Friday, October 22, 2010

Week 3 Blog: Ender's Game, Chapter 1, 2

(Begins Oct 22 - Ends Oct 29)

Read Ender's Game, Chapters 1 and 2, and respond to these questions:


Chapter 1:
“Ender doodled on his desk, drawing contour maps of mountainous islands and then telling his desk to display them n three dimensions from every angle.” (Card, 4)

1) Considering the quote above, is this a game? Is this play?
2) When the other children bully up on Ender, is this a game? Is this play?
3) What do you think of Ender’s strategy? What is fair play? How do we, as game designers, ensure fair play? Should we?


Chapter 2

“Peter opened his bottom drawer and took out the bugger mask. Mother had got upset at him when Peter bought it, but Dad had pointed out that the war wouldn’t go away just because you hid bugger masks and wouldn’t let your kids play with make-believe laser guns. Better to play the war games, and have a better chance of surviving when the buggers came again.
“If I survive the games, thought Ender.” (Card, 11)
1) What is the relationship between games and reality? Does violence in reality validate violence in games? Under what circumstances is violence in games acceptable? Can games go too far?
2) Who is the “bad guy” in Peter and Ender’s game? Why would you argue this?

26 comments:

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  5. Josh Halford

    Chapter 1:
    1.) No, I believe this to be "play" because there are no rules or goals in this activity. It would be the equivalent of doodling in one's notebook.

    2.) Yes, it is a game. The other children are his opponents and Ender must determine a way to beat them, thus bringing strategy into the mix.

    3.) Ender's strategy would no doubtedly work.Fair play is abiding by the rules of the game. Life itself is not a game, but an anarchic series of events, and abiding by any set rules, instilled by society, religion or otherwise, belongs to the moral aptitude of the individual involved. As game designers, we must ensure fair play to ensure that every player has an equal opportunity for fun.

    Chapter 2:
    1.) In this excerpt, it seems that the games are reflecting intergalactic war or wars that seem to be evident in the story so far. Violence in reality can validate violence in games if the game's purpose is to train to fight or do battle. Violence in today's video games is nothing more than an outlet for our basic human instinct to kill. The question of whether games can go too far can be answered only by the morals of the person being asked. I, personally, think that violent games are acceptable if the player is able to see it in context and understand right from wrong in real life. This is why most people agree that there should be a rating system for games, as it prevents children from being exposed to such things while still developing and learning what is right and wrong.

    2.) It seems to me that Peter is the bad guy. He seems to act pretty sinister toward Ender with seemingly no motive other than a natural hostility for him. The fact that Peter tells Ender he loves him at the end of the chapter, makes me think that he's not really bad, but perhaps the values that have been instilled in him. Maybe their father, who encourages them to play the game is the real bad guy.

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  6. Chapter 1:
    1.) Game
    2.) Neither, they are just picking a fight.
    3.) Yes it was fair play because he found a way to not get beaten up.

    Chapter 2:
    1.) Not related. No. If you’re old enough to play a violent game, then you’re old enough to know right from wrong.
    2.) Peter is because he’s acting like the bullies. I wouldn’t argue it.

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  7. CHAPTER 1.

    1.) I believe it's a play. I believe he wanted to see them from every angle to just see something he created. There are no rules to this. I doodle on my desk at home all the time. It's just for fun.

    2.)Yes they are playing a game to the bullies. They are trying to see how upset they can make Ender before he snaps. Kids do this to parents all the time too.

    3.)It was fair play. We as game developers should make sure that the game is enjoyable for all players and give them the sense that they stand a chance, regardless of if they do or not. Example: Old NES games. They give you a glimpse of hope, then the difficulty of the game sends you straight to game over... Or your NES stops working.

    CHAPTER 2

    1.)Violence in video games is quite often shown in reality, but it's reality that made violence first, games just adapted that. Violence in games basically is a way to satisfy our primal instincts. If somebody, however, has a problem with strongly being influenced by fantasy, and bringing that emotion into reality, then they do not need to be playing violent games.

    2.)If I had to choose a "bad guy" I would choose Peter for the time being. He just seems like the more aggressive character. It seems as if he has a lot of anger built up.

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  8. 1No this is play, it doesn't have any clear goal. it all depends on his thought process during all of this.

    2 yes because there is a set goal and a set time when its done and over.

