Monday, 31 March 2014
The Guild
I thought that 'The Guild' was actually pretty funny. The characters are obviously fictional but I felt that it was pretty realistic that even Zaboo's exaggerated stalker character probably actually exists in real life. As of my personal experience, Academically, I appreciated the good relationship with my fellow group members Mack, Eva, Sanjana and Waj. I felt that we all worked together well and there weren't any conflicts--no chasing each other down to do work, no person not actually contributing, all in all for a 4th year class, I was pleased to have them as group members. Socially, I felt that we also got along, there were no personality conflicts and each person brought their own touch to the group which helped us move forward smoothly throughout the semester.
In terms of gameplay, in comparison to The Guild, mine (and my group's) experience was nothing like theirs. For starters, we all met in person BEFORE we played the game. Also, it was not a game that we all chose, we all kind of had different games in mind to play and just ended up settling on Minecraft as the easiest game to play. For the characters in the series, they were all already avid gamers who met playing the game. It was funny to see the different array of characters and how awkward they were when they first met each other. I think it was actually the other way around for us, we were more awkward playing together than in person, just because sometimes we don't know what to do next.
It's SUPER funny that they call and introduce each other by their gamer names, I think that's what my group tried to do to make it feel like we're real gamers... we frequently referred to each other by our Minecraft avatar names while we played. I had a lot of fun doing that!
Watching The Guild was entertaining, I might actually keep watching it. One thing that my group does well like The Guild ended up doing when they were trying to kick out Zaboo but ended up keeping him for his skills is using each other's strengths for the group's benefit. For example, Eva was really good at keeping track of things we can map, we put her on that duty. During gameplay, Mack and Waj had more experience they showed us what we should do based on their knowledge.
Reaching the end of the term now I'm sad that class is over. As a fourth year student graduating, it's a bittersweet feeling to finally be moving on. BIGGER AND BETTER THINGS AHEAD! thank you CCT 495 and all the things you taught!
Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Motivation During Play
In class, we spoke of play motivations related to achievement, combat, completionism, and competition, and some associated information behaviors. Your task in this blog post is to document your information behaviors/practices related to these play motivations. Think about how/why you are motivated to achieve things during play, compete against others, fight, solve problems, or collect things. Describe these behaviors (including any non-human entities that play a role in them), and how they link to your personal achievement motivations.
I think the main motivation for me to have achievements while playing Minecraft is to show others that I'm actually getting better at this game. From time to time I will get achievements for even just being able to build a house or something...and I cherish those achievements even when they are small ones. In the beginning, I used to get much more achievements than I do playing the game now. The server also seems a lot quieter. Not a lot of players are on this server so the PvP achievements are harder to get.
I think the main motivation for me to have achievements while playing Minecraft is to show others that I'm actually getting better at this game. From time to time I will get achievements for even just being able to build a house or something...and I cherish those achievements even when they are small ones. In the beginning, I used to get much more achievements than I do playing the game now. The server also seems a lot quieter. Not a lot of players are on this server so the PvP achievements are harder to get.
In the beginning however, I remember getting something like this:
(Picture via YouTube.com http://tinyurl.com/o2jmued)
Even though there aren't any achievements for having a load of mined objects and crafted things, it does bring me joy to find things such as gold, iron, redstone etc. and have them in my inventory. Most of the time, I have no idea how to use them (#n00bprobz) Occasionally, I wonder what to do with them as they just fill up my whole inventory and I only really need my sword because it's the only thing I use...
( Picture via Funnyjunk.com http://www.funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/2276693/minecraft/)
Since I usually play with my group and we are in a building server, there aren't many fights that happen except with zombies. However the need of survival always overcomes and that has become the biggest motivation for my gameplay. I kill animals and try to survive zombie attacks because I need to stay alive. Collecting objects and such has not entirely shaped my gameplay only because I am still learning how to play and most of the time, I don't know what I can make with the things I collect. Using forums and apps that help me craft items is in a way helping my building skills but at the same time, it is not my main objective.
Wednesday, 26 February 2014
OSI model
Our guest speakers, Steve Lovaas, talked about the OSI model and "Layer 8." So far, we've largely only talked about what happens between Layer 7 (the application) and Layer 8 (the player). What elements of Layers 6-8 have you been able to infer when participating in your virtual world? Think beyond the log-in screen (although that is important) since that is part of the GUI interface (Layer 7), into the 'guts' behind the game.
Steve Lovaas joined us on Skype for his guest lecture and I'm not sure if I was the only one who felt this way, but the connection in that Skype call was so flawless... I don't know if he had a higher resolution camera than usual or if it was the fact that he was on a projector, but my initial thought was "wow, I have never seen a Skype call so clear!" and it actually stayed that way--no technical difficulties, no lagging etc. etc. That's off topic but that was just what I initially thought about the whole lecture!
