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!