#LOTRO #MOOC Week 5

Week 5 coursework

This week’s both gameplay and reading were a challenge. Spenser’s The Faerie Queene is a tricky passage written in Renaissance English and contains multiple pronunciation and spelling obstacles, especially for the non-native speakers of English such as myself. However, it is regarded as a fundamental narrative poem, one that greatly influenced the romance and subsequent fantasy literature genre. Out of six books we were asked to read the first Canto of Book III.

Follow the “light”. Then kill it.

Another instance which troubled the players/students in this MOOC was going against the boss Thadur in the Great Barrow which was not as easy as “Retaking Weathertop”. I should mention here that the turnout on Sunday’s event was quite large in scale. Three groups were formed and to balance the odds high leveled players were matched to equal numbers of low leveled ones. During our group’s encounter  two kinnies died – myself included –  something which rarely occurs in dungeon type instances, especially when you have level 90 players tag along. Tacts (aka tactics) involved killing some wights and then killing “lights”  in a sync mode.  First there was one of them, then two – both of which you had to kill at the same time – then three – again simultaneous kill – then four. In the end, we faced a level 28 elite boss (I was level 23 at the time).

Facing Thadur with members of “Eagles of Thorondor”

 

 The free-to-play model: a personal rant

My avatar, Uiril, reached a ridiculously low gold cap this week, meaning I couldn’t have access to more than 2 gold despite having earned more. After finally getting enough Turbine points – in-game of course – to unlock the Auction house I thought to myself: “finally, I ‘ll make some money to buy an “x” vanity item, etc“. That sum of money ended up in a repository to which  I could get access ONLY IF I upgraded my account (which meant paying good money). You see, that’s the way MMORPGs work, they are based on a virtual economy that enables the player to earn and spend virtual money. Free-to-play modelled games such as LOTRO and WOW(free trial) only give you the impression of actually being free. Do you want to acquire the riding skill? Turbine Points. Do you want to have more slots in your  – pathetic – bank vault? More Turbine points. Do you wish you could have that wonderful rectangular table for your home in the Shire? You guessed well, buy some more Turbine points. Now farming for those points is nerve-wracking and pointless since the award system in-game is painstakingly slow. That’s when Turbine offers you the chance to get those points you covet for a mere “x” $$$$. It then hits you that becoming a VIP member (paying a subscription) is well worth it.

My kinship members striking a pose

MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft have long been accused for their pay-to-play strategy, involving a monthly fee for logging into the game, regardless whether you show up or not in said month. Much as I hate making Blizzard more affluent, I get their logic. You see, I don’t have to pay for anything else. Storage, unlimited money cap, auction house, patches and new content are all there. Just pay the subscription and that’s it.(Of course, regarding WoW, you do need to buy the game and its subsequent expansions but that all adds up to the price of a new Assassin’s Creed title). What strikes me as bizarre, though, is that I thought free-to-play LOTRO was doable. Not paying for LOTRO  is pretty much ok up until you reach a certain point. If you do want to enjoy gameplay  – not to mention raiding content or new quest zones – you have to pay.  The whole free-to-play tag is just smoke and mirrors. What about World of Warcraft free-to-play? That’s just an urban legend, folks.

#LOTRO #Mooc Week 4

I have to admit, not being a gamer or having no experience whatsoever with MMORPGs, would make it quite difficult to accomplish this week’s task. We were asked to compare three mediums – book, movie and game – regarding the scene that takes place atop the Weathertop mountain.

 

 

To make it to Weathertop in-game one must first complete Book 2, Chapters 1-4  from the epic quest chain, which involve level 22-25 nasty orcs and birds in the area.Then you get to form a fellowship and enter the instance “Retake Weathertop”. As proof of having done the game part of the assessment, we were also asked to post a screenshot of our adventures. Uiril – my char(acter)- made it thanks to the help of my wonderful kinship, Eagles of Thorondor at the Meneldor server. This is a guild which boasts plenty of Coursera members and has people from the previous course session participating as well.

Weathertop. In-game.

 

Weathertop. Film

Truth is that without having help from a decent guild / kinship in most MMORPGs, one is missing the whole point. Raids, instances, dungeons, everything revolves around parties making a decent effort together. There are those who like to “solo” – even when things are not meant to be soloable – and those who turn to “pugs”, i.e. random grouping with strangers via the game’s AI. However, the latter is often disappointing and/or frustrating. Hence, the social aspect of MMORPGs (discussed in weeks 2 & 3) is indeed all about finding other people to play with; people with whom you can actually communicate and get the job done.

