#10 (My Favorite Board Game and Why)

I really fell in love with the game Prisoner's Quest.

First of all, the game receives a 5/5 for immersion. Ian Bogost, Author of "How to Do Things With Video Games," claims that "tactility can please the body" (82). I have experienced this with this particular game. There is something about being able to move you character piece through each room, conquering the board as you go. Although the "world" of Prisoner's Quest is confined to a board, the cards and characters are vibrantly rendered enough to immerse me in that world (82). The immersion I experience in the game allows me to invest emotionally while playing, giving me more incentive to play and win, and even try out different characters.

In Jonathon Degann's Game Theory 101, the most important component of a successful game is Story Arc. That is, a beginning, middle and end which turns the game into an "adventure in which the players and the pieces are characters."

This is exactly what Prisoner's Quest is all about! The story arc is simple: You and four other players are in castle, and you must discover rooms to escape, attacking and defeating the other players throughout. The characters are wonderfully created in that they each have their own appearance, statistics, and one can imagine, personality.  Players of the game can project their ideas of who their character is, what they would say/do, etc. into gameplay. The story arc and the game design allow for maximum creativity allowed in a structured board game. These work together to keep the player engaged throughout game play.

Because Prisoner's Quest immerses the player and has an engaging story arc, the game is very successful. I want to play it again and again!

Post #9 (Why Skyrim is So Great)

I haven't played Skyrim in a while, and I'm starting to feel like I really want to. Lately, I've been asking myself why I like playing this particular game so much.
In "How To Do Things With Video Games," Ian Bogost gives a number of reasons why this game appeals to me.

Firstly, one of my favorite things about Skyrim is the texture of the game. Although the Skyrim world "remains imprisoned behind the glass of our televisions and our monitors," it still is vibrantly rendered enough to immerse me in that world (82). I am engaged because I can believe the gamescape laid out by the game designers.

Another reason I like this game is due to what Bogost calls "kitsch," or "the overt application of convention" (83). Like his examples of kitsch games, the Skyrim world is based on a sentimental idea of medieval life- life before cars, planes, and industry. The player gets to roam the land, maybe on horseback, and explore beautiful wild vistas. Skyrim also aligns with Bogost's idea that "kitsch was always meant to be displayed" in that achievements can be posted on a gamer's Steam or PlayStation profile for the world to see (87).  In a way, even the virtual weapons and armor that players amass through game play act as the "virtual trinkets" Bogost claims "might help realize the video game equivalent of Kinkade's million-sellar art" (88). As a player, I appreciate amassing the trinkets offered i the game; it lets me measure my success and creates new goals for me to achieve.

Finally, Skyrim allows me to relax in the way Bogost associates with "lean backward" media. No, I'm not sitting back on my sofa eating Cheetos. I lean forward and click buttons to avoid sudden death by Blood Dragon. Game play is engaging, challenging, but accomplish-able. This is contradictory to Bogost's claims. But if I want to take a long walk through the pretty wild lands of the Skyrim world, just for fun, I can at any time. Occasionally, a saber tooth cat will ambush me and I'll have to defend it. Yet something about vanquishing the foe is immensely satisfying and deeply relaxing in a way Bogost does not understand. Bogost believes calming games can only achieve total relaxation by being "leaning-back" games; however, why can't an adventure game combine both? I believe Skyrim offers both excitement and relaxation in a way Bogost hasn't considered. Besides, I don't want to play a relaxation game all the time, I want mixed elements of relation and engagement.

The refresh rates of screens (the medium) on which video games are broadcast already wire our brains for engagement and excitement; Bogost needs to go read a book if he really wants to achieve total relaxation.

Post #8 (Bogost and Empathy)

In chapter 2 of Bogost's book "How To Do Things with Video Games," Bogost offers a weak argument for what he calls empathy games. These games feature "feeble characters [who] do not wear shoes anyone wants to wear" (Bogost 23). The idea that such games such as Darfur is Dying causes empathy in players is true.

But my question with Bogost is: who plays these games? Are they really making a big difference, as Bogost seems to believe?

The Darfur is Dying Wikipedia page claims that the game was made in 2006, over 8 years ago. Apparently, only 800,000 people have played this game. Only 800,000 people with access to the internet (which is only about 16% of the Worl's population which is nearing 8 billion) have played this game, and "received" the empathy resulting from game play.

