For this week’s blog post, I decided to analyze a game which I have put more hours into than I would care to think about, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Skyrim is a first-person open-world role-playing game wherein you play as a character known as the Dragonborn, gifted with special powers. The game features a main quest and side quests which both feature the opportunity to make choices regarding your character’s allegiance and storyline ending. I analyzed the game’s morality in terms of the five aspects described in Jonathan Haidt’s TED Talk

Harm/Care

In Skyrim, the player is obliged to take care of their Dragonborn character as well as the Dragonborn’s followers.Often, the player has to choose to kill enemies before their character is harmed. Additionally, the Dragonborn is tasked to save the realm of Skyrim from a dragon threat, which is an additional example of the care morality aspect featured in the game.

Fairness/Reciprocity

Like most RPGs featuring quests, fairness and reciprocity features greatly in Skyrim. The Dragonborn must help other characters in return for their aid or rewards. In order to benefit from others, the Dragonborn must reciprocate and provide benefit to them first. In this way, Skyrim features the fairness/reciprocity morality aspect as well.

Ingroup/Loyalty

In the course of the Skyrim main quests, the Dragonborn has the option to join two factions – the Stormcloaks or the Imperials – or neither. In this way, the player can choose to join a large group and align themselves to the group’s ideals and services, or to continue acting out of self-interest.

Authority/Respect

Skyrim also features a simplified hierarchy of authority. At the beginning, the Skyrim is an escaped prisoner, but by choosing to help the Jarls (lords) of various cities, the Dragonborn can move up in society, becoming a Thane, which carries perks, such as immunity from crimes and different conversation options when conversing with characters of lower classes. In this way, Skyrim also features Authority and Respect aspects of morality.

Purity/Sanctity

The only way that I could connect Skyrim to Purity/Sanctity was in the game’s marriage mechanic, wherein a player can choose a computer-controlled character of the opposite sex to marry. This gives the player a home and income from their spouse’s work, but also forces the player to commit to their chosen other and prevents them from marrying anyone else, thus keeping the sanctity of marriage (in a way). This may be a bit of a stretch, but it was the only way that I could find a connection.

For this week’s blog post, I selected a short excerpt from one of my favorite plays, Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. The passage I chose is taken from Act 1, wherein a character named Lucky is asked to think for the  entertainment of three other characters; the resulting gibberish is arguably one of the strangest and most difficult to understand monologues in recorded history, right on par with the famous internet phrase “Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?”.

I used Wordle to create a word cloud using the entirety of Lucky’s monologue. When analyzed, I feel that this visualization accurately conveys the surrealism and bizarre nature of the passage. Some of the largest words are “reasons”, “unknown”, “skull”, and “tennis”. It was sounding pretty existential and deep right up to tennis, right? If you look closer, one can see proper nouns, such as, “Connemara”, “Testew”, and “Cunard”; I have no clue what these are in reference to, both in the context of the play and the visualization. This is an example of why I feel this visualization is so successful. One thing that this visualization fails in is the fact that common words such as “the” and “and” are omitted. I acknowledge that I made the choice to omit these words, so as to see the subjects of the speech; however, in omitting the common words, one loses the style of the passage, which is littered with excessive iterations of “the” and “and” (“the” alone is used 73 times in the 700 word passage!).

Overall, I would assert that this distant reading visualization succeeds more than it fails in creating an accurate representation of the passage I chose to analyze. I feel that a visualization tool that created a word cloud that simultaneously gave demonstration of the style would be very useful for texts such as the one I chose, if it existed.

Gopher Picture

http://mith.umd.edu/arguing/admin/items/show/44

This is actually a picture of two government experiments escaping from a secret test facility in the mountains. After seeing gopher enlargement experiments at a summer internship, Emil was so affected that he orchestrated an elaborate scheme to set the gentle beasts free. After weeks of smuggling in parts, Emil was able to fashion two longboards that would transport the giant gophers down the secret mountain laboratory to safety.

