{"id":67344,"date":"2024-12-04T17:39:24","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T09:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/?p=67344"},"modified":"2024-12-04T17:39:26","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T09:39:26","slug":"multiplayer-online-gamers-learn-by-gaming-as-their-skills-in-the-workplace-are-enriched-claims-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/2024\/12\/04\/multiplayer-online-gamers-learn-by-gaming-as-their-skills-in-the-workplace-are-enriched-claims-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Multiplayer online gamers learn by gaming as their skills in the workplace are enriched, claims study"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

So maybe the naysayers and detractors of online gaming and its ill effects on youth need to stand down. That\u2019s what science is telling us in a new report in the journal\u00a0Human Resource Development International<\/a><\/em>\u00a0from Melika Shirmohammadi, assistant professor at the UH College of Technology. \u00a0
<\/strong>\u00a0
The article reports that – contrary to popular belief – massive multiplayer online gamers learn by gaming and their skills in the workplace are enriched by those seemingly endless hours previously thought of as frittering away time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Online gaming often gets a bad reputation, but our study reveals a different story. We found that gaming can actually help people develop valuable workplace skills,\u201d reports Shirmohammadi. \u201cThese skills include problem-solving, teamwork, leadership, and even self-confidence. Our research shows that gaming, when done in moderation, can be a way for people to grow both personally and professionally.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gaming truths<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Whether they know it or not, companies are already hiring an enormous amount of multiplayer online gamers. The math on this is simple. Millions of people play \u201cmassively multiplayer online\u201d or MMO games, in which they play together in a virtual world. The top three games – World of Warcraft, Destiny 2, and Final Fantasy – claim 150.6\u2009M, 49.7\u2009M, and 60.3\u2009M total players respectively.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe purpose of the present study was to examine hobby \u2013 an understudied but prevalent part of the nonwork domain \u2013 to understand if and how MMO gaming positively enriches employees\u2019 work domain,\u201d said Shirmohammadi.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shirmohammadi\u2019s team conducted a qualitative study among 23 employed MMO gamers who had an average of 20\u2009years of video gaming experience and had played MMO games for at least 10\u2009years.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MMO games examined (including World of War Craft, EVE and Final Fantasy) require players to coordinate tasks to achieve collective goals, respect team norms (e.g., arriving on time for missions), collaborate with others as part of a team, and avoid reckless or uncalculated behaviors that would jeopardize the mission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Game More, Worry Less  <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Among the positive outcomes of the research, gamers reported viewing work as solvable puzzles, and their experience resulted in improved patience in encountering problems and encouraged them to persevere in solving them.  

One participant, an engineer, said: \u201cI just see a puzzle and I\u2019m motivated to solve it. So, it\u2019s affected, I guess, my mindset in that way, such that I look at things as solvable\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other players say they developed self-confidence through game playing because they feel good about the level of success in the online gaming world. Still others reported developing self-awareness as they received feedback on their own skills and how they played alongside team members. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gamers\u2019 ability with coaching skills \u2013 such as evaluating performance, providing feedback, giving instructions and inspiring others \u2013 was also traced to their gaming. Several participants mentioned the similarities between gaming and work that made such skills transferrable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An IT specialist, described it this way: \u201cI deal with a lot of new people [at work]. Since I kind of go out of my way in game to do all the coaching, I\u2019ve become ahead of some of colleagues in explaining how to do certain things [to new employees] \u2026\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gaming for the good <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur study extends the understanding of nonwork-to-work enrichment to the MMO gaming context and reveals how a hobby, as an understudied subdomain of life, could benefit work,\u201d said Shirmohammadi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As one famous gaming quote says, \u201c\u201cFailure doesn\u2019t mean the game is over, it means try again with experience.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apparently true, especially in the professional world. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Contrary to popular belief, massive multiplayer online gamers learn by gaming and their skills in the workplace are enriched by those seemingly endless hours previously thought of as frittering away time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":67345,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[34,2506],"class_list":["post-67344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaming","tag-gaming-2","tag-gaming-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67344"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67346,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67344\/revisions\/67346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}