    3 i feel that it is fair play. Fair play is when all of the players are on a level playing field no one has anything more than the other to reach the goal. as game designers we make sure that everything is balanced sometimes giving someone the upper hand in a scenario but always have a way to counter it. and yes we should ensure fair play without it the game just becomes frustrating or to easy and it will lose interest.

    1) Violence is anywhere we look if we think deep enough into it, example squishing a bug can be considered violent if you wanna be technical, violence in reality doesn't validate it in video games but it doesn't deny it either. violence is acceptable in games as long as it doesn't tell the player to go out and try it for themselves. i think at the level games are right now can't go to far because you can separate it from reality it has definite differences just from the looks, in the future when games become even more real and start effect senses and reacting to our movements it could become an issue.
    2) Peter seems to be the more aggressive of the two.

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  9. Chapter 1:
    1)This is a game in the sense that there are rules he must follow in order to make the messages appear and move for him, but I would consider it to be more play because the only rule applies to the message, and the rest of his actions are free-form, without constraints.

    2)I would consider this to be a game rather than play. The children are acting as one unit in a goal to make Ender feel bad, and they all follow the social rules for ostracizing a member of society.

    3)His strategy was effective but not necessarily fair, since he literally kicked the other boy while he was down.
    As game designers we ensure fairness by allowing a player ample time to retaliate if his character is attacked, for instance, and we don't let players gang up on one another.
    We should continue to ensure fairness simply because a game that is not fair will lose players' interest very quickly and cause too many problems for the players and developers.

    Chapter 2:
    1)Games enable the player to act out situations and expereinces that dont normally happen or would have different consiquensces in real life.
    I think violence in video games is a sort of escape or catharsis for real life. If a player wants to have the feeling of saving the world or at least setting things in a video game because reality is in some way violent and disgusting to the player, then it is his right to do so since there are no reprocussions.
    Games can go to far with violence, in some cases glorifying it (GTA for example), which, impressed upon the wrong person, can cause them to act out such violent acts in real life. Granted there is not much a game company can do to control who buys/plays their games but some violence is just unnecessary and should be omitted.

    2)In Ender's game, Ender himself is portrayed as the bad guy, the "Bugger," but in reality it was Peter forcing the game upon Ender and becoming increasingly violent, so Peter is infact the bad guy.

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  10. Chapter 1
    1)Play. It didn't seem like that he was going for a type of game but rather just creating something.
    2)Game. The game here is for the bullies to see how much the can mess with Ender. For Ender the game is to try to end the bullying before it because a frequent game.
    3)I think it was a smart and effective strategy even though it was somewhat extreme. Fair play is when all the players have an equal chance when overcoming an obstacle or reaching a goal. Players loose interest when games are one sided and as game designers it is vital to ensure fair play.

    Chapter 2
    1)The relationship is that most of the time game elements are based off reality even if sometimes in an abstract fashion. Violence in games are acceptable because it is fun and that is one of the main reasons people play games. Violence is shown in all medias not just games from art to television. It can however go too far sometimes.
    2) Peter is the bad guy. He is forcing Ender to play his game even though he knows that it is an unfair game since Peter is bigger then him. The game is fun to Peter because he knows that he will win.

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  11. 1) I consider this to be play because no rules or goals were defined.
    2) When the other children are bullying Ender they seem to see it as a malicious game. Their goal is to try and make Ender Miserable or react in someway. Ender reacted back which actually was fair since he was outnumbered and to protect himself. Fair play could be considered as equal opportunities presented in life. You just have to follow the right path in order to receive the benefits along the way. Since a game is something we create and others play/express/live through it we must overlook to make sure that someone has similar opportunities to other players and cannot "cheat" to gain an unfair advantage over the others. Without fair game play other players may become frustrated to the point of giving up.
    ch. 2
    1) Games can reflect reality but they usually are a form of play or pleasure for younger children. Violence in games can be controversial but it's been around for quite a while. whether it's in reality or in a game level. Violence can be used for protection, but the fine line for protection can be crossed easily. Yes games can go far with violence, but in the end it is the player who should understand when they must resort to violence and when to let something go.
    2) Peter is leaning towards the bad guy in my opinion do to his aggression issues and threats.

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  12. Chapter 1.
    1. I consider this just to be play simply because there is no goal in this besides distracting himself from what is going on around him.

