Dadaab Wiki - User contributions [en]

Callie Martin

2019-04-09T03:27:19Z

Martin:

== Production 1: Wikipedia Power ==
Hi everyone!

I'm in the PhD program (Team Ryerson) in ComCult, with an MA in Cinema & Media Studies from York (specializing in Video Game Studies), and a BA from the University of Ottawa in English and Film. Most of my research involves [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_Effect Mass Effect], and how choice affects the emotional bond that occurs between human players and the artificially intelligent NPCs (non-playable characters). There is a severe shortcoming of gaming-related courses offered at both York and Ryerson (and when is offered, it's oddly not in the "Technology in Practice" category, resulting in many of us not being able to take it for our major or minor), so [https://media1.tenor.com/images/c21d6a19423ff444f6383fda164908f2/tenor.gif here I am].

That said, a former colleague of mine took this course two years ago during her MA, and gave it rave reviews, so despite wishing more courses were offered for digital media folk, [https://media1.tenor.com/images/6fc90a6d6d94b94512f5b31da58b530f/tenor.gif I am happy at least this one exists].

== Production 2: Doing Things ==

In an ironic twist of fate, [https://calliesdigitalpapers.weebly.com/antidotes-poison--scapegoats.html I happened to write an essay on this very topic last month] called Antidotes, Poison & Scapegoats in which I analyzed [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesia:_The_Dark_Descent Amnesia: The Dark Descent] for its Greek themes regarding sacrificial roles in gaming (complete with personal gameplay, because I needed to avoid copyright infringement and gaming laws are still a grey area at best). However, I'd like to go ahead and take "option 2" in adding a (short) potential chapter to Bogost's work stemming off of how games teach empathy and move into an adjacent topic: love.

'''Love'''

Romantic relationships have been represented in gaming almost as far back as the genre goes (owing its roots to cinema and literature), with many "high profile" romances in gaming becoming popular enough to enter the general discourse of pop culture (Link and Zelda, Mario and Peach, etc). What often gets overlooked however is the way that these relationships position the human player in regards to the love interest, as well as the player's emotional responses to seeing his/her love interest in-game (particularly if there was a "choice" involved). Many role-playing games (RPGs) are applauded for their narrative and plotlines, many of which involved teaching the player how to (problematically or otherwise) facilitate a romantic connection with another being (an artificially-intelligent one, in this case).

Let's begin by skipping over games that do not allow for a player to choose the gender/sexuality of his/her avatar/protagonist, as a lack of identification already facilitates a lack of emotional connection (as I discussed in my Master's MRP, and I am [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563212002592 far] from the [https://www.amazon.ca/My-Avatar-Self-Identity-Role-Playing-ebook/dp/B00EEQ5JBG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1547598781&sr=8-1&keywords=My+Avatar%2C+My+Self%3A+Identity+in+Video+Role-Playing+Games first] to do [https://www.amazon.ca/Body-Screen-Theories-Internet-Spectatorship/dp/0262232499/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1547598838&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Body+and+the+Screen%3A+Theories+of+Internet+Spectatorship so]). One of the first to resolve this issue was BioWare's 2003 critically-acclaimed game, ''Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic'', in which players could play as a male or female "Revan", as well as had the option to explore heterosexual (and one homosexual) relationships. These relationships--and the player choices made within them--altered the events and circumstances of the game, but what is highly interesting is the emotionality connected to each of these choices. This game paved the way for BioWare's major release a couple years later in 2006, ''Mass Effect'', which further pushes the notion of having a player choose his/her gender/sexuality to correspond "correctly" to how his/her "Commander Shepard" behaves.

[[File:Commander_Shepard.png|center|231x231px|Male and Female "Commander Shepard"]]

In a (minor) case study involving affect, an interesting trend can be seen by reading the YouTube comments on videos of "condensed" romances of characters, in which many fans express their own thoughts/experiences within the community of his/her "romance" with a particular character. In a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEnvzamLSSY video condensing the romance with the character of "Thane"], several (assumed male and female, based on the icons used) gamers expressed sincere emotional distress over the fact that inevitably, the character dies:

[[File:thane comment 1.png|center|500x500px]]
[[File:thane comment 2.png|center|500x500px]]
[[File:thane comment 3.png|center|500x500px]]
[[File:thane comment 4.png|center|500x500px]]

In addition to "teaching" a player how to romance a character (certain dialogue choices, if cold or hostile, will render romance with certain characters impossible), Mass Effect also gives players an experience losing a loved one. As the above comments illustrate, players appear to feel genuine emotional distress at Thane's death and their inability to "save" him (an option most games give players). In an essay written by scholar Annika Waern ("I'm in love with someone that doesn't exist!": Bleed in the Context of a Computer Game") published in 2015, she herself details the emotional severity of these "fake" (what I would call "practice") relationships. In a playthrough of Dragon Age (another BioWare title), she writes, "I initiated a romance and, although I failed to develop it fully, I was surprised at how much that experience affected me. I was deeply moved when my virtual 'boyfriend' broke up with me—and so, it turned out when I started to search online forums, were many other players" (25). In her essay, she also discusses the concept of "bleed", in which the thoughts/actions/feelings of the fictional character the player inhabits "bleeds" into the psyche of the player him/herself. This "bleeding" (I hypothesize) can actually result in a player priming his/her brain and neuropathy to prepare for a "real" relationship with another human being, including proper/improper responses in situations of stress, heartache and sorrow.