I haven't even heard of the games Bogost lists, united by their objective to create awareness and empathy. Bogost argues that video games can inspire empathy, which I agree with. However, I doubt such games will be able to do well enough in the video game market to spread the empathy around enough for people to make a change.

People who play games and run in circles where they'll have heard about Darfur is Dying may not be willing to download the game in the first place. Honestly, I wouldn't be interested. To me, there are other ways to gain awareness. I don't want to spend time playing a game about a world problem I'd rather just read about; I don't need a game to feel empathy towards the Rwandan genocide. But back to my original concern with access.

Most gamers have internet (leaving out 84% of the world). Gamers play video games they find intriguing. Perhaps it's the game's artwork, characters, plot line, weapons, power-ups, or game world. Perhaps the story resonates with the person and they feel engaged and devoted during game play. These gamers tend to avoid games like Darfur, as Bogost states. He says "critics may argue that frail situations are not fun," and I agree with these critics. They just aren't fun. Gamers like to feel powerful, to live lives rendered impossible by reality. Games allow people to choose to experience challenges, characters, situations, and places that don't exist outside virtual reality.

So there's got to be another reason 800,000 people have played this game.Online, I found a place that lists people who've played this game. On this list is none other than Kanye West. So maybe one of the reasons people have played this game is to enhance their public image. I wouldn't put it past Kanye West.

One teen player of Darfur, John Keenan from Pennsylvania, said, "I'm a gamer, but I don't know how I really feel about making a game out of what's going on. I mean, I don't think you can get a real experience of being a Darfurian refugee by playing a game on the computer" (Vargas).

I completely agree. Such "games for change" may have the purpose to promote empathy for real-world events, but in reality, not many people have played, or are willing to play, them. One website that promotes Darfur is called "5 Fun Games with a Higher Purpose," which just goes to show that gamers mostly just want to have fun.

I think it's actually a little sick to use something as horrific as the Rwandan genocide for a game. One of the reasons it bother me is due to the fact that Games for Change is not just promoting games that promote empathy for current and past events. On the website, I found that they just came out with a game called Uplifted, with the tagline reading, "play and feel happy." Like most game companies, Games for Change is partly in it for the money. It's hard for me to trust the integrity of companies I haven't heard about, and that have top-notch websites which look expensive to maintain.

 I like the idea of creating empathy for issues, but I disagree with Bogost that video games are the way to go about it; at least not until more people gain access to the internet. Yes, Darfuris or the Rwandans "deserve our empathy," but if we have to have fun at the expense of the beneficiaries of our empathy, then we may be going about this all wrong. Are we commercializing the horrific tragedies of people other than ourselves? Are such games respectful of the victims of these events, and have they truly helped?

Games are separate from the "reality" of the events; the best graphics and game play cannot change that. Sadly, such issues such as genocide do not "turn off" with the press of a close-window button. We need to make sure we're fully aware of these situations, not just gaining impressions of them that fade quickly after the game is quit.

#7 [3/28] (A Study of "The Life Blog")

The emotional, melodramatic, this-is-my-life blog. Let’s call them Life Blogs.

We’ve all seen them. Most seem to be penned by underage teens and young adults. They are surprisingly abundant on blogging sites like Wordpress and Tumblr, whose user-base has a younger age range than sites like Google’s Blogger and Google+.

An August 2011 survey estimated that 13% of U.S. adults have joined Google+; it was projected to have 22% of U.S. adults in a year. However, the age for joining was lowered from 18 to 13 (Jan. 2012), which may account for the growing number of whiny life-documenting blogs seen there.

Tumblr, A microblogging platform and social networking website, is most popular with the teen and college-aged user segments with half of Tumblr's visitor base being under the age of 25. That’s a lot of teen angst.

But for today, I will be focusing on Wordpress, which has an audience with wide-ranging ages.

I’m not talking about blogs with thoughtful, significant, and/or funny content about the details of a person’s individual life. Good writing, especially, can give insight into the mundane aspects of everyday life and cause reflection and revelation. What we’re dealing with here seems to be an extension of Twitter, a blog dedicated to the trivial issues in someone’s life, an online space meant for venting and whiny complaining.

