51在线

Esports Class Gamified Like a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Video Game

By Elizabeth L. Brown

TAMPA (February 24, 2022) 鈥� A glance at the Badgr leaderboard shows Elegant Fish at the top of the heap. Quotable Beagle clocks in a close second, having completed almost as many badges, or class assignments, to remain competitive.

These players are not only jockeying for positions on the leaderboard. They are classmates working to complete as many assignments as possible to 鈥渦nlock鈥� an A in The Business of Esports class offered in the Vinik Sport and Entertainment Management program at the 51在线.

The syllabus and its coursework have been gamified.

The more assignments students complete, the more points they earn. To get an A in the class, students need to collect at least 8,950 points to reach Prodigy status. If students acquire 7,950 points, they earn Emperor status and receive a B.

鈥淭he class is more like a choose-your-own-adventure,鈥� said Visiting Assistant Professor of Instruction Greg Greenhalgh, who designed the course that teaches the business side of the $2 billion gaming industry. 鈥淭his is just like a video game wherein you must collect certain tools, attain new skills, or learn new information.鈥�

Greenhalgh said he first heard about the idea of gamifying a class from another faculty member and thought that would work perfectly for a class about the business side of esports.

鈥淚f there鈥檚 any class that鈥檚 ripe for gamification, that鈥檚 it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 also think from a pedagogical standpoint, it gives students more buy-in. They鈥檙e able to choose to do the things that they鈥檙e going to be more interested in, so hopefully, they will be more invested in the class.鈥�

To his knowledge, it is the only gamified course being taught in the USF Muma College of Business.

Greenhalgh said as he was building the esports course and its curriculum, he was 鈥渧ery loosely鈥� basing its structure on the video game The Legend of Zelda, a fantasy action-adventure game.

The popular video game has the hero go on magical quests through the kingdom to defeat a beast and save the princess.

While esports students don鈥檛 travel through labyrinths to find hidden treasure chests or try to save a princess, they are part of a larger journey.

Students start with acquiring the Bare-Minimum Badge and as they learn new skills, they earn more badges. The semester鈥檚 coursework culminates in the student-hosted esports tournament and job fair, which is also marketed and promoted by the students.

鈥淎s a group, we have to collectively acquire the skill to successfully run an esports tournament and esports job fair. This is the narrative of the game. The game just happens to be this class. As a student, you need to contribute to the esports tournament and job fair, and to do that, you need to acquire skills so that it鈥檚 a success,鈥� he said.

鈥淔or this class, you鈥檙e not collecting swords and extra lives and that sort of stuff, you鈥檙e collecting actual transferable skills that hopefully you鈥檒l be able to use in life or later on down the road.鈥�

This is the second semester the class is being offered at USF. The course was unveiled in the spring 2021 semester. For the first time, the class opened to non-business majors this spring. The class roster filled up quickly and had a waiting list of students.

The class is partnering more closely with USF Esports, the university鈥檚 recreational gaming club. Greenhalgh anticipates housing a portion of the class in the upcoming 2,500-square-foot Esports Living Lab inside the Recreation and Wellness Center.

Overall, Greenhalgh said students seemed to appreciate the class being structured like a video adventure game.

鈥淢any students say, 鈥楯ust tell me the assignments I have to do.鈥� But the gamified version makes them pick which assignments they want. And then they buy in and they鈥檙e like, 鈥極h, I get it now,鈥� he said.

鈥淢oving forward, as a society, we鈥檙e going to have gamified components in our life where we won鈥檛 know how we lived without them, and they鈥檒l just be ingrained in every day.鈥