Bookshelf

http://mith.umd.edu/arguing/admin/items/show/60

This image is not of any simple bookshelf, but rather a book case. If one were to look closely, one would observe the fact that Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson is not a real book at all. It is in fact, a lever mechanism that when used, opens a passageway to the dungeon beneath Miranda’s house. This is where she keeps the victims of her inhumane crimes, her victims being those who did not like Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.

Tuesday, September 11, 2001 – 9:40 a.m., WJLA (Washington, D.C.)

The first thing I noticed about the broadcast from Washington D.C. was how calm and reassuring the anchor was while reporting on the tragedy. Each reporter seemed to be concerned, but not in panic; a majority of the reports were speculative and there were very few solid facts that could be confirmed by the news team. I chose to examine 9:40 a.m. for this feed because 9:40 was the time at which the Pentagon was struck by another hijacked airplane. I would’ve expected much more frantic field reporters and anchors considering that the most recent attack was so close by, but it seemed to be the opposite way. Mostly, reporters were more confused than shocked, in my opinion. Visually, there were no “talking heads”, but just a visual feed of the attack sites, with plumes of smoke rising from the damaged buildings. To me, this seemed to serve the purpose of emphasizing the victims and the overall emotion of the situation rather than the reporters simply telling viewers about the attacks.

Tuesday, September 11, 2001 – 9:40 a.m., NEWSW (Canada)

Visually, the Canadian feed was almost identical to the Washington D.C. feed. No faces, just images of burning buildings. I found that the Canadian anchor seemed to be speaking much more quickly than the Washington D.C. anchor, and the reporting was more focused on facts rather than speculations over the motivations and groups behind the attacks.

Monday, September 17, 2001 – 9:40 a.m., WJLA (Washington, D.C.)

Because I chose 9:40 a.m. to examine again, the news feeds I investigated were almost entirely based around the economic impact of 9/11, due to September 17th being the first day that the NYSE was opened following the attacks. Right away, I noticed that the stories being reported on were being presented in a much more usual manner, with a balance of footage from the exchange itself and shots of the network reporters in the news room. Additionally, reporters were back to speaking with very little emotion, as were the people taking part in interviews of analysis of the stock market. The references to 9/11 were still very frequent, as one would expect, but it seemed that the narrative being presented was being presented in a much more normal way.

Monday, September 17, 2001 – 9:40 a.m., NEWSW (Canada)

Similar to the WJLA feed, the NEWSW feed was focused around the NYSE opening again; however, the news team was more focused on the stock market’s impact on Canada’s economy as well as how the attacks of 9/11 were impacting the Canadian political environment, discussing foreign policy changes and terrorist threats. Again, the reporters were back to speaking with little emotion, and the visual presentation was more conventional, with a mix of camera shots.

For this week’s assignment, I wrote a narrative from the perspective of my character in the video game Torchlight 2. Torchlight 2 is an action RPG game where your character seeks to stop the Alchemist, a mysterious figure responsible for the destruction of Torchlight, and is now stealing magical energy from mystic beings called the Guardians. My narrative starts from one of the game’s missions where you must fight a monster called the King of Masks.

The mysterious man’s words echoed around me.

“The King of Masks awakens“.

Could it be? The beast of myth and lore, rising from its age-long slumber? The creature of three disfigured and horrific faces, forever concealed behind its masks that grant awesome power? Could it be?

My reverie and wonderment was shattered by the earth rumbling around me. The desert sand shifted between my feet as the world split in two, revealing a spiral staircase that wound down into impenetrable gloom and darkness. Every fiber of my being told me not to do it.

But I had no choice. I knew that if I was to find the Alchemist, the shadowy figure behind the destruction of my homeland, my path would have to go through the King of Masks. The mysterious man had told me so, moments before he vanished into thin air.

I took a deep breath. Touched the twin pistols that hung on my hips and took my first step into the gloom. As I descended, the air grew stale and dusty. No one had breathed this air for many, many years. The darkness was stifling. I could barely see a yard ahead of me, but I pressed forward, my footsteps echoing through the cavernous lair.

I had been underground for almost two hours when I became aware of a presence. Something was here.

I stopped and sniffed the air, strained to see into the veil of darkness.