As for this week’s assignment, I submitted the following:

Option One: Write an essay that compares the scene in the novel, the film, and the game with respect to one of the following aspects: the actions or events in the scene; how characterization occurs; dialogue; setting / mise en scène / game space; point-of-view; and your experience of reading, viewing, and interacting with the scene. Include a screenshot of your character’s experience at Weathertop in LOTRO.

 LOTRO Threefold: Tolkien’s Weathertop scene across film and game

J.R.R. Tolkien has Strider describe Weathertop to Sam as a hill that “commands a wide view all around.” [Tolkien 2012: p. 471-472, 499]  Thus, the fellowship heads for that vantage point in hope of finding Gandalf there and assess how they will continue their perilous journey. Upon the hill, however, traces of “cloaked and booted Riders” [p. 513] caused much despair to the Hobbits, for it seemed that the enemy has been here. Strider informs the group of their abilities and heightened senses [p. 514-515]  as well as reminds them that fire can prove to be an exceptional weapon,since “these Riders do not love it and fear those who wield it” [p.515]. Interestingly, Peter Jackson opts for presenting fire as a fatal mistake that Sam, Pippin and Merry commit in order to satisfy their hunger; Frodo wakes up from his slumber only to yell at the starving Hobbits “What are you doing? Put it out, you fools, put it out! “. The panoramic shot of Weathertop with a tiny lit spot from the camp fire validates Frodo’s fears. The Nazgul know that someone is there; their shrieking sound fills the air, approaching from the misty foot of the hill.

Kinship Members, Eagles of Thorondor @Meneldor Server

In the book, Strider has not left them. In contrast, they all sit around that same camp fire telling stories like the tale of Tinuviel [p. 519] and trying to stay warm. Suddenly they feel them coming – just as Strider said it happens with humans – and under Strider’s command they gather close to the fire with their faces outward. [p. 527] Jackson does portray the chilling shrieks and the ominous look of the five dark figures true to the original, even when Frodo puts on the ring and sees them for what they truly are. Terror overcoming the Hobbits is also evident, though Sam is first to fall in the movie, not shrinking to Frodo’s side, as stated in the book. [p. 528] The director also retains Frodo’s desperate eagerness to put on the ring and Elijah Wood captures Frodo’s agony when “a pain like a dart of poisoned ice” [p. 530]pierced his left shoulder. The Elven words Frodo uses in the book to scare them away are not used in the movie. Finally, Strider appears out of nowhere in the film to save the day with lit torches, setting the enemy ablaze. The book’s final scene presents Frodo clenching the ring in his right fist, again as in the movie. Peter Jackson however gives Viggo  Mortensen plenty of screen time battling the forces of evil. Aragorn concludes that Frodo needs Elven medicine for his wound because it’s beyond his skills ; Nevertheless, in the book there is a whole chapter where he exhibits some knowledge of medicinal plants and offers the young Hobbit a mixture of Athelas himself [p. 534] Notably, Jackson’ s touch of having the blade vanish into thin air like  smoke is inspired by the book [p.534].

Fighting the troll.

Regarding the game, the narrative involved fails to become a loyal reenactment of the scene. After having received Book 2, Chapter 5 quest from Candaith the Ranger in his camp, the player and his fellowship are being transported to the foot of the mountain. Battling mostly orcs and goblins along the way, the party makes it to the top where an elite mob, a gigantic troll, appears. Despite observing many scenery details that closely resembled both the book’s and film’s venue, the instance itself felt more like a boring fight (probably due to the fact that my kinmates were high-leveled and it was relatively too easy). Still, there was some agony felt when battling the last boss but the pressure was on me personally so as not to make a mistake in combat. Given these facts, my reaction to the finale of the instance, sharing the “job well done” moment with the kinship members almost reminded me of the first time I watched Aragorn saving the day: rejoice.

References:

The Lord of the Rings Online. Westwood, MA: Turbine, 2014. Computer game.

The Lord of the Rings the Fellowship of the Ring. New Line Home Entertainment, 2001. DVD.

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Mariner /Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. E-Pub. 10 Aug. 2014.

 

***Screenshot from the game – Kinship:Eagles of Thorondor – Server: Meneldor – Character: Uiril, Elf Hunter

 

#LOTRO #MOOC Weeks 2 & 3

Moving on with this summer’s gaming Mooc at Coursera involved leveling the character I created in LOTRO. Due to lack of time I managed to take it up to level 17. That meant being able to buy a house of my own – yeah!! –  as well as spending the amount of Turbine points I gained through gameplay to purchase the riding skill. Still, no riding horse at the moment, I am afraid. I am also trying to figure out the auction house dealings; things in World of Warcraft were so much easier, in my opinion… Please note that for week 4, you need to be a level 20ish player to accomplish the peer assessment tasks, so it’s best to level up well in advance. Anyway, here’s a screenshot of my lovely house:

