KeithKlass

The **OFFICIAL** Professional Social Media class blog of John Rapaccioli.

[keithklass]

Week #14 - RIP Swery

If you haven’t seen this brilliant article offering an important update on the health of Hidetaka Suehiro, I suggest you look at it now.

Ha!

Swery may be one of the funnier Japanese devs out there on social media, but I gotta say-- jokes or not, I’m really impressed with the candor some designers display on platforms like Twitter. I think the best thing you can do as a game designer in the industry is be open about your craft, accepting of feedback, and communicative with your fans.

A lot of the time, especially with the larger, more AAA accounts out there, there’s an expectancy of one-way communication. Twitter and other social media platforms offer many-to-many scope-- but if I were to shoot a tweet at, say, Cliff Bleszinski, Notch, or someone like Hideo Kojima, I wouldn’t really be expecting a response, or any sort of recognition of my words or opinions.

But you have the few who are always curious about what their fans think, what they have to say, and love engaging in conversation with them whenever they can. Swery is one of those kinds of dudes. You can shoot him pretty much any message, and he’s guaranteed to have something cool to say. 

Hideki Naganuma is much the same way. Naganuma-san is a super chill kind of guy. Most of his tweets and responses are in regards to Jet Set Radio, his compositions for Sega, or a recent stint with Splatoon. But he’s always open to questions, comments, and even requests to name kittens.

I think this is the best way to maintain a positive web presence and a good image in the eyes of the community. A lot of devs are like this already, but there are tons who would rather only tweet when they feel its necessary, and couldn’t care less about what people respond to them with. To me, that defeats the whole point of social media being social. Obviously, nobody has the time to answer every single question or comment they get, when there are thousands every day. But if someone has something to say to you, to ask of you, try to answer them! Especially for designers, you have to have an open mind in order for your craft to grow.

[keithklass]

Class #14 - Trust

I don’t really like Mark Zuckerberg very much!

Facebook is a pretty cool utility, and it’s neat that it’s so quickly become as deeply ingrained in our society as it has. But I think the underlying element of Zuckerberg’s mentality which I dislike, which isn’t as closely explored in the film, is the part of it that can say “They ‘trust me.’ Dumb fucks.”

I guess it’s obvious that we all change as time goes on, and that in our younger and wilder days we say and do things that we come to regret or to reconsider. But I struggle to accept that Zuckerberg, and really the whole of the Facebook machine, don’t still stand behind this line as a mantra of sorts.

Facebook is, at the end of the day, an information aggregate. It masquerades, and indeed functions, as a social media platform allowing for constant interconnectivity and communication between friends, coworkers, family members, etc. But at its core, all that it is is a complex and comprehensive collection of data and personal information on each and every individual user registered to the service.

Zuckerberg may have grown into a mostly competent CEO, who has expanded the platform into a multi-billion dollar business (or, really, industry) and spread its influence all across the world in less than a decade. He may have come a long way from the lostlorn Harvard student that we’re shown in the film.

But those words from his college days still stick with me.

I use Facebook. I, albeit bitterly, accept their policies and ToS, and make consistent daily usage of the services afforded by the platform. But I don’t think I’ll ever trust it. I try my best to avoid being found through Facebook. I use a fake name. I never sign up for other applications or services with the account. I very rarely post. But even now, as a casual consumer of the medium, as someone who studies it, and as someone who will continue to be impacted by its global presence, I’m afraid of what Zuckerberg’s childish, edgy remark from so long ago might still mean for the rest of us moving forward.

[keithklass]

Week #13 - Coin Crypt Overview

I’ve been playing a lot of Coin Crypt this week-- a neat little roguelike that’s available for cheap on Steam. 

I’d been interested in the game since seeing early trailers for it. Essentially, it’s a deckbuilding roguelike in which you gather your abilities in the form of coins (attacks,heals, defends, steals, etc.) You use these coins in combat, and lose them upon doing so-- but defeating enemies earns you the coins their player type utilized, and you consistently discover chests full of coin-loot throughout the universe.

The game ends when you run out of HP or lose all of your coins-- both criteria that I am unfortunately consistently meeting before getting anywhere of note at all! The coin-loss mechanic is still very difficult for me to keep up with, and in the few attempts I made at varying my playstyle, I would consistently lose all of my coins before getting past the second or third maps.

Still, this is just on my early ineptitude with the game, and my lack of real practice at hammering down an understanding of the mechanics. The game is use and engaging, and continued play (even if they end in early failures) rewards the player through progressive unlocks and upgrades. The more you play, the more new coin types get added to enemy rotation, allowing for highly varied decks and greatly expanded mechanical depth. Each death sinks the total “value” of your remaining coins towards the eventual purchase of a new player class. Each class comes with its own pros and cons-- take the thief, for example, who has less HP, but finds and earns many more coins in battle. If you’re good at defending and finishing encounters quickly, the thief will allow for prolonged play and greater tactical depth-- at the expense of your tankiness and ability to make mistakes in battle.

