This one is for all you Campers!
This weekend I had the pleasure of a relaxing trip in VT, with some of my oldest and now newest favorite people. While sitting around the campfire one evening, not wanting to retreat to the cold picnic table, but not yet ready for bed, I posed this question: Is there anything we can do that's not 'truth or dare' or 'never have I ever.' While both games make for excellent teenage drinking games, I like to delude myself into thinking that we young adults were past enjoying drunken hormonal hijinx. One of my friends suggested this game...
Each person going around the campfire makes up the next sentence of a story. The sentences had to be in alphabetical order so the first one starts with 'a' the second with 'b' and so on. The merits to this game became apparent quickly. Nobody refused to play and everyone laughed at some point during the story. For those that strongly dislike tangents and non- sequiters you may want to seek out like-minded individuals before playing.
The results of our story game was something to the effect of a monkey-hunting Chaos Lord wanting to overthrow the rule of the oppressive deer. In the process he perfected the art of fire building assisted by yours truly but then stabbed me in the back (literally.) All the people retreated to an underwater sea castle refusing to let in the Chaos Lord (and the deer) so they all burned up as the newly perfected fire raged across the planet. The end result was the popularization of radioactive warfare and the hit song Zoot Suit Riot.
This was a rather pleasant 30 minute social activity that everyone seemed to enjoy. One thing I'm not sure of is what's the name of the game. If anyone has heard of this game or is familiar with the origin of the game please let me know.
Enjoy
-K
Thursday, September 16, 2010
This is What We Do.
Blog Post Stardate 9-5-2010
So in my previous post I got right into the meat of a current events issue that I wanted to respond to, but I didn't address what this blog is or what I'm going to do with it. I'm not sure what readers I will have in the future, hopefully there will be some interest in my writing and subject matter, but regardless I thought this would be a good endeavor for both my personal and my professional interests.
Who I would like to read this blog: First and foremost anyone that is interested in me and my interests. Friends and family that hear me rant endlessly and don't find themselves bored to tears can find some intelligent discussion about the things I love. Furthermore people who aren't as close to me but share my interests which will mostly be focused around gaming of all varieties, but may occasionally expand to other intellectual and media consumption pursuits. Lastly people who don't know me and don't share my interests but want to know more about gaming, both for the purpose of consumption and for the understanding of the culture and the industry.
Most gaming media available these days are pretty exclusive. Sites like Kotaku, newsletters like ECA, and even web comics like Penny Arcade assume some level of reader interest and education. The fact is that there are an increasing number of people that play games and are interested in learning more, but don't know where to start. These people have played a game of Settlers of Catan at their friends dinner party. It was really fun, wasn't as hard to learn or intimidating as they thought. They even bought a copy to play themselves with their friends. What next? This blog will hopefully answer that question.
While I do want this blog to be accessible, and for that purpose I will assume that the reader needs explanation of specific concepts and background, and comparisons and reviews of the games and media I will look at, I also believe that my core audience will be my friends, that will want some deeper analysis.
So there you have it, welcome to my interesting yet accessible game blog. My intention is to write posts as I feel I have interesting gaming experiences, particularly with games that are new to me, and then in turn impart my experience to you. Things I could also see being addressed are 1st amendment video game legislation and other social issues that both gamers and the general public could benefit from knowing more about.
I feel that this will beneficial because while listening to Will Wheaton(of Star Trek: Next Generation fame) speak at an event recently he spoke to a group of gamers about how our hobby brings us together as a community. He talked about his emotions of conflict around a decision he made in the video game Dragon Age Origins. A character he had come to love as he played through the story put him in a position where he had to compromise his morals or part company from the character. These are the sort of experiences and story telling I want from my gaming. Despite my misgivings over the blandness of the name of the game, and it's blockbuster like popularity I went out to pick up the game that same day. And I have not regretted that purchase. Looking back at all of my other purchases I realize that if I had a good reccomendation and an idea of what I was getting that it would be very hard to get a title I didn't like. Indeed most of the successes are games that were introduced to me or reccommended by a friend.
