Trolling for learners: Game based learning

About eight years ago, a couple of buddies of mine started playing this new game called World of Warcraft.  They would spend hours upon hours questing through a virtual landscape in search of the next big battle or item they could use to level up their characters.  Their obsession with the game at the time was so extreme that they would spend much of their workdays discussing their plans for playing when the workday ended, play it from the time they got home from work to the time they went to bed on the weekdays, and spend twelve to eighteen hours a day playing the game on weekends.  They even bought and sold characters or special items from time to time.  At the time, I considered it to be a complete waste of time and money.  Recently, I was introduced to another group of gamers who try to leverage this type of environment, and possibly the obsessive behavior it may be stimulating, to engage student on a completely different level.  I find their approach fascinating and am very encouraged by their innovative approach to teaching and learning.  This generation of learners, digital natives in a very real sense, challenge teachers in ways we have rarely seen.  In some ways, they seem smarter and eager to learn when you meet them on their playing field.  It makes me want to create a warrior troll and go on a learning quest.