The whole game is controlled with the mouse, making for a simplified and relaxed experience. It’s the sort of game you can pick up and play for hours, or just sit with for a few minutes to kill some time.

Coin Crypt is definitely interesting, and I intend to spend more time with it. I think I could definitely progress much further and figure out a much better playstyle for continued progress-- but I suppose we’ll wait and see!

[keithklass]

Class #13 - The Shutdown Button

It’s a little scary to consider the existence of an internet shutdown button!

Last class we were discussing the context of social media in the political realm, and the subject of revolutionary movements and protests inevitably came up. We at some point got onto the thought of governments (worst case scenario, corrupt ones) using mass shutdown protocols to turn the tides of a social media empowered revolution or coup in their favor. The ability for a mass governing body to completely sever what has become an entire form of communication is a horrific one. 

Really, this isn’t such a new concept-- it isn’t as though governments haven’t been able to do this before. Realistically, it would likely be a simple matter for one to disable phone lines across an entire country, if not a large portion of one. 

But social media and net communication are inherently more constant, more consistently intertwined with our daily existences than phone communication, or even early elements of cyber communication. Social media platforms allow for consistent, almost unending connectivity between individuals and the larger net consciousness.

We’ve entered into an age in which this is the norm. At any and all times, we are constantly sharing and receiving data and information, passively and actively, from all across the world. During revolutionary or turbulent periods of mass protest and reform, these platforms keep a divided people connected and coherent. 

The thought of a governing force being capable of shutting such a beast of continuous communication down is frightening indeed. I certainly hope that as time goes on, we hear less and less of these shutdown procedures. But I fear that, as world governments continue to learn more and more of the power social media affords, that they will only grow to become further capable of manipulating said benefits

[keithklass]

Week #12 - Demon’s Souls Triple Post???

Wowie zowie is the above pic relevant to THIS post~~!

I left off last week stuck on the Maneaters. As a pure mage build, I’ve got absolutely abysmal vitality and defenses-- but even with the advanced Warding spell, I was up against a wall when dealing with these guys. An energy shout instantly killing me, dodging their super-fast leaps and finding I’d mistakenly rolled off of a ledge... I just couldn’t get anywhere against them.

So instead of banging my head against the two of them until losing my enthusiasm for this wonderful game, I instead went back to one of the levels I’d progressed through and went up against its final zone. A very puzzle-y fight against a big dang dragon left me victorious after three or four tries, and granted me... something amazing.

Firestorm.

Firestorm is probably the strongest spell in the game, summoning several pillars of scorching fire in a wide circle around your character. Coupled with my excellent magic stats, this spell is a real nightmare for any of the fiends that challenge my progress.

With this in mind, and firestorm under my belt, I went back up against the maneaters, aaaaaaaand

beat them in one shot.

Like, *actually* one shot. One firestorm cast killed them both. 

This is a Souls game, and I am insta-gibbing bosses.

I don’t know where else to go from here...

[keithklass]

Class #12 - Unfortunately Conspiratory

So! Terms and Conditions was a bit of an eye-opener!

It’s genuinely unfortunate to think (and, really, blatantly see) that the society that we live in is so powerfully divided. Capitalism always brings with it those who doubt its merit, noting the clear line drawn between the wealthy and the impoverished. But Terms and Conditions not only highlights the wealth gap present in our society and others-- but makes us aware of a clear split between the people and the government, as well.

Such division in society is truly unfortunate. My mind is drawn to the kid highlighted towards the end of the film, interrogated by the Secret Service for a harmless tweet. Total Information Awareness is an absolute joke when you think about it... but the fact that it almost came to exist, and now DOES exist in a more clandestine form, is horrifying. 

The element of the film that struck me most significantly, was the removal from Google’s official privacy policy history of their original terms. This is a very strange choice to make, considering that Wayback has the terms as they were from day one archived in their system, visible to anybody who calls up the date. Google, as such, is only hiding their newfound ideology from those who are ignorant of the inner workings of the “system” that surrounds us; exploitative policies, intrusive governance, and greedy corporate figureheads.

This is a bit of a rambly post; I don’t mean to spout about conspiracy theories and lizard men, but it seems clear to me that calling our current economic and political state “conspiratory” given the evidence presented by the film is far from idealistic. We exist in a constant state of vulnerability and ignorance, bolstered by endless lobbying, cover stories, invasions of privacy, and exploitation. I only hope that we can grow past this as technology advances, people become educated, and changes are made to our fundamental governing bodies.