== Production 3: Serious Play ==

In focusing mainly on the [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1369118X.2013.808365 Nolan and McBride piece], there is a heavy focus on what they term to be the "dimensions framework", consisting of "autonomy, play, affinity and space” as the vectors that affect gameplay and gamers alike (what I would term “covert play” as opposed to “overt play”, in which gamers appear to thrive in conditions wherein they are not “forced” to play a game). However, a fifth dimension exists in modern gaming and is [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/14/single-player-gamers-destiny-solo-activision-grand-theft-forza increasingly being funded by numerous studios]. It goes off the premise of autonomy (perhaps even existing as a subset): community.

Nolan and McBride highlight in their section on “autonomy” that “[w]hen children are playing, they need freedom to not only choose the form that the play will take, but to choose everything about it, with minimal interference from others; this extends to the tools and technologies they use in their play as well” (emphasis mine, 599). This “minimal interference from others” is suggested to be coming from an external source only, ie. parents, siblings, those occupying the same physical space as the player while he/she is gaming. What it does not highlight is the internal interference, ie. the “others” who exist during gameplay (by which I mean other “human” players, not NPCs/sentient AI). As the [http://www.voxspace.in/2018/05/15/multiplayer-games/ current trend in gaming leans heavy towards non-local multiplayer], this is without a doubt a growing—and at times troubling—new dimension.

While Nolan and McBride in their 2013 study were right (I believe) about their handling of autonomous play (highlighting the need for “choice” among gamers in what they play, where they play and who they play with), extrapolation is needed to understand how this translates to 2019. In adding “community” (non-local), the first aspect needs to be focused on who each gamer is playing with. Though this can oftentimes come down to the game itself, [https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131613 a 2015 study by Kasumovic and Kuznekoff] (which made a few noteworthy headlines) found that in the popular multiplayer game, ''Halo 3'', a vast majority of players were male. They acknowledge that multiplayer games of Halo’s nature represent a “male-dominated arena”, and use social constructivist theory to illustrate how “men behave in a sexist manner towards women to remove them from a male-dominated arena”. If “community” is to be defined, however, then it is important to note that many online-multiplayer communities are made up of male gamers, many of which Kasumovic and Kuznekoff demonstrate are not friendly to women.

“Mad because bad” is an oft quoted saying in the gaming world, implying that when a player is angry/frustrated with a game, it is typically due to his/her inability to play it “correctly”, rather than a flaw with the game/fellow players. Kasumovic and Kuznekoff found that within the Halo 3 community, the vast majority of hostile comments directed towards women were coming from men performing poorly in-game (these same men behaved submissively when the top performing player was male). This community, like sports, can be referred to as one of the final remaining “Boys Clubs” in modern society, thus there is likely a feeling to “protect” it from “outsiders” (ie. anything other than another heterosexual man). The authors of the study themselves conclude that “[b]y demonstrating that female-directed hostility primarily originates from low-status, poorer-performing males, our results suggest that a way to counter it may be through teaching young males that losing to the opposite sex is not socially debilitating.” If modern gaming “communities” exist in this way, there is the notion that though gaming may be the lens through which the problem is viewed, it may also be usable as a learning tool in which to positively disrupt (what are often termed) “toxic” spaces in which anyone other than the “status quo” is accepted.

[[File:Girls_math.png|center|]]

From an educational standpoint, if production pedagogy highlights the relationship between learning through creating, then there must exist a space that creators have access to in order to successfully master through doing. As highlighted in [http://seriousplaylab.com/courses/edu5863/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/ECGBL18-Book_Chapter.pdf “Learning through Game Design”], “connected gaming is understood, here, as the linking of computational participation to collaborative learning with others – including teams and pairs in schools, and through forging links with ‘affinity spaces’ outside of schools where young people ‘share mutual interests’”(707). If women entering these male-dominated spaces are subjected to harassment, it stands to reason that these educational communities in which people learn to code/create creatures/design environments/etc do not provide the same learning environment to women as they do to men (as evidenced by the GamerGate controversy back in 2014, in which numerous female developers were doxxed, as well as received death and rape threats from people who either a) disliked the games the women created/worked on or b) disliked women in the industry in general). Numerous women have reported leaving the gaming and technological industries specifically due to either harassment, or feeling unwelcome in general. [https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Horror-stories-of-women-in-tech-The-worst-advice-Ive-ever-received An article published in February 2013 from Computer Weekly highlighted this inequality], writing:

“Eliza Rawling, chief business officer at Cloud Direct, shared an experience she had whilst studying electronic engineering at university. She said one of the male lecturers walked into the lecture theatre and seeing only a handful of girls, amongst mostly male students, very seriously said: ‘Ladies, what are you doing here? You are wasting your time. There is no place for you in this industry. I mean it - don't waste your time here. The industry doesn't want women.’”

