So just what is it that makes a ‘gifted gamer’ different?
Giftedness is a label typically bestowed to students who have demonstrated a superior mental ability. Giftedness arises from a physical difference in person’s brain (Clark, 1988).

It is important to note here that we are not talking about personal strengths. A personal strength is an assessment in comparison to yourself only. A gift, however, is a comparison of yourself to a (large) population. A gifted person’s weakness may still be way above the strength of an average person… Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, not everyone is gifted. (And not all ‘gifted’ people are equally gifted!) A gifted person is one who’s abilities are at least one standard deviation above the ‘norm’ in a large population. There is a significant difference between the the gifted person and the average person. Consider in intelligence one standard deviation below the norm can result in becoming labelled with a mental disability.

Psychologists have broken down the possible fundamental abilities that a person may be gifted in (in one, all or any combination) these are:

• Intellectual (e.g. fluid reasoning – inductive and deductive, crystallised verbal, spatial, memory, judgement and metacognition)
• Creative (e.g. inventiveness, problem-solving, imagination, originality)
• Socioaffective (perceptiveness, communication, empathy, tact, influence, leadership, persuasion)
• Sensorimotor (senses: visual, auditory, olfactive etc and motor: strength, reflex, endurance and coordination)

Ok, so if these are all the areas a person could be gifted in, just what is a gifted gamer…
Obviously they must be gifted in just the right areas that support the development of gaming talents. Lets have a look at how these various gifts, could be useful for gaming.

Intellect:
A gift in this area can obvious benefits to games that involve strategies. When it comes down to it, almost all games have some level of strategies involved and a gifted intellect can assist in the understanding, quick memory and recognition of patterns, the ability to reflect critically when a chosen strategy didn’t work and analyse the correct modifications to make. Since we’re talking here about World of Warcraft the biggest place this becomes useful is in the arena and when encountering new bosses in dungeons and raids and gold making. Particularly when dealing with complex situations that involve multiple variables, a gifted intellect is useful here.

Creative:
Creativity is not simply the ability to play music, or paint artwork, but it is the ability to create something new. This is highly sought because money can be made and things can be learnt when we use new methods/models/designs/plans etc.

A lot of world first kills are now well known for which exploit was used to defeat the encounter so early (e.g. Ensidia LK, Exodus Yogg+0, totems and RS, Ensidia Hodir, C’thun… I’m sure there are more). While I don’t support the methods used, for some of these blizzard deemed it a creative use of ingame mechanics (e.g. using the FR buff from MCing mobs in UBRS then attempting ragnaros). Creativity was shown here as someone came up with an original way to use the available resources they had.

In any case, having the ability to not just use someone else’s ‘success formula’ but be able to manipulate and create your own is the skill of creativity, being good at this has many benefits in WoW.

Socioaffective:
I think to some degree Saate has already touched on this area in his guide to making deals. This area of giftedness really refers to how well someone can interact with others. This is essential in a game like WoW on any level you are always affected by other people. The degree to which you can fluently control and respond appropriately in this environment can have enormous benefits.

For example: convincing people to help you, even when they couldn’t be bothered; setting up trades that give you that little bit extra, or convincing someone to part with something rare they didn’t really want to part with; writing an application for a guild or arena team; creating, running and managing a guild and raids.

Sensorimotor:
Sensori gifts may seem a little unusual but they certainly exist. Some people’s senses are much more precise and/or span a much larger range than the average person’s.

To a large extent gifts in this area are not useful in WoW. All of the possible information that is available has already been saturated to a degree that (disregarding disabilities) everyone can access all of it with accurate resolution and sensitivity. That said, however, the person who is adept at using audio and visual cues when gaming and doesn’t just focus on one or the other is a much better gamer. I’m not convinced whether such actions come under sensori gifts or simply a level of focus on multiple streams of information.

Motor gifts. While physical endurance may not be of much benefit in WoW (except perhaps for those pushing for Realm First! Level 80! Type achievements). Reaction timing is definitely a benefit in WoW, for both raiding and pvp slow reactions can be fatal for the character and the team.

As you can see a gifted gamer may be gifted in any combination of the above areas of giftedness. What makes them different just a gifted person is how these innate gifts have been developed into gaming talents. This is where we’re headed for next week. For now, have a think about these five different abilities and how you think they impact upon how gamers game, let me know your thoughts!

Just to be clear: a ‘gifted’ gamer should be demarcated on the basis of what they could do, not on the basis of what they have already done.