 

During questing, especially when it came to instances joined by other NPCs, some glitches were present but nothing too problematic. The narrative in the game draws ample reference from the books and Tolkien lore, something which renders the gameplay enjoyable. Still the tedious “kill 20 boars” and “fetch 20 bat feathers” tend to spoil the fun. Moreover, I found storage options rather frustrating. Apart from your bags, you will soon see your bank slots and house vault filling up quickly.  Now, here’s a screenshot from a rather tricky quest:

 

The summer festival was on during the second week, so we were given the chance to opt for a screenshot in those surroundings. The other option was to participate in our kinship’s fixed gatherings which took place twice so as to accommodate the needs of almost all kinship members. I chose option 1, because I couldn’t make it to the kinship games:

 

 

Furthermore, we were tasked with writing a short essay on the topic of the social aspect of MMORPGs. During week 3, peer assessment ensued and that meant having to review 3 such essays along with their screenshots and proof of gameplay. Here is my take on the subject:

 

Write an essay (200 to 400 words) on your impression of the social dimension of MMOs.  If you’ve played other types of online games (shooters, RPGs, etc.), feel free to compare the nature of the social interactions you’ve had in these formats. Do social interactions enhance or diminish your experience of the narrative? Do you feel a bond with other players, and if so, how would you compare that relationship to others in real life?

 

 

The social aspect of MMMORPGs – a short testimonial

Being a gamer in pop culture is at times depicted as having “no-life”.  Unfortunately, a gamer is commonly regarded as rather being anti-social, kept in a confined room all day and having minimum contact with peers by many. Questionably, MMORPGs, such as World of Warcraft or LOTRO immerse the player in a virtual environment so much, that interactions seem “fake” or simulated to the outsider.

Speaking from personal experience, not only is this not the case, but recent scientific studies have also shown that online gaming is increasing, not limiting, the social lives of players (Taylor et al. 2014). The nature of social interactions in-game is mostly chatting or what one would call “small talk”. Interacting in a virtual massive world with complete strangers means wasting no time, however. Therefore, most of these discussions are usually practical or helpful ways of understanding gameplay, e.g. asking for advice regarding a particular quest. Nevertheless, once part of a kinship or a guild, the framework rapidly changes to sharing more personal insights on one’s life and daily routine. In essence, you make “friends” within the game and much to one’s surprise these friendships can be long-lasting and profound. It so happens that often social relationships of the kind extend to real life circumstances; people from game communities meet up in person, even when they hail from different countries.

Room with a view… The landscape around my house in LOTRO

The experience of the narrative in-game is often enhanced by virtual social gatherings like large-scale raids. Taking down a “boss”, takes a lot of energy, effort and explaining, thus  all members of a party must be up to speed, whom they are fighting and why. In addition, people extend their knowledge of lore and storytelling to people outside the game, describing their gaming experience much like they would do with a movie or a TV series. In retrospect, talking within the game becomes talking “about” it, as well, influencing relationships to others in real life, regardless whether they are themselves gamers or not.

References

Taylor, N., Jenson, J., de Castell, S. and Dilouya, B. (2014), Public Displays of Play: Studying Online Games in Physical Settings. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 19: 763–779. doi: 10.1111/jcc4.12054

#LOTRO #Mooc Week 1

After a long leave of absence this blog is back from hiatus this summer with Online Games: Literature, New Media, and Narrative by Jay Clayton, offered on the #Coursera platform alongside Vanderbilt University.

This #Mooc is exceptional for those seeking to further their knowledge on remediation, video games and game narrative in particular as well as those who seek to have fun while studying. The “Welcome” Page states the following details:

This course is a university-level English literature class—a multi-genre, multimedia tour of how literature, film, and games engage in the basic human activity of storytelling. We have three different kinds of videos planned for the coming weeks: short lectures, student seminars, and in-game films. You will read some great literature by Tolkien, Spenser, Keats, Browning, and others, and watch Peter Jackson’s movie of The Fellowship of the Ring.

Apart from the usual readings, videos, quizzes and initial (optional) survey, you will also have to actively participate as a gamer within the LOTRO universe; should you not, you can still finish the course, minus the so-called  “distinction track“.

Week 1 of the course was truly rich in suggested bibliography. Notes on the lectures can be found in Louise’s blog; she’s doing an excellent job keeping MOOC records, by the way!

As part of the first week’s quiz and course requirements, I needed to create a fictional character in the MMORPG Lord of the Rings Online. After downloading and installing the game via Steam, I selected the Meneldor server. There are numerous servers to host your gameplay, yet four are suggested by the TAs due to their already well established course communities therein.

