2 posts tagged “fixing online idiocy”

SELECT * FROM students WHERE databaseExamStatus LIKE '%done%'
GROUP BY lname
^ 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!
 

YTMND Watch: I'm Making a Note Here

Well, it appears my one true Internet Love is, like GLaDOS, is still alive. Another day has dawned on YTMND; more importantly, I still can offer you a sample of its genius to digest at your leisure. The first one is in honor of my first real guest (sorry, Pat you don't really count) to Gaming Zen, Amy. Amy is also competing in the IMBC, and she was kind enough to share with me her favorite site. It is a classic, and hilarious to boot - and so it becomes the first site of OML's YTMND Watch. Enjoy - but careful how loud you play this one if you're at work or school.

Being confronted with the possibility of losing YTMND has forced me to reflect on our relationship, and one powerful truth has emerged: I spend way too much time there. (My beautiful girlfriend, Christine, would definitely agree.) It's not healthy to have a single website consume so much of one's time. It's not healthy to have a single anything consume so much of one's time, really.

Maybe this blog will keep my mind off of it.

Readings From the Sutra

Gamasutra is the Web's best site on game design and game development. I've been reading the game design and postmortem¹ articles here for years; it's been an incredible resource for someone like me that has always been interested in video game design.

I love Ernest Adams' column, The Designer's Notebook. His semi-regularly published columns are always a must-read – he talks about game design theory in clear and accessible ways, and covers a wide array ot topics, from genres like educational games to general design principles like symmetry. I would suspect there would some of you out there who, even if you had no interest in making games, would find these articles interesting.

Anyway, I'll be doing regular readings from the Sutra in this blog, as game design is my thing. I am looking to get into a game development industry – mine eyes are fixed upon it. So, as I tend to be thinking a lot about this stuff anyway, I'll likely be writing a lot about it. Readings from the Sutra, I suspect, will be a semi-regular thing. Like Ernest Adams.

So a Gamastura new feaure in my RSS feed begs to be read, and after I get back from getting groceries tonight, I'm going to take a look at it: Fixing Online Idiocy: A Psychological Approach. So, they think they can stop dumbass kids from being dumbass kids online while they're sticking each other with plasma grenades, huh? Through the proper application of psychological technique? Yeah, I gotta read this.

I think I'll post my thoughts on this later, if the article turns out to be as interesting as it sounds.

BRB Groceries

This is enough to qualify me for today, but I do want to come back and write a bit more. And I have a few pebbles to throw in the pond. I'll see you soon.

Back from Groceries, Now Dishes to Wash, But First a Little Oui, oui, hohn, hohn, etc.

Actually, I don't really have much more time for this post, but I did want to say something about French.

I was a French Immersion student in Junior High school. Our family moved to New Brunswick when I was just finishing up elementary school. In Nova Scotia, you don't start taking French lessons until Grade 4. In New Brunswick, you start in Primary. So when I moved to NB, I was just getting my head around bonjour and au revoir while the kids my age had already been speaking French for some time. My first NB French class in grade 5 was an embarrassment; the teacher asked me in French what my phone number was, and the only word I understood come out of her mouth was "number" so I started counting, "un, deux, trois, quatre" like an idiot. The class thought that was pretty funny.

I had to go to school early for a month to get tutoring in French. It took a while, but I eventually caught up. Eventually I decided to study in a junior high French Immersion program, and at one point in my life I would say I was fairly fluent in French. I can still order food and find the bathroom and whatnot, but I couldn't sit down with someone and discuss Eastern philosophy.

OK, done again for another day. See you tomorrow.