[keithklass]

Week #11 - Ack! Maneaters!

Aaah! Demon’s Souls! Aaaah!!

After storming through 1-1, 1-2, 2-1, 2-2, 3-1, 3-2, 4-1, and 5-1, I’m finally stuck in Demon’s Souls.

The boss of 3-2 is driving me C R A Z Y!! The Maneater fight, in which two bearded gargoyle-guys corner you on a bridge and proceed to flap about and prod at you with nonsensically large spears, is (believe it or not) difficult for a long-range, squimpy little mage to handle! My benefits in boss-handling thus far has been in my ability to easy kite around large arenas, and pick the bosses off from safe distances. Even the most physically dominating bosses have gone down in seconds after I’ve been able to find and exploit a successful sniping point.

Not these guys, though! I’ve tried to back away and lure them while pumping them full of spells, but their speed and long range leaps, combined with the narrow arena, make it difficult for me to dodge their attacks without throwing myself into the depths and dying instantly.

My solution to that was to forego my typical ranged strategy in favor of something more... unconventional. I equipped a melee weapon that scales off of magic damage, put up a warding to give myself strong defense, and tried to fight the beasts up close. For what it’s worth, this worked pretty well, and would surely have finished them both of hastily...

...if it weren’t for their, uhh, weird insta-kill gargoyle shout?

Yeah, that thing!

One of their attacks is a hastily charged energy shout that instantly takes out all of my health. It’s difficult for me to see this otherwise-easily dodgeable move coming, and as a result I’ve fallen prey to it four times. 

So I’m sort of stuck, here! I could just proceed with the other areas and try my hand at their bosses, but once I finish the -2 level of each area, my progress is restricted until I dispatch of the boss of 3-2. So no matter what, I’m gonna need to figure out the optimal strategy and take these two beardy guys down once and for all... Hm.

Wish me luck!

[keithklass]

Class #11 - Social Media Affects Celebrities

I found myself stuck on the comment of one of our classmates during our discussion on celebrities and social media.

Somebody said something along the lines of “Celebrities are changing social media more so than social media is changing celebrities.”

This idea is a little bit concerning. While celebrities are capable of significant influence by way of their mass followings, there’s a significant number of negatives and points worth considering regarding their context within social media. Additionally, it’s worth examining not only their effects on social media platforms, but the effects of social media platforms on them.

Celebrity influence on social media is a double-edged sword. Those who pursue philanthropy, charity, and the progression of social goods are capable of promoting and affecting multiple causes in uplifting and effective ways. But the ability to broadcast anything to anyone comes at a cost. One slip-up in wording, posting a complaint about almost anything, sharing a controversial opinion; any of these things can lead to a huge blowback from the community at large, and suddenly even the most charitable and well-loved can be thrown on the fire. 

Social media has the unfortunate side-effect of facilitating bullying and harassment alongside its other more beneficial facilitations. Be it the aforementioned exacerbatory community responses, or the simple act of sharing or spreading harmful words or caustic behaviors. Social media allows for the instantaneous transmit of any idea, even negative ones.

With this in mind, I find it important for us to remember that celebrities are people, and that the volumes of hurtful messages they receive on a daily basis form a magnitude of negativity that the average person can’t even comprehend. Celebrities do change social media, but social media changes them, as well. The inability to freely express oneself not due to contracts, or publicists, or social media managers is one thing-- the fear to express oneself due to over-the-top public backlash is another.

[keithklass]

Week #10 - Demon’s Souls & My Foray into Magic

Last week, I talked about my first true entry into the Souls series: starting Dark Souls, Let’s Playing it with my friend Hux, and truly falling in love with the mechanics, the environments, the aesthetic-- the world that the game builds around its player.

Well, I’m stuck waiting for Hux to be around to record more of the game.

So I’m scratching the itch with Demon’s Souls, the first game in the Souls series. 

Ordinarily in games which present the player with build or playstyle choices, I’m biased towards physical/melee combat. This has been consistent in my experiences with the Souls games. In Bloodborne, I immediately spec’d into the giant two handed weapons and had a real hell of a time smashing them about. And in Dark Souls, though I’ve hardly progressed, I’m already aiming for a full emphasis on strength, in the hopes that I’ll eventually be swinging huge two handers in one single hand. 

So for Demon’s Souls, a game that I’d attempted in the past (as a knight, and then a warrior) and failed miserably at, I figured I’d mix up the formula. I’d gotten past the first boss with my physical characters, but after being ultimately destroyed by the second boss, and making absolutely no progress in the other zones, I figured magic would be worth a shot.

So over the weekend, I rolled a new character, and got a mage run rolling.

Best decision I ever made.

