OK. Maybe not Warcraft. But the Ottergroup had a very interesting post that made me think.
A lot of us (mostly teachers and parents) look at computer games as a waste of the kids time. We prefer to see them reading books or doing their home work.
But in today possibilities of world wide network connectivity, network games can be a powerful teaching tool for the kids.
Kathleen Gilory from the Ottergroup writes:
"World of Warcraft has the notion of "Guilds", and John also listed the skills needed by a good Guild Master: create a vision and set of values to attract others to your Guild; find, evaluate and then recruit players that have a set of diverse skills and which fit with your norms; create a platform for apprenticeship and the teaching of new Guild members; orchestrate group strategy and governance; and create, sell and adhere to the governance principles of the guild and adjudicate disputes"
Is this a description of a game or of a training camp for our next leaders?
I can imagine a game where kids need to learn responsibility, leadership, innovative thinking in order to build their country and lead it to greatness. Throw inside real economical and social situations, video and audio podcasting and you have a winner.
Who knows maybe in a few years we will see a university course with the name "Worldcraft 101"...