Ave Caesar: estimulo cognitivo através do simulador administrativo Caesar III em uma comunidade de jogadores

Abstract

Electronic games were created around the sixties as a source of amusement. Having only simple functions, the first games used the available technology to entertain players. Technological evolution allowed the games to become more complex and bring more experience to the players. Games received the ability of creating worlds filled with narratives and complex mechanisms, earning even other functions in society, such as teaching. This paper originated from the observations of concepts related to consumer behavior in the administrative simulation game Caesar III, which is about building cities during the Roman Empire period. The paper`s objective is to show how a game stimulate the cognitive process. The game was contextualized in consumer behavior`s knowledge sphere because of the initial observations. A methodology known as cognitive ethnography was employed to understand and describe the stimuli process of cognition in a players` community known as Caesar III Heaven. The results demonstrated how the players exercised the cognitive levels in diverse ways with each case when confronted with a challenge or problem in their cities, and then bring that problem to the community, making them change experiences and create knowledge models to maximize the cities' utilities in the game. The conclusion was for this specific sample, the game Caesar III could be a stimulating tool for the cognitive process in consumer behavior context because it promotes adequate situations for social knowledge construction.