Extra Blog: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The video game Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, is a role playing game that is another chapter in the Elder Scrolls games. As you enter any Elder Scrolls games you begin by starting from the previous ending of the last game. As the introduction of the game reiterates the plot of the previous game you begin on your quest. In the game, Skyrim, it allows you to become whatever creature you may one to be. As an example in my playing of this video game i like to indulge myself in the race called the, "Khajiit."Khajiit are cat-like specimens that are engineered better in stealth and speed. This is always my favorite class because it is so different from everything else. This is very comparable to the MUD's on the internet where users can become whatever they would like to be.

As the story continues in the Elder Scrolls, the most impressive  part about the game is the ability the video gamer has to freelance around the world created and play their own story out. This gives the game a multitude of options on what to do because you are basically the author of your own game. When i was playing i like to do most of the side quests that intervene between the main storyline because this is away i am able to level up my character. As the story finishes up usually you have to save the land of whatever monster or monsters are trying to overpower you. I have yet to finish up Skyrim and i would hate to give up the plot of the game so i will not describe the deep plot in this blog.

Extra Blog: MW3 vs DnD

Modern Warfare 3 was released on November 8^th, 2011 and the Online Massive Multiplayer can be compared to the multi user dungeons based game, Dungeons and Dragons, talked about in class. The online play allows for a number of people depending on what match type a person is playing to join a team and try and defeat another team. The game types differ from team death match to headquarters. As a user enters the battlefield you are put on a team and with that team you all have one unifying goal: to win. In multi user dungeons, like Dungeons and Dragons, one player creates a map for the rest of his team. The team travels through different environments and kill monsters based upon a player authoring the game.  The Modern Warfare 3 maps were created by a game designer who came up with the idea of the outline for the maps. The only difference between Dungeons and Dragons and Modern Warfare 3 is that in MW3 the maps were given life on a videogame platform.

                As gamers move forward in the battle in both Dungeons and Dragons and Modern Warfare 3 the way the team plays is an important role. The online play in MW3 on the Xbox 360 and PS3 platform allow players to talk through a microphone which enables them to remain in contact with their team. The way Dungeons and Dragons  is set up the group of team members are all talking with one another on how to defeat the next enemy. Having the ability in both games to have contact with your team is a huge part of your success because knowing how to beat an opponent or where the next opponent may lie is an integral part of each game.

                As an online game comes to a close a small similarity is seen between Dungeons and Dragons and MW3. The length of dungeon and dragons is basically based upon the players playing the game unlike in MW3 where the game length is based upon a score being reached. As players in Dungeons and Dragons continue their fight they enter new worlds and environments, killing off new creatures and monsters, based upon the author of the game. Once a game stops in online play in MW3 the player takes a short interval break and starts up on his or her next journey on a different map fighting new opponents. The two games might be completely different on a technological basis but, they both come from the same idea.  

Rewrite: Videogames Bask In Piracy

The gaming world is being taken over by piracy and the videogame business you would think would be losing business but, the opposite is happening. According technology based news outlets piracy will boost business with the pirating of videogames. Lawrence Lessig writes in his book, Free Culture, piracy is a positive in some areas of business by stating, “Many kinds of ‘piracy’ are useful and productive, to produce either new content or new ways of doing business” (pg. 66) We can divide piracy into four different categories: pirating the game instead of buying it, sampling the game before purchasing, owning a game that is no longer in production, and getting a game because it was free in the first place. Pirating a game instead of buying the game is the bad option according to Lessig. The other three options of pirating all are good ways of pirating because as an outcome of doing one of these more advertisement comes towards these companies.

                In the article, “Video Game Piracy is good for Business,” from IGN, Scott Steinberg discloses the positive impact piracy will have on the developers market. The article makes a point by saying that videogames are beginning to become too expensive to users and piracy is a way to get by those costs. Free to play model video games on the Iphone and on Facebook are taking over the business of the videogame developers.  These free to play videogames are being created then bought by the computer company and only being given out when the new high powered PC’s or platform which they are on come out. This is good business for both the PC manufactures because consumers who want the videogame will buy the PC in order to play the game, therefore a boost in sales. Another example of this is the title, “Angry Birds” which is on the Iphone, in order to play this game you have to buy an Apple product with the ability to play this game. This boosts Apple and because the game designer already got paid by Apple he or she doesn’t have to worry about game sales going up or down.