Torches all around me suddenly ignited, as brilliant light blinded me. I had walked into an empty arena of some sort, with sheer walls that stretched up towards the surface for as far as the eye could see.

As I turned a full circle, taking in my new environment, I couldn’t help but wonder at the vast expanse of the cavern. My wonder quickly turned to horror as I completed the circle and I came face to face with the King of Masks.

The beast stood 40 feet tall. It had six legs. Four arms. A serpentine tail curled behind it. Its head, completely covered by three masks, slowly rotated around and around, as the creature endlessly twisted and untwisted its neck. Its six eyes were piercing and menacing. The monster exhaled, and the cavernous arena shook. The King of Masks noticed me, and let out a deep, rumbling chuckle.

“Puny human“, it said, “Why have you disturbed my eternal sleep?“. The creature’s voice was impossibly loud, and every syllable hit my body like a tidal wave.

I swallowed fear, and replied,

“I seek information about the Alchemist!”

“The Alchemist? Ahh, my old friend. So he has been released from his perpetual prison. I know his plans, but unfortunately, you shall not be alive to hear them.”

As the King of Masks spoke the last word, the arch through which I had entered the arena was suddenly gone, blocked by a massive stone slab that slid into place with a thud.

I drew my pistols and fired. I squeezed the triggers until both chambers were completely spent. Black powder stung my eyes and made me choke. The arena echoed with the sounds of gunfire. The hail of bullets, enchanted by gems of immense power, would have put an end to even the mightiest of foes.

I lowered my weapons to see the results of my efforts, and there stood the King of Masks; three twisted, terrifying grins on its face.

This was going to be a lot harder than I thought.

When thinking of possible ways to re-imagine my short story from last week, I immediately thought of the assigned pre-reading from last week, “These Waves of Girls“. I feel that my story, “Reflex” would work well if modeled after Caitlin Fisher’s webpage. My website would take my story and divide it into smaller paragraphs, placing hyperlinks throughout the text providing backstory, extra information, and insights into characters’ psyches and motivations.

As I just mentioned, one of the primary features of the e-lit version of my story would be hyperlinks. The hyperlinks would be based off of selected words in my story and would direct the reader to other sections of the website, which would include more information behind either the story’s inspiration, or the character’s mindset and motivations. For example, the word “tear gas” in my story might link to a diagram of the way that police officers are trained to fire tear gas in riot situations, as an example of explanation; in a contrasting way, the phrase “beads of sweat” might lead to a second, shorter narrative describing why Pete was nervous and contributing to the character’s overall ’roundness’. These links would serve the purpose of both educating the readers and contributing to making rounder, more relatable characters.

Another feature of my e-literature would be the images used and the website design. I found Caitlin Fisher’s website to be interesting, as the haphazard and sporadic images really created a unique style that I feel would be very effective in demonstrating the chaotic and dangerous nature that I tried to create with my short story. My e-lit would feature pictures of riots and images of items used in my story, distorted and altered to create a reading environment more in tune with what my narrative intended.

Additionally, my e-literature would include embedded videos or .gif images of riots taking place and police officers making arrests. These videos would be placed in the corners of the screen, even slightly out of view so as to not distract from the actual text of my narrative. Again, these would serve the purpose of creating a really solid image in the reader’s mind of what Pete is going through and why he may have acted the way he did. This would ideally create a stronger reaction in my audience, and in my opinion, create a better story experience.

A fourth feature of my re-imagined narrative would be an incorporation of social media, such as facebook and twitter. Essentially, I would have screenshots of tweets and status updates of imaginary mob members, describing the riots and the events of my narrative in a more common way. This would create a greater connection between the reader and the narrative in my opinion, as the audience would recognize the screenshots and be able to imagine an event like the riots actually happening and how the community might actually react to them.