The quiz asks the students to justify their choice of character creation:

Briefly describe the choices you made in creating your character. Why did you pick certain features (name, race, appearance, etc.)? Do you feel any investment in the character you created? Please explain why or why not. (Answer must be at least 25 words.)

To begin with, I chose to create an Elven character, since their image and external appearance is what one would characterize as “ethereal”. My avatar is a female and her name is “Uiril” which according to an online name generator I found, is composed of the words “Eternity” and “female“, in Sindarin, Tolkien’s Elven dialect. Staying true to the lore, was one of my prerogatives.

Uiril is a female hunter, who hails from the lands of Rivendell or Imladris in Sindarin. King Elrond’s safe haven for Elves sounded familiar from the motion picture, hence I chose this starting area. The Hunter is a DPS ( = damage per second) class and relatively easy to master in MMOPRGs. As for my character’s appearance, the options provided  resemble the elvish archetypes we all have in mind and / or enjoyed in the Tolkien books, movies and fan art. Here’s what she looks like:

I do feel eager to participate in the game and the course on the whole, but growing attached to a character can only come after hours of gameplay and strong immersive experience. Thus, the fate of Uiril remains to be seen.

#Which: the issue of #gender in games and game #audience

{Posted as #rgmooc week 6 co-op}

The game “Which” offers a compelling gaming experience, effectively taking advantage of blurry visuals and two equally jaw dropping ending alternatives to create a dark atmosphere, paying homage to the horror / splatter genre. Along with its undeniable effectiveness, when it comes to delivering game content successfully, the narrative poses plenty of questions concerning  female character portrayal.

**spoilers**

Should the player find the key that leads to the room containing the dead body’s heart, the headless corpse decides to sacrifice itself to the benefit of the player, as the symbols written on the wall demand that only one of them shall eventually leave the premises. If, on the other hand, the player comes across the “head” first, the body becomes a ruthless female figure that stabs the player – one too many times – to ensure her own survival.

In both cases, one cannot fail to discern two extreme  predominant notions of a game character:  benevolent, caring, sensitive and life-giving, even to her own demise or sadistic, opportunistic and selfish. To serve the game’s purpose, heart over mind or vice versa becomes absolute. To procede with the analysis further, the “heart” ending hinges on the somewhat stereotypical notion of motherhood in the outside world; emotional and self-sacrificing, heroic and tragic at the same time. The ruthlessness of the “head” ending made many players scream out of horror for the unexpected.

Violent women and female characters killing off their opponents is certainly not a novelty in the gaming world, especially in MMO RPGs. “Which” captures the look of a wicked looking woman, determined to save herself by virtually slicing the player open. One could possibly insinuate that this is the “male” aggresiveness coming forth, of which the gaming industry is to blame. Games do allow for unperceived freedoms, concerning character depiction, environment and storyline. Taken to an extreme, violence is a relatively shocking, yet indispensable element of game narrative, especially for this type of genre. How is it that we would expect a male NPC to brutally kill players, yet we cringe in front of a woman doing so? Cyberspace enables game designers to form worlds “where gender is fluid and multiple“, hence taking a considerable amount of liberties; still the average gamer feels safer in a “gendered environment […], more more stringent and rigid than in real life” ( Christensen, 50)

What about the female audience playing this game?  The haunting effect of the game constitutes a persuasive rhetoric, regarding logic and emotion. If you have a heart, you ‘ll save others; if you don’t you ‘ll save yourself.  Thus, it is not a question of a female audience (that sounds awfully biased) but a matter of audience perception in general. People might become emotional with the sacrifice of the NPC, regardless if they are men or women playing the game. Others might feel vindictive against the cold hearted stabbing regime. It all depends on the gamer’s personality, not his /her gender.

Presenting the exact opposite choices, both endings call for a brutal dilemma: “Which” one will you come across?

Works cited:

Christensen, Natasha Chen. “Geeks at Play: Doing Masculinity in an Online Gaming Site.”Reconstruction 6.1. N.p., Jan.-Feb. 2006. Web. 15 Aug. 2013. <http://reconstruction.eserver.org/061/christensen.shtml&gt;.

Inel, Mike. Which. Computer game. Gamejolt.com. Vers. 3D. Lucent Web Creative, LLC, n.d. Web. 15 Aug. 2013. <http://gamejolt.com/games/adventure/which/1523/&gt;

Retrieved 15th August 2013 from http://mikeinel.deviantart.com/art/Which-Short-Game-152503626

#MrBree: Instructing the basics of #neuroscience through video #games

 

 

{Posted as #rgmooc week 8 co-op}

Our brain is admittedly a highly sophisticated organ. One of its core functions is the human ability to store chunks of information – roughly up to 7 “items” at a time – storing them either in our short term memory or better yet our long term one. A successful input of information is not an automated process; we have rather trained ourselves, using various helpful strategies in order to achieve what we sometimes take for granted: preserving memories. But why is it that we forget in the first place?