Another reason why people are pirating videogames is because users want the ability to pay low costs to play the games they like when they want and expensive games just do not cut it. Scott Steinberg brings up the bold point by exclaiming piracy can potentially be a big opportunity. The opportunity he is writing about is, “When game creators stop focusing on security measures, this lowers production costs. Making titles widely available to the public may be the solution when combined with the freemium business model: Letting people pay what they want, when they want, can definitely expand gaming's reach and result in more revenue.” An example of this coming into play in the videogame industry is games like Farmville. The first part of the game is all free but, to continue and to get the best options for the games you have to pay actual money to get the item. These games allow the person to sample the game, just like Lessig’s type of piracy, and then to buy it.  To put it simply if video game developers lower their costs on video games, more people will have the ability to buy the products.

                In my analysis of the article from Scott Steinberg, the journalist brings up a good point; by lowering the costs of videogames the industry will undoubtedly reach a bigger market. In today’s society people are looking for cost friendly merchandise but, with rising prices on videogames piracy is an easy way of getting these expensive games for free. Developers need to take advantage of the point Scott Steinberg is proposing. In my experience with video games, being an avid video gamer, I find myself passing on buying $60 games because the cost is just too high. Being a college student and not having the extra cash to buy video games is hampering my gaming which leads me to indulge in the free games online and on my IPod instead. Another way sway people to buy games would be to have pay to play games which will allow consumers to sample the game therefore, creating an advertisement in its own right. As Lessig writes, “…piracy is motivated by a new way of spreading content caused by changes in the technology of distribution” (pg. 75).   Cutting costs of video games will give the ability to reach a broader market and people who might not be able to buy them at the present cost.

Rewrite: The Digital Side of Bullying

                New media outlets have opened the floodgates of younger generations to broadcast themselves and their talents across the world with a click of a button. Websites like Youtube and Facebook offer a prototypical platform for these children to post anything bad or good. The bad drama created on theses sites is known as, “cyber-bullying.” In the case of Megan Meier, a 14 year old teen, a mother of an ex-friend belittled and bullied her on Facebook, using a fake profile, till she took her own life. These new media outlets for teens offer a great way to stay connected to friends and show the world there talents; however they can be a perfect platform for cyber bullies to perform their brainless acts of belittlement upon others. In reality, no one sets up to be a cyber bully.

                In another case dealing with Facebook, a young girl enrolled at Stonewall Jackson High School in Manassas, VA created the Facebook page called “Stonewall Hoes.” On this page she posted nine pictures of certain girls, also enrolled in the high school, putting slanderous comments describing the pictures of them. When students saw the page it created an outrage among the school. The pictures of the nine girls destroyed each of their reputations among their peers and discriminated each of them. The creator of the Facebook page is being charged with harassment by computer and could face up to a year in prison.

Video of Stonewall Hoes Case

                The case of Megan Meier and the “Stonewall Hoes,” are only a couple examples of cyber-bullying. The platforms of Facebook and Youtube offer plenty of good reasons to use them, but when people take advantage of these sites for the use of cruel acts against someone it goes to far. Megan Meier was a 14 year old teenager with her life ahead of her and when a mother of an ex-friend tries to get in the middle of the situation between the two teens it crosses the line. Danah Boyd states in regard to the mother who created the fake Facebook profile, “Deceiving children is problematic to begin with, but doing so by tapping into their emotional weaknesses is outright deadly.” The mother bullies Megan with insulting comments on Facebook pushing Megan to her death. This example is not only harassment on a computer but assisting in a murder by a mother who should have never used a fake profile to get into her child’s problems. Danah Boyd offers her own opinion on the matter writing, “by choosing to ‘teach her a lesson,’ Lori acted in a manner that was both ethically and morally inappropriate.”  In the “Stonewall Hoes” case the creator did not cause the death of any of the nine girls but, smashed most of the girl’s reputations within the school. Harassment does not stop at “physical harassment,” it now needs to be looked at on a technological level. Both of these examples provide different outcomes that could possibly happen when cyber-bullying affects a person or a group. Cyber-bullying is a new digital crime that can come about on multiple media platforms that needs to be looked at more in-depth due to the effects it can have on people. 