One example of this type of blog, found on Wordpress, is username Pandaclouds’ blog “I am dramatic.” It’s aptly named! One of Pandaclouds’ posts is titled “That was weird.” and is a short exposition on her (her profile pic is pink so I can only assume it’s a she) emotions during the month of January. Sadly, not a single fellow blogger even liked this post.

Another example of a Wordpress-hosted Life Blog is username AppointedMan (talk about narcissistic!) called “HarsH ReaLiTy.” One of his posts is titled “3:47 AM…” and is a detailed account of insomnia and a random dream he had, and its apparent meaning.

I’m not saying these blogs don’t have valuable content. In fact, some of the articles are witty, useful, and creative. However, the majority of these posts seem to catalog emotions, complaints, rants, and other moody things.

AppointedMan obviously believes he’s appointed to share his opinion on the world, and his life, with everyone. Clearly. Interestingly, this guy has graduated college and is actually older than 30. Woah. I would’ve never guessed.

Language shared by both blogs includes words such as “can’t” and “guess” and other informal contractions. Much of it seems to be negatively connoted. Most of the posts, if not all, are written in first person and heavily feature “I”, “me,” and “my.” The tones can range from happy to depressed to moody to over-contemplative, depending upon the author’s mood at the time of writing.

Most of these blogs use multimedia sparingly. Words are often the choice method to communicate “feels” (emotions) in these posts. However, some authors include gifs, photos, even handmade poems and art. Song lyrics seem to be a favorite.

So, what does it take to have a Life Blog? The basic elements:

·         author can be any age

o   must be deeply connected to emotions/inner turmoil

o   must be able to communicate emotions (skillful writing not required)

o   must complain at least once a week about something

·         posts must include opinions/feelings

o   can included art/song lyrics/poetry/pictures/videos to communicate this emotion

o   can included mundane details about life

o   can include sweeping philosophical theories about life

o   can be about nothing substantial at all

As far as blogger feedback goes, comments must be respectful of the author’s feelings. The author reserves the right to his/her opinion, and may not like being addressed or told to “suck it up.” Mostly, they just want to be heard.

And there you have my anthropological study of Life Blogs.

Note: Due to the rather negative review of these blogs, I have not put up links. However, they can easily be found on Wordpress.com.

Links to my past comments on others' blogs

Blog 5

• https://laurelanddtc375.wordpress.com/2014/03/03/post-5-words/
• http://amm356375.wordpress.com/2014/03/03/375-blog-post-5-stock-option/
• http://textsandtechnologiessl.wordpress.com/2014/03/03/post-5/
• http://kyleennk.blog.com/2014/03/02/dtc-475-instructional-technologies/

Blog 4

• https://laurelanddtc375.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/post-4-game-design/
• http://amm356375.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/375-post-game-design-connected-to-mcluhan-concepts-stock/
• 
  

Blog 3

• 
  

Blog 2

• https://laurelanddtc375.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/blog-2-having-to-do-with-goodfellas/
• http://amm356375.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/375-blog-post-2-stock/

Blog 1

• https://laurelanddtc375.wordpress.com/2014/01/24/blog-1/
• http://paisleypeterson.wordpress.com/2014/01/24/dtc-375-blog-1/

#6: When I was your age...

When I was your age, I had a CD player. Not an I-pod, not an MP3 player, but a CD-ROM disk reader.
It was grey plastic, about as big as a small dinner plate. It had a place to put in the funky headphones right in the side, making it portable. You opened it up by pressing a button latch thing, until it resembled a flat grey clam. Then you slipped the CD in, being careful not to scratch the surfaces.

Oh, you don't know what a CD is?

Well, it's a flat round disk with a hole in the middle, like a flattened, shiny doughnut. One side is encrypted with music, which somehow plays when you put it in your car, computer, or CD player.
Usually CD albums come with a max of twenty songs; they have limited space. So when I had my CD player, it was just me and one album for as long as I wanted, until I decided to switch out the disk.

The CD player was important to me because it narrowed my focus. There wasn't a million and ten songs from a million and ten artists I didn't recognize, like on the smartphones and MP3 devices you see these days. Nope, my CD player allowed me to connect deeply with each album I listened to, wherever I was. I may have not had the myriad choices you all have today, but I enjoyed quality over quantity. I could listen to an album over and over again and never get sick of it, because that's all I'd known.
I'm not saying it was easier or better than what we have today, I just know you will never experience anything as simple and almost intimate as listening to one artist's entire album repeatedly. You all have so many choices, you could listen to one album these days; but why? There's no point when you can skip through artists with the press of a button.