The same article recounts numerous experiences similar to Rawlings, including one from SolarWinds marketing manager, Kate Brew, who was told (among other things), “Wait until you are asked a question to speak” as well as, “You dress too sexy. It distracts men.” Given that the tech and gaming industries are inextricably linked, it is not an unreasonable hypothesis that female developers would have faced the same backlash in spaces which should have been designed for their learning (such as Rawling’s experience at a university), thus disrupting any possibility of a productional pedagogy.

== Production 4: Get Meta ==

'''Option 2'''

There was a distinct part of Fullerton’s book that “struck a chord” for me, only because of my history studying Nintendo and all things ''Zelda'' related.

On page 9 under the "Creativity" heading, Fullerton discusses Shigeru Miyamoto, a Japanese game designer and one of (arguably the most important) the producers at Nintendo (as well as the man responsible for creating ''The Legend of Zelda''). Fullerton writes "that he often looks to his childhood and to hobbies that he enjoys for inspiration. 'When I was a child, I went hiking and found a lake,' he says. 'It was quite a surprise for me to stumble upon it. When I traveled around the country without a map, trying to find my way, stumbling on amazing things as I went, I realized how it felt to go on an adventure like this.'" This sense of play (''paidia'') is highly evident in all ''Zelda'' games, from its induction in 1986 all the way to 2017's ''Breath of the Wild''. ''Twilight Princess'', in particular, has numerous caves (like the one Miyamoto described finding as a child) that Link/the player has to navigate and explore (one of which is in complete darkness, and forces the player to rely on using torches to light a small area around him/herself to see treasures and enemies nearby).

[[File:Cave_of_ordeals.png|center|500x500px]]
[[File:Faron_woods.png|center|500x500px]]

As Fullerton lists, one's childhood experiences often end of playing a large role in the outcome of a game's design and characteristics (even Link's canonical left-handedness is speculated to come from Miyamoto's own status as a southpaw). The entire ''Zelda'' franchise, arguably, rests on the nostalgia of childhood combined with Miyamoto's ability to merge it with what Fullerton terms, "dramatic elements" within the story (41). 2006's ''Twilight Princess'' was conceivably the "darkest" instalment in the franchise, in both colour palette, story and narrative tone. While not reaching the depths of a traditional "horror" game, Dr. Mathias Clasen in his 2017 book, ''Why Horror Seduces'', writes that the horror genre is known for providing gamers with "high-intensity emotional stimulation" that results in greater immersion than more traditional action/adventure genres (also likely due to the "stakes" being higher in horror gaming, with player death seemingly happening quicker and more gruesomely). With this in mind, ''Twilight Princess'' likely focused their immersion in players through the emotionality conjured by their "horror light" (or "diet horror") storyline and motifs (darkness, an "other world", spirits/ghosts, etc). In Chapter 9 of Fullerton's book, Nicole Laazaro (President of XEODesign Inc.) writes that horror, in particular, (working off the ideas of Paul Ekman) focuses on creating three "intense" emotions: anger, fear and disgust. Fear, the primary emotion that ''Twilight Princess'' focuses on conjuring (even if it could be considered "diet fear"), [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-happens-brain-feel-fear-180966992/ is noted by neurobiologists to contribute to "some of the main chemicals that contribute to the 'fight or flight'" response in humans.] This response, known for heightening immersion and insisting the brain "focus" on the task at hand (fighting or fleeing), is often preyed upon by game designers to create the emotional stimuli Clasen discusses, thus increasing the overall enjoyment of the game and causing the "magic circle" to feel thoroughly enclosed around the player.

Some of these 2006 horror elements, however, made it into 2011's ''Skyward Sword'' (despite the latter returning to the brightly-coloured roots of the franchise). In four separate sequences in-game, the player must navigate the "Silent Realm", collecting "tears" to gain special items to aid Link in his quest to obtain the Triforce (one of the only games that allows the player to actually "receive" the item). Within the realm, fear is very much utilized by the game designers in everything from sound design, colour palette to the actually movements themselves. To begin, they removed Link's/the player's ability to use a weapon, thus forcing him/her to rely entirely on stealth (as well as timing) to complete the missions. Should the 90 seconds the player has in-between tears (to get another one) run out, or should the player alert a "Watcher", who in turn alerts a "Guardian" to Link's presence, the music and colour of the game immediately switch from soothing and blue, to loud and red.

