World Of EarthCraft

Online games are dominating our culture. As mentioned by Jane McGonigal of the future institute humans have played over 5.2 million hours of games. McGonigal views this as a positive thing. She says that if we can shift people into playing positive games, the world can change for the better. Games that benefit mankind are the focus of McGonigal’s research. Though these pro-world games exist, it seems unlikely they will take.

            I will admit that I used to be addicted to playing games. I played over 60 hours a week at my worst. Often I wish that I had spent the time doing something positive for myself, rather than wasting away on an online world. Everquest and World of Warcraft were my games. My characters were the highest level with the best gear. I poured more emotion, time, money, and health into that game than anything else at the time. When my parents traded my accounts for a social life I was depressed for weeks. Imagine writing a book and it is burned in front of you before anyone can read it. That was the heartbreak and desolation I felt.

            Now, I ask you to imagine over 500,000 other people with that love and determination for a digital world. Can you imagine them trading their “books” in for real world advances? The feat seems impassible. There is, however, one hope. Our saving grace exists within only a percentage of gamers and hopefully a new generation that is not already emotionally invested in their games. If only a portion of the Earth’s gamers were to invest their time in something like this, then it does seem possible. Given today’s self-centered society and a gamer’s need to escape reality, I don’t think McGonigal’s world benefiting game is plausible… yet.