This website is built to help students of US12C discussions keep track of relevant course materials, including due dates, discussion handouts and URLs. This isn't meant as a substitute for the official course syllabus at http://www.ics.uci.edu/~frost/US12C/syllabus.html - please take a look at it for the most recent information about this course.
NOTE: The rooms for discussions and labs have been changed for this class. The discussions are now held on Mondays (between 9am and 12:50pm) in Rowland Hall 190. Labs are now held on Wednesdays (between 9am and 12:50pm) in ICS 364.
Rowland Hall is building #400 on UCI campus maps. Here is a photo of the exterior of Rowland Hall:
The "Infinity Fountain" is directly outside the building:
Reading: McKenzie Wark, Digital Allegories (on The Sims) at http://www.ics.uci.edu/~frost/US12C/wark_Sims.pdf.
Write a cogent, well-reasoned response to the above reading. Focus on either of these questions:
1. To what extent is it true of all games that "everyday life is the subject of play but ... play is nothing but work"? (paragraph 24)
2. Is The Sims an allegory for everyday life in gamespace? (paragraph 04)
After a brief summary of the article, make a claim in response to one of the questions above. Be sure to use quotations from the article to support your thesis claim. Your 150 - 250 word, typed essay must be electronically submitted (see below).
TIPS:
After briefly summarizing the important points of the reading, make a claim (an "argument") about something you find particularly memorable or effective.
Back up your claim about the piece by using specific evidence from the text itself to support your claim. Quote something, and explain what it means.
Try to comment analytically and with insight on the content and/or the structure of the piece.
SUSTAIN an idea you have in response to the reading and explain why you find it so.
DUE: Monday, April 7, at 9 p.m.
Turn in your essay to the EEE dropbox called "US 12C Diagnostic".
1. Write your response on a computer and save it in .doc, .txt, .rtf, or .pdf format. Make sure your first and last name is at the top of the page.
2. Go to https://eee.uci.edu
3. Log in with your UCInetID.
4. Click on MyEEE.
5. Under UNI STU 12C COMPUTER GAMES III Lec A (87655), click on Dropbox.
6. Under US 12C Diagnostic, click on Assignment Submission.
7. Click on Upload Files.
8. Upload one file with your short essay in it.
"I suggest the name procedural rhetoric for the new type of persuasive and expressive practice at work in artifacts like Tenure. Procedurality refers to a way of creating, explaining, or understanding processes. And processes define the way things work: the methods, techniques, and logics that drive the opera- tion of systems, from mechanical systems like engines to organizational systems like high schools to conceptual systems like religious faith. Rhetoric refers to effective and persuasive expression. Procedural rhetoric, then, is a practice of using processes persuasively. More specifically, procedural rhetoric is the practice of persuading through processes in general and computational processes in particular. Just as verbal rhetoric is useful for both the orator and the audience, and just as written rhetoric is useful for both the writer and the reader, so procedural rhetoric is useful for both the programmer and the user, the game designer and the player. Procedural rhetoric is a technique for making arguments with computational systems and for unpacking computa- tional arguments others have created."
"As I proposed at the start of this chapter, pro- cedural rhetoric is the practice of using processes persuasively, just as verbal rhetoric is the practice of using oratory persuasively and visual rhetoric is the practice of using images persuasively. Procedural rhetoric is a general name for the practice of authoring arguments through processes. Following the classical model, procedural rhetoric entails persuasion—to change opinion or action. Following the contemporary model, procedural rhetoric entails expres- sion—to convey ideas effectively. Procedural rhetoric is a subdomain of pro- cedural authorship; its arguments are made not through the construction of words or images, but through the authorship of rules of behavior, the con- struction of dynamic models. In computation, those rules are authored in code, through the practice of programming."
[Pages 28-29]
"Procedural rhetorics afford a new and promising way to make claims about how things work. Consider a particularly sophisticated example of a procedural rhetoric at work in a game. The McDonald’s Videogame is a critique of McDon- ald’s business practices by Italian social critic collective Molleindustria. The game is an example of a genre I call the anti-advergame, a game created to censure or disparage a company rather than support it."
[Page 29]
"persuasive games are videogames that mount meaningful procedural rhetorics, and if procedural rhetorics facilitate dialectical interrogation of process-based claims about how real-world processes do, could, or should work, then persuasive games can also make claims that speak past or against the fixed worldviews of institutions like governments or corporations."