Scientifically, experts indicate either neurological or psychogenic (Dubuc: 2005) types of amnesia. Suffering a severe head injury might lead to irrepairable brain damage, thus rendering crucial parts of the brain – such as the hippocampus – disfunctional or entirely useless. On the other hand, there seems to be the case of Mr. Bree. Suffering a psychological trauma, such as intense fear, stress or perhaps a life threatening experience might escalate to a broad memory loss, despite the fact that there is “no detectable brain injury or brain malfunction.” (Dubuc: 2005) In this way, people seem to lose what is called their “episodic memory“. (Dubuc: 2005)

Mr. Bree (2012) is found in the forest, illustrated as a cute, anthropomorphic pig, sweating in agony, for he cannot seem to recall who he is or why he is there in the first place. Throughout the game levels, Mr. Bree is talking to himself constantly (personal, human-like countermeasure to his predicament); his thoughts depict his inner struggle to connect all the dots as to why this is happening to him. The first fifteen levels of this platformer game are appropriately called “bad memories“. Managing to finish one level adheres to a certain brain part being restored, through clever player feedback. Levels 16 to 20 are the notorious “Butcher” levels, designed in a scarlet pallette to match the gore. Game mechanics do allow for spots within the level, where one can go back to should one fail, without having to go through the level all over again. Similarly, humans combatting forgetfulness form points of reference that are familiar with, to facilitate the sense of comfort and awareness.

In his effort to understand what is going on, Mr Bree embarks on a fictitious journey through the forest where violent spikes and flying sharp metal objects threaten his existence. It should be noted that game difficulty progresses gradually. Everytime the player completes a level, Mr. Bree learns a new move or is reminded of something pertaining to his personal life. In either case, Mr. Bree’s monologue attempts to resurface what happened and eloquently draws comparisons between his past life and contemporary state, violence being the key link here.

In accordance to psychological treatment of amnesia, the patient is indeed forced to invoke the painful memories that lead to his / her current state of mind. The secret, however, is to attach those hurtful memoirs to realtively unrelated symbols in order to ease and soothe one’s psyche. Recent research suggests that being under psychological pressure anew actually enables the brain to behave in this way. Based on conducted experiments by Fenton and colleagues, Rachel Jones (2010) observed that:

“…stress can reactivate unrelated memories that are stored outside the hippocampus and render them labile through a mechanism that requires the hippocampus […] in humans, traumatic stress might reactivate non-traumatic memories and link them to the traumatic memory, thereby facilitating the pathological effects seen in post-traumatic stress disorder and other conditions.”

Therefore, one must gradually submerge into the subconscious, if one is to discover the initial source of blockage; hence the psychoanalysis retrieves information from a person’s past similarly to levelling this particular video game. Indeed, it turns out, that Mr. “Pig” was actually about to fall victim in the hands of a merciless butcher when he miraculously managed to escape in the forest. Treading the forest pathways, Mr. Bree reenacts his way to the slaughterhouse one step at the time, putting together the missing pieces of the puzzle.

Mr. Bree could be considered as a substitute for any nameless victim of psychogenic amnesia. Stressing over obstacles is a homeopathetic way of acummulating information on his individual, agonizing past and coming to terms with stress related amnesia. If so, one can honestly hope that progressively even the worst state of degenerative dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease will eventually become itself a bad memory in the not so distant future.

Works cited:

Dubuc, Bruno. “Types of Amnesia.” The Brain from Top to Bottom. N.p., n.d. 2005. Web. 19 July 2013. <http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/i/i_07/i_07_p/i_07_p_oub/i_07_p_oub.html&gt;.

Jones R (2010) Stress Brings Memories to the Fore. PLoS Biol 8(12): e1001007. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001007

Mr. Bree – Returning Home. Online PC game. Kongregate. Vers. 1.0.35. Taw Studio, 13 Feb. 2012. Web. 18 July 2013. <http://www.kongregate.com/games/TawStudio/mr-bree-returning-home&gt;.

Retrieved 15th August 2013 from http://www.gamingcloud.com/play/mr-bree-returning-home.html

“#DontStarve” #game: #Pathos over human survival instincts.

