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I just wanted to spread the joy on receiving my first response of a person who is interested in partaking in my study. Nice switch from the hate mail earlier in the week. Although neglecting the fact that several of my researchers are way above where I am right now, I am now pretty excited/nervous about this whole thing, which is weird because I have never been excited about anything school related in my life. What a change. But I just wanted to thank any future and current willing participants to this study. It means a lot especially to someone such as myself who is a little slow at things of this nature, specifically matters concerning the area of academia. That is all.
I signed up to forums and posted like I was instructed... and to my joy I got a response. However to my dismay, it was already hate mail, telling me very rudely that I was not to post there. There are better ways to tell me. I typically am not the masochistic type who enjoys being put down. Yet, here I am recounting this, and I ponder, did I not expect this to happen?
Of course not. There should have been a warning within the response a fellow researcher had received this morning. It consisted of demeaning her work, calling it "easy" and in other words that what we are doing is useless. I appreciate your concern with our research, but telling us that it is useless does not help with what we are trying to find out. We do not work for the industries nor do we work for commercial gain. Nobody is receiving pay here except the professor. Even then, that is from the institution here, not from other companies.
But on the upside of the thread is that there was someone who recognized that I am not exactly one who is proficient in this area and told me KINDLY that she would repost it elsewhere. That I appreciated. I understand that some people become angry at people like us who "waste their time", but what I want people to realize is that if you ever learned anything while growing up, yelling does not provide desirable results nor do they end in one's favor. If one feels the need to express his/her anger, public humiliation only makes him/her look bad. Constructive releases of anger are available, such as cursing at pillows and one's pet fish (the water muffles the noise).
So to conclude, I am simply going to say that I am not trying to waste anyone's time, spam the forums, or prod someone. I am requesting for aid. I am not trying to force you to partake in my research. It's not like I am going to hunt you down and put oneself in mortal danger. Not my style. Plus, I have other things to do besides hunt people down, like finding constructive "guinea pigs" for my research.
Thank you
Does anybody remember that old game? I remember playing it when I was about I think 10 or 11 maybe. Either way it was a long time ago, and I remember practically being addicted to it. My brother was a wizard at the game and knew every move to make when. But that would figure. He was always the one first to figure out a pattern if there was one.
It's a basic strategy game where you the player -- I guess -- roleplay either a certain leader of the past, or you can be the leader of your own people. The object is to become the most powerful and wealthy nation on the known planet. Slowly taking over weaker peoples and looting their country side were among the favored activities.
"You start out yr. 4000 B.C. with a small group of settlers and a covered map. First thing you need to do, is to find a good location where to place your first city. From there you have to develop the land and research new technologies. As the game progresses you also have to start building an army, to defend yourself from any neighbors with hostile intentions" (Kosta, http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/99/Ci
Hence, it was quite the distraction and soon I will find out if it still is.... More to come soon.
There is one game that I have found that could be played in a parlour as well as Vanguard: Chain-Link Murder. How the game is played is that four people are chosen, and leave the room. Everyone remaining decides on an occupation (of the victim), a nongeographic location, and a method of murder. For example, an altar boy, in a blimp, by being baked into a pie. The first person is called back into the room and told these three things. Then person 2 is called back, and person 1 must charade the occupation, location, and method to them, one at a time. Neither person 1 nor 2 is allowed to say _anything_, except person 2 says "got it" when they think they understand what 1 is trying to charade. When 2 thinks they know each of the three things, 3 is called in and 2 must now charade to 3, just as 1 did to them. Finally 4 is called in, 3 charades to 4, and 4 gets to deliver the results of their investigation: "the victim was a blind cabdriver, in a submarine, killed by paper cut" (or whatever).
This could be translated into the game by creating a separate chat channel with the nonselect and dream up a scheme. Then only one is enlightened through the chat channel. Then through emotes, a communication may be translated. The fun is where the emotes and the like will translate into in words.