[Page 57]
"I would like to advance persuasive games as an alternative whose promise lies in the possi- bility of using procedural rhetoric to support orchallenge our understanding of the way things in the world do or should work."
[Page 58]
This discussion section will be covered by Eric!
Choose Your Own Adventure - tree-like decision structure. end states may be easily reachable from beginning state, but not from intermediate states. not all end states are alike (different endings).
Procedural Simulation - different from choose your own adventure. for example, first-person shooters. less well-defined decision points. more variance, more unpredictability. same action at different times can have different results
Beats - short piece of action or dialogue on a certain topic. help provide pacing for a less-structured story. ensures that key plot elements are presented.
Agency vs Authorship.
Agency - how much control the player has.
Authorship - how much control the creator has.
Connection to Wark's concept of allegorithm. The algorithm is structure of the narrative, e.g., tree-like or procedural. Allegorithm is player's interpretation of, and relationship to, the algorithm. For example, Prof. Frost playing Facade, rather than praising the character, typing "praise," essentially playing "with" the game.
Facade - Example of procedural simulation. Blend of tree-like and procedural simulation. Certain beats have very specific outcomes, e.g., the player can tell with whom to agree or that Grace and Trip are going to break up. These beats are somewhat tree-like. How you actually get to a beat is more of a procedural simulation. Beats may be set as nodes in a tree-like structure, but how you get from one beat to the next is not necessarily a straight line.
Playing with the game, for example, Vanna as "home wrecker." Rather than trying to "win," taking on different roles to see how different beats relate. Being a different gender might have different effects, but it's hard to know. Playing "with" the game gives you an opportunity to experiment with the effects of gender.
Exam Question: In Facade, the player can reach an end state quickly from the beginning of the game, e.g., getting kicked out for telling Grace her cooking smells bad, where as in the middle it's not quick or easy to reach an end state. The longer you play, the longer it takes to reach an end state, up to a point. Do you think this was an intentional choice? Why did the creators of the game structure the narrative in this way? How does this structure affect the gamer or the way in which the game is played?
Review of game vs. Synopsis of game.
- Review - what's good and bad about the game and different aspects thereof. makes an assessment of the game's value.
- Synopsis - description of the game. just summarizes without making value judgement.
Critical questions for designers; or, dimensions of a critique. For example:
- for whom is the game made?
- what was the intent or purpose of making the game?
- how does it relate to other trends in the media?
- pathos, ethos, and logos. Pathos: how does it appeal to audience's emotions, audience reaction. Ethos: designer's credibility. Logos: technical implementation and game mechanics.
- in what cultural, historical, technological, political context is the game situated? what are historical and cultural influences?
Review Score - validity of having a quantifiable number for a game. does a number go beyond whether or not you should buy the game and actually help us critique the game?
Potential dimensions of review:
- Enjoyment.
- Originality.
- Aesthetics.
- Plot/story.
- Intriguing obstacle.
- Motivating / what's the motivation?
- Replay value.
Potential Exam Question: We discussed the difference between a review and a critique. Using an example of a game you've played, give an example of how you might review the game and how you might critique the game, comparing and contrasting the two.