The games are entirely different when played from a ranged perspective. You need to take into account your generally lower health and armor level, making excellent use of terrain, range, and your heightened speed. I was able to attack and defeat enemies I had much more trouble with as a knight, by exploiting their ranges and craftily herding them to avoid being swamped at close range.

I’ve already come across a number of items and weapons that bolster my MP, as well as unlocked a variety of spells. I’ve progressed, too! I beat the second boss of the first zone, and as of my last session, made it right up to the doorway to the first boss of the third zone. I feel like I have a much stronger grasp of the Souls gameplay after Bloodborne and a little bit of Dark Souls, and with this new playstyle changing up the formula, I feel like I’m playing a whole new game.

I’m still early into Demon’s Souls, and I’ve got a long ways to go-- but with a number of new spells and a ton of different environments and challenges ahead of me, I can’t wait to see where this game takes me.

[keithklass]

Class #10 - The Value in Read-Only

Dick Costolo’s analogous relating of Twitter to the Greek Agora is an interesting one. On the surface, it rings entirely true! Twitter facilitates open discussion between people, of all walks of life. It allows for the instantaneous dissemination of news, information, opinions, creations, anything; and anybody can view and respond to something they see posted, shared, trending, via Twitter.

The Atlantic’s article carefully points out a flaw in this line of thinking. 

“In 2013, Twitter itself noted that ‘you don’t need to tweet to be on Twitter. … 40% of our users worldwide simply use Twitter as a curated news feed of updates that reflect their passions.’ In other words, the conversation in Costolo’s proverbial town square appears to not be as ‘multidirectional’ as he suggested. Many of those assembled are just eavesdropping.”

While this information does cause one to more carefully consider the global value of Twitter as, say, a commodity or a viable business, I fail to see how it in any way undermines the social benefit, or the communicatory prowess that the platform encapsulates.

Twitter, as we have understood, is a global, many-to-many enabled social media platform, meaning that anybody can view, post, and share information that can then be viewed, responded to, and shared, by anybody else in the world. As such, it has become a popular (and nearly viable!) alternative to many other forms of mainstream media-- mainstream news, entertainment, etc. (some would prefer to read a string of livetweets of an event than to actually view the event.) This has happened for a good reason. The media platforms available prior to services like Twitter function only as one-to-many. A select few determine the broadcasted/shared information, and there is very little to no facilitation of public discourse, response, etc. 

Twitter, on the contrary, is built around this flaw of one-to-many media. Discourse and response are fundamental elements of its digital architecture, and it’s for this reason that I fail to see the true impact that The Atlantic’s quoted statistic has on the true meaning of the platform.

40% of users using Twitter as “read-only” is still a significant chunk of individuals making genuinely effective use of a newfound media sensation that not only allows, but ENCOURAGES, a revolutionary system of information sharing and networking. “Eavesdropping” in on the town square meeting in no way invalidates it; it merely exposes more and more people to the wealth of information and communication that occurs there. Enforcing communication is pointless; if somebody has nothing to say, then they needn’t say anything. Why should such a factor be considered harmful?

Yes, as is obvious in any business, if a large portion of your userbase fails to participate in the service in the way that you need them to in order to generate proper revenue, you’re likely going wrong somewhere. But that’s part of the dilemma with massive social media platforms like Twitter; ludo-dissonance. 

Let’s be real for a moment. At the end of the day, it’s sort of necessary to differentiate between the business side of things, and the “artistic” side of things. There needs to be some level of dissonance in order for a product to both remain profitable and socially effective, as well as (in light of a present dissonance) coherent, and well put together. It’s important to understand where Twitter fails as a profitable business enterprise, but it’s equally important to understand that those failings are actually successes in terms of social outreach. 

[keithklass]

Week #9 - Souls, Souls, Souls...

I recently picked up a new computer (my first in, believe it or not, about seven years). As my old laptop was outdated before I even got it, for years I’ve been limited pretty exclusively to console gaming. I’m happy with that, I mean, I played a ton of games regardless. But now that I’ve got a powerhouse PC, I’m diving into a bunch of titles I missed out on and experiencing them in glorious HD 60fps.

I decided, what better way to test out my new machine than with a bad Let’s Play of Dark Souls?

Now, I’m a relative newbie when it comes to the Souls series. I tried to get in at Demon’s Souls, but after a friend and I banged our heads against it for a few hours, despite loving the mechanics and the world it created, we couldn’t move forward. Years later, after the release of Dark Souls, and subsequently Dark Souls II, we tried again, and failed again. I wanted desperately to understand and click with the Souls series on a fundamental level. Boasting one of the most fervent and crazed fandoms of any game series out there (and for good reason), it was a series that really captivated me as a designer. I wanted to understand its intricacies, its quirks, really get hands on experience exploring and analyzing a game world executed in such a fantastic, yet different, sort of way.

