General Discussion

   These are the "real life skills" used to play MMO's. If you struggle in real life with any of these skills you will struggle with them in an MMO.

1. READING. Playing some adventure games forces you to read and to read carefully. It’s important to read carefully enough to get information which will help you solve problems. You can improve your reading by practice.

2. LOGICAL THINKING. There are many different kinds of thinking, and they can all be improved by trying them and by practicing them. An example of logical thinking: You need to get into a building, but it’s locked. Logically, what methods or steps must be used? When you need to get into a building, here are the steps that need to be taken: Get keys from pocket, select correct key, insert key into lock, turn key, open door handle, pushdoor open -- each step is important. The methods used to open a door are obvious, but most students need to think the steps through before they can use them. Another example of a thinking skill is the ability to think in sequential order. It’s amazing how hard that is for some people. Things need to be done in the correct order – in real life and in computer simulations.

3. OBSERVATION SKILLS. It’s amazing how little people really see – in real life and in simulations. Real observers – scientists, quarterbacks, etc. – notice every detail and use it in planning strategy. The LOOK AT command in simulations allow you to observe.

4. MAP-MAKING AND READING SKILLS. I’m surprised at how many students are poor at reading maps. Many eighth graders don’t remember the relation between North South East and West. Many don’t remember that on maps, North is usually at the top. Practicing working with maps improves these skills. Students also find it helpful to create a map when using most simulation or role-playing games.

5. VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT. Most students who use simulations improve their vocabulary. You’ll encounter words which you don’t know, but which you need to know to be successful at the simulation the game is providing.

6. FAMILIAR KNOWLEDGE. Familiar knowledge is knowledge of common things. In simulation games, experiences are expanded. You get to go places and have experiences which you couldn’t really have in real life.

7. SPELLING. Sometimes it’s important to spell things correctly in order to succeed in many simulation games. Anytime you spell a word correctly, you help yourself to remember the correct spelling.

8. NOTE TAKING. Just taking notes, keeping them orderly, and being able to find them is good study skills practice. And successful role-playing gamers often do just this.

9. PROBLEM SOLVING. Problem solving ability can be learned and practiced. At almost every step in simulation games you’re expected to solve a problem. This skill is an important skill in school, college, and in almost every career.

10. STRATEGY PLANNING. What methods should be used over the long hall to solve a problem? What steps need to be taken? Strategy planning is one method of problem solving.

 
   So in other words you need to practice and develop these real life skills in order to have skill playing an MMO.

   I think what the OP is really trying to say is that playing an MMO gets you nowhere in life and everything you do and acheive in the game will be lost/forgotten and you have nothing in the physical realm to show for it.

Originally posted by XImpalerX

    Im tired of people saying this and that takes skill or no skill.

You have spells and attacks. You drag these  graphical algorithims to a Hotbar. You read said skill and it states.

You do X damage to X target. You heal X target for X health. How much skill does it take to understand this?

THESE below statements are generalized.

It doesnt take skill to read. Reading would be a skill if it wasnt' taught to you from birth. Consider it a passive ability. Typing quickly is a skill. Pushing numbers 1-0 on your keypad is not.

Reacting to in game situations and deciding what skill to use is not a skill. You react to and make decicions to real life situations all the time so it is only natural that you can do this in a video game.

MMOGs do require a small degree of coordination, they require awareness, practice to get things down and an understanding of the underlying mechanics. Of course, you can still just sink a lot of time into the game and let other players carry you... which results in the fabled "Level Capped Newbasaur."

  Someone who just sucks flat out and repeatedley breaks snares after being told what to look for and how to react is lacking intelligence and basic deductive reasoning.

What is skill?

According to Dictionary.com

1.	the ability, coming from one's knowledge, practice, aptitude, etc., to do something well: Carpentry was one of his many skills.

2.	competent excellence in performance; expertness; dexterity: The dancers performed with skill.

3.	a craft, trade, or job requiring manual dexterity or special training in which a person has competence and experience: the skill of cabinetmaking.

"MMORPG playing is one of my best skills." Your average person/employer would laugh uncontrollably at this statement.

 

    I know my argument can be turned around in many areas and argued against.

I guess if you were to use the word skill pertaining to an MMO it would be applied to those who excel and are top PvPer's/raiders. As being at the top level in this area requires alot of skill. Understanding each class, knowing how to counter and deal with each class, and positioning actually requires thought and not pushing 1-0.