[[File:Silent_realm.jpg|center|500x500px]]
[[File:Guardians.jpg|center|500x500px]]

"Fear" becomes an instant factor in isolating the player, rushing him/her to obtain another tear/return to the start/exit point before he/she is attacked by a Guardian, and must restart the entire process. This emotion and the threat of lost progress is what forces the player into making fast--and sometimes fatal--choices in-game, which the designers likely planned as a means of forced immersivity to heighten the game's emotionality. These choices, as Fullerton discusses, are what contribute to both games' appeal and enjoyment (or frustration), thus highlighting the need for games to provide emotional stakes for players in order to sustain the "magic circle".

== Video Pitch ==

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6n3yM9rz5U I kept it short and sweet for everyone]--let me know any questions/concerns and I'll do my best to address them!

== Production 5: Huizinga & Caillois ==

'''Option 2'''

"Play" as we understand it, seems to stand almost starkly in contrast to its most negative counterpart, "work", and people seem to actively dislike when the latter is disguised as the former in (admittedly, many bad) "educational games". Though much can be said about "play" itself in regards to the act (which is often where Huizinga's "magic circle" is invoked), I wanted to discuss and define play in educational games as the act of learning through "space" and the disorientation of perception in a close examination of a game designed for mobile phones: [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.robtopx.geometryjumplite Geometry Dash].

Invoking Huizinga first, he writes on page 113: "We found that one of the most important characteristics of play was its spatial separation from ordinary life. A closed space is marked out for it, either materially or ideally, hedged off from the everyday surroundings. Inside this space the play proceeds, inside it the rules obtain." He goes on to describe how similar this is to the act of rituals (having a particular "space", such as a Church building, for example). If we are to come up with a definition of play in regards to educational gaming, this is a highly important aspect due to the location in which many people experience "learning" games. Though I could find no studies that have specifically examined "educational games" in regards to where they are most often being played (as opposed where the research had the participants play). In my own childhood, I can recall two such spaces that were "marked off" for learning: the "computer room" in my home (named because it was the only room in which we had computers), and the "computer lab" in my elementary school. Both spaces were designated, "learning rooms", in which any activity taking space was thought to be specifically for the goal of improving cognition/mathematical skills/etc. It is important to note each space also shared common characteristics: both were public spaces, where no privacy was guaranteed, thus allowing for others to enter/leave the space, watch, commentate and monitor gameplay (which is especially interesting in a classroom setting, in which a poor performance on a game could result in ostracization from peers). In creating a definition of "play", with this in mind, I would argue play is almost impossible in a non-private space, given that a player would be aware of the possible outcomes of others witnessing gameplay, thus likely increasing anxiety and stress. A meme even circulated a while back on various gaming sites, revolving around playing games in a public setting (even if that is just a family living room), in possible uncomfortable moments with family due to the loading screens:

[[File:gta.jpg|center|500x500px]]

It is hard to imagine how much "play" is happening while a player is being monitored, intentionally or not. What I would refer to as "true play" could only ever take place in private, in a space allowed into only by the player him/herself (ie. a private room/home, in which no others can enter unless the player allows). Now, if we are discussing Huizinga's latter point that these spaces can also manifest "ideally" (which again, recalls his "magic circle"), then we are also discussing the layout of the game itself, ie. its architectural design. Before going further, I'd like to draw attention to the layout of Geometry Dash:

[[File:Gd2.gif|center|]]

[[File:Gd1.gif|center|]]

Here, I'd like to draw on Caillois' concept of "Ilinx", which he defined as "an attempt to momentarily destroy the stability of perception and inflict a kind of voluptuous panic upon an otherwise lucid mind" (17). In modern gaming, ilinx can be quite easy to visualize. Modern technology and graphics have made it much simpler for modern developers to destroy perceptions and have gamers questioning the "rules" of the game in relation to the modern world. For example, Amnesia: The Dark Descent utilizes numerous hallucinatory elements in regards to their "grunts" (monsters), some of which are real and can attack the player, and others which are hallucinations and will disappear if the player gets too close:

[[File:Amnesia.gif|center|]]

The game (as evidenced in the gif above) also utilizes other elements to create ilinx, such as the warping/blurring of the screen. Geometry Dash goes in a metaphorical (and possibly literal) "different direction", by having players tap their fingers on the screens of their phone to cause their square to "jump", navigating various obstacles, speeds, and even flights (all timed to very catchy electronic songs). In order to beat a level, a player must navigate all the terrain without a single "death", being rewarded with a "Complete" screen (and possible new customizations for their square). However, rules set by an earlier, "easier" level are often reversed entirely, as demonstrated with the above gif (the one with the "Pokéball" red/white square) of the level, "Time Machine", in which players--having played all levels up to that point by simply moving right (as with most sidescrollers), are now suddenly forced to switch directions and move left. The level constantly flips back and forth between these two modes, signalling players with a "warp tunnel" (though players are unaware what this does during the first attempt). The developers utilized ilinx to completely disrupt a player's perception of gameplay, and there is indeed a "panic" caused in players when the switch is first experienced in gameplay--which is also sped up from previous levels.