My opportunity finally came with Bloodborne. A more fast-paced, action-oriented entry in the series, Bloodborne was one of my first PS4 games, and it quickly became a favorite. I was able to grasp the mechanics, navigate the environments, and-- something I could never do in Demon’s Souls-- make progress.

I’m now nearing the end of Bloodborne, and chronicling the entire playthrough in a Let’s Play with my friend Erick Huxley. But leading up to the coming release of new content for the game, I decided to backpeddle and retry my hand at the older Souls series games. Demon’s came to mind first, but as a console exclusive, I’ll be playing that on my PS3. 

So to test out the new computer, I chose Dark Souls.

I’ve only made a bit of progress thus far, but I’m already in the same sort of horrible love with the game that I am with Bloodborne. It grabs you by the collar and yanks you into its world, just barely explaining its mechanics and forcing you to figure out its deeper intricacies through experience. The genius of this is, the game is incredibly well designed; when I say that it leaves you to learn, I only mean it abandons blatant tutorials and explanations. Really, the entire game is a learning experience. Enemies give subtle tells and slowly introduce new combat elements to your repertoire. Environments change and expose you to different dangers, terrains, and traps, all-the-while offering slight signs to guide you along and warn you of pending danger. It’s a brilliantly crafted world that keeps you on your toes and consistently invests you further.

Hux and I intend to record more of the game soon, and honestly, I can’t wait. I’m ecstatic to finally really understand the Souls series and the reasons why its fans are so enamored, and I hope to continue to experience more content from the games as the years go on.

[keithklass]

Class #9 - Global Accessibility

I’ve always felt that, in spite of their numerous cons, that clicktivism and #activism (or, really, just digital activism) are overall positive practices that do much more good than harm.

An excerpt from last week’s lecture: “While enthusiasts might support a hashtag or like a post, social media activists are different because they are organizing on and offline. They are drivers of conversations. They are connectors. These activists are using social media as an organizing and amplification tool.Both are important for the eco-system.”

This statement really rings true. Clicktivism and #activism are enormous social goods, which I will touch upon-- but first, it’s important to consider the cons. Specifically in regards to clicktivism, the spreading of misinformation, as outlined in class, is one of the largest. This leads not only to a normalized ignorance regarding the subject in question, but often also leads to unfair or unjust action taken against innocents. The internet at large is very easily incited into a mob; if somebody is reported, even falsely, as acting in a negative manner that goes against the status quo, it’s almost a given that they’ll receive criticism, hate, and as now seems to be the trend, death threats. 

This can be anyone, or anything. A condemned rapist can receive as much online flak as a journalist who confuses somebody’s proper gender pronoun for another. There isn’t much rhyme or reason anymore, as any outrageous act or thought conveyed and reported throughout the internet is met with seemingly equal levels of outrage and response. In maintaining the positive effects of clicktivism, it’s important to search for ways to report subjects accurately (so as to avoid totally unwarranted harassment or attack) as well as to enforce proper security features and protocols within general social media platforms. 

The positives, however, are manifold. The sharing of information in support of a social good is inherently positive. Clicktivism allows for the rapid dispersal of information and of action; this is highly effective in times of crisis, for both spreading the word, gathering aid, and collaborating with powers far and wide that would not ordinarily become involved, without the communication power afforded by social media platforms. 

Time and space are the largest considerations when preparing and executing campaigns towards social justice. If either cannot be surmounted, the campaign is an ultimate failure. Clicktivism, as such, is a considerable boon in the hands of such activists, as a well-planned social media stunt can spread the word and message of a campaign across the entire world in mere hours. Participation and reinforcement become possible on a global scale, instead of a local, or national one. 

Obviously there is much more to these concepts than meets the eye, and herein I only touch on the two or so pros and cons that fascinate me the most. Several strong arguments could be made both for and against the effectiveness of clicktivism and #activism, but in their early states, it’s difficult to really reach any conclusive verdict as to their general good. I think that surely, as technology advances and the platforms and practices of social media continue to ingrain themselves in our culture and daily existences, we will become better able to curb the cons, empower the pros, and transform a controversial form of activism into a globally beneficial means to prosperous ends.

[keithklass]

Week #8 - Undertale Overview

I recently finished my first run of Undertale. 

For my first runthrough, I went pacifist. I intend to pursue genocide and perhaps neutral as well, but for the “full” game experience and for deeper interactions with and understandings of the characters, I decided to go the route of the good lil’ guy. Pursuing the cool happy endings before, ultimately, a depressing and soul-crushing playthrough that mocks and torments you the more you play of it.

But, hey, that’s video games!

