“Immersed in World of Warcraft”: A Discursive Study of Identity Management Talk About Excessive Online Gaming

Online excessive gaming has been associated with negative player identity constructions depicting an abnormal life-style. Up-to-date, there is limited insight into player identity management talk about excessive online gaming. To address this gap, drawing from discursive and rhetorical psychology, we investigated naturally occurring talk of 134 players of World of Warcraft (WoW) -a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG)- from three publicly available websites and of five players from one focus group. The analysis illuminated participants’ dilemmatic and contradictory ways of constructing the player identity, while displaying immersion in the game. Participants invoke identity constructions like ‘nolifer’, ‘hardcore’ or ‘clean’ player, which they disavow or assign to themselves and to each other depending on the conversational context, while attending to concerns about (ab)normalcy. The study’s findings highlight a dynamic process of player identity construction in talk, occasioned by and exemplifying the contingencies of the discursive context.

A Narrative-Driven Role-Playing Game for Raising Flood Awareness

In the framework of a water resources management class in the Technical University of Crete, a narrative-driven role-playing game (RPG) was planned and tested in the classroom, with the intent to raise awareness among the students on how floods can have an impact on the everyday lives of different citizens. During this game, the students had the opportunity to act as different stakeholders. In order to assess the impact of this game on participants’ thoughts of who might be affected by a flood event, two questionnaires were used, one before and one after the game. The results show that there was very positive feedback from the participants on how this RPG helped them realize the different implications a flood event might have on citizens and decision makers. The community-based aspect that was chosen for this RPG implementation showed the difficulties the specific roles would face as single individuals and as a community in general. Using a similar approach can help any stakeholder understand the challenges in a more direct way than with traditional lecturing and presentations.

O RPG no ensino remoto: processo e produto, experiências com Literatura e prática esportiva

O artigo descreve duas experiências de uso do Role-Playing Game (RPG), ou Jogo de Interpretação de Papéis, no ensino remoto emergencial (ERE). A discussão sobre o ERE e o tema dos jogos e educação é o contexto teórico do trabalho, que busca, a partir dos estudos de caso das práticas, apontar aspectos que podem contribuir para uma utilização produtiva do RPG no ensino remoto. Conclui-se, entre outros pontos, que é importante que o docente tenha bom conhecimento da forma do RPG, assim como das tecnologias que serão utilizadas no contexto didático, podendo optar por atividades mais voltadas à experiência de um jogo previamente elaborado ou ao desenvolvimento de um, com os alunos.RPG in remote learning: process and product, experiences with Literature and sports practiceAbstractThe article describes two experiences using the Role-Playing Game (RPG) in emergency remote teaching (ERT). The discussion about ERT and the theme of games and education is the theoretical context of the work, which seeks, from the case studies of practices, to point out aspects that can contribute to a productive use of RPG in remote learning. It is concluded, among other points, that it is important that the teacher has good knowledge of the RPG form, as well as the technologies that will be used in didactic context, and may choose activities more focused on the experience of a previously elaborated game or on the development of one, with the students.Keywords: RPG; games; education; technologies; remote teaching.

As contribuições do jogo de RPG no ensino médio: o que dizem as produções científicas brasileiras

Um dos problemas enfrentados atualmente na escola básica é a desmotivação e a falta de engajamento dos estudantes. Uma das estratégias pedagógicas apontadas como solução compreende o uso de jogos, sendo que o gênero de Role Playing Game (RPG) pode ser usado para desenvolver diferentes habilidades. Assim, foi realizada umainvestigação, no formato de um mapeamento sistemático, com o objetivo de prover uma visão geral das pesquisas a respeito de jogos do gênero de RPG e identificar as contribuições para o ensino médio no Brasil. Como resultados principais, identificou-se que os jogos RPGs podem ser usados como uma alternativa pedagógica em sala de aula, possibilitando abordar diversos cenários e narrativas, integrando diferentes áreas do conhecimento e explorando diversas habilidades dos estudantes.

Presidential Election as a Postmodern Mirror

The article gives signs of postmodern. It is stated that the postmodern is an anti-fundamentalist paradigm, which proclaims that there is nothing predetermined, true without a doubt, once and for all that is given. Mosaic, eclectic, kaleidoscopic, fragmentary, combining the incompatible, where everything is a game, are inherent in him as a type of consciousness. The game has a policy associated with the carnival, in politics, as in the carnival, there is a lot of mummery. Not a single politician is free from travesty, role-playing game. Myths, legends, images, ideal political biographies, the creation and support of images, the right political move is a political routine, which is manifested in the actions of Ukrainian politicians, for whom politics is a guarantee for business. Ukrainian politics is not a decision of public, but personal affairs, from which the whole country suffers. And here on the stage of this acting, which is called Ukrainian politics, in the presidential race comes the real showman. If politicians play a show, then why should a showman not play a politician. This is where the illusion of the political life of Ukrainian society manifests itself.

The teachers' extent of utilizing teaching methods for teaching basic technology

The teaching method which teachers adopt for instruction could aggravate students’ performance if successfully employed. However, its use may not be optimum as expected. This study investigated the extent of utilization of teaching methods used for teaching basic technology and the influence of gender on teachers’ extent of utilizing teaching methods to teach basic technology. The study adopted a descriptive research design. One hundred twenty-two basic technology teachers in Nigeria were purposively sampled. The findings of this study were that question and answer, discussion, inquiry, and discovery, field trip, and project and presentation teaching methods are always employed by basic technology teachers in teaching while role-playing, game, and simulation teaching method are moderately utilized for teaching. Also, there was a significant difference between male and female teachers’ extent of utilizing teaching methods to teach basic technology in favor of the male basic technology teachers. The study concluded that appropriate use of teachers’ desired teaching methods could influence instructional delivery. It was thus recommended that educational institutions should organize conferences, seminars, training, and workshops for basic technology teachers on the use of effective teaching methods.

Disco Elysium as Gothic fiction

Disco Elysium demonstrates many hallmarks of the Gothic through its storyline and representational elements, particularly its emphasis on the instability of its protagonist, the sense of decline and decay conveyed through its setting, and the interconnected secret histories that are revealed through exploration. Furthermore, many of the game’s stylistic and ludic features, such as its dense description and emotive language, and its overwhelming array of options, interactions, and responses, can be understood as engagements with the uncanny and disorienting excess of the Gothic tradition. These Gothic elements manifest most frequently through the game’s attempt to represent psychological complexity within its role playing system, its depictions of urban spaces, and its approach to questions of unresolved memory and history. The presence of these Gothic features in Disco Elysium work to contest the game’s categorisation as a ‘detective role playing game.’ While the genres are closely connected, detective fiction typically follows a trajectory in which the history of the central mystery becomes progressively clearer through the accumulation of information and detail, whereas the Gothic traditionally seeks to maintain and heighten a sense of disorientation. Exploring the tension between Disco Elysium’s Gothic elements and its status as a detective game allows for a richer appreciation of the political and social commentary that emerges from both its narrative and gameplay.

“Making Sense in a Senseless World”: Disco Elysium’s Absurd Hero

This article examines the representation of mental health issues in the computer role-playing game Disco Elysium by using Albert Camus’ theory of the absurd as a basis. Through his daily work routine as a detective, the protagonist Harry DuBois’ trauma unfolds through the course of the game while simultaneously revealing the psychosocial aspects of trauma. Interpreting Harry’s existential struggles as those of an absurd hero supports the idea that finding (greater) meaning is not a necessity when coping with trauma.