If incorporating this into a definition of "play" (working off of the adrenaline rush caused my ilinx's panic-mode), then a workable first-definition would be that play requires a completely private space as well as a lack of predictability in gameplay and altering mechanics, thus keeping the player "on their toes" and "disrupting" the possible boredom of playing with the same features for an extended period of time.

== [https://calliesdigitalpapers.weebly.com/femininity--friendship.html Final Production] ==

Callie Martin

2019-02-20T17:32:25Z

Martin:

File:Gd2.gif

2019-02-20T17:21:15Z

Martin:

File:Gd1.gif

2019-02-20T17:19:00Z

Martin:

File:Amnesia.gif

2019-02-20T17:07:44Z

Martin:

File:Gta.jpg

2019-02-20T16:52:36Z

Martin:

File:Math2.jpg

2019-02-20T16:47:27Z

Martin:

File:Math Rescue.png

2019-02-20T16:46:38Z

Martin:

Clean

2019-02-14T14:44:16Z

Martin:

CLEANTM is a 3D first-person psychological horror action game where you play as a university janitor cleaning up the dark moral and ethical choices of undergrads that have manifested into monsters. As you clean up, you realize that there is more at play. The janitor sees these monsters because he is simultaneously cleaning and confronting his dark past.
[[File:CLEAN.jpg|500px|thumb|left|Brainstorm]]

==Things Learned in the Game==

Hand-eye coordination specific to CLEAN's gameplay

Different cleaning products and methods

Our moral and ethical values through what actions are turned into monsters, and how the players feel about that, negotiating their own values

I feel this falls under play as power and play as fantasy (from Flanagan's book) - so players would learn power dynamics or emotions (or something) in defeating enemies, but also imaginative learning in deciphering the how the monsters represent actions or feelings

'''Note to other group members:''' Should we have a level editor, like DOOM? That could provide more learning
[[This could work. It could be like a separate mode (from the story-heavy mode) that allows creation and playing of other levels.]]
''I like this idea! It reminds me a lot of Super Mario Maker, and allows for a greater variety of paidia (paidic?) over ludic gameplay. It also hearkens back to a book I read (a while back) by Petri Lankoski ("Character-Driven Game Design: A Design Approach and Its Foundations in Character Engagement", 2011) in which he writes specifically on Doom and mimicry (as well as empathy). He states, "I argue that gameplay influence recognition of the PCs via goals, possible and impossible actions, and predefined functions as well as how other characters react to the player character" (42). If applying this to Clean in a Doom-esque way, allowing a level-editor changes how players learn functionality. I think it could be highly useful in applying conceptual adaptations/learning skills. --Callie

This game promotes Caillois' concept of mimicry in play. Elements of empathy are woven naturally into the heavily story-oriented first-person gameplay as well as the environmental design.

Callie Martin

2019-02-07T13:04:08Z

Martin:

Callie Martin

2019-01-31T18:21:06Z

Martin: /* Production 4: Get Meta */

Callie Martin

2019-01-31T18:17:21Z

Martin:

== Production 1: Wikipedia Power ==
Hi everyone!

I'm in the PhD program (Team Ryerson) in ComCult, with an MA in Cinema & Media Studies from York (specializing in Video Game Studies), and a BA from the University of Ottawa in English and Film. Most of my research involves [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_Effect Mass Effect], and how choice affects the emotional bond that occurs between human players and the artificially intelligent NPCs (non-playable characters). There is a severe shortcoming of gaming-related courses offered at both York and Ryerson (and when is offered, it's oddly not in the "Technology in Practice" category, resulting in many of us not being able to take it for our major or minor), so [https://media1.tenor.com/images/c21d6a19423ff444f6383fda164908f2/tenor.gif here I am].

That said, a former colleague of mine took this course two years ago during her MA, and gave it rave reviews, so despite wishing more courses were offered for digital media folk, [https://media1.tenor.com/images/6fc90a6d6d94b94512f5b31da58b530f/tenor.gif I am happy at least this one exists].

== Production 2: Doing Things ==

In an ironic twist of fate, [https://calliesdigitalpapers.weebly.com/antidotes-poison--scapegoats.html I happened to write an essay on this very topic last month] called Antidotes, Poison & Scapegoats in which I analyzed [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesia:_The_Dark_Descent Amnesia: The Dark Descent] for its Greek themes regarding sacrificial roles in gaming (complete with personal gameplay, because I needed to avoid copyright infringement and gaming laws are still a grey area at best). However, I'd like to go ahead and take "option 2" in adding a (short) potential chapter to Bogost's work stemming off of how games teach empathy and move into an adjacent topic: love.