Back to the pacifist run, though. I don’t consider myself to be a member of the general hype train regarding the game-- after all, it’s generated so much buzz and chaotic discussion all across the internet that it’s difficult to avoid being at least somewhat consistently bombarded by insanely devoted fans-- but I did back it on Kickstarter, and have been interested in it since its early promotional backing. I went into it pretty neutrally, and while I was somewhat optimistic I wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit to get running.

The game really surprised me! It was eccentric, fun, and just so very charming. Every character grows on you, be they main or minor. This being a pacifist run, I needed to interact with monsters in order to “defeat” them-- which led to dialogues and jokes that personalized and characterized the otherwise unimportant enemy characters.

The combat of pacifism was awesome, too. Each boss had such unique mechanics and styles that it truly felt like you were playing a changed game each time you encountered one. Changing enemy patterns kept me on my toes and attentive all throughout, with the more memorable foes being those who tease and prod the right response out of your multiple failed attempts. 

The soundtrack was amazing. What, do I need to elaborate on that? It’s Toby Fox. Look him up some time.

All in all, I was really happy with my first Undertale experience. The reason why this ultimately doesn’t matter, though, is that it’s only downhill from here. I’ve seen the happiest the game can possibly be, and had my heart touched by its love. But now I have to go through and kill and crush and burn pretty much everything and everyone!

That’s messed up. And it sucks.

I can’t see myself going back through for a fun, upbeat pacifist run after I complete the genocide run (really, only because of time constraints.) I can only hope that my memories of such a fun and peaceful adventure are enough to pull me from the hole I’ll inevitably be stuck in following this next run.

I’m scared.

[keithklass]

Class #8 - Iwata’s Transmission

It’s becoming objectively clear that we as a society are distributing and engaging in news and information sharing from a fundamentally different standpoint. The advent of Twitter and blogging has allowed for the instantaneous transmission of information from all across the globe. This means not only actual news outlets and information-centric agencies reporting on the current goings-on, but hands-on eyewitness accounts and recordings directly from the scene. Unbiased, raw viewpoints can be shared alongside channeled or scripted reports of events. This, as has been demonstrated thus far through movements like Black Lives Matter, is an incredibly powerful element of modern information distribution.

Back in July, Satoru Iwata, the president of Nintendo Japan, passed away. The news was leaked in an impromptu company-wide memo, declaring immediate personnel changes in the wake of the event. Notification of Iwata’s passing flooded through social media platforms, namely Twitter and Tumblr, minutes and hours before it was reported via mainstream journalism. 

Memorials and tributes were offered and created in response nearly immediately. Fan works, emotional stories, and farewells were sent through Twitter from across the globe. Hashtags were instantaneously created allowing fans in mourning to browse tributes and offerings. This is a notable example of the potential for instantaneous news to not only distribute and offer unique and uncut information immediately, but also for those intaking said knowledge to offer their responses at an equal speed.

The modern landscape of news and information sharing facilitates this double-sided interaction. And it’s amazing to realize that these sorts of incidents and examples aren’t outliers, nor are they temporary. They’re the direct result of a distributive network-based system that is only going to grow more ingrained in our societal communications, and evolve upwards, rather than regress. From here, we’ll likely only see more and more of these phenomenal, lightning fast chains of events. And it’s an exciting thing to consider.

[keithklass]

Week #7 - Life is Weird

So my girlfriend and I managed to finish Life is Strange this weekend. A five part episodic series, we had to wait a week to finish off the finale, meaning the risky avoidance of spoiler minefields on Twitter and Tumblr.

Was it worth it? Yes and no. In this post I’m just gonna give some basic thoughts on the endings and how they tie into the overall point of the narrative. I’m presuming that if you’re reading this intently, you’ve played through the games and have a context for the series... so if you haven’t, most of this won’t make much sense.

Significant spoilers follow, so if Life is Strange is a game you have even a remote interest in, I’d avoid the rest of this post. The game does have some really unique and interesting narrative and mechanical elements, so it’s definitely worth a play. 

The two possible endings for the game are both kind of depressing-- I mean, in one you sacrifice your best friend and save a whole town, in the other, well-- the opposite. I was super surprised to see the divide between players on these decisions was roughly 50/50; 45% of players were willing to let Arcadia Bay and all of its inhabitants die in order to save Chloe. This brings up the obvious Kantian jokes about happiness and its maximization, and the game really forces you to take a pretty definitive stance on either side of that conundrum. 

I myself am partial to the “good” ending, in which Chloe offers self-sacrifice in order to end the storm, and save the town. The whole schtick here seems to revolve around chaos theory and the concept of the butterfly effect, with Max and Chloe learning that Max’s initial alteration of time is what causes every single doomed timeline and alternate universe mess-up. The general idea here is for the player to accept that all of their actions thus far, while real and consequential, have been conducted under false pretenses, and must be “let go” of in order for the ultimate goal to be achieved. 