(#5) I Once Thought EBooks were for Lameos

I love the feeling of book in my hands. I prefer softcover, because they tend be less clunky and I can find them in smaller fonts and book sizes. Currently, I’m reading a series of books by Tad Williams, which I thought were only in print. I was sad when I couldn’t find the first book in this series at Half-Priced Books almost two years ago. They had stocked the last three books, but who starts a series by reading the second book?! So I literally and figuratively put the series on a shelf until I could find the missing book.

On a whim, I checked my Kindle app on my phone the other day. I couldn’t believe it when I found the first book’s EBook edition! It was about the same cost as a printed book, a price I was willing to pay.

My experience with reading the book on my phone was actually very enjoyable. For one thing, I could adjust all the settings for my Kindle app, including font size, spacing, brightness, and even the font itself (which had a weird but powerful effect on how the text appeared to me and how I read it). At first I was hesitant about EBooks, being stubborn and set in my physical-book ways. But then I realized—a book is a book, no matter what form. I care more about the content than about the packaging it comes in.

Dennis Baron states that “critics still attack the newest technologies of writing not simply as deceptive, but also a impersonal, mechanical, intellectually destructive, and socially disruptive (Baron 11). I used to be one of these people, not really trusting EBooks, and certainly never liking them. Only after the ease with which I found and read my long-searched-for book was I able to change to my opinion. Sure, text on a screen will always seem slightly less personal then printed words on touchable pages. There’s no passing-on an EBook to someone else once you’re done with it, no real ownership of a physical thing. However, I believe that true book-readers won’t care too much how their favorite stories are packaged; what matters to us is the quality of writing and storytelling. Just because the story or message is on a screen doesn't mean we perceive it differently, or the story loses its value. Besides, like the pencil Baron refers to, I don't think printed books will be a technology that ever completely fades away.

For anyone who watches/reads  Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series

#4 (Environments and Story Arcs)

McLuhan has a few main ideas about environments: how they were, during the time of print technology, and how they are now, during our age of electric technology. "Environments are not passive wrappings, but are, rather, active processes which are invisible," he states (McLuhan 68).

 McLuhan also believes that "anti-environments, or countersituations made by artists, provide means of direct attention and enable us to see and understand more clearly" (McLuhan 68).

So what is an anti-environment? Simply something "that raises the unconscious environment to conscious attention" (Alice Rae).

In Jonathon Degann's Game Theory 101 the most important component of a successful game is Story Arc. That is, a beginning, middle and end which turns the game into an "adventure in which the players and the pieces are characters." I don't think this is hard advice to follow; in fact, I think most people enjoy a good story, which typically has a story arc.

If McLuhan is correct, then video games themselves are environments. Many of them are antienvironments, like the Stanley Parable, a game that directs the user's attention to itself as a video game. So what could our environments in video games, combined with the story arcs (or lack thereof, in few cases) tell us about our society right now? Increasingly, games like the Stanley Parable mock the established, invisible environmental rules established for first person games. We can see an increase in antienvironment games, which play with environment including such accepted, basic rules such as Story Arc.

Perhaps we have started to understand the rules we have created for our video games, for our virtual realities. Perhaps we are moving into new territory, developing games which question the environments we have created, allowing us to "see more clearly" our real-world, offline environments.

It may be a stretch, but I wonder if by manipulating the environments in video games, we are beginning to become aware of the invisible, "active processes" in our world now. Maybe manipulating our virtual environments will show us how we can change the environments in our society today.

Post #3 (McLuhan meets Skyrim)

Skyrim.

I freakin' love this game. Whoever invented this magical realm of dragons and medieval war really knew which type of alternate reality I'd like to live.

McLuhan argues that "[t]he instantaneous world of electric informational media involves all of us, all at once. No detachment or frame is possible" (52).

The way I play Skyrim, on my PC, I can both agree and disagree with him.

