic motivation taught by Malone & Lepper (1987).

Challenge--Learning magic, as I soon found out, takes time and sacrifice. Instead of adding skill points to my strength or vitality, I had to add them to magic. The more skill, the more you can do. 

The real challenge came from defeating magical bosses, thus acquiring magical skills, magical items, 

and even spells. There were even some very difficult magical quests that I had to undertake.

Where to apply points?

Getting spells!

Goals--These were mainly emergent, since I made them myself. I wanted to learn how to call down fire from the sky to on my opponents (oh yeah, its a thing!) or to heal myself. These goals kept me going again and again at difficult dungeons and opponents.

Heal myself? Yes please.

Fire from the sky!

Goodness, gracious! Great balls of fire! (I may or may not, but most certainly do sing this when I shoot one!)

Uncertain Outcomes--This always poked its head around while playing. Sometimes, I would die three times before finally defeating a magical boss, only to have him drop some gold and a weapon. No spells. No points. It was a gamble, and it became motivation to keep seeking them out.

Self-Esteem--I can't lie about this. Once I had acquired some cool spells, got myself a cool wizard staff, I felt pretty awesome running around dungeons, shooting fireballs and healing myself.

Think I can pass as Gandalf? The answer is "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"

Week 2 of Fate--HELP!!!!

Ever needed help achieving your fate? The following are actual images of me playing FATE this week.

 Okay, okay, it wasn't a table with minions losing to a demigod that I was pounding... but it was a desk ... and a keyboard. However, I am pretty sure this is an exact representation of what went down.

So, here I was, playing FATE and thinking, Man, this game is smooth! I'm accepting quests, getting experience and getting gold. Pretty soon though, I am going deeper and deeper into the dungeon to complete quests and encountering things I've never fought before and I start dying. Most of what happens is I get poisoned and my health slowly decreases. 

Which, in any other normal game, would warrant some mild panic and slight maneuvering to overcome. But in FATE, one of the only ways to heal (besides antidotes and potions, which can only be used once) is to return to town and meet this lady.

 But each dungeon is a maze (which, after time, regenerates with monsters), and I have to navigate through them, fighting and slowly dying, and this would happen.

So, after a couple days of this, and pushing my pride aside, I decided to look at online forums. This is an old game so I didn't expect a whole lot of relevant information. But I was surprised! This game is still enjoyed by a lot of people, and Steam provided a very helpful and relevant community forum.

After searching my problems and reading lots of helpful hints, I learned about what are called "Town Portal Scrolls", essentially, this scrolls open a portal to town from wherever you are in the dungeon! 

These frustrations, and my seeking resolutions for them, I contributed to the "play" that was occurring in some element during my time on FATE. Was it really worth the frustration over a game? The answer is yes because it has become an investment of time and entertainment and I feel that my play is a reflection of skill and understanding. How well I perform a task, or complete a quest, reflects how well I am doing overall. Play is like flow, in the fact that it immerses us into the virtual environment and culture in which we are playing, and the success and failures we experience are real. Sometimes though, we may not have that experience. As Van Eck, R. N., Shute V. J., & Rieber L. P. point out, "...one can watch and track their behavior or performance from beginning to end and even declare that one or more has won the game. However, these individuals may never have been “at play,” meaning that they never entered the conceptual cognitive or cultural space in which play occurs." This proves to be detrimental if the game is trying to attain any educational objective. Going through motions, without development, will have little affect in education or training.

Community seemed to be the educational value of the game this week, since it saved me (a few times actually!). While players in FATE cannot play each other, they can meet and discuss problems and provide solutions which serve an educational purpose. 

Another really helpful thing I learned from the forum, was about a button that reveals all the items that can be interacted with in the dungeons. It is helpful for finding gold, weapons, gems, and potential findings.

I am really looking forward to playing this week! I am feeling more confident in play and now in community.

Week 1 of FATE

FATE, by definition, is something ethereal, something beyond comprehension and complex, in fact, it takes three Greek goddesses to run the whole thing.

(taken from ohmydisney.com, https://ohmy.disney.com/news/2013/10/22/fates-whats-the-matter-with-everything/)

The game FATE, by happy circumstance, is less complex and daunting and is actually quite fun and addicting!

Here is a quick video to introduce you!

This role-playing game takes place is a small town and as you acquaint yourself with townsfolk, you can accept quests that lead you deep into the dungeons. The game play itself, known as a "dungeon crawler", progressively takes you through levels of the dungeon, slowly revealing itself, and with it monsters, mazes and challenges. As you choose quests, find objects (weapons, potions, spells, gems), and battle monsters, you gain skill points and slowly get closer and closer to your fate!

Pretty intense eh?

(taken from Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fate_(video_game))

But quite honestly, the play itself is very easy. Simple maneuvering is done with keyboard and mouse controls. While this game doesn't provide any sense of virtual community (in the sense that there are no other players to interact with, all are computer-controlled and virtual), it does provide a complex and deep virtual environment that you can spend hours exploring, something groundbreaking for such an old game. Yee (2014) says, "...for some players, the sense of being transported into a living, breathing fantasy world is in and of itself already incredibly appealing." And FATE provides that. Maps and dungeon monsters and layout change frequently and no two times down there are the same. Monsters regenerate over time and keep you entertained.

As far as an education value, so far the thing I have seen the most of is the economic value when it comes to trading and buying and selling items. You only get so much, and each quest provides you with gold, experience, or another item. You can sell and trade these things for what you need, but dying in the dungeon (which I've done a few times) robs you of skill or gold. So, educationally, there is value in knowing how to budget.

So far, this game has been really fun! I'm gained a few levels of experience, and am grateful for my pet dog, which honestly, attacks monsters for me and that is it. I know there is a series of commands and things I can have him do, but I'm not there yet. I can also fish, which I love to do in real-life, but I haven't tried that yet! I am conference calling my brother this weekend to have him talk me through some things!

What will my FATE next week be?