{Posted as #rgmooc week 7 co-op}

Appealing to one’s soft side is every creator’s ultimate goal, when it comes to entertainment. Hollywood may boast on gross revenues from major blockbusters; a movie that is critically acclaimed and considered to be a “great” film, however is an entirely different business. Just like in all things entertainment, the same applies to songs, works of art and even games. As Joseph Butler-Hartley eloquently describes this,

“…the greatest feature a piece of art can have is the ability to provoke emotions” (zero1gaming.com).

The moment one transcends the boundaries of game mechanics and play, the instant when feelings blend in and influence game choices is when pathos holds the reign. It’s then and there that the game designer has achieved greatness.

Experiencing the game “Don’t Starve” is actually true to its title. The survival genre calls for decisions that ultimately simulate tough choices, cold logic and strategic planning. Personally , according to my “green” environmental credo, guilt plagued a lot of my actions. Although I didn’t hesitate to make my – otherwise perfect – gentleman torch a couple of trees, in order to be able to see, when darkness fell, I soon feared I might start a fire (also that trees are extremely flammable when approached by fire, but that insinuates I should recheck my brain functions). I also realised that my first and foremost priority was to eat anything my avatar could get its hands on: from seeds and petals to butterfly wings. I felt happy that Willson could fill up its stomach depositories (a clever illustration of game feedback, to be honest) and yet I really pitied every creature that I laid my hands on, so I could prove I was top of the food chain. Birdies in particular were too cute to become prey (and annoyingly evasive I might add).

Playing the fifteen minute demo is hardly time enough to assess the majestic Tim Burtonish atmosphere of “Don’t Starve“. Nevertheless, I managed to dwell in a compelling storyline within those minutes. Still my emotional responses weren’t enough to keep me from sacrificing my basic survival instincts. Scientist Wilson eventually killed that pretty little butterfly; I felt remorseful, of course, and yet I chose to comply with the game rules. I didn’t “feel” a certain bond reflected in my avatar. I just knew I had to do certain things to beat the game, no matter how they would seem in real life circumstances. I did sympathize with my struggling little human; does sympathy qualify for pathos? Hardly.

That is where the plot thickens. Violence in-game leaves the player with a strange gut feeling but in the end it’s overshadowed by the ultimate game goals – you need to kill lots of enemies / zombies, etc. in FPS and similar genres in order to survive. Does anyone regret that? Did anyone stop to think how cruel our characters are or how many critters we have killed in MMOs? Until we discover a way to create

“…interactive dramas where it’s possible to form deep, friendships with virtual characters” (Loftus)

we have a long way from achieving Pathos in the game entertainment industry (with the exception of Lady Croft, perhaps…).

Works cited:

Butler-Hartley, Joseph. “Art, Gaming and First-Person Emotions.” Www.Zero1Gaming.com. Zero1Gaming, 27 Mar. 2013. Web. 14 July 2013. <http://www.zero1gaming.com/2013/03/27/art-gaming-first-person-emotions/&gt;.

Don’t Starve. PC game. Vers. Demo. Kle

Retrieved 15th August 2013 from http://megagames.com/trainers/dont-starve-6-trainer-mgrinzplayer

Entertainment, n.d. Web. 14 July 2013. .

Loftus, Tom. “Bringing Emotions to Video Games.” Msnbc.com. Nbcnews.com, 10 Nov. 2005. Web. 14 July 2013. <http://www.nbcnews.com/id/4038606/ns/technology_and_science-games/t/bringing-emotions-video-games/&gt;

#CLOUD: presenting persuasive #rhetoric in a #game

 A rhetorical situation occurs when an author, an audience, and a context come together

and a persuasive message is communicated through some medium.

(OWL purdue)

{posted as #rgmooc week 3 co-op}

Introduction

The game CLOUD features a dreamy landscape, where a boy, flying through the air, manages to collect clouds and then use them to create various shapes or induce rain upon a heavily polluted city (puzzle / adventure free-to-play PC game).  The game was created by students at the University of Southern California in 2005 and by 2006 this indie game amassed huge admiration and a considerable amount of downloads.  Journey‘s Jenova (Xinghan) Chen is credited as the lead designer of CLOUD, which was inspired by the creator’s childhood memories; as a child he suffered from asthma and spent a lot of his days in a hospital daydreaming, much like the boy in the game (Wikipedia “Cloud“).

