Describe your gamplay this week. What happened, what did you do, what did you find satisfying, frustrating, etc.
When we last left Bill, he was failing jump school...so I thought I would give it an hour before giving up on being Airborne. But it wasn't necessary. A mere 53 minutes of play and I was finally made a satisfactory jump, landing in the circle. What is frustrating is (1) I was never told what I was doing wrong, and (2) I still don't know what I did right. I think it is because I steered left ("A") before steering forward ("W"). Also, don't "flare" the chute ("F") until about 2 seconds off the ground. (I learned that part from Googling this, but I'm not sure it was significant and I'm not about to try it again!) What was most annoying about the jump was that everytime you tried (and failed) the game had to be reloaded and you had to stand in the plane for 30 seconds while you waited for it to fly over the jump zone. Grrr....
So on to Field Medic training. This was interesting -- basically it's three modules of first aid training, each of which is presented in a lecture / powerpoint format...
...followed by a multiple choice quiz.
I think you need 70% to pass. I was embarrassed when I (an Eagle scout and CPR trained) got 72% on the first section (Airway Management) but I was interrupted by a phone call and I couldn't figure out how to pause the presentation. So I paid closer attention on the bleeding and shock presentations and got 100% on those...
You cannot go back to a quiz and see what you answered wrong. I think that is a learning opportunity that was missed by the game designers.
I am now Airborne and Field Medic certified.
Identify a connection to Gee's identity concepts described in Chapter 3.
Honestly...
- Bill Qualls as Soldier was frustrated.
- Bill Qualls as Soldier was frustrated.
- Bill Qualls as Soldier was frustrated.
Describe how your game provides the elements Malone & Lepper detail and how they are important to your game.
Challenge - The jump was not particularly motivating. I thought I might get it eventually, and I did, but the motivation came from my own stubborness. The medic quizzes were challenging (motivating) in that I wanted to get as high a score as possible. I think it has more to do with self-efficacy.
Curiosity - I am curious about the future modules, which require successful completion of these training modules.
Control - In the jump training I felt I had almost no control. Would "A" really steer me to the left? When should I flare? In the medic training, I felt in complete control: walk to the classroom, listen to the instructors' presentations, take the tests. The medic training was much more motivating that the jump training.
Fantasy - The whole thing is a fantasy, and I personally don't find that motivating at all. Please understand -- I'm not complaining. I have gained a lot from the Gee book so far, and from the ToonTalk game I wrote about earlier. I don't care for fantasy literature or fantasy movies, so it is no surprise (to me) that I don't care for this game. And it's not even of the fantasy genre! But I will persevere...until I am honorably discharged in May.
Sounds like a pretty rotten game by our standards (if the standards this week are set by Gee and Malone/Lepper). That seems to contribute to last weeks notion that this is a pretty rotten game. Time to switch?
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