I am connected with the Steam/Skyrim community when I play the downloadable content available on Steam. Players can make content, and it gets rated and uploaded by other players. Overall, I believe that such a connection with other users greatly improves the quality of my gaming experience. In this way, McLuhan is correct in that I cannot completely disconnect from the Skyrim community.

However, without such content, I feel like I am completely detached from the real world as well as the electric world when I play Skyrim. I'm in my own world. I don't know how McLuhan could argue that when I am playing I am somehow connected with people, that "everyone" is involved.

In my opinion, playing Skyrim is almost exactly like a book. Because it's a first-person game, the perspective is fixed. McLuhan says with the book came "[t]he private, fixed point of view became possible and literacy conferred the power of detachment, non-involvement." Skyrim only offers a private point of view, and not even a fictional one, so perhaps McLuhan was only referring to non-first-person technologies.

Post #2: [Almost] All Forms of Payment Accepted Here

I work at one of the many coffee shops Washington State Dining Services owns around campus. Most people know where this building is; Lighty, also known as the French Administration building (I don’t know why), usually features in every student’s college experience at some point. I serve drinks and sandwiches to a constantly-flowing stream of customers, mostly comprised of students and faculty.

The employees come in two breeds: outrageously cranky or incredibly friendly. Many of them work in the Financial Aid office, constantly desperate for caffeine and headache-relief.

But more importantly, all customers can be divided into the three forms of payment we take: cash/check, Cougar Card/ RDA, or credit/debit (minus American Express). My job as cashier (plus making food and drinks) allows me to witness firsthand the forms of payment people use. Many students use RDA and Cougar Cash; because faculty can’t access RDA (Resident Dining Account) they can use Coug Cash instead. Many staff personnel who use Coug Cash have very old, dated cards, which still somehow work on our system. We swipe their retro, faded, flimsy cards and send them on their ways. Some cards are so old they require extra swipes for the machine to properly read them.

However, many faculty and students use cash to pay for their drinks and breakfast sandwiches. In fact, I always joke that this is as good a place as any to get rid of extra cash. Sometimes I get handfuls of germy change, which I usually never bother counting because it’s a pain.

I wonder if my frequent handling of cash-bacteria is the reason I’ve been sick lately. Hmm.

Personally, I like using a combination of Cougar Cash (you get a discount!) and normal cash, but also debit if I’m really low on the other forms of money. My credit card also works as a debit card, as it links to an online account I can access any time.

In the old days (as of like, 2 years ago) Lighty Cafe used to only take cash and Coug Cash/RDA. The other day I had a customer who came up to me at the cashier.

She asked me, “Do you take credit card?”

I was like, “Oh yeah! Except for American Express.”

“For how long?”

“About two years, now.”

She flipped out, exclaiming, “What? No way! I didn't know that! You guys never told us!!” She was very distressed that no one had informed her we now accept other forms of payment.

I was amazed that this lady, who clearly hadn't visited our cart in over two years, could be so irritated at something so silly. It's just coffee, lady, if you needed to use your card for coffee so badly you should have read the signs posted everywhere that tell you that we now accept your form of payment.

But reactions like this are normal; mess with people’s money or routine in any way, and you must be willing to suffer the consequences. Food services can be a thankless job indeed.

So for now, the place I work accepts nearly ALL forms of payment, making it quite accessible for both students and staff. Maybe my managers should have sent an email to everyone belonging to WSU. Yeah. They'll be sure to do that next time we change anything to do with money...

Is Bitcoin Safe? Post #1.2 (The first one wasn't good enough!)

My last blog wasn’t on the topic we discussed during class at all. I wanted to do another “first” blog because the topic of the Bitcoin is interesting! All info here comes from the website We Use Coins.

            I have never actually heard of Bitcoin before class on Friday (1/24). This lack of knowledge could be due to my absence from any MMOs (massive multiplayer online) games; I am not in any uber-online-gaming-nerd circles, preferring to play offline games.

Bitcoin, as we discussed in team 3, is only growing. In fact, I found a nice website devoted entirely to Bitcoin use; as is to be expected, the videos and other advertisements/guides paint Bitcoin as this wonderful, open source money system which will make the world a better place.

However, in our class discussion, my team and I speculated over the future of Bitcoin and what it could mean. One of my biggest concerns was safety.