Hopefully you will find something new that you like, learn something either useful or interesting, or at the very least find a place where you can share your own experiences
Enjoy,
-K
So in my previous post I got right into the meat of a current events issue that I wanted to respond to, but I didn't address what this blog is or what I'm going to do with it. I'm not sure what readers I will have in the future, hopefully there will be some interest in my writing and subject matter, but regardless I thought this would be a good endeavor for both my personal and my professional interests.
Who I would like to read this blog: First and foremost anyone that is interested in me and my interests. Friends and family that hear me rant endlessly and don't find themselves bored to tears can find some intelligent discussion about the things I love. Furthermore people who aren't as close to me but share my interests which will mostly be focused around gaming of all varieties, but may occasionally expand to other intellectual and media consumption pursuits. Lastly people who don't know me and don't share my interests but want to know more about gaming, both for the purpose of consumption and for the understanding of the culture and the industry.
Most gaming media available these days are pretty exclusive. Sites like Kotaku, newsletters like ECA, and even web comics like Penny Arcade assume some level of reader interest and education. The fact is that there are an increasing number of people that play games and are interested in learning more, but don't know where to start. These people have played a game of Settlers of Catan at their friends dinner party. It was really fun, wasn't as hard to learn or intimidating as they thought. They even bought a copy to play themselves with their friends. What next? This blog will hopefully answer that question.
While I do want this blog to be accessible, and for that purpose I will assume that the reader needs explanation of specific concepts and background, and comparisons and reviews of the games and media I will look at, I also believe that my core audience will be my friends, that will want some deeper analysis.
So there you have it, welcome to my interesting yet accessible game blog. My intention is to write posts as I feel I have interesting gaming experiences, particularly with games that are new to me, and then in turn impart my experience to you. Things I could also see being addressed are 1st amendment video game legislation and other social issues that both gamers and the general public could benefit from knowing more about.
I feel that this will beneficial because while listening to Will Wheaton(of Star Trek: Next Generation fame) speak at an event recently he spoke to a group of gamers about how our hobby brings us together as a community. He talked about his emotions of conflict around a decision he made in the video game Dragon Age Origins. A character he had come to love as he played through the story put him in a position where he had to compromise his morals or part company from the character. These are the sort of experiences and story telling I want from my gaming. Despite my misgivings over the blandness of the name of the game, and it's blockbuster like popularity I went out to pick up the game that same day. And I have not regretted that purchase. Looking back at all of my other purchases I realize that if I had a good reccomendation and an idea of what I was getting that it would be very hard to get a title I didn't like. Indeed most of the successes are games that were introduced to me or reccommended by a friend.
Hopefully you will find something new that you like, learn something either useful or interesting, or at the very least find a place where you can share your own experiences
Enjoy,
-K
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Blizzard Dodged a Bullet
A belated kudos to Blizzard for once again showing that they care about their customers and canning the mandatory real ID system. For those not familiar with Blizzard or this system...
Blizzard has a long track record of successful games. Typically the games stand up on their own as single player games however Blizzards's long term success has grown from their integration of online play through their Battlenet network. Players sign onto the network and group together or play against each other in games such as Starcraft, Warcraft, Diablo and their various iterations, and of course the MMO juggernaut World of Warcraft. With the release of Starcraft 2, Blizzard announced that they would revamp the battlenet system. Amongst other things they proposed to mandate a real ID system wherein everyone who played used their real name associated with their account for forums and in-game chat and friend lists.
There are some good reasons for this system. Forums in particular have long been plagued by what has come to be known as 'trolling.' Where due to their anonymity players could say whatever they like regardless of how belligerent and offensive it might be. The theory is that players would be more accountable as their reputation would follow them regardless of what alias they use because it would all be linked to their account. Additionally it would increase the social networking aspects of the game as players would only need to add friend's accounts, and they could see them regardless of which Blizzard game they are playing or which character. Presumably this would also make proposed facebook integration easier, allowing for players to search for facebook friends that also have accounts.
