McGonigal Part 3 Response: Truly an Epic Win and End

Well damn, just gotta start off saying that this was the most epic ending to any book I have ever read. The incorporation of all the fixes and such made it that much better. Not sure about anyone else, but when I was reading this I had some epic fight music playing in the back of my head and I felt like I could take on the world after reading it. Never have I ever finished a book feeling so epic!!!! For this post, I will be pulling out some quotes from the final chapter that really spoke to me. "Very big games represent the future of collaboration. They are, quite simply, the best hope we have to solving the most complex problems of our time." This quote really spoke to me as I am in complete agreement with McGonigal's theory. We find that through collaboration, we can achieve something greater then without it. Collaboration brings together the best of all different ranges on any topic of discussion and it's something we need to do not only as a society, but as a species if we want to continue to live on this planet. There are signs that we could be heading down a path that has no return from, we need to get on these issues now and work together to reach peace and solitude. "Games don't distract us from our real lives. They fill our real lives, with positive emotions, positive activity, positive experiences, and positive strengths." Again, fabulous quote and couldn't agree with her more. Now one may say my opinion is swayed due to my love for video games and such, but that really only makes it more true. She also mentions that we need to integrate videos into our lives more instead of using them as just an escapist tool, and that I believe also plays into this positive idea. We can use gaming to enrich our lives through story telling, game play, interaction with others, and the list continues. Most people that don't know this world simply write it off as a waste of time, waste of money, or simply used for leisure and has not academic value. If I have learned anything from this course, it is that gaming can do anything, including improving my academics. This class proves that the incorporation of gaming elements can make school work 100% more fun and also increases the drive to obtain the maximum amount of points. I have never taken a class where striving for an A felt so damn good. I don't see how people today don't see gaming as something more positive. There is so much evidence to show that it can be used in such amazing ways and could really benefit our kind. I really like how McGonigal talks about the possibility that we will repeat what the Lydians did with our society today. It is hard to say how exactly it will play out, but I will be praising her word when/if it does. Since taking this course, I have passed along all this enriching knowledge to my friends and family and I can tell that the more skeptical ones have come around since the beginning. My father especially was very distraught by the idea that I was taking a class where my grade was based off something that I did in my "leisure" since I was very little. I said to him, "Well haven't I been reading and speaking since I was little and still use it? Why can't I find new ways to incorporate gaming into my life, and even now in an academic way." I hope that my dad will read this book once I return home for summer. I would just like to end this post by thanking you Dr. Mortimore-Smith for this amazing opportunity to widen my horizon on the gaming world and incorporating all these wonderful aspects that have filled my life with joy into my final semester here at Ship. I honestly couldn't think of a better way to end it then by taking a class that was fun, educational, and socially enriching as I got to spend it with great friends that I already had along with all the new ones that I made in this class. I wish the greatest luck to my fellow classmates in their time here at Ship and afterward. I know that each class that you will teach will have it's own uniqueness, but I hope that you always remember this class, because I will never forget it.