  I know this will offend many MMO players as  playing said MMO may be the only illusional "skill" that person has in real life.

Want skill?swing a bat,bounce a ball, jump rope, sing, play piano,etc

Real Life skill is the only skill I need.

I suppose you do not agree writing is a skill either.

Originally posted by Parliament

   These are the "real life skills" used to play MMO's. If you struggle in real life with any of these skills you will struggle with them in an MMO.

 

1. READING. Playing some adventure games forces you to read and to read carefully. It’s important to read carefully enough to get information which will help you solve problems. You can improve your reading by practice.

2. LOGICAL THINKING. There are many different kinds of thinking, and they can all be improved by trying them and by practicing them. An example of logical thinking: You need to get into a building, but it’s locked. Logically, what methods or steps must be used? When you need to get into a building, here are the steps that need to be taken: Get keys from pocket, select correct key, insert key into lock, turn key, open door handle, pushdoor open -- each step is important. The methods used to open a door are obvious, but most students need to think the steps through before they can use them. Another example of a thinking skill is the ability to think in sequential order. It’s amazing how hard that is for some people. Things need to be done in the correct order – in real life and in computer simulations.

3. OBSERVATION SKILLS. It’s amazing how little people really see – in real life and in simulations. Real observers – scientists, quarterbacks, etc. – notice every detail and use it in planning strategy. The LOOK AT command in simulations allow you to observe.

4. MAP-MAKING AND READING SKILLS. I’m surprised at how many students are poor at reading maps. Many eighth graders don’t remember the relation between North South East and West. Many don’t remember that on maps, North is usually at the top. Practicing working with maps improves these skills. Students also find it helpful to create a map when using most simulation or role-playing games.

5. VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT. Most students who use simulations improve their vocabulary. You’ll encounter words which you don’t know, but which you need to know to be successful at the simulation the game is providing.

6. FAMILIAR KNOWLEDGE. Familiar knowledge is knowledge of common things. In simulation games, experiences are expanded. You get to go places and have experiences which you couldn’t really have in real life.

7. SPELLING. Sometimes it’s important to spell things correctly in order to succeed in many simulation games. Anytime you spell a word correctly, you help yourself to remember the correct spelling.

8. NOTE TAKING. Just taking notes, keeping them orderly, and being able to find them is good study skills practice. And successful role-playing gamers often do just this.

9. PROBLEM SOLVING. Problem solving ability can be learned and practiced. At almost every step in simulation games you’re expected to solve a problem. This skill is an important skill in school, college, and in almost every career.

10. STRATEGY PLANNING. What methods should be used over the long hall to solve a problem? What steps need to be taken? Strategy planning is one method of problem solving.

 
   So in other words you need to practice and develop these real life skills in order to have skill playing an MMO.

   I think what the OP is really trying to say is that playing an MMO gets you nowhere in life and everything you do and acheive in the game will be lost/forgotten and you have nothing in the physical realm to show for it.

You can learn some of these skills in RL, you can learn some of these playing an MMO.  If your a shut in, no-life nerd, you'd learn communication skills via ventrillo would you not? If you sucked in math class, you would learn fundamental problem solving skills via questing/content achieving would you not? You can learn certain skills playing an MMO.  Hell, I don't play any MMO currently, and haven't played one for months, but I am intelligent enough to realize that playing any game requires a combination of skills, previously learned or not, or even if you learn how the game mechanics work, that's requiring skill, right?

Playing an MMO will get you no where in life? how about future developers who play to achieve an understanding of how MMO game mechanics work?, while then applying what they learned to there field of study, computer game development? while this won't be the case for everyone, its the same as playing golf in that if your just a casual player, you play for fun, if your a pro you play for fame and cash (same as an MMO but the cash isn't real :P)  Every game requires skill, every game requires certain skills there just played on different mediums, some take more skill than others, but to say that MMO's don't take skill because your just sitting infront of a computer typing is ludacris.