Methods for this will more than likely be a series of tests, ranging from interviews to personality tests. This is to designate what kind of personality they have while trying to make connections between their personality and their choice race and class. That is about the most I have come up with in this long while of pondering. There is still much to be done, mind you, but shortly there will be a clean and spotless version of this rough and unmined question... and from that question will spur an answer... hopefully.
Goth then?...
Perhaps the vampyric subculture?
.........
I'll take that as a no one.
With how many people there are today within the world, there have to be some people with some quirks that can easily strike up an interesting conversation. Take today as one of those examples. During our discussion today we talked about the Furry subculture, which includes the fan base and the imaginative works of the people identifying themselves within it. There were many comments which reflected their surprise of the existence of the furry (aka people who are very much interested in humanoid/anthropormorphic animals).
But then this leads to many other subcultures as well. We as humans tend to define ourselves by our interests: music, visual agents (still or motion pictures), aesthetics, et cetera, and we establish ouselves among peers with the same interests. Then when we realize that there are people out there with the same interests as us, that number goes greater with the degrees of separation involved, thus creating a subculture with the premise of that one interest, as we saw today with the "furry's" culture. Some are borderline obsessive while some are merely casual concerning their relationship with their interests.
I am not about to give a Freudian analysis or even begin to try to dissect the minds and thoughts of these people, but when someone were to think about a (sub)culture that makes them uncomfortable, especially as a researcher, biases concerning the said (sub)culture can hinder a proper study.
Take the examples I stated at the beginning of this post. Most may only know a mere sentence or two about the other two subcultures, and that would most likely be the stereotypes. Think about it. When I say "Goth" what is the first thing you think? Someone who dresses in all black, has lots of piercings, and is a Satan worshipper, is the most likely response. I daresay if you thought this, you are supremely wrong. I am not about to get on my soapbox and preach -- pardon the pun -- about the goth subculture and the stereotypes, but to a researcher from "normal" society, (s)he perhaps would go into studying this subculture with unnecessary but possible fear, apprehension, and maybe even disdain. It is a little out of the way to say keep an open mind, because practice is not the same as preaching.
Then what, praytell, can I do?
Research, I would say. Get as much background as you can before you start so you have an idea. Books can be good if they are from a credible source, however again, stereotypes are often misused as an aid for understanding what we do not know.
This is the same for the vampire culture. Yes, even in today's modern society there are real vampires still living among us. There was a special on the Discovery Channel a while ago on the series "Taboo" about the subculture. Much to my dismay, they showed the stereotype: a man who could pass for Rasputin with iris-less eyes and fangs. Of course, it was interesting to get a peek into their "rituals" of the vampyric culture, but I thought it a little far-fetched with what they were saying and doing. Obviously not all vampires are going to be dressed a) suggestively for the women, b) in trench coats, and c) looking like they have not seen the outside world for over 200 years. Sure, if a researcher were to watch this, it would give an idea and insight into perhaps why and how they perform this, but if the researcher were to approach a couple dressed as stated above in a mall, they would not receive a favorable response.
What else can I do for research techniques? Don't make any judgemental remarks, faces, looks, or anything like that. Remain blank if you must. One mere sign of disapproving can ruin the entire project. And not to mention these people let you in and consented to this study. Don't abuse the priveledge because I can be certain they do not hand out that right too often, nor will they allow you back in so easily.
One last thing: remove every single belief you have before doing something controversial. Set it aside. Mentally prepare yourself for what you are about to see, hear, smell, whatever. You have your weird quirks too. You wouldn't want someone judging you, now would you?
"Look for a topic to do research on." I stare blankly in horror at my instructor's words, praying that I heard wrong. Sadly, I did not. I glance at the syllabus, it did not lie to me either. Surely it must be true. But how to go about this without stalling and procrastination? I have been trying to think of a said topic in the allotted time frame, yet to no avail. So when I left you I was pondering with my peppermint tea. Turns out, I'm still doing that, sipping another peppermint tea, pondering another topic... am I having déjà vú or is my life simply repetitive?
