Up until this moment I was focusing on what my academic writing program should include, and what type of medium I will need to use and all the tools that will help make it immersive and effective for my learners. However, I was struggling with how to apply the principles derived from Networked and Global Learning to my program. It was not until I examined the process gaming companies, such as Robert Space Industries, use to develop successful games that I realised how.
Star Citizen, a space trading and combat simulator, developed by Robert Space Industries, is predicted to become one of the most immersive and successful games within gaming history. It has achieved this type of accolade not because of the "modified CryEngine" that will power the game, but because of the high level of community involvement that it has encouraged from the very beginning of its inception. In the initial alpha release of the "Hangar Module" the creators asked "backers," or members who contributed to the funding of the game's development, to "explore through the virtual ships from a 1st person perspective." (I know this because both my sons' were involved in this process and I was regularly provided with details on the game's progress, including any issues or "bugs."). This feedback was followed with "subsequent updates to the Hangar Module," including the "ability to add upgrades and modifications to players' ships." Therefore, through an iterative process the game developers in conjunction with the feedback provided by users, enabled the constant updating of the modules to allow for "additional functionality and content," all well before its expected release in 2016/17.
A lot of games, such as Watchdogs, do not have such intensive community involvement, and if they do, the game is in beta, and in beta form it is only available near release, and by that time it is already to late, the game is too far in for change. Roberts also remarks how in contrast to most games, where they "all work perfectly and are "neatly balanced," Star Citizen has been provided to the community at the earliest stages in order to utilise the feedback to improve the developmental process.
What is distinctive about Star Citizen, compared to other games, is throughout the entire process, and beyond, fans are "fully informed of the company's progress," making the "fans ... in control" of the process, rather than the creators. When Robert's Space Industries were in the initial phases of developing the game, the developers set a record for a ship race before it was released to the public. This record was beaten in no time, and the creators were reported to have said, "You can never be as good as your community." Chris Robert's, Star Citizen's creator, has remarked that this community, a growing "400,000," are the one's who tell him what they want. They are "invested parties," he says, who "love the game so much that they are willing to pay for it." Rather than have to keep "sales and marketing happy," as was required in the "old publishing model," Roberts remarks how, through "community feedback," he is now able to create the "game that [his company] think the community wants."
In fact, it is this iterative feedback from the community, in a variety of forms, from the very positive to the very negative, that has enabled the designers and developers to constantly improve the game. Roberts has also said that unlike games that receive "venture capitalist" funds, the game is completely crowdfunded, enabling the company to create something that is user-centric rather than design something that is "cram[med] onto a disc" with the "hope" that the company will "get it all right." This was one of my concerns, that I create something that has taken hundreds of hours of development, only to be ineffective, and largely a "dud!"
However, what I have realised is, as a tutor of university students who are studying at a variety of levels, subject areas and universities, I am perfectly situated to not only design a writing program that will meet the needs of my learners, but I am also able to gain the feedback of my learners as I'm developing the program, something that will provide me with the crucial information I need to help make it as immersive as it can possibly be. Through making the writing program available in the early phases, something that I have already begun with my students, where they are using several resources and tools that I have specifically designed or utilised as elements to help develop effective writing skills, I will be inviting the dynamic feedback that has enabled Star Citizen to be the best version of its industry.
This "age of community," as Roberts has dubbed it, has led to the realisation that it is through utilising the input of a community of learners, and a community of practitioners, that will enable my writing program to be designed according to my learners needs, rather than what I think they need.
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