10/25 FoE blog post

Today I played Forge of Empires with a classmate who is familiar with the world of online gaming, so he helped me understand aspects of this game that I was still unfamiliar with. For example, I learned how to check how many people are in my town. I also learned that adding plants (I.e. trees and flowers) on my land, will positively effect and alter the mood of my townsmen. In addition, I learned that forge points are provided automatically and can be used to advance the era you are in; thus, I used my forge points to advance into the Bronze Age. I am also beginning to understand the game currency. I understand that diamonds can be bought with real money, but can also be acquired through completing some quests. Furthermore, I realized that you can gain medals by winning tournaments. Learning about the ways to receive coins took me a while to understand, but I think I now know how it works. The more you establish buildings, the more workers you get, and therefore the more coins you receive. In other words, it seems as though as townsmen come in and out of the buildings I have built, I am gaining coins. Additionally, as I mentioned in my previous blog, I do believe that there are educational opportunities in this game. With that being said, I have some ideas about an educational redesign possibility; perhaps as users advance through eras they can be given more information about those eras. For example, I realized that when I advanced to the Bronze Age, the buildings looked more developed. However, I would have liked to be given more historical facts and information about the era — including the era’s dates, information about the tools used during that time, what caused its rise and collapse, etc,.