Mapping needs, motivations, habits and strategies of RPG players in the context of water resources management

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the strategies used by the players of a Role-Playing Game (RPG) in the context of water resources. Our research is a theoretical framework that informs the practice and states the implications for educational practice with a focus on action. RPGs are widely used in several areas because individuals have strategies that come close to reality. In the context of water resources, RPG helps in the process of understanding the problem and how each player thinks, analyzes, observes a situation from his perspective, and thus elaborates strategies that s/he deems relevant to her/his role and the game as a whole. The RPG developed in this research refers to the participatory management of water resources, based on data from the state of Rio Grande do Sul/Brazil, and focusing on the pilot application of the work in the Lagoa Mirim and Sao Goncalo Watershed Management Committee, which involves the cities of Rio Grande and Pelotas, in southern Brazil. The main contribution of this work is an empirical study on the RPG players’ motivation and how they elaborated on their strategies. In this research, we measure the habits of RPG players trough a semi-structured interview that was applied to a group of these players to assess the habits and strategies of individuals during the RPG.