The Flash Before Your Eyes

The mobile phone has changed the way people have been able to get and receive data. The mobile phone should soon be called the mobile computer with the way smart phones are on the rise. Rheingold asks the question, how will human behavior change when the appliances we hold in our hands, carry in our pockets, or wear in our clothing become supercomputers that talk to each other through wireless mega-Internet? (pg XV) Nearly, everywhere has wi-fi connection now and even in today’s standards this might becoming old because smart phones can seemingly pick up the internet anywhere in the world. With these new advances in phones it has allowed people to connect to each other on a whole different level. Smart mobs as Rheingold describes, “The new social form made possible by the combination of computation, communication, reputation, and location awareness” (pg. 176-77). These groups are made by the new connections made possible by phones that allow people to communicate with one another on hand held devices. Smart mobs are known to be violent sometimes, for example when the LA Riots broke out, but they also can do good acts as well. Smart mobs are a collective group of individuals, many of whom might not know each other, fighting for one political idea good or bad. However, flash mobs are a sub-group of  smart mobs who instead of fighting for political rights enjoy the finer things in life and create a dull day into a bright day by their actions.

                Flash mobs are created just like smart mobs that is by the SMS messaging of the mobile telephone.  These groups usually get the text message ahead of time, of when and where to meet, what to wear, and what to do. For example  in London's Piccadilly Circus a group of women, were told to meet and wear leotards while dancing to “Single Ladies” by Beyonce.  This is quite a humorous video and seems to brighten up many of the observers days when this flash mob breaks out in dance.

                The video posted above shows how flash mobs can create a very dull looking day into a better day with the advances in communication via the mobile telephone. Smart mobs are known for good and bad things but,  looking at what flash mobs can do makes me take a step back and forget about the political side of the world and enjoy technology being used for something more beautiful. As mobile phones advance in the digital world into mobile computers, it is going to be seen if society can keep their heads up and watch what might be right in front of them: the world’s beauty instead of a plastic screen in their hand.

The Digital Side of Bullying

                New media outlets have opened the floodgates of younger generation to broadcast themselves and there talents across the world with a click of a button. Websites like Youtube and Facebook offer a prototypical platform for these children to post anything bad or good. Teens and parents alike are also using these sites as a platform for “cyber-bullying.” In the case of Megan Meier, a 14 year old teen, a mother of an ex-friend belittled and bullied her on Facebook, using a fake profile, till she took her own life. These new media outlets for teens offer a great way to stay connected to friends and show the world there talents; however they can be a perfect platform for cyber bullies to perform their brainless acts of disparagement.

Video of "Stonewall Hoes" case

                In another case dealing with Facebook, a young girl enrolled at Stonewall Jackson High School in Manassas, VA created the Facebook page called “Stonewall Hoes.” On this page she posted nine pictures of certain girls, also enrolled in the high school, putting slanderous comments describing the pictures of them. When students saw the page it created an outrage among the school. The pictures of the nine girls destroyed each of their reputations among their peers and discriminated each of them. The creator of the Facebook page is being charged with harassment by computer and could face up to a year in prison.

                The case of Megan Meier and the “Stonewall Hoes,” are only a couple examples of cyber-bullying. The platforms of Facebook and Youtube offer plenty of good reasons to use them, but when people take advantage of these sites for the use of cruel acts against someone it goes to far. Megan Meier was a 14 year old teenager with her life ahead of her and when a mother of an ex-friend tries to get in the middle of the situation between the two teens it crosses the line. The mother bullies Megan with insulting comments on Facebook pushing Megan to her death. This example is not only harassment on a computer but assisting in a murder by a mother who should have never used a fake profile to get into her child’s problems. In the “Stonewall Hoes” case the creator did not cause the death of any of the nine girls but, smashed most of the girl’s reputations within the school. Harassment does not stop at “physical harassment,” it now needs to be looked at on a technological level. Both of these examples provide different outcomes that could possibly happen when cyber-bullying affects a person or a group. Cyber-bullying is a new digital crime that can come about on multiple media platforms that needs to be looked at more in-depth due to the effects it can have on people.