1976: Apple is founded 1978: MUD is born (Bartle & Trubshaw) 1980: Essex (w Bartle & Trubshaw) connected to ARPAnet in 1980 - worldwide mulitplyer game 1980: MUDs had "mobile objects" and wizard bits (to create content) 1984: First commercial MUD: "Island of Kensmai" - ascii-map graphics. $6/hr (300 baud) or $12/hr (1200 baud) 1991: Neverwinter Nights launches on America Online, first graphical MMO @ $6/hr 1992: World of Carnage - first MUD devoted entirely to PvP 1996: "Golden Age" begins w Meridian 59, including 3D graphics 1996: First use of the term "Massively Multiplayer" 1997: Ultima Online: huge publisher, huge franchise, 250,000 peak 1997: Lineage launches in Korea 3 million subscribers 1999: EverQuest: required 3D accelerator, requires online 1999: Asheron's Call (Microsoft) 2001-2003: "Rampant experiments", sort of a gold rush - including some experiments with trying to get consoles online - some experimentation with casual games - also, Lineage II launches in Korea, claimed 14 million subscribers 2003-2004 "The Other Shoe Drops" - many MMO games during this time were cancelled, scrapped. Companies heading into gold rush of 2001-2003 realize that MMOs are more difficult to develop. A lot of money was lost. "The MMO crash". 2004 "A New Breed" - Starts to turn around with City of Heroes (April 2004). During this period, game companies started to get smarter, etc. 2004: World of Warcraft, launched November 2004. 10 million subscribers and counting. Why such a huge success?: - low system specs - high level of polish - both casual and hardcore play - it's a "gamey" game - many years in the making (about 6 years), enormous budget Korean Gaming - historical differences - Japanese embargo (almost no consoles, PCs more popular) - huge investment in communications infrastructure - mobile phone technology made micropayments easier Defining Characteristics of MMOs Low Tech <-----> High Tech Casual <-------> Hardcore Game <---------> Virtual World Central <------> User content creation business Model Future Trends - More casual games (Club Penguin, etc.) - MMOs in more places, mobile phones, consoles, embedded into web pages - Brands becoming MMOs - new business models: more free-to-play, more micropayments, ad-supported - crazy legal disputes
Potential Exam Question: Dave Kosak presented an historical analysis of the development of MMOs, both in the US and in Korea. Based on his analysis, discuss what makes a "successful" MMO. Will a future MMO be able to become more successful than World of Warcraft? If so, how will this success be achieved? If not, why not?
Ownership - In World of Warcraft, EULA states that game items have no monetary value and are property of Blizzard.
Tax issues - are game items taxable? are monster drops considered gambling?
Gold Farming - factories and offices of people "working" on WoW; sweat shops.
Bots - software plays character for you. company who made bot software got shut down.
Looking at economies of games in terms of GDP, comparing with real world nations. Value EverQuest currency eventually became more than Japanese Yen.
Growth Theories:
- fun - emphasizes interaction, exploration, and socialization of game world.
- economics of communication - avatar worlds and long distance meetings. virtual worlds cheaper, but quality will improve.
- economics of play - making money off innate desire to play. play and "hanging out" is a form of interaction and exchange that has value, still giving something to someone else. this interaction of play has its own economy.
- virtual worlds as cultural critique - we don't remember this one, either....
Relationship of exchange rate for WoW gold with number of people banned for RMT.
Potential Exam Question: Suppose you play World of Warcraft 8 hours every week. This subscription costs you $15 every month, which means you pay approximately $0.47 per hour. Compare this with payng $6 per hour to play "Island of Kensmai" in 1984. Will this trend continue, to the point where subscription fees disappear entirely? Choose one of the four growth theories discussed in class (fun, communication, play, cultural critique) to argue that subscription fees will or will not be the dominant source of revenue for MMO game companies.
Latency vs lag. Major technical hurdle in MMOs -
- lag - symptom. time delay between input and feedback. lack of responsiveness.
- latency - cause. time delay between server and client.
How to overcome latency and lag?
- Packet routing - find fastest route from server to client, or vice versa.
- TCP vs UDP. different connection protocols. TCP's sequence numbers guarantees in-order packet delivery and packet confirmation. UDP doesn't guarantee delivery but is faster, often used for games.
- Local caching. faster to access large files locally. connecting to other players must be done on the server. separating these two can help make it faster.
- Local prediction. predict actions of remote players before remote player actually takes that action. makes assumptions about how other players will act.
Human brain's sensory system tries to predict what's about to happen rather than showing what actually happens. Like local prediction.
Potential Exam Question: Name one method that game designers use to reduce latency, describe that method, and list its advantages and disadvantages.
Modding as an introduction to open source game development.
Open source software goes beyond programming and is a global social movement.
Involvement of larger community pushes software further than a small set team.
Differences between free and open source. Free refers to freedom to read, modify, redistribute code. Open source just means that the source is available, but you might not be free to do the same things with that source code.
Games are #2 open source category, after development (tools for programmers by programmers). Gives people foot in the door to get into industry.
Potential Exam Question: Explain the differences between free and open source software, and describe a situation in which a piece of software would be open source but not free.
Garnet gives a huge thank-you for an awesome year together! Thanks!
See the US12C 2008 course syllabus at http://www.ics.uci.edu/~frost/US12C/syllabus.html