'''Love'''

Romantic relationships have been represented in gaming almost as far back as the genre goes (owing its roots to cinema and literature), with many "high profile" romances in gaming becoming popular enough to enter the general discourse of pop culture (Link and Zelda, Mario and Peach, etc). What often gets overlooked however is the way that these relationships position the human player in regards to the love interest, as well as the player's emotional responses to seeing his/her love interest in-game (particularly if there was a "choice" involved). Many role-playing games (RPGs) are applauded for their narrative and plotlines, many of which involved teaching the player how to (problematically or otherwise) facilitate a romantic connection with another being (an artificially-intelligent one, in this case).

Let's begin by skipping over games that do not allow for a player to choose the gender/sexuality of his/her avatar/protagonist, as a lack of identification already facilitates a lack of emotional connection (as I discussed in my Master's MRP, and I am [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563212002592 far] from the [https://www.amazon.ca/My-Avatar-Self-Identity-Role-Playing-ebook/dp/B00EEQ5JBG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1547598781&sr=8-1&keywords=My+Avatar%2C+My+Self%3A+Identity+in+Video+Role-Playing+Games first] to do [https://www.amazon.ca/Body-Screen-Theories-Internet-Spectatorship/dp/0262232499/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1547598838&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Body+and+the+Screen%3A+Theories+of+Internet+Spectatorship so]). One of the first to resolve this issue was BioWare's 2003 critically-acclaimed game, ''Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic'', in which players could play as a male or female "Revan", as well as had the option to explore heterosexual (and one homosexual) relationships. These relationships--and the player choices made within them--altered the events and circumstances of the game, but what is highly interesting is the emotionality connected to each of these choices. This game paved the way for BioWare's major release a couple years later in 2006, ''Mass Effect'', which further pushes the notion of having a player choose his/her gender/sexuality to correspond "correctly" to how his/her "Commander Shepard" behaves.

[[File:Commander_Shepard.png|center|231x231px|Male and Female "Commander Shepard"]]

In a (minor) case study involving affect, an interesting trend can be seen by reading the YouTube comments on videos of "condensed" romances of characters, in which many fans express their own thoughts/experiences within the community of his/her "romance" with a particular character. In a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEnvzamLSSY video condensing the romance with the character of "Thane"], several (assumed male and female, based on the icons used) gamers expressed sincere emotional distress over the fact that inevitably, the character dies:

[[File:thane comment 1.png|center|500x500px]]
[[File:thane comment 2.png|center|500x500px]]
[[File:thane comment 3.png|center|500x500px]]
[[File:thane comment 4.png|center|500x500px]]

In addition to "teaching" a player how to romance a character (certain dialogue choices, if cold or hostile, will render romance with certain characters impossible), Mass Effect also gives players an experience losing a loved one. As the above comments illustrate, players appear to feel genuine emotional distress at Thane's death and their inability to "save" him (an option most games give players). In an essay written by scholar Annika Waern ("I'm in love with someone that doesn't exist!": Bleed in the Context of a Computer Game") published in 2015, she herself details the emotional severity of these "fake" (what I would call "practice") relationships. In a playthrough of Dragon Age (another BioWare title), she writes, "I initiated a romance and, although I failed to develop it fully, I was surprised at how much that experience affected me. I was deeply moved when my virtual 'boyfriend' broke up with me—and so, it turned out when I started to search online forums, were many other players" (25). In her essay, she also discusses the concept of "bleed", in which the thoughts/actions/feelings of the fictional character the player inhabits "bleeds" into the psyche of the player him/herself. This "bleeding" (I hypothesize) can actually result in a player priming his/her brain and neuropathy to prepare for a "real" relationship with another human being, including proper/improper responses in situations of stress, heartache and sorrow.

== Production 3: Serious Play ==

In focusing mainly on the [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1369118X.2013.808365 Nolan and McBride piece], there is a heavy focus on what they term to be the "dimensions framework", consisting of "autonomy, play, affinity and space” as the vectors that affect gameplay and gamers alike (what I would term “covert play” as opposed to “overt play”, in which gamers appear to thrive in conditions wherein they are not “forced” to play a game). However, a fifth dimension exists in modern gaming and is [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/14/single-player-gamers-destiny-solo-activision-grand-theft-forza increasingly being funded by numerous studios]. It goes off the premise of autonomy (perhaps even existing as a subset): community.

Nolan and McBride highlight in their section on “autonomy” that “[w]hen children are playing, they need freedom to not only choose the form that the play will take, but to choose everything about it, with minimal interference from others; this extends to the tools and technologies they use in their play as well” (emphasis mine, 599). This “minimal interference from others” is suggested to be coming from an external source only, ie. parents, siblings, those occupying the same physical space as the player while he/she is gaming. What it does not highlight is the internal interference, ie. the “others” who exist during gameplay (by which I mean other “human” players, not NPCs/sentient AI). As the [http://www.voxspace.in/2018/05/15/multiplayer-games/ current trend in gaming leans heavy towards non-local multiplayer], this is without a doubt a growing—and at times troubling—new dimension.

