Concept For Language Learners: Language MMO

[MontKan]

Hello! Before you continue reading, I have not started on this and am merely collecting thoughts on an idea that is brewing in my mind and on my fingertips. For a long time I have been studying two languages and have always wished there was more resources to use them. I live in a very southern town in the Midwest of the United States and anything other than English is considered offensive, and thus do not hear my target languages unless I am in class or online. I often find myself falling off course playing video games when I should be studying. But why not both?

"Monty, you are dumb." I know, I know. Been a crazy dreamer since the day I started thinking but I think it is a concept that needs to be discussed and debated.  I will be upfront when I say this concept will never be able to be achieved alone. As of right now I am only fluent in English and can speak a moderate amount of Norwegian. If this concept is widely received and agreed upon, a large amount of work will need to take place to find a linguist team willing to share their knowledge.

 

The Concept 

I'd like to officially start this post with the concept I already have in mind, but would love different concept variations along with feedback on mine. 

 

To even say "Language learning MMO" is crazy. For starters, to get the game going there would need to be a massive amount of people. And there are great odds that within those Mass amounts of players, there will be players who want to learn different languages. So how do we make a game that allows a lot of players, all at different skill levels in their target language, to play together and have fun? Do we copy and paste WoW and just rename things in their language? Do we make it a chat simulator hooked up to a big box that says Google Translate? No, I was thinking something more along the lines of Final Fantasy Combat.... What?

 

 

Omg a social MMO? Well I never.

 

 

Yup, the old classic Final Fantasy combat. I got the idea when browsing Steam and saw some really cheap Japanese learning game where the Kana are the attacks and you make words or something. I didn't fully understand that game, but it gave me an idea for a game like this. So, what would it need to work? This took some thought, but after awhile I came to the conclusion that the game needed to be practical. Most people aren't learning languages to learn words like "Monster" or "Savior of Light" (Maybe they are... Who knows!) But the game needed to present their target language in a practical way. I am still torn between if the game should be used as a learning resource, or a practice resource. The two are very different and would change how the game would be played. 

I shakily say the game should be both. Level (Which is an indicator of where you are in the language based on a fictitious scale) scales with the time and effort you put into using your language(weapon). Players will start at level one and steadily work their way up by using their target language in battles. This is how players would achieve that:

 

• In battle where players will translate a sentence in real time. For example, you encounter a level 1 enemy. After selecting the attack command, a phrase in your native language appears on your screen. "Apple". A text box appears below and you must type the translation. For this example, Spanish. ">manzana". If you typed in the correct answer, the enemy will take damage. Selecting the magic command will do the opposite. Text will appear: Translate the following "mazana" . Then you have to type  "apple" . The first time you encounter a word it will be already typed for you. You just need to hit enter and type it again. This follows the duo lingo approach.
• Bosses will have a unique fight, where players must cooperate with others to beat them. Imagine that game Keep talking and Nobody explodes. Instructions will appear on the Player's screen giving them verbs they should have learned up to that level. 
• In town where players must solve riddles talking to NPC's and reading signs
   

I can find so many hoops and issues with what I just listed, but my fingers are giving out and I'm about to go make lunch and would love to hear your comments on such a game. Would you play it? Would you advise I delete this post and hang my head in shame? Leave a comment and let me know what you think. If you have your own game concept related to this, comment it! 

[Damian666]

me like, approved  

[Weylon Santana]

You're not that crazy, man. It's a good idea, yes, but not so much for MMO, usually such a game involves adventure, action, mystery. Your idea involves learning a lot, the question of learning, I say this by being a teacher, in schools, creating a game where the attacks or spells would be translated in real time, could teach to learn a new language in a different way and much more easy of than books and classes. The missions could be how to use them, this was vague, translate is easy, knowing how to use within the language is complicated. You have thought well of this project that you have idealized, but it involves much more learning, "teacher-student", than a project of mmo in itself. It's just my opinion.

 

If you want to continue forward, maybe you could get support from some school, but maybe a big one, as you said in your state, another language is almost a crime. If I presented something like that at school here in Brazil it would be applauded. But it's your idea. Anything can go away with time (I say, a lot of time) and effort (I say, a lot of effort).

[MontKan]

13 hours ago, Weylon Santana said:

You're not that crazy, man. It's a good idea, yes, but not so much for MMO, usually such a game involves adventure, action, mystery. Your idea involves learning a lot, the question of learning, I say this by being a teacher, in schools, creating a game where the attacks or spells would be translated in real time, could teach to learn a new language in a different way and much more easy of than books and classes. The missions could be how to use them, this was vague, translate is easy, knowing how to use within the language is complicated. You have thought well of this project that you have idealized, but it involves much more learning, "teacher-student", than a project of mmo in itself. It's just my opinion.

 

If you want to continue forward, maybe you could get support from some school, but maybe a big one, as you said in your state, another language is almost a crime. If I presented something like that at school here in Brazil it would be applauded. But it's your idea. Anything can go away with time (I say, a lot of time) and effort (I say, a lot of effort).

Thank you for your feedback! Obviously the game itself would be a community for those wanting to talk to other players as well. My idea is not concrete but I have put some force behind it. 

The ideal behind it was more of a learning tool than it being a full on teacher. Just as Duolingo will never bring you to a fluent level, this game would be designed to mortar in those "thought bricks". Through repetitive practice like watching a TV show, work sheets, reading a book, talking with friends, etc; This game will promote that repetitive nature. 

But you are right, perhaps an MMO is not suited for the idea. But I fantasize of an environment where people are socializing and fostering their learning with positive reinforcement. I will update this post this weekend and add some more detail. Your input and others will help etch out this idea in my head. Thank you so much

[Weylon Santana]

2 hours ago, MontKan said:

But I fantasize of an environment where people are socializing and fostering their learning with positive reinforcement.

Maybe a mystery text game can get people's attention. There are several good ones like "untold stories". Research, it may be that you open your mind to something. If you can do that and still connect people, it would be even more interesting.