The final feature of my e-lit would be more difficult to do, but I was inspired by the e-literature “Whom the Telling Changed”, which was a text-based interactive story where the reader controls what part of the story is told at what time and progresses the narrative themselves. Ideally, my e-lit would include some interactive feature (maybe written in java?) that would allow readers to ‘discover’ the next event by directing Pete’s actions, such as “exit van” to progress to the part of the story where he is facing the mob, or even give the reader the choice to pull the trigger on the perceived assailant or not. This would add an element of interactivity to my story which I feel would really captivate the reader, and I believe it could be incorporated without losing the previously mentioned features as well.

Overall, I feel that those five features could really create a successful narrative and make my story much stronger than it is.

Pete’s eyes opened as the van skidded to a halt. Beads of sweat ran down his face, and off his chin, falling onto the corrugated steel floor with soft taps that were inaudible over the roaring of the crowd.  He heard the countdown and readied himself. Lowered his visor. Checked his weapon. The van doors were thrown open and the intense sunlight blinded him momentarily. The throngs of human bodies were hazy and ill-defined through the cheap plexiglass visor protecting his face.  He hopped and the armored car sped away, the white letters denoting a SWAT van faded into the distance. The crowd’s roar, piercing and dull at the same time, made his ears ring. What had started as a peaceful protest had turned into a civilian occupation, and somehow, he was now standing in front of an angry mob, rioting and looting the city for no other reason than politics. Pete hated politics.

He faced the mob, resisting every urge to run for his life, placing the riot shield in front of him and standing tall. Rocks and beer bottles bounced off of the plastic shield as violent protestors flung everything within reach at the line of policemen. The officers looked at each other fearfully. The mob was advancing quickly. Within seconds they would be overwhelmed. The shouts and yells hurt his head. He scanned the crowd, overwhelmed by the anger and rage on the faces of the protesters. Their red shirts sporting political slogans made the mob seem like one huge scarlet blob of violence and wrath. Suddenly, he started. What was that glimmer? He looked back through the advancing crowd, and he saw it again. The metal reflected the sun into his eyes, making him see spots. What is that? He shielded his eyes, squinted and saw it. The pistol, held at eye level, the protester staring back at him, expressionless. Instinct and self-preservation kicked in. He raised the rifle and fired.

The academy had taught him to fire tear gas straight up into the air, to avoid bodily injury, but he had forgotten his training and aimed right at the chest of his assailant. The shot rang out and black powder stung his nose. The crowd’s angry roar quickly disintegrated to screams of terror as the mob scattered, fleeing, turning corners and ducking behind cover. As the police officers advanced, pushing the braver dissidents back, Pete tripped. He looked down as he stumbled and found himself staring into the eyes of a protester, her red shirt turning a deep crimson. She lay on the street; arms outstretched, with a silver camera in her hand. The recording light was still flashing.

Hello/Privyet/Guten Tag/Sawasdee khrap everyone! (pick the language you prefer to be greeted in)

My name is Jason Robinson, and I am from everywhere. I was raised in a military family, so I have spent approximately 15 years of my life living everywhere except here! I have attended school in Moscow, Vienna, Frankfurt, and Bangkok, so I’m really excited to have a guaranteed 4 years living in the same general area! Here at Maryland, I am transitioning from the school of music to the school of engineering (makes sense, right?), and I am trying my darndest to be a civil or electrical engineer. I’ve been playing trombone since 5th grade, so music has been a consistent part of my life throughout all the moving around my family has done. This is the reason that I chose my avatar to be a picture of me in the band room practicing my horn; music is a huge part of me and I think that my avatar represents that.

My extracurricular activities revolve largely around music as well. Here at College Park I am a member of the 250-strong Mighty Sound of Maryland! I march trombone and have loved every second of it – performing at football and basketball games is a blast and I really enjoy being able to combine my two favorite things, music and sports! I am also a member of the Gamma Xi chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, which is a music service fraternity on campus. I am a huge Orioles and Ravens fan, so it’s great to be rooting for two teams that are finally having success again.

For this course, I am mostly interested in the concept of machinima – I find machinima really fun to both create and watch and I look forward to learning more about how to use the genre effectively. I have been previously exposed to Red vs. Blue and various community-created Source Filmmaker videos, so machinima is a tool that I had already been interested in, so I am excited to learn more about it.