            Since the money is completely digitalized, how can spenders be sure there money is safely delivered? How easy would it be for brilliant hackers, or an association of hackers like Anonymous, to hack into the Bitcoin system? What would you be able to do if your bitcoins (just pieces of code) were to disappear mysteriously en route to another person’s net? After all, it couldn’t be that hard to hack into someone’s “digital signature” and reroute the money to another Bitcoin account.

            While open source is great for many things, the fact of the matter is that people like to take advantage of things. It’s sad, but true. I doubt even a “wonderful” open source creation like Bitcoin would be an exception.

For example, I found this safety concern in the FAQ section of the website:

What can an attacker with 51% of hash power do?

Actually, it's very easy to do damage to the network once you have 51%; just build your own chain faster than the network, and broadcast it whenever you like. If you send some of your coins to a new address in your own chain, all the transactions issued in the live network by spending those same coins will be reversed at the moment the longer chain is broadcast.

Right from the bitcoin wiki (probably proof-read by many pairs of eyes) :

An attacker that controls more than 50% of the network's computing power can, for the time that he is in control, exclude and modify the ordering of transactions. This allows him to:

·         Reverse transactions that he sends while he's in control

·         Prevent some or all transactions from gaining any confirmations

·         Prevent some or all other generators from getting any generations

The page goes on to list all the things the hacker couldn't do. However, someone could seriously mess up the whole Bitcoin system; all it would take is motivation to screw with things. A pretty tempting idea to some people.

What do you guys think? Do you think Bitcoin is safe? Will someone attack the network, perhaps just for “fun-sies”? And would you invest in Bitcoin yourselves?

War: It's Good for the Economy (DTC 375, Post #1)

Foreword: I’m not advocating war in this post. I know it is messy and bloody and probably not worth it. However, I have noticed that ‘duking it out’ with another country tends to have beneficial results for the winning side’s economy. Let’s look at an example from the book, Rome, and an example from modern history, America during and after WWII.

In Chapter three of his book The History of Money, Jack Weatherford discusses the interconnectivity of money, war, and success within the Roman Empire. War, at least before and during Rome’s “economic apogee sometime around the reign of Marcus Aurelius,” meant conquest (Weatherford 28). Because Rome hardly had the means of producing agriculture and other commodities necessary for trade, the early emperors before Julius Caesar understood how vital commerce and trade was for the Republic and early Empire. However, later emperors decided to focus on conquest and less on commerce, preferring to take over their neighbors and the resources and goods generated from their lands.

http://www.chilternarchaeology.com/roman_army.htm

Although “conquest and pillage” could only finance the Roman Empire for “so long,” war hugely affected the Roman economy—beneficial at first, then waning, as land gained for the empire produced less value than was expended in capturing it (Weatherford 51). The vast and growing Roman army became a hindrance rather than an asset, but this was due mostly to poor planning and budgeting and a desire for “fame and glory” held by later emperors (Weatherford 50). War did help the Roman Empire; and war can still aid economies even today.

One example of war boosting a nation’s economy happened in the 20^th century during WWII. In 1920 America experienced the Great Depression: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCQfMWAikyU

            In 1929 the stock market crashed, and America’s economy swiftly followed. People starved, lost their houses, businesses crashed—it was a seemingly endless mess. Would the economy ever recover?

            The answer was industry.

 

http://www.singularitynyc.com/Rosie-information.html

The need for industrial production skyrocketed first by aiding the Allies against the Axis, then with America’s joining WWII in 1941. The war would last till 1945. During the war, men left for battle, so those left filled their jobs; these included women, blacks, and others left unemployed during the Great Depression. Suddenly, the U.S. economy was in full-swing, as demand for goods (airplanes, uniforms, jeeps, etc.) increased (nytimes.com).

           

 Rome abused its military power and decided to neglect commerce and other sources of money necessary for its economy; America utilized war to boost industry, save its economy, and even win the war. If America viewed war as the later Roman emperors did, perhaps our nation would have overreached itself and attempted to conquer the losing Axis countries via military. However, America did not squander its resources on an ever-growing army; Rome’s ruins stand as a reminder of the importance of placing production and commerce before world-domination.

For more in-depth information on the lasting effects of WWII on America’s economy after the war, go here: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/01/where-did-all-the-workers-go-60-years-of-economic-change-in-1-graph/252018/