Without much context this is a pretty ballsy and impressive narrative move; it forces the invalidation of almost the entire game, save for the context taken from the scenarios by the players themselves. It’s a device utilized elsewhere in the game, whenever Max enters a doomed timeline, either by mistake, or intentionally in order to learn some sort of information or alter the course of events in her main timeline. Still though, for it to be utilized as the main device in the proper ending is a controversial move.

It has the unfortunate effect, or perhaps illusion, of erasing the consequences of all of the player’s actions thus far. The corollary to this is the obvious moral point of the story-- be yourself and not someone else, asides from the obviously implied “fuck with time and time will fuck with you” overtones. The nightmare at the end of the game has Max telling herself that her decisions to make mistakes, learn from them, then rewind in order to achieve the optimal scenarios, is not a true and genuine attempt at good will and proper behavior, but a cheap stunt performed to gain credibility and popularity. This casts the rewind power in a new light as a metaphor rather than a sci-fi phenomenon with an objective, natural purpose. It becomes kind of metaphysical, really...

In any case, I enjoyed Life is Strange, but am rather baffled by the ludo-dissonance made clear by the ending. I’ll need some time to gather my thoughts further before offering a genuine design critique, but for now this will suffice.

[keithklass]

Week #6 - Chibi-Roboring!!

I want to love Chibi-Robo!: Zip Lash a whole lot. I really do. 

Hell, I want to LIKE it even.

But it’s very hard for me to do this-- especially when the entire essence of the gameplay is conveyed entirely in the image above this post.

That’s it. It’s a sidescrolling platformer where you control Chibi-Robo and use his ricocheting plug as a whip and grappling hook. You fight little blue robots, rescue little Chibi-Robos (chibi-tots) and collect coins and snacks from treasure chests.

That’s pretty much it. 

Ordinarily, being able to sum up a game’s mechanics like that is good. If a game can avoid complexity, and still present a significant amount of depth, then it’s probably a pretty good game! Being able to do a ton of fun stuff, without being weighed down by a required technical knowledge, overly complicated controls, that sort of thing? Exceptional!

Yeah. Yeah. Zip Lash doesn’t have either.

It’s a simple enough platformer with fun enough mechanics. Using the plug (”zip lash” haha that’s the name of it!) is unique and interesting, as you oftentimes need to aim ricochets and make multiple bounces to solve puzzles (bounce it off wall A onto wall B, where it then bounces to wall C and subsequently onto a button out of your reach.) It’s a fun little puzzle solver and it makes you feel really great smacking enemies with your bouncing plug, especially when you’ve carefully aimed it to ricochet in complex patterns and hit multiple enemies at once. 

It controls well, too. Chibi-Robo moves like a dream and looks great doing so. The whip is easy to use, and intuitive, and opens up just enough additional platforming opportunities to keep you on your toes.

Each level has a bunch of collectibles for the collect-a-thon savvy. Better yet, nearly every single level of the 30 or so in the game hides an unlockable costume for Chibi-Robo. These are primarily cosmetic, but there’s such a variety of them, and they’re so fun to put on and run around in, that they’re almost worth working for!

Almost, I said. 

Almost. *sigh*

See, the issue with Zip Lash is that every level is the same thing, over and over and over. They introduce new mechanics and fun uses for the Zip Lash, sure; but it’s never enough to mix up the gameplay and add enough depth to make continuing the playthrough worthwhile. The costumes, believe it or not, add enough appeal to make you feel like sticking with it. “My robo is dressed in a turnip now. He is cute and I want to see him beat levels in this funny costume I unlocked myself.” 

Except, haha, and get this-- you need to replay levels two extra times to get each costume.

Haha. Ha! What??

The levels, like I said, are fun. The problem with the game isn’t that it isn’t fun, or doesn’t control well. It’s just that it’s tedious. You’re more-or-less doing the same thing over and over in aesthetics that only sort of change. And if you want to get the collectibles and the costumes, an integral part of any collect-a-thon game, you’ll be stuck replaying level after level after level again and again. 

It’s a god-damned shame, too,  because the collectibles are probably one of the more interesting mechanics in the game. You collect brand-name snacks. It doesn’t come off as a marketing stunt-- though I’m sure there were deals made-- but rather as a charming, comforting little mechanic that lets you see different snack foods from around the world. I unlocked a Swedish chocolate treat served in a strange plastic pouch, a Japanese wafer snack shaped like a cylinder, a vintage German gummy candy shaped like old-fashioned automibles, and a bag of multi-colored Utz potato chips. Some snacks will be well familiar, others foreign, and it’s strangely fun and captivating to collect them, learn their histories, and gaze at their models.