Moving on to the important things about his lecture, he spoke about the OSI model which I also read briefly about on wikipedia from readings that Jamie provided us. I am going to be honest that I was confused about the OSI model and did not fully understand Steve's lecture at some points because I was zoning out in class... 10 am is too early sometimes even with coffee in hand. But what I gathered from his drawing on his whiteboard is that although the OSI model only presents 7 layers, there is layer 8 which is the user/the player/yourself playing in your VW.
Since I can't really draw the OSI model myself, here is a photo from Google:
Steve Lovaas joined us on Skype for his guest lecture and I'm not sure if I was the only one who felt this way, but the connection in that Skype call was so flawless... I don't know if he had a higher resolution camera than usual or if it was the fact that he was on a projector, but my initial thought was "wow, I have never seen a Skype call so clear!" and it actually stayed that way--no technical difficulties, no lagging etc. etc. That's off topic but that was just what I initially thought about the whole lecture!
Moving on to the important things about his lecture, he spoke about the OSI model which I also read briefly about on wikipedia from readings that Jamie provided us. I am going to be honest that I was confused about the OSI model and did not fully understand Steve's lecture at some points because I was zoning out in class... 10 am is too early sometimes even with coffee in hand. But what I gathered from his drawing on his whiteboard is that although the OSI model only presents 7 layers, there is layer 8 which is the user/the player/yourself playing in your VW.
Since I can't really draw the OSI model myself, here is a photo from Google:
In participating in my VW, and mapping minecraft, I realized I've been applying the OSI layers into my gameplay. The presentation, application and user layers are mostly what we paid attention to while mapping our objects. Presentation layer is how we see ourselves in the game and how we control our avatar to translate the movements we want it to make accordingly. Application is pretty much minecraft and it creates the platform for us to connect with other users and finally, the user layer which is us, transmitting the messages that we receive from the game.
Monday, 17 February 2014
Free writing
So far I've been playing Minecraft for a month now and I think I'm getting used to it and appreciating it more. I have come a long way for sure since I first started playing and writing about Minecraft. I've been able to build a big house and territory with Mack on a server. Also I crafted myself an armor made out of iron.
As discussed in class, there is not just one way of seeking information in Virtual Worlds. There are also different tools and ways to seek information. The more I get used to Minecraft the more I am able to tell if there's going to be a mine here or there or what tools I'm going to need to craft certain things. One concept we've talked about in lecture is the linear info literacy development where it goes from seeking information to disseminating information. Especially when I am working with my other group members towards building something, we join our resources and creativity to build something and our information is shared amongst other Minecraft players.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014
Mass, Masspersonal and Personal Communication
Identify from your game an instance each of mass, interpersonal or mass personal communication. describe them and discuss how the format was (in)effective in communicating the message
An instance of mass communication is when I am on a server where other people are present and there messages like "Enjoy RisenKingdoms? Need Help? Find a bug? Contact a member of staff and let us know!" these messages are not particularly intended for anyone but they are sent for everyone to see. It is like what we discussed in class as "cultivation of reality"and relying on authoritative figures... It is always telling us that we can contact admin if we want to complain or suggest anything. Even people entering and leaving the server is broadcasted. It is effective especially for newer users like me because they can suggest things like auctions and things I don't even know existed. Also, mass personal communication is present where players use the chat function a mass communication platform to talk to one another. For example in the screencap below (both Mass and Masspersonal Communication are present) people in other worlds in the server are speaking to each other.
An instance of mass communication is when I am on a server where other people are present and there messages like "Enjoy RisenKingdoms? Need Help? Find a bug? Contact a member of staff and let us know!" these messages are not particularly intended for anyone but they are sent for everyone to see. It is like what we discussed in class as "cultivation of reality"and relying on authoritative figures... It is always telling us that we can contact admin if we want to complain or suggest anything. Even people entering and leaving the server is broadcasted. It is effective especially for newer users like me because they can suggest things like auctions and things I don't even know existed. Also, mass personal communication is present where players use the chat function a mass communication platform to talk to one another. For example in the screencap below (both Mass and Masspersonal Communication are present) people in other worlds in the server are speaking to each other.
My group decided to play together in a server today and it was actually a lot of fun! We didn't use the chat feature on the game itself because we were all together playing anyway but Sanjana unfortunately couldn't come so we had her on Skype. Here is a "family portrait" from my perspective. We played on a bunch of PVP worlds and it was nerve-racking and exciting at the same time. I'm growing to like the game more and more and I'm even starting to play it on my own time!
Wednesday, 29 January 2014
Information Creation and Manipulation
What types of information are you producing when you play?