Blizzard received an outcry from users about the Real ID system and they ended up axing the mandatory system, although keeping the option so you can chose on a case by case basis who you want to have access to your real ID. Surprisingly I stumbled on an article recently which suggests that there aren't any compelling reasons to not mandate Real ID which you can reference here: http://www.bitmob.com/articles/making-virtual-communities-real
There were two important things that Mr. Scimeca glossed over. The first he mentions briefly at the beginning of his article is that role-playing (getting into character and acting and speaking as if you were that character.) is non-existent, and that as a result we don't have to worry about Real ID interfering with the illusion. He is quite wrong. While role-players are certainly a minority in World of Warcraft they are still present and a significant population. This can be attributed to the fact that Blizzard itself supports role-playing (here on out RP.) Blizzard has several servers identified for players that want to RP. I currently play on one of those servers, they add many items and events that have no in-game benefit but are instead better used for pretending, dressing-up or story-telling, things that are done in RP. Real ID would injure that aspect of the game. Players sometimes play multiple characters and wish to leave behind the friends and interactions of one character in favor of another, they can't take pride in the distinction of two characters if all the players know that the two characters are in fact played by the same person. RP adds an important flavor to the game and while a small population many RPers are dedicated players who should be considered when making development decisions (the RP guild I am a part of celebrated their 5 year anniversary this year.)
On a similar note but one that is more generally relevant, some players don't want people to know when they are online. If they want a quiet night of play they may log on to a different server. They may have strained relations with an in game friend they want to escape from on a different character. That becomes impossible if your friends always know when you are online.
While eliminating the harassment of forum trollers and chat spammers, it would be done at the cost of some players comfort and potentially their security. Blizzard has made Real ID available providing a system that can add convenience and networking... For those that want it.
Blizzard has a long track record of successful games. Typically the games stand up on their own as single player games however Blizzards's long term success has grown from their integration of online play through their Battlenet network. Players sign onto the network and group together or play against each other in games such as Starcraft, Warcraft, Diablo and their various iterations, and of course the MMO juggernaut World of Warcraft. With the release of Starcraft 2, Blizzard announced that they would revamp the battlenet system. Amongst other things they proposed to mandate a real ID system wherein everyone who played used their real name associated with their account for forums and in-game chat and friend lists.
There are some good reasons for this system. Forums in particular have long been plagued by what has come to be known as 'trolling.' Where due to their anonymity players could say whatever they like regardless of how belligerent and offensive it might be. The theory is that players would be more accountable as their reputation would follow them regardless of what alias they use because it would all be linked to their account. Additionally it would increase the social networking aspects of the game as players would only need to add friend's accounts, and they could see them regardless of which Blizzard game they are playing or which character. Presumably this would also make proposed facebook integration easier, allowing for players to search for facebook friends that also have accounts.
Blizzard received an outcry from users about the Real ID system and they ended up axing the mandatory system, although keeping the option so you can chose on a case by case basis who you want to have access to your real ID. Surprisingly I stumbled on an article recently which suggests that there aren't any compelling reasons to not mandate Real ID which you can reference here: http://www.bitmob.com/articles/making-virtual-communities-real
There were two important things that Mr. Scimeca glossed over. The first he mentions briefly at the beginning of his article is that role-playing (getting into character and acting and speaking as if you were that character.) is non-existent, and that as a result we don't have to worry about Real ID interfering with the illusion. He is quite wrong. While role-players are certainly a minority in World of Warcraft they are still present and a significant population. This can be attributed to the fact that Blizzard itself supports role-playing (here on out RP.) Blizzard has several servers identified for players that want to RP. I currently play on one of those servers, they add many items and events that have no in-game benefit but are instead better used for pretending, dressing-up or story-telling, things that are done in RP. Real ID would injure that aspect of the game. Players sometimes play multiple characters and wish to leave behind the friends and interactions of one character in favor of another, they can't take pride in the distinction of two characters if all the players know that the two characters are in fact played by the same person. RP adds an important flavor to the game and while a small population many RPers are dedicated players who should be considered when making development decisions (the RP guild I am a part of celebrated their 5 year anniversary this year.)
On a similar note but one that is more generally relevant, some players don't want people to know when they are online. If they want a quiet night of play they may log on to a different server. They may have strained relations with an in game friend they want to escape from on a different character. That becomes impossible if your friends always know when you are online.
While eliminating the harassment of forum trollers and chat spammers, it would be done at the cost of some players comfort and potentially their security. Blizzard has made Real ID available providing a system that can add convenience and networking... For those that want it.
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