Title (eng)
Exploring the Potential of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind as a Commercial-off-the-Shelf Tool for Wicked Crisis Learning
Description (eng)
Today’s wicked crises, i.e., those with serious consequences and dilemmatic solutions, threaten our future, especially in the absence of proper education on them, including through narrative games and other ludonarrative media. To avoid the high cost of developing such media, we can utilize commercial off-the-shelf (CotS) media, although choosing a suitable one can be non-trivial. One potential CotS medium for this purpose is The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, widely praised for its unique and complex in-game world. The world is in an apocalyptic crisis, which manifests as a supernatural blight, a strange sleepwalking epidemic, and other, more horrific and fantastical threats. We argue that due to this crisis and its presentation, the game, despite following some high-fantasy tropes, can provide a valuable learning experience for the player regarding today’s wicked issues and how best to navigate them together with other citizens of Earth. We analyze this learning aspect by considering existing requirements and design patterns of ludonarrative media for learning, including our model of how ludonarrative media facilitate the player’s cognitive, affective, and sensorimotor learning domains. We then recommend ways to effectively apply the game for wicked crisis learning, which include modding the game to, among others, enrich its branching narrative and enhance its narrative clarity.
Keywords (eng)
Wicked criseslearning domainsludonarrative mediaommercial off-the-shelf mediaThe Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Type (eng)
Language
[eng]
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Title
Gaming the Apocalypse
ISBN
978-3-903470-30-9
Publication
University of Krems Press
Publication
University of Krems Press
Date issued
2025-11-14
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