For now, playing Minecraft is still a learning process for me. BUT I'm glad that I am treating it as a learning environment and connecting the concepts I learn in class and readings to what I am doing in the game. I will be a noob no more in no time ;)
What are the targets of these messages?
I do not create that much information on Minecraft (yet) just because i'm not sure how to use the commands properly. As of now I am a prosumer, consuming the game by participating in the game and in turn producing things by building or crafting things.
Minecraft avatars aren't as important as avatars in other virtual worlds like second life where you can be anything and everything you want others to see you as. Minecraft is much simpler, my avatar is just a male in an elf suit. But i have seen other users whose avatars are wearing different 'skins'; superhero, animals, etc. I set my own minecraft avatar to be an elf just because I didn't have a specific preference of what I wanted to be (also it isn't that important) and I just wanted to look different in the game. However, as Kohler et al says "the emergence of the Internet has facilitated unique and inventive opportunities to capitalize on users' innovative potential and knowledge, resulting in what has been termed virtual customer integration" (Kohler et al, 396), there is an importance to the skins in some level that some people will invest their time and money making their avatars the representative of who they want to be and that would be one of the main messages that they produce when they play.
In my case, the most information I produce when I play is building and crafting things. For example, if I dig a mine that was never there beforehand, the message that I'm producing is that there is a mine there NOW that I've dug it. Kohler also says that open innovation and virtual worlds and advances the perspective that virtual world platforms for an interactive new product development process.
Minecraft avatars aren't as important as avatars in other virtual worlds like second life where you can be anything and everything you want others to see you as. Minecraft is much simpler, my avatar is just a male in an elf suit. But i have seen other users whose avatars are wearing different 'skins'; superhero, animals, etc. I set my own minecraft avatar to be an elf just because I didn't have a specific preference of what I wanted to be (also it isn't that important) and I just wanted to look different in the game. However, as Kohler et al says "the emergence of the Internet has facilitated unique and inventive opportunities to capitalize on users' innovative potential and knowledge, resulting in what has been termed virtual customer integration" (Kohler et al, 396), there is an importance to the skins in some level that some people will invest their time and money making their avatars the representative of who they want to be and that would be one of the main messages that they produce when they play.
In my case, the most information I produce when I play is building and crafting things. For example, if I dig a mine that was never there beforehand, the message that I'm producing is that there is a mine there NOW that I've dug it. Kohler also says that open innovation and virtual worlds and advances the perspective that virtual world platforms for an interactive new product development process.
There is also some kind of remix in the way I play I guess in a creative practice, in the best way I can I am trying to make my creations nice looking and entertaining at the same time.
Whelan and Freund defines remix as marks that venerable and longstanding creative practices, embeds them in a particular aesthetic, social and technological conjuncture.
For now, playing Minecraft is still a learning process for me. BUT I'm glad that I am treating it as a learning environment and connecting the concepts I learn in class and readings to what I am doing in the game. I will be a noob no more in no time ;)
Thursday, 16 January 2014
Minecraft Day 1
For my CCT395 Topics in Communication and Culture class, we were assigned to be in groups of 4-5 people to explore a virtual space, a virtual gaming space to be exact. Along with my group members Waj, Sanjana, Mack and Eva, we decided to play Minecraft.
Today was Day 1.
I have never played any online or computer games in my life before. Well "never" is a strong word in this case, I guess I have some sort of experience but just not at the League of Legends or Skyrim level. If you can count that one week I played Runescape and reached Level 4, or that one time I sort of played Maple Story cause I told this guy I had a crush on that I was totally that kind of girl who played Maple Story...then yes maybe I may have somewhat played online games before. I've also spent a good amount of time procrastinating on Facebook Tetris with Friends and once upon a time there existed Farmville...but Facebook doesn't count as a legitimate gaming world, nothing like Minecraft.
Minecraft is a whole different online game than anything I have played before. I've heard of it of course from a couple of friends who played it. So when my group decided to play Minecraft I had this vision that it was going to be something like World of Warcraft, League of Legends or Starcraft. Stuff I've seen my brother and ex-boyfriends play. Boy, was I ever wrong.
First of all, I worried that my MacBook Pro would not be capable of running Minecraft as it wasn't a PC and 4 years old (ancient in technology age). My fellow group member Mack assured me that it takes up almost no space in my computer. He's tried to play Minecraft before although he never got attached to it like many others who played it. I don't think he knew what I thought Minecraft was because this is how our conversation went upon him trying to show me the basics of Minecraft:
Me: WTF my computer sucks why is it so pixelated?!
Mack: That's how the graphics are. This game was made by one guy.
Me: Where's my character?
Mack: That's your character.
Me: Why can't I see myself?
Mack: *shaking his head*/ *presses E* there that's yourself.
Me: Ew. My head is a block?
Mack: Yuuuup.
Me:... why
Mack:...
