McGonigal Part 3 Response: Truly an Epic Win and End

Well damn, just gotta start off saying that this was the most epic ending to any book I have ever read. The incorporation of all the fixes and such made it that much better. Not sure about anyone else, but when I was reading this I had some epic fight music playing in the back of my head and I felt like I could take on the world after reading it. Never have I ever finished a book feeling so epic!!!! For this post, I will be pulling out some quotes from the final chapter that really spoke to me. "Very big games represent the future of collaboration. They are, quite simply, the best hope we have to solving the most complex problems of our time." This quote really spoke to me as I am in complete agreement with McGonigal's theory. We find that through collaboration, we can achieve something greater then without it. Collaboration brings together the best of all different ranges on any topic of discussion and it's something we need to do not only as a society, but as a species if we want to continue to live on this planet. There are signs that we could be heading down a path that has no return from, we need to get on these issues now and work together to reach peace and solitude. "Games don't distract us from our real lives. They fill our real lives, with positive emotions, positive activity, positive experiences, and positive strengths." Again, fabulous quote and couldn't agree with her more. Now one may say my opinion is swayed due to my love for video games and such, but that really only makes it more true. She also mentions that we need to integrate videos into our lives more instead of using them as just an escapist tool, and that I believe also plays into this positive idea. We can use gaming to enrich our lives through story telling, game play, interaction with others, and the list continues. Most people that don't know this world simply write it off as a waste of time, waste of money, or simply used for leisure and has not academic value. If I have learned anything from this course, it is that gaming can do anything, including improving my academics. This class proves that the incorporation of gaming elements can make school work 100% more fun and also increases the drive to obtain the maximum amount of points. I have never taken a class where striving for an A felt so damn good. I don't see how people today don't see gaming as something more positive. There is so much evidence to show that it can be used in such amazing ways and could really benefit our kind. I really like how McGonigal talks about the possibility that we will repeat what the Lydians did with our society today. It is hard to say how exactly it will play out, but I will be praising her word when/if it does. Since taking this course, I have passed along all this enriching knowledge to my friends and family and I can tell that the more skeptical ones have come around since the beginning. My father especially was very distraught by the idea that I was taking a class where my grade was based off something that I did in my "leisure" since I was very little. I said to him, "Well haven't I been reading and speaking since I was little and still use it? Why can't I find new ways to incorporate gaming into my life, and even now in an academic way." I hope that my dad will read this book once I return home for summer. I would just like to end this post by thanking you Dr. Mortimore-Smith for this amazing opportunity to widen my horizon on the gaming world and incorporating all these wonderful aspects that have filled my life with joy into my final semester here at Ship. I honestly couldn't think of a better way to end it then by taking a class that was fun, educational, and socially enriching as I got to spend it with great friends that I already had along with all the new ones that I made in this class. I wish the greatest luck to my fellow classmates in their time here at Ship and afterward. I know that each class that you will teach will have it's own uniqueness, but I hope that you always remember this class, because I will never forget it.

