Comments on: Games for Learning in Spiritual Education?

By: World of Warcraft and MormonTechie Blog

World of Warcraft and MormonTechie Blog — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:28:13 +0000

[...] the dangers it presents from a spiritual perspective and wrote another article in response: “Games for Learning in Spiritual Education.” I have personally never played WoW, but I know it can be extremely [...]

By: Jeff VanDrimmelen

Jeff VanDrimmelen — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:15:10 +0000

MiGs, thanks for the note. I especially like how you brought out the virtues that games can teach us! I know I have learned my fair share of patience from Tetris.

By: Jeff VanDrimmelen

Jeff VanDrimmelen — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:15:10 +0000

MiGs, thanks for the note. I especially like how you brought out the virtues that games can teach us! I know I have learned my fair share of patience from Tetris.

By: MiGs

MiGs — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:59:00 +0000

As a 22yr old member in a YSA ward, that has played WoW, and other MMO's, and a ton of games throughout the years. I would have say that, gaming, among youth is a popular, easy, and cost effective way to bring people together and have some clean fun. Yes, online-roleplaying games can suck up a huge amount of time over the long run. I have a friend that has racked up 99 days (2376hrs) of play time on WoW over the course of him playing it (about 2yrs), which is a lot of time. That would be the only downfall of playing any game, dedicating too much time to it while we could be doing something much more important with our limited time in mortality.As far as Spiritual Education goes in relation to games, I would say there is very little ground in being taught something straight out such as “you are going to play as Noah, now go round up animals as fast as you can”. But there are virtues that can be taught in subtle ways such as, patience (Tetris), humbleness (not being a banker in Oregon Trail), and Justice (Good always triumphs), also there are always moral choices that are made which can really make you think (Star Wars: KoTOR is a good example).

By: Jeff VanDrimmelen

Jeff VanDrimmelen — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:10:19 +0000

Thanks for the comment Mike. Yeah, it kind of gives me a funny feeling most of the time too. Wait… a funny feeling… could that be the spirit? Hmmm… What could it be telling us?

By: Is This Mike On

Is This Mike On — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:05:53 +0000

Reminds me of the time when our YM scheduled a gaming night where they were playing shooter games in the church. It left me with a funny feeling. Great article which I sent to a couple of family members of mine. Thanks for linking to it.

By: Jeff VanDrimmelen

Jeff VanDrimmelen — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:33:52 +0000

Neal. Thanks for the great comment. I appreciate your insight, and especially the idea's about how it is good. There are certainly ways it can be used to reach out to those in that world. It is just a matter of staying safe while doing that. I would love to see any Bishop play Guitar Hero!

By: NealSega

NealSega — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:17:32 +0000

As someone who has been involved in making videogames for the last 20 years, I can tell you that Dr.. Knutson's observations are pretty much on target. Like many tools in the world – videogaming can be used for both good and bad purposes. I regularly give presentations to YM/YW groups about both sides of this cultural phenomenon. The bottom line – as with ANY form of entertainment – is that parents need to know and understand what it's about. Most parents don't even know about the rating system that Dr. Knutson spoke of. Just like some wouldn't let their kids watch R-rated movies…the same applies to gaming. Let's not overlook the positive aspects of gaming. It can be used to regularly reach out to inactive or non-member youth, within the right context. It can provide a good social experience (you should have seen our Bishop playing Guitar Hero ; ). I can talk for quite awhile about the cognitive benefits of today's games…If anyone wants to discuss this at any length – I offer my help and years of experience to any parent that wants it.