    2. This realy depends from Ender's point of view it is neither, but from the bully's point of view i think it would be a game for them and the goal would be to see who could humiliate ender more.

    3.Ender's strategy was a "last straw" kind of strategy. I do think it is fair, and fair for that matter would be to have every player or person involved on a level playing field with equal opportunities at every goal. As game designers we try to make things fair by creating things like weapons with strengths but also with weaknesses so as not to have a universaly strong weapon or character because then it would only be fun for that certain person.

    chapter 2

    1.The relationship between games and reality is very close. anything you can imagine you can create therefore you are only limited by your imagination and inspirations for those games come from real life occurences. I think violence in reality does validate violence in games because if you play cops and robbers someone has to be the bad guy shooting at the cops otherwise the game would be called "fat do nothing cop". I think games can go to far but that is more or less in the eye of the beholder because what may be extreme for one person might not be so much for another... however there is a line that could be crossed that would just disgust everybody.

    2. I think peter would be the bad guy... because being on the side is "good" doesnt necisarily make you a good guy

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  13. This is Kevin Lam. I know I'm late for this but I thought I'd chime in anyways.

    1. I wouldn't say its game but more playing. There is no gameplay elements. Its more like a child playing in a box of sand.
    2. I wouldn't consider it either really. But its more like playing than gaming. The bullies are just playing with ender at his expense though.
    3. I thought his idea of beating him badly enough to have everyone see so they wont mess with him was perfectly fine. We try to have fair play by leaving rules to follow by so no one person can get too high of an advantage on other players.

    1.The relationship between games and reality from this part of the book is for fun and a bit of bullying. Violence in reality can validate itself in games because here it has a purpose of training and earning experience but in a more playful manor. I think games can go too far with violence but it also heavily depends on the players of what they are to perceive it as.
    2. The bad guy in peter and enders game is peter. He is taking a playful game to an extreme that was clearly not needed. Just because you play as a good guy in a gaming sense doesnt mean you will always be a good guy. There is still a looseness of rules to let him do whatever he chooses.

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  14. CH. 1

    1) I would say this is play.
    2) This is play to the Bullys. This stems from a fundamental need to have the conflict of forces and to act aggressively, present in most children (as demonstrated by the Bobo Doll experiment from Albert Bandura)
    3) Ender was very smart in a long term way. Fair is a concept determined by the masses and game designers based on ways that don't exploit a system. As game designers it depends on the form of game as to whether we should mandate fair play. Generally, fair play is one of the only things that keeps a system from breaking.


    CH.2

    1) Games stem from our understanding of reality, branching in the direction of realism or strictly imaginary. Violence is a part of life, as much as people will try to prevent it or hide it, it has just as much right to be in video games as love and cuteness does. Games as art can never truly "go too far" in any one aspect, it is up to the parents and responsible adults to ensure it does not fall into the wrong hands (in the case of children).

    2) The bad guy is hard to determine, by the viewpoint of the theme it would seem to bugger mask wearing Ender was. As a third party viewer, I would say based on play style and the specific situation of play, rather than through the theme and context, that it would be Peter.

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  15. It can be considered a game. Anytime you use your mind and imagination, it becomes a game. If the others bully up on Ender, then it may seem like a game to them, but not to Ender. Therefore, it is no longer a game. Ender plays the game fairly. If you play the game fairly and win, it is much more satisfying then playing unfairly.

    Games are where you can be violent in a non-violent setting. I’d say Peter is bordering the bad guy. He aggressive and competitive. Being competitive is great, but there is a line not to cross.

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  16. I believe it's a play. I believe he wanted to see them from every angle to just see something he created. There are no rules to this. I doodle on my desk at home all the time. It's just for fun.

    Yes they are playing a game to the bullies. They are trying to see how upset they can make Ender before he snaps. Kids do this to parents all the time too.

    It was fair play. We as game developers should make sure that the game is enjoyable for all players and give them the sense that they stand a chance, regardless of if they do or not.

    Violence in video games is quite often shown in reality, but it's reality that made violence first, games just adapted that. Violence in games basically is a way to satisfy our primal instincts. If somebody, however, has a problem with strongly being influenced by fantasy, and bringing that emotion into reality, then they do not need to be playing violent games.

    Peter is leaning towards the bad guy

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