McGonigal Response: Happiness Hack

To start, I really enjoyed this section the most out of our reading because I found it not only interesting, but very useful. I can say that I participated in some of the simpler happiness activities without really being aware of their implications on myself. Having now read this section and analyzing it, I really hope it benefits me more now rather then me taking notice and requiring a more integrated event to really make me happy. I was taught at a very young age to always hold a door open for a woman. I still, to this day, passively check my surroundings when walking to class to see if I'll be letting someone into a building before me. I get praise almost 95% of the time, while the other 5% consists of individuals not paying attention, and occasionally a scolding look. When that happens, not only do I make a mental note to not do it again for that person, but it then brings me a bad feeling, which is the opposite of what my mind is trying to get out of the practice. I never really considered this a happiness activity until after reading this section, I always just did it out of habit and being a nice thing to do for others. I want to also take this time to discuss the three bullet points that are in the beginning of the chapter and how they are completely spot on. I can say that I see myself as a person who thinks of others over myself a good majority of the time as I seem to get more satisfaction out of other people's happiness then my own a lot of the time. For instance, I would rather go out of my way to drive my girlfriend to work and pick her back up then have her do it herself. She has her own car and lives closer to her work, yet I offer to drive her every time that I can. I do this not to get any kind of reciprocity, I do it simply because it makes her happy and appreciate me.So in a way you can say there is some kind of trade off, but there are very few times that we can say that we don't live in an exchange type relationship kind of world. Regardless of the size of the trade off, there still is something that everyone gets out of certain relationships. As for the death practice, I can say that I don't go out of my way to think about death daily, but having read this chapter I probably will pick up the practice. I have a very strange thought process when it comes to anything, and it leave me with a very unique way of thinking. I tend to process my decisions based on a very extensive thought exercise where I run various scenarios of each individual situation through my head to pick the best outcome. This goes from something as simple as planning out my day regarding when I may eat to whether or not I go out a particular night if I think the weather could lead to a horrible outcome. Like I said, it is a "unique" way of thinking and it has lead me to a variety of good and bad outcomes over my life. It also requires me to over think things a lot of the time and if you had the opportunity to ask my girlfriend about it, I'm sure she could rant on about it for quite awhile (hahahahaha). I do find myself thinking about death more frequently then I thought was normal and it does give me the sense that McGonigal proposes in this section. I will see if I actually remember to think about death each and every day after this class is over. With all the insanity surrounding the Boston Marathon, I can say that my mind is more on death then normal as I have been following all the updates provided by the Associated Press, which I get as often as once an hour. Now on the topic of the dancing, I find myself jamming out almost every single day whether I think about it or not. I am a very musical person, in the sense that I almost always have my headphones on listening to just about anything. My taste in music is semi-broad, but there are still plenty of styles that I do not enjoy, like hip hop and country. Currently I am listening to a Daft Punk song while writing this entry and jamming out to it in the computer lounge with people occasionally taking note as to "how into the music" I am getting. I tend to also do a good bit of jamming while walking and a bit more when I am with friends. If Tyler happens to read this, he can attest to how me and him have rocked out to some of our favorite bands while playing Halo and Gears of War, and when I say rock out, we even have our characters in game head banging at some points (and my god did it create some of the biggest laugh sessions in our friendship). I also would like to point out how correct McGonigal is when she says that happiness activities are best executed in groups. My friends and I my sophomore year would do almost everything together and it would result in very few times when I would feel depressed or alone, or need to be alone for that matter. We would eat, go to class, play games, and just sit around doing "nothing" with each other all the time. It has made it hard to move on with people changing locations and not having that constant influx of people all the time, but it also allows you as a person to reflect and appreciate what you have and that at least brings me a good bit of happiness.

Gee Ch. 3 Response: Achievement Unlocked!!!!!!