Me: I thought this was going to be like DOTA.
Mack: *shaking his head*/ *breaking stuff with bare hands on Minecraft*
Me: What are you doing? ...K. Let me try.
Me:...what do I do?
Mack: Build stuff
Me: With what?
Mack: Stuff you dig.
Me: 'Kay, I don't get it.
After awhile of getting used to the controls and virtual space of Minecraft, I managed to make myself a few items. Mack showed me how to make an axe, a sword, a crafting table, a pick-axe and a shovel. I managed to chop down trees and dig cobblestone and even some mine during the morning. But when night time came, zombies kept eating and killing me so Mack fiddled with the options and set it to "Peaceful Mode" so I can "stop yelling about getting eaten by zombies"...Well no one wants to be eaten by zombies? 5 hours later with a little bit of help from Mack and my boyfriend I managed to have this inventory...and a helmet.
At the end of the day I realized the 6 components of a Virtual World discussed in class present in Minecraft. It has a shared space (we're going to play on a server as a group although I played it alone today). Graphical User Interface, 3d graphics... that are pixels or whatever in this case. Immediacy, it runs on "real time" although I swear night and day change in 15 minutes or so. Interactivity, I can alter stuff in the world, hence the 'craft' in Minecraft. (Ahhh, I get it now) Persistence, Minecraft apparently doesn't revolve around me so when I log out the world and activities continue and lastly, Socialization so I can play with other users...who are probably way better than me. Overall, even though I sucked on my first day I have to admit this game is pretty fun!
Today was Day 1.
I have never played any online or computer games in my life before. Well "never" is a strong word in this case, I guess I have some sort of experience but just not at the League of Legends or Skyrim level. If you can count that one week I played Runescape and reached Level 4, or that one time I sort of played Maple Story cause I told this guy I had a crush on that I was totally that kind of girl who played Maple Story...then yes maybe I may have somewhat played online games before. I've also spent a good amount of time procrastinating on Facebook Tetris with Friends and once upon a time there existed Farmville...but Facebook doesn't count as a legitimate gaming world, nothing like Minecraft.
Minecraft is a whole different online game than anything I have played before. I've heard of it of course from a couple of friends who played it. So when my group decided to play Minecraft I had this vision that it was going to be something like World of Warcraft, League of Legends or Starcraft. Stuff I've seen my brother and ex-boyfriends play. Boy, was I ever wrong.
First of all, I worried that my MacBook Pro would not be capable of running Minecraft as it wasn't a PC and 4 years old (ancient in technology age). My fellow group member Mack assured me that it takes up almost no space in my computer. He's tried to play Minecraft before although he never got attached to it like many others who played it. I don't think he knew what I thought Minecraft was because this is how our conversation went upon him trying to show me the basics of Minecraft:
Me: WTF my computer sucks why is it so pixelated?!
Mack: That's how the graphics are. This game was made by one guy.
Me: Where's my character?
Mack: That's your character.
Me: Why can't I see myself?
Mack: *shaking his head*/ *presses E* there that's yourself.
Me: Ew. My head is a block?
Mack: Yuuuup.
Me:... why
Mack:...
Me: I thought this was going to be like DOTA.
Mack: *shaking his head*/ *breaking stuff with bare hands on Minecraft*
Me: What are you doing? ...K. Let me try.
Me:...what do I do?
Mack: Build stuff
Me: With what?
Mack: Stuff you dig.
Me: 'Kay, I don't get it.
After awhile of getting used to the controls and virtual space of Minecraft, I managed to make myself a few items. Mack showed me how to make an axe, a sword, a crafting table, a pick-axe and a shovel. I managed to chop down trees and dig cobblestone and even some mine during the morning. But when night time came, zombies kept eating and killing me so Mack fiddled with the options and set it to "Peaceful Mode" so I can "stop yelling about getting eaten by zombies"...Well no one wants to be eaten by zombies? 5 hours later with a little bit of help from Mack and my boyfriend I managed to have this inventory...and a helmet.
At the end of the day I realized the 6 components of a Virtual World discussed in class present in Minecraft. It has a shared space (we're going to play on a server as a group although I played it alone today). Graphical User Interface, 3d graphics... that are pixels or whatever in this case. Immediacy, it runs on "real time" although I swear night and day change in 15 minutes or so. Interactivity, I can alter stuff in the world, hence the 'craft' in Minecraft. (Ahhh, I get it now) Persistence, Minecraft apparently doesn't revolve around me so when I log out the world and activities continue and lastly, Socialization so I can play with other users...who are probably way better than me. Overall, even though I sucked on my first day I have to admit this game is pretty fun!
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About Me
- Nikka
- Born in '92. Annoyingly a morning person. Communications, Culture and Information Technology and Professional Writing double major. Always moving on.