BIOGRAPHY

Rich Vogel has been doing game development for 15 years. His first five years was doing console development for CD-I, Sega, and PS-1. He started his online career as Senior Producer of Meridian 59 where he helped launch and run the live service. He left 3DO to join Origin in 1997 as Senior Producer of Ultima Online where he helped launch and run the live service for two years.

He is currently Co-Studio Director at BioWare Austin. Previously he was V.P. of Production at Sony Online Entertainment in Austin, and Executive Producer of Star Wars Galaxies. In 2000, Rich joined Sony Online Entertainment as Executive Producer and founded the Austin Studio. He shipped Star Wars Galaxies in 2003 and the first expansion Jump to Lightspeed in 2004. Rich speaks frequently on issues of online world design, online development process, and online community management.

ABSTRACT

So you want to design an MMO for learning?

On the surface, MMOs are the perfect gaming genre for formal learning. They may be gaming's most fully realized worlds, complete with economies, political systems, and substantial opportunities for player creativity, both as a product of game systems and emergent gaming cultures. Players engage in joint collaborative problem solving while developing new identities as leaders, entrepreneurs, strategists, and peacemakers (c.f. Steinkuehler, 2006). Noting that such games recruit players' and expand players' identities, many educators are seeking to create such games for learning.

But is this really possible? Are there things about MMOs as they are currently designed that make them a poor fit for learning systems? Although many educators claim to be building such systems, how many have invested the hundreds or thousands of hours that the average gamer has? How many understand the design that goes into such a game?

This session features Rich Vogel, a co-studio director for Bioware, and 15 year veteran of the industry whose credits include Senior Producer of Meridian 59 and Ultima Online, and more recently, V.P. of Production at Sony Online Entertainment and Executive Producer of Star Wars Galaxies. In addition, Vogel has a background in educational technology from Florida State. Talking with Rich will be Nick Hunter, formerly of MIT's education arcade and starting this summer, Electronic Arts. At MIT, Nick worked on several projects, including Revolution, a hybrid MMO educational game based on Colonial Williamsburg using Bioware's Aurora engine. Together, they'll discuss the current state of the industry, its implications for education, and creative opportunities with the medium.