Oh boy! As soon as I got to the part in Chapter 3 of Gee and saw the achievement principle I knew what I wanted to talk about for this week's response. It is safe to say that if you were to ask any of my close friends about me and achievements, you'd get a response like "oh boy how many has he gotten now?" or "What? Did he get to 100,000 yet?" I have been playing on Xbox 360 since the release of Halo 3, which was back in September of 2007. Since then I have played over 180 different retail and arcade games on the 360. I have played games like Call of Duty, Mass Effect, Castle Crashers, and many more. I was first hypnotized by achievements back when I played the game Dead Rising. Still to this day, I have yet to find a game that rewarded me as well as this game did for obtaining its achievements, and I'll explain why. With games on Xbox, each achievement is assigned a score that goes into a player's overall gamerscore. These achievements are (generally) given value based on the skill level required to obtain it. So in case you aren't following yet, an intro stage may land you 5G of gamerscore where beating the game on the hardest difficulty may land you somewhere in the 100-150G range. People go nuts over what achievements are attached to certain games, and for some people (and yes I will admit I do this sometimes too), they won't play some games simply if the output of the gamescore they think they can acquire isn't worth the time. I do this very rarely, but it has happened with some games that I have considered playing. One example recently is the game Dark Souls. I have only heard bad things about this game in the respect that it is very hard to obtain the achievements and only if you really want to spend the time playing the game should you get involved. I heard the game is good in regards to the content, but I have chosen to opt out simply based on the time and frustration I will be avoiding by not playing it. Wow, completely lost where I was going, oh right Dead Rising. Now in this game, all the achievements were worth 20G, and since there were 50 achievements it totaled the 1000G that comes with retail games. This meant there were some really easy achievements that you could get right off the bat and I obtained a higher gamerscore to start because of it. But this also meant that the really hard achievements, where there were a decent amount, were also only worth 20G, but overall it evened out. As I played the game I soon discovered that I had unlocked some in game items from completing some of these achievements, and this is where my addiction started. I soon found out that completing the "Zombie Genocider" achievement resulted in the player obtaining a MegaBuster (Megaman's cannon) for use in the game. I had to kill the population of the area the game took place, which was 53,594 zombies in the course of one play through. It is safe to say I spent at least 15 hours driving a car into the parking garage area of the game and farming zombie kills until I got it. After obtaining the weapon, I felt like I was invincible, and this leads into how the principle is defined. We find value in obtaining these achievements to meet our needs as gamers. The only disappointing thing about me getting this item was my assumption that all games took on this meta. WRONG!! Now I will say that some games award players in game items, armor, etc, but it never felt the same (in my opinion). Game have been getting better with allowing players a secondary reward from completing achievements. Players can also now be rewarded with in game items from doing tasks that aren't combined with the game's achievements. An example is with Halo 4, completing the in game commendations will unlock you armor that can only be obtained this way that aren't linked to any achievements. Some of these challenges can be more difficult then completing the hardest achievement for the game. I still enjoy finding games that unlock me as a player in game items and it continues to drive me to play each game more to unlock these items, obtain the gamerscore, and further the overall score of my account to show that I am a hardcore player, and I'm glad that there is a way to show that off sometimes, and I mean it when I say "sometimes" :P

Response to Gee: Metalevel Thinking

One part of chapter two that I found very interesting was the discussion of the Semiotic Domain, but specifically dealing with the "metalevel thinking." Not only is this process important to a game, but it is necessary for a game to be able to survive over a long period of time and games that successfully meet the "meta" flourish and continue to get played.  I will talk about a couple different games that have done this successfully. One big game that a lot people may be familiar with is League of Legends. This game is constantly changing its meta game due to a couple of different elements. The game is constantly getting updated with new champions, champion balances, item balances, and environmental balances. I use balance in terms of they change something that has been either overpowered or underpowered in the eyes of the community and developers. With this in mind, players have to adapt to these changes at such a constant rate it could potentially make or break the game. I have had a couple champions(characters) in the game that have been "nerfed" so hard that they lose playability, well at least at first. One example of this was when they changed one of my favorite character's scaling that he wasn't as strong as he use to be. I was unable to perform or play him well at all, so I stopped playing him. After about 2 months, I picked him back up again and found that I had an easier time then before. The difference was that when I was playing him, I knew my limitations, and then they changed them drastically. After forgetting those limits, to a point, relearning what I could and couldn't get away with allowed me to play this character once again and have fun with it. Another big thing that has changed League of Legends "Meta" is the team compositions. Now this can be argued as being my opinion and wrong, but I feel as though there are a lot of people who can agree with this. Since the game has been out, the strategy of the "lanes" in the game has changed overtime. For anyone who doesn't know what this game entails, I'll do my best to explain the basics. There are 2 teams of 5 who battle on a map with 3 main "lanes." The change in the meta comes in when we discuss what kind of characters, along with how many go to each lane. For the most part, the middle lane has always been a solo lane and occupied by a ranged caster type champion (oh and just for the record, if anyone would like me to explain this more in depth in person, feel free to ask or comment). Top and bottom lane are the two that have changed a lot. At the beginning, and still sometimes today, top would consist of two champions. More recently, top has become a solo lane, while the other player goes into what is called the "jungle" and levels up by killing the creatures in the jungle rather then leveling up in the lane. The jungler also has the task of performing sneak attacks called "ganks" on opponents in the 3 lanes of his/her choosing to help out the team and the players in the specific lane. Bottom, for the most part, has been also a duo lane. The change in the meta comes into play when dealing with the kinds of characters that go there. At least in my experience, players would just go any champion they would want and have a 2v2 battle lane down bottom. More recently, the lanes now consist of a ranged champion and a support champion. This is followed by the strategy of the ranged champion becoming "fed" off of all the monster kills that yield more gold as the support champion focuses on healing and protecting it's ranged partner. With all this changes, the game has proved to be successful in continuing to adapt to new champions they add along with user feedback to make the game more balanced for all players. Another game I would like to point out that has kept the meta game balanced is Team Fortress 2. With all the content updates that come into a game that still is played by it's core gameplay, it continually keeps up with balancing new items and new game modes. The game still consists of its 9 classes from launch and have given each class a variety of tools to make each player somewhat unique over another playing the same class. They have introduced many new game types, weapons, cosmetic items, and has gone free to play along with being available to play on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It just goes to show that if you can update your game to meet the needs of the ever changing market, you'll continue to have a prosperous journey for both the players and the developers.

