World of Warcraft Lessons Learned and Applied: Models and Professions

Kenneth Hay

In the world of MMORPGs, professions are a relatively unique way that game players develop their power in the game. In World of Warcraft (WoW), there are two types of professions — crafting professions and gathering professions. Gathering professions (e.g., mining, skinning, herbalism, and fishing) enable the player to collect raw materials for the crafting professions and some other quests. Crafting professions (e.g., tailoring, engineering, alchemy, and cooking) take the raw materials gathered by the collecting professions and craft beneficial items (e.g., bags, armor, weapons, and potions).

As a gaming construct, WoW professions are interesting in terms of their pedagogical potential within conceptual play spaces. Primarily, I have argued elsewhere about game character development as a modeling building activity (Hay, 2007). Gamers must further spend time understanding the “model” that is at the center of their profession and how it connects to everyone’s character construction that is their game playing model. Second, professions represent a long term commitment to understanding and “leveling up” in the profession over long periods of time. The WoW items you can gather or craft are associated with levels (1–375) that are loosely correlated to character levels (1–70). A Level 10 character cannot use the crafted armor that a Level 375 Blacksmith can create. Third, because there is exclusivity (you can only select 2 professions) an interdependence is created that requires interdisciplinary cooperation. If everyone is a Miner, then there is no one to create anything from these raw materials. If everyone is a Leatherworker, then there are no raw materials to create anything with. This creates an interdependence for the entire world that is addressed collectively through the game’s market system, the Auction House, or through Guilds that can purposively orchestrate their members into the right balance of professions. Finally, professions represent a set of pedagogically interesting tensions. This includes tensions between long-term/short-term goals, primary/enabling goals, individual/collective goals, and between the power of expertise and the easy immediate payoffs.

In Quest Altantis, we developed a set of professions (Chemical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering) that focus on a narrative involving fantastical creatures name Zorbies that play a vital role in absorbing radiation within a community in Quest Altantis. For example, in the Chemical Engineering profession questers learn about chemical reactions and how to speed up them up through the use of heat and catalyst. They also have to balance the money they can make with different colored Zorbies with the amount of harmful radiation the Zorbies can absorb for the community. To be successful, players have to develop the understanding of reaction properties of different catalysts and how to handle the chemical byproducts in a safe and effective manner. Questers wrestle with their interdependence with other questers because the solution is only realized with collective and coordinated actions or the expensive “Sweepers” must come to the community to restablize the community.