Audience

“Thatgamecompany“, which was created by the founders of CLOUD shortly after their graduation, made it clear that their target player body are the so-called “core” gamers, meaning that CLOUD is not intended for the average hardcore or casual gamer alone; preferably even a non gamer would appreciate its artistic concept and serene minimalistic design. It doesn’t take too much of your time to grasp the basics – the first stage is perceived as a tutorial –  and the actual focus is rather on creating emotion and a “powerful interactive experience” (Thatgamecompany, “About” section). Chen himself quoted the necessity of creating “mature” games (gamesindustry.biz) that have little to do with short-term lasting, basic instincts, such as enthusiasm or rage, which mostly apply to teen gamers; instead, the game industry ought to seek enhancing its emotional rhetoric to adults by fortifying game elements accordingly . A game can become a work of art and have similar impact as a good film or an exceptional painting. That, according to Chen is not only art but also entertainment in its purest, most long-lasting form:

“what I realized during the development of Cloud was that entertainment is about feelings”. (Gamasutra)

Game mechanics and elements

To achieve attracting primarily a non gamer, adult audience, CLOUD employs several game elements that contribute to structuring a beautiful, escapism dreamland. Music ought to be mentioned first, since the exquisite sound of Vincent Diamante achieves supreme levels of eliciting feelings. Flying through the air becomes something more than a childhood fantasy; it literally relocates the player to a domain free of angst and hardships.  Despite the simplicity of in-game graphics – it was after all a student project – the design is up to par, with a clever exploitation of light and dark shades to symbolise “friendly” clouds vs rainbringers. Nevertheless the strongest advantage of this endeavor is the narrative itself. The boy is held up in a tedious, depressing hospital room much like we are trapped in a daily routine; his only wish is to fly, something to which any child or adult can easily relate. The touching connotation of the boy’s illness, clouds being presented as “friends” and the original motto of the game – “Let’s make more friends” – raise expectations for a social message, larger than life. Chen and his team prove that constructing a successful narrative can make games tell a story in a most artistic – dramatic even – way. Thus, narrative aimed at arousing human emotions becomes a core game mechanic, rendering CLOUD an “art game” to be emulated.  As Brice puts it:

If game mechanics are meant to provide players with experiences such as fun and anxiety,

then narrative actually is a game mechanic, as much as game mechanics can also be narrative elements. (popmatters.com)

Consequently, it would seem that mature or non gamer audiences deem persuasive narratology and rhetoric as key to opt for a well designed gaming experience. CLOUD is definetely one of those.

Works cited:

“About.” Thatgamecompany. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Aug. 2013. <http://web.archive.org/web/20100723142221/http://thatgamecompany.com/about/&gt;.

Brice, Mattie. “Narrative Is a Game Mechanic.” Web Blog post. PopMatters.com PopMatters Media, Inc., 31 Jan. 2012. Web. 15 Aug. 2013. <http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/153895-narrative-is-a-game-mechanic/&gt;.

“Cloud Game.” Cloud Game. The Division of Interactive Media at the University of Southern California School of Cinema and Television, 2005. Web. 15 Aug. 2013. <http://interactive.usc.edu/projects/cloud/game.htm&gt;.

“Cloud (video Game).” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Apr. 2013. Web. 15 Aug. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_(video_game)&gt;

Irwin, Mary Jane. “The Beautiful Game.” GamesIndustry International. Eurogamer Network Ltd, 19 Feb. 2009. Web. 15 Aug. 2013. <http://web.archive.org/web/20090429105251/http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/the-beautiful-game&gt;.

Kumar, Mathew. “Thatgamecompany’s Chen On How Emotion Can Evolve Games.”Gamasutra.com. UBM TechWeb, 15 July 2009. Web. 15 Aug. 2013. <http://web.archive.org/web/20100810013800/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/24442/Develop_2009_Thatgamecompanys_Chen_On_How_Emotion_Can_Evolve_Games.php&gt;.

Pepper, Mark, Allen Brizee, and Elizabeth Angeli. “Elements of Analysis.” OWL Purdue Online Writing Lab. Purdue University, 30 Sept. 2010. Web. 15 Aug. 2013. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/725/02/&gt;.

Retrieved 15th August 2013 from http://interactive.usc.edu/projects/cloud/

Summertime…

Summer reflection post

 

So it’s been a while since my last post but this MOOC winter and my MA finals took their toll, I guess… Living in Greece also makes you want to spend the hot summer by the sea sipping “frape” -i.e. cold instant coffee – and casually hanging out …

Vacations are almost over, though. During my summer break it was time for some inner reflexion. This blog helped me immensely, since I understood a lot of my strengths and weaknesses in writing. Using English as a foreign language is still hard even after practicing for years.

 

During this summer I also started using Pinterest, which is a visual torrent of goodies for educators, tech, fashion and whatever you can think of, really. Social media are on the rise and here to stay, as I ‘ve said before.

 

Regarding MOOCs I am almost to a close with a cMOOC this time. Despite the fact that I enrolled in three of the kind, this one kept me going – my forthcoming posts will include homework realted to game studies.