Response to Reality Is Broken: Music Gaming

I wanted to do my response on the section of chapter 4 dealing with how failure in gaming helps with optimism and the details surrounding music based games. I have been very influenced by games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band and they have shaped my gaming experience in a big way. I want to take this time to point out some ideas that were mentioned in the book in regards to what music based games do to us as players. The one part that I found most interesting was the part that brought up the fact that very few players partake in playing games like Rock Band alone. I am one of those players who has spent the majority of my time playing these games on my own. I can say with full certainty that I cannot live without my iPod and my music at all points of the day and I think that has part to do with how I experienced music based games. I am the oldest of 3 brothers who also play video games, but I found myself playing the first Guitar Hero in my basement alone then either with or in the company of my brothers. It wasn't really until Rock Band came out that my time playing that game at first was within a group of my friends. That also may had to do with the fact that I didn't own the game or my own drum set at that point and could only play it at my friend's house. Once I got my own plastic drum set, I would play the campaign of the game on my own for hours on end trying to get better at the drums. Now one could argue that I practiced as much as I did because I wanted to impress my friends and to excel when I play in public. I won't deny that was what is was at first, but things changed with Rock Band 2. In Rock Band, to get the band related achievements, you needed to play in a band of no less then 2 people. Rock Band 2 gave you the option to play through all the features and access to most of the achievements in single player. I'm not against playing games with multiple people, it was just frustrating for me that I am missing so many Rock Band 1 achievements because my brothers and friends wouldn't play the game as extensively as I did. Along with Rock Band 2 being able to play the whole game alone, also was paired with me getting an ION Drum Rocker. It is a higher quality drum set that with the right module can be used as an electric drum set. I had the 4 drums, 3 cymbals, and drum pedal. The only module I had was strictly for Rock Band, and that began my serious obsession. I would play, no lie, at least 3 hours a day after school replaying a lot of the same songs trying to improve my score. As they started to release DLC, I would buy songs of my favorite bands each week they would release content. My library is over 600 songs to this date. This was what I would do from sophomore year until senior year in high school. After coming to SHIP, I didn't play it much. I wasn't able to bring my set to school and I slowly lost my obsession. It wasn't until sophomore year of college that I met my friend Andrew who to this day is the only other person I know that has as many Rock Band songs as I do (and more). He had all the instruments, in plastic form, and my obsession was sparked once again. Everyday, Andrew, our friend Jayson, and I would have what we called "Band Practice" and we would cycle through a couple of the same songs along with throwing in different ones. We enjoyed playing each day and it was probably the best times I have had at college. It is something that I miss very dearly as Jayson now lives in Texas and Andrew transferred schools. This game provided me with thousands upon thousands of hours of entertainment in both a single and multiplayer atmosphere. I have acquired a real drum module and have begun to really try and play my set in the "real" sense. I have been told by a bunch of people that I am at a skill level in rock band that could mimic actual drum skills that I could use in real life. It is one of very few games that will have replay value for me on an endless state, as many games I play I only go through once and I get my fill of it. It has been a very big influence on my gaming experience and how I experience music in my everyday life. I listen to music and picture how I would play the drum parts in rock band on my set and with the skills that I have, I can go out and experiment with that.