The OP clearly stated MMO's require no skill, his debate was poorly worded and shows frustration carried over from another thread, which is too bad considering if he said MMO's require skill, but you can't put MMO's on your resume under the skill column, I'm sure people would have agreed, but this isn't the case, unless he alters his position, which is fine. The combination of these skills form into the skills required to play any MMO better than player x, does it not? check this analogy out;

What then is the difference between sports like golf then and a MMO? you need math skills to calculate your trajectory and distance, you need the physical capability to hit the ball and concentration to do all this effectively, these can be learned both on the green and off, regardless if you had these skills before or not its a completely different ballgame when it comes to player A stepping up to the tee.  Yet its widely accepted that playing golf takes skill, its a game, just in a different medium.

If your a hardcore mathematician will you be able to succeed at every MMO? because as the OP stated dps'ing is just calculating spell recasts? hell no, that wont get you anywhere in raiding or pvp, its applying the fundamental skills that you've learned in and out of the game and/or learning and applying them to that MMO, therefore playing an MMO takes skill. 

I can see how casuals could think MMO's take no skill, 1,2,3 shotting mobs with the same spells, but anyone who has raided high end, or pvp'd knows that your skill with that MMO is detrimental in your success.

Can you put down MMORPG's under skills on your resume? no, Can you put down playing golf under skills on your resume? no, Can you put down flying model planes under skills? no. Can you put down playing Othello on your resume under skills? no.  These are hobbies that require skill. Can you put everything posted in red on your resume under skills? yes.  Everything fundamentally breaks down into specific skills that are required to play or do anything, thats common knowledge. 

Therefore playing MMO's takes skill like every game ever conceived that has a goal, and a set of rules to attain that goal.  Something to think about

Originally posted by Vendayn

Isn't doing 1,000 raids a week  every day even christmas and sitting an automatic toilet with a fridge next to you with all your needs take skill?

That's the easy bit, getting your cleaning lady to come over and bring you fresh beers and cigarettes is the hard part.

napolean dynamite has mad skillz.

liger -rawr

Originally posted by XImpalerX

 

Originally posted by Ap0kalyps3

I double posted this for you because everyone should see it, If you honestly believe top end players have no skill at playing the game, you're an ignorant fool.

Math skill (what spells to fire off), skilled co-ordination (fd, firing off spells on long duration, curing at the right time, dps on and off, listening to verbal commands and executing them), critical thinking during AoE's, where to run, when to run, how far to run, using past experience and applying it to new encounters are all skills related and bundled into every MMO differently, its called game mechanics.  Therefore you can chose to understand and apply this knowledge set of mechanics, a.k.a SKILL SET to either suck or be elite.  If you believe every player does the same thing in a monotonous motion of pressing 1-2-3-4-5-6 *encounter dead, you obviously were never good at MMO's in the first place, or you, yourself fall into the category of a shitty player.

Have you participated in learning a new strategy? have you been in server best, world best guild? have you had the dedication to learn your class and the most effective way to utilize it? probably not, but most people have, now I'm talking about raiding, because 1 hit mob encounters obviously take no skill to push 1 or 2 or even 3 buttons, but when you have an encounter that takes 10+ minutes to beat, with multiple aoes, damage shields, spawning adds, etc, you can't tell me that those participating in the kill have no skill.  (Thats like saying hockey takes no skill because all you have to do is windup for a slapshot, fire the puck at 100mph and you'll score, or that since dodging a hit in real life is something your naturally going to do, taking a hit the proper way is not a skill, because hey there both games being played just on a different medium, or lets use golf as another one, wind up fire your ball, is judging the wind speed and direction, and lie of the pin a skill? when all your doing is clubbing a ball?) Its obviously something you have never done, so why don't you create a poll on the subject, and you'll find your ideals are severley mistaken.

I've seen my fair share of retards with damn great gear and full masters apply to the guild I was in and fail horribley because they sucked, now is sucking due to lack of skill? or sucking due to lack of math skill because they couldn't parse higher than a dirge and obviously weren't hitting the right spells/ca's? which is chalked up to experience, potential, aptitude, and ability, all of which constitutes as a skill.

The dicitonary spells it out for you, yet you still believe they take no skill? No wonder you won't amount to anything :)

     Thinking that playing an MMO gives you skill is why you'll never amount to anything. Everything that you define skill to in a MMORPG are skills that were around a long time before video games existed.

 

  Thats all i mean.

I've actually said all i wanted to say, so don't expect any more activity from me on this thread

(P.S.) Congratulations on acquiring what is among one of the most useless "skills." cu in the planar void.

Wow that's ignorant. So because he doesn't agree with you, he's wrong and he'll never amount to anything?

double post edited