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MMOs as team building exercise?

Seraphina Brennan — Mon, 04 May 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Culture, PvE, Opinion, Massively Meta, Academic, Education

It's not the first time we've heard that MMO gamers might be a force in the workplace, but the American Society of Training and Development's webzine, Training + Development, has added to the viability of the MMO gamer in the workforce.

Their article, "Slash, Burn, and Learn", focuses on how MMOs closely mimic team building exercises through their game design. Players are encouraged to progress through the game by solving challenges, only to be presented with harder challenges to solve as the game continues onwards. Certainly rewards provide incentive to keep plugging away at hard challenges, but players also learn how to manage personnel and look for diversity in the team to make sure all aspects of combat are accounted for. Players even submit to optional performance reviews just to see how much they've improved over time.

The article provides an interesting read and shows many of the parallels between raid management and workplace skills. While not every MMO player will gain all of these benefits, it is amusing to see how much our games sometimes parallel our lives in more ways than one.

MMOs as team building exercise? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 04 May 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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E-mail a resum�, work for SOE

Samuel Axon — Tue, 27 May 2008 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, MMO industry, Vanguard, Casual, Free Realms

Sony Online Entertainment is hiring for a few positions, and is soliciting resumés on its game forums.

Specifically, it's looking for customer support representatives to work with knowledge base articles for Free Realms and Vanguard. The job descriptions note that SOE's knowledge base articles are extremely important because they're the first and most common point of contact for customers. The CSRs will be responsible for producing, reviewing, and regionalizing knowledge base content.

The jobs appear to be entry level -- only a couple of years of gaming experience and a high school diploma are required. So if you know your MMO stuff, you live in or near San Diego (or are willing to move there, presumably), and you're out of work, e-mail SOE your resumé. You never know; it might be good.

E-mail a resum�, work for SOE originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 May 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Working Worlds brings real jobs to Second Life

Andrew Russo — Sun, 18 May 2008 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: News items, Second Life, Virtual worlds

When the interviewer frowned at our resumes with raiding experience as a category, accepting the job may not have been a good idea. As each day goes by, smashing gnomes over the head, podding miners, or living a life of drunken combat all remain daydreams as we waste away in the cubicle. Luckily, there is hope! Gax Technologies of Second Life will be affording players a chance to find a real world job so that visiting the Stonefire Tavern for an ale might be a viable lunch break option.

The best part of job hunting through Gax Technologies' Working Worlds Career Fair is that you do not need to get up, put on a tie, and drive through traffic that rivals Jita on a good day. Just take a double shot of soda, grab your laptop, fire up Second Life, and start job searching! The employers will be logging in for the virtual career fair so that you can easily meet and greet some of the top employers from Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Check it out and be sure to find the perfect job that allows you to work hard and play harder.

Working Worlds brings real jobs to Second Life originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 18 May 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Player vs. Everything: Putting raiding on your resume

Cameron Sorden — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Guides, Interviews, Raiding, Academic, Player vs. Everything

Ten years ago, the idea of putting something like being an officer in a hardcore raiding guild on your resume would have been laughable. When trying to sell yourself to a prospective employer, you want to put your best foot forward. The last thing you'd want them to know is that you spend upwards of 20 hours per week frittering your time away on something as silly as a videogame. Businesses want employees who are punctual, intelligent, analytical, and driven -- problem solvers and team players. What's funny, however, is that those are exactly the same qualities which a guild looks for in its raiders. Good luck trying to explain that to a non-gamer, though.

Fortunately, gaming is slowly becoming a mainstream activity. As the generation of gamers that pioneered the online gaming craze begin to climb into their 30s and 40s, a younger generation of gamers is just starting to graduate from college and enter the mainstream workforce for the first time. Unlike their older peers, these young men and women face a business world where their boss is as likely to enjoy playing World of Warcraft in his free time as golf. For the first time, it's possible that your hiring manager might actually view your dedication to your guild as a reason to hire you, rather than a reason to dismiss you. Does that mean that it's time to start putting your MMOG experience on your resume?

Continue reading Player vs. Everything: Putting raiding on your resume

Player vs. Everything: Putting raiding on your resume originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 12 May 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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