Looking through Terra Nova, I pressed a random date and something caught my attention: "player-produced culture". What does that entail? How is a player produced culture different than any "real" culture within the US or any country for that matter? There are many different subcultures within a single culture, like the punk/metal/goth/anime culture one can find is just about every other culture in the world. But the player-culture? What does that mean? Something to think of.
My, so many question surrounding that one little question. I know I cannot simply ask what IS player-produced culture; it would simply be too broad. Hence, how to narrow that down is the next step. I shall keep searching like an ever elusive treasure that will potentially make me a grander being.
Maybe something involving the law? I found one entree that had something to do with legal repercussions on MMORPGs: "The second issue was object ownership. If players were given real-life ownership of their characters or their characters' in-world inventory, then developers would draw the line. They'd be so hamstrung by such a law that they wouldn't be able to create MMORPGs if it applied." - Richard Bartle on April 4, 2008. Curious... very curious. That would mean less human contact with people in the game, which is in a word ideal. I'd rather not have to worry about chasing people down throughout the game. Something to ponder....
Well, guild thing I'm not so sure about. I'm not exactly too certain what that entails, but we shall see. So far, I think (?) I'm in two guilds: Order of the Black Rose and Vox Pop. I thought here it would be a little harder to join these guilds. All my colleagues talk about how difficult or selective the process is. I did not think it would just be "click the register button, fill out your info, hey welcome!" Am I just amazing, or am I not doing this right?
I have access to the forums of both, or so the emails said. I am yet to check this out because of the confusing matter upon this and how to broach the subject of my research which, might I add, is harder than one would believe to think of a topic for this. I have read the articles assigned, thought of the conclusions, yet I stand inconclusive. I know I am less inclined to these games as I lack the experience to properly study and observe these. In addition, some say my ignorance creates less bias towards certain attitudes. I believe this not to be true: I am more bias because I am more frustrated. What to do, what to do?
Hark! Mayhaps this be the one way I go! Does ignorance really create less bias within the virtual worlds (or something along those lines)? Perhaps, perhaps. I shall drink my tea and ponder upon this issue until I deem it satisfactory. Suggestions are welcomed.
Easier said than done, I daresay.
I took a search engine, one of those interesting little concoctions on the internet, to see what would happen. But apparently finding a guild is like looking for a date: you seriously have to make sure it's what you want and to what level of commitment you are searching for. Because you don't want to get into something that could go completely psychotic on you if you are not as "serious" about this as you are. Then you don't want to put in too much for something that is extremely casual. It just breeds frustration. Hence, I must search for something that fits my needs: simple, casual, and won't go psychotic on me at any given moment. I like it when people don't explode at me.
One that I found that I was kind of keen on is the Glaston Privateers. I tried to look for more information, but there's not that much. They call themselves an RP guild where anyone is welcome. My question is do they do anything else but sit around and shoot the breeze? I don't want a full-on hardcore battle guild, but I'm not looking for a group of people who do nothing either. I do enough of that during my real world day.
Another one that caught my attention was Ruin. A completely dark-elf only guild looking for all sorts of classes. Now. the fighting thing is one of the aspects I am looking for, but how hardcore are we talking about here? Is it once in a while raids and are you going to kill me if I fail at something? Am I going to get agents in dark suits come to my computer and haul me away? It sounds interesting. I'll do some further investigation.
The last I thought of was Shausv Lauth. They call themselves a family like guild for 18+ persons. They sound like good people, but I would need to search further and see what others have said and whatnot. They are currently not open due to a lack of an application, but if they sound good, maybe I'll make up my own ^_-.
Curiosity always seems to come onto me like creepy people in the middle of the night at a gas station (don't ask). Of course, this time I do not mind because 1) it's not that creepy and 2) it's not in the middle of the night in a gas station (and 3) its a computer).
Mind you, I love quizzes and getting insight as to who I am. So when the link to the Bartle Test of Player Psychology happened across me path, I just had to take it (also because it is required). So, I answered the questions and the computer did the math and guess what I am according to the quiz?
