Free Books! Candy! and What Sucks About Online Gaming

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^ Uh, sir.....Do I need to remember this for the test?

Our class wrote our Database final today. It was about 4 pages of multiple choice/true-false and 3 pages of wrting SQL statements. I felt pretty good about, although I was glad we were allowed to bring in script 'cheat sheets'. It would have been much more difficult we'd had to have memorized all the syntax. But, really, you could argue, it would have been more artificially difficult - if you're training  to be a database manager, you need to understand the concepts of database design, but you don't need to have SQL syntax completely memorized. You get to look things up in real life  - Internet resources, books, colleagues  - so do you really need to memorize statement syntax?

Being forced to memorize syntax for tests can have its benefits, I suppose. It's good to have a good memory, right? But, ultimately, having a great memory is not really necessary. I took a C++ test at Cape Breton University, and we had to produce code from memory (or scour the multiple choice questions for code snippets) to answer test questions. Honestly, I still don't remember exact C++ syntax well enough to write a program off the cuff, even after having had to memorize syntax for tests. And I'd say my memory is pretty good (it certainly is for useless trivia). But, with the book, I could totally do it, even though I haven't written a C++ program in ages. Once you have the concept, you have it.

But, anyway, FREE BOOKS!

Our teachers were cleaning out the shop today - all of their old books were cast unceremoniously into a heap outside the office door. Books on programming, Systems Analysis and Design, business, database management, physics, math, game design, and a myriad of others were snatched up happily by all of us. I made off like a bandit - I got a book on Java, one on Visual Basic .NET (just in time for an assignment!) a couple on C#, one on C, and one on Discrete Mathematics. Yesssssss...............

Getting free books is awesome. I may even read one or two of them.

Readings From the Sutra 
Fixing Online Gaming Idiocy: A Psychological Approach

I read the article I'd blogged about a few days ago, which discusses the damage being wrought upon online gaming by those less-than-civilized gamers who tend to disrupt online games to serve whatever base agendas they may have. I'm talking about the guy who won't hesistate to kill teammates in team-based games just for the lulz of it; the jerks who will disconnect from a game session before it's over, to avoid having a loss marked on their stats; the foul-mouthed 14-year-old who screams the kinds of obscenities into his microphone that would make a sailor blush; or maybe the guy who is so bent on getting Achievements or high scores that he'll sabotage his team, ruining their chances of winning according to the actual game's objectives.

According to the author, Bill Fulton, the nasty online behavior of these sorts of gamers dramatically reduces game sales; when people log on to play an online game, they want to have fun, relax maybe, and enjoy the game. Being bombarded with insults and having to play against cheaters is not fun. Poor online behavior, he says, keeps gamers away in droves. I don't think WoW is really hurting, but I imagine this argument holds true for some games. It certainly seems true for console games (you Halo gamers are a strange breed, that's for sure).  I certainly wouldn't want to play games online if I was expecting to deal with people like this. (Apparently, cloudsongs are really from a game called Dark Age of Camelot, not WoW.)

Fulton argues that personality is only part of the story in explaining player behavior; the social environment, he thinks, may be an even more important factor in determining behavior. More interestingly, he argues that the audience's perception of the social environment can be controlled - a good game design would not reward players for brutish behavior,  for starters, and there would be system of checks and balances in place for voting and banning systems.

I think the game's content itself has a huge perception on the game's perceived social environment. I would guess you're more like to find cheaters and griefers in games like Halo than in games like, oh, Animal Crossing. Maybe not though - because all of the sudden I have a strong desire to buy Animal Crossing DS and do terrible things to innocent minds.

Thoughts on Candy; Best Candy Store EVAR

I had thought about being clever and writing a paragraph or two about my brother's girlfriend, who happens to be named Candy. But instead, I'd like to talk about a cool candy store in downtown Halifax called Freak Lunchbox (lol at the webpage!). I used to have an apartment on Barrington Street right next to it. Now, I'm not a huge candy fanatic, but I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't avail myself of its many delights on more than one occasion. You can buy a Chinese take-out carton and fill it with whatever candy you want. It's awesome. Hmmm....maybe I'll go and get some.

See you tomorrow!