But is it worth repeating the same things over and over and over again?

No.

So with that in mind, you’re left with a sidescrolling platformer that’s cute, and fun, with some interesting mechanics and fun collectibles, that just stumbles over itself trying to gather all of those things into a cohesive, enjoyable experience. If you play the game slowly as a pick-me-up, you’ll surely have a blast with it. But going through it head first and, especially, trying to 100% it, will probably leave you kind of bummed out.

I dunno. I love Chibi-Robo. I’ll probably play this entry in the series to near completion for the sake of design analysis. But it’s a damned shame.

Oh well. I’m gonna go have some snacks of my own.

[keithklass]

Class #6 - Relational Metrics and You or: How Sonic the Hedgehog’s Twitter Account is Brilliant and I’m Also Not Crazy For Saying This

Hi. I’m about to talk to you about our reading for this week using the official Sonic the Hedgehog twitter account as reference.

No, I’m not crazy! I’m also not a Sonic fan, so I’m double not crazy!

The article we read this week in Forbes focused specifically on the integral differences between positional metrics, and relational metrics (positional referring to an “amalgam” of information gathered from social media platforms and advertising, and relational referring to a more in-depth, community-specific gathering of data based less on objectivity and more on interpersonal media relations.)

It should be obvious to many of us that this is where a ton of major brands and companies fail in the social media spectrum. You instantly know when an advertisement, a social media page for a product, or a representative, feels cold, unapproachable, or tedious. These accounts and campaigns are almost always born out of a positional approach. This negative impression we as consumers immediately hold against these elements not only affect our impressions of the groups and products that they represent-- they also impact the groups themselves, both through our changed understanding of them, and through their confused and inefficient reliance upon positional metrics.

Enter Sonic the Hedgehog, mascot for Sega’s struggling game series of the same name. Sonic games in the last decade have been met with nearly universal criticism, poor reviews, and general internet scorn. They’ve cultivated a sort of dark humor cradle on the internet; people can reference the name of the series as an example of something of poor quality. It’s become a meme.

As a product pushed by a major corporation with very little “face” to save (by this I mean Sega doesn’t really have much of a public image as anything other than a cold, elite corporation) it was difficult for any fans or consumers to cut the game series any slack when it underperformed. Nobody knew the reasons for the low quality of the entries, and without representatives to save face, market and promote, and gather feedback and important resources/information from players, Sega continued to churn out junk.

But recently, Sega took a new approach to their social media presence.

They gave their mascot character a Twitter account.

Now, one doesn’t need any understanding of the character Sonic the Hedgehog to see the brilliance that I’m about to outline. He’s a goofy cartoon hedgehog with an overconfident attitude who loves eating chili-dogs. Not a hell of a lot of depth there. A Twitter account masquerading as Sonic the Hedgehog through some bizarre, lackluster textual roleplay, would be horrendous.

No, no. What this account does instead is community manage. The individual(s) behind it adopt Sonic the Hedgehog’s personality, but also input their own humor and thoughts into each tweet. They break the fourth wall, lampoon the characters and failings of the series, make jokes, and mesh with the community when a Sonic game or concept trends. They respond to tweets, promote their products through subtle and engaging conversations and jokes, and generate a ton of feedback, publicity, and hype-- all because of their unique, almost comedic approach to managing this page.

They take this non-existent mascot character, give him a voice that would fit in his own games (for his own fans), and at the same time, give him the attitude and the mindset of an irony-loving, goofy, but professional marketing agent, forming this nonsensical, lovable personae that promotes himself just as much as he comedically crucifies himself. 

Now like I said prior, I’m not a fan of the Sonic the Hedgehog games. I don’t have any real connection with the character or the account, nothing like that.

Having said that, this account seems to me to be the very definition of relational metrics. 

It creates a ton of hype, journalism outlets report on it when it pulls big media stunts or posts irreverent jokes, it gets down and dirty with the members of its community and those outside it. Very few companies have mascots or public figures of this caliber, and those that do are unfortunately restrained by their humanity. They have public images and careers that they need to protect. Sonic the Hedgehog is a character. Those managing the account deal with this same issue of public image, but in a completely different (and less imperative) way.

It’s a marketing move that I never predicted would come from Sega-- and it’s working. When they announced a sequel to a game that was universally reviled, fans outraged and moaned on Twitter about it. Flinging complaints at the Sonic account. Just a month later? Sega acknowledged the feedback they received and incorporated it into an open discussion forum where fans could further advise the development team on the pros and cons of the game.

In the game development world, this only, only, only leads to a better end product.

Already they’ve garnered a renewed public image, and are approachable. Approachable! You can talk to Sega, the company, on Twitter, and get a reply.

Through their mascot.

And it works.