Response: V for Vendetta: Book/Movie Comparison

So for my response today I would like to discuss some of the big differences between the novel and the movie. There is a difference between some of the plot points, but since I don't think I can describe them very well, I'm going to stick with the character differences. Let's start with our hero/villain V. In he book, he is portrayed more as a killer who is willing to stop anyone in his way where as in the movie he is more of a freedom fighter who cares if his actions will hurt innocent lives. I personally can't decide between which V I like more. I think my opinion also has to due with the actor who played V in the movie as since I saw that version first, I heard Hugo Weaving's voice in my head as I read V's lines. Now let's move onto Evey. There are some real fundamental differences between the two versions. In the book, Evey seems to be more of an innocent person who ends up having a deeper relation with V and eventually takes on his role at the end. The Evey in the movie is more confident and there are many examples of her "rebel" instincts early on then in the book. They both go through the ordeal that V puts her through and transforms her into his follower. The book version has a more drastic transformation, or at least it seems that way. They both fulfill his work in the film, but the book version takes on his persona in the end. The next character I would like to discuss is Inspector Finch. In the movie, he seems to be more sympathetic towards V and his plans, to a point, while the book version is on a no holds bar search to take V down. I think it was appropriate for the differences between the two based on how V was portrayed in both versions. I liked his character in both versions and it is hard to decide which I like more. I like how the movie version slowly went towards V's side as more and more corruption was falling upon his feet, but I like the books version for his dedication to stopping V and took drugs to try and enter the mind of the villain. The last character I would like to discuss is Gordon, who is a pretty minor character in both adaptations. In both versions, Gordon takes Evey off the streets after leaving V, but both have completely different back stories. The book version is a criminal who shares a brief romance with Evey and gets killed by a gang. The movie version is a respectable man who reveals that he is gay while in Evey's presence and is taken by fingermen for showing a political parody on his show, but was officially charged with owning a Koran, which was illegal. He is never seen again after being taken. I really enjoyed both versions and I don't think I could pick one that is better then the other. They both have the same overall story, but each is unique because of its differences.

Maus Response: Style compared to other Graphic Novels

So one thing that I want to discuss about Maus is based around the style of which it was made and how it compares to other graphic novels. Every graphic novel has it's own unique properties that are created based on each artist's own style and they can either make or break a story (in my opinion). We can usually tell after a couple of different works by the same artist what they like to stick with in regards to art style, overall presentation, etc. Here's where my analysis starts up. Having started reading Maus for class, I found myself in an interesting conversation with my friend Tyler from class about this particular novel's style. We both found ourselves having to really take our time reading this story for a couple of reasons. Not only was the actual content a bit to take in all at once, but we both found the art style a bit strenuous on our eyes. There was a big difference for both of us in reading this and Blankets. Even though blankets was at least 3 times longer in pages then Maus, it probably took us both longer to get it done. With Blankets, the panels could have a lot of text, but it was spread out (for the most part) and was pretty easy to read. With Maus, there was a lot of text bunched together in each panel and, at least for me, the dark style of this graphic novel made it hard for me to read for long periods of time. When I read Blankets, I found myself not being able to put it down, but that was for a couple of reasons. I won't deny the fact that I enjoyed the story in Blankets more, which could be a reason as to why I couldn't stop reading, but I can definitely say it also had to do with the art style of the book too. I didn't hate reading Maus, in fact I found it to be a great read overall, but the underlying fact is that the ordeal was a bit more then with other novels. To some people, this may be a reason why this book may or may not be read, but in all honestly it was a great book and I was recommended it even before this class and I'm just glad we had the opportunity to read it.