Mainly for abiuro but also for p_cat and fizit (because of the ‘librarian with breastplates’ comment):
Teaching journalism using a Neverwinter Nights sim…
To teach fact-finding skills, professors at the University of Minnesota have turned the fantasy computer game Neverwinter Nights into a tool for journalism students. Instead of slaying monsters and gathering gold, the players tackle sources and gather information.
“When we initially did the game, it still had lava pits, the editor looked like an ogre – stuff like that. The librarian had breastplates,” said Nora Paul, director of the university’s Institute for New Media Studies.
The team, which includes game designer Matt Taylor and journalism professor Kathleen Hansen, have now modified the game graphics to look like a modern town, the fictional Harperville. A train has derailed, spilling toxic ammonia, and the players are sent out to cover the story. They dig up information by going to the library, government offices or talking to a retired train engineer at the bar. …
The team had initially planned to have a crowd of game characters milling about the accident scene, but the game wasn’t amenable to that. A bug in the program meant that any time a player approached a group of people, he was immediately attacked and killed.
The game is here and I found this thanks to luscious_purple on journalists.