From MMORPG to a Classroom Multiplayer Presential Role Playing Game

The popularity of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) has grown enormously, with communities of players reaching into the millions. Their fantasy narratives present multiple challenges created by the virtual environment and/or other players. The games’ potential for education stems from the fact that players are immersed in a virtual world where they have the opportunity to manipulate and explore, thus motivating the construction of knowledge. The interaction and collaboration between participants allows students to exchange information, test their understanding and reflect on what they have learned. Given the promising results of using MMORPG technologies for educational purposes, this paper translates the multiplayer role playing game (MRPG) aspect, the essential concept behind MMORPGs, into the classroom context. We present the abstraction behind a Classroom Multiplayer Presential Role Playing Game (CMPRPG) and the development of a CMPRPG for teaching ecology. The game has a quest structure in which each result highlights a key teaching objective. It is implemented at a high level, with interaction between reusable game elements defined using triggers. It is observed that the implemented CMPRPG has appropriate usability levels, benefits the learning and application of the concepts of ecology and, in the interactive dimensions, it encourages participation and collaborative narrative structures among participants.