.....::drumroll::....
I stand... A KILLER! (insert evil laugh here)
"No enemy left standing!" is the quote. Should I be yelling "Sparta" with a mock spear in my hands? That's kind of what it feels like, but then again, I could plainly see this one coming. "People with high Killer scores prefer the player-versus-player aspect of any game more than anything offered by the environment. They often relish the adrenaline and challenge of pitting themselves against real players."
....Personally, I don't want to face off against anybody because knowing my luck and how much machines tend to hate me, I'd probably lose all my battles maybe win one against a newcomer but that's it. As for the other material... well... it is not too far off. 50% socializer, 53% explorer, and 20% achiever. Well that explains why I never was too fond of school. Now if life was about hunting The computer tells me to spend money on these selected games if I were to play further and delve farther into the world of gaming: World of Warcraft, Dark Age of Camelot, Final Fantasy XI (for the record, I did play this... I couldn't stand it for more than 10 minutes), Everquest, and Guild Wars. I'm not familiar with about two of those, but if they're catch and kill games that are straight forward and don't require me to hunt for some unknown and lost treasure that is a key to a secret realm where I kill the final boss, then it's fine.
Overall, I have to say that these results are not far off. I congradulate the computer who served his test.
Techologically considering this test and the man who wrote the parameters for it, it does have some holes. For example, within his study, he states that males were killers and female players were more likely to be socializers and explorers. Well, exhibit A, everybody. Right here. I am a female and I am a Killer according to the Bartle Psychology. While I am a curious and social individual, I'd rather have things straight forward and without complications. I want to do what I need to do and get out. I don't want to waste my time by listening to others unless they have something I can potentially use for the quest on which I am.
Otherwise, the test stood up to the pushes, I believe. There are some questions which could lead in either direction and one knew which direction the said choice would take them which could lead someone on in the direction where they want to go. People have desired results in which they have before they take the test. There just simply needs to be better verbage to not lead someone in their "intended direction. Where is the random? I don't see it. Hence, there is but one problem.
TRs (totally unreleateds)- I saw a (what I call funny) video on youtube. It's so stupid but funny. ask if you want to know.
- Mood:
creative
I am wearing rose-colored glasses right now so I can see better truly what the meaning of this game Vanguard and its purpose is.
But in all seriousness... I am wearing rose-colored glasses.
At any rate, the gold farmers -- or pardon me -- "professional gamers" that exist within the market, I had to see where they were selling them. I am an ebay addict, constantly bidding on stuff and with that constantly losing. So I figure while I wait to see what the next bidder will place on my desired item and beat me yet again in this constant everlastin losing streak I am a college student hence no money to snap back at them with. Either that or they bid so high, I simply quite caring. But I digress. I am looking through the WoW things as we speak and all i see are guides to level up fast (some bragging they can bring you to level 70 in 5 days. Doesn't that seem a little impossible to anyone? Or is it just me?) and some other random "useless" (such an abstract term in this context) things within auctions.
But here's something that I found on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/WORLD-OF-WARCRAFT-1-7
They have the audacity to announce they know how to get gold to match "those Chinese gold farmers" in this guide. I understand that one wants to be the best, but dare I say is this not going simply a little too far for world domination in a world that technically doesn't exist?
Here's another for an "ogre trinket" (?): http://cgi.ebay.com/25000-UDE-OGRE-TRINK
So far, this all doesnt seem too bad, which leads me to wonder... where is the good stuff? Is there some sort of black market I am missing? Do I need to know the top secret gold farmer's passcode or is it like Fight Club where you just don't talk about it if you're in it? I should have warned you at the beginning of this that I tend to place sarcasm in my entrees. Apologies if 'tis not to your liking, m'lord/milady/highness/wuteverthehelsink
At any rate, I also found this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RGTNnLud
I can understand that for some people this may be the only thing they believe they can do to make money and live, but I beg to differ. This is akin to some of the must irreputable trades on the market. I need not say. Just because the money is good doesn't mean that it is legal. There is a reason why some people are in an outrage: these players work hard and form a relationship with the characters, actually embodying themselves into this world. That someone has the boorishness to throw the game away so lifelessly and heartlessly is an insult to the community. There is always another way to make money in the real world. With all the time you spend on these games, you could be studying... which is something that I must now do. Yay. Last one for reference. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYECvKAiZ
Happy Mexican Independence Day. I'm pretty sure half this city is going to be drunk tonight.
