Some WoW Celebrity Fun…

Ethics in visual presentations

So I was reading through my google reader feeds, and came across this gem over at Functioning Form.

The post came out of the recent conference VizThink which has this example.

 

I think that this example is very compelling as both represent some kind of fact, or statistic (reminds me of Mark Twain’s quote on stats) but it is presented visually in such a way that it totally changes the way the viewer perceives those facts.  On the right we tend to see polarization & division, while on the left we see a more balanced representation of facts.

Just as computer systems embed values, so do User Interfaces and anything visual.  This isn’t exactly groundbreaking news, but I thought it would be worth sharing.

The kinds of values we embed into systems as designers should be carefully chosen, and not haphazardly done.  The metaphors chosen in any given interaction will open up certain spaces for action and tend to close others.

I think that often in games the iconography chosen is very engineering  and object oriented.  What I’m saying is that so much about the interface is just about doing, without giving any idea about what that kind of action will bring.  The example that springs to mind is cursor usage in WoW.  When you mouse over an item to be picked up or used, whatever it may be from a chest, to a chair, to picking up sunken artifacts in a marsh, a gear appears. You can “do” something with it.  This gear conveys nothing about the consequences of your action.  Perhaps in some cases that is a good thing.  What are the other ways we can re-imagine a game interface?  What are the values in them?

Sustainable Guitar Hero

While everyone loves Guitar Hero, it is reasonable to consider the environmental implications of all those cheesy plastic guitars. A company showed off an elegant solution at CES 2008: Guitar Hero Air Guitar Rocker. Let’s face it: it’s not the guitar that makes you a rock god(dess); it’s the slick moves and stylin’ hair. See for yourself (the video alone is worth its weight in pixels):

Guitar Hero Air Guitar Rocker

Props to HCID alum Tiffanie Shakespeare for the link!

On being a N00b

As I have immersed myself back into the experience that is World of Warcraft, I feel as though I am really not a part of the environment sometimes. Let me explain: I don’t really play any other games like WoW and my interests are mainly in playing “party” games like Guitar Hero, Mario Party, Rayman, etc–which to me are not like Call of Duty franchise or Mass Effect or BioShock.

So, in other words, I don’t feel like a gamer and when I play WoW I am often asked questions such as, “What’s your spec? Profs? Port to Org? LF1M DPS ST!” and pretty much feel lost when it comes to communicating with people I consider part of my cohort (since we are all gathering in the same place to pursue a common goal–making it to the Outlands!).

I don’t feel that playing Call of Duty 4 will somehow alleviate the problems I have communicating in-game with other WoW players. Perhaps experience within the game/playing the game and a dedication to reading blogs, forums, and other sites that would help demystify some of the aspects of WoW that have caused me turmoil.

*sigh

http://www.wowinsider.com/2007/12/05/boy-attacked-by-moose-feigns-death-thanks-wow/

Wiijing

Came across this pretty recently. It kind of reminded me of when Jeff showed us examples of unintended forms of play within games. Yes, wii remotes were intended to be used how this guy is using them physically, but I don’t believe the creators intended them to be reprogrammed to interact with a software program installed on a computer. Bearded Dave, aka Beard Love, remarked that the concept, when I was describing it, reminded him of a capstone that Justin Donaldson did.

Either way it’s interesting and that’s about as intellectual as it gets for me right now.

Who Would Have Thunk It?

I read an interesting article on Slashdot today: Academic Games Are No Fun.

Apparently, well into a $250K MacArthur grant, the IU Telecommunications Department-based creators of the MMO “serious game” Arden, The World of Shakespeare, have learned that (1) a game needs to be a game, and (2) games need to be fun.

I can’t wait to see what they learn next!

hoping Santa lets me rock this Christmas :)

World of Warcraft

Began to play WoW in the Thanksgiving break, I found I have already addicted to it. Last semester, I remember I asked Jeff that why people play games, are they very lonely, have nothing else to do or they are not interested in their surrounded environment? Jeff said no, but I doubt it at that time. Because I found I have a lot interesting things to do other than game. However, in the Thanksgiving break, my husband encouraged me to install WoW on my computer, and try. Then I spend three days in a row to play . Although sometimes I don’t want to kill those tigers who have no money, no weapons to give me, it is exciting when I go up to another level. Sometimes, I asked myself, what makes me addictive? The logic is simple, get experience by killing, finding, completing tasks. As a warrior, my personal life just includes buying and selling, maybe sometimes aimless running.

Now I kind of understand why people care their avatar so much. She connects my heart because I create it and give her everything, living skills, looking, clothes etc. Maybe it likes my baby who will never do something wrong. There is no police station, is there? Think about those parents whose children are obedient and also do outstanding job, they must feel proud and like to do whatever they need to make them better. We are not the parent of our avatar, we are them and they are us. This even makes the connection stronger than parents and children!

This morning, my husband drove our car, and I sat on the right front seat. I feel a little bit exciting when I saw the warning sign beside the airbag which has a black triangle background and yellow exclamatory mark,  and was thinking about “new tasks here”! HAHA

Paper Topic

So…here’s the short version:

A structuralist/semiotic analysis of diegetic and non-diegetic sound in the game BioShock and how signifiers are decoded by users and how user experience is affected by whether or not they pick up on dated references.

Part of what makes BioShock such an incredible game is the setting/environment and sound is a huge part of this. BioShock takes place in 1960 in the underwater city of Rapture, a failed attempt at utopia by a strange and psychotic Nazi scientist. The soundtrack includes music fromt the 1950s and there are many other dated references that the user may or may not pick up on. If the user does pick up on these references, he/she has a particular experience. If the user doesn’t pick up on these references, he/she has a different experience. Neither experience is less significant or enjoyable than the other, just different.

If ’sound’ is not a large enough area to get a paper out of, I will consider looking at the setting/environment of the game as a whole as there are many dated references in other areas.