Reading Reaction Chapter 5 and 6

Stronger Social Connectivity:

In chapter 5 Jane McGonigal brings up the idea of how people are becoming more connected through social things, such as Facebook. Facebook brings a lot of social interaction to the outside world, whether it is just talking to friends, creeping on crushes or keeping in contact with mom and dad. McGonigal talks about the game Lexulus on facebook and how many moms are playing their son or daughter for an easy way of communication. Everyone gets on facebook 30 plus times a day, so in sense your going to check  your notifications and game requests. This gives you a better chance of communicating with your parents because its something that you do and plus it brings a little bit of competitiveness into the picture also. This also brings patience into action because if your mom is slow on checking facebook, you have to wait for her to get onto play so it teaches you a little bit a patience, but also you may be addicted it you are refreshing the page every minute. All in all playing Lexulus gives you a lot of things to look forward to; talking your loved one, a sense of pride, and some embarrassment because of how you talk to your mom on the chat. Lexulus brings a different aspect to facebook that I never really thought of. When I play Words with Friends or Hanging with Friends, in  some sense i ask my friends to play because I know I will be able to talk to them easier.

Becoming a Part of Something Bigger Than Ourselves:

When the Halo 3 players finally reached 10 billion kills in the campaign everyone started to feel a greater accomplishment and that they finally meant something to the game. Becoming apart of something like that brings oneself to a whole other level because not everyone can say they helped reach the 10 billion kills. Sense Halo brought this major thing to life more and more games are trying start something where there is a bigger picture to help someone or achieve something personally. McGonigal uses NCAA 10 when she is talking about online dynasty and how you want to choose your favorite or alma mater and bring them to the highest level you can. I like the quote she uses “Every game you play will help your school’s cause.” Then she goes on to say “its about being of service to larger cause – one you already care about.” This is so true in the life of a gamer, if you care about how your record looks or how your character acts then you are living the life of becoming bigger than yourself because of the level of care you have for the avatar or game.