Here is what I have found:
"Did you chase the chickens? You get some candy that turns you into a chicken. There's a guy at the second big village off to the side that needs some help with his chickens." - "Trahe", http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/l
I didnt know this was going to be so intricate!
I'm calling these people out on their farming business: http://www.virdeal.com/sell-Vanguard-Sag
Yeah... not much.
In other thoughts, Vanguard is quite indeed the interesting game. I see how addicts get a kick from it from killing constantly and the curiosity factor measures in as well. The exploring and such things like that, seeing new creatures that you don't have to worry about having a conscience or a soul, at least in our reasoning. But I cannot seem to find those freakin' hobgoblin things. Why is it that Spiderman rings a bell here....? I digress.
But seriously, where are they? I'm not the super gaming genius here and like to have things just simple. I get frustrated if I have to look for very long because (forgive me for saying this) it is only a game and there is the real world to get frustrated over. I deem that to be of slightly more importance.
Another question I have is how do I change the look of the character? My dark elf rogue has short hair like a pixie style kind of thing but... I would be rather satisfied with it if it had slightly longer hair and not look so much like a man. Of course, the... uh... "bounties" that she carries makes up for the hair, but in retrospect, maybe not such a hot idea. And pardon me for being vain here, but if I have to stare at something for at least 5-10 hours each week, I want it at least to be attractive. Dark elf rogue.... too bad they don't really exist. Imagine meeting one of those at a night club.
Another question is just how many ridiculous things can I make this dark elf do? Dance, yes, okay, great. Woot (pardon again for the Everquest interjection for all the devotees of that game). But what else? I've heard about some of the elves or whatnot in WoW that can somewhat seduce and mesmerize male characters/monsters in the game? True or not? Can that be done in this game as well? This intrigues me greatly.
That is all.
Yes, the title is cheesy, but what are you going to do?
I cannot say that I myself am an experience gamer. The most of my gaming consists of what can be played with a fake guitar and/or drumset while pretending to be able to sing. It consists of living a fantasy that could never happen. But isn't that what gaming really is? To live another life while one lives in the "real" one?
Take the Matrix for example. Isn't that all Neo is doing? Playing a video game? He gets "plugged" into the Matrix (the fake computer generated world) and fight against evil. That's just a video game by a certain standard except here one gambles with his life. Variably more serious when the only ones that we play in this world result in the death of a character and not much else. We ourselves still live on, unlike the Matrix. But even then, that can be listed as "hardcore gaming", can it not? But I digress. The point here is to make an analogy: Gaming in this dimension is like being transported to another, like Neo in the Matrix. When he knew what the Matrix was, he knew how to exploit it in order to acquire new skills, like flying. All you have to do is... "free" your mind.
My main question is can people get so involved that they forget where they are? They simply lose track of the real world, or should I say, the world we currently live our everyday lives? Do they become so attached to their characters in some of these games that it can mean a "seppuku" for the player? For instance, there was this one rumor that caught my attention about an Everquest player who committed suicide because of the death of his character within this virtual reality. I do not know the validity of this claim, but with this gaming addiciton I've been hearing so much about, the possibility does not escape me. But with this Vanguard that we are to be playing, it looks unlikely that those of us will be so consumed by the game as to believe that the death of a character means the death of us.
But I suspect this will be a different game than the ones that I have experienced, which isn't that far of a range. So, we shall see what unfolds.
- Mood:
chipper