While Nolan and McBride in their 2013 study were right (I believe) about their handling of autonomous play (highlighting the need for “choice” among gamers in what they play, where they play and who they play with), extrapolation is needed to understand how this translates to 2019. In adding “community” (non-local), the first aspect needs to be focused on who each gamer is playing with. Though this can oftentimes come down to the game itself, [https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131613 a 2015 study by Kasumovic and Kuznekoff] (which made a few noteworthy headlines) found that in the popular multiplayer game, ''Halo 3'', a vast majority of players were male. They acknowledge that multiplayer games of Halo’s nature represent a “male-dominated arena”, and use social constructivist theory to illustrate how “men behave in a sexist manner towards women to remove them from a male-dominated arena”. If “community” is to be defined, however, then it is important to note that many online-multiplayer communities are made up of male gamers, many of which Kasumovic and Kuznekoff demonstrate are not friendly to women.

“Mad because bad” is an oft quoted saying in the gaming world, implying that when a player is angry/frustrated with a game, it is typically due to his/her inability to play it “correctly”, rather than a flaw with the game/fellow players. Kasumovic and Kuznekoff found that within the Halo 3 community, the vast majority of hostile comments directed towards women were coming from men performing poorly in-game (these same men behaved submissively when the top performing player was male). This community, like sports, can be referred to as one of the final remaining “Boys Clubs” in modern society, thus there is likely a feeling to “protect” it from “outsiders” (ie. anything other than another heterosexual man). The authors of the study themselves conclude that “[b]y demonstrating that female-directed hostility primarily originates from low-status, poorer-performing males, our results suggest that a way to counter it may be through teaching young males that losing to the opposite sex is not socially debilitating.” If modern gaming “communities” exist in this way, there is the notion that though gaming may be the lens through which the problem is viewed, it may also be usable as a learning tool in which to positively disrupt (what are often termed) “toxic” spaces in which anyone other than the “status quo” is accepted.

[[File:Girls_math.png|center|]]

From an educational standpoint, if production pedagogy highlights the relationship between learning through creating, then there must exist a space that creators have access to in order to successfully master through doing. As highlighted in [http://seriousplaylab.com/courses/edu5863/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/ECGBL18-Book_Chapter.pdf “Learning through Game Design”], “connected gaming is understood, here, as the linking of computational participation to collaborative learning with others – including teams and pairs in schools, and through forging links with ‘affinity spaces’ outside of schools where young people ‘share mutual interests’”(707). If women entering these male-dominated spaces are subjected to harassment, it stands to reason that these educational communities in which people learn to code/create creatures/design environments/etc do not provide the same learning environment to women as they do to men (as evidenced by the GamerGate controversy back in 2014, in which numerous female developers were doxxed, as well as received death and rape threats from people who either a) disliked the games the women created/worked on or b) disliked women in the industry in general). Numerous women have reported leaving the gaming and technological industries specifically due to either harassment, or feeling unwelcome in general. [https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Horror-stories-of-women-in-tech-The-worst-advice-Ive-ever-received An article published in February 2013 from Computer Weekly highlighted this inequality], writing:

“Eliza Rawling, chief business officer at Cloud Direct, shared an experience she had whilst studying electronic engineering at university. She said one of the male lecturers walked into the lecture theatre and seeing only a handful of girls, amongst mostly male students, very seriously said: ‘Ladies, what are you doing here? You are wasting your time. There is no place for you in this industry. I mean it - don't waste your time here. The industry doesn't want women.’”

The same article recounts numerous experiences similar to Rawlings, including one from SolarWinds marketing manager, Kate Brew, who was told (among other things), “Wait until you are asked a question to speak” as well as, “You dress too sexy. It distracts men.” Given that the tech and gaming industries are inextricably linked, it is not an unreasonable hypothesis that female developers would have faced the same backlash in spaces which should have been designed for their learning (such as Rawling’s experience at a university), thus disrupting any possibility of a productional pedagogy.

== Production 4: Get Meta ==

'''Option 2'''

There was a distinct part of Fullerton’s book that “struck a chord” for me, only because of my history studying Nintendo and all things ''Zelda'' related.

On page 9 under the "Creativity" heading, Fullerton discusses Shigeru Miyamoto, a Japanese game designer and one of (arguably the most important) the producers at Nintendo (as well as the man responsible for creating ''The Legend of Zelda''). Fullerton writes "that he often looks to his childhood and to hobbies that he enjoys for inspiration. 'When I was a child, I went hiking and found a lake,' he says. 'It was quite a surprise for me to stumble upon it. When I traveled around the country without a map, trying to find my way, stumbling on amazing things as I went, I realized how it felt to go on an adventure like this.'" This sense of play (''paidia'') is highly evident in all ''Zelda'' games, from its induction in 1986 all the way to 2017's ''Breath of the Wild''. ''Twilight Princess'', in particular, has numerous caves (like the one Miyamoto described finding as a child) that Link/the player has to navigate and explore (one of which is in complete darkness, and forces the player to rely on using torches to light a small area around him/herself to see treasures and enemies nearby).