When I first started this blog I thought I could have a place of my own to reflect on e-learning, distance and lifelong education and MOOCs.  I could swear, I wasn’t up to keeping a blog, much less update it frequently and yet I did – now onwards to new inspirations, novel writings and many lovely things to come…

So, dear WordPress, thank you for making me  stay…

 

took this one during my trip to Thessaloniki… **so deep**

@coursera_myth Assignment 2: Female sexuality boundaries in Imperial #Rome

 Ancient Greek & Roman Mythology Assignment 2  {Coursera / Penn University}

In this course, we have introduced Functionalism, Structuralism, Freudianism, and Myth and Ritual theory as tools to examine our myths. Choose one of these tools and use it to analyze one episode in the Greek tragedies or the portions of Vergil’s Aeneid or Ovid’s Metamorphoses that we have read for this class. It is up to you to decide how long or short an episode is. The best answers to this question will demonstrate a thorough understanding of the theoretical tool, and will use it to reveal something new in the episode under consideration. You may NOT repeat a specific result, using one of these theoretical tools, set out in lecture. Move from the evidence to your conclusion with careful attention to detail. Avoid generalities.

Female sexuality boundaries in Imperial Rome

Virgil writes the Aeneid in times of great political change; the former Roman Republic has given way to an autocracy by Augustus, as sole ruler of the “Imperium Romanum” [1]. Literature and myth written during that time convey multiple social conformities of the era or at least the ones that the Roman Emperor would like to establish. Reading Aeneid’s Book IV, the tragic tale of a woman abandoned by her lover, withholds multiple meanings when viewed from a functionalist perspective.

Dido is infatuated by the Trojan hero, Aeneas; she seems “…fetter’d in the chains of love” [2]. However,  to exhibit her love fervor “by no sense of shame“[2] is unheard of. Virgil stresses through myth that Imperial Roman society would have any attempt “to perfect this affair” [2] remain in hiding, for nothing but shame would be the result; thus Juno cloaks the infamous cave scene in “a pitchy cloud” [2] surrounded by the sounds of a tempest.  This sexual interaction hardly meets the expectations of matrimony for the Romans, thus it is portrayed as a mere “lustful” union of bodies. For an “univira” [1], a one-man woman, to appear less than modest was considered a social hubris. Dryden’s translation is indicative of Virgil’s disproval:

Painting in oils, ‘The Feast of Dido and Aeneas by François de Troy, 1704. Source licensed under CC: http://www.artnet.com/Artists/LotDetailPage.aspx?lot_id=12F5C9013F565317D88FCF849473A0A8 (Retrieved 24 June 2013 from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Feast_of_Dido_and_Aeneas_by_Fran%C3%A7ois_de_Troy,_1704.jpg)

Lost in their loves, insensible of shame,

And both forgetful of their better fame. [2]

Dido believes otherwise; yet for a woman to uphold “pudicitia” [1], i.e. remain virtuous certain procedures ought to have taken place. It wouldn’t seem inappropriate for a widow to remarry in ancient Roman times, yet the carnal, non-sanctified affair is deemed as untimely and controversial for a woman of nobility.

The myth goes on to invoke  the Gods, in order for Aeneas to flee in seek of his destiny and as stated in-text “to redeem his honor lost” [2]. These strong words for the epic’s protagonist denote that sexual desire and liberal affairs with a woman of a certain class seldom abide by male duty and honor, too.

Virgil appeals to the reader’s empathy for Dido as he concludes Book IV; still her tragic end is imperative. Could it be that her sister speaks the poet’s mind, as she tries to reawaken the Tyrian queen in vain?

At once thou hast destroy’d thyself and me,
Thy town, thy senate, and thy colony! [2]

Dido has ruined her own life, her family and Carthage itself (!) not only by committing suicide but also by allowing herself to fall from grace. Why is it that Virgil requires a fatal blow for Dido? Again, functionalism justifies the myth’s means to a social end. Augustus had instituted a legislation to enforce piety among Roman women [1], so Dido’s symbolic erotic behaviour might have been illegal as well as immoral during that time.

To conclude, Virgil ‘s Aeneid highlights plenty of social norms during the Imperial Roman Era through a functionalist aspect of  his myth; Book  IV indicates, a woman’s place ought to be next to a lawful husband and not a lover; otherwise one must face severe consequences.

Works cited:

1. Burton, Neel. “Sexuality in Ancient Rome.”  Web Blog post. Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers LLC, 24 June 2012. Web. 24 June 2013. <http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hide-and-seek/201206/sexuality-in-ancient-rome&gt;.

2. Virgil. “Book IV.” The Aeneid. Trans. John Dryden. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Web. 24 June 2013. <http://classics.mit.edu/Virgil/aeneid.4.iv.html&gt;