I was in a meeting today with the TEP people and at one point I had a very, very strong sense of deja vu. I mean, I could practically predict what a couple people were going to say. Most times I have deja vu, I just shrug it off, but this time it was so prolonged… like a good minute or so, that I wrote it down during the meeting. Anyway… I just wanted to capture the fact that it happened. 😛
Just dreamed about soccer again…
I need to go out and kick a ball around… and remember how much I SUCK at it… sheesh.
I’m a total geek as defined by Freaks and Geeks
Robin and I have been watching Freaks and Geeks on DVD from the library. It’s a TV show set in 1980 that lasted one season in 1999-2000 that’s about two traditionally ostracized groups of kids in high school. One group represents the stoner/smoker/hang-out-under-the-bleachers type–the Freaks. The other group are the nerdy D&D/straight-As/bad-at-sports type–the Geeks.
My brother said I should watch it and that it represented our high school experience really well. Other than being a tad 7-10 years earlier than when we went to high school and the fact that we didn’t really interact with the “freak” group (a better description might be punk and maybe nowadays goth, but I’m just pulling that out of my ass) and that I don’t think we were nearly as girl-obsessed as the guys in the show… yeah, we were geeks. But we knew that already…
Continue reading I’m a total geek as defined by Freaks and Geeks
What works in an adventure game
Last summer I played a whole bunch of adventure games… I mean a whole bunch… check out that link and look at Summer 2005. Old school games, newer games. The whole gamut. BTW, I think Still Life had the most engaging story of them all and the best presentation. Indigo Prophecy has been touted as a great way of reconceptualizing the mechanics of the genre, and it is a great game, but the story fell apart, and honestly the story is king in an adventure game.
Anyway, I typed up some quick notes in August of what works and what doesn’t work (at least for me) in these point and click third-person games. I recently uncovered this document and tried to clarify it a bit… I wish I could say more, but my memory sucks. Here’s what I have.
Parallel papers on my research
I am writing two papers this quarter on my ethnographic research in World of Warcraft which focuses on how people (learn to) communicate and cooperate in a high-end instance. Here's the catch: while one paper will be written as a regular academic paper suitable for publication in a journal, the other version will be for gamers and published on this blog. We'll see how it goes…
Becker on writing
I recently read Becker's book Writing for Social Scientists. Wow. It addresses several reasons why people sometimes feel paralyzed when tasked with writing about their research. It is simple yet very inspiring, letting me see that I am not alone with some of the feelings I have about how unnatural the writing process is… I would highly recommend it for anyone who wants to write about research… actually, anyone who wants to write in general.
Live action MMOG?
I was playing around with the idea of working for my former employer, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. My old manager (who I thought was horrible at managing) isn’t there anymore and the head of the department we were in (who I also thought was a horrible manager) is also no longer there. I daydream about what the workplace could be like, but in the back of my head I know a lot of things won’t change. If I were to get there, any grand designs I have for their website and education programs and incorporating games into education would be put on the back-burner while the day-to-day crap would overwhelm me.
But still… I was thinking this morning. What if we created a mini web-based MMOG which featured science learning as quests? Would kids be into that? Completing an activity/quest could give players an equipable item for their paper doll inventory… I dunno… The details could probably be worked out, but it would require money which a non-profit does not have.
Then I thought… hmm… what if it were a live-action MMOG which took place in the museum itself? That might work. Kids would complete quests by demonstrating knowledge which they can get from certain exhibits. Upon completion they get a reward of some sort which allows them access to other areas… hmmmm…
I dunno… Just a thought.
Here comes Dr. Tran
OMG… Don’t know how I missed this… someone asked me today about the Danger in my name, whether I was dangerous to Chens or a dangerous Chen. When I replied neither, he asked, “so you’re like Dr. Tran?”
Check it out.. I am kinda… I mean, I don’t really have anything to do with danger…
Comaraderie an important part of effective teamwork?
Last week we had some loot drama during one of our MC runs. I noticed that during the evening people weren’t joking around with each other like we usually do. I think several of us were feeling under the weather or dealing with stress from “real life” issues. It all came together and resulted in a funky raid, which simmered throughout the night, finally reaching a boiling point by manifesting itself as loot drama.
Part of my looking at coordination and cooperation was to include the usual stuff like negotiating roles, effective communication, situational awareness, group stuff… you know…
But this thing… this funky feeling. I think it might be important. If it happens again, is all that is needed to fix it some joking around? And if it does happen again, do I sit back and let it to see if it IS a pattern or do I break the silence and try to lighten things up because I’m a gamer who wants a good experience? Interesting.
[Edit June 24] I ended up writing a paper on comaraderie and teamwork in WoW!
Delirium dreams
You know how sometimes when you are sick your head feels really heavy and you can’t move it very fast? Maybe you have a fever and sore throat and stuffy sinuses. And when you sleep it’s sort of a groggy delirium? Well, I’ve been sick for the past 4 days and just woke up from a stupor this morning which I will probably fall back into in a couple of hours… (it’s why I haven’t posted anything recently.)
I was dreaming about soccer, specifically about kicking the ball as hard as I could to get it out of our defense. And when I kicked it, it curved a bit to the right and was beautiful. Slow motion… Everything else–the players, the field–was indistinct. Just my foot and the ball’s arc.
I haven’t played soccer in any serious way for like 18 years. But now I feel like playing again… 😛 Problem is, if I start playing again, I’ll remember how much I sucked.