[[File:Cave_of_ordeals.png|center|500x500px]]
[[File:Faron_woods.png|center|500x500px]]

As Fullerton lists, one's childhood experiences often end of playing a large role in the outcome of a game's design and characteristics (even Link's canonical left-handedness is speculated to come from Miyamoto's own status as a southpaw). The entire ''Zelda'' franchise, arguably, rests on the nostalgia of childhood combined with Miyamoto's ability to merge it with what Fullerton terms, "dramatic elements" within the story (41). 2006's ''Twilight Princess'' was conceivably the "darkest" instalment in the franchise, in both colour palette, story and narrative tone. While not reaching the depths of a traditional "horror" game, Dr. Mathias Clasen in his 2017 book, ''Why Horror Seduces'', writes that the horror genre is known for providing gamers with "high-intensity emotional stimulation" that results in greater immersion than more traditional action/adventure genres (also likely due to the "stakes" being higher in horror gaming, with player death seemingly happening quicker and more gruesomely). With this in mind, ''Twilight Princess'' likely focused their immersion in players through the emotionality conjured by their "horror light" (or "diet horror") storyline and motifs (darkness, an "other world", spirits/ghosts, etc). In Chapter 9 of Fullerton's book, Nicole Laazaro (President of XEODesign Inc.) writes that horror, in particular, (working off the ideas of Paul Ekman) focuses on creating three "intense" emotions: anger, fear and disgust. Fear, the primary emotion that ''Twilight Princess'' focuses on conjuring (even if it could be considered "diet fear"), [[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-happens-brain-feel-fear-180966992/ is noted by neurobiologists to contribute to "some of the main chemicals that contribute to the 'fight or flight'" response in humans.]] This response, known for heightening immersion and insisting the brain "focus" on the task at hand (fighting or fleeing), is often preyed upon by game designers to create the emotional stimuli Clasen discusses, thus increasing the overall enjoyment of the game and causing the "magic circle" to feel thoroughly enclosed around the player.

Some of these 2006 horror elements, however, made it into 2011's ''Skyward Sword'' (despite the latter returning to the brightly-coloured roots of the franchise). In four separate sequences in-game, the player must navigate the "Silent Realm", collecting "tears" to gain special items to aid Link in his quest to obtain the Triforce (one of the only games that allows the player to actually "receive" the item). Within the realm, fear is very much utilized by the game designers in everything from sound design, colour palette to the actually movements themselves. To begin, they removed Link's/the player's ability to use a weapon, thus forcing him/her to rely entirely on stealth (as well as timing) to complete the missions. Should the 90 seconds the player has in-between tears (to get another one) run out, or should the player alert a "Watcher", who in turn alerts a "Guardian" to Link's presence, the music and colour of the game immediately switch from soothing and blue, to loud and red.

[[File:Silent_realm.jpg|center|500x500px]]
[[File:Guardians.jpg|center|500x500px]]

"Fear" becomes an instant factor in isolating the player, rushing him/her to obtain another tear/return to the start/exit point before he/she is attacked by a Guardian, and must restart the entire process. This emotion and the threat of lost progress is what forces the player into making fast--and sometimes fatal--choices in-game, which the designers likely planned as a means of forced immersivity to heighten the game's emotionality. These choices, as Fullerton discusses, are what contribute to both games' appeal and enjoyment (or frustration), thus highlighting the need for games to provide emotional stakes for players in order to sustain the "magic circle".

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2019-01-31T18:12:10Z

Martin:

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Martin:

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Martin:

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Martin:

Callie Martin

2019-01-23T15:41:13Z

Martin: /* Production 3: Serious Play */

Callie Martin

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Martin: /* Production 3: Serious Play */

Callie Martin

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Martin:

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Martin:

Callie Martin

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Martin: /* Production 3: Serious Play */

Callie Martin

2019-01-22T00:07:14Z

Martin:

Callie Martin

2019-01-17T14:42:32Z

Martin: /* Production 2: Doing Things */

Callie Martin

2019-01-17T14:42:01Z

Martin: /* Production 1: Wikipedia Power */

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Martin:

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Martin:

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Martin:

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Martin:

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Martin:

Callie Martin

2019-01-04T00:20:43Z

Martin: Created page with "== Production 1: Wikipedia Power == Hi everyone! I'm in the PhD program (Team Ryerson) in ComCult, with an MA in Cinema & Media Studies from York (specializing in Video Game..."